CH 25

Chapter 25: Unknown knowledge (4)

[ T/N: For the fastest release, read on ReadingPia.me ]

“…Is that woman more precious than me?”

The expression on Keirsey’s face when she said that looked so painful, even I frowned.

I looked at Judy once, then turned to Keirsey again.

I tried to be cold and indifferent, but now I couldn't

Did I last 4 days? This too was a lot.

I put my hand on Keirsey’s cheek.

It’s been a while since I touched her so affectionately.

“Keirsey, how can it be?”

Their words weren't meant to hurt Judy at all. It was always difficult to answer the question of which of the two one liked more… but if one compared family and friends, who wouldn't choose their family?

Keirsey trembled at my hand.

“….Ah..”

Keirsey, who was startled at my affectionate act, relaxed her expression and rubbed her cheek with my hand like a cat.

I felt silky hair touching the back of my hand.

Keirsey then suddenly grabbed the back of my hand, preventing my hand from leaving her cheek.

“You are of course more important. Do you even have to ask?” I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“…Yeah... You have to tell me to know..” Her eyes began to moist.

She rubbed her cheek like that for a while, but soon she paused, then she opened her eyes coldly.

“…The smell…”

“…What?”

I doubted my ears.

“Your hand smells like that woman.”

“……”

“Give me your other hand, Oppa. I hate this smell.”

“Are you pretty sensitive to smells?”

I sighed and asked in an ambiguous sense.

She first said my body stank, but now she hated even Judy's scent. Maybe it was the really right decision to prohibit any kind of skinship.

As if she had made a mistake, Keirsey released her cold expression and spoke in a panicked voice.

“Ah…! No…!”

I removed my hand from her. After that, I did not stroke her cheek again—

“I’ll be careful.”

—I said.

It’s been a long time since we had a skinship, but I felt like I did it for nothing.

Even though she said those words to Judy, it felt like my wounds were stinging.

“Oppa…! It’s not that…!”

Her excuses were not heard.

I was just more worried about how to solve this situation.

'Keirsey gets angry whenever she sees Judy.'

This could not go on.

No matter how much she followed grandma's words to be careful about the Ice family, it was very difficult and awkward to fight like a dog and a monkey every time they met.

In particular, Keirsey always initiated the fights, but as Judy would become more and more close friends, this relationship would only become uncomfortable for me.

Even though I told Keirsey to be careful when we rode Storm, nothing had changed.

If one used the same method every time one shouldn't expect a different result.

I tried not to come up with a solution that didn’t work once. I believed that if Keirsey were to be reprimanded here, something similar would happen again.

“……”

In the end, I thought it was all because there were a lot of complaints recently.

These days, I realized that I hadn’t been spending time with the twins. I didn’t have time to settle their complaints.

Just as I had grievances that they didn’t know, twins would also have some points that I was not aware of.

In the end, this was up to me. I was the eldest among us after all. It was only right that I lead them in the right direction.

…..But again.

I felt that I had been relying on skinship to easily resolve their dissatisfaction for a long time now. I was at a loss as to how to relieve Keirsey’s dissatisfaction without hugging her in her current state.

“…Well..”

“Oppa, that... Your hands are really fine, okay? I just misspoke—”

I hit her forehead with my forefinger.

“—Ouch!”

Keirsey covered her forehead and looked at me.

At my prank that came out of nowhere, she put on an expression that she didn’t understand.

I just chuckled.

“Okay. Let’s move on. Fighting over trivial things gives me a headache. Even though we are hostile families… As I told Judy, it’s hard to fight every time we meet. Every time you see her, don’t fight, okay?”

Though I had to come up with something to relieve the twins' dissatisfaction, for now, I didn't find any issue with reprimanding her either.

“…..okay..”

“And she has a name. Don't call her this woman, that girl, etc... That’s rude.”

“……”

“If you keep behaving that way with Oppa's friends, Oppa will be in trouble.”

“…..”

Keirsey nodded slowly.

Getting a satisfactory answer, I instinctively tried to grab her by the shoulder to lead the way toward the restaurant.

This habit was so scary.

I almost inadvertently turned her around with my hand. Instead, I motioned with my fingers and told her.

“Come on, turn around. Let’s go eat.”

Keirsey looked at me, and her eyes carefully shifted to Judy.

“……”

Judy felt that gaze and told me.

“…Both of you can eat. I’m fine.”

“…Yeah. See you later.”

✧ ✧ ✧

The weekend had come again.

It was early in the morning, but I was already dressed and walking outside. The goal was to meet the twins.

When I thought about it, I found we hadn't spent much time together, unlike when we were in the Pryster estate. Though we met often compared to when we were home, it was not enough.

