The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 353



353. Family (23)

“Ugh, aaah! The flames!”

“Lady Claire, why are you doing this!”

This hairpin was almost a part of Claire herself.

The hairpin, a gift from Carsein, was endlessly crude, not particularly expensive or attractive, and thus of low value. It wasn’t something worth collecting by processing rare jewels.

It was literally a cheap trinket. No matter what reason you gave, there were countless better items than this.

People around her picked it up several times and expressed their doubts.

Wherever you go, you can replace it with something better. Even the hairpins scattered around the house are adorned with expensive jewels and pearls, and if you don’t like those, you can buy something with plenty of money.

If you want, you can even have one custom-made, or choose something you like from your boutique, or replace it with something only you can use.

But if you babbled such nonsense in front of Claire, you wouldn’t be safe.

“Why are you protecting that commoner…! That guy is nothing more than a cheap trinket rolling on the street! He’s not someone to be protected!”

“Why are you doing such worthless things? Please explain… Ugh!”

“Lady Claire, what is the meaning of this action!”

It’s not a cheap trinket.

It was something that couldn’t be valued.

Rarity? It’s the only one in the world.

On the surface, it might look like a cheap market trinket, but the meaning it held was so great that it could make all the aforementioned things seem trivial.

A gift from family.

A gift from her new younger brother.

There’s only one in the world.

What more do you need?

“It seems Lady Claire has been deceived by that guy’s silver tongue! Her mental state seems unstable, so subdue her quickly!”

What’s wrong with her mental state?

Yes. I heard it.

Wherever I went, I wore it, and if I wasn’t sleeping, I always wore it. No matter what anyone said, I didn’t care, and I took care of it more preciously than a hairpin, fearing it might get damaged.

Because of that, since Carsein had sneaked into the duke’s mansion, I thought I should return it someday.

Erasing all traces and indirectly conveying that I was not a person of the duke’s mansion.

By erasing all the human scent and touch from the room, drawing a line that I was not originally a person who lived here.

The fact that there was not a single appearance of one person in the entire duke’s mansion suggests that they were never family.

In other words, this too had to disappear from Claire.

If it was as Carsein wanted.

So I returned it.

Embracing the emptiness felt from my head, accepting the severed family ties, I handed over the hairpin that had become almost a part of my body.

-This is a gift for you, Claire.

It was a gift given to the family.

A gift given to a person called sister among the family.

So, since this gift was no longer for the family, it was an item that should not remain.

But.

““aaah!””

Carsein did not erase the meaning of this hairpin.

-You look better wearing this hairpin.

The meaning of family.

The meaning of a gift given to a sister.

And… this gave rise to yet another meaning.

‘You fool, you idiot…’

At least curse me openly and refreshingly.

You should have taken this opportunity to rip out my liver.

You should have dropped a hairpin in front of me and mercilessly stomped on it.

That’s what you should have done.

You should have avenged all the things I’ve done to you!

But why…

-Thank you for helping me, Claire.

You’re forgiving a woman who only tormented you.

A trashy woman who neither treated you like family nor cared for you as an older sister. Why are you forgiving her?

You fool.

-Tap. Tap.

Tears flow endlessly.

Within them flow countless regrets and sorrows. And regrets.

If only I had realized a little earlier.

If only I had cared a little more, this wouldn’t have happened.

We might have become real family.

I might have become her real older sister.

Instead of realizing it too late and becoming a fool.

“Damn it…!”

““aaah!””

Fool. Idiot.

That was a reproach directed at himself.

Ignorant, clumsy, and hasty.

A fierce reproach towards his past self, who was like a moron.

“Gasp, gasp…!”

Due to the excessive use of magic, he was experiencing shortness of breath.

Mana was lacking. Trying to block those numerous numbers with all his nerves on edge was draining him.

His vision began to blur.

“No… I must… hold on… longer…”

He had to hold on longer to buy time for Karsein to escape.

But his body wouldn’t cooperate.

-Thud.

*

Again, he had done something foolish.

He could have just come back.

He could have just taken what was valuable and returned.

No. He thought he could have just cursed them out on the spot.

He even thought he could have broken the hairpin to reveal his hidden feelings.

From Karsein’s perspective, it was only natural.

Even from my perspective, with the same memories, it might have been reasonable to say such things to the second child.

But, I couldn’t.

Once the causality that Claire had helped me was established.

I had already avoided several crises.

Radiel and Mark appeared just in time.

The order to head to Bagland was delivered to those two.

The path to the duke’s mansion opened as if it had been planned and patched together.

The smooth route within the duke’s mansion, along with the safety at the place called the mausoleum.

These were crises that I couldn’t handle alone.

But I was able to enter the duchy safely.

Because the eyes were deliberately cleared, I was able to move to the designated place while achieving my goal.

At the most dangerous time, when I had to take the greatest risk.

Because Claire’s hand reached out, I was able to finish all my business here and leave.

And…

▶The activation of the chase event is decreasing.◀

▶The time it takes to reach the chase is increasing. If a certain amount of time passes, the event may be deactivated.◀

The status window was blatantly displayed like that. In the end, she even directly protected me and bought me time.

From such a Claire, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sincerity.

Looking back now, Claire had always been like that.

He may not be deep inside, but he has never once harbored the intention to torment me by going astray.

