PTMH 05

Chapter 05

First, I tried to calm down the rogue in our house and send him outside, but today, Axel left his spot first.
“Miss Hazel, I’ll be off now. I have an appointment.”
My brother replied with a hint of sarcasm.
“Y-yes~ Please go ahead~ Far away~”
Axel’s eyebrows twisted sharply.
“You should consider yourself lucky that I’m Hazel’s brother.”
“…….”
“You know how many times I’ve let things slide, right? You should be grateful for my generosity.”
“What the hell… ugh!”
I quickly covered my brother’s mouth and hurriedly greeted Axel.
“Yes, Lord Axel. Goodbye!”
My voice had inadvertently come out bright and cheerful.
I was just happy that the rogue was leaving. I swear there was no other meaning.

However, my brother seemed to interpret my cheerful voice in his own way.
If it wasn’t that—
“You… what’s your relationship with Axel?”
He wouldn’t have asked such nonsense if the others hadn’t left yet.
“What kind of relationship? We’re just fulfilling our tax obligations.”
“But tomorrow’s tax day.”
Exactly what I said.
I sighed and then explained the full story with Axel.

My brother’s expression gradually turned serious as he listened.
It wasn’t like it was different from the usual story, yet today, his eyes were filled with worry.
Maybe because he hadn’t been drinking.
After hesitating for a long moment, he finally said something completely absurd.
“Hazel, you must not marry Axel.”
“……?”
Excuse me? Me and Axel?
I tapped my ear to see if I had misheard.
Either my ear or my brother’s mouth had to be broken.
It was probably his mouth.

“Don’t fall for him no matter how nice he is.”
“…….”
“He’s the type to cheat three times.”
Wait, is that even the problem?
By the way, how does he know Axel would cheat?
Of course, Axel did look like that at first glance…
When I sent him a suspicious look, my brother quickly added an explanation.
“It’s in his physiognomy, the face tells it all.”
“I agree, but don’t ever say that out loud. You’ll actually get caught.”
“I just choose my timing carefully before speaking.”
“……I didn’t know that.”
First time hearing that.

“Anyway, Axel is a no-go. Keep that in mind.”
His normally calm voice dropped firmly.
His expression and tone seemed reasonable, but his words were the opposite.
It made me even more worried.
I grabbed both of my brother’s arms and scolded him like one would a misbehaving beast.
“Brother, think about it. Why would the son of a lord marry me? And Axel already has a fiancée.”
“Hmm……”
“And she’s very beautiful, too.”
Was her name Elizabeth or Elisabetta?
Anyway, she was the most beautiful woman of the Cromwell family, with shining blonde hair and green eyes.
With a prestigious family and lots of money, who would marry a commoner from a rural village?
A government official, maybe.

However, my brother seemed to have a slightly different perspective than common sense.
“Hazel, you’re prettier than that woman. That’s the problem.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
What a doting fool.
“Only in your eyes, though.”
“Ugh……”
He let out a deep sigh and then took a money pouch from his waist.
Jingle—the silver coins inside were quite heavy.
“What’s this?”
“Tomorrow’s taxes.”
“Where did you get this money?”
My brother grinned.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Did you gamble?”
“Ah, I gamble but I don’t bet.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The scale of the stakes?”
“…….”
This rogue is impossible.
What kind of trouble did he get into?
The shining silver coins looked unusually dark today.
Should I even accept this money?
Though I doubted its origin, honestly, my mouth watered.
With this money, I could buy white bread at Mrs. Maria’s bakery, red meat at Mr. Carson’s butcher, and…
I could even get enough fabric for a new dress. If I bargained, I could get the expensive green or pink material.

