A Raw Confession in the Wake of Forbidden Desire
……
I had crossed it. No—worse. I had thrown it away completely. The last remnant of restraint. And there was nothing left in my mind but one single thought.
*No matter how you slice it, Charlotte… I spent five whole years acting like her brother, guarding her, cherishing her. And now I’ve…*
My mind was shattering. Not just cracking—collapsing into rubble. I had gone so far beyond the line that defined us.
“Hah…”
Half-naked, I dragged the sheet up to my waist and rubbed my face like a madman.
I had crossed the line. Not even stepped on it. I had abandoned the very idea of protecting it, surrendered to raw lust… and flooded her with it.
I had poured everything into her—into those snow-pure curves of Charlotte’s body.
……
I cast a quick glance over my shoulder, the sweat still cooling on my skin. Charlotte was curled asleep on the bed, utterly exhausted after hours of our violent, tangled struggle.
The moment I saw that angelic face—soft, peaceful, utterly lovely—my throat tightened. A strangled sound escaped me.
I had finally done something unforgivable. Something I could never take back.
And the worst part was, this was the perfect moment to fix it. To put it right.
But I just laughed, genuine and bitter. The curses aimed at me were nothing compared to the bitterness rising in my own chest.
Even if I tried to stay logical, it was pointless. The instant my eyes fell on Charlotte’s adorable, breathless face, everything blurred.
I had no choice but to accept it.
I had spent years avoiding this truth, but now there was no denying it: I had looked at her not as a sister… but as a woman. As *her*.
My expression hardened again. It was ridiculous, really. Half-naked, forehead pressed to my knees, nothing but a grotesque spectacle.
*What am I supposed to do?*
I had to decide. I couldn’t keep pretending forever.
I had abandoned my little sister. Or, more honestly, I had gone completely insane and taken her.
*From one angle, I could say she had devoured me instead… but right now, that didn’t matter.*
‘Should I just pretend this night never happened?’
I decided to buy a little time. Tomorrow morning, when she woke up, I would say something simple.
“Was that night… just a dream? Let’s forget it ever happened.”
“Hmm…”
It was only a hypothesis, but the future still formed in my mind with frightening clarity.
Would Charlotte, eyes spinning with obsession, try to tear me apart? Probably.
And I… I wouldn’t even have the strength to fight back. I couldn’t bring myself to cast lethal magic on my own sister…
—Let’s get married, Onii-chan.
But that didn’t solve anything. No. I couldn’t marry my own sister. Not when she had said it so innocently.
I swallowed hard. If she asked me directly whether I hated the idea of us marrying, I didn’t know what I would answer.
I had already admitted it myself a moment ago.
I had treated Charlotte as a woman—regardless of fate—for the past five years.
“Hah.”
A warm, unwelcome feeling rose in my chest, and I couldn’t stop the cold smirk that followed.
Honestly, I didn’t want to reject it. Some part of me had wished it would happen.
What did it matter? This empire allowed close-kin marriage. And soon I would become the Duke of Havertz anyway.
A high-ranking noble offering his own sister to his future son-in-law? Who would dare refuse?
They would call it disrupting noble etiquette… but what would the Emperor say?
“You ran away from our little sister?”
Even after decades of tense standoff with Duke Douglas Havertz, I had been blocked by a mere woman and never managed to advance.
Hahaha. Our Charlotte really was the strongest in the world—
“…”
My expression twisted for no reason at all.
This was no time to laugh and daydream.
……I had made my choice.
No matter what, I had decided. My heart was set. The hesitation was still there, but I wouldn’t falter now!
*Not marriage.*
We had already shared our bodies. That much was true. I had gone all the way—offering my half-rational mind to raw, animalistic passion.
But there were other things I had to worry about.
*It’s not over yet.*
I turned my serious gaze toward Charlotte and gently stroked the strands of her light-blue hair as she slept peacefully.
I had saved her. I had killed Douglas Havertz and erased her future villainess fate.
But this world was too loose to be saved by that alone.
*Above all else… the black-robed men from the Duke’s faction hadn’t been wiped out yet.*
The so-called **Sephirot**… an organization of grotesque masked freaks who hid behind black robes and dreamed of ending the world.
