137 131. A Brother's heart...

Hii Everyone! Happy New Year 🥳! May this New Year 2023 bless you and your loved ones with good health, wealth, and happiness.

I am not well. Like everyone else, I also wanted to update in New Year, but it is going late with time as my health is not permitting me..

Alright...I won't chatter too much.

I wrote this chapter in this state, so please comment if you find any mistakes....I'll resume when my health is back..Bye!

(2308)

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"He is all over the news.."

Kyousuke's expression immediately turned gloomy as a name slowly came out of his mouth.

"Azami Nakamura.."

What?!

Kyouko Hori and Yuriko Hori's faces changed drastically.

They weren't unfamiliar with this name.

This morning was full of news about him.

It's said that he's a cold blooded murderer who had killed his brother-in-law for a position in this modern society.

It's okay to do it secretly and if exposed, no one can escape the punishment.

Now, you're saying... that murderer has his sight on Kyousuke.

Yuriko tremblingly grabbed Kyousuke's hand.

She was really afraid.

Afraid that her family would be taken away from her.

Kyouko wasn't any better. After all, she was just an ordinary high school girl a month ago.

"When did it start?" Kyousuke suppressed his anger and asked.

Now, his eyes were clearly visible.

"3 years ago."

His eyes widened as he recalled if he had forgotten anything.

Those years, he was fully devoted to the family and even had to ignore his sister's harassing as he felt someone was watching him.

He had to stop his activity so as not to arouse any suspicion which might inflict both her sister's and his family.

At that time, he still hadn't reconciled with the family and there was no communication or information between him and Mereoleona.

(Note: He started communicating after her death to find the murder.)

Who would have expected that guy was the one behind everything and he even went as far as to poison his sister when he was busy here?

But, after a year, he relaxed his vigilance since nothing happened.

Now it seems that wasn't the case.

"Now, I understood why you messaged me in the midnight not to let anybody leave the home."

Kyousuke, known as the resourceful general wasn't a fool either and when he received his message, he didn't even doubt for a second and immediately faced his family.

Both mother and daughter looked each in disbelief.

Hey, what's wrong with this?

How could this annoying guy have such a good relationship with Izumi Miyamura?

Yuriko Hori who knew Kyousuke true identity was really surprised since Izumi Miyamura was the first person whom her husband respected.

As his wife, she knew how proud this guy was. No guy have ever entered his eyes till date.

"But why now?"

"He found out about your identity, Kyousuke-san." Izumi said with a serious tone.

"Has it been discovered?" Kyousuke wasn't surprised at all.

"Wait wait?" Kyouko interjected as she looked at her Dad and asked, "Can you please tell us what the hell are you hiding?"

"Mom?" Then she found out that her mother was dodging her eyes.

No way!

She knew?

Only she was kept in the dark.

She felt betrayed.

Looking at her daughter's lifeless look, her mother hurriedly persuaded, "It's for your own good, Daughter."

"Actually, it's all my fault." Izumi took all the blame as someway it was really his fault.

If he hadn't pushed him to desperation, Azami wouldn't have taken against Kyousuke's family.

All these years, he was silent, but chose to do it now. It's all because of him.

Unfortunately, his plans are bound to fail.

That chief inspector had been cleaned up by him last night.

Grayfia also nodded not to create panic and distance among their family.

From her observation, this man wasn't ready to speak the truth despite agreeing not to hide anything from the beginning.

"How come?"×2

Both mother daughter threw questioning glances at Izumi.

Only Kyousuke sighed.

"He killed my parents and found out about Kyousuke-kun's special identity and obviously found out my mother's mysterious identity since it's all linked to him."

He pointed at Kyousuke.

Oh My God!

Kyouko covered her mouth in shock.

"I-i am sorry." She immediately apologized as she knew his parents had died but never expected them to be the victim the media was talking about.

Yuriko did the same.

As an elder, she lost her bearing due to panic.

Following Kyousuke for years, she could tell from his look, Izumi was clearly lying.

This boy was taking the blame for him, not to create a rift between the family.

For that, Izumi didn't hesitate to break the secret not known to anyone.

To know, no one has been aware of the true identity of Izumi's mother and he, as their son.. except a few.

It made her ears very uncomfortable.

"It's okay." Izumi didn't care and continued, "Since we're in a good relationship, he wanted to threaten me using K-"

"Can you please stop lying!"

"It's high time you should stop hiding everything, Kyousuke!"

Yuriko couldn't hold back anymore.

Lies! Lies! Lies!

Didn't you promise earlier not to hide anything?

What happened?

How long will you stay inside the shell, like a coward, Kyousuke?

Yuriko had tears streaming down her face as she had a pleading expression.

"I'm tired of hearing lies, Kyousuke." She grabbed his collar and said hoarsly, "Stop deceiving our daughter, Bastard!"

Fortunately, Souta had fallen asleep.

Oh, that box contains Izumi's magic...oh no, in layman's terms, sleeping gas.

Worry not, it's absolutely safe and non-toxic or else how could he give it to a child?

.....

*Sigh*

Looking at his wife's tears and daughter's hopeful face, Kyousuke knew he couldn't hide it anymore.

You know, the reason he left his home and changed his identity was for his sister.

And, he couldn't protect her which made him extremely disappointed to the point he tried to forget his past, his identity, if it weren't for his family, he would have committed suicide now.

His family was his only spiritual support.

Don't look at his lazy and not so serious personality.

That was to hide his inner grievances and pain.

He even resents his own family background.

What an imperial family!

