Chapter 38: The Brother Complex Pasifal
The Gate of Truth… Their introduction in the book is pretty much the same as what Carlos told me. Flames of sin, the power of bl**d sacrifice. But, turns out, these folks split off from the Church!
“By the way, Pepé, why are you a Pope Knight? Seriously, I’ve been puzzling over this all day. You’re not fooling me, right? Huh?”
I took a small bite of my donut, savoring the rich flavor, completely focused, not glancing away.
The next section in the book read:
[The Gate of Truth sacrifices its brethren and even itself, drawing forth the Infernal Fire of the Goddess of Sin, continuously deepening its sins in exchange for power that rivals divine miracles…]
“Hey Pepé, talk to me! Reading is so boring~ What have you been doing all these years? Sorry, I forgot you don’t remember. My bad!”
Ignoring the pesky flies buzzing about, I dove back into my reading.
[Power that rivals divine miracles…]
“Hey, remember when we used to sneak up to the Snow Mountain to catch silver foxes? Just that little one behind the castle. My brother and I said there weren’t any, but you insisted there were. So the three of us went up and ended up shivering, waiting forever without seeing a single shadow. On the way back, you fell into an ice pit and cried your eyes out! Hahaha, good thing it wasn’t too deep…”
[Power of divine miracles…]
“Pepé—”
“Phew—”
Clap!
I closed the book and raised my head, taking a deep breath and smiling brightly at Pasifal.
“Pasifal.”
Pasifal was lounging on my bed, propped up on his head, looking at me. He must have seen that I finally put down the book and was about to address him—he looked very pleased.
“Pepé, you’re not reading anymore.”
Reading? With you, this annoying, noisy, bothersome guy buzzing in my ear, I can’t read!
I took a sip of milk to settle my emotions, trying to make my expression a little friendlier.
I did have a delightful idea in mind, so I won’t get mad at you. Besides, staying angry is bad for the skin, and wrinkles are a real nightmare!
“Um, I want to, talk to you.”
Upon hearing this, Pasifal sat up straight, and his expression grew even happier.
“Oh! About what?”
I nearly sprayed him with milk.
What do you think I want to talk about? All that chatter you just spouted—how could I even remember?
After pondering briefly, I asked him, “Pasifal, what do you think I am to you?”
“Uh, what do you mean?”
Pasifal paused, looking a bit confused, as if he didn’t quite get my question.
I tilted my head, thought a bit longer, then rephrased it.
“Who am I to you?”
“I’m your brother! Your second brother!” His tone suddenly shot up, excitement coursing through him as he flailed his arms about. “Pepé, do you really not remember anything? Look at me! I’m Pasifal, your family! You have a grumpy older brother named Lafael, your mother is Catherine of the Winter Moon, your father…”
“Stop!” I quickly interrupted, “How should a brother treat his sister?”
This question didn’t mean much; I just wanted to see his reaction first.
“Pepé, you admit I’m your brother…”
“I didn’t say anything! You answer my question first.”
Upon hearing this, Pasifal immediately raised his hand, looking all serious and swearing an oath: “As a competent brother, I Pasifal must treat my sister well, always listen to her, never lie or be mean to her, share fun things, make sure she’s the first to enjoy delicious food. If she’s sad, I’ll cheer her up, and if she’s happy, I’ll make her even happier, because my sister is always the cutest!”
He spouted this with such fluency it was as if he’d rehearsed it countless times.
I stared at Pasifal with wide eyes, suddenly at a loss for words—his performance had disrupted my train of thought.
How do I even describe this feeling?
Was he trained for this?
Peilo is no ordinary person.
“What’s wrong, Pepé? Did I say something wrong?”
Seeing me standing there like a deer in headlights, Pasifal looked puzzled.
“Uh, no. You just… made me think… about what I was trying to say…”
After a brief moment, it finally hit me.
“So, what if someone bullies her?”
