Chapter 90: Family Honor

“You’re late, little brother.”

Ron’s voice broke the silence among my ruined belongings. He sighed as he watched me from the sofa.

“Do you have any idea how bored I was waiting for you? I hoped I could find something entertaining in your apartment to pass the time.”

He nudged a piece of one of the broken figures with his foot.

“But all I found were these disgusting piles of trash.”

The piece struck the coffee table’s broken leg and stopped.

That figure had been on my shelf just a few hours ago. I wanted to bend down and pick it up, but looking at the grin on Ron’s face, I couldn’t move.

I was sure most of the broken belongings and figures on the floor meant nothing to me. The System had even given me a mission to keep me from breaking them.

The anime figures, the strange posters—I didn’t care about any of them. They were the original Noctis’s tastes and hobbies, after all.

Then why…

Why does my heart hurt so much?!

I couldn’t hold back the hatred and anger inside me any longer. The person responsible was right in front of me, wearing that disgusting expression.

“Why are you here?!” I shouted.

Ron tilted his head slightly. He stuck his little finger in his ear and twisted it, looking annoyed.

“There’s no need to shout, little brother. Why don’t you calm down? Go get me something to drink. Make sure it’s cold.”

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”

“Why?” He lowered his hand and looked at me.

He let out a long sigh.

“Are you seriously asking?”

He didn’t get up. He spoke comfortably in my home, surrounded by the things he had destroyed, as though I should have been expecting him.

“Mom said you were getting ready to do something embarrassing again. You know, even if you were kicked out of the family, you’re still an Evernight.” His grin widened slightly. “So, little brother, Mom sent me to teach you a lesson before you embarrass our family any further.”

Our family.

They hadn’t used that word when they kicked me out.

Now they had appeared again to decide what I could do here.

I didn’t answer Ron. I walked past the sofa and headed down the hallway.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!”

I ignored his voice behind me. After seeing the state of the living room, there was only one thing on my mind.

My bedroom.

My heart beat faster with every step, and even breathing became difficult. I kept repeating the same plea in my mind.

Please…

Please don’t let him have damaged it.

When I reached the door, my hand rested on the handle for a moment. Then I pushed it open.

One of the wardrobe doors had been torn off, while the other hung crookedly from a broken hinge. The drawers had been pulled out. The plush toys from my bed had been thrown onto the floor, and my sheet was torn at one corner.

A few more anime figures lay shattered near my feet.

My eyes caught on the white fabric in front of the wardrobe.

Evelyn’s wedding dress…

Yes… That bastard had done this too.

The costume Eris and I had prepared had been pulled out of the wardrobe and thrown onto the floor. There was a long tear in the skirt. The white wig was trapped beneath a drawer, and the black crown had been smashed. The other materials were scattered around the room.

The contest was tomorrow.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I froze. My hands were shaking, and I wanted to scream and cry, but I couldn’t make a sound. Not a single tear fell.

I slowly approached the wedding dress and knelt beside it. When I took the edge of the tear in my hand, the fabric slipped between my fingers. Just yesterday, Eris had carefully adjusted that same part so I could walk without getting the skirt tangled around my feet.

At first, I had thought streaming and wearing a costume like this were both stupid. Putting myself in front of other people and talking to them, especially continuing while they had the wrong idea about me, had seemed like nothing but a source of embarrassment.

Then I had started laughing during my streams.

I looked forward to the chat teasing me and showed off whenever I won a game. Sometimes, the smile on my face lingered even after I turned off the camera.

Something similar had happened while preparing for the cosplay contest. I was still embarrassed about wearing the wedding dress, but I had enjoyed seeing the surprise on Eris’s face. Choosing the costume with her, talking about the missing pieces, standing together in front of the mirror yesterday… All of it mattered to me.

Among the things Ron called “trash,” I had built a life of my own.

I tightened my grip on the fabric.

And now the person responsible for all this was sitting in my living room, talking to me about family honor.

Fucking son of a bitch.

I wanted to break his jaw. I wanted to break his arms too and shove them up his ass.

My fingers trembled.

I knew I couldn’t do it.

Ron was a lightning-type Nexus user. Despite being lazy, he was one of the more talented people among my siblings. A few weeks of training hadn’t closed the gap between us.

Knowing that didn’t lessen my anger. It only made it harder to look at his face and see how casually he could laugh.

I heard laughter from the doorway.

Ron stood at the entrance to my bedroom, watching me.

“Were you seriously that eager to wear a wedding dress and fake breasts?”

I let go of the fabric.

“Don’t be so upset, Noc. If you cry, I won’t be able to hold back my laughter.”

I kept my head lowered so he couldn’t see my face. I didn’t want him to see me like this. I didn’t want to give him any more amusement.

When I clenched my fist, I felt the black bracelet around my left wrist. I knew what using Storm Heart at such speed would cost me. I knew Ron’s Nexus too.

Still, I looked at his face in the doorway once more.

That stupid smile… This wasn’t the first time I had seen it. I had endured it every damn day during the years I had lived with that family.

Then why does it hurt so much now?

“Ahh… Fuck it,” I muttered. Just once, I wanted to wipe that disgusting smile off his face, whatever the cost.

I activated Storm Heart at full speed.

As Umbrella flowed from my wrist into my palm and formed a small dagger, I planted my foot against the floor. I closed the distance between us in an instant and lunged at Ron, aiming the dagger at his throat.