When You Turned Your Back On Me, We Became Strangers [EN]: Chapter 22

Her father was tormenting her sister more cruelly and relentlessly than Leta had vaguely imagined. Only after experiencing it herself could Leta vividly understand Railey’s terrible life.

‘Sister, sister… I’m scared.’

She was scared. It felt like she couldn’t handle it. Under the surveillance and restrictions of numerous maids, Leta grew increasingly emaciated.

Every night, her father had the maids search Leta’s body thoroughly. Being stripped naked and searched was more humiliating than she could have imagined.

『Look for the mark.』

The mark. Leta didn’t know what it was. Not until her father showed her a paper with the mark drawn on it did she even know what he was looking for on her body.

『What kind of mark is it? You need to tell me so I can tell Father!』

The Duke’s eyebrows twitched at Leta’s suppressed cry. She wasn’t wrong. The Duke stroked his chin, lost in thought.

‘Even if I tell her, she won’t understand anything.’

Since he had never properly discussed the sword, there was no way Leta and Railey would know. The paper in the Duke’s hand was eventually handed to her.

‘This is…?’

The paper depicted the mark she had seen on her sister’s neck. A fleeting memory flashed through her mind. The mark was so unique that it had been deeply etched in her mind.

Now that Leta knew what her father wanted, she understood the whole situation. The mark on her sister’s neck matched the mark engraved on the family heirloom, the sword that always hung on the wall.

Since childhood, Railey had been brainwashed by her father, who spoke daily about the contract with the sword. The one who manifested the power in that story was the one with the mark.

Leta’s heart pounded rapidly. But her lips remained tightly shut.

‘If Father finds out she has it, he won’t leave her alone.’

Leta couldn’t forget her sister’s happy smile. She had seen better than anyone how Railey had lived before leaving home. She didn’t want her to go through the same thing again.

She was scared and afraid. She couldn’t be sure how long the things happening to her every day would continue. Maybe her father wouldn’t stop.

But Leta decided for her sister.

‘Endure it. My sister endured it, so can’t I?’

Leta erased the mark the Duke had shown her from her memory. She had clearly seen it shining on her sister’s neck and disappearing when they slept together, but she didn’t tell anyone. It was something no one would know if she kept her mouth shut.

Perhaps Railey didn’t even know, she thought. She considered it a good thing and steadfastly endured all kinds of abuse.

‘My sister will be happy. That’s all that matters. Now it’s my turn to endure.’

She thought of her sister, who had gone through this countless times, unlike herself as a child. Eventually, Leta accepted everything. She thought it was her turn to protect her sister. It was the only way she could help her sister, who had run away to get married.

Kaver gently took Leta’s shoulder, her face shadowed. Lost in thought, Leta gave an awkward smile and nodded as if to say she was okay.

“I’m okay now. But I have no intention of forgiving him.”

Speaking in a soft but firm tone, Leta hardened her face. Even if the Trailla family line was cut off, she hoped this practice would not continue.

“What does Your Highness think about the sword? Is it still a necessary existence?”

An existence to be wielded as a tool by the Emperor, as a sword. A sword for the Imperial Family that has no ego, no life of its own, and cannot do anything at will.

Unless the Imperial Family gives up on this first, the destiny of the Trailla family will not change.

‘We must not be used any longer.’

Even if Railey were to return, Leta was worried about that.

Once the power is used, the sword will continue to desire a contract. Otherwise, it will disappear on its own, so to continue its existence, it needed a contract with the power’s manifestor.

“Why didn’t you catch my sister from the beginning?”

“Leta, that was… unavoidable. I thought it was right to let her go then.”

Leta stared at him with a straight gaze at Kaver’s words. She didn’t think he was lying. However, he didn’t have the courage.

In other words, Kaver was a coward.

“You weren’t running away, were you?”

Kaver’s eyes wavered at Leta’s words. She might be right.

Was he afraid that she would be forced to take the sword and come to his side? If he didn’t like that, if he really loved her, he could have told her his feelings honestly.

Afraid of being rejected again. Afraid that her eyes looking at him would be filled with contempt, despair, and fear, he might have run away on his own.

“Do you remember the three of us playing together when we were young?”

“…Of course.”

“I remember Your Highness hesitating and not being able to approach. You were always just watching from behind.”

Kaver gave a bitter smile at Leta’s words. Railey didn’t remember the past, but Leta remembered everything vividly.

“The Your Highness of the past and the Your Highness of now are quite different.”

Leta smiled at the few good memories of the past. The boy who blushed when he looked at her sister was now grown up and standing in front of her.

Kaver’s body flinched slightly.

