Chapter 70.1
Chapter 70.1
“Obviously. You wouldn’t be asking that question if you could see your face right now. You’re practically drowning in regret. It’s almost laughable.”
His words hit the mark, leaving no room for a retort. Moreover, if he was the only one still harboring feelings, how else could he explain this attachment other than as lingering regrets? The bitterness was palpable.
Risha clicked her tongue at his complex expression. Though she often made fun of him for being clueless about relationships, it seemed like he suffered a huge blow during her absence.
“Have you talked to her? How is she supposed to know if you only keep whining by yourself?”
“…She doesn’t want to meet with me.”
“Does she know you still have feelings for her?”
“How could she not?”
He had been so pathetically obvious. It wasn’t embarrassing; it was just disheartening that she hadn’t looked back at him even once despite that.
Risha snorted.
“No, not just about your feelings. Does she know more detailed things?”
“What?”
Richard blinked in confusion, prompting Risha to shake her head.
“They say you’re the Empire’s greatest strategist, the Conqueror of Battles. Were those just nonsense?”
“Stop mocking and explain properly.”
Normally, he would have slapped her on the head, but this time, Richard, feeling desperate, suppressed his irritation and asked.
“Think more systematically and analytically. Why did she reject you? Why did her feelings fade? Why is she hesitant and refusing to meet you again? You need to analyze the causes and develop a response strategy. Imagine this is the strategy room, and the target is a fortress in a foreign land.”
“Oh.”
Risha was indeed a professor. She presented examples suitable for his level of understanding with firm and clear words.
Richard’s expertise kicked in, making her words resonate. Exactly. Instead of digging around to see if she had lingering feelings, this was the perspective needed to navigate the situation!
For perhaps the first time since they became siblings, Richard looked at his sister with faint admiration.
“You’re better than me.”
Risha looked genuinely surprised.
“You just realized that now?”
“…”
Nysa clicked her tongue. As the second princess of the Empire, she enjoyed a life of leisure thanks to her accomplished older brother. She spent most of her time with her fiancé or hunting, fulfilling her duties as a royal and knight when necessary.
Today, having finished her work quickly, she decided to visit Richard’s place to catch up over a drink—after all, he had been away, and she hadn’t seen him because of the war—only to be startled by the commotion and screams coming from the library in broad daylight. The sight before her made her scratch her cheek.
Despite growing older, these two hadn’t changed. It was nostalgic.
Jillian and Nysa had their share of quarrels in childhood, but this house was something else…
Risha rubbed a lump on her forehead with her arms crossed. Richard had a grim face like a wolf that hadn’t eaten for three days, but his eyes were blank as if he were thinking about something else. Nysa, who had been looking back and forth between the two siblings, snapped her fingers loudly, drawing their attention.
“What’s this? How old are you two? Still fighting like kids? Where’s your maturity? Did you eat it with your butt?”
“How would you even eat maturity with your butt?”
*“You eat maturity” (철을 먹다) is a metaphor you use in Korean to say “to become mature.”
“…”
“…”
Risha’s serious question left Nysa dumbfounded, and Richard gave her a sidelong glance as if looking at a strange creature.
“Risha, don’t you engage in basic communication even though you’re always researching? It’s a metaphor, a metaphor! Are you really a professor?”
“Leave her be. She occasionally messes up basic grammar, let alone literature.”
Richard muttered gloomily, turning his gaze to the corner. He couldn’t believe she could still be so clueless. Risha, as if feeling shame, touched her forehead and sighed softly.
Though Risha was indignant, she had no effective counter since it was somewhat true. Outside of the language she used for writing papers, she was quite ignorant of art, literature, and philosophy. Being a serious nerd, she at least took solace in being a genius in her field.
Nysa hesitated, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, scratching her head in disbelief.
“Well, as long as you speak the imperial language well, communication should be fine. Anyway, getting back to the point, why were you behaving like that? How disgraceful does it look for the Imperial Duke to beat his professor sister with a cushion?”
“It’s truly violent and barbaric. All citizens of the empire should know this reality.”
“Enough noise. The language you used is barbaric itself.”
At that moment, Richard calmly retorted to Risha, mechanically mimicking her speech without any intonation. Nysa chuckled at the sight. It was childish.
An awesome story 💖💖
Thank you for the translation 💜
You are welcome, Israella!