Chương 81: Remember Love

For a long time, Leton Nebulo had not remembered his dreams very often… In recent times, however, his dreams had become much clearer, much easier to remember… That was because they weren't just dreams. They were memories. Just like tonight. It was the end of the week. It had already been a few years since his parents had passed away back then, but still, he could not help but find his heart clenching every time he came home and did not see them. There was only one person left to welcome him.

His twin sister was his only family left, but it had always felt odd for Leton to call himself Mara's twin. They were nothing alike. He needed to use a walking stick to get anywhere, his body was frail, and he was very much prone to getting sick. Mara, on the other hand… She was full of vitality, she was strong, and he did not remember her ever getting sick. She had received all sorts of focused education due to their parents believing that they could make a genius out of her… Or rather, they wanted a genius.

It had had nothing to do with a genuine belief that Mara was the messiah of the family and was going to raise the entire bloodline in status. It had merely been the manifestation of their own desires… Giving birth to twins had taken a toll on their mother from the very beginning… Mara had never said a thing. She had never even demonstrated any knowledge of the situation, but Leton had known that she had known. Their mother had been weakened by the birth.

Their parents had both known that Mara and Leton would be their only children, and as such… They latched onto the better of the two siblings. Mara was confident. She was good-looking. She was healthy… Compared to the sickly Leton, Mara simply seemed the best pick. And so, their parents tried to make Mara into basically anything they could think of… Into a mage at first, then into a knight… And any sort of profession in between. Mara had the skills and constitution to be a knight.

It was no secret that she wasn't just a healthy girl, she was an abnormally strong one… Mara had grown tall early on, and ever since then, she had always been noticeably stronger than boys her age, and even older. This had naturally overjoyed the parents of the twins. Their daughter clearly was a unique case. She was born to be strong. Knighthood was the natural conclusion… Unfortunately, she never became a knightess due to a certain accident during a spar.

Leton remembered when the instructor had told his parents about what had happened. The man had genuinely looked scared, claiming that it was outside of his capabilities to train Mara. He had called her a feral beast. His parents made sure to silence the event, not wanting people to know that their daughter was a 'violent freak' as his father had said. At that time in his life, Leton had still believed that his sister was a good person. Hearing about something was not enough for him to lose trust in his twin sister.

After all, she was always the first to help and protect him. Several years passed, and their mother, having already been enfeebled for more than a decade, passed away due to a disease, and soon after, their father died from sorrow. They died so close to one another that they were buried together at the same time. Leton had never cried so much in his life, and amidst the tears, he had missed something that he now realised had been a bit odd. Mara had not shed a single tear. Now, his sister was not one to cry.

He had never seen her do so, as a matter of fact. But her face had been devoid of sadness, merely a slight frown as though the death of their parents was only slightly bothersome… Leton knew that even if he had noticed it back then… That he probably wouldn't have paid it much mind. He loved his sister very much, and he knew that she didn't express herself. Not everyone grieved in the same way. Afterwards, Mara had stepped up for him.

She took good charge of the business of their father, keeping the money flowing, and thus keeping the family as bourgeoisie. It was also then that she had really started trying to find a husband. Though it seemed that none could meet her standards. Leton had decided to go to school to learn, and it was often that boys would come ask him about his sister… It would be an understatement to say that she had been popular. If she hadn't been so direct in her rejections, there probably would have been duels for her hand.

He had found it a bit embarrassing to have to hear about his sister's attractiveness and rather impolite statements about her good looks on a nearly daily basis. That was not the worst part, though. Due to his limp, frailness, and the fact that he was an orphan, some of his peers had decided that he was a good target. It was odd that some of those people would simultaneously torment him, whilst also lusting after Mara… Did they not realise that the former was counterproductive to the latter?

It was moments of his life, such as this one, that Leton would most often dream about… For it was starting at this moment that he began to realise that something was wrong with Mara… One day, following a long week, he came back home with a noticeable bruise on his face, and it hadn't even been five seconds after he shut the door when Mara noticed it.

"Who did this to you?" Although they were twins, Mara had always acted more like his big sister, and even since the passing of their parents, she had sort of taken on that role for him as well.

"I… It's nothing, Mara…"

"Hoi, don't mess with me, you little twat! Are you telling me that you fell over and just happened to hit yourself in the face? Exactly where do people get punched? And that it somehow caused knuckle-shaped marks? Does it look like I was born yesterday?"

"I am an expert in punches, I know one when I see one! Now, who?"

"It's really nothing! I've already reported the incident to the school… And they'll just make fun of me if my sister shows up…"

"Oh… Now we're ashamed of me? That's a new one" You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Huh… That's not what I meant!"

"Are you telling me that my ears are full of shit? You're full of shit, Leton! How many times has it been already? How many times did you report an incident and nothing happened? It's that blond fucker with a soft face, isn't it? His parents are too important for some school to actually dish out punishment. Let me handle it""What are you going to do? If the school can't do it… This isn't like before. This is a reputed place with a good reputation. Our bourgeois status is nothing to them.

You won't be able to force them to expel him!" Mara smiled. That smile… It had creeped Leton out like nothing had ever done before. Yet, it was just a regular smirk, but there was something more behind it, something sinister.

