Chapter 59
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59
Lisian’s room was surprisingly ordinary.
By that, I mean it was roughly the same size as the new room Tulia had been given.
Even if he didn't receive much attention from the Marquis, Lisian’s influence was incomparable to someone like Tulia. Had he made even a single request, Aubrina Lilius would have scrambled to prepare the finest, most luxurious room for him.
It seemed Lisian had stayed in this room—the one Aubrina had given him as a sort of test—without any complaint.
From his childhood until now.
‘He didn't come to the main castle often anyway.’
A place where people don't frequently stay can never truly feel lived-in, no matter how much it’s decorated or how high the heat is turned up. It lacked that sense of ease, that coziness.
However, as I stepped into the drawing room—which was elegant and clean, as expected of a young nobleman’s quarters—I noticed a strange scent.
Usually, a noble’s residence would smell of fragrant flowers or perhaps fruit, but…
‘Why does it smell so strongly of medicinal herbs?’
Having been unwillingly surrounded by medicine lately, I recognized the scent immediately. These were herbs used to aid recovery.
‘And it’s quite a potent dose, too…’
It was the same herb the chief physician tried to make me take once a day. But the taste was truly agonizing. It looked like a flaky pastry, but the moment you chewed it, the foul bitterness was enough to bring tears to your eyes. Nausea was a bonus.
Its name was Loquium, which literally meant ‘bitter.’ I was currently barely managing to eat half a piece of that finger-length herb a day.
And yet…
“…Lisian?”
Lisian, who always maintained a straight and proper posture. The beautiful boy who would stutter and blush a deep pink quite often.
The true male lead of The Milk Bread and the story’s most iconic devoted lover.
That Lisian… was eating Loquium.
He was eating that unspeakably bitter, almost poisonous-tasting herb.
The sight of Lisian sitting on the sofa, incessantly shoving Loquium into his mouth, felt utterly surreal. Of course, even doing that, his radiant beauty made him look refined and solemn.
Still, it was strange. The sense of urgency about him was completely unlike his usual self.
“…Tulia?”
He swallowed the Loquium he had been chewing and stood up in surprise.
“Li-Lisian.”
His expression didn't change—well, it did. But it wasn't the face of someone grimacing from a bitter medicine like I would; it was the face of someone startled by my sudden entrance.
His light green eyes stared at me, filled only with that level of surprise.
“I-Is… isn’t that way too bitter?”
I was the one stuttering as I asked.
“Or is that not Loquium?”
Could it be some similar-looking chocolate snack?
Lisian hesitated for a moment before answering.
“It… it i-is Loquium.”
…Had Lisian lost his sense of taste?
“It’s not bitter?!”
“…It i-is bitter.”
“Then why are you snacking on it like it’s a cookie?!”
I rushed over and snatched the basket containing the Loquium to check. It was already two-thirds empty.
“A-Are you critically ill or something?”
Did he have some massive internal injury or wound that required this level of sensory torture?
“Are you hurt?”
But there was no physician in the room. And Lisian looked perfectly fine on the outside.
“N-No, it’s not that.”
“Then what?”
Lisian averted his gaze slightly. He let out a low sigh.
“T-Today is the e-emergency council m-meeting.”
“Yeah.”
“I… I have to s-sit in as my f-father’s proxy and c-constantly… g-give testimony…”
As he spoke, Lisian’s neck and cheeks grew red.
Ah.
So that was why he had been chewing on that horrific medicine all day.
Since it was a grand council meeting, numerous nobles would be in attendance. As the Marquis’s heir, Lisian would have to sit in a very high position—perhaps even higher than Grand Count Nigella Frezier or Viscount Lilius.
And from that seat, he would do his best to protect me and Leon Frezier.
In his own way.
In the only way he knew how.
That was why he hated his stuttering. He was shoving that unspeakably bitter Loquium into his mouth without rest, hoping it might alleviate his condition even a little.
“…”
“…Lisian.”
“Yes.”
I had called his name, but my throat felt so tight I couldn't say anything more. Lisian didn't ask why I’d called him, either.
A heavy, lonely silence hung between us.
And then I realized. Lisian was feeling ashamed. To him, who viewed his condition as a flaw, this situation was incredibly wounding to his pride.
And yet, Lisian had told me the truth about why he was eating the Loquium without hiding a single thing.
It was an act of pure consideration. For his younger sister, who had been shocked to see him frantically chewing on medicine without a word.
…For me.
Lisian always managed to leave me speechless.
“…Hey,” I said, biting my lip before asking. “Does eating this much… actually work? Even temporarily?”
“I d-don’t know.”
“…”
“So far… n-not at all.”
“…”
“N-No matter how much I e-eat, s-since I was l-little.”
“…”
“I-I’m always like th-this. U-Useless.”
His faint smile was self-deprecating.
He was calling himself useless. Right now.
My grip tightened on the basket.
“If you’re useless, Brother…”
“…Huh?”
“Then everyone else in this world is completely and utterly useless.”
“C-Completely and utterly?”
“Yes. Not just useless. Completely. And. Utterly.”
“…”
“Worthless. I mean it…”
Lisian’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Tulia. Th-That kind of l-language isn’t b-befitting a n-noble.”
“What do you expect when I’m this angry?”
I didn't expect such a childish whine to come out of my mouth either. Even then, the faint smile on Lisian’s lips was so mature. It was so mature that it made me keep acting like a spoiled child.
“It’s okay, Tulia.”
The eyes gazing at me were warm and kind, like a gentle touch on a spring day.
“I… I…”
“…”
“H-Have a d-duty to p-protect you all.”
“…”
“B-Because I’m the e-eldest…”
“…”
“I-I’m your b-brother. And Leon’s b-brother.”
“…”
Lisian was still young, too.
He was only seventeen, just a student at the Academy. And yet, our uncles—who were more than twice his age—were hell-bent on tearing us apart.
“Don’t eat this stuff, Lisian.”
I jerked the basket away. I knew. I knew Lisian wasn't shoving this bitterness into his mouth all day because he wanted to.
“I know you’re nervous. But you’re wrong about one thing.”
“Wh-Which part?”
I took a hard bite of the Loquium, like a hero from a legend chewing on bitter gall to steel their resolve. It tasted so foul it brought tears to my eyes, but it snapped me into focus.
I looked him straight in the eye and said, “Family has a duty to protect each other.”