Chapter 25

The whole incident unfolded and ended before Aethlyn even had time to process it.

A black figure crashed into Arthur, and the binding spell that had tightly restrained Aethlyn instantly unraveled.

“Arthur!”

With dust billowing into the air and obscuring her vision, Aethlyn could only cry out helplessly.

No matter how insane, infuriating, or hopeless he was…

He was still her little brother.

“Arthur! Arthur!”

Only when she shouted his name a second time did the cloud of dust begin to settle.

The sight before her left her stunned.

“…What is this?”

Aethlyn wondered if she was hallucinating.

Or trapped in some bizarre nightmare.

Honestly, things had already started feeling unreal the moment Arthur had appeared through teleportation.

‘Is this… really a dream?’

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

It was reality.

“Sergeant… why all of a sudden…?”

Arthur lay sprawled across the floor, completely limp.

Pinning him beneath a massive body…

…was Sergeant Gennadi Vilev.

Yes.

Sergeant Gennadi Vilev.

The werewolf NCO who had embarrassed her during dinner just a few hours earlier.

No matter how many times Aethlyn called out to him, he didn’t move an inch.

His eyes remained fixed on the back of Arthur’s head, his lips pressed into a hard line.

It reminded her of the time he’d subdued the Kingdom of Willem Army captain.

No…

This was even worse.

Only then did she notice exactly how he had restrained Arthur.

Gennadi had Arthur’s left hand firmly pinned to the floor with his own left hand.

In his other hand…

…was his gleaming curved saber.

‘He’s lost his mind!’

Her vision swam.

“Sergeant, Sergeant! Stop! That’s my younger brother! Put the sword away.”

“…”

“I said put the sword away!”

‘This is bad. Damn it, his eyes have completely changed.’

Gennadi hadn’t blinked even once.

The way he stood perfectly still, like a statue…

…made him seem even more dangerous.

She remembered the trench assault, when he’d mercilessly butchered enemy soldiers.

What if…

What if the enemy this time was her little brother?

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

Suppressing the nausea rising in her throat, Aethlyn remembered how she’d dealt with the Willem officer before.

He’d listened when she’d spoken like a commanding officer.

“Sergeant. I said stand down.”

Only then did the man slowly lower his curved saber.

Even so, he didn’t fully sheathe it.

The blade still hovered in the air, and he maintained his restraining position.

Without looking away, Gennadi asked,

“Are you unharmed?”

“I am. I’m fine. So let go of my brother.”

“…Your brother.”

Gennadi blinked once.

Then again.

“Yes. I know this doesn’t make any sense to you… but he’s my younger brother.”

Only then did Gennadi quietly remove himself from Arthur.

Aethlyn immediately dropped to the floor beside her motionless brother.

“Arthur! Arthur! Wake up.”

“…Ugh…”

A faint groan escaped him.

Carefully, Aethlyn turned him onto his back.

Arthur had grown much taller than she was, but after years of eating little and burying himself in magical research, he was surprisingly light.

She gently patted his dust-covered cheek.

“Wake up, Arthur.”

Whatever else he was…

He was still her little brother.

Pathetic.

Annoying.

An idiot.

Far from worthy of inheriting House Wintercrown.

But they had still grown up together.

In that sense…

Arthur felt more like family to her than her stepmother, Janet.

His face was a mess.

Covered in dirt and gravel.

His split lips were bleeding.

Never before had Aethlyn seen Arthur this badly hurt.

Holding him tightly in her arms, she called out again in desperation.

“Hey. Wake up.”

“…”

“If something happens to you, your mother will kill me.”

She tried to sound lighthearted.

But it wasn’t entirely a joke.

If Janet found out anything had happened to her precious son…

She would absolutely kill Aethlyn.

Of that, she had no doubt.

“…Mm.”

Thankfully, heaven was merciful.

A few seconds later, Arthur slowly opened his eyes.

His body trembled as he coughed twice before weakly calling out,

“…Sis?”

The confidence he’d shown only moments ago had completely vanished.

His voice trembled with uncertainty.

His blue eyes glistened with tears.

Suddenly, Aethlyn remembered the Arthur from their childhood.

The little boy who had always followed after her.

The child who used to tremble in front of large dogs.

“Sis… I’m scared.”

That same fragile little boy seemed to be lying before her now.

