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“LEO? Can I speak to you for a minute?” she called, just as he was about to return to his room after dinner.
“What is it? Is there something else you need help with?” Leo replied irritably. He rolled his eyes, but stopped nonetheless.
“W-Well, yes… Sort of. It’d probably be easier to explain if you came to my room.”
“Ugh…” he groaned. “Don’t wanna. I’m full and sleepy.”
“Don’t be like that,” she scolded. “Please?”
“…Fine.”
It was the first time she had ever told a lie. She hadn’t known her chest would ache so much or weigh so heavy with guilt. Ever since she had found the diary, the pressure of keeping it a secret made it feel like her insides were being crushed. That was new to her, too. She hated to think that Charles was constantly enduring a similar pain. It wasn’t easy to hide things. Maybe Charles couldn’t tell Lille because he thought she wouldn’t be able to cope with what he revealed. She wasn’t someone he could rely on with such heavy matters.
“I wish I could stop people from feeling like they have to lie…” she murmured. She didn’t want anyone to suffer those emotions—not Charles, not Leo, not herself.
“Huh? Did you say something?”
“O-Oh, no, I… I was just talking to myself,” she stuttered. She ignored how Leo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and she opened the door to her room. “Come in,” she said, welcoming him with a forced smile.
Begrudgingly, he trudged inside.
“Um… Am I taking proper care of the room?” she asked, noticing the way Leo was carefully inspecting it—almost as if he were searching for signs of his sister.
“I haven’t come in here for about a year, so I can’t be certain, but…I think it’s fine? Probably,” he said unsteadily, despite doing his utmost to keep his voice even. Lille knew how he felt, and she pressed her lips tightly together. If she wasn’t careful, she would cry before she had even told him anything.
“What’s wrong? You’re making a weird face,” Leo said bluntly.
“Huh? I am?”
“Yeah. Like you were trying not to yawn or something.”
“Oh…” Her shoulders suddenly felt a lot lighter. For once, she was grateful for Leo’s hilarious lack of tact.
“…Leo, I’d like you to look at this,” she said, holding the diary out to him.
After glancing briefly at the cover, he tilted his head in confusion. “What is it? Your notebook?” he guessed.
Lille shook her head and pushed it into his hands. “I wasn’t sure if I should discuss it with your parents first, but I think your older sister wrote it for you, so…”
As soon as he heard the words “older sister,” Leo’s eyebrows shot up. His wide eyes swam with a mixture of both shock and sadness, wavering like the surface of a full, heavy bucket of water.
“D-Does that mean…this book was…my sister’s?” he asked shakily. His gaze alternated between Lille and the diary in his hands.
Lille nodded. “The desk drawer has a fake bottom. I found it in there,” she explained.
“I… I…” His voice cracked. He stared at Lille pleadingly, and she placed a hand over his on top of the diary.
“Leo…”
“No… I can’t read this…!” he yelled in panic.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m scared! What if she hates me?!” he choked out.
Why would she hate him?
It was clear from the very first line of her diary that she had only ever been worried about him.
“Of course she doesn’t,” Lille assured him in a hushed tone.
“How can you say that?! You don’t know anything! You have no idea what I did to her! B-Because of me, she…” Leo sobbed, his entire body trembling. “She wasn’t human anymore!”
Suddenly, a bright, amber light began to radiate from Leo’s skin. By the time Lille realized that it was his mana racing out of control, she had opened her eyes to see nothing but floor. She assumed over-absorbing his mana must have made her collapse again, just like that time in the forest with Charles.
She had a vague feeling she could hear Leo’s voice in the distance. Then she felt something warm touch her right hand. With what little strength she could muster, she grabbed on to it. With her left hand, she felt something hard and rectangular.
I want to know.
I want to know the pain Leo feels. I want to know how his sister truly felt.
Just as she lost consciousness, the magic stone on the end of her pendant seemed to grow warm against her chest.