༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (10) ༻
Lupine had always deeply admired his elder sister, Elsie.
As the youngest of the Rinella family, he had been frail since childhood. Among the robust physiques of their siblings, only he and Elsie were exceptions.
Despite the continuous neglect and harassment, Lupine never retaliated.
Since he was weak, he had no choice. He believed it was only natural for him to be treated this way. Deep down, he had been partially resigned to it throughout his entire childhood.
If there was a ray of hope for Lupine, it was the presence of his sister, Elsie.
“Hey, did you bully my brother again?”
Like Lupine, Elsie was petite, even tinier in fact, but she was always daring. She confronted their bullies even while knowing she stood next to no chance.
Watching her grit her teeth and rush in, determined to protect Lupine, he could only tremble in fear.
The outcomes were always predictable. Elsie would end up beaten and Lupine would approach her in tears. Each time, Elsie would offer him a weak smile.
With her delicate hand placed on Lupine’s head, she’d say.
“Lupine, why the long face? Listen closely… the one who laughs last is the strongest. Do you think those blockheads can ever beat us?”
Her words were hard to believe.
The weak and thin Lupine couldn’t even imagine beating his siblings.
And those words were spoken by Elsie, who was even more delicate than him. While Lupine relied on her, he still believed she was chasing empty dreams.
But in time, Elsie proved her words true.
Gritting her teeth and dedicating herself to her studies, she soon rose as a prodigy of the Rinella family. She not only entered the academy with high marks but also consistently ranked among the top.
The way others treated Elsie began to change.
The siblings who used to torment her now tiptoed around her, bowing their heads. Their pride, after all, would only result in them being electrocuted in the backyard.
She was fierce, ruthless, and strong.
And for that, Lupine admired his sister. Following in her footsteps, he diligently studied magic, and eventually got admitted to the academy.
Of course, he started late and wasn’t as fierce as Elsie.
Despite being unable to stand beside Elsie due to the revered position she occupied, Lupine was content.
After all, he never aimed to surpass her in the first place. To him, she was the strongest and most reliable figure in the world.
However, while he couldn’t quite reach her level, he still wished to resemble her in some ways.
It was during this time that Lupine began to purposefully mock and torment the weak. He cruelly trampled over those who couldn’t resist, just like Elsie did.
He didn’t care if the world despised his actions. For him, his older sister was the standard of justice.
Weren’t you all doing the same?
Even if they don’t show it, Lupine had seen humanity’s dark side countless times, and knew better. In contrast, Elsie, a flower that had once been weak but never wilted, was strikingly beautiful.
Then, one day it happened.
Lupine was looking for someone to torment as usual. When a friend told him about an interesting rumour.
“Hey, did you hear? About that ‘Yurdina’s Bastard’? I heard she’s been bullied lately.”
Lupine gave his friend a puzzled look as if asking what he was talking about. Then his expression darkened slightly. His response was wrapped in disbelief.
“Are you crazy? If Senior Delphine finds out…”
However, Lupine’s friend just clicked his tongue in disapproval. He draped an arm around Lupine’s shoulder, whispering words of persuasion.
“Senior Delphine must be turning a blind eye. Otherwise, how could those lowly nobles dare to mess with that Bastard?”
Just as Lupine was about to ask why exactly Senior Delphine would do that, he closed his mouth.
That’s how it was in the world of high nobility.
There might be some affection as a sibling, but they more often than not see each other as potential rivals. The very fact that even the low-ranking nobles dared to touch the bloodline of Yurdina, even though she was a half-blood, was enough proof.
Delphine Yurdina had abandoned her own half-sibling.
And so, without much thought, Lupine also joined the tide of bullies. The thrill of tormenting Yurdina’s bloodline, whom he usually wouldn’t dare touch, was unique.
Well, at least that was the case until some madman wielding a hatchet appeared before him.
The moment the man’s fist unexpectedly struck Lupine’s face, the sound of crunching bones was followed by an echoed groan.
His face contorted from the impact, sending him flying into the air. When he came to his senses, bodies lay sprawled around him.
He was terrified. His heart pounded a warning. But at that moment, he remembered Elsie.
What would his sister have done in such a situation?
Lupine’s fists clenched tightly. With a voice filled with determination, he shouted.