Overwhelmed by a strange sense of déjà vu, Aethlyn finally managed to force the words out.

“Arthur… are you with me?”

An hour later.

Arthur lay on the bed in Aethlyn’s room, sipping warm tea.

The gauze over the corner of his mouth seemed to sting, and he complained,

“It hurts.”

Aethlyn answered coldly.

“So?”

“It just hurts.”

Fortunately, aside from a few minor cuts and bruises, Arthur was perfectly fine.

Aethlyn couldn’t help admiring Sergeant Vilev’s skill.

He had subdued Arthur completely without causing any serious injuries.

This clearly wasn’t the work of someone doing it for the first time.

The way he’d immediately pinned Arthur’s left hand suggested he’d recognized him as a mage.

How had he reacted so decisively in such a brief instant?

‘He must’ve dealt with this kind of thing before.’

Whether against the Imperial Army or someone else…

He’d probably fought plenty of mages.

That was why his response had been so instinctive.

Arthur called to her again.

“Sis.”

“What?”

“…I’m sorry.”

A very belated apology.

Aethlyn rubbed her face.

Suppressing the anger boiling inside her, she said,

“What exactly are you apologizing for? Charging into Kran Trench while I wasn’t there? Smashing up the lobby of the hotel I was staying in? Or humiliating me in front of one of my subordinates?”

“Huh? That… he’s your subordinate?”

“What?”

Aethlyn looked up.

Leaning against the headboard, Arthur was watching her with unmistakable interest.

“What are you going to do with that information? You should be thinking about how you’re going to clean up the mess you made.”

Arthur stayed silent for a long moment. Then he let out a weary sigh and flicked his left hand through the air.

“Gross. A Wildman’s hand touched me.”

“Hey!”

That was the last straw. Aethlyn shot to her feet. She hadn’t slept a wink, yet instead of feeling tired, anger surged through her.

She strode over to Arthur.

“Sergeant Gennadi Vilev is an excellent soldier. Don’t insult him by calling him disgusting.”

“I mean, if it’s dirty, it’s dirty. I didn’t know you thought so highly of Wildmen.”

“…Arthur.”

“Besides, that thing was ridiculously heavy. If you hadn’t stopped him, I think I’d have been flattened.”

Arthur picked up the damp towel from the bedside table and meticulously wiped his left hand.

Even though he’d already washed it clean, he behaved as if he’d been contaminated by some deadly germ.

That finally pushed Aethlyn over the edge.

“I shouldn’t have stopped him. You deserved a beating.”

“Why?!”

“Because you trashed a civilian hotel and went on a rampage. Of course you deserved it.”

“I won’t make that mistake again. I already modified the magic circuit.”

“…Ha.”

All the strength drained out of her.

At this point, talking to a wall would have been more productive.

She staggered back to her chair and sank into it. Arthur spoke again.

“Don’t worry. I’ll compensate the hotel somehow.”

“Too late. I already took care of it.”

“…”

“I’ve also bought you a train ticket back to Esta. Get on it and go straight back to the Academy.”

“I don’t need a train ticket. I can just use Teleport aga—”

“Arthur Wintercrown.”

“…”

Arthur reluctantly fell silent under Aethlyn’s sharp glare.

“What, are you planning to botch another Teleport spell and turn the Academy into a disaster zone? Is the whole world your personal magic testing ground?”

For the first time, a flash of anger crossed Arthur’s face.

He could tolerate many things, but insulting his magical ability was apparently not one of them.

“I told you it won’t happen again. I fixed the circuit. I can arrive much more cleanly now!”

“I don’t care. Get on the train while I’m still asking nicely. Otherwise… I don’t know what I’ll do. I might even write a personal letter to our stepmother.”

Arthur fell silent again.

Aethlyn let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

“And before you leave, apologize to the hotel staff… and to Sergeant Gennadi Vilev.”

“Why?”

“Arthur. In civilized society, when you cause trouble for someone, you do something called an ‘apology.’”

“Why should I apologize to a Wildman?”

“Just shut up and apologize!”

With that, Aethlyn stood.

If she listened to him any longer, she felt like she would truly lose her mind.

She stormed out into the hotel corridor—

Only to stop dead at the doorway.

A dark figure was leaning against the corridor wall.

It was Sergeant Gennadi Vilev.