This place was as quiet and cool as ever.

At first glance, the circular space looked like a finely decorated library.

The cabinets with doors surrounded the circular wall like bookshelves. In the center was a small table placed on a rug, with two comfortable armchairs for one person each. The soft golden sunlight of dusk streamed through the tilted glass skylight, illuminating the room.

If those cabinets were filled with books, this could be considered a quiet library built by a wealthy person for relaxation.

However, what filled those small-doored cabinets were not books. They were small urns, easily held with both hands. Inside them was fine ash.

Only one of those doors was open.

Christoph stared at the urn inside without any expression. From the start, he had no intention of touching it, so his hands didn’t move. After staring for a while, he suddenly shrugged and closed the door with a displeased look. Engraved on it were his father’s name and two dates over thirty years apart.

It seemed someone had come before Christoph. Fresh flowers were still in front of the urn cabinet. It was probably his mother.

“……How annoying.”

His voice echoed in the empty tomb, unheard by anyone.

Christoph gently rubbed his throbbing temples and turned around.

He shouldn’t have come here. Being surrounded by long dead names always made him uncomfortable. If it weren’t for the brief reminder from his mother over the phone that today was his father’s death anniversary, he would never have set foot here.

As Christoph stepped toward the door, a name suddenly appeared at the edge of his vision.

He continued to walk two, three steps…… he quickly advanced, but then his pace slowed. Finally, just as his feet seemed to stop, he hesitated and slowly took a few steps back.

On the quietly closed door in the dark corner, the name of a girl who had long since passed away was engraved. Olivia Tarten.

However, behind that door, it was empty. The girl’s body had been exhumed and buried on the hill behind the villa she once loved in the outskirts of Dresden. Inside the door, there was nothing but engraved memories.

“……”

Christoph slowly extended his index finger. The finger slowly neared the engraved name, hesitated for a moment and then retracted.

In front of the door with that beautiful name engraved, there was a freshly placed white rose, seemingly left not long ago by someone who still cherished her. Unlike Christoph’s father, who only laid a flower on her death anniversary, the girl remained beloved even though she had been gone for a long time.

“……Why did she like me?”

Christoph suddenly muttered. Hearing his own voice echoing louder than he expected, he unconsciously shrugged his shoulders.

Decades had passed, but he still remembered. The pale girl who spent most of her time bedridden would always follow him closely. She adored Christoph. She liked him even more than her own brother, though he didn’t recall ever treating her well.

There was no reason for her to like him. Not even a small reason.

As time passed, he truly wondered whether she really liked him. He even felt he didn’t understand what ‘liking’ really meant.

“I wonder about that too. Why exactly you?”

A deep voice rang out in the empty space.

Richard, holding a bouquet of white flowers, walked into the tomb.

Richard placed the bouquet into an empty vase on the table, then took out a flower and walked over to Christoph. He laid the flower down in front of the door with his sister’s name.

Standing a little way off, Christoph watched as Richard took the urn from the cupboard and gently wiped away the nonexistent dust with his palm, speaking in a dry voice.

“Do you come here every day?”

“No, not every day. Just two or three times a week.”

Richard stroked his sister’s urn, then closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment as if saying a short prayer. Christoph found the scene so unfamiliar that he looked at Richard as if he were a stranger.

Then suddenly, Richard’s gaze met Christoph’s as he turned his head.

“I saw the horse tied outside, so I knew you were here, but this is the first time I’ve seen you come here…… Oh right, today is uncle’s death anniversary, isn’t it?”

The reason Richard’s voice sounded colder than usual was not just because of the echo in the space. Although it was still early when he returned home with the sun still shining, the previous night had been weighed down by a mountain of paperwork. Before that, he had bathed and had breakfast, then tried to find some time to rest, but unexpectedly met here. In this place.

“Why did she like you?”

Richard mumbled again as if talking to himself, without looking at Christoph. He focused on gently caressing the urn.

“Even though she was bedridden and knew little of the world, she was not a foolish child. So why did she like you so much? All I can see is your outer shell.”

Christoph’s eyes sharpened, revealing his discomfort.

“In that case, you should have stopped her. I didn’t like it either. If you had stopped her, maybe it would have been better.”

Richard did not answer. The look he gave Christoph was as cold as a blade.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to stop her. Christoph didn’t know the exact conversations between the siblings, but every time Olivia approached Christoph, Richard always looked at her with disapproval and sometimes gave her some advice, but he never scolded or stopped her. Perhaps because he couldn’t bring himself to do that to his frail sister – someone who didn’t have much time left to live.

