My Sister Picked up the Male Lead

 Is he even making any sense?

Knox’s words seemed to have some nuance behind it. He smiled, putting me in a difficult position. I couldn’t answer his question because I haven’t met anyone else in the past 10 years, but I felt bad for him.

“So you don’t have an answer for that.”

“Haha… Isn’t silence also considered an answer sometimes?”

Knox looked at me for some time before turning his head.

Seeing that he was swinging his sword again, can I assume that he agreed with me? Well, I did say that I would go but wasn’t his reaction too lukewarm. I was willing to put myself at risk for him!

Usually, someone would’ve asked whether it was okay to bring someone on such a dangerous mission.

Even though he had lost his memories, the way he only looked for things that benefitted him was the same as it was in the novel. But he hasn’t acted in any way like a crazy person. I didn’t know when he would turn scary…

I felt like I was looking at a balloon with a bomb attached to it that could explode if I just touched it.

“Shouldn’t you stop now? It looks like it’s going to be day soon.”

The dark night had passed and the sky was beginning to light up signalling that dawn was coming. It was most likely that the sun would rise in an hour. Probably thinking the same as me, he followed behind me. After entering the house, I momentarily separated from Knox.

Knox grabbed my hand.1

“…Where are you going?”

“To my room.”

“But your room is here.”

The room he pointed to was the room he and I were supposed to use. Looking at that room, I flicked my eyes around uncomfortably.

“I was going to sleep in my sister’s room.”

“Why?”

“I mean, my sister is not even here… Is there any reason for us to continue using the same room?”

I looked at Knox. He took off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, exposing his chest and abdomen. He had explained that he took it off because it was hot.2

‘The Knox now is 19, right?’

Even though I had seen it before, it was hard to get used to seeing such a well-defined body. If I had continued to sleep in the same room with him, I would have been alone together with a half-naked Knox… It might be nice to look at but it wouldn’t help my sleep.

It would be strange if I could sleep peacefully with a half-naked man beside me.1

That man was to blame for me always dozing off during the day.

“Uhm, I just want to sleep peacefully.”

“I don’t remember ever affecting your sleep.”2

Knox strolled over and grabbed the doorknob. Click. He locked my sister’s room.1

“W-w-why did you do that?”

“Explain it so I can understand.”

“… Do I have to explain why I want a good night’s sleep?”

“Why can’t you sleep well next to me?”

“Huh?”

…. I mean, sir, how could I sleep peacefully next to your half-naked self?

Under his black hair that was falling over his forehead, Knox’s eyes were clearly visible. It seemed like he wouldn’t move until I gave him a clear explanation. Wait, I didn’t even know why he was being so stubborn about this.

“I don’t care anymore. I’m just going to go so can you move out of the way?”

“You say you’re going but why are you still standing here?”

“… Because I said I wanted to go to my room…”

Of course, I meant my sister’s room.

Knox turned his head silently. Knox was tall enough to look down at me easily and his shadow was even bigger than his body.

“If we slept together, wouldn’t Knox be uncomfortable? That bed is not that big…”

With no idea what kind of face I was showing, I continued speaking.

“…”

For a moment, Knox’s eyes turned fierce. He looked like a wolf that had his meat taken away.

“Fine.”

He slowly let go of the doorknob that he had been grabbing so tightly.

“… I get it.”

Knox looked at me somewhat disapprovingly before turning around. Because he showed me a rare glimpse of his emotions, I could feel his discontent.

Discontent? What was he discontented with?

As he begun moving away, I tilted my head and said.

“Good night.”

“You give me both the disease and the cure.”4

I was surprised that he said something so unexpected. But I forgot about it as soon as I entered my room.

***

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

The morning came. The fact that I only slept in the early morning and that my sister wasn’t here, allowed me to sleep until the late morning. Although I have already woken up, I closed my eyes since I liked staying in the blanket. My eyes remained close until I heard the door open.

Knock. Knock.

“…”

It was only when I opened my eyes that I saw a ball of yarn as black as a shadow. Looking at it again, I realised it was hair. Knox was blinking his big eyes in front of me.

“Uhm, Knox?”

Knox hesitated and grabbed the sheets.

“Amy. Amy.”

“What’s wrong?”

As if he was thirsty, he called me urgently. Like his heart couldn’t let the topic he was trying to bring up go, he grabbed the sheets tightly and bit his lips. Looking at his actions, I figured out what he was trying to say.

“Was it because I wasn’t there in the morning?”

“…”

To be honest, seeing him nod his head was cute. Before I knew it, I was looking at the boy with a chin on my pillow. A happy smile was plastered on my lips.1

“I slept in my sister’s room since she’s not here.”

In other words, I was avoiding you.

“If only you were this cute at night.”

“…?”

