CH 5

It was because of my brother.

As you know, the genre of ‘caught but not caught’ is ‘romance fantasy’. Naturally, fantasy elements were hidden everywhere to suit the name, and one of them was the unique ability of each main character’s family.

As expected, our family has been ‘fire magicians’ for generations.

It’s a bit unlucky to say, but this was the innate ability of the red-haired and eyed Valerian bloodlines. It was to the point where there was a joke that Valerian people were born breathing fire.

And that meant that we knew how to use fire freely.

“I will go to the second floor alone. You two must have had a hard time today, so please rest.”

Instead, there was a disadvantage that it was difficult to control one’s ability when emotions became intense.

My brother seemed to be in a deep state of depression because he was on the verge of breaking up at the same time as the engagement ceremony was held today.

The flames aren’t much of a threat. It wasn’t a fire created with the will to harm anyone, so it didn’t get hot or burn anything.

However, it was enough to arouse fear in ordinary people.

“My lady, thank you. Then this time, go down the stairs over there…”

“Guide me there.”

That’s why I voluntarily extinguished the flames for them. Of course, there was also a will of reflection for our parents, who must have been upset by us siblings.

After extinguishing the last flame, I headed to my brother’s room this time.

When I went in through the door, the picture was drawn exactly as I expected. The strong smell of alcohol was the first thing I felt, along with the hot heat that filled the inside.

“What the hell is this all about?”

As if this place were an inferno, the floor was full of fire.

First, I covered my nose with one hand. Then, with one foot, I roughly cleared away the flames and moved forward.

I drew up the curtains and opened the window.

“Brother, wake up.”

My brother was sitting on the floor with his back to the bed.

His red hair was messily stuck to his face, and her two sparkling eyes had lost their luster. He kept muttering something with his chapped lips.

It was a perfect drunkard, itself.

“What do we do? Me and Serene, what will happen now?”

What?

His tongue was twisted, and his words became slurred. Who would see this person as the successor to the Valerian Marquis family?

I plopped down nearby, keeping a moderate distance apart.

“Stop the flames, or go out. Why do you keep going back and forth to bring alcohol and make the whole mansion go crazy? I’d rather have someone else do it.”

For your information, I’m not here to comfort my brother.

I just came to warn you not to make a fuss while drinking all morning. It was because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Diantaa.”

“What do you want me to do? And even if you break up your engagement right away, that doesn’t mean the two of us are breaking up. Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

I was worried that it might be a misunderstanding.

Really, who knows. Who knows?

You may not know because the novel only draws silent yet vague scenes, but in fact, there are many such trivial episodes hidden.

‘Oh, it’s annoying.’

Now that I’ve said everything I have to say, I was going to wrap it up roughly and leave. Anyway, this situation was so familiar that I shook my head and answered.

“Because of your personality, you couldn’t ask in front of Serene again.” If you’re too worried, just go tomorrow and ask how the engagement goes. We can talk to each other and conclude neatly.”

“… come with me?”

At that moment, the red eyes, which were out of focus, crept in and soon shed tears.

Somehow, it was like the face of a person who saw hope rising in despair.

Oh, it was a feeling of déjà vu. She quickly pushed her hips back and tried to stand up.

But my brother was faster. His firm hand held my wrist.

“My sister Dianta Valerian, for this brother…”

How many times does this wrist get caught today?

“Let go of me! Let go of me!”

“Come with me.”

But my brother was more persistent than I thought. He was never going to let go until I said okay.

After all, there was only one thing I could say.

“Okay! I’ll go! We can go together.”

I thought I was free after the engagement.

Why did it become more and more difficult? Today was the day when I hated myself in my previous life, who laughed that misunderstood novels were interesting.

As expected, novels are the most fascinating way to read novels.

***

‘It’s so cold,’ Eiberg kept repeating this over and over again.

His vision was all black, and his body continued to submerge into the deep sea. The sea was so cold that it froze everything to the point where he couldn’t think of a way to get out of there or to live.

Intuitively, Eiberg realized that he was dying, and instantly thought of Serene.

‘I was wondering if I could see you now. Do I have to leave without seeing you again?’

Serene, whom I met after a long time, was quite different from the kid I remember. She is now a full-fledged adult. I thought the gap between us was really sad.

At the same time, as explained in the letter from his sister, a young lady who took good care of her came to mind.

‘Dianta Valerian’.

Bright ruby-colored eyes, a sharp nose, and reddish hair as well as the fruit-like open lips drew attention.

It was a face he had seen many times because of the portrait Serene had sent him.

Occasionally, the name of an inappropriate person, Heintra, appeared, but whenever the name appeared in a letter, I could feel how bright it was.

<She’s such a strange kid. Even if I don’t say it, Dianta sees through it as if she knows everything. I am so happy to be friends with her. 

