CHAPTER 46………………….
“Ah.”
At the involuntary sound that slipped from my lips, every gaze at the dining table turned toward me.
“What’s wrong?”
Edmond was the first to react, his eyes sharpening. His cold expression made it seem like he was interrogating me, but I could hear the concern beneath it.
“Did you bite your tongue?”
Isaac asked in a teasing tone.
Yulia immediately jabbed her elbow into Isaac’s side.
“Do you think Emily’s like you?”
When she snapped at him, Isaac pouted with a sulky face.
“Noona, you okay?”
Andrea mumbled with his mouth still full of food. It wasn’t anything serious, but being the center of attention like this made me feel strangely embarrassed.
“No, really, it’s nothing. I just remembered something I’d forgotten.”
It had suddenly occurred to me: if the contract with the demon Penelope made was recorded in the Lemegeton, then maybe I could find out exactly how far its powers reached.
I had the Lemegeton right next to me, yet I’d completely forgotten that method.
“Forgotten something?”
“Mm-hm.”
I answered while cutting into my steak.
“What was it?”
Andrea leaned forward, curious. His eyes sparkled with interest.
“It’s nothing important. By the way, Andrea, you’ve been eating so well lately. I’m proud of you.”
“Hmph. Don’t treat me like a kid.”
Andrea whipped his head away, which only made the plumpness of his cheeks even more noticeable.
“Pfft. Our baby’s sulking? Hm?”
“Don’t say I’m sulking!”
“So you are sulking.”
Isaac chuckled, teasing him further. Seeing Isaac act no more mature than Andrea, Yulia clicked her tongue.
“Aww, let me pinch those chubby cheeks! Come here!”
Isaac suddenly grabbed Andrea in a hug. As usual, he tried to rub his cheek against Andrea’s, but Andrea shuddered violently.
“Ah! Cold!”
The words froze the table into silence.
“What? Why are your hands so cold, hyung?”
Startled, Andrea reached out to grab Isaac’s hand. Isaac quickly pulled back, which only made him look more suspicious.
“What are you doing?”
“N-no! It’s just, I’ve got poor circulation lately! That’s all! My hands and feet are ice cold.”
“Poor circulation?”
Andrea frowned, tilting his head, clearly struggling with the unfamiliar term. It was an adorable sight, though sweat trickled down everyone’s backs as they watched.
“Your face is so pale too! And your lips—no color at all!”
“Oh, that? That’s not real illness—it’s just, you know, making myself look sick. It’s the trend these days. They call it the ‘delicate, sickly look’….”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Andrea tilted his head again.
“Trends are weird. Last time you all wore those strange things on your wrists.”
“Adult trends are always weird.”
“So, do Ed hyung and Yuli noona follow trends too?”
The fire suddenly spread sideways. Damn. I’d let my guard down at home, and Andrea caught it right away.
“Uh? Y-yeah! We tried to follow the trend!”
“Ahem.”
Yulia and Edmond had, against their will, just been lumped in as fashion-chasers.
“Then how come Emily noona doesn’t? Does Yuli noona dress up all alone? That’s mean.”
“N-no, that’s not it…!”
“I just don’t care about trends. They don’t suit me.”
As Yulia stammered in embarrassment, I stepped in.
“Should I try it too, then? If Andrea wants to see, I could.”
“No! Don’t! Trends are weird.”
And just like that, we’d planted the prejudice in the child’s mind that trends were weird. It was nonsense, but Andrea, being the youngest, earnestly took his older siblings’ words at face value.
‘Well… I guess we dodged that one.’
Andrea returned to eating, while the rest of us exchanged glances of relief.
We were just about to continue our meal when—
“So, when did you guys first use your powers?”
Andrea suddenly looked up.
“…What?”
“Well, the other kids keep asking. Why don’t I have anything I’m good at, even though I’m a Walker?”
A shadow crossed Andrea’s face.