No, I shouldn’t call him cute. I removed the sheets from Knox’s hands and got up.

“Should we eat breakfast?”

“Yes.”

While I stretched and opened the curtains, Knox followed me persistently.

“What should we eat today? An herb sandwich? Fried eggs? We’ve been eating vegetables all this time so maybe some ham would be good…”

“All’s good.”

Knox, who quickly nodded, came to my side and grabbed my finger. Knox usually only grabbed my clothes so I was surprised when he grabbed my hands.

“Amy.”

I had never actually held someone else’s hands before, but holding his hands felt strange. It felt as if I was holding a baby’s hands.

“Huh?”

Bowing his head, Knox said in a small voice.

“… Don’t leave me.”3

I looked at the hand that was grabbing my fingers.

Did he hesitate so much just to tell me this?

It wasn’t that difficult to say but he had to grab my hands and say those words in such a small voice. I couldn’t help but laugh at how sad this was.

“I won’t leave you. Knox, I’m here, aren’t I?”

This was weird. The Knox I was looking at now seemed to overlap with that of the man who couldn’t accept sleeping alone last night.

I squatted down to look at the boy.

“Knox, you don’t know whether you have a real ‘home’ to go back to, right?”

“… Yes.”

“So, you don’t know if there’s someone out there who cherishes you.”

The male lead who had been abandoned by his family did not have many people who welcomed him. But that doesn’t mean everyone hated him. The Knighthood of Dawn that he led, ‘Lux’, followed him for life. Even in the novel, they looked for him diligently.

“You may not remember anything now Knox, but someday you will remember what you call ‘home’. A lot of things would change.”

“…”

Now, neither the young Knox nor the 19 year old Knox remembers anything. When I run away, he will get back his memories. But I hope that he will regain his memories after I run away. When he finds out that I had ran away, I want him to think of me and my sister as memories, people of his past that were just passers-by in his life.

“if Knox still wants to stay here even after remembering everything, then come tell me.”

But that won’t happen.

There was no way that this man would let the Crown Prince, who tried to kill him, go. Like in the novel, he would take revenge and travel to the capital.

Even if my sister didn’t die, the male lead won’t let the Crown Prince live.

“… So if I say I want to stay, would you let me?”

My relationship with Knox will break someday.

Feeling more and more pity for him, Knox seemed to be seeping into the cracks of my heart and taking up more and more space. But still, that didn’t change the fact that we would separate one day. It was much better to run away than to die at the hands of the pursuers.

… Sorry I couldn’t respond properly, male lead. But you’ll definitely meet people who are better than me. Running away from Knox one day would be a mission that requires some sensitivity. I could only hope that he had good memories here.1

“…Really?”

“Yup.”

Knowing nothing, Knox clasped my hand tightly and gave a small smile. A blush bloomed on his white cheeks as if they were camellia flowers.

What should I do so that the affection I give him was neither too deep nor too shallow?

Looking at the boy, I tried to smile affectionately. Then, carefully, I patted Knox’s head.

Fluffy.

… What kind of hair was this fluffy? While I was kept in a good mood by patting his head, Knox who had unconsciously closed his eyes started to laugh.3

“We should eat now.”

“Yup.”

After we ate, we continued with our daily routine a little differently. Usually, I would have begun by doing housework or teaching Knox. But today, instead of teaching him, I sat next to him and opened a book.

Looking at the book’s title ‘Book on Monsters’ curiously, Knox soon began to read it diligently. He even changed his posture. He crossed his legs while reading the book.

Since he was cute, I smiled a little.

***

In a flash, half a day had passed.

In the hours of the dark night where light was only coming from the moon, Knox stared at the long sword.

“Do you remember how to sharpen a sword?”

“I don’t know.”

He said he didn’t know but he was touching the blade with such an experienced hand. And when I handed him the whetstone, I could only look at him in wonder. Though I was the one who gave him the sword, I didn’t expect him to use it so well.

“You said you didn’t know how to use it, but you seemed to be handling it well. It looks like how my sister would do it.”

“I guess. I really didn’t know but I just thought that maybe it went something like this.”

… Was this what you call muscle memory?

Looking at the man who was sharpening his sword, I was suddenly reminded of the Knox in the day.

As time went by, I seemed to be recognising the two as completely different entities.

Young Knox may be quite reserved but he wasn’t the man who gave cold stares. On the other hand, the man at night had a chilling gaze that made anyone who looked into it flinch. He didn’t show any boyishness at all.

I felt more comfortable with the Knox in the day than with the Knox now who made me feel comparatively less comfortable and scared.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

After finishing, he stood beside me with the sword in one hand. We only had one door leading out of our house, so we walked together towards the fence.

“So, you have to walk towards that Gardenia tree over there and walk straight towards a 10 o’clock direction. Walk straight for 10 minutes and you’ll find the abandoned house.”

