Book 10: Chapter 16: A Promise Between Siblings

“Eeeeeeeldest—!”

The Fourth Young Master, Yeon Bi, ran as he shouted loudly.

“Brooooootheeeeer—!”

Wonder appeared on the faces of those whom he passed by as he ran hurriedly, but the boy did not care.

“Siiiiir—!”

Having dashed all the way to the entrance of the Joint Business Headquarters in one breath, he spotted Yeon So-hyeon.

“Your younger brother was eagerly waiting for you, Eldest Brother—!”

The bright smile that had blossomed on the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi's face stiffened.

“Ho? Is that why you were able to arrive right on time?”

The Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, was smiling at the two girls as he stroked their heads.

“Yes, Brother!”

Beside the happily smiling girl, the Third Young Lady Yeon Da-eun, the Fourth Young Lady Yeon Da-hye muttered in a small voice.

“…If only Sister hadn't made a fuss about changing into a new outfit for going out. We would have arrived much earlier than now.”

Yeon Da-eun's face turned completely red, and she spoke to Yeon Da-hye as if screaming.

“I was the one who brought it up, but wasn't it you, Da-hye, who insisted on calling someone to buy new clothes, saying we must show Eldest Brother a prettier side?!”

“If only Sister hadn't suggested buying new rouge while we were at it—?!”

The two of them began to bicker and squabble, tangling like kittens.

“…Are those ladies the twin Third and Fourth Young Ladies?”

“Hoho. They are even cuter young ladies than I heard.”

Looking at that sight, everyone passing through the entrance wore a warm smile, but.

Yeon Bi was different.

“W-Witches…!”

With a pale face, he raised his heels and began to sneak backward.

It seemed to be the moment when his efforts, having trained hard under the shadows of the Sichuan Tang Family, were paid off.

“Oh?”

If only Yeon So-hyeon, who spotted him, had not called him with a smile, his escape would have been successful.

“Yeon Bi. Did you run here yourself to welcome this brother?”

Had there ever been a moment in his life when he resented his eldest brother this much?

Yet at the same time, Yeon Bi was so glad that his eldest brother welcomed him warmly.

“Ha, haha. Y-Yes, Eldest Brother. It is your younger brother, Yeon Bi.”

Unable to either laugh or cry, Yeon Bi bowed to his eldest brother.

“Oh?!”

“It's Bi-ah…!”

Sure enough.

The twin sisters, who spotted Yeon Bi, approached with their eyes flashing.

“You rascal, you rascal…!”

“Your elder sisters have arrived, and you were trying to run away just now…!”

At the sight of his sisters approaching while wriggling their fingers, Yeon Bi screamed in a fit.

“Shoo, shoo! Go away! Stand back! You witches…!”

The twin sisters' eyes sharpened.

“Calling the sisters you haven't seen in a long time witches…!”

Yeon Da-hye picked up Yeon Da-eun's words.

“Fufu. It is clear that you still do not know who is on top. Once again, I will thoroughly carve the mindset of a younger brother into you.”

Yeon Da-eun smirked with an ominous smile.

“Indeed. How about we play the 'younger sister' game like before?”

“Our Bi-ah is so cute and lovely that cross-dressing suits him very well…!”

Cross-dressing…!

All sorts of humiliating memories of the past flashed through his mind.

All the color drained from Yeon Bi's face.

“K-Kuhu…!”

As he retreated hesitantly, Yeon Bi's back touched the cold wall.

Having nowhere left to retreat, he looked up at the ceiling and cried out in a fit.

“Why did Heaven birth this Yeon Bi and then birth two witches as well?!”

“No, you're wrong.”

Yeon Da-eun, who had approached right in front of his nose, spoke, puffing out hot breath.

“Heaven birthed us and then birthed the cutest younger brother in the world for us.”

Yeon Da-hye similarly puffed out her breath and giggled.

“Now, give up resisting and surrender obediently.”

Yeon Bi squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

“Kuh…! I'd rather you kill me…!”

Whether he knew of his wretched heart or not. "……."

Yeon So-hyeon was merely watching the reunion of his precious siblings with sentimental eyes.

“S-Save me! Eldest Brother!”

Yeon So-hyeon laughed, "Haha."

“As expected, you all have been close since the old days.”

* * *

A moment later.

The office of the Fourth Young Master, Yeon Bi.

“…And so, in exchange for removing the names of the gathered investors from the investor list.”

Ordinarily, Yeon Bi would have squared his shoulders, raised his nose high, and bragged of his achievements to his eldest brother, but.

“We were in the middle of seizing the funds they had invested.”

Now, his voice grew smaller and crawled away as it went on.

“As expected.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“A neat and excellent handling of matters, just like you. Well done.”

Ordinarily, he would have rejoiced as if he had obtained the whole world at the praise of the eldest brother he respected most in the world, but.

