The Affairs of Those Noble Brothers Chapter 5

“Alright, I understand,” Logan said, patting his back and starting to walk. The vibration felt with each step was pleasant. Logan got into the carriage first, and Logan’s subordinate carefully moved the drowsy Irodel into the carriage. Irodel, who had dozed off for a moment, felt the hands pulling him close and opened his eyes. The carriage was already moving.

“To the hotel.”

“Excuse me, but will you be accompanying him?”

“Why do you ask?”

A hint of displeasure crept into Logan’s voice. The subordinate reflected in the rearview mirror looked tense, but he didn’t back down from voicing his opinion.

“I apologize. But perhaps you could postpone it until another time. Today, well, it’s that day…”

“Ah, I see.”

Irodel blinked rapidly. It was an ominous yet familiar turn of events.

“Brother?”

“Irodel, I’m sorry.”

“Are we going home?”

“Next time, I promise we’ll go to the hotel together.”

There might or might not be a next time. Logan was an extremely busy man, and lately, his visits home had been decreasing. But Irodel couldn’t show his disappointment. Even using alcohol as an excuse, that much was impossible.

“It’s fine. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen the completed lab yet… I want to go home and see it.”

“Alright.”

It was a lie. He didn’t even want to glance at the lab built in the annex. He didn’t want to go home either. It was perhaps the biggest lie of his life, but Logan just smiled, saying that was a good idea.

“The hour is late now, so it’s difficult, but next time you go, you’ll be able to enjoy the night view slowly.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

Irodel wasn’t looking forward to it. He’d had enough of expecting things on his own, only to get hurt on his own. He didn’t want to hurt anymore.

∞ ∞ ∞

The academy wasn’t far from the house. Naturally, the pub they’d been drinking at until just now was also nearby. The carriage, which arrived at the mansion shortly, passed through the neatly manicured garden and came to a gentle stop. As Irodel, still not fully sober, stumbled out, Logan stepped out of the carriage to help him. Irodel waved his hand, saying he was fine.

“I’ll take a short walk and then go in.”

“You should go in and sleep.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep if I go in now since I’m still drunk.”

“You must be tired.”

“It’s fine. If anything, there are servants… Don’t worry and go on ahead.”

Mentioning the servants was close to a complaint, but it was also just right for persuading Logan. Logan nodded in understanding and got back into the carriage without hesitation. Without any particular farewell, the carriage departed, crossed the long garden, and disappeared from sight.

“…”

Perhaps there was no need for goodbyes since they’d see each other again anyway. But his other family members often saw each other even outside the house, while he was only able to barely meet the family members who came to visit him. He couldn’t help feeling slighted even by the smallest things.

All his family members were alphas, and he alone was a beta. His situation was akin to an island adrift in the vast ocean. The expansive sea moved freely and visited his island whenever it felt like it. They acted as if they were close to the island, but the deep sea was full of secrets the island knew nothing about. Naturally, these were things one couldn’t understand without having been the sea. When he tried to reach out in curiosity, they pushed him back with waves. From the island’s perspective, it was a terribly lonely and desolate thing.

What had happened in the carriage earlier was also something he’d experienced many times.

‘Dad, where’s Mom?’

‘Your mother? I heard she went on a trip with an omega lover… no, a friend.’

His parents, who had promised to come on his birthday, would end up not being able to make it for some odd reason.

‘Where is everyone going?’

‘You don’t need to know. Just stay and watch the house.’

They would barely manage to gather in one place, only to leave all together, leaving him behind.

And then, once upon a time, he had opened Logan’s door without knocking. It was around the time he was gradually unable to overpower Tibane and was getting beaten up every day. On that day too, Tibane, who had overpowered him and was feeling high and mighty, had eaten bread laced with poison herbs and gotten a stomachache. That was his excellent achievement. Tibane was furious and shoved Irodel into the pond. The flustered servants rescued him immediately, but having been beaten in the morning and soaked through in the evening was infuriating beyond words.

Knowing it was petty, but unable to bear it without tattling, he went to find Logan. Forgetting to knock was purely due to anger.

‘Brother, Tibane pushed me—!’

‘Irodel?’

Logan, who had been slumped over his desk, looked up in surprise. His hair was a complete mess, and his face was covered in cold sweat. It was a state he’d never seen before. Irodel forgot his anger and, startled, tried to approach Logan.

‘Brother? Are you sick?’

‘Don’t come in.’

‘Brother?’

‘Get out. Get out now!’

It was the first time he’d seen Logan so violently angry. In the end, he was chased out without even knowing what had happened. The next day, his father, who’d visited the house after a long time, scolded him for being careless. He felt wronged and upset, but since not knocking had been his fault, he went back to see Logan. But no matter how many times he knocked on the door, there was no answer.

And a few days later, Logan enlisted in the military. It was early by anyone’s standards. As if running away, as if he didn’t want to see Irodel’s face, Logan had left the house like that.

The secrets of alphas that his family carried were only revealed as he grew older. It was simple. Alphas also had heats, which were thought to only occur in omegas. But knowing it intellectually and understanding what it actually meant were impossible for him as a beta, and even that made him feel alienated.

‘You’re a weak, frail civilian, so they’ll let you get away with breaking every household rule and command, but I’m different. Even if it’s a crappy order, I have to follow it and carry it out. Do you understand?’

Of course you do. You’re part of the proud alphas, so it must be very different. Even that insufferable Tibane made him feel lonely on rare occasions. Despite being brought into the world together, he had no intention whatsoever of understanding him. He didn’t need pampering or anything—he just wanted to blend in with his family on equal footing. But it was impossible. So he gave up. He gave up and tried to live on his own. And even that had failed.

Irodel stopped his aimless wandering. In front of him was a door decorated with lush flowers in full bloom. It was the entrance to the annex. His already low spirits sank even further, and he was about to turn back to his room, but he changed his mind. After all, it was a space prepared for him, so he might as well see what it looked like.

He opened the door and stepped inside. A fairly respectable laboratory came into view. It seemed they’d put some thought into the design; there were many places to store herbs in every nook and cranny, and the equipment itself was far better than what was at the academy. Moreover, the bedroom, sitting room, study, bathroom, and other basic living spaces from the annex remained intact, so it truly seemed like he could live there for life without any problems. If only he could detach this whole thing and move it somewhere far from the house, it would be perfect.

As Irodel poked around here and there, he opened the door that appeared to be the bedroom. And he stopped breathing. A beast was lying face-down on the bed, sleeping. A beast by the name of Tibane.

“You! Why are you here?”

No matter how much he’d said he didn’t want it, this was still his own space. And that place had been sullied by the filth called Tibane. Fuming with rage, Irodel yanked the sheet Tibane was lying on out from under him. Tibane, who had been sleeping face-down, rolled across the wide bed and tumbled to the floor, then sprang up.

“What the hell! Who is it? You want to die?”

“Get out right now! Get out!”

“What scum dares to— huh?”

Tibane, who had caught the pillow Irodel threw and was huffing, made a stupid sound.

“What? Why are you in my room?”

“This is my lab! Get out!”

“Lab? Ah.”

Finally realizing where he was, Tibane cracked his joints and stretched. Then he yawned wide and started crawling back onto the bed. A completely dismissive attitude. Irodel stood there dumbfounded, then pounced on top of Tibane like a bat as he was leisurely covering himself with the sheet.

“I said get out!”

“Ow, why are you grabbing my hair! You… can’t you act your age?”