There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 752: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 35

Out of nowhere, their sisters talked about a past life.

"Past life?" Asa tilted his head. "Are you dreaming or something?"

"That’s right!" Lucy clapped once and nodded. "Listen..."

She proceeded to tell her brothers about her continuous dreams and her discussion with their father, including the conclusion reached just a few days ago. The twins listened to the girl keenly, but also confusedly.

How should they proceed with this information? Their sister was so earnest, however weird her story sounded. They glanced at each other during the lively storytelling, wondering if they should believe it. When the story ended, however, they couldn’t help but believe it.

After all, their fathers did. Their Dad even talked to their sister separately, once again telling her that nothing would change even if she regained the memory of her previous life.

"Of course, nothing will change!" Asa hugged his sister tightly. "You will always be our Princess!"

Lucy giggled happily when her brothers hugged and patted her, assuring her that she wouldn’t have to worry. She had been anxious that what happened to the boy in the book--getting exiled and chased out of his family for ’stealing’ the place of the original boy--wouldn’t happen to her.

Of course, the boy’s situation was different from hers, but she was happy and relieved nonetheless. After all, she was being loved this much. This was why she never whined about not being able to go out much. She was the happiest with her family, anyway.

That night, she decided to sleep with her brothers, and they let her! Oh, what a nice prelude to a birthday! Just like in the past, Asa read a storybook for her--this time from the pile she just purchased in the city--and Kar patted her until she fell asleep.

While Asa also fell asleep immediately after, Kar couldn’t. He covered his younger siblings with a thin blanket and made sure the air conditioner wasn’t blasting too much before leaving the bedroom and heading to the patio.

He leaned on the patio, staring at the summer night sea. The lights from both fishing vessels and guard ships far in the dark border twinkled against the dark void as if mirroring the sky. It was beautiful, and slowly lightening his heart a little bit.

Did he lie that he would still love his sister? Of course, not. But that nothing would change? Kar wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t like his brother, who could always see the positive in things. What if remembering her past life changed her sister so much that she felt like a different person? Could he truly not see her differently?

He let out a long sigh. What if that ’past life’ was also another person in another world and would take over his sister’s body one day? Could he protect her? Would he be able to confront the new consciousness and pull the old Lucy back?

As Kar drowned in the heaviness of the responsibility he felt as the oldest child, the patio door slid open. He flinched slightly and looked back, seeing Bassena come out with a warm coffee in hand.

"Oh, Dad..."

Bassena took a seat on the swing and greeted his son. "Looking for fresh air?"

"Yeah," Kar turned toward the sea again, although he could no longer think about his sister’s situation.

Still, the night summer breeze was nice nonetheless.

Watching his son’s eyes close to embrace the wind, Bassena smiled and sipped on his drink. "I guess you are similar to Zein in that way."

Zein’s favorite place was still the balcony of the master bedroom, but the fascination for the sea seemed to be genetic. Or was it because they saw Zein did it all the time? Perhaps Kar unconsciously followed the habit until he loved the activity.

But that expression Bassena saw on his son’s face before he came to the patio was not the kind of face one would make to enjoy the scenery and fresh air. Honestly...it reminded him of the face Zein always made when the guide had a lot on his mind.

Even in that regard, they were too similar.

Bassena patted his thigh in contemplation of how he should approach this. Unfortunately, Kar also inherited his father’s shielded, reserved personality. Should he just let it go and wait for the boy to come to them with his trouble?

He swallowed his sigh. "Good job today," he said in the end.

Kar blinked and turned his head to look at his father. "Huh?"

"You didn’t get into trouble," Bassena smirked.

"I’m sure the guards--"

"No," Bassena waved his hand. "We can’t really control the trouble other people make. I’m talking about you guys not making trouble."

"Oh..."

Even without people looking for trouble with them, like in the school, they could somehow run away from the guards, accidentally getting lost, or even fighting for something among themselves. It was annoying to admit it, but they were indeed at the age when the temptation to be rebellious was high.

Kar smiled wryly. After all, even that night when they awakened, it was the twins who came looking for troubles.

"Did we put too much pressure on you?"

Kar flinched at the rather sharp question. "N-no!"

"You can be honest with me," Bassena put a more serious tone.

"No, really--I mean...I know why you ask me to watch over them. I’m the oldest after all," Kar said quickly. "It’s just..."

He looked down, feeling the cold railing on his back. It was as cold as the cave’s wall that night, and even after six years, the memory still etched strongly inside his head.

And no; it wasn’t because of the awakening.

"I still...I made trouble that night even though you and Father told me you trust me, Dad..."

He failed. He failed to stay out of trouble. If he didn’t insist on going, Asa wouldn’t come. It was his idea. The worst part was that...he knew he wasn’t supposed to do that, and yet he still went through with it.

