The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 14
When I saw my father after so long, I cried. I thought I might do the same when I saw my brother, and I was right. Despite his sharp eyes, Hasa was overjoyed to see her young brother whose face still showed traces of youth.
As Hasa quietly gazed at his face, overwhelmed by joy that crashed like waves, Dayan’s furrowed brows smoothed out and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Hartbisa…?”
He called her name as if talking to himself, then his eyes filled with confusion.
“Why are you here?”
As he said this, his eyes slightly lowered, but when Dayan saw the trolley behind Hasa, his expression immediately hardened. Then, with a knowing look, he sneered.
“So now you’re doing these kinds of errands when Helena tells you to? Even so, aren’t you ashamed of the Cellie name?”
“……”
It seemed he thought she had come on Helena’s orders to run an errand. Hasa smiled gently at this.
“Tell Helena clearly not to order such things. And you too, believing such nonsense about her being a mother substitute….”
Dayan stopped his sneering words at Hasa’s smile.
It was because his sister, who would normally have turned bright red and run away without being able to say a proper word, now wore a completely different expression.
Though her floating pink hair and fair skin that seemed better suited for parasols than swords still seemed far from a Cellie, somehow she looked like a completely different person from the sister he’d last seen before she went to the academy.
Even as Dayan watched with wary eyes, Hartbisa calmly tilted her head and said.
“I didn’t come because Helena sent me.”
“…Then.”
“I heard from the servants that you’ve been skipping meals.”
“……”
“So I came because I was worried. To make sure you eat.”
Dayan’s blank expression gradually changed until he laughed as if in disbelief.
“Why now of all times.”
Dayan said with a cynical face.
“I noticed something was different about you, but if you’re suddenly trying to act like a proper sister now, I’m not interested in this little act. Just leave.”
With those final words, Dayan looked ready to close the door immediately. Hartbisa shifted her gaze behind him.
Through the slightly open door, she could see Dayan’s room. The room was dark with drawn curtains.
Thick books were piled like mountains in there. It seemed he had been working on assignments. Just as she was thinking that reading in the dark would harm his eyes, she noticed the paper he was holding crumpled in one hand.
More precisely, the letters were written on the crumpled paper.
“…A mushroom stew recipe?”
“What?”
“You’re skipping meals, and what you’ve been reading so seriously is a recipe?”
Somehow finding this cute, she smiled, but Dayan’s eyes widened as he showed the paper in his hand that Hartbisa had been looking at. Then, looking back and forth between the paper and Hartbisa with surprised eyes, he asked.
“You, can you read these characters?”
When she wondered why he was suddenly surprised, she realized the text she had read as naturally as her native language was in ancient script.
In her previous life, even though she could read it, she had pretended she couldn’t. She thoroughly hid her abilities. That was Helena’s teaching: a lady must remain modest and never flaunt her knowledge. Men, she insisted, were repelled by overly educated women.
Yet despite saying that, she sent her own daughter to the academy. With funds embezzled from the Cellie family.
Hartbisa decided she would no longer hide herself. If revealing her abilities became dangerous, she was determined to overcome that with those very abilities.
After this thought, Hartbisa smiled boldly.
“Of course, I can read it.”
At her confident answer, Dayan’s eyes lit up. Curiosity and joy flickered in them, making him look his age for the first time. This made Hartbisa’s lips curl up in a welcoming smile as well.
After looking down at Dayan for a moment, Hartbisa whispered in a teasing voice.
“Dayan, have you been fretting in your room these past few days because of the ancient text?”
As if struck right on target, color gradually rose to Dayan’s pale face. He muttered while roughly running his hands through his hair.
“Well, not exactly because of that…”
“Really? Then I guess you’re not curious about what’s written below that on the paper?”
“You, you can read what’s below this too?”
Dayan’s round eyes looked up at her. Though Dayan might think he didn’t resemble their mother, those large eyes with deep double eyelids definitely weren’t from their father.
How nice it is to finally meet eyes like this.
Thinking this to herself, Hartbisa nodded.
“Of course, and not just that, I can read all the cursive annotations here too.”
“What?”
Dayan’s face now showed great shock. With a face showing slight feelings of deprivation, he even muttered, ‘How can someone who just stays at home do what’s difficult even with academy classes…’
Though Hartbisa found his reaction so cute she wanted to tease him more, the food would get cold and unappetizing if he didn’t eat soon.
After thinking, Hartbisa opened with:
“Want me to teach you?”
When she asked the question that the proud Dayan couldn’t bring himself to ask, his ears perked up and he froze. The complexity on his face suggested he was struggling between his pride and his assignment.
But as if having reached a conclusion, Dayan slowly opened his mouth.
“What’s the price?”
“……”
Hartbisa almost burst out laughing. Though still young, he was truly showing himself as the Cellie heir with his clear sense of give and take. His serious expression, as if conducting a secret trade, was quite a sight.
Deciding to play along with the atmosphere, Hartbisa solemnly beckoned with her finger for Dayan to bring his ear closer. Dayan gulped and brought one ear near. Hartbisa whispered in a low voice.
“I wonder if you can handle it.”
“I don’t care what it is.”
“Well then, I won’t hold back.”
At the end of her words, Hartbisa went to the trolley and lifted the silver cover. Rich foods appeared inside.
“It’s all portioned for two. Think you can eat it all by yourself?”
Speaking like a solemn commander, Dayan stared at the food with a dumbfounded expression before finally realizing he’d been tricked, and his face turned red.
“I was being serious, and you’re just joking around.”
“I’m not joking. My condition is that you eat, Dayan. I’ll help you with your assignments every day, taking time out to do so. In exchange, you have to eat all the food I bring on the trolley each time. Can you do that?”
“I was being serious, and you’re just joking around.”
“I’m not joking. My condition is that you eat, Dayan. I’ll help you with your assignments every day, taking time out to do so. In exchange, you have to eat all the food I bring on the trolley each time. Can you do that?”
At Hartbisa’s serious question, Dayan seemed to finally believe she wasn’t joking, and he lowered his eyes for a moment. After briefly looking down at the paper in his hand, he answered as if he had no choice.
“Fine, just give it to me, I’ll eat it.”
Hartbisa’s face lit up with a bright smile at the answer she wanted. Then, when Dayan reached for the trolley, Hartbisa slightly pulled it back just out of his reach. Dayan looked up at her with an expression that seemed to ask what trick this was now.
To that, Hartbisa opened her mouth with a face blooming like a flower.
“Just one more thing before that.”
“What now? If you’re trying something weird…”
“Call me ‘Sister’ instead of ‘you.'”
“…What?”
“Come on, try saying it. Dayan.”
Hartbisa mouthed the word ‘Nuna’ silently, and Dayan, unaccustomed to the word, could only tremble his lower lip, unable to bring himself to say it. Well, since Helena had taken over the mansion, there hadn’t been many chances to even see each other, let alone call her ‘Nuna.’
But she refused to give up. After all, what could be more natural than wanting to hear her adorable little brother call her ‘sister’? Lost in thought, Hartbisa absently stroked her chin and muttered.
“Hmm, if Dayan keeps calling me ‘hey,’ ‘you,’ or just my name, I might get confused about the ancient text and teach it wrong. If I teach it wrong, it would be hard for my younger brother to check whether it’s correct or not. Wouldn’t that be quite troublesome?”
“Are you threatening me right now?”
“Well, if you felt it was a threat, I must be doing well.”
“What?”
“Why, it’s quite Cellie-like, isn’t it?”
At that, Dayan couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Thinking that this smile was just as pleasant as father’s way of saying thank you, Hartbisa smiled along with him.
