CH 3

Originally, the first person she thought of was her aunt, but although she loved Laiya, she was an outsider of their family. Meaning didn’t have the power to protect Laiya.

Unfortunately, this family’s rank of succession to any of the future heir’s swordsmanship laid with the current Head of the family and his Commander-in-chief.

Later, once the successor has been chosen, the rest of that generation will choose one of two options.

Be removed, or willing forsake the family’s name.

For the latter, their parents would help them discard their last name.

Their care for their children was so great that they would personally help them with the procedures.

And remove their name from the family tree.

In Laiya’s case, her parents had little to no affection for her.

That remained clear, as it wasn’t a secret that her brother killed her in the book.

But there should be someone else who could help Laiya.

I’ve never had a proper conversation with him before though.

Laiya decided that she at least wanted to see his face once.

“Excuse me, is the kitchen this way?”

She walked into the kitchen to stock up on some supplies.

When Laiya entered, the staff who were on duty inside appeared startled to see her.

“…Miss?”

“Yes, hello. May I please have some?”

She targeted the highest rank amongst them and held out her basket.

“Please fill this basket with what I say.”

Although the general manager felt nervous, he still complied with her request.

Fortunately, even though they were obviously reluctant to help her, they didn’t ignore her.

Great!

Laiya gave the basket a tug, her hands stretched out while trying to reach it. Though, it made a loud noise as it moved.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“…Well, no…”

What? She shrugged.

“I’m going now. Sorry to disturb you, thank you.”

For some reason, as she left the kitchen, those who watched her leave, whispered to one another rather than standing there in vain.

Laiya ignored them and turned to leave.

***

“Pardon me, sir. Where is the third training arena?”

“What is this little boy-Princess? Sorry!”

Surprised, the guard quickly showed her the way.

Laiya asked the knights around her for directions and found the place she was looking for.

Actually, if a child such as myself carries a basket the size of their body, shouldn’t it be only polite to listen to them?

It is said that in order to become a swordsmanship master, chivalry will freeze to death.

Thanks to that, by the time Laiya had reached the training arena, her forehead was drenched in sweat.

Another factor was her poor endurance and weak heart.

But it did feel good to move about.

I found him!

There was only one person standing in the wide arena.

It was a man who stood still, his back facing her while he held his sword.

His black hair gently waved.

He was three fists taller than the girl.

That old and gigantic training arena was owned by that very person.

Her third brother, Roy BlackWinter.

In the novel, he had been possessed with a sense of inferiority as he compared himself to the talent of the male protagonist. He later then met the devil and became consumed, then became stronger in the wrong way.

After the death of their first brother, he was the one who jumped into the devil’s land, thus becoming the final villain.

Hello brother, I’ll help you in advance.

He was the person who Laiya had to help from behind the scenes from now on.

I’ll beg you!

She snuck up behind him.

It was quite a distance between them, her short legs worked hard.

Wow! You are training hard.

The closer she got; the more Laiya realized that the sword in his hand never rested.

Roy BlackWinter was training with great focus.

How much older than me is Roy?

Most of the descendants of the BlackWinter family had black hair.

Stephan only had until a while ago, and she born without black hair.

Only Laiya had been born with blonde hair.

It was only a genetic trait, like with Stephan’s silver hair. It was said that their grandmother was blonde.

Well, I am five years old.

Stephan is six years older that Laiya and Roy BlackWinter should be five years older than her.

Laiya finished her calculations of their age differences, her fingers helping her keep track.

In the meantime, her body had continued to walk closer, leaving her brother just five steps ahead.

The boy’s body had become drenched in sweat.

For a thirteen-year-old, at first glance, he had a great physique.

But that was one of the characteristics of the BlackWinter family.

Not only their father, but their eldest and second eldest brothers were already taller than their age groups.

Laiya almost felt depressed when she thought of how she was the only exception. But she quickly brushed the thought off.

You know, I think you’ve noticed me a while ago, brother.

In the novel, compared to their first brother, Kyle, her third brother did not stand out. But, her third brother was quite talented in swordsmanship.

However, it was due to his inferiority that he travelled down the wrong path and became the final evil boss.

Yes, there was no way Laiya was allowing that to happen.

Still, how long are you going to pretend to not see me?

She had approached him close enough that she could view Roy BlackWinter’s profile, but the boy had yet to spare her a single glance.

It can’t be helped; I should give up… Rather than forcing it!

Laiya slumped onto the bench next to them and looked up at him, a different perspective for her, as he trained.

Wow, this angle looks good too.

