Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Me? (2)
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Swish―
The fountain in front of the main building bubbled steadily.
Celestina had been silent ever since we sat down on the bench.
She wasn't saying anything first, so even I, who had no intention of pressing her, ended up staring blankly at the fountain.
"Um, excuse me."
"Hm?"
After we'd been gazing at the fountain for a good while like that, Celestina finally parted her heavy lips.
I turned to look at her, and there she was, fidgeting awkwardly and avoiding my eyes.
'What the fuck.'
Her reaction left me even more flustered.
What was up with her?
"Well, you see, um..."
Celestina stammered on like that for a while longer before finally nodding with a resolute expression and looking me straight in the eye.
"Mr. Blackmere."
"Yes."
"Last time, you said it was because of family matters."
"Ah, that..."
That was right.
It was just the other day, in a conversation we'd had right here on this bench by the fountain, much like now.
When she'd asked what had happened after my suspension, I'd vaguely dodged with 'family matters.'
There was no way to explain my sudden change in attitude after possessing Leonard's body.
It had been a hasty excuse on my part, but it seemed Celestina couldn't just let it slide.
"I know it's incredibly rude to ask, but..."
Celestina looked at me with drooping eyebrows.
Her expression seemed almost pitiful at a glance, leaving me at a loss for words.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke up.
"Could you... perhaps tell me what happened with your family?"
The moment I heard that, I caught the hidden intent behind Celestina's question.
'She's still suspicious, that ruthless bitch...!'
Celestina was clearly doubting me.
She wanted to know what those 'family matters' I'd mentioned were that had made me change so drastically—or if there was some other scheme brewing.
I couldn't think of any other reason for her to ask something like that.
Once I thought about it that way, even Celestina's seemingly earnest eyes started to look different.
They were a bit moist, almost tender at first glance, but clearly possessed by the demon of suspicion.
Family matters?
What about them?
'What do I even say?'
She was asking what had happened to make me change, and telling her 'If I get expelled, my family will make me commit seppuku' would just sound ridiculous.
I could say it, sure.
But it wouldn't logically explain my sudden transformation.
Chased out of the academy, then chased out of the family too?
Then why had I acted like a total scumbag before knowing that?
What, I didn't know until recently and now I'm trying to change?
So all my previous behavior wasn't genuine?
Just pretending to be good now that I'm desperate? Then die.
'Fuck me.'
It was a true Sophie's choice.
Of course, I'd gone through some pretty extreme thinking, but considering I was the worst of the worst scum everyone shook their heads at before the suspension, it wasn't all that strange.
Just when I was starting to shed that thug image, hearing that everything I'd shown so far was fake would leave me not just stuck, but utterly hopeless.
Rehabilitating Leonard's image would be a pipe dream.
And no good excuse was coming to mind.
Leon's memories were still patchy, torn and faded in places, especially the older ones.
I kept a calm face while meeting Celestina's pleading gaze, but inside, I was seething.
"I can't tell you."
That was all I could manage in the end.
Hearing my answer, Celestina's eyes widened as she spoke in a trembling voice.
"B-but..."
"Why should I tell you about my family's affairs, Celestina?"
It didn't sit right with me to drive a nail into her desperate expression right in front of me.
But still, a man has to survive.
"Celestina, it's none of your business. It's awkward to even bring up."
"Mr. Blackmere. About what happened during last week's Observation Class..."
"How do you know about that? Did you hear rumors?"
"W-well."
"It's true. I got slapped by my brother in front of everyone."
"......"
"That's all personal business too. There's no reason for you to care."
I thought that was the best response I could give.
I was prepared for her look of contempt.
It seemed like she'd come here because she'd guessed something on her own, and I'd basically told her 'Mind your own business.'
And the fact that she'd pieced something together from chewing over my words was proof she still suspected my changed behavior.
"Ah..."
But contrary to my expectations, Celestina didn't snap at me; she just stared blankly into my eyes.
Her blue eyes swirled with complex emotions.
She gazed at me steadily with those softened eyes for a long while.
Then she slowly bowed her head and murmured in a fading voice.
"I apologize. Personal matters... I see."
"Yes. Personal matters. I can't tell you."
"I understand. I underst..."
Celestina's voice trailed off smaller and smaller until she was barely whispering something inaudible.
"If that's all, I'll head off to club activities now..."
Just as I was smoothly making my exit, Celestina's hand suddenly grabbed my arm.
'Whoa.'
