Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 66

The nights spent with Elena were incredibly intense.

It was a series of scenes that were sticky enough to make one wonder if we were truly siblings. Moreover, Elena’s attitude was different from usual.

“Elena, what’s wrong? You seem unusually persistent today.”

“….”

Elena didn’t respond to my question and focused on the moment we were sharing our love.

‘Is it because of Veronica?’

That’s probably the main reason. Felicita’s pregnancy recently could be another factor, though.

If Elena didn’t want to answer, there wasn’t much I could do.

The best I could do was reciprocate her affection with double the warmth.

Before I knew it, it was 2 a.m.

I was getting tired, but Elena was the first to fall into a deep sleep. Unlike her, who was breathing heavily in bed, I was still somewhat relaxed.

“Luke.”

“Yeah?”

I thought she might caution me about being on guard for any mishaps concerning Kazin’s drug delivery scheduled for this afternoon—well, technically, today since it was past midnight.

“It seems like Veronica sees you not just as an older brother but as a man. What do you think?”

“…You think I’m that untrustworthy?”

“No, it’s not that.”

When I probed again, Elena hastily sat up, looking startled.

She approached me without a stitch on. As Elena’s chest pressed against my back, I felt a strong sensation of pressure.

“I’m sorry… I just said that out of a bit of insecurity.”

It was a sight hard to imagine if I thought of Elena as usual.

I caressed one of her cheeks, and the moment my hand touched her skin, she grabbed my hand with her own.

“I’ll assure you it’s not like that at all.”

Even though we shared blood, we had only known each other for less than a day in this world.

If anything, it was still awkward.

Wait, maybe that’s why she’s thinking of me as a man?

“…Okay. I’ll believe you.”

“I didn’t realize you’d worry about that.”

“….”

In some ways, Elena seemed to fit the mold of someone with a strong exterior but a soft interior.

I stroked her cheek gently, and she didn’t push my hand away.

How long did we stay like that?

When I next opened my eyes, it was morning.

‘What’s up with Felicita? She’s still asleep?’

Looking at the time, I realized it was a typical hour for Felicita to have already arrived.

“Elena, rest well.”

I covered the still-soundly-sleeping Elena with a blanket. Without a stitch on, she was at risk of catching a cold.

After moving away from the bed, I headed straight to the bathroom.

I tried to make as little noise as possible to keep Elena from waking up, but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought.

“….”

Even after I finished bathing, Felicita hadn’t shown up yet. With the situation dragging on, I couldn’t help becoming more anxious and decided to change locations.

I left my room and headed to Felicita’s Room.

Once I stepped into the hallway, my eyes couldn’t help but dart towards the room where Veronica was staying. Considering I had knocked her out, she might well have woken up by now.

Of course, even if she had woken, it was probably a bit awkward to do anything.

Beep.

As soon as I entered Felicita’s Room, a small figure swiftly zipped towards me.

“….”

It was Hebili, a large, peculiar moth that crazily healed other creatures. The little guy welcomed me and, as it often did with its owner, landed on my head.

“Hey, you! Stop moving around!”

It was fine if it landed and stayed still, but for some reason, it just had to wiggle around on my head like it was having a dance party. I couldn’t let that slide.

“Kiiyiiik!”

As I grabbed it, it thrashed about, trying to escape my grasp, but I had no intention of setting it free.

Once I set it down on the floor, Hebili climbed right back to my body and made its way up my legs towards my back. It was definitely trying to check if I was hurt.

As important as Hebili was, the real priority was Felicita.

‘What an unexpected situation.’

It was odd that she was still sound asleep. She usually didn’t sleep this late.

“Brother.”

“…What are you doing here?”

Why was Veronica here?!

She suddenly appeared from the corner of my vision.

“….”

What on earth was going on? Could Felicita sleeping in this long somehow relate to Veronica?

“Why are you here?”

“Don’t misunderstand. Your sister brought me here.”

Sister… Had they already gotten close enough to use that term? Even if not, it was true that for Veronica, using that title for Felicita was quite fitting.

“It’s pretty rare for Felicita to sleep this long. Did you two talk all night?”

“…Yes. She told me about you, brother.”

Veronica said that Felicita had shared my story with her, and she had given Felicita her own story in return.

“….”

While I was busy sharing love with Elena, Felicita had stayed awake all night for my sister.

As I sent a pitying glance toward Felicita, Veronica moved slowly closer.

