If You Are Not My Sister
The moment the words left her mouth, Kallen Addis felt as if the ground had dropped out from beneath him.
“What do you mean we’re not siblings?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I am not Alexandro Addis’s daughter.”
“Don’t lie to me, sister.”
“If you don’t believe me, go ask His Grace the Duke yourself.”
“……”
“You and I share not a single drop of blood.”
“……”
“So stop concerning yourself with me.”
Not related?
We’re not siblings?
His mind went blank. When he came back to himself, he was already on the floor after being struck by an enraged Orsini.
Orsini’s eyes burned with feral intensity. It was the first time in his life that his older brother had ever looked at him that way. They had never been particularly close, but they had always shown each other a baseline of respect.
Kallen knew Orsini had never wanted the position of heir and had willingly stepped aside. Orsini knew Kallen had reluctantly shouldered that burdensome role. Their relationship had always been like that—two opposites, fire and ice.
Because what one wanted, the other inevitably rejected, they had never truly clashed. Kallen had even considered it fortunate. If the day ever came when they desired the same thing, they would fight until one of them was destroyed.
But that day had never arrived. Until now.
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
Come to think of it, it was strange. When had his brother ever cared about their sister’s affairs? After tormenting her for so long, was he suddenly trying to win her favor?
Now? After everything?
Disgust surged through him like molten lava. For the first time in his life, murderous hostility toward his own brother sharpened into a blade inside his chest.
“Do you really think she’ll forgive you if you act like this?”
Orsini, who had been listening in silence, twisted his lips into a sneer.
“You talk too much, Kallen Addis.”
And Canna was no longer holding his arm. Which meant there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
Orsini charged. This time, Kallen refused to simply take the blow.
“Hey! Take your fight outside!”
Canna screamed, but it was useless. The brothers could no longer hear her.
Every punch and kick shattered tables, cracked pillars, and gouged deep craters into the floor. The laboratory trembled with deafening crashes.
“Stop fighting in here! You’re destroying everything!”
The mana stones, the ingredients, the reagents—everything she had built over more than a decade was being reduced to rubble.
“Ha… haha…”
Perhaps it was because she was so furious.
Laughter bubbled up uncontrollably. Kallen had gone mad. Orsini had gone mad. And now she was about to lose her mind too.
Fine. Let’s all go crazy together.
Canna burst into laughter, then began snatching up scattered mana stones and hurling them wildly at the two men. She prayed at least one of them would get hit.
Yoanna, who had witnessed the entire spectacle, had gone deathly pale.
They’ve all lost their minds.
They’re insane. Every last one of them.
The brothers’ first true brawl only ended when their father arrived.
“……”
Alexandro Addis stood speechless for a long time.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. He rubbed his temple as though suffering from a headache.
It was understandable.
The laboratory was in ruins. Kallen and Orsini were a complete mess. And Canna stood muttering repeatedly in a daze, “It’s all destroyed…”
“Just what…”
Alexandro closed his mouth again. But the question had to be asked.
“What happened here…?”
He looked as if he would rather not know, yet as their father he was obligated to ask.
Orsini immediately jumped in, eyes blazing.
“This bastard Kallen threatened Canna.”
Kallen scoffed.
“Threatened? I was merely having a conversation with our sister.”
“In a dark basement with the door locked? Who the hell has a conversation like that?”
“Because the Princess was hiding on the stairs, eavesdropping.”
“So what? Were you planning to do something that shouldn’t be seen?”
“What exactly are you imagining? Your mind is far more dangerous than anything I could have done.”
“You son of a—!”
Both brothers shot to their feet. A second round was about to begin.
“Enough.”
Alexandro spoke through what was clearly a piercing headache.
The brothers sat back down, but their eyes still promised murder.
“……”
Alexandro looked troubled. In all his years, nothing like this had ever happened.
Moreover, he had never fought with Largos to this extent, so he had no idea how to mediate.
What should he do?
Faced with this unprecedented crisis, Alexandro struggled for a solution and eventually arrived at a truly terrible answer befitting his poor parenting skills.
“Both of you, apologize to each other.”
“……”
“Yes. A handshake would be good.”
Orsini and Kallen stared at him in horror. Alexandro stubbornly pressed on.
“Did you not hear me? I said make peace.”
Good grief. Who reconciles people like this?
Canna felt an overwhelming urge to smack the back of Alexandro’s head.
“I have done nothing wrong.”
