Chapter 332- Late Night Stroll

“………”

“………”

The two of us went out for an evening walk together, but I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I thought I had thought about what to talk about. But when it was time to speak, I couldn’t get the words out.

“…thank you for worrying about me and taking care of me this way. But I’m fine.”

“Eh…?”

It had been about 10 minutes since we started our walk, so I thought it was time to say something. At such a timing, Sophie suddenly stopped, looked at me, smiled at me and said so.

“We are brother and sister of a noble family, and we meet the conditions for marriage. However, there are almost no examples of actual marriages when those conditions are met. So, inevitably, the candidate for your marriage partner will be someone other than me who is close to you. In that case, the first person that comes to everyone’s mind would be Shana.”

The condition for marriage even if they are related by blood, such as siblings, is that they have different hair and eye color, although it is limited to aristocratic families. The reason why it’s nobles-only is because it’s a brother-sister marriage to ensure that my family’s enchantment abilities are passed on to the next generation. That being said, for the most part, the family ability is passed on to whoever the child is born to. However, there are times when a daughter who fulfills the requirements of the younger one who has not yet married becomes the eldest son’s concubine in order to ensure that the family ability is passed on if it is not passed on to anyone else.

“If I had still called Shana by her nickname, people might not have thought it was so certain that the two of you would get married. Because the only person who calls Shana by her nickname, without her relatives, is you, Zero onii-chan. Perhaps Shana had foreseen this and had only allowed you to call her by her nickname from the early stage.”

I don’t think it’s possible that Shana probably thought that much about it from the time. But I can’t deny that the fact that I’m the only one who calls her by her nickname may have been the deciding factor in the misunderstanding.

“To be honest, I didn’t mind that much when I imagined you marrying Shana. I got myself confused about that and ended up like that at the party. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble back then.”

Sophie said and bowed lightly.

“I think that whoever you get married to, it would be fine with me if the person you get married to meets the conditions that I approve of.”

“Conditions?”

“The conditions are someone who likes you without calculation, someone who is strong enough to protect you and someone who can prioritize you above all else. And most important than these three…”

When Sophie said that much, she stopped speaking and stared at me. Then she began to continue.

“─ Even if that person is there, my place will be next to you, onii-chan. Oh, I’m going to say something heavy now. I hope you won’t pull away.”

Sophie prefaced her words with that and then continued.

“I am living in this life for you. If I were to be abandoned by you, onii-chan, I would die and this isn’t a joke. I think I would lose the will to live and just be in a daze until I die. So the cause of death would probably be starvation. That’s probably why I hated the elves from the bottom of my heart. The elves were calculating, they couldn’t protect you, they gave priority to their own people, the elves, over my brother, and if you became one of the elves, I, who was not an elf who hadn’t made a contract with a spirit, couldn’t stay by your side. They do not fit the condition at all. From that point of view, I don’t understand Shana’s feelings, but the most important thing is whether there is a place for me, so I guess there was almost no rejection.”

I know that the elves are so kind to me because I have a contract with the Spirit King, and I have heard a lot about what happened when that demon tribe attacked the elves’ village from Sophie.

“However, I am not sure if I am able to protect you, onii-chan.”

Sophie added and laughed at herself.

“I was worried about myself because I thought that the reason I didn’t reject the idea of Shana marrying you was because my feelings for you had weakened. I worried myself, but that was not the case. My feelings haven’t changed. I have become a little more tolerant of other people getting married to my brother, but I still want you to like me. Please keep up the good work!”

“What do you want me to do when you ask me like this ….?”

“It means that you should find me attractive.”

Sophie said and started to walk away.

“Zero onii-chan, If you stop, we won’t be able to go for a walk!”

So I started to walk to follow Sophie. Sophie seemed to have worked it out on her own while I was trying to figure out what to do.

“Thank you for hearing me out.”

“You’re welcome.”

I heard Sophie say in a whisper.

It seemed that I was able to be of some help to Sophie.

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