I didn’t know what to say. That hurt to hear. Was this always how she’d felt about me? Was I the only one that thought I was her big brother? Had she thought I was just her master? It was true that when we reunited in Sharia, she’d said she would serve me. After all this time, I’d imagined she didn’t feel that way anymore.
“Just to be clear, I do think of you all as my family,” Aisha said. “It is just, well…it is hard to explain, but you are also my master. You are my big brother and Master Arus is my nephew, but you are both people whom I serve.”
She spoke as if she knew exactly what I was thinking, and I was yet again rendered speechless. How was I supposed to respond? I knew I had to say something, but the words were nowhere to be found. It would be bad to just let her keep talking, but at the same time, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why what they’d done was bad.
Why shouldn’t they have done it? Why was I personally so shocked? Why did I hate it so much? Why did I make this such a big deal and hold a family meeting over it? Who did I want to blame for this? Who did I want to reprimand? What did I want to do? I didn’t know the answer to any of these questions.
I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which anything I said right now wouldn’t receive an articulate response from her. I didn’t need to use my Demon Eye of Foresight to know that. Was there anyone here who could speak for me? I glanced in Roxy’s direction, hoping for some help, but she looked so depressed that I felt guilty.
“If only… If only I’d watched over them properly…” I heard her whisper.
Ah, when Roxy got like this, she wasn’t going to be any help. She was never good when it came to issues concerning the heart. It was what it was.
What about Eris? No, she was in worse condition. She was glaring at Arus with an incredulous look on her face. If I sought her help, she’d spill blood. I didn’t want that.
Was Sylphie the right choice, then?
Just as the conversation reached its end, Aisha stopped speaking in her polite tone. “Well, I guess it is what it is, huh? I did this for Arus and the Greyrat family, but you might be right that I did it a little too casually. I probably should’ve thought it through more. Like you said, Brother, I was careless. I’m sorry.”
The atmosphere in the room shifted to one of relief. As for who shifted that atmosphere, it went without saying: Aisha was wrapping things up. She was in control of the flow of the conversation and trying to put an end to this meeting. That was it. We’re done here. I messed up a little, but I regret what I did. And then at the end, she’d say, I won’t do it again.
But I knew she wouldn’t mean it. They had been doing this in secret, after all. If she’d really slept with Arus for his and the Greyrat family’s sake, she would’ve been more open about it. Maybe not “open,” but she would have told someone. She would have gotten permission to give him sexual education.
In other words, she’d known from the start that what she was doing was wrong. Even if she promised not to do this again, she most likely would. Next time, she’d be careful not to get caught by anyone. Knowing Aisha, she could pull it off.
“I promise not to sleep with Arus any—”
“Actually, could I ask you to sleep with Sieg too?”
It was Sylphie who cut Aisha off. She’d been quiet since this meeting started, keeping her sharp gaze locked on my little sister the whole time. It was a look she rarely gave anyone in our family. Now, she was speaking up.
“What?” Aisha asked.
“If you’re willing to practice with Arus, I thought I’d ask you to take care of Sieg as well.”
What was she saying? There was no way in the world that that was okay! I instinctively looked at Sylphie, who gave me a signal with her eyes. Like she was telling me to leave this to her.
That’s what I wanted to believe.
“Um, Sieg is…still a little young, I think,” Aisha said.
“Not at all,” Sylphie said. “Sieg’s going to grow up quickly, so the sooner he gets some practice in, the better. Heck, could you start tonight? Or do you not want to?”
“It’s not…that I don’t want to…”
“Oh, and could you practice with Clive too? He’s not our son, but he’s basically family.”
Cold sweat beaded on Aisha’s forehead at Sylphie’s insane requests. Her eyes darted all over the place until they landed on Arus for a single moment.
He was still holding his head low in silence, but once he noticed Aisha looking at him, he raised up a little. Their eyes met. His concerned expression seemed to be asking, Are you gonna be okay? What should I do?
That was enough for Aisha to steel her resolve. She faced Sylphie and smiled brightly.
“All right, sure. I’ll show Sieg and Clive the ropes.”
The moment Aisha said this, there was a clattering sound as someone kicked their chair back and stood to their feet.
“How dare you!”
It was Eris. Throughout the entire meeting, she’d sat with her arms folded, lips tightly sealed, and her eyes closed. But her eyes were wide open now, and she approached Aisha with her hands squeezed into tight fists. She raised one of those fists into the air.
Aisha instinctively covered her face with her hands.
“Argh!”
But she wasn’t the one who got a fist to her face. Arus, who’d been sitting next to her with his head down, went flying into the wall along with the chair he’d been on. He stared at his mother in shock, blood flowing from his nose.
“How dare you make Aisha go this far!”
“But she told me to leave it to her…”
“Don’t you ‘but’ me!” Eris once again slammed her fist into Arus. He smashed against the floor and groaned in pain.
“I didn’t raise you to be like this!” She was furious as she approached her fallen son. “I taught you to protect! When did I teach you to abandon someone like this?! You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“Please stop, Eris!”
Aisha moved between the pair and wrapped her arms around Arus, protecting him.
“Out of the way, Aisha! I’m going to beat his rotten attitude out of him!”
It seemed like Eris was about to beat both Aisha and Arus to death at this point. I panicked and ran to hold Eris back from behind.
“Eris, stop! Calm down!”
“How can I calm down?! It’s totally clear now!” she roared.
“What is?!” I couldn’t follow her. I was a little bitter that Eris seemed to get something that I didn’t, but I just couldn’t understand. It was Sylphie who provided me with the answer.
“In other words, everything we just saw was a performance on Aisha’s part.”
Sylphie stood up and walked toward us. She raised her hand toward Eris, soothing her. Sylphie then knelt in front of Aisha and Arus and spoke to them in a gentle voice.