That Means I'm Also Her Older Brother
Seo Moon-min-hye had been trying to learn more about Seo Moon-jin, the older brother she never knew existed, ever since that day. The first person she went to for answers was Seo Moon-hyun, the brother she had always relied on.
"Oppa. Did I have another older brother?"
"Huh? Ah… yeah, I guess there was one."
Seo Moon-hyun greeted his approaching sister with his usual smile, but his expression darkened slightly at her question. He had known about Seo Moon-jin, of course, but the memory had faded over the years. When he was four, ten years ago, he had treated Seo Moon-jin like nothing more than a servant. Even after his older brother suddenly disappeared, he had never bothered to look for him.
"What kind of person was he?"
Within the Seo family, Seo Moon-jin's existence had become taboo. The patriarch, Seo Moon-kang-hyuk, had never explicitly forbidden anyone from speaking of him, but by erasing his name from the family register and declaring he had no such son, the family treated Seo Moon-jin as if he had never existed at all.
How did she find out?
Seo Moon-hyun felt uneasy. He wondered how Seo Moon-min-hye had learned about their long-vanished older brother, and her question left him at a loss for words.
"Honestly, I don't know much either."
He couldn't give her a proper answer. While he remembered Seo Moon-jin's existence, he had only been four years old at the time. Even if his memory was sharper than most because he was an awakener, recalling every detail from that age was difficult. To be honest, he had never cared about Seo Moon-jin back then.
"Oppa, he was your brother, wasn't he? Don't you remember anything?"
"Mm… It's embarrassing, but we never really talked. I just thought of him as another servant in the end."
Under their father Seo Moon-kang-hyuk's blatant favoritism, Seo Moon-hyun had never felt the need to have any deep conversations with Seo Moon-jin. Even though they were brothers, Seo Moon-hyun saw himself as the next head of the family, second only to their father. To him, Seo Moon-jin was just another subordinate—someone to treat decently if he happened to catch his eye. That was all there had been to it. Looking back now, it seemed like an excessive way to think.
"…What happened after that?"
"Hmm, well… I heard Father kicked him out. Something about changing his identity and sending him somewhere he could live comfortably. I don't know the details."
Seo Moon-hyun had never taken an interest in the matter. If he was being honest, he had completely forgotten about Seo Moon-jin's existence until Seo Moon-min-hye brought it up. The family had always called him a disgrace, someone not worth remembering. Growing up hearing that, Seo Moon-hyun had simply accepted it as fact. There was more to it, of course, but he refused to think that far. He mustn't.
"Oppa, he was your brother. Didn't you ever think about finding him?"
Seo Moon-min-hye felt a wave of disappointment and rejection toward her brother. It was as if she had glimpsed the careless side hidden beneath the kind and diligent image she had always believed in. But Seo Moon-hyun, oblivious to her feelings, only gave a bitter smile.
"To be honest, I forgot I even had a brother until you mentioned him."
"What?"
"It would've been painful for him to stay in the Seo family without any talent anyway. This is probably for the best."
Seo Moon-min-hye realized he was just rationalizing. Even though she was still young, she could see that her brother was making assumptions and justifying things to suit himself.
"Would our oldest brother think the same way?"
"Why wouldn't he? Father must have prepared a way for him to live. I'm sure he's doing fine somewhere."
From his words, Seo Moon-min-hye understood that Seo Moon-hyun believed the family had done the right thing. He assumed their father had treated Seo Moon-jin fairly without giving it a second thought.
But our oldest brother… he hated the family.
She needed to find out more. Something wasn't right.
"So you never looked into it?"
"Uh, yeah… I guess not."
"What if Father just threw him out with nothing?"
"Min-hye! Don't say things like that."
Seo Moon-hyun's expression suddenly turned stern.
"Father would never do something like that! How could you even suggest it, even in the family?"
Seo Moon-min-hye felt her disappointment in him grow even stronger. Her brother wasn't the wonderful, upright person she had believed him to be. It was as if he was blinded by some strange illusion, forcing his own narrow-minded views on others like a side character from a comic who insisted he was always right. Even as deep disappointment settled in her chest, she didn't show it.
