SN Chapter 2

"So you're saying my sister doesn't remember me?"

"I regret to say that the Young Lady currently doesn't know who she herself is. However, when she saw the family crest hanging in her room, she spoke the words 'Redvielle.' While she has temporarily lost her memory, the likelihood of recovery appears high."

"...Appears high, you mean."

"The Young Lady is currently in a severely weakened state. Truthfully, Young Master, at times like these, nothing can be guaranteed with certainty. However, the Young Lady's treatment must be our highest priority, and based on this, we can only speculate that her current symptoms will improve. Body and mind are intimately connected, as they say..."

Sound reasoning. Perfectly correct, yet Kallix bit his lip hard in frustration. The servants watching his rigid expression displayed anxious tension. He raked his fingers through his hair, leaving it disheveled. The image of his sister's behavior in the room wouldn't leave his mind.

Her hair, always tied back neatly, had hung loose and wild. Her eyes, usually alert and focused, had appeared clouded and dazed. Rough sounds had scraped from a voice unused for too long. She'd been a knight—she'd always carried injuries both minor and major—but he had never imagined this.

Subordinates were always affected by their master's every action, every mood. With their father absent on border defense duty, the responsibility for managing House Redvielle fell to Kallix. He exhaled and deliberately relaxed his expression. This should be a joyous day. His sister, whom they'd thought dead, had returned—he shouldn't be wearing such a face.

"Take down the remaining mourning cloths from the walls. Rosaline of Redvielle is safe. Has Father been notified?"

"Yes, Young Master."

"We must express gratitude to Count Iron-Bramble for his assistance with her treatment. Prepare a gift. I'll write the letter myself."

"Yes, Young Master."

"Assign a dedicated maid to my sister's room and limit who has access. Ensure no strange rumors circulate through Redvielle territory."

"We'll do as you command, Young Master."

The servants moved busily at Kallix's orders. By the time the great castle—which had been covered in dozens of white cloths—revealed its dignified form once more, Kallix had managed to calm his own heart as well.

Please return. Just return alive. How many hundreds of times had he prayed those words? Compared to other knight orders, the Second Prince's White Night Order, to which Rosaline belonged, had suffered particularly heavy casualties.

The Second Prince was a prominent figure, counted alongside the First Prince as a candidate for Crown Prince. His fame from distinguished military service brought him as many enemies as admirers. Perhaps because of this, reports suggested the assassins had pursued the Second Prince with particular persistence during the hunting competition incident. The White Night Order's casualties—double those of other orders—hadn't been mere coincidence. Given these circumstances, speculation that a member like Rosaline, whose skills were not particularly strong, had died, had become accepted as fact.

Yet she had defied everyone's expectations, surviving that fierce battle with all limbs functional. According to the physician, the likelihood of her memory returning was also high. It had been extraordinarily fortunate.

"Has my sister eaten anything?"

"She had patient's meals at lunch. I expected she wouldn't be able to eat much after such prolonged fasting, but she consumed three bowls without any adverse effects. I believe she'll be able to have dinner as well."

"Bring my meal to my sister's room. I'll eat with her."

"Yes, Young Master. I'll prepare it immediately."

Through the window, the sun was setting. Red twilight stained the castle walls, and servants were gathering the last remaining white cloths. The fabric fluttered. Kallix stared absently, recalling his sister's image. She had repeated the act of slowly closing and opening her eyes with awkward deliberation, as if relearning the motion. A shallow sense of wrongness had surrounded her.

Something lodged uncomfortably in his chest, refusing to settle. Kallix carefully folded that feeling and tucked it into a corner of his mind. A servant came to inform him that the meal was ready.

Come to think of it, he hadn't said the most important thing first. Welcome back. I'm glad you're safe.

He should tell her before dinner.

As it turned out, Kallix never spoke those words.

Because of the current scene: his sister gripping a steak with her bare hands and tearing into it with unsettling vigor.

Both cheeks bulged like a chipmunk's. Steak juices and reddish-brown sauce dripped from her hands and mouth. The blood seeping from the meat created a subtly horrifying visual effect.

Kallix stood frozen just inside the doorway, unable to enter properly. Accepting the scene before him as reality required considerable time.

Even the experienced maid who had served House Redvielle for over twenty years couldn't hide her expression. The Young Lady had returned alive, having apparently fed propriety to the dogs. Won't the Young Lady burn her hands, grabbing the hot steak like that? Such concerns vanished entirely at the sight of her determinedly chewing through the meat.