As a result, I thought that there might be several problems; one of them was I never went to meet them on my own. So today, I came to find them first.

That was not to say I didn’t have other plans. I was initially going to go to the library, but I got the idea that we three could go together.

Arriving on the first floor of the girls’ dormitory, I approached the receptionist and greeted her.

“Hello.”

Once she greeted me back, I asked.

“I’m here to meet Asena and Keirsey Pryster. Can you please call them?”

The dormitory had surprisingly strict restrictions on entry.

The reason Asena was able to come to my room easily was that she was a student council member, otherwise, she would have to take permission too.

The receptionist nodded, spoke to someone next to her, and asked me to wait for a while.

After sitting and waiting for a while, Keirsey appeared from the stairway in a hurry.

“Oppa!!”

With a bright smile I hadn't seen in a long time, she ran with her untidy silver hair fluttering.

She opened her arms and jumped, intending to hug me but I raised my hands and carefully grabbed her shoulders.

For a moment, her expression darkened, but it soon turned back to bright again.

“That…so what’s going on? Isn’t this the first time you’ve been here?”

Instead of answering, first, I gently touched her hair and tidied them up.

“You could have done your hair first.”

“Oops, I was in a hurry because I heard Oppa came…”

“Sigh, okay. And Asena?”

“She’s coming. That… so why did you come?”

“Ah, I’m going to the library, so I came to go with you.”

Keirsey stiffened and only her eyes slowly rolled from left to right. She didn't seem to like my plan that much.

I laughed.

I already knew, unlike Asena, Keirsey hated reading. Rather, she liked to go for a walk or play outside

But today, I didn’t come here for something like this, instead, I came here intending to make them join me while I was studying. So I had no intention of changing my words just because Keirsey reacted like that.

“Why? Don’t you want to come with Oppa?”

If she is the Keirsey I knew, then the answer was already fixed—

Keirsey shook her head.

“Oh, it's not that... Let's go.”

—Asena and I usually studied in the library at home, but Keirsey also wasn't the one not to follow.

...Soon Asena came down.

Unlike Keirsey, she was perfectly prepared. She wasn't wearing the black student council uniform as usual, instead, she was wearing a fluttering dress. She wore this type of dress at home as well when we usually went for a walk.

Asena also had a smile rarely seen on her face.

I also smiled looking at Asena.

“…let’s go to the library, Asena.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Asena's heart was filled with excitement when she heard that Cayden had come to visit them… but now it was a little sad.

To be honest, she thought they were going for a walk. Or perhaps something a little more special.

But she didn't want to ruin Cayden's mood by bringing up such an idea. As a result, they arrived at a quiet library filled with the smell of old papers.

Keirsey was already running around the library.

Asena liked to read, but it didn't feel much fun today.

She couldn’t concentrate on the book and looked at Cayden again and again, who was sitting right next to her.

Usually, she would never behave this uncharacteristically in a public place. But… it was impossible today.

“…”

Complaints kept piling up.

At the very least, if she could lean on his arm and read the book, there would be no problem.

Or she'd rather pick up a book and go out to the park, lying on his lap and reading a book.

Of course, she would not be able to bow, but she wanted to build memories of that level anyway.

Recently, the prohibition on hugs and kisses had led to further dissatisfaction.

Sometimes she felt she was going crazy, and when she thought about the reason, it turned out because she couldn't hug him. She could tell that the fact that the absence of skinship was suffocating her a little.

Even now, her eyes were glued to his hand. She wanted to grab it and feel Cayden's warmth.

But in the end, the reason she couldn't act on her thoughts was probably that she already knew the bitterness to come.

Even if Asena held his hand, if Cayden asked her to let go, she would have to.

If Cayden allowed it, she would hold his hand with a happy heart, unfortunately, he wouldn't. And she didn't want to ruin his mood by asking.

Cayden seemed to still be ignoring Asena's desperate gaze and was concentrating on the books piled in front of him.

[What is a knight?]

[Quality of a leader.]

[Hammer and Anvil Tactics.]

Asena just sighed and turned her eyes again to her book.

She didn't feel like reading, but at least she made an effort.

Like the political science department, she was looking at a book that explained various human figures.

In that way, Cayden concentrated on his books for a long time, Asena also yawned inwardly and continued reading the book.

How long had she been reading that way?

One catchy phrase suddenly caught her eye.

[The people to be most careful of in negotiating:]

Asena began to read the text carefully.

[The people to be most careful with in negotiations are the generous people.

They are always considerate, and kind, and unlike others, they do not get angry. Negotiations are usually easy. The attitude of yielding is etched into their body, and even if there is a loss, they try to lead the atmosphere in a good way.]