“…No, Eldest Brother. It was nothing.”

He hung his head low with a deflated sigh.

With that, his hair, tied in twin tails, fluttered cutely.

'Ah, my dignity…'

Fortunately, there were only a few people in the office.

Had it been in a public setting, his dignity would have turned into a handful of dust and vanished in vain.

“Pfft…!”

“Giggly…!”

The elder sisters sitting with them—no.

The witches were openly smirking at his appearance.

“Our younger brother is so cute.”

“Shall we go bathe in the hot spring with your 'sisters' after work?”

“Krrrgh…!”

Shaking his tightly clenched fists with his small hands, he suppressed his anger inside.

'One day, I will repay all this humiliation…!'

“Hum.”

In the meantime, Yeon So-hyeon, who had finished organizing his thoughts, nodded and turned his gaze to the twin sisters.

“So, what business brings you to find this eldest brother?”

The complexions of the girls, who had been giggling until a moment ago, instantly regained their composure.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Clearing her throat to refresh the atmosphere, the Third Young Lady Yeon Da-eun spoke with a serious expression.

“The merchant groups of the Ha family remaining in Luoyang are under attack.”

Yeon Da-hye chipped in.

“As you know, our Ha family's merchant groups have been bringing tea from the main family to Luoyang to sell, but…”

Yeon Da-eun continued once again.

“The owner of the building where our teahouse was located suddenly sent a unilateral contract termination notice, contact was lost with the company in charge of distribution, and suddenly our goods were picketed with claims of issues in the customs documents…”

Yeon Da-hye summarized her sister's words.

“It's a situation where we cannot do business at all, so we had no choice but to temporarily suspend all the businesses we were running.”

“To think all of this happened in just a single night…”

Hearing those words, the Fourth Young Master groaned quietly.

“…Since this happened as soon as it became known that you stood on Eldest Brother's side, there is no need to even verify whose doing it is.”

The Third Young Lady Yeon Da-eun shrugged.

“It must have been either the Second Young Master's side or the Third Young Master's side that made a move.”

The Fourth Young Lady Yeon Da-hye smiled bitterly.

“By holding hands with Eldest Brother, our sisters' political power within the family has grown stronger, but…”

There was no longer anyone within the Luoyang Sword Family who could look down on the sisters as easily as before.

But.

“Instead, you gained enemies.”

At Yeon So-hyeon's words, the sisters nodded as if it were no big deal.

“Well, we roughly expected it.”

“Though the attack did come in faster and more fatally than expected.”

“That's why, Eldest Brother.”

Yeon Da-eun searched her bosom and pulled out a document tied with a silk ribbon.

“Since things turned out this way, we were just coming back after clearing up all the assets that could be immediately disposed of.” "……!"

A surprised expression appeared on the face of the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi, who was listening beside them.

Setting aside whether the judgment was right or wrong, it was an astonishing decisiveness and execution.

“Fortunately.”

Yeon Da-hye shrugged.

“It seems the enemies are keeping our sisters in check, but they do not wish to make an enemy of the Ha family's main house.”

“No trouble came as far as disposing of our assets went.”

Yeon So-hyeon accepted the document that Yeon Da-eun respectfully handed over with both hands and asked.

“Then, what is this document?”

A confident smile hung on Yeon Da-eun's face.

“That document states that we will invest all of our disposable assets into Eldest Brother's business.”

Yeon Da-hye spoke with the same smile as her sister.

“Even the assets that haven't been disposed of yet due to their large size, we plan to invest them all into Eldest Brother's business the moment they are liquidated.”

“Indeed, just like you, Sisters. The bold decision is great, but…!”

Beside them, the Fourth Young Master shouted in a shrill voice.

“Be precise with your words, Sisters! This business is not Eldest Brother's business alone, but a joint venture between Eldest Brother and me!”

Yeon Da-eun snorted and ignored him.

“So, Eldest Brother.”

Yeon Da-hye looked at Yeon So-hyeon and spoke.

“Will you accept our investment?”

Yeon So-hyeon's expression was extremely calm, making it very difficult to read his mind.

“Hum.”

He opened his mouth.

“Before that, let me ask one thing.”

At his words, the twin sisters straightened their posture.

“Yes, Eldest Brother. Feel free to ask.”

“What is the primary reason you are disposing of your assets?”

Yeon So-hyeon asked in a low voice.

“Surely it wasn't done because you were scared or afraid of the enemies' invisible attacks?”

Yeon Da-eun immediately shook her head.

“No, it's not.”

Yeon Da-hye said, her eyes shining.

“This decision is something we learned from you, Eldest Brother.”

A smile played on Yeon So-hyeon's face.

“Something learned from me?”

Yeon Da-eun nodded.

“Yes.”

That nod was filled with certainty.

“Eldest Brother, even while dealing with the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master at the same time, you are in a situation with surprisingly little damage.”

