Vol 5 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1 - On Eris-
His younger sister was born
His younger sister named Ferris
In the beginning, he didn’t know the significance of this
He understood what the word 'sister' meant
But what significance it would have towards him—he couldn't know just yet
“……”
In a dark room, a cradle swayed
In the cradle, there was an infant
Incredibly pretty, the child gave off a sweet radiance
Clear blue eyes just like his
Beautiful soft, golden hair, even though it hadn’t grown yet
S face
The baby looked this ith that s face What she saith her eyes, he didn't know
But she looked this ith clear eyes
She looked straight ahead
At that, he—
“……”
Relx Eris narrowed his eyes
A boy with the sa blue eyes This year, he would turn four—an age difference of four years froer sister
To that,
“… Four,”
Relx murmured
Thereupon, his younger sister—Ferris, as if she were responding to his words, made a sound
To that, he smiled faintly
“Ah—but you don’t understand”
“Aaa”
“……”
“Aaa, uu, aa?”
“What is it? What is it that you want?”
“Aa~ Aaaa~”
Said Ferris He didn’t knoas enjoyable, listening to that voice—just for a little while, this pleasant feeling He ently touch that soft, pure white face—
“……”
However, he stopped
His hand was dirtied with blood Because he could see bright red, dyed in the darkness That hy his hand stopped
“ dao—it’s still on me,”
He murmured
To that, Ferris again—
“Kyakyakya,”
She said happily
To that, Relx smiled faintly
“What’s so a?”
“Daa?”
“Hmm?”
“Aa~ Uu~ A~”
His sister was frantically saying so both hands, apparently trying to de
At that, Relx was in awe
From the time he was born until today, he hadn’t seen such e
He hadn’t seen this kind of innocence and happiness in another living being
“……”
At that, he lifted his face
In the rooht, and so it was dark
But here
The sword fa Eris household—day and night, it was always dark
Poas the name of the monster that had taken hold of this house, the sole darkness that continued to drive them insane
If one wasn’t strong, they weren’t allowed to live
If one didn't possess enough power so as to not shame the Eris house's name, they weren’t allowed to live
That hy, ever since he was old enough to be aware, he had fewwith his parents
But he was struck by a wooden sword, cut up by that sword every day
Only when he was strong was he praised
Only when he surpassed his parents' expectations and advanced foras he praised
And he had very fewwith his parents
No, fro froht
“……”
That hy, this s face—
Ferris’s s to see
Innocently, his younger sister smiled happily
His sister who, in spite of this house's darkness, didn’t see that darkness and smiled
He didn’t knoas so funny as he looked at his sister, as going “a-a-to” and swinging her hands around
“……”
For some reason, just a little, he smiled dimly
Upon that, he heard a voice from behind him
“… Again, you’re here You love Ferris?”
Relx turned around towards that voice
He looked up at the man who entered the room and stood tall Relx looked up at him
Unsurprisingly, it was soolden hair and blue eyes An incredibly well-featured face
His father
The present head of the Eris family
His father—
“In the future, that girl will likely become your wife It can’t be helped that she’s on your mind…”
He said that kind of thing
His sister was to become his wife
And that, despite the fact that Relx was only four years old, he understood such a strange thing
In the Eris house’s archive, he read about the dangerous deed about producing a child with one of the same blood as you
However, it kept the Eris fa forever
The sword family, as they were called, were renowned for their swordsmanshi+p skills, and so as not to dilute their blood, they married their relatives—and continued produce children with the same face, the same ability
His parents were also brother and sister
Apparently his parents' parents had been parent and child
And Relx too—his little sister Ferris would likely become his wife, as his parents said when she was born three o
His father approached Ferris and touched her cheek
As he did, again his sister went kyakyakya and smiled happily
However, his father looked down at his sister’s face with cold blue eyes
“… But she needs to restrict her eht not survive”
He said that kind of thing
“You were superior out of those ere born, and the other seven children we killed We’ll see if Ferris is worthy”
“Kill?”
“There is no reason to allow the weak to live”
“………”
“That’s why you should restrict your emotions No, we have no need for them Do you understand?”
His father said
To that, Relx looked at Ferris, as showing e, and expressionlessly—
“… I understand,”
He said, nodding
At that, his father looked at Ferris, a s to his face However, it didn’t look like he had any feelings in his expression He looked at Ferris with no e, but it was co there, Relx knew
And looking his ith that empty smile, his father spoke
“… Really, you’re superior Like enius”
“No, Father is far beyond my reach”
“You’re humble I too, and your sister as well—your ill also be called one From henceforth, they will call that of the children of er”
At that, Relx nodded slightly
“I’ll do my best to live up to those expectations”
“Do so”
“Yes”
At that, his father turned his back He began to leave the room
Relx watched that back And then, he wondered That person, that man—to kill him, hoould one do it?
