I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 143

Chapter 143
We’re Not Siblings

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For the next few days, they received truly lavish treatment. The knights personally offered to teach them swordsmanship, and part of the library was opened for their use. Every meal was a grand feast, enough to make the table legs creak under the weight of the dishes, and they even got to enjoy sweet desserts.

No matter how tough a person may be, once they experience a comfortable life, their body and mind tend to relax. It was the same for their group.

There were moments when they tried to stay alert, knowing that eventually, they’d have to go back to their original lives. But whenever they did, sweet suggestions would float their way.

“You have more talent than I thought. Have you ever considered becoming a servant? If you don’t have a home to return to, settling here might be an option.”

Being a servant wasn’t something just anyone could do. It often required a recommendation or was an inherited position passed down within families. For those without a hometown, the idea of becoming a servant was tempting.

“Hmm… You’ve got quite a bit of talent. Have you thought about joining the Imperial Army? Joining the army doesn’t always mean going to the battlefield. Some soldiers focus on maintaining security in cities, and others handle cooking. The pay is regular, and it’s stable, with a good chance of being stationed in a large city. The quality of life is pretty decent. If you want, I can write you a recommendation letter.”

A stable job, a life in a big city. For those who had been wandering like refugees with no place to call home, it was a sweet offer.

“You know basic arithmetic and even how to read? Have you thought about studying further? We’re always short on administrative personnel.”

Those who had a thirst for learning were easily swayed by these words.

Maybe they could remain in this paradise forever. Perhaps an even brighter future awaited them. As these hopes flickered before their eyes, the group’s resolve softened like pudding.

As their fondness for this place deepened, so did the looseness of their tongues.

“Yeah, I’ve rarely seen hair as white as my brother’s. How does he maintain it? His hair? We’ve been together since childhood, but it’s never changed color once.”

“He’s someone I really admire! Someday, I hope to be like Lian too.”

“Oh, you want to know the secret to Lian’s life force? Huh? Where are you going?”

“If it weren’t for my brother, I wouldn’t have known how happy it is to share a meal together. Without knowing such small joys, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Though some strange fanaticism seemed to be mixed in, the praise was overwhelming. The eyes of those speaking were filled with adoration, as though they were gazing at a ‘Hero.’ The butler, noticing this, couldn’t help but shiver.

There was a fact known only to a very select few within the household: the Duke’s husband was the missing Hero.

‘Blood doesn’t lie—… No, no, that can’t be.’

He shook his head to clear the troubling thoughts, but once the seed of doubt had been planted, it only grew. And he wasn’t the only one having such thoughts.

The saying goes, “A tiger’s cub will grow to be a tiger.” If Lian and Iris truly were of the Duke’s bloodline, they would indeed show some talent with the sword. And with growing rumors of their exceptional skills, a sparring match was arranged.

“Hoo…”

The Knight Commander would never forget the thrill he felt that day. The overwhelming sense of awe he had experienced the first time he faced Her Grace now echoed in the presence of a young man who seemed barely into adulthood.

‘He is undoubtedly of Her Grace’s bloodline!’

As if to confirm his hasty conclusion, Iris then showcased her astonishing swordsmanship. Her expression, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, and the distant, unapproachable aura mirrored the Duke’s demeanor when she wielded her sword.

The Knight Commander was thrown into confusion!

‘B-but, I was sure Her Grace only had… one child?’

Only now did he understand why Panton had claimed that the Duke had two children. The Magic Division Leader, who had been shaking his head, convinced that Lian’s gentle demeanor couldn’t be that of Her Grace’s offspring, also froze with a stiff expression.

‘The Hero… If he’s the bloodline of that man, it might make sense.’

The Hero, warm like the sun, and the Duke, colder than the glacial peaks of a snowy mountain. The child born between those two couldn’t easily be categorized.

It was hard to tell who resembled the Hero more, for both Lian and Iris shared similarly gentle appearances. It made it difficult to distinguish between them at a glance.

The Magic Division Leader, who had only seen the Hero in passing once, couldn’t definitively say which of the two looked more like him. Only someone like the Duke, who had spent time with the Hero, would know.

As time passed, the confusion subsided, and at some point, the belief that Lian was Her Grace’s child started to spread.

His almost pure white hair, smooth skin like that of nobility, and resplendent golden eyes.

The grace and manners (instilled by the cursed sword) that emanated from his body gave the impression that, despite having lived among commoners, he had never lost his noble bearing. His soft and polite demeanor only reinforced this image of a well-educated noble.