‘……But isn’t it recognizable?’

His shoulders slumped as he remembered what happened at the store. Leta stared at Kaver and then turned her gaze away. He seemed very different from before, but his heart seemed unchanged.

But Leta thought Kaver needed to change more. He had to become stronger to protect that heart.

“Those times are already over, Your Highness. We are no longer children who didn’t know anything. Things don’t change just by watching from behind.”

Kaver knows why Leta is saying these things to him. She was asking him why he didn’t do anything. Why he just watched when Railey was having a hard time. She also wanted to know why he was now appearing and interfering with her and her sister.

If he turns a blind eye again when things get difficult, what would be different from then? Leta was grateful that he had saved her, but she couldn’t fully trust Kaver.

“What does my sister mean to Your Highness?”

Kaver inhaled sharply at Leta’s words. Her every word pierced his heart, bringing out the regrets of the past again.

“She is…”

* * *

The Imperial Palace was a place filled with silence. Every day was the same schedule and life within a fixed radius. For young Kaver, the Imperial Palace was a boring and stuffy place.

Even his peers were not people he could easily talk to, but relationships made by power.

Because he was the Crown Prince, children were often sent to greet him to look good to him, but no one readily approached Kaver.

‘There’s no sincerity at all. They’re just pretending on the outside.’

Even a child could see the inner thoughts of adults.

The children were being dragged by their parents. They tried to hide it and approached Kaver to greet him, but the voices of their hearts hidden inside all seemed the same.

『Your Highness, Crown Prince, you can do anything, right?』

『Your Highness, what’s it like living in the Imperial Palace?』

The children revealed their inner thoughts as they were. A vast Imperial Palace with everything. The children said it must be nice to live in the sparkling Imperial Palace.

Being the Crown Prince and becoming the Emperor in the future to rule over everyone seemed cool to his peers.

Being the Emperor meant that much responsibility followed. Every day, he had to learn etiquette, as well as finance and state affairs. He had to be conscious of people’s gazes and there were restrictions everywhere he went.

‘They don’t even know…’

Kaver wanted to run around and play freely like his peers. He was at an age where he wanted to do so many things just being in the Imperial Family. He was full of curiosity and wanted to whine to his parents when things were hard.

『Waaaaah, Father…』

A child ran towards his father who had come to pick him up, tripped over a stone, and fell. He was hugged by his father without even brushing off the dirt and wiped away his tears. Kaver watched the scene from afar.

‘……’

The child’s father wiped away the crying child’s tears with a worried look and patted his back. Kaver’s gaze, which had been looking out the window, shifted elsewhere.

He was envious.

Being able to express his emotions as he pleased, being able to cry to his heart’s content in his father’s arms, was something that could not happen to Kaver.

As the Crown Prince, he had to maintain his dignity and be a role model for everyone.

『What are you looking at so intently?』

Haban, who had been watching from the side, said in an indifferent voice. He was about the same age as Kaver, but four years older.

Thanks to his good brain that belied his young age, he caught the Emperor’s eye and began taking classes together.

The Emperor had marked Haban as an aide to assist Kaver in the future. Moreover, he possessed an aura capable of healing magic, so the Imperial Family had been supporting Haban since childhood.

『If I run to my father and hug him…』

『Do you want to whine?』

Haban raised his head and glanced at Kaver.

He soon put down his book and spread his arms.

『Why don’t you run to me and hug me instead?』

『……No way.』

Haban’s shoulders shook at Kaver’s disgusted expression.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know he wanted to be coddled, but he didn’t really want to recommend it. That’s what the Crown Prince’s position was like.

It was a position where you had to endure what you wanted to do and do what you didn’t want to do. If you get older than now and become a person fit to be the Emperor, that standard will increase even more.

『My arms are always open.』

『There will be no reason to be in those arms until I die.』

『That’s a relief.』

Silence flowed again after Haban’s words. Since neither of them were talkative, there was often silence during their time together.

He didn’t get tired of holding a boring book all day long. Even now, he had a book in his small hands. He was one of the people Kaver couldn’t understand.

『Don’t you hate being trapped in the Imperial Family?』

『It’s not bad. So don’t pay attention to what those kids say. Well, where else would I go if not the Imperial Family, since my abilities are so outstanding.』

Haban answered, turning the page of his book with a nonchalant voice, his gaze still fixed on the book.

『You’re no fun.』

『That’s the same with Your Highness. So maybe that’s why we’re together.』

He didn’t give in a single word.

Kaver shook his head and got up from his seat. He was thinking of taking a walk outside for a while because he felt stuffy.

Looking at the time, it seemed about right.