“No, no… It’s not that cold…”
“Really? That’s a relief. I’ll help you sit in the wheelchair, so just bear with me for a moment.”
After confirming Regina wasn’t hurt, Iberis carefully stood up while holding her. Seeing the fallen wheelchair on the floor, he sighed as if troubled. Just then, a familiar voice came from the doorway.
“Regina? Are you there?”
“…! Brother!”
“Major? Regina?”
Lucas, entering the study, widened his eyes at the sight of Iberis holding Regina.
“What happened?”
“Regina almost fell… I’m sorry. I should have watched her more carefully.”
Iberis bowed his head apologetically. Thinking that Regina could have been hurt made it difficult for him to look directly at Lucas.
“It’s not your fault. I bet this one suddenly stood up trying to get a book. It happens often.”
Lucas quickly grasped the situation and comforted Iberis, patting his shoulder. Then he hurriedly checked on Regina. She didn’t seem hurt as she was clinging tightly to Iberis, but her dazed expression and flushed cheeks were concerning.
“Are you okay, Regina?”
“Y-yes.”
Regina nodded at Lucas’s question. She looked back and forth between Lucas, who was setting the fallen wheelchair upright, and Iberis, who was still holding her. Then, with a face overcome with emotion, she spoke.
“Brother!”
“Yes?”
“I, I want to marry the Major!”
“…What?”
Lucas froze in place, still holding the wheelchair, at this sudden declaration. Iberis was equally shocked.
“What are you talking about?”
Lucas asked as calmly as possible, looking at his sister whose eyes were sparkling. Due to her young mental age, her thoughts sometimes took strange turns, but he couldn’t understand why she suddenly wanted to marry Iberis.
“The Major is so cool! He’s like the Northern Duke!”
“Northern Duke…?”
“Yes, yes!”
What does the Major being like the Northern Duke have to do with you wanting to marry him? Lucas swallowed the question that had risen to his throat. Instead, he spoke in a firm voice.
“No.”
“Huh?”
Regina’s eyes widened at this unexpected opposition. Meanwhile, Lucas had taken her from Iberis and seated her in the wheelchair.
“Why, why not?”
Regina demanded, looking at Lucas with an uncomprehending face as he tidied her disheveled hair and clothes. She felt betrayed by her brother who usually indulged her every whim.
“Because the Major is going to marry me.”
“What?”
At this completely unexpected reason, Regina’s already wide golden eyes became as big as saucers, looking like they might pop out at any moment. She gaped, as if unable to believe what she had just heard.
“Y-you and… the Major are getting married? When?”
“I don’t know when exactly, but… anyway, the Major is my lover. So don’t covet him recklessly. I won’t give him up, even to you.”
Lucas stood up, put his arm around the equally surprised Iberis’s shoulder, and pulled him close. It was as if he was showing off that Iberis was his. It was a childish action by anyone’s standards, but it couldn’t be helped. For the sake of the future, he had to clear things up from the start.
“Lover? You two are dating?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible…”
Regina denied Lucas’s words with a dumbfounded face. Then she quickly turned to look at Iberis.
“Is, is it true? Is our brother really your lover?”
“Uh, um, yes.”
Iberis, finally coming to his senses, answered with an awkward expression. He was quite flustered by the current situation, never expecting their relationship to be revealed in this way.
“This can’t be…”
Regina, heartbroken the moment she fell in love, muttered as if in a daze after receiving confirmation from Iberis. Through her shock-addled mind, she recalled Thomas hinting last night that Lucas’s important person would be visiting together. So that meant…
As she understood the whole situation, the young girl’s fair face suddenly crumpled. Tears welled up in her creased eyes.
“Regina…”
“Waaah!”
Lucas, sensing something was amiss, hurriedly called out to Regina, but it was too late. A cry mixed with shock and sorrow burst from her lips.
* * *
“What are you looking at?”
“…You’re back?”
Iberis, who had been looking at photos hanging on one wall, greeted Lucas who returned with a smile. After dinner, he had been dragged to Regina’s bedroom because she insisted on being put to bed.
