CH 95

“Whoa-“

With a sharp intake of breath, Arista wiped the sweat from her brow. 

Hunting festival. It distinguishes the superiority by catching a lot of prey, and it is an event mainly for men. However, Arista attended the hunting festival this year, following last year.

She'd had several run-ins with her parents before attending, but she wasn't the only woman at the festival, so it wasn't unusual.

As she closed the eyes of the dead deer, she heard a rustling sound nearby. Arista's eyes snapped open and she swung her sword.

“Now, wait, Arista!”

Before her sword could reach the person behind her, Arista stopped at the sight of a familiar voice and face.

“……Brother.”

“Whoa, you've been gone a decade. I thought my liver was going to fall out.”

It was Lucas. Arista lowered her sword as she watched his chest heave in surprise.

“Why did you show up without any signs? I thought someone was going to attack.”

“I was just trying to surprise you with a familiar face.”

“Brother, have you forgotten that I'm a Sword Expert?”

Arista raised one corner of her mouth playfully, and Lucas held up both hands in defeat.

“Don't play with me when I'm holding a sword. I'll cut you in two.”

“Ugh, what kind of joke do you take seriously? Brutal.”

“I'm not kidding.”

Lucas glanced at Arista as she spoke, only to see the auror oozing out of her hand. 

Lucas swallowed hard as he realized she could have cut him in two.

He was sweating profusely from the nervousness, and Arista burst out laughing a beat too late.

“Hahaha, just kidding, there's no way I'd do that to my brother.”

“Ha, ha, ha… That's right, isn't it?”

Chuckling, Lucas watched Arista tie the deer's legs together and walked up beside her.

“Let me help you.”

Lucas took a piece of rope from Arista and tied the deer's front legs together.

“That's great. You've got a deer already. Is this your first kill?”

“No, it's my fourth.”

“Yeah, fourth?”

He was puzzled that she had so much more than he did.

He looked around and saw Arista's horse not far away, with a fox, a rabbit, and a small venison beside it.

Lucas stared at Arista, impressed with her performance. As she silently tied the deer, Arista couldn't ignore the intense stare and finally looked away.

“Did I ……get something on my face?”

“No, not that… I just thought you were amazing.”

“What, suddenly.”

Blushing for a moment, Arista shoved Lucas away, telling him to stop teasing her. 

“Not out of the blue. I mean, honestly, it's not easy to wield a sword in a girl's body, but you're a Sword Expert at a young age, and you're a better hunter than I am, so if that's not amazing, I don't know what is.”

Arista's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar compliment, but she shook her head with a bitter smile.

“I'm a good hunter. ……I guess. My parents aren't too happy about it, though. They're asking how long I'm going to keep hunting. Ares, he nags me every day about when I'm going to grow up.”

Lucas couldn't help but glance at Arista at the bitterness in her tone. The normally smiling woman looked a little shaken.

“Well, they're not wrong, but I can't just wield a sword forever. I need to start a family someday.”

Though she spoke as nonchalantly as she could, Lucas could see in her eyes how much she had given up, how much she had let go of, to get to this point.

“Well, I must move it now. Can you help me…….”

Quickly returning to her normal self, Arista got up and paused as she felt a gentle hand take hers.

When she looked down, she saw Lucas looking up at her.

“Don't give up.”

Arista's hand trembled.

“You love swords. Don't give up what you love because of what others say. Your hard work and passion are too valuable for that.”

Her heart sank; no one had ever said this to her before.

No one had ever said this to her, and no matter how hard she tried, no one had ever appreciated her sword-wielding because she was a woman, and everyone thought it was just a phase, an aberration.

‘……Why? You think I'm cool?'

Suddenly, Lucas' face mirrored that of a little boy. 

A young boy who was so angry and frustrated with a world that rejected him. A boy with a wall of words had saved her from despair.

“……This is why I fall for you. I hate it.”

“Huh? What?”

Lucas cocked his head at Arista's mumbling. Arista smiled and shook her head.

“Nothing.”

Arista tightened her grip on Lucas' hand, which she still held, and pulled him to his feet.

“By the looks of it, you're done hunting?”

“Yeah, I'm done here. I don't really like hunting in the first place.”

“Really? Then come with me.”

“Huh? Really?”

Arista was puzzled by Lucas' surprised reaction.

“Why is that?”

“Well, you like to hunt, so I figured you'd be up for more. Plus, you said there were monsters today, so I figured you'd go catch them…….”

“Ah…….”

Lucas wasn't wrong. In fact, before Lucas arrived, Arista had planned to go straight for the monster after she'd finished with the deer. But-

‘This is our chance to be alone, and I can't waste it.'

As she waited for Lucas, she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by.

Arista feigned a loss of interest and rode slowly with Lucas to the palace.

“Brother, the engagement.”

“……huh.”