The problem was Young Master Kallix, who had entered the room precisely in time to witness this display—his jaw had dropped open and showed no signs of closing. The maid stood uncertainly, unable to decide whether she should assist the Young Lady with her rough dining or attend to the Young Master's dissipating consciousness. Only the sounds of enthusiastic chewing filled the room. Kallix finally gathered his wits and sat beside her.

"..."

"...Mm... Should you be eating meat already? Isn't it too much strain?"

He deliberately ignored the scene before him. The maid likewise answered as if the meat clutched in the Young Lady's hands simply didn't exist, only the threads on her shoulder requiring attention:

"Even while unconscious, they did manage to give her small amounts of soup and patient meals. The soup this morning had finely minced meat mixed in, and since she showed no adverse reaction, it should be fine."

"I see..."

Kallix pulled the soup portion intended for his sister toward himself. The whereabouts of the steak that should have been his serving required no inquiry.

"If you'll wait just a moment, I'll bring your meal."

"Fine."

Kallix put a spoonful of the bland, unseasoned soup into his mouth. It tasted of nothing, but he lacked the leisure to appreciate flavors under current circumstances.

Rosaline stuffed the remaining third of the steak into her mouth. Kallix stared distantly at his sister's puffed cheeks.

"...Eat slowly. What if you choke?"

Rosaline nodded once and chewed thoroughly. Though only two years apart in age, she had always been remarkably mature for her years. He'd never seen such childlike behavior from her. The experience felt oddly like dining with his sister from early childhood. Kallix's slight smile twisted back into discomfort as Rosaline stuck out her tongue, preparing to lick the sauce from her hands.

Thunk.

Fortunately, Kallix grabbed her wrist quickly enough to prevent the act. His heart lurched.

"I'm not quite mentally prepared for that yet, Sister."

The difference between before and after was staggering. His sister—whose every action had embodied grace and chivalry—licking sauce from her fingers carried far too much destructive power. Rosaline frowned at Kallix's restraint. It was the first emotion her expressionless face had displayed. Irritation.

Kallix laughed weakly. Rosaline irritated? Truly rare. By nature, she was gentle and kind, lenient with others and strict with herself. No matter what unreasonable treatment she received, she used it as an opportunity for self-reflection and training. She'd been frustratingly principled.

But now the traditionally sharp, slitted eyes inherited through generations of House Redvielle had grown even more piercing. Kallix saw her dissatisfied expression and spoke hastily in a soothing voice.

"Here's the avocado salad you've always enjoyed. This..."

Kallix, about to say eat this, quickly changed his words. Rosaline's expression had grown increasingly hostile at the sight of the salad. What is this pile of weeds? her eyes said clearly.

"Don't eat this... They'll bring you another steak in a moment, so have just a little more of that. Just a little."

Only then did Rosaline's expression relax, and she nodded. Kallix used the water in the finger bowl to roughly clean her hands. She made a disappointed sound—tsk—but docilely entrusted her hands to him.

Thinking about it, they had been remarkably matter-of-fact siblings. They'd never shared the common embraces, never exchanged kisses on the cheek. Though he'd grabbed her hand to prevent the licking, even this brief contact felt extraordinarily awkward. Twenty-one years old and I'm just now holding my sister's hand for the first time. He smiled bitterly. Soon she'd grabbed the lemon from the finger bowl and eaten it before he could stop her, gagging and completely shattering his moment of sentiment, but regardless, he felt briefly and strangely unsettled by the unfamiliarity.

"Sister."

Rosaline's eyes rolled toward Kallix. Those sharp eyes that earned comments like when you're not smiling, you look angry or you seem upset. Despite the identical features, perhaps because of today's various incidents, they appeared oddly blank.

"Do you know who I am, Sister?"

He remembered asking his senile great-grandfather the same question and made a small choking sound at the memory. Rosaline shook her head firmly.

"I'm Kallix, your younger brother by two years. You've been too busy with knight order duties for us to meet frequently recently. Though you did send letters to check on me. Even when extremely busy, you made sure to write at least once a month. Ah, you're affiliated with an Imperial knight order. Specifically, you're a lower-ranking knight in the Second Prince's direct escort order—the White Night Order."

Rosaline appeared to be listening attentively to Kallix's words. She didn't respond with "yes" or nod, but somehow gave that impression regardless.