That day when his nephew said, "What's the use of your power, if you can't protect what you once swore to protect."

Those words stabbed the depth of his heart.

Yes!

When he was a child, he'd always clamour to protect his family. When Izumi's mother had been discriminated against for not having any talent, he quickly left the army..but.

It was too late.

When he was invited by her brother and sister, he agreed hesitantly as he too wanted to meet his nephew.

It's because he had changed since last time, I saw him.

Compared to the past, he now had the ability to stand on the top of the world.

Say one bad word about his family, you're finished.

His straightforward way of handling things made everyone terrified of him.

In the past, he'd always endured everything silently just like his mother.

Compared to him, Kyousuke felt that he was a loser.

He couldn't protect his sister when she was shunned by others.

He couldn't protect her when she was cornered and forced to run away.

Instead of confronting his family, he too chose to run away and implement his own way of doing things in the dark.

But, did it work?

No!

Once again, he was too late.

He couldn't even protect when she needed it the most.

Where...did I go wrong?

Am I even a worthy brother?

When he found out about her death, his heart felt so much pain that he wished to stab it.

Why is it always her? What harm did she ever cause?

She just wants to live happily.

God is so unfair.

Good people don't live long.

*Slap*

"Silence won't solve your problem, Kyousuke!"

Holding his cheek, Kyousuke returned to his senses.

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me, Do you want to know how I failed to keep my promise?!"

"How did I fail to protect my own sister?!"

"Tell me!"

"Do you want to know from where I come from?!"

"Why?"

Kyouko and Yuriko for the first time saw him crying.

"Why is it always her?"

"Why?"

Yuriko hugged him tightly.

She knew he had been holding back for a long time...and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't get close to it..

His outburst was really expected, and she was glad that he could finally let it out and open his heart again.

'But, who was the sister from his mouth?'

____

After 10 minutes..

It might be long since she had forgotten that the imperial family had 6 heirs.

"As I know, you only have two sisters and two brothers."

Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked.

Though she knew it might be related to the man sitting opposite to her.

"No, I lied."

Wiping his tears, Kyousuke left his wife's embrace and held both her wife and daughter's hand as he looked at Izumi and Grayfia.

Oh!

Took a heavy breath then spoke.

"I'm from Vermillion Imperial Family, which originally had 6 heirs. One of them was his mother."

!!!

Both of them opened their mouths wide for different reasons.

Kyouko, as she never expected her father was a royalty which made her unable to think straight...She also had some other reasons inside her heart.

Yuriko, as she didn't expect that she would forget something this important.

I mean no one will blame her since Iori Miyamura presence was very small and after she ran away no one saw her and coupled with Kyousuke's skillful way of hiding her identity, made the world forget her existence.

(Note: Kyosuke hid her identity as he wanted her to live normally, not to be discriminated against just because she didn't have any talent according to some people...It backfired which was something he didn't expect.)

Hailing from a royal family, the outside world would always focus on the most brilliant ones and sometimes ignore the ordinary.

Just to sow discord amongst the siblings.

They would be jealous of your status and want nothing more than to see you fall down from the altar.

That's how many powerful kingdoms, Empires perished.

Infighting.

Some with bad intentions fuel the situations which stretched the problem.

"Unlike how the outside world portrayed us as power struggle heirs. We siblings always live in harmony. Two siblings weren't born and we four always would always had each other's back."

While explaining, Kyosuke had a rare look of peace on his face, which was something no one had ever seen.

Those days were filled with happiness and fun.

It turned into sadness when he opened his mouth again.

"Unfortunately, some people can't see us living like that. They took advantage of mine and Fuegoloen's absence (army), started damn talent propaganda and it spread like wildfire. Our elder sister tried but those old ghosts had too much influence and power. Mereoleona had limited ability then."

"It was too late. People had already begun to judge and all fingers were pointed at my second sister, who was the same age as me."

Kyousuke gritted his teeth in anger and said, "Manipulated stupid people started saying she had no talent and was born ordinary among the siblings. All these were lies."

"Iori Vermillion had the best talent in cooking and artists, but her only weakness was that she was too gentle.

Iori was very soft-spoken and polite, always addressing people with proper honourifics. She was kind, always thinking of others more than for herself, caring for their feelings and well-being."

Kyousuke bit his lips to stop the tear from falling.

"Those old men took advantage of her weakness and from there everything became history."

"It was the turning point in our family."

He just doesn't want to recall those things.

"You did nothing after seeing her suffering?"

Yuriko asked sadly.

Because she remembered a girl with short black hair would always accompany Kyousuke whom she mistakenly thought she was his ex-girlfriend...or childhood sweetheart.

It turned out to be his sister.

"No, he did more than he could and I'm grateful for that."

At this moment, Izumi spoke up, "Without his help, my mother would have died earlier."

Izumi wasn't lying. If it weren't for Kyousuke's constant help, his mother wouldn't survive.

You know she always had multiple bandages on her body and if there was no Kyosuke then her situation might be more serious.

"What about those old men in your family?"

It was Kyouko who had been silent till now asked.

Her eyes were red from sobbing.

Upon hearing, Kyousuke looked at Izumi.

"Dead."

He didn't explain further.

Just when Kyouko was about to ask.

🎶 We're only gettin' older, baby

And I've been thinkin' about it lately

Does it ever drive you crazy

Just how fast the night changes?

Everything that you've ever dreamed of

Disappearing when you wake up

But there's nothing to be afraid of

Even when the night changes

It will never change me and you 🎶🎶

"...."

The atmosphere suddenly became weird.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Grayfia's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

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