I nearly let out a girly yelp, no joke.
I swallowed dryly and turned to her.
"Celestina?"
"......"
"...It kinda hurts."
Squeeze―
I had no idea where this strength was coming from; she gripped my arm tightly, still avoiding my eyes.
She trembled while holding my arm for a moment before finally speaking slowly.
"Mr. Blackmere. Just one last thing, really the last... may I ask you something more?"
"Sure."
"What do you think of... your brother, Edwin Percival Blackmere?"
"My brother?"
Nod.
With just a nod instead of words, I openly showed my honest feelings without needing excuses.
"He's my blood brother, but I think we've grown too distant now."
"Ah..."
Edwin Percival Blackmere.
I wasn't sure exactly what their relationship was like before I possessed him, but recalling original story lines and fragmented memories, he was someone who utterly despised Leonard.
Having faced each other for so long, I doubted there was any chance left to bridge the emotional gap.
Leonard had gone too far, and Edwin was the type who tolerated no mistakes.
As long as he didn't outright want me dead, that would be enough.
But that was that.
"Someday, I'll have to clear the air. No idea when, though."
Last week's humiliation—I'd pay it back for sure.
We'll settle this at home.
"Is that all?"
"......Yes."
"Alright, then."
Leaving Celestina still seated on the bench behind me, I finally walked away from her.
Her posture—head hung low, unable to meet my eyes—nagged at me a bit.
But I'd given the best answers I could.
Alone on the bench by the fountain.
Celestina stared blankly at the trickling water.
The recent conversation kept floating up in her mind.
'Why should I tell you about my family's affairs, Celestina?'
Leon's responses had seemed curt at first, but carried a sense of resignation somewhere beneath.
'It's true. I got slapped by my brother in front of everyone.'
'That's all personal business too. There's no reason for you to care.'
They were flawless answers without a single rough edge, yet the more Celestina recalled those stiff words, the more a sharp ache stung in her chest.
Leon's attitude of resignation toward everything bothered her.
A pang of disappointment rose at his refusal to share about his family.
She knew she had no emotional bond with him to feel that way.
But then, who could comfort Leon?
If even his family and brother pushed him away so coldly, who in the world shared any emotional connection with him?
Celestina suddenly thought of Charlotte.
Yes, Charlotte might be the only one—the so-called 'friend'—who'd shared any emotional exchange with him.
Or maybe that timid-looking male student she'd bumped into in front of the library just earlier.
But neither truly knew his circumstances.
In the end, Leon still stood alone with nowhere to lean.
And Celestina had despised such a Leon.
Because she'd seen him as a mindless thug.
If not for the tangled circumstances of the Blackmere Family, she would have continued thinking that way and scorning him.
'The Blackmere Family...'
A prestigious house that had held the title of Court Earl for generations.
And for a noble family to be 'prestigious' often meant rigid and strict.
The stronger the traditions, the more steadfast the efforts to uphold them.
Especially for the Blackmere Family, renowned for swordsmanship since ancient times and bearers of the Court Earl title.
What could have driven Edwin to show such loathing toward his younger brother Leon?
It didn't add up to chalk it up simply to Leon's thuggish behavior at the academy; it clashed with the conversation she'd unintentionally overheard on the promenade that day.
Edwin still seemed to harbor lingering attachment toward Leon.
A love-hate relationship where the hate had just deepened a bit more.
The fragile thread holding that 'love' together was probably Leon's childhood.
An unwelcome question arose that Celestina didn't even want to consider.
'Was the old Leon really just a thug?'
Or had he been forced to act that way?
Before enrolling at Kingswell, Leon must have behaved like a thug even within the family.
Otherwise, Edwin's level of disgust wouldn't make sense.
Doubts crept into every action.
In truth, Celestina was already half-convinced.
His thuggish behavior was deliberate.
'He's my blood brother, but I think we've grown too distant now.'
Leon's recent response was the clincher.
Leon surely knew it too.
That self-deprecating answer—that they'd grown too distant—could only come from someone fully aware of his own actions.
Of course, playing the thug and harming others for personal reasons was still blameworthy.
But Celestina knew it went beyond mere 'personal reasons.'
A dark, aching story too painful to speak aloud, one he'd endured alone for so long.
The academy students who despised and scorned him without knowing.
And Celestina herself, who had once been among them.
"Just what kind of pain is he carrying..."
She wanted to share that burden with him.
The sudden impulse was undoubtedly a wish arising from the depths of Celestina's heart.