Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 35: Older Brother and Younger Brother (2)
“Flora, since you’re here, could you sit with him for a while?”
“Y-yes. Excuse me, then.”
At Lionel’s suggestion, I took the chair beside the sleeping Gilbert, feeling strangely nervous. Had I troubled even his dreams so greatly that he called my name?
As I breathed deeply to calm myself, Lionel took Gilbert’s dominant hand.
“…It’s my fault that Gilbert can no longer hold a sword.”
Lionel spoke quietly and evenly, but regret filled his voice as he began recounting an incident two years earlier.
“Bandits who crossed from a neighboring country were causing trouble near the southern border. We went to suppress them, but on the journey, a swarm of beasts appeared elsewhere. Long-distance communication remains slow in this country… The bandits exploited that delay and trapped us.”
Dolph, the clergy, the mercenaries, and I listened in silence. Lionel’s soft voice alone filled the quiet room.
“…Gilbert suffered a severe wound to his dominant arm while protecting me from a beast, and then we lost track of him. Fortunately, his vitality was exceptional and he survived, but seven days passed before we rescued him…”
“So his healing came too late.”
The priest gently added.
Apparently healing magic couldn’t restore an injury that had naturally knit in a distorted state over a long period.
Lionel nodded painfully. Dolph, listening with folded arms and closed eyes, sighed.
“That’s his nature. One wrong move this time could have killed him as well…”
I clenched my hands in my lap. Just before the flash, when I saw the reddish-black wave bearing down upon Gilbert, a familiar pain had filled my chest. Now that he was safe, it had faded.
Lionel stroked Gilbert’s hand affectionately and smiled ruefully.
“Naturally, I’m grateful. But his excessive self-sacrifice can cause terrible grief to those around him, and I want to scold him for it. Yet I was saved by that very quality. Careless words would only wound him.”
He gently returned Gilbert’s hand to the bed and exhaled.
“Acting without hesitation to protect another is one of Gilbert’s virtues. That’s why I wanted him to have as many reasons as possible to value himself and return alive.”
Lionel turned to me with a delighted smile.
“Flora, you are…”
“Lionel, you’re being inconsiderate. Don’t rush ahead. Your younger brother will resent you if you interfere.”
“Hmm… You’re right. Forgive me.”
Dolph interrupted before Lionel could finish. Lionel scratched his head impatiently, and I too felt restless, wondering what he had meant to say.
Then Dolph looked toward me.
“Flora, do you want to tell Lionel? There’s no need to force yourself, but speaking now may be better than postponing it.”
Dolph’s words recalled what Gilbert had told me in the Blacksmiths’ Village, and I caught my breath.
—He said he felt responsible. I should probably explain. But it’s already over…
Only ten days had passed, yet the memory felt both near and distant. Time with these people had pushed it so far away that shaping it into words was difficult.
Still, if we spoke openly now instead of learning the truth from someone else later, perhaps we could free ourselves from the misgivings between us.
Clergy and mercenaries were present, but they might hear the story elsewhere regardless.
“Until about ten days ago, I was the wife of the man people call a hero. I’m no longer his wife.”
“You are…?”
Lionel’s eyes widened. Then he bowed deeply.
“I have wanted to apologize to you for a long time.”
“Please don’t. It’s already over.”
His bow flustered me, but nothing could change the facts.
“…I knew he had a wife, yet I looked away. I put the war first, and I share responsibility for the injury to your honor and heart.”
How could I answer such direct self-reproach and apology?
“…No. Any further apology would serve only my own satisfaction and cause you more pain.”
“Thank you for your concern, but please don’t worry. Knowing that you care for me is enough.”
I tried to smile.
“He wasn’t skilled at lying. The moment he said those words, everything ended.”
The memories I thought distant hadn’t vanished. My voice trembled, and my hands clenched in my lap.
As I held my shaking hands together, the blanket beside me flew up. Gilbert abruptly sat, reached out, and covered my hands with his own.
Everyone in the room turned at the sudden movement.
“…Gilbert, were you awake?”
“Oh, uh, well, you see, ……”
Gilbert met my eyes and opened and closed his mouth. Then he saw Lionel behind me, released my hands in panic, and pulled the blanket over his head.
“Gilbert, it’s too late to pretend to be asleep now. ……”
Lionel laughed, but Gilbert remained curled beneath the blanket, faintly trembling.
His behavior was very strange, yet it released the tension that had been building inside me.