“Berth!”

There she stood with eyes wide open

In front of her, a 12-year-old boy with blonde hair and a gentle smile on his face

“Happy birthday sister!”

“H-How?”

Isabella looked at me as if expecting some kind of explanation as to what is going on

I only smiled back

“I received a letter from the prince informing me about today being your birthday and asked if I can be there” He paused to look at me as if just realizing existence and immediately bowed “My lord I apologize for my rude behavior”

“No, no call me by my name. We are future brothers after all”

I got near him and put my hand around him and gazed at his confused face

That’s right. To overcome the great bolder called Isabella by overcoming her brother first

“Isabella, What do you think? Did you like the surprise?”

“I...I”

Something unexpected happened

Tears came gushing down her eyes as she rushed to take her brother in her arms

I just escaped her grasp by an inch and soon regretted it

“How have you been?”

“Well”

She got hold of his face and checked it

“Really you don’t look like you have been eating lately,” She said sniffing and wiping her tears

Why don’t you do that to me?!

I said biting my hanker chief with jealousy

Then she finally let him go

And returned to her normal self

“I can’t thank you enough, master”

“Don’t mention it. It was worth seeing that smile on your face. Now, come on Berth I have a whole palace to show you”

“Y-Yes my lord”

“I told you to call me by my name”

“Yes”

While showing him around the palace

I learned one thing about Isabella

She has a brother complex ( -_- ;)

The whole time she stayed by his side occasionally scolding him over things like ‘Add honorifics to master’s name’ ‘Walk properly, don’t drag your foot’

Every time she said something like that I thought ‘She is his big sister, alright’

She does make sure to try her best ad not act like that in front of me

But her sisterly love is more powerful

It almost makes me feel jealous

Berth on the other hand is a completely normal boy

He has common sense and doesn’t alter it with his duties like Isabella

He is polite in every aspect but clearly not like Isabella

And I think he has a hint of my feelings towards Isabella

I don’t mean it in a bad way, though

These two siblings were separated because of me

So I naturally feel some responsibility towards them

That is why I wrote a letter to Berth

Lying to him about Isabella’s birthday and sending a carriage to pick him up

I still haven’t explained to them about it but...

They both seem so happy that they don’t even care about that now

I guess it was a success then

“ Berth?”

Huh?

!!!

Erika?!

“Mom!”

“What are you doing here?”

As expected, cold as ever

“I called him to reunite with Isabella. I am sorry...”

Wait, Why am I apologizing for?

I reunited her with her son

She should at least be thankful to me

“I understand. Will you be staying overnight?”

“Yes”

“Then I will appoint you a guest room. Isabella help me with the rooms”

“Yes”

They both left off

“Pretty cold, right?” I said to him trying to say it as casually as possible and not to offend him

“Yes...Although my sister wasn’t like that when she was born”

“What was she like?”

“Cheerful, to say the least. My mother is the cause of her current behavior.”

“I see”

“Although I wonder sometimes. If grandma was the reason for mother’s current behavior”

He seemed to have said it half-consciously

He had a serious look at his face which continued to stare at the corridor Erika just went to which continued to think something unknown

“I remember the day when my sister protected me. It was a long and tyiery summer day. I shattered some crockery to dust and mother was beating me for it. My sister came forward for me and said to spare me. My mother asked if she really vowed to do all the work instead of me”

I continued to stupidly look at his face as he continued to talk about things that I don’t know a thing about

“She said yes...”

He almost said it in a way that stank of regret

“From that day, life must have been hell for her. And she only agreed to do that because of me. And I took it for granted...I enjoyed my life and took it for granted”

His shoulders dropped and looked at the ground beneath

“I...”

“Who said you can make that kind of face in front of your majesty?!!”

“Wah”

He, startled, improved his posture immediately and look at me with a surprised face

“That’s what your sister would say...or something”

He kept looking at me

Then his face broke into a smile and then the smile turned into a chuckle

I joined him

When we calmed down I lightly rested my arm at his shoulder

“I am in love with her”

His eyes opened wide but then he sighed an air of relief

“I thought that.”

I knew it!

“But you know that it won’t be easy, don’t you?”

“Yes...But my father was also in the same position as me so I guess it helps”

“King Luke was in love with Lady Catherine, the daughter of a noble class family. The marriage wasn’t supported by the king as it didn’t yield much profit but the queen managed to persuade him but...”

“But?”

“Don’t you think that servant class is way below the noble class”

“I know... but I can’t control who I am in love with”

A moment of silence followed that line

“What did you see in her?”

I thought about it

What did I see in her?

“Honestly... I don’t know” I answered the truth “In the last 6 month we have been together I don’t know what made me love he. Maybe it was how innocent and pure she is or maybe it was her devotion”

“But all I know is that I love her”

He stared at me for a moment

Did I say something weird?

“I am glad”

That’s all he said...