My brother seemed to read my thoughts and gave me the pouch with a grin.
He looked like the old brother I hadn’t seen in ages—the late Mr. Felix Unicorn, that is.
“Don’t worry and take it. You earned it with your hard work and sweat.”
“……Really?”
The silver coins sparkled like purified water in my hands.
I had thought it was shady money, but it was as white as Mrs. Monica’s chickens. I wanted to believe that.
I held the pouch tightly so it would never slip from my hands again.
“If you don’t trust me, I’ll take it and spend it all.”
“You’ll spend it on drinking, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then I can’t do anything. This is our family’s fund, so I’ll confiscate it. For now, we’ll eat well and stay warm.”
His eyebrows arched disapprovingly.
He fiddled with my sleeve and tore at a weak thread, and the old fabric ripped.
“……?”
“The clothes are torn. I’ll buy new ones first.”
“You just tore them, though.”
“Consider this an apology. Buy them with this money.”
“Is this that ‘give medicine after causing harm’ thing?”
“Think of it that way. Also, I bought croissants and ham at home. Eat something delicious for dinner instead of oatmeal.”
“What about you? Not eating together?”
“I have urgent business tonight. I’ll handle the shop, so you go ahead.”
“……Strange.”
Really strange.
Everything my brother said sounded normal.
I think it’s been seven years since he’s acted this rational.
Why is this happening? Will the sun rise in the west tomorrow?
Or—
“Brother, are you sick?”
Reasonable suspicion.
People tend to change when their end is near.
Uncle Hans, another rogue, had done the same. He got his act together three days before passing and acted like a normal person until the end.
Just like my brother now.

However, he laughed off my suspicion.
He insisted he was perfectly fine and gently stroked my head.
As if to blow away my worries.
“Hazel, I’m really getting my act together now.”
“Do you even know how many times you’ve lied?”
“About 2,840 times?”
“Sounds about right.”
“My bad.”
The playful smile reminded me of my brother from seven years ago. I almost fell for it.
I focused hard and glared at him, but he stretched my soft cheek with a grin.
He shone his excessively sparkling golden eyes and confidently shouted:
“Hazel, this time you can really trust me! I’ll make sure my little sister only walks on a path of flowers.”
“Brother, if you’ve caused trouble, tell me now. The sooner it’s handled, the better.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“Of course not.”
Well, that’s fair.

A seemingly calm storm can suddenly blow the roof away.
I simply could not trust my seemingly normal brother.
After years of trust and betrayal, the lesson I learned is simple:
Never let your guard down, no matter what.

So, I hid in Grandpa Albert’s bookstore, keeping an eye on the troublemaker Felix. Of course, Grandpa agreed.
The time was 7 PM.
The sky had just grown dark.
The general store’s lights went out, and my brother locked the door.
He glanced around and walked toward the opposite side of our house.
“Where is he going?”
I tiptoed after him.
By the way, I’m pretty good at tailing someone. Thanks to rogue Felix.
‘Looks like he’s heading to Uncle Hans’s gambling table. Labor money? More like gambling money.’
At least that was better than being involved in some shady crime.

This was my first time tailing a sober brother. Felix was usually sloppy enough not to notice, but today he was unusually cautious.
He would stop every few steps to look around, even doubling back and circling to avoid being followed.
But I, his only sibling who could gauge how drunk he was, wasn’t fooled by fake moves.

After following him through the village for about an hour—
Thump!
Felix passed Uncle Hans’s house and suddenly disappeared toward the monster’s territory.
“Uh……?”
I was stunned.
“Could it be… my brother went to the monster’s territory sober?”
At this hour, too?
Monsters are active from early evening until late at night. Even the Empire’s army avoids the area at night.
Especially tonight, under the full moon, when monsters are said to become frenzied…
“No way, he didn’t go to the monster’s territory.”
My brother’s a coward, after all.

It seemed Felix had realized I was tailing him now that he was sober.
“Damn it. Where did he go?”
Should I check the tavern or gambling place?

Just then—Bam!
My face slammed into a dark wall. I hadn’t expected a wall to appear out of thin air.
Rubbing my aching forehead, I looked up.
“Sorry, Miss Hazel.”
A dark voice that didn’t fit the village of Luden.

It was the voice of the handsome man who had caused a stir in the village today.