“I-I am Lupine, the third son of Count Rinella!”
Golden eyes glanced briefly at him. Though Lupine was scared, thinking of his sister gave him the strength to steady his trembling heart.
“H-How dare you lay hands on me?! If you kneel and beg for forgiveness now…”
“Hey.”
But before he could finish, an hatchet narrowly missed his cheek, embedding itself in the ground.
It was too much. Lupine couldn’t take any more.
“Are the third sons of a Count’s house so eager to get hit nowadays?”
And that was the end. Lupine decided he would never mess with this man again.
Because those golden eyes staring at him seemed deadly serious.
“There will be no next time. You get it now, right? That I’m crazy.”
All Lupine could do was nod frantically at the man’s warning.
Though that day’s memories left a deep scar, Lupine who never wanted to get entangled with that man again decided to put the incident behind him.
But Elsie’s reaction upon hearing the news was different. Her face darkened as she exclaimed.
“What? Are you crazy? Some lowly-ranked fucker touched my brother and you’re telling me I should do nothing?!”
“B-Big Si-Sis… Th-That fucker is a complete lunatic!”
“Hmph, how pathetic.”
Elsie, as if listening to something ridiculous, grinned smugly.
“Hey, your sister is ‘Elsie’ of the Rinella family. You think I’d let myself get bullied by some lowly noble? Just wait, I’ll deal with that nutjob.”
Despite her words, Lupine remained uneasy. Then as always, Elsie raised her hand and gently stroked the head of Lupine, who was slightly slouched.
“Don’t worry. I can handle protecting my little brother.”
Seeing her reassuring smile, Lupine felt relieved inside, even though he looked worried outside.
Yes, if it was Big Sis, she would be fine.
She was the strongest, after all.
But the next day, Elsie was utterly defeated.
It was in front of dozens of onlookers. In an instant, several seniors were brought to their knees, and then the man on top of Elsie’s shield struck down with his hatchet repeatedly.
Amidst screams and scattering particles of light, Elsie begged the man for her life.
She even earned the derogatory nickname “Piss-Baby”. For a long time, Elsie remained holed up in her room, almost as if she had lost her soul. Later, when she finally went out, the devil-like bastard caught and dragged her to the Hunting Festival.
He should have intervened then.
Or even after winning the Hunting Festival when she was running around with a smug look on her face. He still had a chance then.
But when Elsie decided to join the man for the next field assignment, her face, though showing annoyance, had a faint hint of joy.
Her state after returning was even more shocking.
She’d wear a restless expression, and then suddenly, with a dazed look in her eyes, she’d laugh, chuckling absentmindedly.
Seeing Elsie’s transformation, Lupine felt an undeniable anxiety. Yet, he desperately tried to turn a blind eye and compose himself.
But the reality unfolding before him was all too cruel.
“Mas-Master… You’ll forgive me, right? You won’t abandon Elsie, right?”
Suddenly, Lupine’s eyes, which seemed ready to bulge out any second, showed another burst of blood vessels.
It was unbelievable. At that moment, Elsie was rubbing her head against Ian’s arm, her voice filled with affection.
All this towards that ‘lowly-ranked noble scum’.
Elsie’s expression seemed somewhat anxious. Her face resembled a puppy that didn’t want to be abandoned.
Objectively speaking, she looked incredibly cute. But for Lupine, the sight meant his world was collapsing.
In Elsie’s eyes, even as she tried to flatter, there was a subtle hint of genuine affection.
Anyone else might have missed it, but Lupine, having grown up with her all his life, knew precisely what that emotion was.
Elsie, who moments ago was looking up at Ian with those puppy-like eyes, suddenly looked horrified.
“Are you…are you angry? B-Because of Lupine? Hey, Lupine!”
Elsie, who up until that point was so submissive, ready to bark or show her belly and act cutesy at a moment’s notice, suddenly changed her attitude. It was when her eyes landed on Lupine.
With a stern look on her face as always, she lashed out at him.
“Lupine, why haven’t you apologised to Master yet?! He-he’s upset!”
However as he watched Elsie, who was sneaking glances at Ian anxiously, Lupine finally closed his eyes tightly.
This was a lie.
There was no way this was real.
But regardless of how much he denied it, the sharp pain in his heart reminded him that this was, in fact, real. Overwhelmed, his eyes reddened.
