Chapter 48
“Would you like to rest if you’re finished? You seem to be pushing yourself too hard lately…”
He called out carefully and found relief like he’d gained the world from simple kindness, always watching him—their eyes meeting whenever he turned his head. It would be hard to label differently this attitude of smiling despite unkind and aggressive behavior, broken promises, and confinement to his room.
It was an unmistakable emotion.
The young brother he had to kill was in love with him.
***
For days afterward, his brother took him everywhere. Just as he’d hoped but hardly dared to expect.
Eating meals together, staying beside him while he worked, even sleeping together. It was perfect. Moreover, his brother as Duke, adorably tried to care for him despite his occasional sharp words.
Sometimes he’d say things like “Don’t be annoying” or “If you want to die, crawl out yourself,” but well, that was just because he was under the penalty, so it was fine. The gap between those words and how carefully he touched and held him, afraid he might get hurt, was just too cute.
That night, Ja-hyun watched his brother lying beside him in the darkened room. His brother seemed already asleep, eyes closed and breathing evenly.
Though it was a bit uncomfortable being wrapped in blankets and held like a body pillow, he still enjoyed it. As he’d noticed yesterday, sleep came surprisingly easily. Even though pain that medicine couldn’t fully suppress still bothered him, he wasn’t sleepless like before.
‘So I really couldn’t sleep because my brother isn’t here.’
Even he found it absurd. Of course… of course, he knew he had such tendencies. There had been times when he struggled to sleep alone when separated from his brother.
But when either of them had to travel for work, though lonely, he’d managed well enough. Perhaps it was psychological. Being kept at a distance by his brother and denied his company had unconsciously affected him.
Yet he couldn’t be purely happy about it. If there had been no ulterior reason for this closeness, or if the difficulty level hadn’t become this extreme, he might have thought this way of living wasn’t so bad.
▷ Sub-Quest
[‘Find Planche Enestia and Lucas Blade’]
[Time Remaining: 17 days 1 hour 38 minutes]
‘Wow… This is maddening.’
Plus, with my brother’s ‘Dream Catcher’ durability so depleted… It was indeed a dangerous situation. Even using ‘Development Detection’ on my brother revealed no changed future information.
Moreover, with his brother keeping him close, there was barely any chance to talk with others, including Emily. He remembered Emily’s wide-eyed look when she came to clean and saw him sitting beside brother’s desk. The butler had the same reaction… He recalled how the butler’s eyes nearly popped out seeing brother carrying him in the hallway.
Being with my brother was nice and happy, but it felt like eating cotton candy while standing on burning coals. Happy, but terrified. So terrified that food barely went down.
His garbage body was vulnerable to stress too. That evening, he could barely eat dinner, trembling, and ended up vomiting everything he’d managed to get down. Brother was furious, put down his fork, and called the doctor. After enduring various tests, his medication increased by 1.2 times. This was driving him crazy…
Crazy, yet sleep came easily. Ja-hyun fell asleep without realizing while watching his sleeping brother’s face and pondering what to do next.
***
Recovering the missing points was resolved unexpectedly quickly. All thanks to that Third Prince.
After he collapsed, the Prince had apparently returned to his villa in Altria, the duchy’s capital, at brother’s request. He’d worried brother might have discovered what had happened between him and the Prince, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Thank goodness.
On the day the Prince was to return to the ducal residence, Ja-hyun carefully told his brother he wanted to meet with the Prince.
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