Chapter 35 - I Will Look For You

Laos felt that when he saw Laila being moved by his words, his tumultuous heart would be calmed. So, he made a decision at that moment.

The two of them decided to give ‘advice’ to their insignificant Laila Estevan. If they waited outside, they thought they might run into the Grand Duke, so they decided to wait inside instead.

Come to think of it, this was the first time they were waiting for Laila, but they were so caught up in their own thoughts that they didn’t realize it.

And in the dusky evening before it grew dark, after waiting for a couple of hours, they saw Laila, who was clutching the indigo fabric around her tightly.

* * *

Life was brutal. This was because the reality of it was that one was always running toward death.

Laos had always thought that this was a terrible fact. No matter how hard he was living without meaning, only his life was always running ahead unbridled.

“…”

Laos Estevan had always been so helpless. It was hard to tell when he began feeling this way, but he wondered if it was from when his mother passed away. It seemed so, yet it maybe not. He had been this way for most of his life as far as he could remember.

He stopped the trail of meaningless thoughts and turned his head. A small woman standing silently came to his attention. It was Laila Estevan, and certainly, looking at her now, she didn’t look like a little girl anymore. She was a child who was only given her name and nothing else.

“You are late.”

She didn’t call him Big Brother anymore. He felt strange for constantly being aware of it. He really wasn’t like this before.

Laos spoke first to Laila, who breathed in with surprise. He had spoken first because it didn’t seem like she would open her mouth unless he spoke first.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Don’t you clean your place? Oh, it’s so dirty. It smells so bad too! Ah, I almost vomited while waiting! Why are you back so late?”

“Rakiel.”

Rakiel, who had been grumbling to himself as he looked around every corner of Laila’s place, began ranting. Laos stopped Rakiel as Laila seemed shocked, her face turning pale. With a look of dissatisfaction, Rakiel immediately bit his lip. Laos watched his brother curiously.

It was unusual that Laos would stop Rakiel from speaking, and for Rakiel to listen to his brother right away without a single complaint. They were both subtly different from their usual selves.

Laos looked at Laila again with sullen eyes then frowned slightly at her. It was because they felt the energy of the Grand Duke from outside, suddenly draw closer. It was clear that he was standing right in front of the door instead of coming in.

Laos glanced at the closed door beyond Laila then turned his gaze back to her. The expression on Laila’s face now revealed that she couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

“You— you were wait…”

“That’s right! I waited! In this wretched place!” When Laila spoke, Rakiel, who barely had his mouth shut, burst out again. Laos smacked Rakiel in the head before he could call Laila a beggar.

“Rakiel, your mouth,” Laos said with a blank face.

“Damn it…”

His younger brother, who was a good listener today, didn’t say that word, and Laos felt grateful.

Laila stood far away, not knowing what to do. Her older brothers said they have been waiting for her. She didn’t know how she should take it. Doubt washed over her in waves.

“W-why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’?!”

“We came to tell you something,” Laos said, nonchalantly exerting pressure on Rakiel’s head. Laila’s gray eyes blinked rapidly.

“About…?”

“Is it true that you are engaged?”

Laila’s eyes widened slightly. Then, she lowered them slightly and replied softly, “Yes.”

Laos paused for a moment and blinked at the unfamiliar sight. Laila Estevan looked different than usual. He wondered if it was because of the indigo fabric she had.

“That cloth. Put it away.”

“…”

Laos’s eyebrows twitched. Laila was startled by what he said but did not remove the cloth. It was a sign of not being able to let go, rather than not letting go. Her small gesture of hugging the cloth even more tightly made Laos momentarily speechless.

Taking advantage of the moment, Rakiel exclaimed, “Hey, I really… It’s really bad. Listen carefully, you idiot.”

Rakiel didn’t listen to his brother anymore. He had been pressured by the unfamiliar energy coming from the Grand Duke earlier, but now he didn’t even care about that as he was feeling frustrated.

“If you follow him, you will end up dying early. Don’t you know that? You must not have known, which was why you made such a decision.”

“…”

Laila stared at him blankly. Rakiel became very frustrated at how she seemed to not believe him. He purposely raised his voice and spoke bluntly so that even the monstrous Grand Duke outside could hear.