The Male Lead’s Younger Sister is Still Sad Today

Episode 25

It might be the beast that scared me earlier.

The darkness of the night made it difficult to see clearly, but he was undoubtedly a person.

A regular person, exhaling warm breath without the stench of blood.

A person who hadn’t died.

I didn’t know who he was, but I had to catch him. I desperately needed someone alive, breathing like me.

I forced my completely relaxed legs to move. In the pitch-black darkness where I couldn’t see who it was, I walked hesitantly, trying to find a person.

But maybe it was because I had been sitting for a long time. As soon as I reached him, my legs gave way due to the wind that relaxed my legs, and I unintentionally sat down.

Among the corpses dragging me to hell, I thought my parents might be there too. In that case, being dragged to hell didn’t seem so bad.

“Mom, Dad…”

In reality, my six-year-old self was not young at all. I was a person who remembered my past life and was reborn, so maybe I could have prevented my parents’ deaths.

“Chase.”

I was foolish. There couldn’t be such a foolish guy.

We had to leave Dofen. I was negligent, and maybe it was all my fault that our family ended up like this. It was all my stupid fault.

Abel, my parents, all of us living happily together…

“Chase.”

I had a chance. My mental age was by no means young.

My stupidity killed my mom and dad. My foolishness distorted everything.

Isis losing her memory, my brother suffering because of it.

All of this was because of me.

“Chase!”

Someone grabbed my shoulders forcefully. At that moment, barely waking up from the nightmare, I lifted my head.

Raiden, who looked desperate, was holding onto my shoulders. At least, it seemed like Raiden. My eyes were so blurry that I couldn’t see clearly.

I blinked to check the front again.

Tears poured down uncontrollably.

“You…”

Raiden’s face that I saw was a complete mess.

“Why are you crying?”

Strangely, hearing his voice suddenly made me feel sad.

Frightening.

The sound of the airplane, the horrifying memory that almost took my life, and the cruel war that took away everyone’s lives.

Tears flowed even more from my eyes.

Raiden’s face looking at me was a mess.

“Why are you crying?”

Without saying a word, just shedding tears, Raiden hesitated for a moment before slowly comforting me, who was crying without uttering a word.

His touch was irregular. It was much faster than when my dad sang a lullaby and stroked me.

When I was young, my dad’s hands never seemed so large. Still, I thought that if I ever got married and had someone I loved, the size difference between my hands and my dad’s wouldn’t be much.

To me, that was the expected future.

There were times when I vaguely thought that Dad would be by my side until then.

That as I grew into a quite plausible adult, my side would have Mom and Dad.

However, what I overlooked was that there are adults who won’t wait until a child becomes an adult.

Surviving, I naturally became an adult. And Abel also grew into a fine adult.

But I wasn’t perfect. I still couldn’t detach myself from the past. I hadn’t grown in any way compared to my younger self.

“Hik…”

As the crying subsided a bit, hiccups emerged.

Crying so much made it difficult to breathe. Raiden, who was patting my back, silently took out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to gently wipe my face.

Because of crying, my eyes were stinging tremendously.

But Raiden forcefully wiped my face. Despite the roughness of his hands, it felt strangely soothing.

Due to tears, the dirt and dust that clung to my hands were also wiped away by Raiden.

“…”

“Th-thank… you.”

“…”

Raiden just stared silently at me, his shoulders twitching with the remnants of emotions.

I tried to breathe evenly by lifting my head when my tears met Raiden’s gaze, who was looking down at me.

In those deep eyes staring at me, I couldn’t even guess what emotions were hidden, or what thoughts he had about me.

The forest was dark. Even the moonlight above didn’t play its role properly like a fool. Therefore, I couldn’t imagine what emotions Raiden might have.

The wind, imbued with the scent of the forest, blew towards us.

“Get up.”

Raiden quietly spoke.

I cautiously nodded at his words and stood up from my spot. However, strangely, my body didn’t move as easily as my mind.

“…”

Attempting to stand up and sitting back down again, Raiden, who saw me hesitate, shook his head. He grabbed my arm and helped me up.

Although my legs still lacked strength, thanks to Raiden supporting me, I could barely stand.

“Take a deep breath slowly.”

I inhaled slowly, then exhaled. However, my irregular breaths, which entered and left my body as they pleased, couldn’t be controlled even after taking deep breaths.