“How’s Regina?”
“She’s fallen into such a deep sleep that she wouldn’t notice if someone carried her away.”
Lucas answered with a tired expression. On days like this, taking care of Regina often felt more challenging than fighting monsters. Is this what they call parental fatigue? He sighed softly as he brushed back his slightly disheveled bangs, having lain next to his sister for quite a while.
A few hours earlier, upon learning that Iberis was her brother’s lover, Regina had cried loud enough to shake the mansion. Fortunately, she didn’t cause any further commotion. Perhaps because both falling in love and experiencing heartbreak happened within minutes, she recovered quickly.
‘H-how did you two end up dating? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? If you had told me from the start, I wouldn’t have acted like this.’
After crying her heart out, Regina sniffled and questioned the couple about their love story in detail. Soon, she was completely captivated by Lucas’s story.
‘Wow, you’re each other’s Name? Then it’s destiny! That’s so cool!’
‘Haha.’
‘So when’s the wedding? Have you proposed to the Major? Or wait, did the Major propose to you?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Huh? You’re talking about marriage without even proposing? Fool! If you want to be the Major’s spouse, you should have knelt down and given a ring!’
‘We haven’t been dating long. And work has been busy…’
‘Hmm, I heard people who prioritize work over love don’t get loved by their partners.’
‘What? Where did you hear that?’
‘On TV! Anyway, does this mean the Major is part of our family now?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Hehe, that’s great. Please take care of us, Major!’
By the time Lucas finished his story, which he had appropriately edited to help his sister accept it easily, Regina had become their ardent supporter. She who had wept until her eyes and nose turned bright red was now blushing for a different reason. And so, the afternoon’s commotion passed.
“When she suddenly started crying, I thought she disliked me becoming your lover. I was worried about what to do if she opposed our relationship, but I’m glad she accepted it willingly.”
“Well, it’s not like we’d break up even if she opposed it. Still, I’m relieved Regina didn’t become my romantic rival.”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t want to fight with my sister over you, Major. When she suddenly said she wanted to marry you, I was so surprised… Really, sometimes I wonder what’s going on in that child’s head.”
Lucas shook his head as if still bewildered, then hugged Iberis from behind. He rested his chin on Iberis’s round shoulder.
“So what had you so absorbed that you didn’t even notice me coming in?”
“Oh, there were photos on the wall… I was looking at them while waiting for you.”
Iberis raised his hand to gently caress Lucas’s cheek. The room they were staying in was the one Lucas had used since childhood. Though called a bedroom, its size and interior were almost identical to the hotel room in Paris.
The only slight difference was that it felt lived-in? It seemed to be because Lucas stayed here whenever he visited the family home, though not frequently. The mansion’s staff must also maintain it meticulously.
“Photos?”
Lucas, finally noticing the photos, slightly furrowed his brow. Several pictures from when he was a newborn to about 12 years old were hanging on the classic wall.
“…To think they’d hang such things.”
Lucas squinted one eye after briefly scanning the wall. He seemed to have an idea who might have done this.
“Were they not here originally?”
“No. I heard they found some albums while organizing things last time… It seems Thomas decorated it.”
“Thomas did?”
“If he hadn’t become my stand-in, he would have been the family butler. Perhaps that’s why he tends to be obsessed with restoring the mansion to how it was before the fire.”
Lucas’s gaze stopped on the faces of his parents, smiling brightly while holding him and Regina. Deep longing filled his golden eyes as he stared at the Armand couple in the photo.
“I see, so one wall in your old room was also completely covered with family photos like this.”
“Yes, not these exact photos… but I remember decorating it with my parents. We always took family photos on special days like birthdays or Christmas. Then we each chose our favorite photo to put up in our rooms.”
Lucas’s expression turned gloomy as he recalled old memories. Whenever he remembered those happy times that could never return, his chest always felt hot as if burned. More than 10 years had passed since the day their cozy home was devoured by terrible flames, but his wounds still hadn’t healed at all.