It’s true that he caused trouble because of his dirty temper, but he never had the intention to directly harm me.

Even if the direction or result wasn’t good.

Even if the situation directly led to harm for me.

There was no malice in itself.

As proof, when it was revealed that there were no charges, he thoroughly trampled the opponent.

When he realized he was wrong, he scratched his head nervously, but he never actually cursed me. He just said he avenged me.

Moreover, he sometimes asked for my opinion.

After making a mistake once, he tried hard not to repeat the same mistake.

Now, I think I understand how Claire’s touch reached me one by one.

After realizing that I had to eat only porridge with my injured body, he informed the chef of this fact and did not bring out greasy food.

In the bathtub, which only had cold water, there were maids ordered by Claire, so hot water could be filled.

Besides, the kettle filled with sand. Suspicious items in the room. He cleaned up and safely arranged everything that could be problematic.

In the chef’s cooking, he started to handle the Kelvia fruit with extreme caution.

He prepared clothes himself and watched the maids to make sure no one harmed me. Thanks to that, Camilla was the most suspicious.

He mercilessly retaliated against those who had wronged me.

He tried to help, saying to ask for help if such things happened.

Yes. It’s ignorance.

No experience, different knowledge.

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The clumsiness that appeared due to the lack of it was mixed with a hasty and hot-tempered personality.

After experiencing it once, I didn’t make the same mistake again.

After realizing that it caused problems because of me, I didn’t act hastily.

She asked for my opinion first.

She asked what was going on first.

She started to consider the circumstances and causal relationships.

– Just go now. I’ll try to buy as much time as I can here. This time, as an older sister, shouldn’t you protect your younger brother at least once? And…

Before I knew it, she was on my side, trying to protect me.

– …I’m sorry, Carsein. I’ve always been a burden. From now on… live well and stay healthy.

She said, with words of apology.

Reflecting deeply on her actions.

Transparent tears flowed from her eyes.

…Seeing that, the image of my second sister faintly passed by.

This game strangely overlaps with my reality in many ways.

No. Rather, it would be fair to say they are identical. Claire and Eunhye were exact replicas.

Yes. It was like that in the past too.

Now that I think about it, Claire, who resembled my second sister, had no malice.

It was just ignorance and hastiness that caused the trouble.

And that, ironically, worked to block my path.

My second sister also had no intention of blocking my path.

– Are you here now? I told you to come quickly, didn’t I?

When she nagged about why I was so late, it meant that the company’s working hours had changed, and my leaving time had been pushed back, so there was a risk of getting caught.

Maybe she had already figured out that I was working part-time.

– If you need clothes, I can make them for you, so why are you wearing that?

She would make clothes herself if it was about clothes, so she was irritated that I was spending the hard-earned money.

Even though she already knew I was working part-time, she hid it and felt frustrated, so she said it.

– Who would dare to touch you when I’m wide awake? Do they know what kind of family we are?

It wasn’t that she was taking time away from school hours, but she was checking if there were any bullies and dealing with them herself.

I didn’t know it then, but thinking back, after that, some kids transferred classes, or the ones who were bullying me until yesterday quietly passed by, and in severe cases, some even transferred schools.

…She dealt with them herself. Eun-hye did.

And.

– Hey, are you okay?! I heard directly from the doctor who diagnosed you. He said it was because of me! Because of that crazy stalker…! You weren’t stabbed, were you? Are you really okay?

Knowing it was because of the stalker, she was genuinely worried. At that time, I just thought she was making a fuss and found it annoying.

Only now, I started to see those things.

Then… what did the second one want?

…Ah. I think I vaguely understand.

Eun-hye never missed a chance to call herself my sister, and she never stopped calling me her brother, even though I often spoke informally to her.

Even though she had a bad temper, she still wanted to take care of me.

– Ugh, you’re younger than me, but you always speak informally. I told you to call me sister!

She wanted to call me family.

She wanted to treat me as her younger brother.

I might have wanted to hear the word “sister” come out of my mouth.

‘…That’s a relief.’

I think it was good to return the hairpin while leaving those words at the end.

Flora, Isabella, and now Claire.

I did three stupid things in a row, but the cold blood did not flow through my body.

*

The prolonged battle consumed a lot of time.

Before long, Arina, who was leading the army, arrived at the duke’s mansion.

The situation was quickly resolved.

Claire collapsed, and the only support was gone.

Neither Carlton nor the 1st Knights Division he led had the strength to hold out any longer.

In the meantime, Claire, who had collapsed from excessive use of magic, opened her eyes.

“Ugh…”

“Lady Claire.”

“The situation…?”

“…I’m sorry.”

With Carlton’s apology, Claire realized it was over.

Knowing that an entire division was on Carsein’s side had been a great strength, but it seemed it was still not enough.

“More importantly, my lady. Over there.”

“…”

Supported by Carlton, Claire barely managed to stand and glared fiercely at Arina.

“Hoo.”

A red ponytail swayed as it approached.

It was the owner of the deep sigh.

“Why did you do such a thing, Claire?”

“…”

“He turned his back on us. His goal was to suck us dry and then run away. He never thought of us as family, not even a bit.”

“Ha.”

Claire let out a hollow laugh.

“Who are you to say that? Did you ever think of Carsein as family?”