And for the gift I sent this time, I chose not only Dianta, but also Hint. Knowing that, I get depressed when it comes to my brother’s birthday…>

But at the time, it seemed that she recognized my true identity. Because she was making a frightened expression, like someone who saw something she shouldn’t have seen.

In fact, if it were my usual self, I would have boldly removed the condition before my weakness was caught, but that was not the case. Rather than pretending not to know her, I kicked her out. It was obvious that Serene would be in great shock if he did that.

‘But why did I end up like this?’

Eiberg looked up blankly from the darkness of the abyss. There was no light. As if announcing his end.

‘Maybe I’m guilty of taking so many lives.’

I did feel the chill from leaving the north. However, at the time, the body, adapted to the north, could not accept the warmer climate, so it was taken lightly that it was only for a while.

However, as if he was mocking his thoughts, his condition did not improve at all. Rather, it deteriorated rapidly after the unfamiliar sensation he felt from contacting Lady Valerian. Frost had already started to fill the inside with his helmet when he realized that his body had reached its limits.

So he passed out in the stable.

‘Before leaving, the last thing I left behind was tears.’

Eberg was really sorry about that. He knew it was greed, but he wanted to see and share his sister’s feelings that he hadn’t seen for a long time.

More than anything… 

‘If I change my life like this, I’ll be left with only a lump that can’t be erased forever by Serene.’

He almost gave up and closed his eyes, but opened them again. It gave strength to his entire body to the extent that his blue veins were protruding.

I didn’t want Serene to have the same life as me. Yeah, I couldn’t go down like this.

I tried to get myself up again with that one wind. However, I struggled again and again.

Did the desperation finally reach me? I found a ray of light floating on the sea of ​​the abyss. It was not immediately caught.

However, Eiberg stretched out his hand to touch it several times, and at some point, the light came to him by itself. And the light began to melt Eiberg’s cold little by little.

It was warm. The cold is gone.

Little by little, the light began to return to his pitch-black vision, and he regained consciousness, albeit faintly.

“Some people are dying of pain. Some sleep so well that they don’t know the world.”

I felt someone poking me in the cheek.

Each time, the light repeatedly approached me and moved away, stealing away the warmth as if teasing. The cold had gone, but strangely, I missed the unfamiliar warmth. I was still in pain.

What on earth is this warmth? I just wanted to hold on to that red light so that it wouldn’t fall off me. So Eiberg stretched out his hand again towards the distant red light that was getting farther and farther away. Soon, I grabbed it tightly so that it could not escape from my grip.

“… It’s warm.”

After that, Eiberg fell into a deep sleep again.

Is it because he woke up briefly? The spirit completely blew his fuse, as if telling him to get enough rest now that you’re safe.

And when he opened his eyes again, it was after a night when no sunlight came in.

“How are you feeling? Is it freezing or too hot, or does it not feel like that at all?”

It was a really messy and dark space.

More than anything, it was the man in the white coat that made Eiberg’s nerves sensitive. He chatted busily, without even explaining who he was.

In the end, Eiberg grabbed the man’s neck at once, as if twisting a chicken’s neck.

“Where is this place, and who are you?”

“I, I focus on the North, Kekek! It is called the Digging Alchemist. Keek!”

The man finally started introducing himself after facing Eiberg’s threat head-on. He also explained in detail how Eiberg had come to this place, what had happened last night, and even his condition.

Throughout the story, Eiberg’s expression did not change terribly.

It was an unfamiliar disease that I had never heard of, even after living in the North for a long time. Normally, I would have thought of this man as an impostor, but I couldn’t just ignore him now.

“That’s why you suddenly passed out.”

I’ve been through the symptoms myself.

At the time, even Eiberg’s first thought was of his younger sister, Seren. Like everyone else, he didn’t care about his own life. He was worried only about Serene, who would still be left alone.

Clearly, even before coming here, it was only to prevent the engagement ceremony. After delivering only the news of the one-sided engagement without his permission, in Eiberg’s mind, only the scene where his younger sister, who had stopped at the age of 15, got engaged to some strange guy was clearly drawn.

So I can’t allow a guy whose face I haven’t even seen before getting married to my sister, even though I thought so.

“Did you say you were an alchemist?”

“Yes?”

“Then I guess I can make special tools as well.”

It’s a little different now.

As he went through this incident, he learned more deeply. Since he is her life, and he does not know what will happen to her, there is a high probability that he will not be able to stay by Serene’s side in the future. So, if only Serene was left alone in this world, he needed someone reliable to support her both externally and internally.

I have no choice but to look carefully within the time allowed to me.

“Then how long can I stay in the capital?”

“Hahaha. That’s the field, I can tell you as much as I want. According to the situation I saw yesterday, the Young lady’s mana combined with crystal purified the magi a little as it entered the Knight’s body, and filled the empty space with mana…”

As he said, while Eiberg himself was staying here, he needed Dianta Valerian.

It was a very awkward situation. The fact that man’s sister, determined to carry it out for a month, has saved him and is the only one who will continue to help him.