The Fourth Young Master nodded instead.

His pigtails fluttered.

“Indeed. That is likely because—” yeon Da-hye cut off the Fourth Young Master's words.

“It is because Eldest Brother's frontline is very small and narrow compared to the frontlines of the Second and Third Young Masters.”

“Eldest Brother's forces are still small compared to the enemies, but that actually narrows the areas the enemies can attack.”

“That's why.”

Yeon Da-eun grinned and said.

“We plan to drastically reduce our frontline this time as well, eliminating any areas for the enemies to attack.”

Yeon Da-hye concluded her sister's words.

“That is precisely the reason we are disposing of our businesses to invest our assets in Eldest Brother's business.”

Having finished speaking, they quietly looked at Yeon So-hyeon. "……"

Although the Fourth Young Master did not show it outwardly.

Inwardly, he nodded.

'…It is an excellent rationale.'

Compared to the other siblings, the Third and Fourth Young Ladies had seemed ordinary.

To the Fourth Young Master, they were the family members he could deal with relatively 'comfortably' among them.

Yet they had not been idling away either while the other siblings grew.

At times like this, he could not help but feel that they shared the same blood.

“So, Eldest Brother. Was our answer satisfactory?”

“Will you accept the investment?”

“It is a good answer.”

Yeon So-hyeon, who had closed his eyes for a moment, calmly nodded.

“And regardless of the answer, I had naturally intended to accept your investment.”

Opening his eyes, he looked at the two girls who could not hide their joy.

“Did I not tell you before?”

As he looked at them with a benevolent smile on his face, the two girls giggled, "Heheh."

“Of course we remember.”

“How could we forget?”

Previously, when Yeon So-hyeon reunited with them after a long time, he had clearly spoken to his twin younger sisters like this.

“Go ahead and do whatever you want to your heart's content.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“Yes. That is exactly it.”

* * *

“Then, Eldest Brother.”

“We will excuse ourselves for a moment to hasten the sale of our businesses.”

The Third Young Lady Yeon Da-eun and the Fourth Young Lady Yeon Da-hye politely bowed to Yeon So-hyeon.

“You do not have to return, Sisters.”

They ignored the Fourth Young Master's words as he waved his hand from the side.

Once they left.

Silence hung over the office for a moment. "……"

Sharing the silence, the Fourth Young Master Yeon Bi carefully observed his eldest brother's expression before speaking.

“…Eldest Brother.”

Although the Third and Fourth Young Ladies had not noticed, Yeon So-hyeon's expression had been stiffly frozen for some time.

Others might not know, but the Fourth Young Master could tell.

The expressions Yeon So-hyeon made were to the point of looking like well-crafted masks.

“Please appease your anger…”

At that moment, Yeon So-hyeon's mouth opened.

“Yeon Bi.”

Yeon Bi jumped in place.

“Y-Yes!”

Yeon So-hyeon spoke in a 'calm' voice with his eyes closed.

“There were families that have wanted to form an alliance with me from before.”

Yeon Bi hurriedly nodded.

“T-That is true.”

Recalling his memory, he added an explanation.

“There have been continuous requests to meet you, Eldest Brother, from families in hostile positions to the Second Young Master, but since yesterday, requests from families hostile to the Third Young Master's side have also been coming in.”

The boy scratched his cheek.

“But I heard that you said you would only meet them after keeping them waiting long enough.”

“Yes.”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly nodded with his eyes closed.

“Indeed.”

He had refused alliances with them because he had absolutely no intention of letting those families simply jump on the bandwagon and take all the credit later.

“By now, they must be sufficiently anxious, right?”

“Of course.”

Yeon Bi answered immediately.

“Currently, Eldest Brother, you are continuously matching the Second and Third Young Masters' sides on equal terms with just your current strength. No, rather, you are scoring points.”

He continued speaking cheerfully as if there were no need to think twice about it.

“If those people want to share the credit of victory later, they will now have to run while risking their families' fate.”

“I see.”

Yeon So-hyeon instructed Yeon Bi in a calm tone.

“Send a messenger and tell them to deliver this.”

As his eyes slightly half-opened, it was as if a bright blue flame sparked within.

“If they sever and bring the heads of all those who touched the businesses of the two children, Da-hye and Da-eun.”

A chill ran down the Fourth Young Master's skin and goosebumps broke out.

“Say that I will accept them as my allies.”

The Fourth Young Master immediately bowed his head.

“Yes, Eldest Brother.”

While the Fourth Young Master hurriedly left the office, Yeon So-hyeon sighed softly and buried his body deep in the chair, leaning back.

In his head, the words he had spoken to the twin sisters rose again.

“Go ahead and do whatever you want to your heart's content.”

And in that promise, there was certainly more to follow.

“This brother will ensure that no one can touch you.”

In this world, there are things that must absolutely, under no circumstances, be touched.