I instinctively reacted and shifted away from Veronica’s approach.

“Brother, I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“It’s fine. Nothing actually happened.”

That was, of course, an obvious statement. Whatever Veronica had been planning, I had taken care of things by knocking her out.

“…Still, what I said back then was sincere.”

“No, that’s a bit….”

Veronica seemed unable to comprehend why her feelings toward me weren’t being reciprocated properly.

On the surface, she appeared stoic, yet I could see her expression looked on the brink of tears with just a little nudging.

“….”

In this situation, I recalled what Felicita had said yesterday.

While Veronica hadn’t exactly done anything wrong, I might have been part of the problem by provoking her.

“Veronica, let’s talk about this later and you should head back to your room.”

“…Yes, brother.”

Today was Tuesday, which meant it was my day with Felicita.

Although it was the day Kazin was bringing in a large shipment of drugs from Tirenia, personally, the fact that it was a day spent with Felicita held far greater significance.

*

Veronica complied with my request.

“….”

No, more accurately, that’s how it seemed.

But when Veronica suddenly stopped in the foyer, I jumped a little.

“What? Do you have something else to say?”

“I heard from my sister. It seems you’ve gotten her pregnant.”

“Yeah, but we still don’t know the gender.”

“Congratulations.”

As she relayed her words of congratulations toward Felicita’s and my child, Veronica’s expression looked painfully strained.

[The face is a mirror to the heart.]

Suddenly appearing words complicated my feelings even further.

She only shows up to mess with my mood at times like this.

“Veronica.”

“Yes?”

“Your being my sister doesn’t change. We’ll have breakfast soon, so let’s meet downstairs at the restaurant.”

“….”

Veronica merely nodded in response.

The words I offered weren’t enough to rid her of the emotional burdens she felt, but at the very least, it seemed sufficient to spark some hope.

What she truly desired wasn’t to be treated like a sister, but rather as a woman.

For now, promising her time together was the best I could do.

“Little wolf! Little wolf!”

“Shhh. Be quiet.”

As soon as Veronica disappeared, the Tokotukan in the cage started to squawk.

It was obviously a loud voice, completely disregarding the sleeping Felicita, so I instructed it to tone it down.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Keep it down. What are you going to do if Felicita wakes up?”

“Understood. Alright.”

Whether it acknowledged me or just didn’t understand, it was hard to tell if the Tokotukan was lowering its volume or just getting louder.

It wouldn’t stop chattering; it seemed like it was after something.

“Did Felicita feed you?”

“No!”

It seemed Felicita had been too engrossed in her late-night discussions with Veronica to pay attention to her animals. Usually, she cared for them as if they were “my children.”

If they were Felicita’s kids, then that made them my kids as well.

Thinking that, I began to give the appropriate amount of food to her pets in her stead.

“Here, eat up.”

I started with the Tokotukan’s beak, stuffing food in before I knew it. It was so focused on eating that it barely acknowledged my presence even though it was very grateful.

Of course, the other pets were just as famished. Especially Hebili, who lunged at me before I could even place the food in the bowl.

“Hebili, hold on.”

“Kiiyiiik!”

Its intention was clear: it wanted me to hurry up and feed it.

I was no stranger to feeding them, but my experience had only been a couple of times at most. Compared to Felicita, I wasn’t very good at it, and it took me quite a while.

“Phew… Is that everything?”

After 30 minutes, I had finally finished preparing food for all the pets.

Once I was done, I looked around the room filled with animals.

“…Luke?”

“Feli, you’re up?”

When Felicita called me, I instinctively used her nickname in response. The gaze we shared mirrored the passion I had shared with Elena just the day before.

“Where’s Veronica?”

“She went back to her room.”

“…She didn’t leave by herself, right?”

No doubt, she was perceptive.

“I had no idea that while I was with Elena, you’d be there to entertain Veronica.”

“…Now that she’s my sister-in-law, it’s only natural.”

“Thanks. Don’t worry; I already fed the kids.”

“Ah.”

It seemed like Felicita was only just realizing it. As I pointed to the animals around the room, she couldn’t hide her guilt.

“Thank you, Luke.”

“No, I’m the one who’s grateful. I bet you lost sleep because of my sister.”

“…Still, it wasn’t a meaningless conversation.”

Felicita sat up, brushing her disheveled hair, clearly bothered by it.

“Luke, can you come over here for a moment?”

“Yeah.”

It seemed like she had something she wanted to say to me.