Brother and Sister

In the end, Bloed decided to invite Eres to the tower.

Eres kept silent during the entire way, occasionally glancing at Bloed with an anxious, excited, apprehensive, and happy expression.

Due to that, the atmosphere for the rest of the group was a bit awkward.

Most of them did not know that Eres was a princess, but just the fact that she was Bloed's sister made the situation strange.

In fact, Prince Calisto, Gina, and Aya did not even know that Bloed had a sister.

Every time they asked Bloed about his family, he only mentioned his mother, Camilla. He had never mentioned the existence of a sister before.

That was enough for them to notice that something was wrong.

When the group arrived at the tower, Bloed looked at Eres with a complicated expression and sighed.

"Follow me, we will talk in a private place."

"… Okay."

Liu Ying and Regina looked at each other with worried expressions. "Bloed, should I go with you?" Liu Ying asked hesitantly.

"It's alright, Liu Ying. Don't worry. You too, Regina, stay here."

"Master…"

"I'm alright." Bloed smiled softly to reassure the girls before looking at his sister.

"Come with me, Eres."

Bloed then led Eres to the top floor of the tower, the twelfth floor, where his personal laboratory was located.

After closing the door of the laboratory, he looked at Eres with a complicated expression.

"… You have grown a lot, Eres." He finally said with a sigh.

"Brother…" Eres's voice trembled.

Bloed could see countless emotions flashing through her eyes. Fear, nervousness, anxiousness, excitement, happiness, anticipation…

In the end, all these emotions transformed into tears that slid down her cheeks.

"Brother…!"

Before Bloed could react, Eres threw herself into his arms, putting her head on his chest and crying bitterly.

"Brother… I-I missed you, brother… Hic… I-I missed you so much…"

"It's alright, it's alright…"

"No! It��s not." Eres shook her head fiercely, her tears drenching Bloed's shirt. "Do you know, brother? I-I have been trying to find you for so long… For so long, brother… B-But I could not find you…"

Bloed fell silent with a complicated expression.

"O-Once, I-I even thought that you were dead… I cried so much then, brother… I cried as I thought that I would not see you again…"

"…"

"Brother… I'm so glad… So glad to find you… So glad…"

Bloed sighed. He looked down at the black-haired girl crying on his chest and his expression turned bitter.

He could clearly feel Eres's emotions. Her sadness after remembering these memories, and the happiness of seeing him again.

However, he did not know how to respond to it.

Because he realized that his feelings were not as strong as her.

Even though Eres was the only person in that family that he did not resent, strangely, he realized that he did not feel much affection for her either.

Actually, since the day he left the exiled lands, he had not thought even once about finding her.

For an instant, he could not help but feel guilty.

However, he quickly got rid of that feeling.

'I wanted to cut all my ties with that family.'

But now that Eres was crying bitterly in his arms, he could not be as ruthless as to reject her.

In the end, he could only stroke her head gently.

Strangely, though, he realized that Eres's body relaxed after he did that.

Eres cried on his chest for almost half an hour. Her tears drenching his shirt until it was completely soaked.

At some point, she had stopped talking, just gripping Bloed's shirt as she cried on his chest and Bloed stroked her black hair.

Once Eres finished talking, she looked up at Bloed with a sad gaze.

"… Brother, can I hear your story?"

Bloed hesitated for a moment before nodding. He then started to talk about his life in the exiled lands.

He talked about how he survived after being abandoned, how he met Camilla and Tito, and how he met Regina and Liu Ying.

Of course, he omitted some parts of the story like Regina and Liu Ying's true identity, or the fact that Camilla was someone from another world. He just gave her a brief rundown of his life during the last five years.

Eres listened attentively, not interrupting even once.

During the entire time, she was glued to Bloed, her hands gripping his shirt as though she was afraid that he would disappear.

When Bloed finished his story, Eres's eyes were completely red.

"Brother, you…"

"Stop. You don't need to pity me. Actually, I think I'm very fortunate. Because thanks to that I met my mother."

Eres put on a complicated expression.

When she heard Bloed talking about his adoptive mother, Camilla, she could feel the pride and gentleness in his voice.

It was completely different from the coldness he emitted when he talked about the royal family.

Eres sighed. Instead of thinking about that, she decided to tell Bloed about her life during the last five years.

How she cried when he was taken away, how she swore to herself that she would find him, how she trained harder than anyone to become strong enough to find him.

As Bloed heard her story, his smile turned wrier and wrier.

Because he noticed that since the day he was taken away five years ago, Eres had lived her life with a single goal.

Him.

Bloed did not know how to feel about that.

In the end, he could only sigh.

Eres finished telling her story and once more put her head on Bloed chest as Bloed continued stroking it.

"Brother?"

"Hm?"

"… Will you return with me?"

The hand that was stroking Eres's hair paused for a moment.

Then, Bloed sighed.

"I won't."

Eres stiffened. She hurriedly looked up and grabbed Bloed's hand.

"Why? You are strong now, brother! Not even father will dare to stop you from going back! You can be a prince again, and we can be together once more!"

"Eres…"

"Let's go back, brother. I will talk to father personally. I will make sure he apologizes properly!"

"Eres…"

"If you want, I can even support you to be the next king. I don't like our eldest brother, anyway. I'm sure you will be a bett–"

"Eres, stop." Bloed's voice turned ice-cold.

The black-haired princess froze. She trembled when she felt the coldness in Bloed's voice.

"B-Brother?"

"I won't go back. I'm sorry, but I'm not a Skysword anymore. Right now, my name is Bloed Norman."

Eres's eyes opened wide.

But then, she smiled bitterly.

"… I see."

She could see it in her bother's eyes.

When he mentioned 'Skysword', his voice was so cold that it seemed as it wanted to freeze the air.

"So we are not siblings anymore, huh." Eres's eyes were filled with resignation.

Bloed fell silent, unable to reply.

After several seconds, Eres finally took a deep breath and nodded.

"I understand."

"... Thanks." Bloed smiled and stroked Eres's hair again, making the princess's lips curve up.

She then wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes peacefully.

"… Brother, can we stay like this a bit longer?"

"Well, we have already been like this for one hour. A bit more doesn't matter."

Eres chuckled and hugged Bloed with as much strength as she could.

Fifteen minutes later, she took a step back and looked at her brother with a determined expression.

"Brother, I need to leave for a while. I'll be back soon."

"You can come whenever you want." Bloed smiled gently.

"Hehe, alright. I like that." Hugging Bloed again, the princess smile and closed her eyes.

Ten minutes later, Bloed accompanied Eres until the exit.

"Wait for me, Brother. I'll come back soon."

"Okay, okay. Take care in the way."

"I will… By the way, I like your new look, although the black hair was nice as well."

Bloed smiled wryly and shook his head.

He liked the blue hair more.

After Eres left, Regina, Liu Ying, and the other girls approached him.

"Are you alright, master?"

"I am." Bloed smiled wryly. "Don't worry, Eres is a good girl."

"I feel a bit complicated meeting my sister-in-law so suddenly." Liu Ying said with a complicated smile, making Bloed roll his eyes.

At that moment, Sara spoke up.

"By the way, my lord. Something happened while you were talking with your sister?"

"Huh?"

Regina, Liu Ying, and the others put on serious expressions immediately.

"We received a challenge."