THBO 42

Chapter 42

And Alexis Lysène only raised one eyebrow. As if she had anticipated this reaction.
A calm hand brought over a basket of fruit and pushed it toward her.
Cecilia, taken aback by her unflappable younger sibling, felt a surge of frustration rise but held it back.

Rudeness met with etiquette, provocation met with composure, and arrogance met with arrogance.
Hadn’t they been taught that way?
Though their bloodlines differed, they had grown up under the same education.
Cecilia felt certain that, just as Alexis Lysène could become endlessly arrogant, she herself could match that arrogance.

She pushed the jar of green peppers toward him and poured herself some sparkling water.
Perhaps a hint of lemon juice had been added, for a fresh, zesty scent spread across her palate.
The carbonation bubbled inside, adding a crisp freshness.

Holding a sip of sparkling water in her mouth, she swirled it with her tongue and glanced around, catching a falling leaf dropped by a zelkova tree.
Amid the lush greenery, the leaf’s color stood out, unusually deep.
Perhaps because the vein patterns were so vivid, it reminded her of a trapiche emerald of striking saturation.

The silence lingered.
It was the kind of stillness meant to pressure the other, and she sank into her thoughts without speaking.

Of all the tiaras owned by the Lysène royal family, only two were emerald tiaras.
One had been gifted to the first empress by her hometown, Lant, immediately after her marriage.
The other had been brought by Marisa Lysène, the mother, from her natal house of the Marquis de Serge upon marriage.
Of these, the one adorned with trapiche emeralds…

“It’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“If my heart could fold that easily, I wouldn’t have acknowledged it in the first place.”
“And you wouldn’t have even tried to fold it.”

He didn’t seem to intend to argue.
Alexis shrugged nonchalantly and began rolling the pepper shaker in his hands.

The more Cecilia thought about the time they had shared, the more overwhelmed she felt, clutching her glass tightly.

“The empire’s censure… fine, let’s move past that. Don’t you think about our parents? The shock it would cause them?”
“…”
“You’d have a daughter and a son sticking together…”
“The heir of Lysène is guaranteed the right to freely choose a partner.”

Thunk.
The pepper shaker was set back on the table.

“Just like the fifth empress.”
It was widely known—practically to the point of boredom—that the fifth empress divorced her violent ex-husband and remarried the emperor.
Even a play had been made about it.

Cecilia adjusted her lips, determined not to show how exasperated she felt.

“Alright, Alex. As you say, you could choose a noblewoman.”
“…”
“If you choose a married woman and divorce her or remarry her, it’s none of my business. What can I do about emotions?”

What could anyone do about love?
The romance-obsessed Lysène Empire would rationalize it however they liked.

“Frankly, even if you went and picked up some courtesan from who-knows-where!”
“Sis.”
“You know perfectly well that, claiming the rights of the heir, there’s nothing anyone can do. A prostitute as empress—ridiculous, but what can you do.”
“Exactly.”
“But not your sister, Alex.”

He touched his forehead, returning to that conclusion.
A low, base impulse rose in her—to somehow ruin that infuriatingly smug face.

Cecilia fired words like a rapid volley:

“Whoever you choose is your freedom, yes, but if ‘within the range of women’ there’s family, that’s unacceptable. How can your sister even be in that range? How?”
“…”
“Do you even think what you feel is love?”
“Sis—”

He tried to intervene, but Cecilia was faster.
She plunged her sharply honed words straight into his heart.

“That’s not love, Alexis Lysène. Snap out of it.”

For the first time, a ripple disturbed his calm expression.
Cecilia, seeing him visibly inhale sharply, didn’t soften her cruel tongue.

“You’re just being stubborn. Acting like a child, trying to grasp what you shouldn’t have.”
“Sis.”
“Even childish acts have boundaries. There are areas you may step into, and areas you may not.”
“…”
“If you could discern right from wrong, you’d avoid it. But you…”

The knuckles of his large hand had gone white.
Perhaps conscious of her gaze, Alexis drew his clenched fist down beneath the table.
Why that motion struck her as so utterly desperate, she could not say.

His pale face enduring her words—pitiful, infuriating, irritating, and maddening all at once…

So she pressed on.

“Why? Did you think that being the heir meant you could do anything? Don’t you feel any shame showing such twisted arrogance?”
“Sis.”
“Is that something to boast about? Do you really think all that you say is love? Absolutely not, snap out of it.”

…She had no choice but to continue.

