When I arrived at my mansion, several worried people were pacing around the living room.
Starting from Mia, Claire, Aunt Dayana, and Aunt Sera, the women living in the mansion had concerned and complicated looks on their faces.
Most of them were anxious to know what was the result of the capital's upheaval.
When they saw that I arrived, they rushed towards me immediately.
"Claus, what is the situation?"
"What happened? Is everything alright?"
"How about Carlson? What happened to him?"
I replied Aunt Dayana, Aunt Sera, and Mia's questions calmly, telling them that everything was alright, and explaining the situation briefly.
I was a bit surprised that Mia was still concerned about her husband, Earl Riea. After all, they had a big fight just before the start of the commotion. However, it seemed that she was still worried for him regardless of everything that happened.
... It looks like she still loves him a bit.
After I finished replying to most of the questions, I looked at my little sister who had been silent until now.
"Lena."
"Big brother, is father okay!? How about mother!? Are they alright!?"
Hearing the concern in her voice, I could not help but sigh slightly and put on a complicated expression.
And when Lena saw it, her face immediately paled.
"B-Brother? W-What happened to father and mother?"
Instead of replying to her, I looked at Aunt Dayana and the others.
"Can you leave us alone, please? I need to tell something to Lena."
Aunt Dayana and the others nodded with complicated expressions.
Although they did not know what I wanted to tell Lena, they could feel that it was not something good.
In fact, some of them could imagine what I was about to say.
Before leaving, Aunt Dayana patted Lena's shoulder and sighed softly.
"Little Lena, you have to be strong."
Once everybody was gone, I smiled at Lena and grabbed her hand.
"Come on, let's go to my room."
Lena nodded and held my hand nervously.
She was silent the entire way, but I could feel her nervousness through her touch. Despite doing her best to suppress it, her body was trembling slightly, and her face was ashen white.
As soon as we entered my room, Lena was unable to suppress her curiosity and concern anymore.
"Brother, about father and mother…. What happened to them?"
I thought for a moment and let out a deep breath.
"They are alive."
Lena sighed in relief.
"However, father is completely crippled, and your mother has turned been into an idiot."
Lena stiffened.
But one second later, her face turned as white as paper.
"W-What do you mean? B-Brother, what happened!? Was it big brother Alan? Was it him who did it!? Tell me!"
This was the most important moment.
I could choose to lie here. I could blame Alan and accuse him of everything. I could make it so she believed that was the truth.
But in the end–
"It was me."
I told her the truth.
Lena's eyes opened wide.
She looked at me in shock, surprise, and astonishment. She took several steps back staggeringly as her body turned weak and she collapsed backward.
But before she could fall on the ground, I held her.
"… Sorry, Lena."
The little girl looked at me with shaking eyes. For an instant, she did not speak.
Then, she finally bit her lips strongly.
"…. It's a lie, right?"
"Lena…"
"Tell me that it's a lie!"
"I'm sorry…"
"Brother! Tell me it's a lie! Please! Please… Please brother… Please…"
I lowered my head and fell silent.
Seeing that, Lena started to cry.
Tears slid down her cheeks, and her beautiful blue eyes were filled with sadness, disappointment, and hints of hatred.
"… Why, brother? Why did you do that?"
Looking straight into Lena's eyes, I tell her the truth.
"For revenge."
Then, I told her the entire story.
About everything that happened in the past, starting from the death of my mother until the many times that Lilia, Alan, and Grand tried to kill me and kill Dina.
I could see Lena's face turning paler as the story continued. Eventually, her face was filled with tears of disbelief, sadness, and pain.
She then put her head on my chest and started to cry bitterly.
"… B-But brother… S-She was my mother… My only mother..."
"…"
"A-And he was my father too… I-I loved them…W-What am I going to do now?"
"…"
"Why did you do that, brother? You know how much it hurts me?"
"Sorry."
"I don't want your apologies! I only want my parents back to normal!"
I looked at Lena with a complicated expression and sighed.
"Sorry." That was everything that I could say.
Lena cried for a long while. She cried sadly and bitterly, trying to release the pain she was feeling.
At that moment, her feelings became messy. The love and dependence she felt towards me clashed with the rage and hatred she felt towards the man that harmed her parents.
Eventually, her sobs became shorter as she grabbed my shirt tightly.
"Why, brother…"
With these words, she fainted.
I held her body hurriedly and looked at her with a complicated expression.
After putting her on the bed, I smiled bitterly.
As expected, huh. This was the result...
Lena said nothing, but with my strength, I could feel her feelings clearly… I could feel the buddying hatred inside her. Hatred towards me.
And she had every reason to hate me.
After all, although Grand and Lilia were enemies for me and Dina, they were loving parents for Lena.
Unlike us, Lena grew while receiving love from both of them. Even if they scolded her occasionally, they showered her with lots of love as well.
Hence, to Lena, I was the man that destroyed her parents. The man that destroyed her happy family.
Perhaps it would have been better if I lied here.
However, I could not do that.
Because I want to make Lena immortal like me. Because I want to spend eternity with her.
And if I want to do that, I can't afford to lie. Because if the lie is discovered, then the consequences will be disastrous.
Of course, I can hide the truth as much as I can, however, I can't know what kind of ability Lena will learn in the future, or what she is going to experience.
If for some reason, she learns an ability that allows her to learn the truth, then our relationship will spiral downwards.
Perhaps everything that I struggled for so long to achieve will be destroyed.
In fact, it's not just with Lena. It's the same with the others as well. If I truly want to spend eternity with them, then lying is not a good choice. It looks like something trivial, but in reality, a lie can destroy many things.
Unfortunately, it seemed that saying the truth did not achieve a good effect either.
At this rate, Lena will end hating me. She will end hating Dina, Aunt Dayana, Aunt Sera, Andrea, and all the people in my mother's family.
Perhaps even Daisy, Louise, and the others will be hated.
Fortunately, I still have a solution.
Even though I did not want to resort to this, I can only do it now.
"Ysnay." I called out at her.
And immediately, a voice answered.
"As expected, you called me, Willian."
If I can only tell Lena the truth–
–Then I need to change this 'truth' completely.
...
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