Asena smiled inwardly reading thus far. Only her Oppa had such a gentle and kind character.

However, the title had the word 'careful' so she read further carefully.

[These people don’t get angry easily, but that doesn’t mean there’s no limit to their patience. When people are generous, many overlook this. But as they are human too, they know how to get angry and be scary. However, the moment one starts to put excessive demands and pressures on their smiling face, they change for the worst.]

“…”

Asena felt that the more she read, the more uncomfortable her heart was for some reason. She adjusted her posture and sat down to examine the text more closely.

[A generous person can also be described as a cliff. It is not shaken by any stimulus, but the moment one crosses the line, the relationship falls endlessly.

They don’t look back twice. As they are usually very considerate, there are a lot of people around, so they can quickly find someone to replace you.

Don’t ignore warnings from such people. If you’ve been warned, don’t even try to fight for power. It may be a last chance.

Be careful if you have a close relationship. The more important that person is to you, the more damage you will take when they turn around.]

“…”

For some reason, Asena couldn’t take her eyes off this short article.

She stared at Cayden again.

He was enjoying reading while quietly flipping through books.

Every time he fluttered the paper, the sunlight was reflected off the book and his face brightened and darkened repeatedly.

It was an innocent face that knew nothing.

"Phew..."

Nothing had changed.

He didn’t turn around or anything.

Asena looked at the words again.

For some reason it was uncomfortable, and her heart kept pounding.

✧ ✧ ✧

Keirsey wandered around and explored the library—

“Hmmmmmm~”

—Quietly humming at a sound that was inaudible to others, she went around.

The Academy’s library was spacious.

It was rightly said that it was a place where the knowledge of the whole kingdom was gathered; there were many books made of strange materials, and there were a lot of books written in an unknown language as well.

When Keirsey saw a cover she liked, she climbed a high ladder, took out the book, turned a few pages, put it back in, and repeated the search for the next one.

It’s been quite some time since she had moved away from where Cayden and Asena were. Keirsey felt like she was on an adventure. That’s how big the library was.

When a space containing picture books appeared, she looked a little more closely. Anyway, it was much easier to access than writing, and less boring.

One book caught her eye as she looked around.

[The Kiss Primer.]

“What?”

Keirsey smiled softly and walked towards the book.

She could be called an expert in her own way.

It was only recently banned, so she couldn’t kiss now though, because she always kissed only Cayden.

When she thought of the kisses she shared with him, her heart warmed.

It was the first time Keirsey had found a book that drew her interest in the whole library. Still, she didn’t forget to look around before taking out the book.

For some reason, she didn’t want her Oppa to find out about it.

-Slide.

The book slid gently off the shelf.

Like the books around it, it had a lot of burns and was a bit messy, as if many students had already read it.

Keirsey had heard that noble girls were secretly interested in things like this but pretended they knew nothing. It seemed what she heard was right.

Keirsey opened the book. Fortunately, it was also a picture book.

The first photo showed a woman kissing a man on the cheek.

For Keirsey, this scene was more familiar than anything else.

“..Hehe.”

It was familiar enough to make her laugh. She couldn't kiss Cayden anymore… but her heart felt light by seeing the picture.

Keirsey had no intention of giving up though. It made no sense that the ban on kisses and hugs would be never lifted.

If the misunderstanding about the rumors was resolved someday, everything would be okay. She never really thought Cayden stank after all.

-Flip.

She moved on to the next page.

It was also a familiar scene; A man was kissing a woman’s forehead.

Cayden had done it for her a lot of times.

Keirsey was now stroking her cold forehead. Anticipating the day she would receive his gentle kiss again, and being satisfied with the book, she carefully examined the picture.

Nothing surprising came out. But it was a better book than she initially expected.

Turning to the next page, there was only a picture of a man kissing the back of a woman’s hand.

It didn’t turn out to be very interesting. In the end, Keirsey couldn’t stand it and turned dozens of pages at once.

“……Uh?”

And at that moment, she swallowed her saliva. Her cheeks turned red in an instant, and her eyes wandered as if she was caught stealing.

She never imagined that something like this would exist. In an instant, she began to feel that she was reading a book she shouldn’t have.

'…Isn’t the highest level of kiss to peck each other on the lips? Just like princesses and knights do?'

But what caught Keirsey’s eyes were two men and women greedy for each other’s tongues.

In the story of Snow White, Cinderella, and the Little Mermaid that Cayden told, such a beastly kiss never appeared.

“…tongue to…tongue…”

-Gulp.

Once again she swallowed.

The figure of the man depicted in the book began to be overlapped with someone’s face.

She didn’t know how it would feel…but she felt it would be way better than doing it on the cheek.

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