“That’s your ego! Your strange, abnormal, and utterly condemnable desire.”
“If you want to treat me like a beast, go ahead.”

His voice was calm. Even the dark winter night could not be so still.

“My desire for you does not change.”
“Hey! Will you not snap out of it?”

The tension of their words rose dangerously, and she let it flow.

“Did you want to rebel that badly? Did you want to act on whim just once?”
Whether the wavering violet spark flared into cold fire, or whether the vivid scar within it glowed like gold, she left it all alone.

“If that’s the case, Alex, then don’t spout insane nonsense claiming it’s love, just give me—”
“Sis.”
“—the bed.”
“Sis!”
“Who knows? I might have handed it over willingly.”

She couldn’t continue speaking. The man had jumped up and covered her mouth with his hand.
Though she could not read his lowered face, his arm trembled, betraying the thoughts of its owner.
A heart bleeding from within.

Cecilia counted precisely to ten, then pushed the hand from her mouth.
Alexis let go obediently but did not lift his head.

“My—”
“Quiet. Please.”

The whispered plea was thin, weak. Yet Cecilia did not stop.

“Do you know why I said that?”
“…”
“Do you know why I expressed it so crudely?”
“…”
“They’re adopting a child. A girl older than their son. Then who would our parents have sought first for consent? The empire? Or you, the heir?”

Alexis slowly sat back down.
Though his shock remained, his expression regained a calm, composed look.
Such coldness was arrogance.
The arrogance of remaining unmoved no matter how vicious the words.

Cecilia placed her hands neatly on her lap, locking eyes with him, driving in the final dagger.

“Why did you want to adopt me, Alex? Sometimes you want me to play the sister, other times you want to dismiss me?”
“…”
“Is my life supposed to be tailored to your whims? When your petty desires vanish, what am I supposed to be then?”

Piercing.
Her composed face twisted, the scathing intensity making it almost white with severity.

“Am I supposed to live obediently as your doll all my life?”

Seeing the pain etched on her younger brother’s face, Cecilia wiped her eyes briefly with a dry hand.

She acknowledged it.
This last part was not criticism but blame.
Overly harsh blame.
She even imagined cutting out her own tongue for having lost control.

“Sorry.”
“Huh?”
“I went too far just now, so I apologize. But explain it! Defend it! Just answer me! Why did you want to adopt me if this is how it’s going to be?”

As soon as she dropped her hands from her face, the violet beneath his eyes sank. He kept his mouth shut, refusing to answer.

The drawn-out silence felt suffocating, maddening.
Cecilia gritted her teeth, loosening the tension in her jaw.

“Not going to explain?”
“…”
“Just keeping quiet? Am I supposed to talk to myself? You need to speak clearly to resolve this!”

Still, no answer came.
Cecilia rose from her seat and grabbed an apple from the top of the fruit pile.
She acted out the thousands of scenarios she had imagined since yesterday.
She threw the apple with all her strength.
Hoping that irritatingly smug face would feel pain.

And, infuriatingly—or perhaps naturally—Alexis caught the apple and bit into it heavily. The juice between his fingers sparkled in the sunlight.

“I cannot answer the question you just asked.”
“Bastard.”
“And my conclusion is, I cannot fold my heart.”
“Crazy bastard.”

Even as she cursed again, he only faintly smiled in silence.

Suddenly, the wind blew.
Through the swaying branches, the sunlight caught his handsome features, and his black hair shimmered gently.
Like a dark night sea. Like a star-filled sky.
So unbearably beautiful that one would wish to capture it in a painting—a fleeting, cruel moment.

Seated, with eyes gazing upward and an unmoved smile, his stubbornness was evident.
Determined not to yield, even if it led to disaster.

‘Who will break first?’
Would this strong, dazzling man falter, or would she?
Either way, the shattered future was clear.

Bang.
The sound of falling she had heard yesterday echoed again.
The irregular thumping resembled a heartbeat.

Rather than focus on the strange auditory illusion, she gathered her mind.
She had to hold onto reason somehow.
Her mother would arrive, and breakfast would begin.
For now, she would keep it a secret… yes, a secret.

Alexis rose from his seat, signaling that the “moment of judgment” had arrived.
Cecilia turned her head and saw from afar a woman approaching gracefully.
Elegant steps, the hem of a white dress brushing her legs, a wide-brimmed hat, and a gentle smile.
Perhaps because Cecilia was half-dazed, everything seemed unreal.
A dazzling, yet painfully beautiful scene.

“Good morning.”