It was almost always like that. Almost every time, he would just stand a little away with a dissatisfied look – but always showed the utmost gentleness toward his sister. Just like that time.

He didn’t remember exactly when it was. Only sure that it was before summer arrived.

/Flashback/

It was an unusually hot day for spring. He remembered thinking that spring had already ended.

Sunlight occasionally shone through the dense green foliage overhead and the new grass had grown up to his calves as he limped through it.

Flowers were in full bloom. Bees buzzed everywhere, collecting nectar. During a walk, Christoph’s horse was stung by a bee and he was thrown from the saddle.

Fortunately, Christoph fell into a soft bush, so he wasn’t seriously injured, just sprained his ankle. The horse had run off, but perhaps after calming down, it would return to the stable on its own.

After checking that the sprained ankle wasn’t too much of an obstacle for walking, Christoph began to retrace his steps through the forest path.

Then he happened upon them. Not far from the entrance to the forest trail, Olivia and Richard were sitting on a rug.

It was a bright, sunny day. Olivia, who usually only strolled around the villa’s courtyard and rarely ventured into the woods, was smiling happily at that spot as if she were in great health that day. Beside her was Richard, who had brought her out, also smiling gently at his sister.

He should have taken another path, but Christoph didn’t even have time to turn and regret it. Almost at the same moment that he saw them, Richard noticed him. Immediately, Olivia looked at Richard with curious eyes because he had stopped speaking and quickly spotted Christoph.

“CHRISTOPH!” – Olivia exclaimed joyfully and quickly stood up, running toward him. Richard followed her, though he didn’t seem too keen on it.

Christoph deliberately walked normally. He didn’t want to limp in front of them. He was confident that he could endure the pain.

“Christoph! Why are you here? Are you taking a walk? How wonderful, stay a while. Today I have freshly baked white bread and the best apricot jam in the world. Oh and there’s milk too! Won’t you eat with us?”

In the past, whenever Olivia happily clung to Christoph’s arm, he would roughly shove her away, causing her to fall and get hurt – an incident that led to an argument between Christoph and Richard – but she seemed to have forgotten all about it and now smiled brightly, hovering around him.

“I’m not hungry.”

Christoph bluntly rejected her invitation and began to walk away. Richard, standing a step back, looked at him with a cold, indifferent gaze, suddenly spoke up.

“You must have tried hard to walk with that injured leg. Where’s your horse? Why are you walking alone?”

Perhaps his voice seemed gentle and kind because of his sister’s presence. But Christoph couldn’t help but notice the hidden mockery in those words.

Christoph shot him a sharp look, but Olivia didn’t notice the silent battle between the two men and instead looked worriedly at Christoph.

“Are you hurt? Is your leg in pain, Christoph? Please, rest a while, won’t you? I brought a first-aid kit. I always carry it because you never know what might happen. Please, sit down. At least let me bandage your leg…… Please?”

Olivia looked as though she was about to cry when she said those words and her teary eyes seemed ready to overflow if Christoph refused.

Christoph frowned and looked at her with annoyance. Then he glared angrily at Richard. Richard frowned as well – it was clear that he wanted Christoph to leave as soon as possible and probably regretted saying those pointless words.

Seeing Richard’s regretful face because of his careless words made Christoph feel a bit better. So instead of bluntly refusing and leaving as he intended, Christoph deliberately complied with Olivia’s request.

Christoph would never let others care for him, so he borrowed the bandage from Olivia and wrapped his ankle himself, feeling very satisfied seeing Richard’s displeased expression because his private time with his sister had been interrupted.

It was foolish; just one stern scolding would have changed everything. If Richard had done that, at least Olivia wouldn’t have invited Christoph closer in his presence.

But Christoph knew that Richard could never be harsh with Olivia. It was always like that.

“Idiot.”

Christoph muttered as he brushed past Richard. It was a voice so low it was almost inaudible, but Richard still heard it and a look of anger flashed across his face.

But Christoph pretended not to notice and continued to follow Olivia. He felt a bit of satisfaction hearing the annoyed, somewhat funny footsteps behind him.

But how did he know? Christoph had been injured many times, but rarely did anyone realize his body was unwell. He could endure pain very well.