“Neither have I. I have nothing to apologize to my brother for.”
“Does that matter? I told you to do it, so do it.”
They’re all playing around. Playing around so well.
While Orsini and Kallen were bad enough, Alexandro was truly a zero-point father.
“I cannot obey such an unreasonable order.”
When Orsini objected, Alexandro’s eyebrow twitched upward.
“You cannot obey?”
“Correct.”
“Kallen, what do you think?”
“I feel the same.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If I had committed a sin, I would pay for it. But I have done nothing wrong to Brother Orsini.”
“You are both laboring under a very serious misunderstanding.”
Alexandro rose from his chair. An overwhelming pressure, like a tidal wave, crashed down on all of them at once.
“There is only one thing you need to decide. Whether you will obey me or not.”
This is ridiculous.
Canna sighed. If things continued like this, an even bigger fight was inevitable. This time the scale would be enormous—a full-blown family war with Alexandro joining the fray.
Whatever. Let them destroy each other.
She didn’t care if all three of them fought until they were ruined, but this was her laboratory.
Those damn redheads.
Someday she would set their hair on fire.
“Just a moment.”
The instant Canna intervened, the fierce heat in Alexandro’s eyes drained away. He looked down at her with softened eyes.
What should I say?
She had stopped them for now, but what came next?
Should I tell them I don’t care if they kill each other outside my lab and to get out?
That would only make the fight worse.
“……”
Alexandro remained quietly silent, patiently waiting for her to choose her words.
Orsini and Kallen watched this phenomenon as if it were some bizarre occurrence.
“It’s already very late. Everyone seems too exhausted to think rationally… Why don’t we all return to our rooms and discuss this again tomorrow when we’ve calmed down?”
“……”
“Yes? Let’s do that.”
Canna tugged on Alexandro’s sleeve, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
“Fine. We’ll do as you say.”
Finally, after the three Addis men had left, Canna was alone.
How am I supposed to clean all this up?
Some of the experimental materials were dangerously unstable, so she couldn’t ask the servants for help.
Canna sighed and rolled up her sleeves. She decided to start by clearing away anything too hazardous for others to touch.
While cleaning for quite some time, she suddenly paused.
“Huh?”
She had discovered a book buried inside a broken section of the wall. Almost in a trance, Canna pulled it free.
“It can’t be.”
It was an extremely old, worn volume.
She opened it hastily. Just as she suspected.
It was the ancient alchemy text Celia had mentioned!
To think I would find it like this.
Should she thank Orsini and Kallen for turning her laboratory into a battlefield?
She turned the pages. With each one, astonishment spread across her face.
Incredible.
The ancient alchemy described within was on an entirely different level from the alchemy she knew.
With this… I could really escape. More than enough to get away.
Her heart raced at the discovery of hope.
If she could successfully implement ancient alchemy, not even the mighty Alexandro Addis would be able to stop her.
I can run away.
She could leave the Addis mansion behind.
I can start over!
Kallen did not return to his room immediately. Lost in thought, he followed Alexandro down the corridor.
“Father.”
Just as they reached the bedroom door, right before his father could enter, Kallen called out.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Tomorrow.”
“It’s about our sister.”
Alexandro turned around.
“What is it?”
“She said something strange.”
“That she is not my daughter?”
“……Yes.”
Alexandro released the doorknob and approached Kallen.
“Then what will you do, Kallen Addis?”
All expression vanished from Kallen’s face.
That answer confirmed it. She truly was not his sister.
“Nothing will change. Canna will remain my daughter and a member of the Addis family.”
“……”
“That is all you need to know, Kallen.”
As if that settled the matter, Alexandro turned away.
Kallen stood frozen in place, watching his father disappear into the bedroom.
Then he turned on his heel and walked stiffly toward his own room.
He didn’t even know when he had stopped walking.
Canna Addis.
The sister he worshipped.
She and he were not siblings.
She was not his sister. Not family.
Then what was she?
What else? She’s still my sister.
But.
No. There is no “but.” Father is right. She is still my sister.
But. But……
Suddenly, a burning heat rose from his stomach all the way to the top of his head.
If she is not my sister.
Kallen’s face flushed bright red.
Then…
He leaned weakly against the wall. Like a defeated man, he lowered his head, then covered his face with trembling hands.
Through the gaps in his fingers, his green eyes gleamed darkly, flickering with deep, molten desire.
Sister.
My sister.
My…