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Chapter 11.2: Sorry Part 2

The other was Ariel Lishite, the second-ranked student among the first years and considered a promising talent of this generation.

The siblings, each famous in their own way, were sitting side by side on a park bench.

“Sob… Ugh…”

“There, there. Stop crying. Stop.”

Ariel was sobbing sorrowfully.

Raiden was skillfully comforting her.

He wiped her tears with a handkerchief and patted her back.

“…Sniff.”

“There, there. Blow your nose. Go on! Blow!”

“Sniff…!!”

“Good girl.”

Raiden smiled softly and stroked her hair.

Ariel flinched at his touch.

But she soon accepted it.

Seeing Ariel purring like a cat as he stroked her made Raiden’s lips curl up even more.

After a while, as Ariel’s sobs subsided, Raiden spoke.

“Are you feeling a little calmer now?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s good.”

Silence fell again.

Ariel fidgeted with her fingers nervously, then carefully opened her mouth.

“…Brother.”

“Yes?”

What was it?

She clearly had a lot she wanted to say.

But once she met Raiden, her mind went blank.

She racked her brain, trying to piece together the words.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Suddenly apologizing… What for?”

“What I said to you back then… I didn’t mean any of it, not even once…”

Tears welled up in Ariel’s eyes once more.

“Sorry, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it… Sorry-”

Raiden’s index finger touched her lips, as if to tell her to stop talking.

The coldness of his finger chilled her lips.

Ariel felt her heart breaking at Raiden’s reaction.

‘…I… I was too late.’

The words I said can’t be taken back.

Brother… he doesn’t even want to hear my apology.

If only, that day,

I had stopped him when he turned away.

If only I had begged him for forgiveness, crying and saying I was sorry.’

‘…If only I had made the right choice that day.’

If only I had stopped him from leaving, even if it meant clinging to his pants.

Would he have forgiven me?

At that thought, Ariel couldn’t hold back the tears that flowed.

Raiden’s voice reached Ariel’s ears as she lowered her head, her eyes red and swollen.

“Ariel.”

A gentle voice.

His baritone voice rang out clearly, carried by the summer breeze.

“I’m fine. So stop crying.”

Ariel’s eyes widened at his words.

He’s fine…? He’s telling me to stop crying…?

Ariel had expected words of condemnation and rejection.

She was a bad little sister who had cruelly poked at Raiden’s sore spot.

She thought she deserved to hear such words.

But to say he’s fine, what was he thinking?

Hesitantly, Ariel slowly raised her head to look at Raiden’s face.

“…!”

Meeting his black eyes, she couldn’t help but be even more surprised.

A smile.

Her brother was smiling.

The smile he had never shown since he changed.

The smile she had longed for so much.

It was directed at her.

Ariel froze, overwhelmed by the emotions that washed over her.

Raiden, seeing her reaction, made an unreadable expression for a moment.

Then, he reached out and gently wiped her cheeks.

The tears that had been burning her face cooled down slightly under his cold touch.

Following that gentle gesture, Raiden spoke.

“…Don’t blame yourself too much, Ariel. I’m truly fine.”

“B-But…”

“I should be the one apologizing. I’ve been acting selfishly all this time… I’m sorry, Ariel.”

Ariel felt her mind go blank.

She had thought he would surely blame her.

She had expected him to look at her with hatred, for saying unforgivable words.

She never imagined she would be the one receiving an apology.

His eyes, as he spoke words of comfort, shone with warmth.

Faced with a situation entirely different from what she had anticipated, a thought suddenly crossed Ariel’s mind.

‘…Could this be… a dream?’

A pleasant dream, showing her what she desired.

A cruel dream that would leave her in despair when she woke up.

Ariel felt fear.

If this situation was a dream, she didn’t think she could bear the despair of waking up.

“Brother…”

But.

As if to mock her worries,

the sunlight pouring down from the sky,

the wind caressing her cheeks,

the scent of summer tickling her nose,

the feeling of his cold hand on her cheek,

all made her realize that this moment was real.

Ariel couldn’t calm her heart, which was overflowing with emotion.

Tears began to stream down Ariel’s cheeks once more.

But the emotions contained in those tears were completely different from before.

Not fear, sadness, longing, or self-loathing.

But pure joy.

Tears filled with only joy.

“Oh dear… Please stop crying…”

“Brother… Brother…!”

“Yes, yes, I’m here.”

Ariel once again embraced Raiden.

The boy didn’t push her away.

He simply raised his hand and gently patted her delicate back.

Feeling his warm touch, Ariel quietly closed her eyes.

Ariel’s trembling subsided, and she fell into a deep sleep.

“Ariel…?”

Concerned, I looked down at her, only to find her breathing softly with her eyes closed.

It seemed that the tension had finally gotten to her, and she had drifted off.

I held Ariel in my arms.

And straightened her disheveled clothes.

“…”

Her soft breaths tickled my ears.

The warmth of her small body against mine.

The soft touch of her red hair as I ran my fingers through it.

So this is what it feels like to have a younger sibling.

It was a sensation like a warm summer breeze blowing through a cold, empty cave.

I held this small life closer, gently stroking her cheek.

“…Cute.”

When Ariel first apologized to me with tears streaming down her face, I was quite flustered.

Because I wasn’t Raiden, but Kim Naru.

Her apology wasn’t something I could casually accept.

But.

Driven by the emotions welling up from deep within my heart, I couldn’t help but reach out to her.

The only emotions Raiden had for Ariel were love and guilt.

There wasn’t a shred of resentment within him.

The feelings of Raiden, who was now gone, seemed to whisper to me.

To embrace this lonely child in his stead.

That’s why I could forgive her.

“Well, that’s all good and well… but what do I do now…?”

It had already been an hour since I left the classroom with Ariel.

The class would probably be over soon.

“Hmm…”

I couldn’t just leave Ariel here.

Well, if I take her back to the dormitory, her personal maid will take care of her.

I carefully lifted the sleeping Ariel onto my back.

“Ugh… Brother…”

She mumbled in her sleep, clinging tightly to my clothes as if she were having a dream.

I smiled and slowly started walking.

.

.

.

“Ugh…!!”

I stretched and stepped out of the dormitory.

The Reynolds Academy had separate dormitories for boys and girls, so I got a bit lost on the way,

but thankfully, I was able to safely deliver Ariel.

The current time was 4 PM.

Two hours had already passed since then.

I had skipped out on the ‘Understanding Monsters’ class midway through,

and I was already an hour late for the ‘History of the Continent’ class that was supposed to start at 3 PM.

If I went back to the classroom now, it would be 4:30 PM.

The class ended at 5 PM, so there was no point in going now.

It was more beneficial to just skip it.

“Hmm… Then…”

I stretched my still-stiff body and called up the status window.

“Status window, show me the main quest.”

-Ding!

[Main Quest]

Title: Power Up

Description: Go to the designated location.

[Map attached: Click for details]

Reward: ??????

Penalty for failure: None

[Time limit: 3 days]

[Time remaining: 56 hours 34 minutes 12 seconds]

I was originally going to go after class, but since I skipped it, I should take care of this quickly.

I looked at the map displayed on the status window and started walking towards the Academy gates.