“Then they’ll be picking their teeth off the ground… Not that, Pepé. Why do you ask this?” Pasifal was taken aback, “Did someone bully you!?”
Gotcha!
“Uh-huh.” I nodded, feigning a pout, my eyes sparkling like autumn waters.
Pasifal’s heart melted.
“Who was it! Pepé, tell me—was it that scoundrel, the Prince? I swear, if he dares to bully my sister, he’ll regret it!”
The furious look on his face made it clear he’d had his fair share of clashes with that pesky Prince before.
But this wasn’t the outcome I wanted, so I immediately shook my head.
“No. It’s… that Bearded Swordsman who’s with me.”
“The Bearded Swordsman? That guy who looked half asleep this morning, with all those whiskers?”
Pfft, half asleep… while Carlos does look kinda worn out, calling him half asleep…
I buried my face in my hand to stifle a laugh.
“Yep.”
“How did he bully you?”
Perfect, just the attitude I needed.
So I adopted a serious expression and raised my fingers.
“He, laughed at me, called me dumb.”
Pasifal’s face hardened.
“He drew on my face.”
Pasifal’s eyes widened in anger.
“He knocked my pie on the ground.”
Pasifal’s expression tightened, and his body stiffened, eyes darting around.
“He messed up my hair on purpose.”
Pasifal once again appeared furious.
“And then he peeked under my… skirt and bragged about the color.”
That last bit made Pasifal’s face turn bright red, like a tomato.
“Preposterous!” He leaped to his feet, “How dare he… how dare he… humiliate my sister like that! b*stard! I’ll make sure he pays in bl**d! Unforgivable, I’m envious that he saw what even I haven’t…”
I narrowed my eyes, slowly squinting them.
“Ah no, I mean, this guy is just despicable! Seriously, he’s driving me crazy!”
“I’m scared of him,” I lowered my head, covering my face with my hands, then stealthily smeared my face with some spit, raising my head again, looking all teary-eyed.
Sure enough, when Pasifal saw this, he panicked.
“I get it, Pepé, don’t cry! Brother will avenge you. Just tell me, what do you want me to do?”
“Can you… keep him out… of here? I’m scared he’ll do something… excessive. Boo-hoo.”
“Alright, here’s the plan, Pepé. Just sleep soundly tonight. I won’t go anywhere, just guard your room. If he dares to come in and bully you, I’ll beat him up!”
My expression changed, and for a moment, I forgot all about pretending to cry.
“Cough, no. Can you keep him out of Shanter Castle? Just thinking about him being so close makes me uneasy.”
“Not let him into the castle?” Pasifal suddenly seemed troubled, pacing around the room with a frown, “But he is a guest of the old man, and who knows what status he holds… would that be a bit rude…?”
Oh no, it seemed like he was wavering. That would mean all my effort with acting would be wasted! It’s hard work to perform so convincingly!
Looks like I need to crank up the pressure.
I found my footing and struck a helpless damsel pose, using the most feeble tone I could muster, saying, “It feels like he’ll be back soon… I’m so scared.”
“Well, what do you think we should do…” Seeing the look on my face, Pasifal hesitated for a moment before finally gritting his teeth, “Then how about this? Brother will keep watch with the Hunters at the castle gate tonight, I promise he won’t get in. How about that? You just focus on sleeping soundly, okay?”
“Is that really alright?”
“No problem! After all, you are my little sister! While the Hunters might not stop him, I certainly will. So don’t worry!”
After considering it for a while, I finally nodded.
“Okay then.”
Pasifal grinned.
“Great! I’ll go right now. You get some rest.”
“Sure.” I also gave him a sweet smile.
“Off I go!”
“Oh, and thanks for the bracelet.”
“Heh, no need for thanks with your brother!”
Pasifal scratched his head and quickly exited the room.
Click—the door shut behind him.
Heh heh.
Finally, that annoying guy is gone! What a relief.
I wonder if Carlos will come back tonight…
Guess I’ll just keep reading.