However, to that, his father suddenly spoke
“That is impossible”
“……”
“You don’t yet have the power to kill me”
“……”
“However, to gauge your strength against your superior is i child,”
His father said, before leaving the room
“……”
To that, Relx said nothing, and instead looked at Ferris once ht become his wife in the future
Like usual, his sister was s
At that, Relx again smiled faintly And then, he looked at his hands stained with blood—
“… I should wash these hands So I can hold you It’s already late at night You can fall asleep as I hold you and sing a lullaby,”
He said, before turning around on his heel
He left the rooo wash his hands
He washed the blood off his hands ater and took off his blood-stained gi, before replacing it with fresh clothing And the blood—he confirmed that all of it had been washed off as he looked at himself in the mirror
At his figure reflected in the mirror
Golden hair, blue eyes
A faintly s face
Because he'd seen Ferris's bright smile, he smiled faintly
However—
“……”
His dim smile was the same empty one of his father’s
Nothing
There was no emotion
It was fake—that faint smile
And inside, there was darkness and madness
At that,
“……”
Certainly, he knew that he was like his father, he thought
An Eris family child
Saolden hair, same blue eyes, same beauty—however, they were heartless dolls
His parents said he was superior They said he was a genius That they had expectations With an emotionless face, we have hopes for you
To that, Relx’s expression bended into a sarcastic s was fake It was different from the inside of Ferris
Inside of Ferris, there was a light that he understand but knew immediately that he didn't have
“……”
But he had yet to understand the significance that had towards him
It hadn't been long since his sister was born
It confused him
A voice rang far away
A voice rang far away
The voice of a baby’s cry
The voice of his sister’s cry
A hus that shouldn't exist in this house
To that, Relx looked back
“… I’ now, Ferris,”
He murmured
♦
♦
♦
Three years passed
The aer sister turned into ful words
“Brother!”
The young girl said
Truly, a beautiful young girl Long golden hair, clear white skin
He knew that every ti that was different from him
“Brother! Brother!”
She would always call out whenever she noticed him
With a shi+ning laugh, she called him Brother
To that, Relx turned around, and as he thought, she was s happily
But that face was covered in injuries
Each day, by their father and mother, she was struck and kicked, and so there were bruises all over her body
So for sure, upon noticing Relx, her face was s happily as she followed him Because only he didn’t hit her, she loved him
Love—Relx didn’t understand theof such a word; however, he couldn’t say he disliked Ferris
“Brother!”
Ferris said
“What is it, Ferris?”
Relx replied
Upon that, Ferris spoke
“Um, about that”
“Yes”
“Uh, but it’s nothing”
“Yes”
“Because Brother is here”
“Yes”
“Brother, I said”
“I see”
He smiled
With an empty expression, he shed with an “ehehe” She laughed happily With wounds all over her face, she laughed
But regarding her s before him, Relx knew
Day after day, she went through harsh training and would always cry at the beginning, but as of late, she no longer cried But she endured the training with a sad expression He knew that gradually, she would start to lose her s face
But her loss of emotions would be different from his own
No, fro, he didn’t have any emotions
Perhaps it was the same for their parents
Because of the blood of the Eris house, they had great strength
Fro because of his parents' attacks
Of course, his parents had gone easy They based his training off of his age
But for Ferris, regarding her age and training, there was no such thing
Her movements were slow, her memory was bad, and every day, she was hit by her parents—because she was born a failure, they abused her
To that, Ferris cried each day Why is it like this, she cried
But now, she said nothing
She didn’t cry anymore
However, she was hit
She was abused
And she would only show that s face before Relx
No, if she were to smile before their parents,
“Why does that waste smile frivolously?”
Their parents said and hit her again, and so she stopped s in front of them
And little by little in front of Relx—little by little, her s
“………”
Nevertheless, Ferris’s s like it
And Relx was starting to think that perhaps this was so important
So in order to act kindly, he stroked her head
To that, Ferris smiled She smiled happily A little more than before, the shape of her hed
“………”
And suddenly, with that sound, tears spilled
To that, Relx asked,
“Why are you crying?”
Ferris shook her head
“Don’t know”
“Is training tough?”