In this world there had been countless bosses and villains, but Sephirot was the most dangerous faction— the core that had drawn all the spotlight away from me.
They had been too consumed with creating the ultimate villainess, the **Blood Witch**, to notice me properly.
I had hidden my identity perfectly until now. But once Douglas’s death became known, they would realize the one who had been blocking them for five years was their own eldest son.
In short, I had a mountain of work ahead of me. That was why I could not accept Charlotte’s… confession? Not yet.
And besides, I already had a fiancé…
……
The image of that blonde woman flashed through my mind and vanished instantly. It was not her. Besides, my relationship with her…
“Tch.”
I clicked my tongue, scowling.
Even if I set aside the problem of that woman…
*Seriously, I’m going crazy.*
Honestly, I wasn’t calm. How could I be?
If human emotions were this easy to control, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
I liked Charlotte. I liked my sister. Even if I removed the disgusting, filthy feelings of romance… she was still my sister.
I had wanted her to stay safe. That was why, last week, when I saved her…
That “I want to protect you” feeling was not limited to physical wounds.
I stared blankly at the full-length mirror in the corner of the room.
The silver-haired youth staring back at me looked utterly vacant.
“…”
I let my head drop in exhaustion and sighed deeply.
Finally, I cast one last glance at Charlotte, who was mumbling happily in her sleep—dreaming of something pleasant—before quietly standing up from the bed.
*****
Dawn had broken by the time I woke.
*BOOM!*
The door to the lord’s residence—specifically, the steward’s office—exploded open with a violent slam.
Isaac, who had been reviewing documents with the help of Steward Hemmel, froze instantly. Of course he did.
“……Lady Charlotte?”
Hemmel’s shocked voice pointed at the figure who had kicked the door down with her foot.
It was none other than Charlotte.
She looked at him with an expression colder than the abyss and spat the words out.
“Master.”
“Ye-yes?”
“You told me to call you that, didn’t you? Hemmel.”
Her voice was ice-cold, perfectly flat. Hemmel realized the atmosphere was poisonous and immediately lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, Master.”
……
“If you’d like, shall I step aside for a moment?”
……“Do it.”
“Yes, Master!”
With a crisp nod, Hemmel gathered the documents and placed them on the table.
“St-steward?”
Before Isaac could even say anything, Charlotte brushed past him and strode out of the office without a backward glance.
Alone in the suddenly empty room, Isaac felt a cold wave of betrayal crash over him.
*If you’re going like this… what am I supposed to do…?*
*Knock!*
……
That feeling didn’t last long. Before he could recover, Charlotte stepped forward, slammed both palms onto the desk, and leaned in close.
Her expression was so twisted it looked painful. She tilted her head slightly and spoke in a voice that sounded like molten lava.
“So this is how it’s going to be…? Onii-chan.”
……
The tone was scorching. If Isaac relaxed for even a second, he would burn.
He couldn’t answer. His pupils shook violently.
……
“Hah… really.”
Charlotte’s expression finally softened into a genuine, mocking smile as she realized that the man who had shared her body last night had simply abandoned her.
She looked down at him with a self-deprecating sneer.
And then—
“Watch this, Oppa.”
……“Eh, wha—?”
With an impossibly bright, cheerful smile that didn’t match her eyes at all, she sat up and tossed her light-blue hair.
A dangerous curve appeared on her lips.
“I was just trying to sell the idea that last night’s mistake was mine…”
……“No, it wasn’t like that at all.”
“Today I will remember every single second of this morning until the end of hell.”
……
“Oppa, you will spend the rest of your life regretting leaving me here this morning.”
Her crimson eyes burned with the promise of consumption.
Isaac had no choice but to stay silent. All he could do was swallow.
And Charlotte turned on her heel toward the man she called her brother, her gaze glittering like fresh frost.
“You’ll see?”
One final line dropped before she stepped over the threshold.
……“Your future wife.”
A tiny, demonic giggle followed her as she vanished.
*Bang!!*
……
The door slammed shut with such force it proved that even when she was smiling, she was not smiling at all.
Isaac remained completely silent.