"I understand, Oppa. I'll remember that."
"Good. Don't bring it up again."
Seo Moon-min-hye had meant she would remember his words, but Seo Moon-hyun took it as her promise never to mention the topic again.
I need to look into this more.
Seo Moon-min-hye continued asking the long-serving retainers of the family about Seo Moon-jin.
"Seo Moon-jin? Where did you hear that name, my lady?"
"Ah, yes, there was such a person."
"He was a disgrace to the Seo family. His name was struck from the register and he was thrown out with nothing."
"He's probably dead by now. You should forget about someone like that, my lady. He was a stain on the family."
"The blood of the patriarch? The patriarch never acknowledged him as a son and cast him out. If he ever tries to claim the Seo name, the patriarch will never forgive him."
Through these conversations, Seo Moon-min-hye realized she had been just as ignorant about the Seo family as her brother. Because everyone had always treated her kindly and granted her requests, she had grown up bright and cheerful, mistaking their indulgence for genuine care.
It was all my misunderstanding.
Even at her young age, she had learned the basics of right and wrong. Though she was still years away from entering the academy for mana awakeners, she had received basic education. Even among the children of high-ranking mana awakeners, she had been taught the difference between right and wrong. Whether she would uphold those lessons was another matter, but at least she was old enough to understand them.
This is strange.
Everything felt wrong. The world Seo Moon-min-hye had trusted and taken for granted was crumbling before her eyes.
That night, without telling anyone where she had gotten it, she secretly consumed the wild ginseng Seo Moon-jin had given her.
* * *
I am the older brother of this novel's protagonist. That also means I am the older brother of the female lead.
If Seo Moon-min-hye ever learned how the family had treated me, her resentment toward the Seo family would grow, and her goodwill toward me would deepen.
And once she sees my power, the affection and admiration she once directed at Seo Moon-hyun will turn to me instead.
Seo Moon-min-hye was written as a devoted younger sister who held deep affection and admiration for her older brother. She was the type often called a "brocon," a sub-heroine whose relationship with her brother walked a thin line. Since I was her real older brother, it wasn't impossible to redirect that affection away from Seo Moon-hyun and toward myself. Especially with my superior abilities and the tragic past of being unfairly cast out, she would likely feel a mix of admiration, pity, and guilt for having known nothing all this time.
"Meeting her regularly is important, but…"
Seeing her too often wouldn't be good either. I didn't want to look like some unemployed older brother with nothing better to do than visit his sister. That would only hurt my favorability.
"Summon—Greed, Mammon."
I summoned another familiar, one who would operate separately from Beelzebub.
"The demon of greed, Mammon, greets you, my lord~"
A handsome blond man bowed with exaggerated flourish. I looked at him without much interest. This was Mammon, the demon of greed I had summoned.
"Mammon. Explaining why I summoned you would be a hassle, so just take this information. Once you receive it, you'll understand everything."
Just as I had done with Beelzebub, I prepared to transmit the necessary knowledge about this world and the tasks he needed to complete. Mammon nodded.
"Yes, my lord! This Mammon will gladly accept the information you bestow!"
His overly enthusiastic attitude, combined with the deliberate showmanship, still felt off. In truth, Mammon was better at making money than Beelzebub, but I had summoned Beelzebub first because he had the most normal personality among my familiars. Still, Mammon was a capable demon in modern society.
"Oh, I see. So that's how it works."
"That's right, Mammon. You have the ability to glimpse the future limited to matters of profit and loss. Use that to invest in stocks and gather funds."
"Yes, sir! This Mammon will become the world's greatest investor in accordance with your command!"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Take this gold as starting capital, exchange it for money, and get going."
"Yes, my lord! Then I shall take my leave!"
Mammon quickly stored the gold bars I handed him into his pocket dimension and vanished. Already, the thought of summoning the rest of my familiars felt tiresome.
Lilith will be the most annoying… and the others all have their own issues.
But they were useful. Someday, the time would come when I would summon and keep all of them around.