Chapter 21 His Gaze Spoke How My Absolute Was Special to Him

Translated by: chocolalaProofread by: Kitje

Finally, tea was served to the duo.

Tea snacks were also prepared; this showed Father’s willingness to welcome them as guests. Sneaking a glance at the snacks, I then moved my gaze to another direction while being sandwiched between the two people with impeccable faces. My absolute fave’s nemesis was quietly cooling his face with ice.  

It was painful to watch, so I felt a bit relieved now seeing the bruise being hidden behind the ice pack.

“Thank you, Lord Saliente, for your generosity.”

“This little man is our treasure. Please don’t let anything like this happen again.”

“Of course. I’m sure my son is not so stupid. Right, Adrian?”

Being stared at by the Knight Commander, Brother’s nemesis obediently nodded.

I wasn’t even worth a dime for him so when I saw how meek he was behaving, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking how creepy the situation was. It was as if I was looking at a dog with its ears and tail hanging down.

Alas, unfortunately for him, I was a cat person. No, there was nothing fortunate or not here.

“He’s been in a state of near worship with your son ever since he was beaten by him in a practical magic match in the second year.”

“Father, that’s—”

“Shut up. What’s wrong with telling the truth? It broke off a little bit of your high nose1, and you learned how to work hard as a result.”

“…”

I noticed that my absolute fave’s nemesis looked away a little shyly.

I see! So, he’s also one of Brother’s worshippers.

I blatantly stared at him, then he raised his head with a snap and stared straight at Brother.

“I just thought it would be a shame to neglect your exceptional talent for magic because of other things.”

It seemed that the words of his nemesis didn’t move Brother in any way. Brother kept his cool composure and gazed at the other.

But actually, he was looking at the tea snacks as he reached out a hand to them. He took a baked pastry and gently placed it in my hand. 

 

“Your eyes have been on it for a while now. You want to eat this, right?”

“Huh?”

He caught me!

Just how did Brother know that I had been sneakily eyeing this financier-like thing? So much respect for Brother for picking up what I had always wanted without fail. I bet the sweets he handed me were different from the rest and had a superior taste.

But I hadn’t gotten permission from Father, so I couldn’t eat it yet. With the pastry I received from Brother in my hand, I looked up at Father; Father flinched just for an instant, then wryly smiled and patted me on the head. 

“Eat it, Alba.”  

“Yes! Thank you, Father! Brother, Father has given us permission, you have to try this! This is the pastry that I thought looks the most delicious!” 

“If you think it is delicious, you can eat it.”

“I definitely want to share this deliciousness with you, Brother!”

Having been warned before by Brother not to do the ‘hand-feed’ act in front of others, I stared up at him with sheer expectation; I wanted him to eat the most delicious pastry as soon as possible.

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“He’s been like this since we welcomed him into our family. That’s why he is our treasure.”

“Wow, now I understand. So, the reason your son’s facial expression has softened so much than before is thanks to this treasure of yours. Moreover, you also seem to have a softer air about you than you used to be.”

The conversation of the adults slipped past my ears as I was completely focused on Brother. He finally let out a sigh of resignation and took another pastry of the same type I was holding and nibbled on it. 

“It’s delicious. I want Alba to enjoy lots of delicious things, so you should have some too.”

“Yes!”

The combination of Brother’s smile and the delicious pastry brought me a tremendous feeling of happiness. 

Brother is the best and the pastry is delicious!

That was when I remembered Brother’s nemesis. 

He looked at us as if he was watching something ridiculous. By the look of his painful cheek, the inside of his mouth must have been cut too—which meant it would only be harassment to him instead if I were to offer the pastry to him. However, I didn’t think it was right to leave out the boy while we were here enjoying our pastries, so I gently tugged Brother’s sleeve. 

“What’s the matter, Alba?”

 

“Is it alright for only us to eat this? Aren’t these originally intended to be served to the visitors?” I softly whispered, then he softened his eyes and gently stroked my head, as he always used to do. 

I wondered where the cool Brother from just now had gone? I looked at his face in admiration as I had always loved this look of his, and just then Brother threw a gaze at his nemesis. 

“Adrian, you got cut inside your mouth?”

“Ah, yep. Honestly, I don’t feel like eating anything right now. So, don’t bother with me, just enjoy your snack.”

Brother turned to me, gesturing that the other had said it like that and shoving more pastries at me as though telling me to eat more. 

No, I’m not a glutton.

Not that too, I was already nearly full after I ate the second one he passed to me. I always had a small stomach and it showed no signs of growing at all. I would rather eat a lot more delicious food.

However, I couldn’t give back what my brother had given me, and more importantly, I had to eat what I had taken, so I had to try my best. I badly wanted to have a body that could eat a lot of yummy food.

While I worked hard to eat the pastry, Father and the Knight Commander were talking peacefully, which was a complete change from the previous atmosphere. 

On their side, Brother’s nemesis meekly stayed quiet as he stared at Brother. The Knight Commander had just mentioned that he worshipped Brother, but suddenly it occurred to me that maybe he adored Brother in a much different way.  

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I wondered if Brother was aware of that passionate gaze. I hoped he wouldn’t notice.

I sensed a little agitation in my heart: would Brother ever like anyone? He was a capture target in the otome game, after all, it was completely possible that he could fall in love with the game’s MC once she came approaching. But… 

I’d hate that.

This egotistical thought suddenly struck me, and it made me loathe myself for a bit. I realised there and then that I must do something about this possessiveness before Brother would start attending senior high.