“It’s closer than I thought it’d be.”

“I don’t think so. Actually walking there would be a different story. Walking in a straight line in the forest is harder than walking straight on flat ground. So, if you actually walked from the tree, it’ll probably take more than 10 minutes.”

At least, that was what my sister said.

“Just in case she gets lost, from time to time, my sister would tie a piece of white cloth to a tree. Even if we didn’t run into any monsters along the way, it’s going to be tough getting there.”

“I see.”

“But we shouldn’t be wary of just monsters. There are poisonous plants on the way to the abandoned house.”

When something passes by, Tethes, a fruit of a particular poisonous plant would explode. The seed would be dispersed for germination but the gas and liquid that comes out as a result is seriously poisonous. It was this fruit that gave me and my sister a lot of suffering when we first came to this house.

“I’ll tell you more as we go. Let’s go.”

After opening the fence, Knox got out first. But before I could even take a step, I looked at the gloomy forest and gulped nervously. I grabbed my bag that was full of things.

Diana, don’t worry. I won’t do anything dangerous.

My sister had always been worried about me. But when it comes to knowledge on herbs and plants, I knew more. Although my sister acknowledged that I was better, the forest was still too dangerous for me to go alone.

We managed to find the Gardenia tree faster than expected. Knox probably had night vision. He might have lost his memories but his body did not change. Well, considering his abilities, he seemed to be quite fit and able to do a lot with his body.

“It feels creepy.”

I murmured as I gazed into the dark, looking at the path through the forest.

“Well, it’s the night.”

“… Aren’t you scared, Knox?”

“It’s not scary.”

“Wow… I’m jealous. I’m still really scared that a ghost or something would pop out from the dark.”

“A ghost?”

Knox, who asked, looked at me.

“What’s really scary is not the dead. The dead can’t even do anything to you.”

“Aha… Huh? Don’t tell me, Knox, what are you even thinking about?”

His eyes shone like polished pebbles underneath the moonlight. He shook his head.

“No, it just popped into my head. It was nothing much so the thought went away as fast as it came.”

… No, wait. What was he actually thinking about? Cold sweat started dripping from my body.

But I pretended to be calm and turned my head.

No way. He couldn’t have regained his memories so quickly. He probably only remembered fragments of his memories.

But to ease this anxiety that was building up inside me, I tried to ask.

“Knox…”

“Shush.”

Knox quickly grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me.

“There’s something there.”

“Ah…”

Kriiii

Something that sounded like a bird’s cry pierced through the quiet forest. Just like he said, there seemed to be something behind the bushes.

There was only one thing that could scream like this in the Night Forest. I grabbed my bag and spoke calmly.

“That’s a gllylus.”

“Gllylus?”

“A monster that has a bird for its body and a lion for its head. Knox, remove your sword! And before you swing your sword, you have to listen to me carefully. Our goal here is not to kill monsters.”

As I clung to the hem of his clothes. I spoke quickly. Even when I was with my sister, I had never seen a gllylus before. Fortunately, it wasn’t a very strong monster neither was it very troublesome to deal with.

“Knox, you’re still not very used to the sword yet. So only swing the sword when I tell you to. Can you do that?”

“Got it.”

Even at this moment, he remained calm. He lowered his cold gaze. Suddenly, I felt as if everything would be fine. I looked towards the bushes.

Pshhh.

Of course, gllyluses emerged from the bushes. Three lion heads popped out, each with a slightly different colour. They were are still a shade of dark blue to blend into the darkness of this forest.

Kyaak.

With their unique voices, they screeched and ran towards us. I quickly fished out the item I had stored in my bag.

Kreeeek.

Throwing powder at the gllyluses, they screamed.

“Now!”

Surprisingly, Knox’s sword cut cleanly and quickly. Unexpectedly, he aimed at the exact spot he was supposed to.

The liquid that had erupted from its body was green. Running away from the splattering liquid, I grabbed my skirt and moved away quickly.

“This way!”

Thanks to the markers my sister put up, it wasn’t difficult to make our way. At that moment, I was very grateful for my sister’s meticulousness.

“What did you throw at it just now?”

“Tarrow powder! It’s a type of powder that is deadly to monsters with wings. Its effects are only temporary though.”

“That’s why we’re running.”

That’s right!

I used to make items that would help my sister when she goes out to hunt. I usually spread this powder around the fence to protect us from any winged monsters.

“I don’t know how effective it is… but it’ll probably force it to sleep.”

“I don’t think so.”

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“What?”

I soon realised what he meant. In front of me, there were two gllyluses with another poking its head out of the swaying bushes. Soon, there was a total of seven gllyluses that appeared from both sides, crying menacingly.

“This is dangerous.”

Cold sweat broke out on my back.