“Don’t know”
“I see”
“Mm-hmm”
“… I see,”
He said and nodded
And he narrowed his eyes
Looking at the ser sister’s face as tears spilled, he narrowed his eyes
So
That, he knew
So
That, he knew
But the thing that was changing wasn’t Ferris
It was himself
Inside of hi
Ferris was the cause
Little by little, to Ferris—little by little, he looked at the darkness covering her, and he—
“… Today, do you want to sleep in my room?”
At Relx’s question, she nodded greatly
She smiled happily
“Yes!”
She cried
To that, Relx again kindly stroked her head, and carried her small body
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
Five years later
Relx elve years old
His younger sister was eight years old
“Brother, are you here?”
She said, entering the roo for a response
To that, Relx closed the book he was reading and lifted his head
And over there, a beautiful girl, on the path to adulthood, stood
With a white gi wrapped around her body, a girl
But on her face, there was no expression
Like a doll, her face reflected nothing
When did she beco like that? He wondered as he tried to re for him to recall
But he stared at the core of that face
He stared at the core of her face
In there, as he thought, there lurked a light
“………”
To that, he smiled dimly
Upon that, Ferris,
“What’s so funny?”
She asked, to which he shrugged his shoulders
“No, it’s nothing That aside, what is it? Do you need ?”
He said, to which she nodded
And in a quiet, emotionless voice,
“Our younger sister has been born,”
She said
To that, Relx’s eyes widened slightly in surprise But it was an act A constructed expression An expression that he made to look more human
With this false expression, he spoke
“Iris?”
“Is that her name?”
“That’s what Father said”
“Father did…”
Ferris muttered in her expressionless state She disliked their father She disliked their mother
It was only natural
Froh to understand as going on, each day she was abused and hit by them She never came to love them
But even as she spoke of their father, no expression came to her face
Staring at that—
“………”
Relx stared at his sister’s broken face; however, as expected, his expression revealed nothing
Standing up, he spoke
“Then, let’s go look at our little sister’s face”
“Mmm,”
She said, nodding
To that, Relx instinctively s specifically to tell him about it, he smiled
To what extent would their father and mother destroy her, to what extent would the world destroy his little sister, for they would undecidedly destroy her light—despite all that, he found hi
“………”
Nevertheless, it wouldn't continue for long
Because the reason she'd been born would soon be no more
As she was a failure, she wasn’t needed That hy as soon as a replacement appeared, they would kill her—he understood that from his parents' conversations
A substitute—in other words, to be like Relx with his superior genes, a new baby girl
That is, Iris
If, today, she’d been born as a male, then it was possible Ferris would’ve been kept alive
For the sake of giving birth to a child, it was possible she would’ve been kept alive
But a sister had been born
Her sole reason for being alive had been erased
In that case, Ferris was going to be killed
In spite of that strong, radiant light she held, she was going to be killed
“………”
That was necessary, he thought
Why he thought that, he didn’t know
But inside of him, to save her, to save, to save—he understood that he was calling out for that
From the depths of his heart, fro out for
They entered the room where their mother’s child had been born
As expected, the room was dark
There was the sound of the red child crying But he didn’t look in that child’s direction
His father said,
“She was born A girl”
His mother said,
“Your future wife, Relx”
Already, their parents’ eyes didn’t reflect Ferris In their eyes, she wasn’t needed A failure, a waste—they recognized this existence as unneeded
That hy they looked at him
And against the chest, his newly-born younger sister was held
In that case, this is your future wife
In the future, she’ll give birth to your child
This crying red child
Crying and calling out
As if in fright from the demons and monsters that lurked in this house, she cried
To that, Relx murmured,
“Ferris”
“Nnn?”
“Certainly, our younger sister was born”
“Yes”
“As her older sister, protect your little sister,”
He said
At that, Ferris looked his way With an expressionless face, lacking in feelings, she looked up at him
“… Will Brother do the same for me?”
She said
Lucile didn’t look at her
“Me, protect?”
He asked
To that, she nodded
“Yes”
“I see”
“Yes”
“Then, you do the same Protect Iris”
“I understand,”
She said And she walked straight ahead In the direction of her younger sister In the direction of her crying younger sister
And gently, she er sister
However,
“A failure like you shouldn’t touch her with your dirty hand,”
His father said, striking Ferris’s face
Even Relx couldn’t even follow the hand, as it was too quick
Ferris’s body was easily sent flying Crashi+ng against the wall, she collapsed She also lost consciousness
At that, Relx stared
Firmly, he stared
He—
“………”