Chapter 23: Distance

There are many things that Louise Raevender doesn't understand. Things that she desperately wants but cannot achieve or even catch the feeling of no matter how hard she tries. Things that she wants to understand but is unable to even comprehend the meaning of every word and action. And that was her little brother, Raphael Raevender.

When they were little children, her younger brother had learned to read, write, and do arithmetic before her, his older sister. He even learned how to play musical instruments at an early age.

He also created many new food dishes, composed various popular musical pieces, and invented many convenient things. His teachers and the servants had already called him a child prodigy, a genius, and many other names.

Their mothers had high expectations of him. Spoiling him so much and providing for all of his needs. Their mothers spoiled her too, but not as much as they spoiled her little brother.

But when he reached a certain age, he told our mothers not to spoil him too much. He even said that instead of wasting gold on his luxurious life, they should spend it on our territory's development. She couldn't help but think how such a young child could say such complicated words.

Even though she started her training a year prior to him, he was already on par with or even surpassed her in many aspects. Which made her pride shatter into thousands of tiny pieces.

He is superior to her in terms of magic. Their mom said that he had the potential to surpass her, the Sage. She is still superior to him in swordsmanship, but only in swordsmanship.

His growth rate was so fast that he surpassed her sister in a short period of time. Right now, he already had the strength of an S-ranked adventurer at the age of 13, more than a year younger than his own sister had achieved that level of power.

But those were just trivial things to her; the thing that she couldn't understand was their indistinguishable distance. No matter how much she tried to close the gap between her and her little brother, physically and emotionally, their distance remained unchanged.

For her, it felt like there was an invisible wall that separated them between two realms. Even though he looked at her every time they interacted, she felt that he didn't look straight at her and only gazed into the very far distance.

But when she discovered that he was hiding many secrets, she used this opportunity to learn more about her brother. And that discovery will change the way she looks at her little brother.

She was appalled by every secret her little brother said. It was just too absurd and almost impossible to believe. But she desperately tried to understand and slowly absorbed every word that her brother let out of his mouth.

But in the end, she just accepted the real identity of her little brother. She accepted that he had already surpassed her in many aspects and was even proud of him. To the point where she forgot that she was the older sister.

Knowing the reason for their immeasurable distance relieves her so much. She was enlightened to the point that it even broke the invisible wall that separated them all the time.

"No matter who or what you are or will become, I will always be there to support you." she said to her sleeping brother.

After their long discussion, Raphael completely fell asleep and sounded as if he used all of his strength to reveal the truth. Of course, he cannot hear anything about what her sister just said.

"I love you, Raphael. And that will never change." then she kissed her little brother in the head.

"If only, we are not…" back slashed by the dizziness she held back for a long time, she slowly closed her eyes and silently fell asleep.

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I woke up and found myself not in my room. I checked the time in my head, and it is a quarter to six in the morning. I looked around and saw my sister sleeping soundly besides me.

(Ah, that's right.)

Last night, I decided to tell my sister the truth. Sister accepted me for who I am, and now I am able to open up more. We talked until midnight and decided to sleep together.

Seeing the beautiful sleeping face and the defenseless body of my sister reminds me that I am already at that certain stage of life. I looked down to my crouch and saw the boy's daily metabolism, a morning wood.

I immediately stood up and got off the bed. I get out of the room after confirming no one is around. I must distance myself from my sister before I do something bad to her.

I silently walked the dim hallway to get to my own room. I threw myself on my bed and took a short nap.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Since then, the gap between me and my sister has shrunk, even physically. We interact more frequently, and she always asks about my previous world.

"Hey, Raphael. When will you start forging me a katana?"

"Maybe tomorrow, after your birthday."

We are having tea under the gazebo right now. Things are getting busy in the mansion, so we stayed outside to separate ourselves from stress.

"But I want to receive it today, to make it more special."

"But it takes a long time to forge one, you know?"

"Hmph!"

She pouted as she heard that I could not make her one within this day. I can make one using Alchemy, but the sharpness and durability are not like the real deal. I have to continually hit the hot steel to achieve the ideal quality.

"Ah! I know! Well then, Raphael. Will you forge me a katana this day?" She flashed a wicked grin and then ordered me with a seductive expression.

"Do you really think you can sway me with your charm?"

"I know. But I have a card against you."

"I know that you can't just reveal my secrets to anybody without a reason, then what is this card of yours?"

She stood up from her seat and approached me. She bent her body and whispered softly to my ears.

"If you don't forge me a katana this day, I will tell mothers that you sneaked into my room last night and took my purity."

"?!!!" I spit out all the tea I've been drinking upon hearing my sister's threats.

(So that's what she was planning all along!!!)

If our mothers knew about this, they would have killed me or beaten me half dead at mercy, especially Mother. Since Sister was like a mirror image of Mom, for Mother, who loves her wife so much, it was like her wife getting violated by someone.

It is true that we sleep together, but nothing has happened between us! Moreover, it was my sister who invited me to her room and said we would sleep together! 

That's why she invited me to sleep over in her room. Right now, she just smiled wickedly as she watched me dance on her palm.

I did not think Mom and Mother would completely believe Sister; I just had to lie and turn the tables if they were to ask. But I could not be sure yet, so it would be a better choice to comply with her demand. Besides, I wanted her to be happy. 

"How about that, Raphael? Will you forge one today?" She moved around and pressed her chest against my back.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked her with a serious tone.

"Well, I want to put a leash on you. If you continue to move on your own, there is a high chance that you will become unstoppable and go wild. So I'll restrain you as early as possible."

"I see, so that's how it is."

Now that I think about it, I may have been too hasty with my decisions. I am just thinking about myself. I am not thinking about the consequences of my every action and the effect it will have on my family, both direct and indirect.

If I have chains that bind my hasty actions, I am at least glad that they were wielded by Sister, a member of my family. But there's no way I could let myself be her servant for life; I just have to wait for the right moment to turn the tables. 

"Then, will you do it today?"

"Even if I forge one, I can't finish it today."

"If you make one today… I'll give you a reward!"

"?!"

My motivation suddenly rose to its zenith upon hearing her declaration. I feel like an unstoppable storm is approaching. Like a light plastic chair standing still amidst the turbulent winds.

"If you are true to your words, I'll make you a katana right this day." I said as I stood up and turned to face her.

"You're the best, Raphael! I know you can do it."

"Prepare yourself for the future."

I said that I couldn't forge a katana within this day, but that's not true at all. It was that I had no time to create the katana, if I have no time. But I have a trick about that.

After that, we went to Mom and asked for the materials I needed. We also told Mom that we would be in the workshop for a while, and she reminded us to finish early because of the party later that night.