How did it come to this?
The fierce and strong flower named ‘Elsie Rinella’ he knew was gone.
All that remained was a pet desperate for her master’s affection.
No matter how tightly he shut his eyes, the scene he had just witnessed replayed before him.
The image of a woman looking up at Ian with her fawning eyes.
Lupine’s body trembled. A surge of emotions flowed down his spine.
He couldn’t bear it. The reality that hit him was too hard to handle, and Lupine wiped away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
He felt devastated. It was as if his heart was being torn apart. He wanted to rip it out from his chest to escape the suffocating feeling.
He was furious. What made it even more unbearable was Ian’s reaction.
All Ian did was wear an expression of discomfort.
How could he?
Lupine’s mind heated up in an instant.
After having turned his once fierce and wicked sister into a love-struck girl, fawning and wooing right before him…
How could he be so indifferent?
This shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t have been this way.
Trembling, Lupine soon opened his eyes, gritting his teeth.
Anger and hostility gleamed in his bloodshot eyes. He began to stride forward.
All this while, Elsie, with a sorrowful expression, was still pleading with Ian.
“Pl-Please don’t abandon me…I-I’ll do anything for you, Master! Sh-Should I bark? Woof, woof woof!”
It was then that Lupine grasped his sister’s arm.
Elsie, who was about to voluntarily forsake her human dignity, looked at Lupine with a blank expression due to the sudden force on her arm.
A look as if asking, What do you think you’re doing right now?
It was, in fact, the very question Lupine wanted to ask. Grinding his teeth, he dragged Elsie.
Startled, Elsie tried to shake off Lupine’s grip.
“Lu-Lupine! What are you doing? If Master abandons me because of this…”
“Big Sis, Don’t you have any self-respect?!”
It was Lupine who raised his voice in frustration. Elsie’s eyes widened in shock.
Normally, she would’ve shouted, “How dare a younger sibling… talk back?!” and had beaten Lupine black and blue. But right now, she seemed too overwhelmed to say anything.
However, Elsie was still Elsie. Stumbling and seething, she was on the verge of exploding.
“Why should you, of all people, cling and degrade yourself! If anyone should be clinging, shouldn’t it be that low-class fucker?!”
Suddenly, Elsie froze.
She tilted her head slightly, wearing an expression of utter confusion.
Lupine, feeling stifled, thumped his chest.
“Just come with me! And hey, you, low-class noble!”
The man’s golden eyes fixed intently on Lupine. Memories of a past nightmare made Lupine’s body flinch, but for his sister’s sake, he clenched his teeth and endured.
With eyes that seemed ready to spill tears of blood, he glared at Ian and shouted.
“…Pre-Prepare yourself! One day, you will regret what happened today!!”
Throwing out a clichéd villain’s line, Lupine made his exit while dragging the still-confused Elsie by the arm.
Grinding his teeth, one thought filled his mind.
Vengeance would be his.
For the way Ian coldly treated his sister, he would make him regret and cry in the end.
There was no other way around it. Even now, he felt like his heart was being torn into a million pieces. But there was only one way to enact his vengeance.
All he had to do was to make Ian fall head over heels for Elsie.
Once that happened, it would be Ian begging on his knees.
Lupine’s mind was filled with desire to make this scenario come true.
Elsie, meanwhile, was still confused.
She sensed that Lupine had some plan to help, but she had no clue what he intended to do.
And it wasn’t as if clinging to Ian right now would make ‘Master’ take back his ‘words’ of abandoning her.
She had no choice. The only way out now was through Lupine.
He might be her clueless younger brother, but if he could connect her and Master, she would gladly take his advice.
As she was being dragged away by Lupine, Elsie spoke to Ian in a pitiful tone.
“See..See you next time, Master.”
Ian stood rooted to the spot, watching as the Rinella siblings departed.
And after a long time, when even the shadow of the Rinella siblings was no longer visible, a wry chuckle escaped his lips.
“…What’s with those two?”
He had remained silent, but the two of them continued the conversation as they pleased and then left. Ian couldn’t help but find it absurd.
He stood still for a moment, scratched his head, and then began to walk again.
It was now time to visit the Saintess.
After all, she was among the few who had met the future ‘him.’
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