CH 12

When her adoptive mother’s words unexpectedly pierced her chest, the Count’s voice cut in.

“Stop it! Don’t say foolish things like that!”

“Dear…! But, but…!”

The Count came down the stairs and pulled the Countess, who was clinging to Wisteria, away into his arms.

The Countess finally broke down into tears and clung to her husband’s chest.

“If we don’t do anything, our little girl will…!!”

The Count’s face contorted in pain as he hugged the Countess tightly.

“Pull yourself together. …Forgive me, Wisteria. Forget what she said.”

Yes, Wisteria could only manage to reply in a hoarse voice.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Wisteria…!”

The Countess sobbed, still in her husband’s arms.

Wisteria only shook her head. It was all she could do.

She felt dizzy, and the inside of her head was unsteady, as though she was in a violent storm. There was a sharp pain in her chest like a blade had been stabbed into it, and her heart was pounding wildly.

Take Rosalie’s place.

That pleading cry echoed in the depths of her ears.

——Resistance to the miasma.

Certainly, she had it. But even with that, she couldn’t escape death.

The guardians were those who went there and didn’t return.

She felt as though the ground was suddenly crumbling beneath her.

It was then that the door opened with a loud bang.

“Lord Lafferty!”

A silver gleam rushed into the room along with the sound of the rain outside.

Wisteria blinked her pale purple eyes.

It was Bright, dripping all over, breathing hard.

His golden eyes glowed like burning fire.

The Count and Countess were also shocked by their sudden visitor.

“Please forgive my rudeness. I heard the Institute of Magic sent out an absurd notice–where is Rosalie right now!?”

The friendly and smiling young man was nowhere to be seen. The Countess told him, her voice mingled with sobs. 

“She’s upstairs in her room…Your Excellency, please, save that girl…!”

The Countess had never once tried to rely on the power of the Reunings, but for the first time, she begged him. The Count, who was holding her in her arms, didn’t rebuke her. With a grim expression on his face, he told Bright, Please, we beg of you.

“――I will do it. Even if it’s on Reuning’s honor.”

Bright nodded, his eyes burning with anger, and ran up the stairs.

Wisteria just stood by and watched. The Countess couldn’t stop sobbing, and she looked as if she couldn’t stand without her husband’s embrace. But the Count, too, seemed unable to hold himself together without embracing his wife that way.

Wisteria stepped forward with wobbling steps.

(Rosalie…)

―Oh, yes. What is Rosalie doing right now? Upstairs. She should be the one who is suffering the most right now.

She hadn’t seen her face even once since she came home. Was she alone in her room on the second floor?

Bright was following that.

Behind Wisteria’s eyelids, she saw golden eyes shining like fire and glittering silver. 

Like an insect attracted to light, Wisteria’s feet moved of their own accord.

Up the stairs to the second floor. She headed for Rosalie’s room, which she knew very well.

From the other side of the slightly opened door, a ray of light shined into the corridor.

It was then she heard what sounded like a scream.

Wisteria unconsciously broke into a run and stopped at the door, putting her hand on it. It was because she heard two people arguing.

“G-Go home! What…what are you doing here, trying to mock me!? Telling me how you feel sorry for me!!”

“No, I’m not! Calm down, Rosalie!”

“Stop it! I’m fine, I’m fine! I don’t need to be comforted by you——”

Rosalie’s voice, which sounded like she was throwing a tantrum, suddenly became muffled.

The red-haired girl was being covered by the silver-haired man’s broad back.

Wisteria froze in place, her eyes wide open.

Bright was embracing Rosalie tightly. Rosalie was fighting like a fretful child.

“L-Let go! Let go of me! I’m fine——”

Rosalie screamed stubbornly, her face contorting.

Like a hurt child, she continued to curse at him falteringly.

But eventually, her resistance slowly ceased, and her voice began to quiver, replaced by sobs.

“…I’m scared. I’m scared. I don’t want to die…”

Her small red head was buried in Bright’s chest.

The wide back moved faintly, and the arms that held her seemed to grow tighter.

“I won’t let you die. I will never let you die.”

The voice was low and controlled, but still full of passion.

Wisteria had never heard such a passionate voice before.

The sobbing girl lifted her arms in search of something to hold on to. She then hugged his large back.

The young man hugged her tightly, as though hiding her.

“——I love you, Rosalie.”

A whisper, stifled, but still full of emotion.

Wisteria’s breath caught.

For a moment, everything in her eyes lost meaning.

Her hand slipped soundlessly from the doorknob, and her legs staggered.

A dull thump on her back. She had bumped into a wall, frightened. Immediately, she turned on her heel and ran down the dark corridor.

“It’s wonderful to meet you. You’re Wisteria? I’m from House Reuning——”

The day they first met. He was like the sun, smiling without a trace of shadow.

“You really are a kind person. Talking with you makes me feel at peace.”

She was so happy to be told this without any ill will that she shivered. ——She was so ecstatic that her face turned red.

She ran into her room and closed the door.

She collapsed with her back against the door and looked up at the darkness blankly.

It felt like blood was gushing from her heart.

She couldn’t breathe.

Her breathing was in disarray, and even though she had to breathe, the pain prevented her from doing so.

There was a loud ringing from the back of her ears to the deeper part of her head.

“Rosalie, please emulate Wisteria a little.”

The Countess had gently chided, her smile not hiding her affection.

“I’m not as ladylike as Big Sister anyways!”

Rosalie had puffed out her cheeks like a little child. The Count looked at her with a gentle smile. And Wisteria also looked at her adoptive sister, thinking how adorable she was.

——She must not bring shame to her adoptive parents. As the adopted child of the Count and Countess of Vatue, she must not embarrass them. That was how she behaved. She was praised for it, so she thought that was the right thing to do.

Bright also praised her.

She was sure that he would also choose her one day.

“Why are you comparing yourself to her? That red hair of yours is a gentle color–it’s so beautiful.”

“You really are so unreservedly funny…!”

He never once directed to her the things he directed towards her younger sister.

“——I love you, Rosalie.”

Wisteria’s throat became stuffed and she clutched her chest in intense pain. Her heart was pounding through her body, constricting her throat and stabbing her in the back of her eyes.

Her throat quivered as pain shot up the back of her nose.

――I’m the one who loved you.

The words she screamed in her chest never turned into sound.

Always—always.

I’ve always loved you much more than Rosalie!

Instead of a scream, a sob escaped her lips.

In the dark room, Wisteria was crouching down alone.

Her long black hair, loose and wavy, spread out on the floor, misty tears spilled down from underneath, and her collapsed body continued to shake.

Only the distant sound of rain and darkness shrouded her small figure.