Raiden, seeing that I couldn’t breathe properly, added,

“Think of it as forcing the air into the deepest part of your body.”

Following his words, I forcefully inhaled the cold air of the forest.

Slowly, so that the cool air could follow my body temperature…

Then, strangely, my heartbeat, which had been moving irregularly, felt like it was finding its original pace, albeit slowly.

And Raiden, realizing that I had calmed down a bit, let out a breath and said,

“Get up.”

I nodded cautiously.

But strangely, my body didn’t move as easily as my mind.

“Then try walking.”

I moved my steps slowly. Raiden, who had been silently watching me walk, followed me down the mountain.

The wind was blowing, and my face felt cold. It seemed that I had wiped my face too much with my hands while crying earlier. I pressed my swollen eyes with my hands.

“Um, Your Grace… What brings you to the forest at this late hour?”

Trying to lighten the awkward atmosphere, I changed the subject. Raiden then opened his mouth quietly.

“I wondered if there were people lost in the forest, like you.”

“You’re kind.”

Indeed, he was kind.

“You…”

Raiden, who was about to say something, closed his mouth when he saw me stumble over a rock.

Fortunately, I wasn’t seriously hurt. Despite the steep path, I didn’t roll. It was just a bit embarrassing.

“…Haha, what were you talking about?”

Smiling awkwardly as I got up from the ground, Raiden looked a bit puzzled.

“Can’t you see well ahead?”

“My eyes are a bit swollen…”

It was true. Since it was difficult to even open my eyes, saying that I couldn’t see well ahead was not a lie.

“…Follow me.”

Using my swollen eyes as an excuse, it seemed plausible. Raiden briskly walked ahead, and I hurriedly followed him.

Seeing him from behind, his attire looked quite uncomfortable. Although he wore only a loose shirt instead of a jacket, the pants seemed to be in a formal style, so it wasn’t a completely comfortable outfit.

It didn’t quite match the appearance of someone who came looking for a lost person in the forest.

“Yo, Your Grace.”

Raiden’s footsteps leading the way were quite fast. When I cautiously called him to be careful because it was a bit difficult to keep up with his pace, Raiden turned around.

It seemed that Raiden didn’t realize that there was such a difference in our walking speeds. Although his face was not clearly visible, it could be seen that he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“Uh, I’ll hurry up.”

As I rushed to him, Raiden wiped his face with his hands as if washing it and then quietly opened his mouth.

“Grab onto me.”

“…What?”

“Hold onto the hem of my shirt, grab my arm, or hold my hand, whatever you want.”

After saying that, he started walking again, but this time, his pace was noticeably slower than before.

It felt a bit awkward for me, a mere commoner, to hold onto the body of Duke Raiden. I cautiously grabbed the back of Raiden’s shirt.

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

There was no response from Raiden. He just silently continued to descend the mountain, as if he wanted to leave this place quickly.

Thunk!

Suddenly, a firecracker sound echoed, and I startled, quickly covering my ears. Although it wasn’t a sound that would tear my eardrums, I still found the noise of something exploding in the sky frightening.

Desperately letting go of Raiden’s shirt, he abruptly stopped walking.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…’

The war had finally come to an end, but no matter how many times I told myself that, the sound of fireworks continued to echo in my ears. It seemed like the intention was to bring back the nightmare I had just experienced.

Gradually, numerous hands approached towards my legs.

That’s when it happened.

The sound of fireworks that had lingered in my ears subsided a little. Surprised, I lifted my head, and Raiden was covering my ears with his hands.

His hands, overlapping on the back of mine, were incredibly warm.

“…”

Raiden’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Various colors of light reflected in his eyes.

His eyes, changing colors alternately, were beautiful like jewels. I was completely captivated by his eyes.

At that moment, Raiden pursed his lips.

It seemed like he was trying to say something to me, but I couldn’t hear his voice clearly.

What is he saying?

I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to know what he was saying to me.

Unconsciously, I removed the hand that had been covering my ears. As I did so, the faint sound of fireworks, which had only been barely audible until now, once again entered my ears.

Simultaneously, Raiden’s voice flowed out.

“…”

However, it still wasn’t clear due to the sound of fireworks. In an attempt to hear his voice, I took a step closer to him. In response, Raiden bent his waist.

In an instant, the distance between us became extremely close.