Read Novel Full Chapter 500: Big Sister [I]
Chapter 500: Big Sister [I]
I don’t even know why I was emotional.
It was a stupid tradition. Women of the house, sisters or mothers or wives, would give the men of the family a brooch before they left for war.
A little piece of home to carry with them, something to remind them that someone was waiting for them to come back.
Countless times I had seen it growing up. My cousins had received a few. My father also had received a few too many from my aunt and my mother.
“It’s not much, I know,” Alexia said, mistaking my silence for hesitation. “I wasn’t sure what gem you would like, so I went with blue. Or, at least, Kang tells me it’s blue.”
I looked down at the little silver brooch again. The tiny star-shaped sapphire caught the light. “It is.”
Alexia tilted her head. “It’s not much?”
“No.” I carefully picked it up from her palm. “It is much. I like it. Did you make it yourself?”
“Good.” She smiled faintly. “And yes, I made it myself. That’s the Theosbane tradition, isn’t it?”
I nodded wordlessly.
My chest was aching for some reason.
I hated that.
I hated how something so small could suddenly make me remember things I had spent years trying not to think about.
Things like my mother’s hands fastening a brooch to my father’s coat, my elder brother promising to be the man of the house in his absence.
Thalia would stand behind me like always, and I’d cry for Father. Mother would come to console me, laughing and ruffling my hair, telling me how I did not need to worry because my father was strong.
Later at night, there would be laughter at the dinner table… and empty chairs afterward.
I hated those times before a campaign. But I loved how involved Father would become in the conversations at dinner. If we were lucky, we’d even catch him laughing.
He was usually very stoic, a man of few words. I could now see he only did it for our mother’s sake, or maybe he was just scared of her scolding.
Knowing Mother, it was probably the latter. She could make even the fearsome Golden Duke look like a guilty child with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.
I remember one night in particular when Father missed what Ezra had said, and Mother reached out to pinch his cheek, making all of us kids laugh.
I loved those times.
Where did it all go so wrong?
It then dawned on me that I was emotional because I thought I wasn’t going to get a brooch from anyone in my family.
Calliope might’ve sent me one, but the Academy would’ve taken too long to process the package.
Thalia was…
Well, you know.
I didn’t realize I had been staring at the brooch for so long until Alexia spoke again.
“Sam?”
I blinked. “Ah, sorry.”
She gave me a look. “Have you talked to your sister?”
My eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “What? Why would I talk to her?”
Alexia looked at me like I was dumb. “Because she’s your sister.”
“Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, the two of us aren’t really on speaking terms,” I said. “And after what she did to Vince in the Mock War, I don’t even want to see her face.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I also know you’re both idiots. Actually, I’m starting to think it’s contagious. Is no one in your family normal?”
“You have no leg to stand on. I’ve met your brother.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “And don’t try to change the subject by calling me stupid.”
“I wasn’t?”
“You were.”
“I was absolutely changing the subject,” she chuckled, then let out yet another resigned sigh. “I’m not saying you should forgive her. But just talk to her.”
The gym suddenly felt a lot quieter.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said finally after a lot of struggle to find the right words. “And I don’t think even she wants to talk to me.”
“That’s not true,” Alexia said, shaking her head slowly. “I saw her approaching you during the Commemoration Ceremony.”
“You saw?”
Alexia shot me a glare. “Now who’s trying to change the subject?”
I replied with an uneasy scoff, shifting from foot to foot. “I know her. Trust me. If I go, she’ll slam the door in my face.”
“You know how she feels. That’s a different thing,” said the blind girl, wise as always.
I stayed silent.
After confirming she wasn’t getting anywhere with me, she let out a huff in defeat and touched my arm. “Fine. I’m not going to force you. But I’m still going to say one thing.”
I groaned. “Of course.”
“You’re going to war in two days.” That wiped the dry humor from my face. Alexia’s expression had softened. “None of us will know what will happen there, Sam. But if something does happen to you… wouldn’t you rather leave knowing you tried? You clearly seem like you want to.”
I wanted to object, but… she did have a point.
No, I’m not talking about the emotional aspect of it. That was plain stupid.
I mean, well, usually in anime and novels, when a character leaves for some dangerous battle with unfinished business, they die.
That’s a very obvious death flag, and I would be damned if I were going to let myself become one of those idiots.
After a long, uncomfortable moment, I nodded— then I remembered she couldn’t see and wanted to facepalm. “Okay. I’ll maybe go talk to her. Still no promises, though.”
“That’s good enough,” Alexia said encouragingly. It seemed like she was about to pull back when her forehead creased, and her grip around my arm went firm. “Oh, wow. You fixed this arm of yours. Thank Monarchs, it was so creepy.”
“Yes!” I beamed excitedly. “I can manipulate organic matter now. Ooh! Here’s an idea! Do you want me to cure your blindness, Alexia? I’ll get in some practice, and you’ll get your sight!”
Alexia flinched back, looking horrified. “Please don’t touch me. Ever.”
“Wait, why?! It’s a win-win for both of us!”
“Sam, my blindness is caused by targeted Essence Poisoning in my eyes. Use of any innate ability to heal my eyes would only worsen the damage, possibly even spreading up to my brain.”
“Oh.” Oh right. Hmm. Aha! Another idea suddenly struck me. “Okay. Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll reconstruct your whole head from the inside out. Don’t worry, I’ll put back everything exactly where I find it. You’ll be the same… I think.”
Forget horrified, the girl seemed like she had stopped breathing altogether. I was about to press on when she turned on her heel… and started running.
She ran out of the gym and dashed up the stairs like I’d told her I was planning to steal both her kidneys.
“A-Alexia! Wait, Alexia! Please, just let me touch you once, and we’ll both be happy! Come on, it’ll be my return gift to you!”
She started running faster, shrieking for someone to come save her.