Like she thought before, she didn’t think she would get to see this site even once.

First of all, the building she lived in was far from there, and then there was also the case of the boy practically living in the arena.

BlackWinter’s power did revolve around skill sets.

So, the person currently favored by their father was Kyle BlackWinter, the one considered to be a genius.

The Kyle who dinned at the dinner table, and was allowed to enter the head’s office.

Unlike me, who has to wait an hour just to go to the library.

Laiya took a deep breath, and then she choked.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Her cough echoed strongly for someone so tiny.

It seemed that it was caused by her lack of good health, but maybe it could be due to the amount of dust generated from the arena.

Cough! Cough! Huh, ah! Cough!

Laiya whined like a kitten who had inhaled a mouthful of dust. It was when she lifted her head after her coughing bout that she met the eyes looking down at her.

“…”

Wow.

She stopped covering her mouth as she openly gawked blankly.

Whoosh.

The handkerchief in her hand was blown away with the wind.

The front of Roy BlackWinter was different from the side profile she had previously glimpsed.

He’s a pretty boy! A complete opposite feeling compared to Kyle BlackWinter.

In fact, this novel was a male-oriented fantasy novel in which the beauty of the main character was not important.

So, although the face of the original male lead was handsome, it was close to being like by anyone like how anyone would like a large dog.

However, the BlackWinter family, who had been in charge of the axis of evil, for some reason were all outstandingly handsome men.

As their endings were harsh, some of the readers joked and asked if the writer has any feelings towards handsome men.

Anyway, the third brother who looked down at her, was a good-looking boy.

Even though he had stood in the sun all day, his skin was still a pure white.

His eyes, a blood red under his wavy dark hair.

To be honest, the two of them gave of the vibes of a cat and a beast, but it felt strangely dazed, as though out of focus.

“…”

But soon, the bloody eyes focused.

Laiya stiffened.

It was like a frog in front of a snake.

Maybe, this… Aura?

You could ask what kind of a thirteen-year-old has an aura like this, but he was a BlackWinter.

In addition, he was a direct descendant and a hidden genius.

Wah, brother, why are you looking like this?

In the book, one of the main characters was Roy BlackWinter, and that certainly was the case.

I’m sorry, brother. This talent of yours is worth it.

If only he had overcome his inferiority complex and trained, he would have become far more greater that he had been.

It’s because there was a lot of handsome guys there, huh?

It’s not that Laiya did not understand Roy.

Roy had never showed up to the monthly family dinners in which all of the immediate family gathered.

In fact, those dinners became Kyle BlackWinter’s solo stage.

Roy wanted to be recognized too, so he skipped the dinners and trained, right?

So, Laiya decided to do well with those who were either out of site or had been abandoned right now.

She wanted to say that to her third brother, but her lips never opened.

Unfortunately, her weak body was the cause as it tried to endure living under such an atmosphere and pressure.

Laiya held her breath as shook her head.

Life is bullshit!

Her fists clenched as she recalled the days where she survived in the orphanage.

“Hi Oppa!”

[T/N: Oppa – Older brother]

It was Laiya who had invaded Roy’s space, so, it was only natural that he would feel uncomfortable.

I’m really sorry about that.

But for Laiya, it was necessary to infiltrate his peaceful daily life just a little.

“Aren’t you my third brother?”

“…”

“Ah, you may not know who I am, I am your sister! Laiya BlackWinter. Not a cousin, a sister!”

“…”

“I saw you once, do you remember it? I came here because I heard you are always in the third training arena, so I was curious.”

“…”

“I want to be friends with you, third brother!”

“…”

Whoosh. The wind blew past.

… Excuse me… Brother?

She wanted to cry with a smile.

Can’t you give me at least one answer?

She was well aware that he was not displeased.

As when she coughed, his powerful aura disappeared.

She glanced at Roy with surprise.

I don’t think he is a bad person.

In comparison with normal people, she had a different criterion of what a bad person should be.

Like if one day in the future, they fought, even if the she was badly beaten, does that really compare to how fiercely their parents fought one another.

Or her first brother, who when he became the best, would kill her and anything else that he did not need.

And her second brother, who carelessly bruised her forearm.

Compared to them, her third brother had only threatened her with his aura for a moment because she had entered his space. He was practically a fairy!

Thanks to their other family members, Laiya viewed Roy BlackWinter as her safe haven.

The problem is that he doesn’t want to turn around and look at me.

“Are you listening, brother?”

“…”

“Hey, Oppa?”

Laiya called again a few times, but her third brother kept his lips sealed and devoted himself to his training.