When the subject of engagements came up, Lucas tensed up and answered late. 

“Are you really going to do it with her?”

“Well, we're dating, and we're getting close to being engaged, so I guess I should.”

“So it sounds like you're not getting engaged because you want to start a family with her.”

Arista, noticing the subtle nuance, cut to the chase.

Lucas stopped in his tracks, and Arista stopped walking and turned around.

Lucas' usually smiling face hardened slightly. 

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“……….”

Lucas' voice sounded cold. 

She was so nervous she could almost hear her heartbeat in her ears. Arista barely managed to stifle the churning in her stomach.

“If my brother doesn't truly love her… no, even if he does, I don't think he should let it slide like this.”

Lucas shook his head at the implications.

“I know what you're talking about…….”

“My brother's girlfriend is cheating on him.”

Lucas froze in his tracks at this point, unable to speak.

For a moment, Lucas' face contorted, and then his innocent features began to turn fierce.

“……Arista, this is not funny.”

His voice was a far cry from what it had been a moment ago, as cold as walking on ice. Arista hid her trembling hands and tried to remain calm.

“It's not that I don't understand my brother's reaction, but I've already seen him kiss another man twice.”

A thin gasp escaped Lucas' mouth, and his fists clenched.

A heavy silence fell. Lucas stroked his chin, neither angry nor denying Arista's words.

Cackle.

With a grinding sound, Lucas ruffled his hair roughly. He snapped his head around and glared at Arista.

“You're not lying, are you?”

Her heart thudded in her chest at the thought of Lucas doubting her. Arista clenched her fists.

“There's no way I'd lie about something like …….”

“Ha…….”

Luckily, Lucas didn't press her further. She wasn't sure if he believed her or not.

Arista watched Lucas' eyes and cautiously approached him.

“Do you… do you believe me?”

Lucas looked away with a complicated expression on his face and then glanced at Arista. Arista stammered, unable to make eye contact with him.

“To be honest, I don't want to believe it, but…….”

Her heart sank at his heartless words. But then he continued.

“You're not the kind of girl to say things like that.”

“I'm not ……Brother.”

“Tell me more about what you saw.”

Arista felt a surge of emotion rush through her as she watched Lucas calm his anger. 

But she fought back the tears that threatened to fall and recounted what she had seen and what she had learned.

“She told me that you were having a hard time with a girlfriend who cheated on you before, and how much it would hurt you if you found out about it again, and she told me to keep quiet, that if I just kept my mouth shut, nothing would happen.”

“That's not like you to fall for a shallow trick.”

Lucas chuckled, but the smile was long gone from his face. The blue walls slowly grew hollow as he listened to Arista continue.

“I was too scared to say anything at first, but when she brazenly told me she was getting engaged to my brother……!”

“Enough.”

Arista, who had been angry on Lucas' behalf, clamped her mouth shut as she felt a heavy weight on top of her head.

She looked up to see Lucas smiling bitterly and placing a hand on her head.

“……Thank you for your courage.”

“Big brother…….”

“Whoa, the back of my head is still tingling. Listening to you, I don't know who the hell I've ever met.”

“It's not your fault, it's all that woman's fault for cheating on you and being so shameless.”

Arista unconsciously reached out her arms to Lucas and hugged him tightly.

“So stop beating yourself up. I don't want to see you hurt.”

The warmth of her body felt like a new lease on life. Still, Lucas lifted his hand and pulled Arista into a tight hug.

Pausing for a moment, Arista closed her eyes tightly, silently comforting Lucas. They held each other in silence for several minutes. Soon, they slowly pulled apart.

“Well, that cheered me up a bit.”

“……Brother, you're not going to get engaged, are you?”

“Of course not, although we'll have to talk about it first.”

Arista, who was about to tell him not to talk to her, ended up saying nothing and shutting her mouth.

Lucas patted her on the shoulder, knowing she was just trying to comfort him.

“Come on, we should get going. It's been longer than we thought.”

“Yeah…….”

Lucas led the way, and Arista followed. Arista looked up silently, her brown hair swaying gently in the breeze as she stared off into the distance.

‘It's too far….…'

Lucas seemed so far, even though he was only a hand's reach away. Perhaps this is the invisible distance between him and herself.

Not wanting to look at Lucas in the distance, Arista finally bowed her head deeply. A few tears slipped out of her eyes.

As she snorted softly and rubbed her eyes, she bumped into something. Realizing it was Lucas' back, Arista wiped her tears away in a panic.

“Oh, my brother, why did you suddenly stop…….?”

Arista was mesmerized by the sight beyond Lucas for a moment.

Ha-

A self-deprecating chuckle came from right in front of her. Arista looked up at Lucas uneasily.

For a moment, she could tell she was angry as hell.

He must be too, because right in front of him-

“Becky.”

Becky was tangled up with some guy, kissing him.