“……”
Bella stared at me blankly for a moment before opening her mouth.
“I sometimes feel like you have a flower garden in your head.”
Hmm… I can’t entirely deny that, so I didn’t bother to argue.
I don’t think it’s exactly a flower garden, but it’s true that I’m excessively optimistic.
After all, here we are, making peace after nearly fighting for our lives just a while ago.
And I’m even trying to mend my relationship with the Emperor, who has deceived me all my life.
To those directly involved, it must seem utterly absurd.
“What do you think?”
At my words, Bella shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t really care about meeting the ‘other kids.’ In fact, it wasn’t like we were that bad off, you know?”
Bella said it with a mocking tone.
“At least Lucas didn’t try to kill me. What about you?”
“I… forgave him.”
“See? There you go, that flower garden in your head again. I can’t understand how you can forgive someone who once went crazy trying to kill his own sister.”
Bella’s expression stiffened a bit.
“And you know, there’s a reason why I could hate my ‘Father.'”
I nodded.
“But how do you plan to shrink that gap?”
“I never thought about shrinking it. I don’t have that kind of skill.”
“Right, you definitely don’t have that skill.”
It stung a little to hear Bella admit it, but I held back for now.
“So, you’re just going to wait for time to heal? Do you think that will make me forgive the Emperor?”
“……”
The phrase about time healing wounds is something you can say for wounds that can actually mend.
Using it on someone who has lost a limb? You’d deserve a slap.
There are hints that Bella’s childhood resembles Claire’s childhood from the original game.
That’s why Bella also found Claire quite endearing.
Thinking about it, I received quite a bit of cuteness as well. Of course, it’s likely that Bella wouldn’t find me as cute as the original Bella did with Claire. The Emperor had caught onto my abilities early and has kept his distance, observing me.
Even though Bella was close to the Emperor, she must have been wary of me.
But the reason she found me somewhat cute was probably due to how my situation resonated with her own childhood.
From an orphanage in the slums, sold off to someone who would do terrible things… Of course, I escaped before that happened, and Bella knew about that, but at the very least, she probably empathized with why I wanted to escape.
What would she think when she learned that I had been raised in a good family, well treated, clothed in fine garments, and fed delicious meals?
What would she think, remembering her ruined childhood because of her father?
I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me. That’s something only you can do.”
“So? You’re telling me not to seek revenge?”
“……”
“Why? Did you feel some sort of duty as a father?”
“…… This is a selfish reason.”
“Then let’s hear it.”
Bella dropped the spoon she had been holding, making an clang as it landed in the cup. Since the cup was tall, the spoon barely fit.
“…… I just don’t want to fight anymore.”
“……”
“That’s all there is to it. I have no other reason.”
At my words, Bella stared at me with her mouth agape.
I had nothing more to say.
This was purely Bella’s issue.
Lucas had done wrong to me in a major way. Naturally, I thought it was right for him to apologize, and even when Lucas was obstinate, I felt frustrated but didn’t feel guilty.
Jayden was someone who would initially listen to anything I said.
But Bella… discussing things like this with her was complicated in many ways.
“So, you’re saying that you just want to do it for no reason other than your own desire.”
It sounded absurd.
So I couldn’t explain it.
If Bella refused, that would be the end of the discussion.
Bella looked at me quietly before opening her mouth again.
“What if I refuse? Would you stop seeing me after that?”
“…… Do you ever want to see me?”
At my question, Bella frowned.
Her expression said that it was a very strange question.
Crossing her arms and leaning against the backrest, she thought for a moment before answering.
“There are times I want to see you.”
Bella looked at me quietly as she spoke.
“After all, you were… family to me. I know that sounds strange. You, Lucas, and Jayden, it’s more about comradeship for all of us than family. But still.”
Bella’s gaze turned to the ceiling.
She stared at the lamp hanging there and said, “Now that that comrade-like relationship is gone, only that shallow notion of family has remained. That’s all I have left in my life now. So yeah, there are times when I want to see you.”
Bella turned back to me and asked.
“What do you think? Are there times you want to see me?”
This time, I was the one staring at Bella blankly.
I had intended to ask a question, but I hadn’t expected her to throw this back at me.
I never thought she would actively take a step forward.
“What about not just me? How about Lucas, Jayden, or Damien? Do you want to see them sometimes?”
I furrowed my eyebrows just like Bella and contemplated seriously.
“…… Occasionally?”
“When you think of me?”
Bella’s expression looked normal, but her voice seemed a bit shaky.
Of course, that could just be my imagination.
“…… If there were someone I didn’t think about at all, I wouldn’t have bothered coming here to make an effort.”
I said, “You guys are all that’s left of my family.”
Bella looked at me blankly for a while.
With her mouth slightly open, she seemed to have lost her spirit.
“…… How did you convince the others? Was it that Jayden beat Lucas?”
“That makes it sound worse. And Lucas would never admit that.”
In reality, Jayden had taken more hits, but he seemed satisfied.
“What were the conditions?”
“Conditions?”
“Yeah. You didn’t ask Jayden for a favor? What did Jayden want from you?”
I felt a bit uneasy.
Why was she asking about that all of a sudden?
“Why?”
“Just tell me. Before you ask for something, you have to set the conditions, right? Isn’t that how it works?”
“……”
I kept my mouth shut and stared at Bella as I seriously thought about why she was saying such things.
However, it was a bit hard to reach a conclusion.
The emotions that had momentarily surfaced had now slyly hidden under Bella’s smiling face. The Bella in front of me now was the skilled spy who could stealthily infiltrate any place and extract information.
“……It’s calling me ‘older brother.'”
“What?”
But my face turned beet red at her teasing response, bringing back that blank expression on Bella’s face again.
“…… I told Jayden I’d call him ‘older brother’ for a few days. Jayden accepted that condition.”
“……”
Bella looked at me with that blank face, then suddenly burst out laughing, “Haha, haha!”
She couldn’t hold it in and laughed so hard she had to clutch her belly.
I worried the cup might spill as she thumped the table.
“That’s so like Jayden! He really cared about you, huh?”
“……”
While I kept my mouth firmly shut, Bella wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Hah, that was really funny. I haven’t laughed like that in ages, heh.”
And looking at me again, she said, “Then I’ll accept that condition for our deal.”
“……”
I stared blankly at Bella.
“What deal was I proposing?”
“You came to ask me a favor. And if someone accepts that favor, and then you set a condition, that’s a deal.”
Is that really how it worked?
“…… So you want me to…?”
“I’d like you to call me ‘sister.’ Jayden asked for that, right? How about… a week? The duration can be whatever I want.”
“…… Jayden only had two days.”
“Well, that’s because he was a one-time thing.”
Bella leaned on the table, clasped her hands beneath her chin, and looked at me.
“But I’m a bit different. You asked me not to kill the Emperor, right? Ah, thanks to you, I have to live my life suppressing the urge to kill for good. Considering the loss I feel, just changing the title for a week is a very advantageous deal for you, don’t you think?”
“……”
I couldn’t deny that.
As I sat there, keeping quiet for a while, Bella extended a hand toward me.
……
In the end, I took her hand.
Bella then burst into laughter again, clutching her belly as she did.
I felt like I had been caught in some trap.
It was clearly a deal where I wouldn’t lose anything, so why was my stomach aching so much?
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