Chapter : 98
A composed adult suddenly transformed into a child who had just been struck in the solar plexus.
Emil’s expression clearly confirmed that my hypothesis was correct.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrowful and pained by that fact.
I knew that what I had just said was extremely violent and inconsiderate.
So rather than facing his reaction, I wished—almost selfishly—that he would just get angry at me for saying something so reckless.
That would have been easier.
It was far easier than confronting the truth that this fifteen-year-old child had been desperately pretending to be a perfect adult, hiding a terrible wound.
“Th….”
“……”
“No….”
Emil tried desperately to say something.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he was trying to fix the situation.
But his efforts were in vain; droplets fell from his eyes.
It was as if the wall he had maintained so diligently in front of others—the façade of being perfectly fine—was finally crumbling, impossible to uphold any longer.
I deliberately avoided looking directly at his crying face and instead wrapped my arms around him, letting him lean against me.
“Let’s have some cocoa and dinner first.”
“……”
“Time spent with your mischievous little brother is more precious in life than magic research, right?”
For just a brief moment, I felt him silently nod as he leaned on my shoulder.
I pressed the switch on the table and turned on the phonograph.
A lively orchestral piece blared through the room.
I didn’t know if Emil cried out loud afterward.
Knowing his personality, he probably just endured it.
Still, I thought it would be better if he didn’t try so hard to suppress it, and I slowly stroked his back.
After a while, Emil came out of the powder room, washing his face, looking embarrassed.
He sighed toward me.
“I’ll let it slide today… but if you do this again, I’ll really get mad.”
“Sorry. But if I hadn’t done this, you would’ve never shown your feelings, right?”
“Don’t attach excuses when you apologize.”
“Sorry, Oppa.”
“Really… so cunning…”
He ruffled my hair roughly and hugged me tightly, like a beloved plush toy.
“I feel embarrassed after crying like that, but it didn’t hurt that much.”
“Mm.”
“I guess a bit of fatigue caused everything that had built up to rebound.”
I didn’t take that entirely at face value.
He probably just regained the energy to maintain his composure after crying.
Still, I was glad that the excessively formal atmosphere from before had faded.
“You know, Emil.”
“Hm?”
“You’re really not planning to become a live-in son-in-law, are you?”
“Were you worried about that?”
He chuckled softly.
“Of course not.”
“Mm…”
“My mother tends to be a bit emotional. She got carried away. I already talked to her this morning. Even though she’s sent letters, she can’t back down, so she’ll see the matchmaking, but she’ll refuse.”
“Well, it’s good since we’ll be there to cause a scene anyway!”
“…So it really was a scene-maker.”
“Hehe.”
He poked my cheek teasingly.
“Emil, do your best at Walpurgis Night. I’ll cheer for you.”
“…Are you cheering for me instead of Ruska-hyung?”
“Hmm… just let anyone win? I’m a fair person.”
“You should become a judge.”
“Hehe. Both of you are evenly matched anyway.”
“…Do you really think so?”
“Hm?”
“I’m sure Ruska-hyung will soon become a Dark Core Level 5. If not him, then who else?”
“….”
“But… I don’t know about myself.”
I held my breath and quietly listened to the rare sincerity Emil showed.
“When you study magic, sometimes it feels like you’re lost… and you wonder if this time will continue forever.”
“….”
“It can be tiring… wondering if all this effort is just useless repetition.”
Unlike with Sasha, I couldn’t confidently say, “I’ve seen the future, and you will become a Grand Mage.”
Because in the future I know, Emil Halrolen doesn’t exist.
And that was the same for me.
In the original story, I was destined to die and disappear.
That strange similarity bound the two of us together.
“…That future will never come. I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”
No matter if a few years or decades passed, we would live as close siblings, joking and teasing each other.
So all I could do…
“Me too!”
“What…?”
“Don’t you know, Emil? I couldn’t awaken my Dark Core until I was six.”
“Ah…”
Emil, letting me go from his embrace, wore an expression of deep apology.
He was probably reflecting on how careless he had been in front of me, struggling even to manifest my dark power.
Even in hardship, he naturally thought of others’ wounds first. How could one even…
I continued so that he wouldn’t blame himself.
“No, it’s not that you shouldn’t have said that. It’s not like I was going to say, ‘Someone else has it worse, so bear it.’”
“….”
“I mean, back then and now… I have the same worries as you do.”
“…Mm.”
“I want to become a Grand Mage. I want to accomplish many things with magic.”
Recalling events from the original story, I narrowed my eyes.
“But sometimes I get anxious. What if I don’t have that ability? What if I stop here forever?”
“Calmia…”
“No matter how much someone shouts, ‘It’s okay! You can do it!’ that anxiety won’t just go away. Emil knows that too.”
“….”
“But just having someone nearby who shares that worry… it makes you feel a little less alone.”
If I became a Grand Mage, Emil couldn’t. And vice versa.
Even though we were rivals at opposite ends of our dreams…
It was precisely that irony that allowed us to understand each other the most, warming us in its own way.
“Don’t forget that I’m here.”
“….”
“You’ll remember, right?”
Emil’s eyebrows drooped, and he gave a lazy smile.
“…Mm.”
It might not be enough yet.
I doubted he had poured out all the weight in his heart.
Still, I was glad to touch even a fragment of his sincerity.
The dim and gloomy cave was completely blackened.
Looking closer, you could see old bloodstains layered upon one another.
The metallic smell of blood, the foul stench of decaying corpses, and acrid smoke filled the suffocating space.
Through it all, a man knelt.
“Leader, did you summon me?”
“Hm.”
The one called the leader emerged from the smoke, semi-transparent.
He wore a black veil and a grotesque mask modeled after a reptile, making it impossible to guess his gender or age.
“How is the Dungeon Burst plan proceeding?”
“It is proceeding without any issues. All materials have been gathered, and our comrades are safe.”
“I see. And the doppelgänger we placed in Deldomoss?”
“It has blended in without suspicion. All your instructions have been faithfully carried out.”
“Good. Very good…”
The leader let out a bizarre laugh, a mixture of male and female voices, and raised his hand.
Immediately, the concealed followers appeared before him and bowed.
“Hear me! The day to glorify our Blood Blade Sect begins now!”
“In the name of the Blood Blade!”
“Remember the persecution poured on us 300 years ago by those four damned noble houses and the royal family! Remember, it is by the blessing of the Blood Blade that we have recovered our power!”
“In the name of the Blood Blade!”
“Our poison has already infiltrated Deldomoss. Next….”
He raised his hand high toward the ceiling, and a blood-purple mist swirled, forming a fog.
“In Halrolen, our puppet will be born.”
