Chapter 42: Sister, You Can’t Be Serious!
Chapter 42: Sister, You Can’t Be Serious!
Osborne stared at the two hands about to grab him, his expression creasing a bit.
He tried jumping over the both of them.
"...?!!"
But to everyone’s surprise, not only did he jump over both knights, he ended up landing atop the dining table as well.
He swung his hands about, nearly falling over from the unexpected leap.
"H-How did you?" Rebecca was taken aback when she looked back at where he’d been standing before.
Ruby was also a bit surprised, since he just jumped over 8 meters in a single bound, with a peak height of 3 meters to boot.
"Forgive me, my lady." Rather than talking to Rebecca, Osborne first apologised to Roseline at the far end of the table before gently getting down.
Osborne wasn’t stupid; he knew if he tried anything emotionally right now, what awaited him would be torture once more.
"But I’m afraid I don’t understand what she’s implying."
"Stop trying to lie. You expect us to believe someone else harmed us yesterday? Because of you, my mana was in chaos and my younger sister was gravely injured."
’Mana?’
"Last night, something forcefully took away all the mana in the vicinity. I have no idea how you did such, but it’s clear to me that your intentions weren’t pure." Rebecca continued, pointing an accusing finger at him.
’Did something happen last night during the bonding ritual?’ he wondered. Osborne recalled what was now within his chest, another heart, one capable of storing and refining mana.
’If the heart ended up drawing mana from the surroundings without me knowing, then she is right... This is technically my fault.’
’But if I just admit it, this witch will have another chance to torture me again...’ Osborne said to himself.
’And with her here, this time around it definitely won’t be as simple as before...’ Osborne stared at Roseline for a moment, knowing how ruthless she could be; he refused to be caught like this.
"What? Can’t speak anymore? Or are you too scared to admit the truth?" Rebecca sneered.
"And why would I be scared when you’re the one talking?" Osborne gave Rebecca a look.
Her expression quickly turned displeased.
"Is what she said true, though? Did you do all that last night, if it was an accident?" Ruby said, but Osborne didn’t bother looking at her; instead, his gaze was on Roseline.
"Aren’t you going to tell them..." He said, his face showing a look of annoyance. "Or is it a habit of yours to let someone else take the blame?"
"...." The dining hall instantly turned silent, with everyone staring at Osborne with looks of apprehension.
"And whatever do you mean?" Roseline’s features didn’t change. Unlike everyone else, she looked rather calm, and yet, the atmosphere within the hall couldn’t help but feel tense.
Osborne wasn’t affected by the change in atmosphere.
"You dare blame my sister?! You’ve really gotten tired of living, haven’t you–!"
"Rebecca..." Roseline muttered lightly, causing her sister to stiffen up.
"I asked him a question. Don’t interrupt."
"Yes... sister~" Rebecca lowered her head and said.
"Now tell me, how is all this my fault?" Roseline turned her attention back to Osborne.
"You’re the one who wanted to help me awaken my aura."
’What? Big sister actually wanted to help this man?’ Rebecca bit her lower lip in frustration.
"I do recall that, but what does that have to do with you causing last night’s disturbance?"
"When you proceeded with the third attempt, while I did awaken my aura, I ended up awakening something else as well."
"Mana."
’This idiot, doesn’t he have a better lie than this? Does he really think there’s such a thing as a Dual Awakener in this world?’ Rebecca leered at Osborne, feeling as if he was only digging his own grave.
"I sensed it the moment you walked into this room, but that still doesn’t explain the disturbance last night."
’She what?!’ Rebecca nearly fell out of her seat upon hearing this, her face turning towards Osborne with a look of disbelief.
’How is that possible?! Of all people?! How come it’s him who became a Dual Awakener?’
Ruby was visibly surprised as well, though she said nothing.
"How am I supposed to know? It was your method. You even tried to strip me down because you wanted to try it out." Once more, Osborne’s fearless remark left everyone in the hall at a loss for words.
"I’ve never heard of a Dual Awakener before, but maybe last night was a common occurrence when becoming one." Osborne said. "With barely much knowledge known about such a case, of course I can’t be completely sure."
"Nevertheless, you were the one that wanted to speed things up, so in hindsight, last night was your fault and not mine."
Roseline turned silent. No one knew what was going through her mind at the moment.
While Osborne had been speaking earlier, she used her eyes to tell whether he was lying. Naturally, her eyes were far greater than any normal person’s, yet what left her surprised was the fact that everything he said turned out to be true, well, more or less.
She knew some parts had underlying meanings, yet she couldn’t quite tell which.
"Then please accept my apologies. It never occurred to me that this was indeed an error from my own actions."
"Sister, you don’t need to apologise to him!"
"She’s right. An apology is rather lacking in respect to a matter like this. You almost had me tortured again because of your own mistake." Osborne blurted out.
"I can understand such follies from this one." He gestured towards Rebecca with displeasure. "But you’re supposed to be the head of this household. The least you could do is act like it."
"How dare you talk to my sister that way!" Rebecca shot up from her seat, her expression one of irritation.
"Then what would you have me do?" Roseline suddenly said.
"S-Sister?!" Rebecca stared at her in disbelief, but Roseline gestured for her to stay out of it.
’Hahaha, I knew it. Your useless pride couldn’t possibly let you take this lying down.’