Chapter 149: What Remains

“Li… Liensa..?”

Ragfrid hurriedly stood up from her chair and crouched beside her Familiar, checking its condition.

She seemed flustered by the sight of her Familiar trembling in fear.

The way she stroked the back of the massive beast, showing clear signs of worry, looked quite tender.

It made me think about many things.

“Meow…?”

Yor tapped my shoulder and let out a timid cry.

It seemed he had misunderstood something as I stood there with a complex expression, merely staring at Ragfrid’s actions.

Seeing the baby Dragon’s behavior, as if asking if he had done something wrong while watching my reaction, I realized my mistake.

Belatedly, I pulled Yor into an embrace, stroking him and whispering into the baby Dragon’s ear that I was thankful he protected me.

After soothing my lovely Familiar like that.

I made the following announcement to Ragfrid.

“I will not apologize. Yor scaring your Familiar was for the sake of protecting me. Instead, you do not need to apologize to me either. Your Familiar’s display of hostility toward me must have been for the sake of protecting you.”

“…Thank you for understanding.”

Even if Yor had not stepped in, Ragfrid’s Familiar likely would not have attacked me.

It was probably just a minor threat intended to warn me not to hurt its master.

A properly trained Familiar would never harm a person recklessly while ignoring its master’s will.

Naturally, Yor must have known this as well.

And yet, he did not respond with a simple hiss but used the [Dragon Fear] skill.

The fundamental reason was likely to suppress the Leopard Familiar so that it would never dare bare its teeth at me again.

There must have also been an intent to establish a hierarchy.

As a result, Ragfrid’s Familiar was still paralyzed with fear.

I had not really understood Ragfrid; rather, I had forced understanding upon her.

Nevertheless, hearing her say thank you made me feel quite uncomfortable.

“It seems that for your Familiar to calm down, Yor and I should leave. So, I will be going now.”

“Ah… well, then, tomorrow again..”

In truth, if I considered the future, there was nothing to gain from being heartless toward Ragfrid.

Since Valtraus did not seem to be the type of material to lead the Dukedom, there was a high possibility that Ragfrid would be the next head of the family.

It would be to my advantage to maintain a smooth relationship with her if possible.

But….

“I must refuse. As you know, because I lost my memories, there are many things I must learn during the vacation, and I do not wish to waste time on trivial matters.”

I said that and turned my back to Ragfrid without hesitation.

She had been indifferent to the owner of this body for a long eighteen years.

However, if I forgave her just because she showed a look of regret yesterday and today, I was worried she might think of me as someone easy to deal with.

‘Besides, I am not even in a position to forgive his family on behalf of Karbaldr. Furthermore, I am not even sure if Ragfrid is someone who deserves to be forgiven.’

I was still suspicious.

Was Ragfrid’s effort to change and reflect on her past really born from a heart that cherished her younger brother?

Was it not possible she was acting this way just to put her own mind at ease because she felt a pang of conscience that her indifference had driven someone toward death?

If that were the case, then I definitely should not be forgiving her as I pleased.

“W-Wait…!”

Had I moved just a few steps?

A desperate voice holding onto me came from behind.

Thinking she might visit my room again if I ignored her and pretended not to hear, I stopped in place for a moment with my back turned to Ragfrid.

“I am sorry.”

“I believe I already told you that you do not need to apologize.”

“I am apologizing for my indifference toward you all this time. As an older sister, I should have taken care of you when you were so young…. I should not have overlooked and treated lightly the way the second born hated you…. I should have listened more closely to what you had to say, hugged you tenderly once in a while, and become a pillar of support you could lean on at any time….”

Her unique voice, which was usually flat and without pitch, remained the same, but because of the clearly felt trembling, it could not be called dry as it echoed through the space.

Could she be crying?

Such a question arose.

But, no, because such a question arose.

I spoke without turning back.

“If it is an apology of that nature, you really do not need to give it. Because the ‘me’ of the past who should receive that apology is as good as dead and gone now.”

“W-What does that mean..?”

“It means exactly what I said. Since not a single memory of the past remains within me. No matter how much you apologize now, Sister, it means it cannot reach the heart of the young brother who followed you around, craving affection.”

“O…….”

“The current me does not care if you are indifferent, I do not thirst for the affection a family gives, and I am not even a young child who needs a pillar of support.”

“……”

“If you have started wanting to play the role of a kind sister, then take care of Brother instead. From what I can see, the reason Brother has not properly accepted Mother’s death and is still looking for a target to resent is because of the sense of loss stemming from the fact that there is no longer any family who loves him.”

“……”

“Then, I will assume you have understood what I mean, and I will truly take my leave.”

I said that and moved my steps with vigor, but.

I had no choice but to stop again before I could completely exit the greenhouse.

This time, it was not the voice from behind, but the person who popped out in front that was the problem.

