Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Rubette's Rebellion
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Lillia's angelic face, streaked with tears, was heartbreaking enough to tug at even my sympathy—and I knew exactly what she was really like.
*Whew, she really takes after Mom. Her acting skills are straight out of Hollywood.*
Victor, who had been watching Lillia's crying face, let out a hollow laugh.
"What? What did I even do to make you cry?"
"Hnnggg..."
"Victor Diorus!"
"Ah, what!"
"Relax your eyes. You're scaring her—don't lower your voice like that either."
"Ha, damn... This is ridiculous."
Victor tilted his head back toward the ceiling, ruffling his hair in disbelief.
"V-Victor oppa. I'm sorry. You misunderstood me, and, hic, y-you wouldn't even give me a chance to explain... It was just so frustrating..."
"You were mocking Cedric and Rubette, weren't you!"
"Don't yell, you jerk!"
"Whoa!"
What a mess. I swallowed a sigh from the back.
"No, Victor oppa. It's really just a misunderstanding. Maybe Cedric did, but not me. And when I saw Rubette fall, I was about to rush over to help her. But you got there first."
"Fine, let's say that's true. But is this any reason to bawl your eyes out? You're making it seem like we're the ones who misunderstood in front of brother now."
"Can't you say it nicer?"
"Y-Yes, you're right. Viego oppa, I came to you because I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. I wasn't trying to fight with Victor oppa. So please don't get mad at him. Hnnggg..."
"Stop crying. There, there. It's okay."
Was this really the same Viego who had snapped at us with such icy detachment?
The doting big brother to Lillia alone wiped her tears himself, his face full of concern.
"Fine, I get it. I misunderstood. Happy now? Sorry for making my pretty little sister cry. Now go on, bro."
"You..."
Viego ground his teeth at Victor's sullen attitude, then turned his glare on me.
"Rubettria."
"...Yes?"
"You're the one who started all this commotion, so why are you standing there like your mouth's full of honey? If Victor was misunderstanding and yelling at Lillia, shouldn't you have stepped in to stop him?"
"..."
Victor bristled at what he heard.
"Bro? Why are you suddenly turning this on her? Rubette's the victim here. Cedric was the one pushing her down the stairs and messing with her like crazy. Didn't you hear all about it from Lillia?"
"Victor oppa... What happened on the stairs wasn't Cedric's fault. And as for teasing Rubette..."
Lillia glanced at me cautiously, shrinking back as she added quietly.
"Cedric said he's been so stressed lately because of Rubette. She keeps following him around and begging to meet, even after he turns her down..."
Well, well.
"So he must've lost his temper when he saw her and said some harsh things. I told him to apologize to Rubette properly. So please calm down..."
"...Ha."
"..."
Victor started to retort but shut his mouth, while Viego stared straight at me with an expressionless face.
No one here was unaware that I'd been trailing after Cedric like a lovesick fool.
Of course, I hadn't been hopelessly pining after some dead-end crush like an idiot. Every time I'd tried to let go, Cedric had sweet-talked me just enough to keep me hooked...
"Rubettria."
"Yes, oppa."
I answered Viego's low voice meekly.
"Are you a three-year-old child? When do you plan on growing up?"
"..."
"I just heard from Lillia. She said it seemed like you jumped into the pond on purpose."
"Huh? Jumped into the pond? What's that about?"
Victor whipped around to look at me.
"Did you really fall in on purpose to threaten Lillia? I was so worried I dropped everything that day and waited six hours straight for you to wake up."
Viego added through gritted teeth.
"How does it feel to make your big brother look like a fool?"
"Bro, what are you talking about? Why would Rubette threaten Lillia?"
Victor's excited voice rose.
"A man's life is more precious than that. She must've tried to threaten Lillia—even with her life—to stay away from Cedric Raizer. It's insane..."
"..."
Finally piecing it together, Victor froze in place.
*Burying someone is so damn easy.*
Suddenly painted as a lunatic who'd gone mad over a guy and staged a suicide scene, I slowly swallowed a sigh amid them.
The sad truth was that Rubette had endured this kind of misunderstanding multiple times, yet never once uttered a word of defense in her life.
"I've told you over and over. You're no different from Lillia's sister. Like family under the heavens, the only ones we have. You should be getting along and cherishing each other, not..."
Viego unleashed a barrage like he was scolding a subordinate.