"What's up with the long face? Listen. My method will work just as fine as it did before, trust your big sister, will you? If you try to argue again, I'll accompany you to school and give you a big kiss on the forehead in front of everyone and call my adorable little brother""Wait, wait, wait! This isn't fair! You can't threaten me with such terrible things!"

"I can since I just did. And besides, what's wrong with seeing off my little brother anyway? Should I remind you that you used to come to sleep in my bed when you were scared at night?"

"I was a little child, it doesn't count!"

"If you don't like me digging up old stuff, then go to your room and let me take care of this problem before I start talking about when mom used to bathe us together""Alright… Please calm down! I didn't mean to make you mad…"

"I'm not mad at you. You're the only kid I like""We're the same age…"

"Say that when you won't need to look up to look me in the eyes""Urgh…" Although the threats employed by Mara were frightening, Leton had been unable to shake off that feeling of dread he had sensed… And thus, despite his limp, he waited for Mara to go out to 'solve the problem' and followed her. A downpour had begun since then, so the figure of his sister was a bit hard to recognise as she wore a rain-proof hooded cloak, but even then, he could tell it was her easily.

She walked through heavy rain with a calm step, never even looking behind her once. She was just moving forward without a shred of hesitation. His sister did not go toward the school at all. She somehow homed right onto the position of the 'culprit', the one who had struck Leton, had joined a few of his friends at a nearby bar for those with deep pockets. It was a common place where the students would meet up after school.

As such, it wasn't insane for Mara to know to look here if she was looking for him, but still… Why would she seek him out? The so-called method she had always used was to go to where Leton was learning, and make them expel the ones messing with him… At least, that was what Leton had always believed, as that was what Mara had always told him. His sister stood outside the bar, in the rain, for dozens of minutes on end without budging.

She just stood still and waited for the blond to step outside and walk by the alley she had been waiting in, who happened to be in between the bar and the blond's home. In that instant, Leton had still put his faith in his sister. He thought that she was going to threaten or beat him up due to not having the status to pressure the school. He opened his mouth to stop her–He was too late, and he bore witness to something worse than he had imagined.

Just as the drunken youth was about to pass by, Mara retrieved what looked like a digging bar, which had been expertly concealed under the cloak. Already, this was an unnecessary tool for what Leton believed was going to happen. The blond was just some snotty scion who rode on the coattails of his father, someone Mara could beat up with both arms behind her back… Mara was not here to just perform a bit of threatening. When the blond passed by, she hit him squarely in the front of the knee.

His scream of pain was muffled by the heavy rain as she dragged him into the alley, striking him in the jaw to shut him up before beginning to repeatedly strike his arms and legs. Leton, despite his limp, rushed to the scene, grabbing onto his sister as she raised her weapon again, but it was already too late. The blond was not dead, but he might as well be. His limbs were a twisted mess of broken bones and torn flesh.

"Leton? What are you doing here? You're too sickly to be going out in this weather!"

"..." He was gobsmacked.

"Is this really what matters here?!"

"Of course… Are you implying that this piece of shit is of any importance? Please…"

"What are you doing?!"

"Is it not obvious? I am killing him""But… Why?"

"He messed with you one too many times. Am I supposed to just stand by as he punches you in the face? No, I am the older sibling. I need to act""You can't just kill him! It's… It's wrong!"

"Come on, Leton. Let's not argue the morality of it right now, I need to finish him off for good" Mara peeled Leton away from her, raising the digging bar, aiming right at the blond's head.

"Please… Stop… Why would you do this…?" She paused, lowering her weapon to turn to her brother.

"It is a bit hurtful when you ask such obvious questions like you genuinely don't know, Leton. Is it not clear? I am doing this for you. I am doing this because I love you. I'll kill this bastard so that you won't have to endure anything from him anymore. Just like I killed all of those who did the same thing before""You… You never had them expelled?"

"Just a little convenient lie… Just like when I would tell you that your pets had just moved away, you grew up enough to understand that animals live far shorter lives than we do. Can you understand that I, as your big sister, need to cull vermin for your sake?"

"It's grossly excessive""It is effective" Mara handed the digging bar to Leton.

"If you don't want me to do it, then finish him off yourself""W-What?"

"Do it""No! No! I can't kill someone…"

"See? That's why I am doing it. You can't protect yourself. So step back and let me be your big sister" Mara turned back around and, in one fell swoop, crushed the blond's skull against the ground before looking through his pockets to take everything of value, throwing everything else away.

"And just like that, our lovely incompetent guards will think this was just a robbery gone wrong. Let's go back home before you catch a cold" Leton awoke from sleep. His dreams were always like this. In some parts, he felt like a third party observing his past, and in others, it was like he was right in these moments as the one he was back then. Leton breathed heavily. He did not like these dreams one bit.

"Is something that matters, Honey?" Gallilah was awoken by his sudden motion.

"I am fine…"

"Are you sure? You're crying…"

"Yes… It was just a bad dream…" A bad dream that had the awful side effect of reminding him of how much his sister truly meant to him.