“You damn fool. You had to show everyone how amazing you are! But instead, you showed how stupid you are. Why, why do you always ruin everything I want? Why?!”

“Accia, please calm down.”

“You want me to calm down? This fool ruined my chance. Why should I calm down? Why did he have to come in the first place? Everything would have gone smoothly if not for his selfishness. And now, what do I have…? Say something, you… you idiot!”

Anna-Accia stormed toward a set of sofas and collapsed into them, overwhelmed by frustration. She covered her face so she wouldn't have to look at her family, but she didn’t really need her eyes to see. She could still sense every movement they made.

Her mother, Anna-Lena, cautiously stepped toward her, unwilling to ignite her anger again. “The fact they didn’t throw us out means there’s still a chance for reconciliation.”

However, her mother’s words only served to reignite her fury.

By instinct, Anna-Accia turned her face toward her mother. “Oh, you think so? Or do you think it’s only because Grandfather was the former head of the family before Father? I’ll believe you if you come back downstairs with me and apologize for that idiot’s actions.”

Though no agreement had been made between the De Ressa and Eirenios Households, they were still inside the palace, in one of the guest rooms. The hospitality customs of the Macezar Empire were strict for both guests and hosts.

Silence filled the room as no one spoke.

“That’s what I thought,” Anna-Accia muttered, once again covering her face with her hands.

“My dear, there are many excellent academies you could—”

“No! No! I want Sable!”

Anna-Accia interrupted her grandfather’s attempt to console her. She didn’t give him a chance.

“If it’s not Sable, then I don’t want it, and this will all be on you.”

From the saddened expressions on the faces of those in the room, Anna-Accia knew she had gone too far with her words. But she couldn’t bring herself to apologize. She certainly didn’t feel sorry for Felice, who hadn’t uttered a single word from the start.

His silence was beginning to grate on her nerves. “Why don’t you say anything? You’re the cause of all this.”

She lifted her head and turned her face toward him, even though the motion was pointless and a waste of energy. It still emphasized her dissatisfaction.

“What should I say? If I apologize, it’ll only make you angrier,” Felice replied with his head lowered.

Anna-Accia felt an urge to slap her brother but refrained. Instead, she returned to the sofa and threw herself onto it again. In a strange way, Felice’s honest words calmed her, though not enough to quell her anger and frustration.

Again, an oppressive silence filled the room.

This did not help Anna-Accia at all. Even with her face buried in her hands, she could still feel everyone’s pitying gazes on her.

“Can you all stop looking at me like that?!”

Everyone averted their eyes, except for her mother. Instead, Anna-Lena approached her and sat beside her, gently patting her back.

“Come on, Accia, surely there’s still something we can do. We still have time.”

Anna-Accia was about to snap at her mother’s words, but Felice spoke first. “I can fix this.”

And so, her anger shifted toward him.

“You won’t do anything! Every word that comes out of your mouth will only make things worse. I’ll fix this myself.”

Her grandfather intervened, stepping between Felice and Anna-Accia, who seemed ready to lash out at her brother.

“Calm down, little one. Let’s hear what he has to say first.”

“No! Do you really think he has anything going on in his head? He’s probably just going to—”

“I’ll apologize.” Felice’s words silenced Anna-Accia and everyone else in the room.

His words shocked them. They all knew how proud he could be. Naturally, Anna-Accia didn’t believe him.

“Haha… you? Apologize? I’d love to see that, but I don’t believe you, and I don’t want you interfering again.”

“I’m trying to help you!”

“Oh, of course! Since you want to help me, I should just forget that you’re the reason this happened in the first place.”

“Fine. If you don’t want to help yourself, then don’t.” Felice moved away from the center of the room and leaned against a wall angrily.

“My dear, why don’t you give him a chance—”

“No! I won’t do that.” Anna-Accia sat back down on the sofa, her anger refusing to dissipate.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I’ll fix this myself,” She muttered under her breath.

Once again, silence enveloped the room.

To everyone else, Anna-Accia seemed like she truly didn’t want to help herself. Yet no one spoke. They only looked at her with pity.

“Stop looking at me like that! I’m not helpless!”

Everyone turned away again.

Anna-Accia buried her face in her hands once more.

After a few minutes, she realized that wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t get her anywhere. So, against her better judgment, she stood up and turned to Felice.

“You said you’d apologize?”

Felice nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

“I was planning to go alone.”

“I don’t trust you enough to let you go alone. It’ll just be the two of us. And believe me when I say, if you do anything other than apologize, I’ll break your legs.”

Felice stared at her in disbelief. They were twins, but he was still the elder. Regardless, he nodded again and followed her.

Anna-Accia opened the door for her brother to leave. Once he did, she turned to her mother.

“Wait here.”

She closed the door behind her, leaving only the two of them inside.

“Do you think they’ll reach an agreement?” Anna-Lena asked the old man, even though she already had an idea.

“I don’t know. If it happens, it’ll surprise my son.”

Indeed, the current head of House De Ressa had no idea what was going on. He didn’t even know they were at the Eirenios Palace in the capital.

“This will be amusing,” Anna-Lena commented, her expression delighted.

“No, it won’t be.”

“That’s what makes it even funnier.”

The old man sighed and made his way to the sofa. Despite his great strength, he felt a wave of fatigue washing over him.