Which brats? I immediately thought of the other young noble kids at the Academy, the ones who might’ve said such things.
“I’m already eleven now….”
Andrea mumbled, poking at his food. The fork tapped against his plate, making small clinks that sounded like ripples spreading through all our hearts.
‘Oh. He shouldn’t have to worry about that.’
I could feel Edmond and Isaac sneaking glances at me. In this family, talk of divine blessings was a half-forbidden topic.
Andrea didn’t know the full reason, but he must have sensed it vaguely—so he’d bottled it up until now.
“Andrea. That’s a conversation for after dinner.”
Edmond gently but firmly cut him off.
“Why? You could at least tell me how old you were when you found out….”
“Andrea.”
“…Fine.”
He mumbled and lowered his head.
A faint, sulky whine escaped him.
“Why’d you have to crush his spirits like that?”
I stepped in to defend Andrea. It was also my way of signaling there was no need to hush it up so much.
“I don’t know exactly, but Edmond was ten, Isaac was eight, and Yulia was around seven.”
When I said what I knew, Andrea’s face darkened. Not having awakened any power by eleven was weighing on him.
“But our mother awakened hers at fourteen, and grandfather at fifteen. You know how great they were, right?”
“Yeah! Grandpa made tons and tons of money, and Mom was a hero!”
“Exactly. So there’s no need to rush. The age doesn’t matter.”
At my words, Andrea’s face slowly brightened—like a flower blooming in the dark.
“What about you, Emily noona? When did you find out?”
“…Huh?”
That question blindsided me, stealing the words from my mouth.
Was the title of black sheep, the Walker duke’s only disgrace, really something the child hadn’t heard yet?
“I….”
As I hesitated, Andrea’s eyes grew wide.
“Why? Isn’t that your ability, Emily noona?”
He asked with certainty, then added:
“The power to make people feel good!”
I was dumbfounded.
No one had ever said such a thing to me before. I didn’t even know how to respond.
As I faltered, Isaac threw an arm around Andrea’s neck and pulled him into a hug.
“Our little genius! You figured it out without being told!”
“Ah! Cold! And it hurts!”
“You clever little guy!”
Isaac ruffled Andrea’s hair mercilessly, leaving it sticking up like a bird’s nest. Andrea glared back at him with dagger eyes.
“Ugh! I’m never playing with you again, Isaac hyung!”
While Andrea and Isaac wrestled noisily, Yulia slipped quietly to my side.
“You okay?”
So much concern was packed into those two simple words.
“What’s there not to be okay about?”
I forced a bright smile in reply.
“No matter what anyone else says, I know myself. I have proof that I’m a Walker too.”
I looked down at my palm and clenched it tightly. Back then, there really were times I felt I had to.
When people’s eyes were sharp and cruel. When I resented my parents at night for making me so different from my twin.
Days when I felt I couldn’t survive unless I somehow proved—even just to myself—that I had a power.
“And now, you know it. Edmond knows, Isaac knows too.”
Though the way it came about was a bit shocking.
“And maybe Andrea even knows about another side of my ability. That’s enough for me.”
“If you say so….”
“Mm. It’s selfish, but sometimes I even feel relieved. Back then, I suffered in silence with this secret all by myself. Now at least I can talk about it with you all.”
Why did I always burn with fever and fall ill at temples? Why did I tremble like a mouse before a cat whenever I faced a priest?
My siblings never guessed. They probably just thought I was frail.
“So in a way, I feel freer now than before.”
“……”
“Strange, isn’t it? Even though I’m being hunted everywhere, I feel more at peace now.”
Yulia didn’t answer. Maybe my confession really was too selfish.
‘Yeah… after all those close calls, maybe I am being too carefree.’
Feeling awkward, I forced a smile and turned my head.
“But still, of course it’d be best if none of this had happened—Yuli?”
I cut myself off.
Because Yulia was silently crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.
