"Do you mind explaining yourself?" Nyria said, walking toward us.
Just from her tone, I could tell she was mad, and why wouldn't she be? I had just punched the heck out of her little brother.
"I need to co up with a proper excuse," I thought inwardly. "Hmm, that could work."
I was about to begin my performance, but then Nyria spoke again.
"Doran, I asked you a question!"
"Huh? She's talking to him, not ?" I murmured to myself.
"E... el... elder sister—cough... cough—this bastard... is deceiving you," Doran mumbled, grabbing his mask and pushing himself to his feet.
"Is that how you speak to elders, Doran?" Nyria demanded. "Well, it does make sense since it's been a long ti since I disciplined you."
Nyria, the woman whose every movent, gesture, and posture were so graceful that she seed like the reincarnation of dignity itself, had a very unfamiliar expression on her face that day.
She was smiling. No, not smiling. To be more accurate, a diabolical grin carved across her face as she approached Doran while cracking her knuckles.
"El-elder sister, I'm-I'm sorry," Doran whispered, tears brimming in the poor kid's eyes.
Bam... Thwak... Thud...
"Aghh! Please—crash... bash—soone... save !"
Pow...
"Ackk! Not there..."
Whack...
"U-u, shouldn't you stop her?" I asked. "The poor kid's gonna die!"
"If you're that concerned, shouldn't you try stopping her?" U replied, equally afraid.
"I think we shouldn't interfere in their family matters."
"Indeed."
The beating continued for several minutes as U and I silently witnessed the demon unleashed on young Doran.
---
"Aow, pretty lady, that stings," I whimpered. "Please be gentle."
"Stop whining like a child," Nyria hissed. "Wasn't it embarrassing enough getting wounded by one?"
We were sitting on the chairs inside U's room, where Nyria was applying so dicine on the cut on my hand.
"Elder sister, you never treated my wounds," another whimper ca from the bed.
Doran sat there while U was clumsily trying to bandage his stomach wound. His mouth was swollen, and both of his eyes were blackened from Nyria's punches. I could barely recognize him.
"Are you asking for more beating?" Nyria growled, giving him side-eyes.
"Elder sister, that man is deceiving you," Doran declared, glaring at in anger.
"You keep saying I deceived her. What have I even done?" I asked.
"Elder sister, I understand you love this man dearly, but he's already betrothed to this lady here," he said, pointing at U, completely ignoring my question.
Nyria's face flustered, and in the blink of an eye, she leapt toward Doran and landed a sharp slap on his head.
"What nonsense are you spitting, punk!?"
"Elder sister, you must listen to !" Doran pleaded. "I don't know what spell he's cast on you that you haven't already noticed yet. See, he's also wearing the engagent ring!"
"I already know he's betrothed to U," Nyria snapped. "And who told you that I fancy him?"
"Didn't you say it yourself in the store that he's your beloved?" Doran blurted. "You even returned to the inn holding his hand!"
Nyria's face instantly turned rosy as she growled, "So it was you spying on us? No wonder I felt an annoying presence following ."
She grabbed his hair and muttered while pulling it, "How dare you eavesdrop on your elder sister's business?"
"Pretty lady, don't be too harsh on the poor kid," I said softly, touching her hand that was pulling Doran's hair. "He was only worried for his beautiful elder sister."
"Hmph, I'll let it slide this ti," she murmured, retreating her hand.
"Please forgive for my earlier rudeness," Doran said. "I got ahead of myself and thought you were having an affair behind my sister's back."
"It's alright, kid. No harm done," I replied, rubbing his head.
He shrugged my hand away and spoke further, "May I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Are you a Thunderbane?"
"Since I have this forehead mark and lightning attribute, so... yeah, you can say that."
"B-but how could that be possible? Didn't all the Thunderbanes die fifteen years ago?" he gasped, his lips trembling in disbelief.
After a brief pause, he spoke again. "May you tell your na?"
"It's Raj."
"Raj? Is that your real na?"
"Yeah... why?"
"That's strange. I've read about all the Thunderbanes in our history lessons, and there was no one nad Raj."
"How could there be? I wasn't even on this planet at that ti," I chuckled inwardly.
"How did you manage to survive back then?"
I knew I'd be asked this question whenever soone discovered I was a Thunderbane, so I'd prepared a universal and logical answer that carried no plot holes.
"I don't know, buddy. My mories of that ti have completely vanished," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
He turned to Nyria and began inquiring her. "Where did you et him?"
"None of your business," Nyria replied coldly.
"How long have—"
"If you dare ask one more question, I'll cut your tongue."
Doran's body trembled, and his hands instantly flew to his mouth.
"Why are you scared, kid?" I laughed. "No way she'd do that... right?"
Doran didn't reply, nor did his terrified expression change, so I turned to Nyria and asked, "Right, pretty lady?"
Her arms were folded as she stared at Doran, and her face clearly said, I would absolutely do that.
"How did you know I was here?" Nyria asked Doran.
He finally let go of his mouth before whispering, "Father already knew you wanted to find the cure for your heart, so he didn't stop you when you ran away from ho, but—"
"You're a runaway princess!!??" both U and I exclaid in shock.
"May you leave the room? I need to have a personal conversation with my brother," she asked, her voice serious and laced with a hint of sadness.
Accepting her request, we gave the siblings their privacy and left the room.
"I wonder why her face suddenly saddened," I murmurred, lying on my bed.
She had told she suffered from so heart disease, and it was the reason she risked entering the Forest of Gumiho alone, but I didn't know she was a runaway.
"Now that I think about it, I don't really know anything about her background. I don't know why, but I really want to know more about her," I murmured. "Alright then! I'll ask her tomorrow."
My body was covered in sweat from the earlier fight, so I took a long warm shower. As I ca out, soone knocked on the door.
I opened it and found Nyria standing there, her face shadowed with sadness.
She asked in a low tone, her voice almost cracking, "May I sleep with you tonight?"
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