“Karbaldr, you…! Do you want to die?!”

“…No? I want to live.”

“And yet you jumped at a monster like that?!”

Valtraus, I wondered why this man was suddenly jumping out and acting like this.

Since the answer to that question had already been delivered to Ragfrid in the previous chapter, I skipped the answer and threw a counter-question.

“Didn’t you go to the Imperial Palace to attend the New Year’s celebration banquet, Brother?”

“Yes, I went there alone! Because Sister said she needed time to talk to you and wasn’t going…!”

It was impossible for the Four Great Ducal Houses to be absent from a banquet hosted by the Imperial Family.

It was customary for at least one representative to attend along with a Familiar.

However, I was pushed out of the equation due to memory loss, and Ragfrid had expressed her intention not to go for the reason Valtraus just mentioned.

And since Hard had to attend an urgent meeting held because of the Demonic Realm that occurred at the Academy.

Valtraus ended up attending the Imperial banquet today as the family representative, despite having gotten on Hard’s nerves because of his ‘stupid talk’.

Since not only the heads of other noble families but also the Emperor would have attended the meeting.

Today’s banquet was practically no different from a gathering of the heirs of each family and the Imperial Family.

‘So he must have caught a good opportunity, so why is he getting angry and blaming Ragfrid and me?’

Wondering what was wrong with this man, I instinctively looked Valtraus up and down.

Then, for some reason, the sight of his scruffy Cheetah Familiar caught my eye.

Looking closely, were there not dark red bloodstains smeared here and there between the purple spots on its pure white coat?

“It’s not like you just found out about what I went through at the Graduation Ceremony…. Don’t tell me, did you see it yourself, Brother? The monster?”

“Yes!”

“At the Imperial banquet?”

“Am I not telling you that’s the case?!”

He must be confused and under some delusion, but Valtraus had never said it was so.

So I thought perhaps he had been caught in a Demonic Realm on his way to attend the banquet, but.

It seemed the incident happened while Valtraus was in the Marble Hall.

I thought I should hear the details so I was about to ask, but unfortunately, the other party was faster in speaking.

“I heard you and Sister were here so I came, where is Sister?”

“That’s… she is inside, but….”

“Good.”

It wasn’t good at all.

Considering the high possibility that Ragfrid was crying, and that I was the culprit who caused it.

“I was on my way back to my room, so if you’ll excuse me….”

“There are things I need to relay to you as well, so follow me.”

“Right now is a bit.. I’m not really feeling it………….”

“What?!”

“……Never mind.”

He looked like he would drag me by force if I didn’t follow him on my own feet.

So, lamenting why Valtraus had to appear at this exact timing of all times, I followed behind him and walked back into the greenhouse.

Fortunately, amidst the misfortune.

Instead of sitting on the floor crying while hugging the Leopard Familiar, Ragfrid was sitting properly in her chair, tipping her teacup.

It seemed she had hurriedly tidied her appearance after hearing the sound of Valtraus and me talking.

But unfortunately.

She was not able to completely erase the traces of having cried.

Her watery eyes and the reddened skin around her eyes and the tip of her nose belonged to someone who had been crying until just now, for anyone to see….

“Sister, did you…? No, that can’t be possible… Karbaldr, did you throw dirt in her eyes or something?!”

A shocked Valtraus spouted nonsense.

He must have been unable to accept the fact that Ragfrid had cried.

“A person can cry in life. Do not make a fuss over nothing.”

“Is it not because the one crying is none other than you, Sister, that I am surprised?! If it were you, Sister, could you just dismiss it as nothing even if you saw Father crying?”

“…Even so, I am not on the same level as Father, am I?”

“To me, Father and you are the same.”

“……!!”

Perhaps deeply shocked by Valtraus’s verbal abuse(?), Ragfrid just blinked her eyes blankly for a while.

It was only when her mouth opened.

It was after her purple eyes had hidden behind her eyelids about five times and then reappeared.

“It seems you have forgotten because it was a long time ago, but I also cried during Mother’s funeral.”

“That was because a family member died, wasn’t it?”

“It is the same now.”

“What? No one has died now, so what kind of nonsense is that?!”

“The youngest we knew… is as good as dead, it seems. Because we gave him no attention, because he did not receive the affection he so desperately craved, because there was no pillar of support he could lean on….”

It was said that Valtraus was evaluated as the ‘human’ Young Duke candidate within the Duke’s Territory.

Yet, even at the words Ragfrid laid out in a choked voice, he showed no signs of sympathizing at all.

“Then who is this guy next to me if he isn’t the youngest?”

“He is the youngest, but should we see him not as the third, but the fourth?”

“What??”

Valtraus asked back with a look of utter bewilderment.

I was so dumbfounded that no words could come out, but they really were something else.