"Did you really try to scare the child by risking your life over something so petty? And that wasn't enough, so you even fired the head butler?"
"..."
"Rob, whom she adored like a father, must've irked you."
"..."
"And you even slapped Riki's face when he came to check on you out of worry."
Lillia sniffled beside him.
*Lillia, that little witch—believing every word Viego feeds her. She's spun a whole novel out of this.*
Viego kept pressing me.
"If you have a mouth, say something! What happened to the sweet, quiet girl? What's with this sudden outburst?"
As his accusations flew without giving me a chance to respond, I simply stared him down.
*You're truly more trouble than you're worth as a brother...*
* * *
Viego didn't hate his blood sister Rubette.
I knew he'd worry when she was sick, and even in his busy schedule, he'd make time to visit his shut-in little sister for tea...
Yeah, he was that kind of brother.
"The weather's so nice—why are you cooped up in your room?"
Viego ruffled Rubette's hair as he sat across from her.
"Lillia was complaining to me. She says she wants to go out and play with you, but you always turn her down, and it hurts her feelings."
"Ah, that..."
Was there anything more dreadful than going out with the twins?
With fewer eyes around, they turned into fish in water, tormenting and teasing Rubette even worse.
"I just... haven't been feeling well."
Their brief tea times, once a week.
To Viego, it might've been out of some sense of duty, but the foolish Rubette cherished even that scrap of attention.
*The cat doll I made!*
The birthday gift for her brother, clumsily sewn and stuffed with cotton.
When she saw it dangling from his jacket pocket—the cat doll she'd secretly left in his study.
"Hehe, oppa, that..."
"Oh, this."
Viego flicked the doll with a smirk and said.
"I asked who made such a cute thing. They all denied it at first, but when I showed it around, Lillia finally confessed."
"...Pardon?"
"She was embarrassed about her shoddy sewing and didn't want to admit it was hers. Funny kid. But to me, it's a better gift than fancy clothes or jewels."
No, that's the one I made.
"Oh, and..."
Viego pulled a palm-sized box from his pocket, looking at Rubette with a tired face again.
"You told me the other day. That Grandmother seems to hate you."
"..."
The dark side of Molga that she'd cautiously revealed to her own brother.
"No matter how I think about it, it's your misunderstanding, Rubette."
Was dismissed all too easily.
"After she came back from recuperating, Grandmother spent two whole hours in my room talking about you. She returned early because she missed you, she's worried about your sensitive nature, she wants to keep you with her forever without marrying you off, she cares for you even more than the twins..."
"..."
"After Grandfather passed young, she's devoted herself entirely to our family."
"..."
"Could it be? Because Grandmother was from a concubine. Is that why you're drawing lines between her, the twins, and yourself?"
"N-No, that's not..."
Viego set down the box with a sigh.
"Do you know what this is? Grandmother bought it herself from her trip because she's worried you're losing weight. Even I, your own brother, haven't taken good care of you, using busyness as an excuse..."
"..."
"It's not bragging. That's why I feel even more sorry and grateful to her. So."
Standing up to leave the room, Viego said.
"You should open your heart a little too."
* * *
"Pfft."
As I recalled the memory and burst out laughing, all eyes turned to me.
Come on, it's hilarious. How stupid can a person be to live her whole life so thoroughly duped? She'd get fleeced down to her organs by the first con artist she met.
"Rubette, did you just laugh?"
"S-Sorry, oppa. It was just so absurd that I..."
"Absurd?"
"Yeah."
I rolled my eyes dramatically before speaking.
"I nearly died for real when I fell into that pond that day. You know I passed out and lay there, right, oppa?"
"..."
"If I'd really meant to threaten Lillia over Cedric, I'd have just scared her—why go and actually try to die? There's no Cedric in hell after you croak."
I shrugged and turned to Victor beside me. "Right?"
Victor, staring blankly at me, nodded slowly.
"...Yeah?"
"It's common sense—it doesn't add up. But you're too caught up in emotions to see something that obvious. How are you supposed to run the family as head if you can't even think straight?"
Arms crossed firmly, I met Viego's gaze head-on and added.
"It'd be a miracle if you don't bankrupt the whole house."
"Gasp."
"...What?"
The timid, obedient little sister's words, dripping with defiance, naturally shocked her brothers to the core.