Yet sometimes, Richard could see through it. That made Christoph feel uneasy and irritated but also strangely curious.

/End Flashback/

“Why……?”

Christoph unconsciously murmured.

“Indeed. I don’t know either. Olivia always obeyed you, but when it came to not getting close to you, she never listened.”

Richard’s voice came from behind.

Those words had nothing to do with Christoph’s question, but he just stared at Richard for a while without saying anything.

Christoph didn’t want to voice his doubt because it would give Richard more clues to analyze him. Richard already knew too much about Christoph, possibly more than Christoph knew about himself.

“…………I guess you’re not going to say it, huh? Or did you think of something else?”

Yes, something like that.

Richard observed Christoph, his eyes narrowing slightly, then spoke mockingly. Christoph stared at him, the feeling of discomfort rising within him.

“You know too much about me.”

He intended to say it mockingly, but the unease and vague fear prevented him from expressing it as he wanted.

“Because your expressions are easy to read. Especially when you’re trying to hide something.”

“Ha. So that’s why you always wear that ever-smiling mask…… Do you really know anything about me?”

Christoph frowned.

He didn’t like people knowing too much about him. That meant they knew his weaknesses and how to make him suffer and corner him most effectively, just like Richard was doing now.

“What do I know about you? Hmm, I didn’t expect to meet you here. But there’s one thing I know for sure…… Yes, because when I do this, you always flinch.”

Without warning, Richard suddenly grabbed Christoph’s arm tightly. He shuddered and jerked his arm away, his face immediately hardening. Richard chuckled deeply as if feeling a bit better.

“Still the same. But I thought you’d gotten used to it by now. Just recently, you even fell asleep while holding onto my stuff.”

“That was because I passed out, not because I slept……!”

Christoph felt his ears burn and shouted in anger, but seeing Richard smile, he immediately fell silent. It was clear that Richard had said those words with the intention of provoking such a reaction from Christoph.

Christoph swallowed his words and sighed in frustration.

Richard knew more about Christoph than anyone else. It felt like he could attack from any angle or that the secrets in Christoph’s mind were laid bare, making him feel uncomfortable. Recently, it was more bothersome than even the repeated daily contact.

Richard was someone who could hurt and humiliate Christoph more effectively than anyone else.

“Why? But now you can even sleep while I hold you tight. You keep complaining about the cold and shivering, but in the end, you still fall asleep.”

Richard stepped forward to block Christoph’s path to the tomb’s exit and spoke with a mocking tone.

Christoph, looking for a chance to leave, had to glare at the man in front of him for seeing through his intentions. But the reason he couldn’t refute was that those words were true.

Now, he could sleep even while being held by Richard. Although each time he felt the contact on his skin, his body would still involuntarily tense up, it seemed he had grown accustomed to the sensation and warmth from the tight embrace from behind.

Even just the morning before, in his sleep, he suddenly felt cold on his shoulder, so he unconsciously turned around, then rubbed his shoulder and forehead against Richard’s warm chest. He then startled himself awake.

It seemed not only Christoph was surprised; Richard also looked at him with a strange expression. Their eyes met, fully waking Christoph.

After that, he had to endure the discomfort of being fully aware of the contact as the arms holding him didn’t release until morning.

That made the morning extremely awkward. Especially since Christoph was too shocked to say anything and Richard, unusually silent compared to his usual self, also didn’t speak to him. It wasn’t until the afternoon when they both resumed their usual sharp-tongued exchanges that Christoph felt relieved.

“Because…… because you’re like a blanket.”

Richard raised an eyebrow in surprise at Christoph’s sudden remark and looked at him. Christoph glared at him openly.

“Because you’re draped over me like a blanket, so the parts that aren’t covered get cold. You don’t know how to tuck in a blanket properly, so I think I’d appreciate it if you let me sleep in peace.”

“If it were another blanket, I would have torn it apart, soaked it in water and stomped on it,” he grumbled, dissatisfied. At that complaint, Richard was silent for a moment and said nothing. Then he slowly whispered.

“Sorry. From now on, I’ll be more careful about tucking you in.”

The moment he heard those words, Christoph frowned in a strange way. His face seemed to say: “This isn’t right.” When he tried to hide his confusion and looked at Richard, that familiar gentle smile slowly appeared on Richard’s face.

“I’ll try to be a good blanket that covers every corner without leaving any gaps.”

“…… NO…… what?……”