My Idle System

Hearing the talk about scratches, this time even Christian was surprised. Aside from his hands, he hadn't thought there were any marks on his face.

Of course, it was exactly as he had thought, with just one small scratch on his cheek, something that happened by mistake, and he hadn't even noticed it. But Annabelle had pointed it out with exaggeration tone on purpose, wanting to see his reaction.

In the end, she couldn't determine anything from the vague response she got, though.

Not caring about the broken cup or the coffee spilled on the floor, Annabelle raised both of her hands, rubbed her face slightly in frustration, and, finally feeling resigned and helpless, she said,

"Chris, you know what?"

Seeing the constant changes in his sister's tone, Christian strangely felt a little guilty.

Still, he gave her all his attention, and noticing that Annabelle continued.

"Do I look like some kind of kid in your eyes?"

With a tone he couldn't even put a finger at, as it seemed to have changed again, Annabelle asked, and Christian, hearing the content of the question, didn't have time to dwell on the tone anymore. He was startled at first, then panicked, and denied immediately.

"Of course not!"

"Then do I seem that gullible?"

Hearing the next question, he was even more shaken, but he denied it nonetheless.

"It's not either."

Seemingly even more irritated with him simply denying, Annabelle couldn't help but raise her voice a little. With a grieved tone, she asked, no, questioned him.

"Then what kind of nonsense are you saying?"

"Does what you said seem believable to you?"

"Just saying 'I'll tell you later,' or even not saying anything at all would have been much better."

'Why the fuck does what she said strangely resemble what Eva said in yesterday's conversation?' Hearing his sister, Christian couldn't help but question internally, as he felt a sharp sting. But seeing his sister react in a way that was different from any time before, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

His silence seemed to calm Annabelle a little, allowing her to continue speaking.

"Till when should I cover my eyes and pretend that I'm not seeing anything?"

"Just tell me, please, till when?"

Christian, still silent, stared at his sister, noticing how her eyes seemed to be barely holding back tears, as she looked on the verge of crying but didn't in the end. He couldn't help but clench his fists in his pockets, feeling frustrated.

He had an inkling that his sister might have already noticed something from his behavior, but since she always stayed silent, he had assumed it would remain that way.

He had taken everything at face value, mistaking her silence for a form of trust.

But now, in this situation, he realized that wasn't entirely the case.

While she had stayed silent because of her feelings as an older sister and her trust in him, she had also been suppressing her desire to ask, or so it seemed.

Christian felt even more guilty, now realizing that what he had believed was done for her sake had actually been more for his own.

If he had truly considered her feelings as the most important thing, he should have reached this point, known a lot earlier.

But, in the end, what could he tell her?

While Christian, already exhausted both mentally and physically from the assassin incident, found his sister's words adding even more weight to the countless thoughts already swirling in his mind.

Annabelle, feeling a little disappointed that her brother still refused to say anything, decided that she should at least voice what she had been keeping inside all this time.

"Chris, I'm staying silent, hoping you would tell me what's going on with you."

"Not so you could hide things even more from me."

But finally voicing what she had kept buried in her heart, she felt even more grieved.

If he were hiding trivial things, she wouldn't have minded. But seeing his disheveled state and recalling the strained expression on his face at the start, she knew something was deeply wrong.

Something big was happening, and she had no knowledge of it at all.

So, she poured out her heart even more.

"Like really, tell me, what should I do?"

"What should I do so you can open up more to me?"

"You know? What I want is not for you to try and take some burden off me."

"It's not for you to try and provide for the house, or help me leave my work, either."

While wiping her eyes, fearing she might start crying at any second, she continued, this time even shouting:

"What I wanted was never that!"

And maybe because of that, after raising her voice so much, she felt her legs grow weak. So, while leaning one of her hands on the wall beside her, she continued, this time in a whisper-like voice.

"I don't need grand gestures or elaborate promises; it's the little things that matter most to me, those simple acts that say, 'You matter, and I care.' It's in those small, tender moments where I find comfort and understanding, Chris."

"I want us to be open with each other, to share our fears and joys. But recently? While I feel that we're growing closer, I also sense a kind of chasm opening up between us."

"Contracting feeling, right?"

"But that's our state."

'Like, really, what is happening?' Annabelle couldn't help but feel like they were living in two different worlds, and she was constantly being pulled away as she spoke her true feelings. So, she was determined to express them in words even more.

"I want to be involved in the important decisions in your life, to be someone you can lean on, not just someone who receives and lives off of you."

"So, will you tell me something other than what you just said earlier?"

Despite Annabelle's voice now being low, Christian heard everything clearly, and to him, her words felt like thunder, shaking him. He stood still for a moment, then tried to explain.

"I- it's not like-"

But Annabelle, seemingly seeing through him and not wanting to hear any excuses, interrupted him sharply.

"Stop. If you're going to make excuses, say some lie, or say something that's actually true but completely unrelated, then don't."

"I can wait longer."

"It's just... that I love you, and it hurts to feel so far apart. I don't want us to reach a point where there's no turning back either, so please don't keep delaying things indefinitely."

"Let's face everything together." Read new chapters at mvl

As soon as she finished the last sentence in her firm tone, Annabelle stared silently at Christian for a moment, her gaze filled with a mixture of longing and resignation, before turning away and leaving him.

She brushed past him, and headed to her room.

She felt bad, wondering if she was cornering him, especially since he already seemed to be having a hard time. But with the rapid changes that kept happening to him, she couldn't ignore the fear gnawing at her, if it was just scratches this time, how would he come to her the next time? That thought terrified her.

The thought that it might somehow be related to the old item gathering Eva had mentioned previously also crossed her mind, it was, after all, the main reason she had snapped at first. Yet, somewhere along the way, she had actually forgotten about it.

Now, his refusal to say anything to her, despite clearly facing a difficult situation, felt far more important. Her heart ached as she thought about her brother, the same brother who just enjoyed lazing around, now going through so much.

Most importantly, she was deeply concerned about his current state, about where he had been and, more than anything, about the scratch that had marred his precious face. That was the reason she was leaving now; she knew she couldn't maintain her current demeanor if she stayed any longer, and she didn't want her attitude to soften at this critical moment. So, pressing her teeth together in frustration, she hurriedly walked away.

At the first step of the stairs, Christian, who had been standing still, unable to find anything to say in response to his sister, now felt an overwhelming sense of frustration, with her going away.

It was as if all the bad things had decided to converge at once, as could this day possibly get any worse?

But more than just feeling bad, what surged within him was anger, an immense fury at the circumstances that had compelled his sister to say what she did and forced him to hear those words from her.