PMEVBO 108

Aquila and Atsula were born in a tavern on the outskirts of the city. They grew up there until they were about six years old.

Their mother, who worked at the tavern in exchange for room and board, died of childbed fever shortly after giving birth to the twins. She was a stranger who had come from outside the city, and their father, whose identity was unknown, might as well have been nonexistent.

And so, the two newborns became complete orphans.

The tavern owner took the twins in. But she was not a very kind person.

‘Black hair and red eyes, they must be of the Order’s bloodline. But why is that holy bloodline here?’

‘You know Dina, who died a few years back? These are the babies she gave birth to and left behind.’

‘Oh, really? Then I suppose the father was a clergyman.’

‘Well then, would you like to taste the sacred flavor of liquor, blessed by the Order’s bloodline?’

The twin brothers were nothing more than capital for her business. Except when they were newborns, she had never properly cared for them. The two had to fend for themselves by filling customers’ glasses and begging for scraps.

It was one day when they were six years old.

Aquila was very sick. As he listened to his older brother, Atsula, being thrown out of the tavern after making a scene demanding medicine for his sick younger brother, he lost consciousness.

But when Aquila regained consciousness, he wasn’t in the basement storage room of the tavern, but a cozy, warm bedroom.

‘Awake? If you don’t want to die, get back to sleep. Ouch!’

A man with a cold expression flicked his older brother’s forehead.

‘You brat, what kind of tone is that to use with your sick younger brother?’

‘You’re supposed to be an archbishop, and yet you hit people…!?’

‘I didn’t hit you. I was just patting you.’

Maacheva chuckled softly as he gently pushed his brother’s swollen forehead with his finger. He sat on the bed and patted Aquila on the shoulder.

‘You’ve been through a lot. You’re fine now. Sleep as much as you want, and you’ll be healthy again when you wake up.’

Tears trickled out of his eyes, which were burning hot from the fever. And so, Aquila went back to sleep.

He later heard the full story from his older brother. Atsula had met Archbishop Maacheva while begging on the street for money to buy medicine for Aquila. Once Maacheva learned the whole story, he went to the tavern owner to negotiate, and as a result, the two were allowed to stay at his residence…

Aquila’s memories of Maacheva were vague. During their stay at Maacheva’s residence, he had been asleep the entire time because of his illness. He was grateful to the man who had saved his ​Read on​life, but that was all. He felt no particular attachment.

However, his older brother felt differently. From the day he attended the funeral of Maacheva and his lover, Hadelin, his brother refused to eat a single bite and drowned in sorrow.

As time passed, it seemed as though he was gradually getting better… but that was a grave misconception.

Lucariel, the child born to Maacheva and Hadelin. Upon learning of the child’s existence, his brother became a hopeless case. His personality, which had always been as foul as a rag dipped in sewage, grew even worse. He was usually a rational man, but whenever Lucariel was involved, he acted like a madman.

Honestly, Aquila couldn’t understand it. How could he hate the son Maacheva left behind so much, when he had loved and adored Maacheva so much?

When Aquila found out he had even gone so far as to try to poison him, he attacked his brother for the first time in his life. At the time, his brother had only just recovered from divine power shock, so he easily won. That was the first victory he’d ever won against his brother.

‘……Lucariel, where is that bastard now?’

‘In Hell…….’

Not only had Lucariel, whom he loathed with every fiber of his being, manifested his divine power, but Atsula had even suffered divine power shock as a result. That was why Aquila was anxious. He was afraid he might fly into a rage and vow to chase Lucariel all the way to Hell and tear him to pieces… After all, his brother was capable of such madness.

But surprisingly, Atsula remained calm.

‘…Is that so? Serves him right.’

…That attitude had persisted for six years now.

Even though they were born of the same womb and had spent their entire lives together, Aquila could not understand the man who was his brother. A man who bore such a striking resemblance to Maacheva had appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, he was terrified of how much his presence would drive Atsula into a fit of madness.

Bam!

Aquila, who had been following Atsula from a distance, looked up in a start. His twin brother had finally smashed through the door to the break room the man had entered. Aquila let out a sigh.

“Ha, that lunatic…”

***

Bam!

I barely managed to lift my head. Seeing that familiar face again made me even more frustrated. Meanwhile, Atsula walked into the break room as if it were his own living room, and looked down at me.

Fortunately, the rate at which my HP was decreasing gradually slowed down and finally stopped at a critical point.

HP: 9/100

From experience, around 9 HP usually keeps me from fainting…

……I need to be careful not to let it drop any further.

My condition wasn’t good due to my depleted HP. My heart still raced from the fear I’d felt while watching my HP plummet. It was hard to speak politely in a situation like this. I rubbed my dizzy head and spoke irritably.

“Didn’t we finish this conversation in the garden? The more I think about it, the more infuriating it is, did you chase me here just to beat me up?”

Just then, his younger brother followed him into the room.

“……Sorry to interrupt your rest. My brother said there’s something he wants to check.”

Aquila stepped between his brother and me, and gave an awkward smile. I sighed and shifted my gaze from the younger brother to the older one.

“Please understand why I can’t get up. I’m not feeling well.”

“……”

“So, what is it you want to confirm?”

Atsula just stared at my face without saying a word. Just as my patience was reaching its limit, he said,

“……What’s your relationship with Maacheva?”

What’s my relationship with him?

……What relationship? We’re father and son.

But I couldn’t tell him the truth. After all, I wasn’t here in the guise of Lucariel.

“We’re not related in any way.”

Atsula’s eyes narrowed.

“You look more like him than his biological son… and you say you’re not related?”

His biological son… Those words, coming from Atsula’s mouth, made my stomach churn.

In that moment, I recalled the first time I , as Lucariel, met that bastard. From the very first meeting, he had grabbed my chin without warning and scrutinized my face.

‘Tsk, look at that hair color and those eyes. …And what the hell is this fucking mark?’

Then, he went so far as to shake my chin and give a crooked grin.

‘How can a son look so nothing like his father? Are you really Maacheva’s biological son? Did your high-and-mighty mother cheat on him or something?’

At those words, I lost my temper and lunged at him with everything I had.

Even though I’d matured early, he was a grown man nine years my senior. Naturally, it was hard to win against him. In the end, I was the one who got beaten up. If Aquila hadn’t rushed over late to pull us apart, my injuries would’ve been even worse.

And now he says “his biological son”? What a joke…

He only acknowledged me as Maacheva’s son when it suited him. I was so stunned by his shamelessness that I couldn’t help but laugh.

Atsula waited for my answer without any prompting. His uncharacteristically quiet demeanor made me frown.

…Why is he so obsessed with Maacheva?

Come to think of it, that bastard had always been like that. He’d constantly bring up his name to pick a fight. Since I’d been on the receiving end of it before, I’d ended up answering to his provocations. But right now, it was better for my mental health to just answer him quickly and send him on his way.

……Is it a bit of a stretch to insist we’re not related at all?

That applied to Kang Je-in’s body, but Lucariel’s real body looked as if his father had birthed him alone.

“Well, since I often hear people say we look alike, maybe we’re distant relatives.”

“……”

“Since I’ve answered your question, would you mind leaving now?”

Just go. My head already hurts, and now my neck hurts from looking up at him.

I lowered my head while rubbing the back of my neck with my fist.

“……Hey, look up.”

Before I could even react, my chin was roughly grabbed. As my head was forced up, Atsula’s face was right in front of me.

Just as a string of curses was about to spill out from my mouth, he said,

“……You’re bleeding from your nose.”

Huh?

When I wiped under my nose with my hand, red blood smeared onto it.

“Ah.”

……It was true.