…

Guilt still haunted Deon for ruining the meeting between them and the De Ressa household that morning. He didn’t feel much toward them, considering their dismissive behavior toward him. But his guilt was for Vierenna, who, once again, stood by his side.

‘If only I had swallowed my grievances.’

But what’s done is done.

It wasn’t that Deon couldn’t endure and ignore Felice’s disdain for him. He could have, but he chose not to. He didn’t want to cultivate such a habit.

‘You can hate me, you can look down on me, but keep it to yourself. Don’t be two-faced in my own home.’

That was Deon’s thought at the time, and it played a significant role in his outburst.

Deon remembered the day he was robbed by a group of teenagers who eventually ran him over. At that time, too, he wore the mask of indifference toward the injustice he faced. And look how that turned out.

Now, he stood up for himself. Even though it ended in his favor, allowing him to keep what little dignity he had, Deon felt no joy—only guilt.

‘What was the right answer?’

To leave your space and swallow your grievances under a facade of indifference and rationality, or to defend yourself even if it means ignoring everything else?

Once again, it wasn’t that Deon cared much about what others thought of him. But he did care if it could place him in a situation where he might be run over—figuratively or literally. He didn’t want to be trampled again.

“Hey, baby brother.”

Deon’s senses snapped back to the present at the sudden call. He turned toward the voice only to see Vierenna’s smiling face peeking out from behind a shrub in the backyard garden.

He was sitting on a bench by the small lake in the palace’s garden.

“What are you doing in my spot? It’s still morning, or did you forget?” She emerged from the bushes when she failed to scare him, but she didn’t seem upset.

“No, I didn’t forget. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Vierenna raised an eyebrow. “Really? And would you have done so if I hadn’t caught you red-handed here?”

Deon smiled at her words. “Well, that’s another story. Either way, I would’ve done something nice for you and made you owe me.”

Vierenna remained silent, her expression unchanged. She took steady steps toward Deon until she stood directly in front of him with no space between them.

Deon looked at her cautiously from his seated position, his body language instinctively defensive. He was ready to warn her not to do anything, but it was already too late.

Her hands began squeezing his cheeks with force.

Deon tried to push her hands away, but that only increased the pain in his face as she refused to let go of his cheeks.

She, in turn, waited until Deon stopped all genuine attempts to free himself before she spoke. “You’re a mischievous villain. And I love that about you.”

She still hadn’t let go of his cheeks, but her grip softened into playful squeezing. “I love that you don’t lie to me.”

Deon, once again, felt guilt. This time, for deeper reasons he couldn’t talk about even if he wanted to. So he remained silent until Vierenna finished playing with his face and sat beside him.

“So, how will you make it up to me?” She asked, her face only a few inches away from Deon’s.

“What do you want? Though I have a history of ruining everything you want.”

Vierenna frowned slightly at Deon’s words. As she was about to reassure him, Deon continued. “Sorry about that. I should have—”

“It wasn’t your fault, you silly. If anything, it’s mine—”

“No, it’s not.”

Deon interrupted her interruption, and to make sure she wouldn’t cut him off again, he covered her mouth with his hand under her astonished gaze.

“This time, it really is my fault. You asked me for something, and I ruined it. I should’ve tried harder, for you. My selfishness got the better of me. Even though I came out with a shred of self-respect, you were left with nothing. I might have even ruined your friendship with your blind friend.”

Deon released her mouth and bowed his head deeply toward her.

“I’m sorry.”

“But we can still fix this as long as they’re still at the palace.”

Vierenna looked at Deon with a calm and sad expression. She didn’t know what to say. She had ignored Felice’s insulting remarks toward Deon just to maintain relative peace, and in doing so, she had disregarded her brother’s feelings, aligning with his calm demeanor at the time. She felt guilty, but now she felt even guiltier seeing Deon blame himself.

So instead of words, she reached out to him and hugged him tightly.

Deon tensed at first but soon relaxed.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized again, and Vierenna only tightened her embrace.

She held him for a good minute before letting go.

“You don’t have to feel guilty or think about this now. I’ll put an end to this matter, whether it’s for better or worse.”

She placed her hand on his cheek, stroking it gently.

“The only thing you need to think about is how you’ll make it up to me.”

Deon’s gaze held a hint of confusion, and Vierenna was happy to clarify.

“Did you forget that you’re in my lake right now, without my permission? Quite arrogant of you. Have you forgotten how to respect me again—”

Deon started rolling his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

And she began pinching his cheeks again.

Deon quickly pushed her hand away, shielding his cheeks with both hands.

“I won’t do it again! I’ll respect you from now on.”

“Oh? So you haven’t respected me from the start? We need to work on that.”

With those words, Deon knew it was the end for him. He prepared to flee, but he didn’t get far. He didn’t even rise from the bench before Vierenna stopped him first with her hands, then under her knee.

But instead of what he thought would be his punishment, Vierenna simply released him.

Deon looked at her in confusion, unsure of what to do until she began tidying his clothes, which had been ruined in the process.

“Two are coming.”

That made sense. But the confusion over Vierenna’s actions didn’t leave Deon’s expression.

She patted his chest with a playful smile.

“This? This just means that I love you.”

‘That! That made sense in a strange way, even if Deon didn’t want to admit it.’