The dark aura that seeped from Lian’s body caused others to shrink back, while the divine power he exuded melted their hearts.

Fear soon turned into reverence, and by the second week of the Duke’s absence from the castle, most people within the castle had concluded that Lian was indeed Her Grace’s child. However, the butler and head maid clung to reason, fighting against the urge to fully accept this conclusion.

If they were wrong—if they had been manipulated by the Demon King’s forces or deceived by a con artist—it would lead to a disastrous outcome.

One day, as the butler kept a watchful eye on Lian, examining his every move, a major incident occurred.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out now.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I feel like I’ve stayed here too long. Oh! It’s just me leaving, though.”

The butler’s brain froze. He had been worried about whether they were dealing with a conman or a pawn of the Demon King’s forces, but he had never expected the person in question to up and say they were leaving on their own.

Lian, oblivious to the butler’s shock, continued to pack his things.

“The others seem to want to settle down here or elsewhere, but I’m leaving on my own. I have no intention of dying alone in the wilderness, so if you could just prepare some rations for me, I’ll be off. Ugh…!”

He placed his pack down on one side. Though it wasn’t heavy thanks to the subspace bag, a light grunt escaped his lips out of habit.

“Uh… Ah, but… shouldn’t you at least wait for Her Grace to return and say goodbye…?”

“She’d be angry if she found out I stayed this long.”

“T-that’s certainly not the case!”

“Thanks, even if it’s just for appearances. I’ll say my goodbyes if I ever get the chance.”

The butler stumbled slightly when he saw the words ‘Though that’s unlikely to happen!’ practically written across Lian’s face.

‘If he’s truly Her Grace’s bloodline, I can’t… I can’t just let him leave like this!’

The butler’s rational mind began to short-circuit as he realized that the assumption—that those with ulterior motives would want to remain at the Duke’s household—had crumbled. Cold sweat trickled down his back as he scrambled for the right words, but just then, an unexpected ally came to his rescue.

It was Iris, who had come looking for Lian due to her acute case of Lian-Dependency Syndrome.

Iris hurriedly rushed into the room, intending to throw herself into her brother’s arms, only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw that Lian looked like he was preparing to leave at any moment.

“Brother, what are you doing?”

“Ah… I was just about to leave… Huh?”

In the middle of his reply, Lian froze, as if he had suddenly realized something.

“Leave? Where to? Wait, I’ll pack my things and be right back.”

Since Iris instinctively felt that her place was by Lian’s side, she didn’t wait for his response and immediately began to move, intending to gather her belongings.

But in that instant, Lian quickly grabbed her arm, turned her around, and firmly gripped her shoulders.

“Iris!”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden physical contact, Iris’s eyes widened, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. From Iris’s perspective, the situation felt like a romantic scene with flowers blooming, but from Lian’s viewpoint, intense, dramatic background music was blasting through his mind.

‘Damn it! I was supposed to tell Iris that we’re not siblings and that she’s the Duke’s bloodline, but I totally forgot!’

Cold sweat trickled down Lian’s face. He could already picture himself being beheaded by the Duke in the near future.

‘The Duke hasn’t returned yet, so… it’s not too late if I tell her now!’

With a serious look in his eyes, Lian spoke, fueled by his desperate internal reasoning.

“Iris, you and I are not siblings.”

Lian’s voice rang heavily through the now-silent room. As he continued, he stared directly into Iris’s eyes, which had widened for a different reason this time.

“And you’re the Duke’s only true bloodline.”

“Gasp…”

The butler, standing nearby, swallowed audibly, his eyes widening at the unexpected turn of events. His fingertips turned white as he gripped his hands tightly, looking like a housewife engrossed in a dramatic morning soap opera.

Iris, on the other hand, didn’t respond for a long time after hearing Lian’s words. She simply stood there, her mouth slightly open, as if the words were a foreign language she didn’t fully comprehend.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Her face was filled with clear confusion. To Iris, the fact that Lian was her brother was an undeniable truth, so she couldn’t grasp the meaning of his words.

She stared at Lian’s lips, trying to understand the meaning behind them, but her thoughts kept hitting a dead end, as if her brain had short-circuited.

“I’m not your brother. We don’t share the same blood. We’re just… just two people who happen to have similar hair and eye colors.”

“No, that’s not true.”

Iris shook her head firmly, her expression resolute. Lian bit his lip in frustration, finally speaking the words he had hoped to avoid.

“…Iris, we’re not family.”

“…!”

At those words, Iris’s face went pale.

End of Chapter.