Bassena put his cup aside and stood up. "Kar,"

"Yes, Dad?"

"We didn’t trust you because you’re the oldest," Bassena said. "Nor is it because you are the strongest."

Kar chewed the inside of his cheek. "Well, Lucy is stronger than me."

Well, that wasn’t a secret. The girl would probably grow up to be stronger than even Bassena. But that was beside the point. Bassena stopped in front of his son and patted the slightly downturned shoulder.

"We trust you because we know we can trust you," he said gently. "Because you are calm, wise, and mature--more than your siblings."

The boy slowly raised his head, slowly blinking at his smiling father.

"We know you have a strong sense of responsibility, so we can trust you easily," Bassena continued.

"But..."

Bassena patted the boy’s shoulder and leaned against the railing, looking at the bright, starry sky.

"Did you remember that night? Honestly, no one would blame you if you didn’t jump in to save that boy," Bassena said, glancing at his frowning son. "But you did. Why?"

Kar parted his lips, but he didn’t know what to say. Because honestly, he wasn’t sure. Was it because his fathers trusted him, or was it because he didn’t want them to be angry?

Before the boy could say anything, however, Bassena already answered it for him. "Because you feel responsible, and I’m proud of you. We were proud of you back then too."

Kar looked at his father. "You...were?"

He remembered they were quite angry, but the children were crying so they ended up not getting scolded much.

"We weren’t mad because you get into trouble, Kar," Bassena patted the dark hair. "We were mad because you put yourself in danger, and you didn’t realize it."

"Oh..." the boy bit his lips.

"I’ll still get angry if you do that now or in the future--even knowing that your job will be dangerous," Bassena added as a remainder. "But you already know that, don’t you?"

"Yeah..."

"So, Zein and I can trust you to keep you and your siblings safe," Bassena smiled, putting his arm around the boy’s shoulder. "One day, when your fathers no longer be able to, we’ll have to burden you with that even more. But for now, you can rely on us as much as you want," he squeezed the shoulder, which had grown tougher with the passing year--not just from muscles, but also a sense of responsibility. "Us trusting you to take care of them does not mean you can’t ask for help--you know that, don’t you?" freewёbnoνel.com

Slowly, the boy nodded. "Yeah, just..." he bit his lips. "Just make sure to only burden me with that far--much farther in the future, okay?"

Bassena laughed. Well, he had no intention to leave this world before he saw his children roamed the world and achieved what they wanted. He had all intention to live a long, healthy life with his family until he became an annoying, nagging grandpa.

"Sure," he ruffled the black hair mirthfully.

With a sudden move, Bassena found his reserved son, who refused to call him ’Baba’ after going to school, and avoided physical contact except for his siblings, hugged him tightly.

"Heh," Bassena raised his brows and smirked, patting his son’s back. "I thought you were too grown up for a hug already."

"Since it’s just us here," Kar muttered.

"What about calling me--"

"No."

"Tsk."

Bassena clicked his tongue before chuckling. Well...this sharp rejection was also very Zein-like. What could he do about it? This unexpected hug was probably the last he would receive in many years.

Oh, well--he still got hugs from his daughter anyway. Zein was right; a daughter was indeed different. Lucy woke everyone--his brothers and fathers--with a big hug and kisses the next day because it was her birthday. She danced around the corridor and the kitchen, requesting everything she wanted for her birthday breakfast.

She said it was a special birthday. After all, her age became two digits! Like everyone! She took a long time to carefully dress herself and wear her brothers’ gift, showing it off to her fathers.

"Look, Papa! Lu’s new bracelet!"

She raised her arm, and a beautiful, silver bracelet coiled nicely around her wrist. It had a single charm made of a light blue aetherite dangling and sparkling under the sunlight coming in from the window.

Zein and Bassena looked at the small crystal and raised their brows. "Heh," Bassena almost snorted. No wonder the old man told the children to keep the item secret from their fathers.

"Looks familiar," Zein chuckled.

"Huh?"

Of course, since it was for a little girl, it was prettier than what Zein had in the past. The carving was more delicate and sparkly, and the aetherite was shaped like a cute butterfly that also looked like a shield from afar.

"Does it have a name?" Zein asked.

The girl nodded. "Yes! It’s the Paladin’s Oat!"

The fathers both raised their brows and also tilted their heads in confusion.

"Oath, Lu," Asa corrected, clearing the weird name. "Oat is a cereal."

"Oh, right!" Lucy giggled, covering her mouth sheepishly. "It means brothers promise to always protect Lu, right?"

"Of course!" Asa raised his thumb.

"That goes without saying," Kar patted the girl’s platinum hair. Their Princess.

Yes. Even if it meant they might have to confront her previous life, they would protect their only sister. That is the responsibility he would gladly bear.