B-ronken-R-ing 159...

***

"Agnes?"

She had been hurrying toward the stairs when the familiar voice arrested her steps. Before she could even turn around, she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Oh, Luciano."

Her brother bore the same black hair and clear, green eyes inherited from Duke Valeztena, akin to her own. But unlike Inés, who took more after her mother's softer facial features, Luciano had the strong jawline and chiseled features more reminiscent of their father. No one in Mendoza would deny his comeliness, but anyone acquainted with the duke would be more impressed by how alike father and son were. His sturdy physique and strangely sharp eyes easily served to intimidate, and he was tall and slim, which added to his elegant impression. He was the spitting image of Leonel Valeztena, their father, down to the way he looked amiable if he simply smiled. Inés had also inherited their father's sharp, almond-shaped eyes, but she often gave off the impression of an irritated feline.

Luciano offered that familiar gentle smile as he came to a halt a few steps away from his sister. It was an awkward distance that had persisted between them for many years.

"I heard word of your announced arrival. Are you leaving already?"

His arms were full of a stack of papers, though it was unclear whether he was on his way to the study or on his way out. He never learned how to delegate his work, Inés thought to herself, silently clicking her tongue. But she nodded in reply.

"Why? Father must be hurrying back from the palace after hearing that you have come."

"I intended to leave before his return."

Her candid response elicited a chuckle from him. "Join us for dinner, at least. Mother would also be disheartened to learn of your hasty departure."

The mere thought of dining with her mother churned her stomach. She had no intention of consuming food only to empty her stomach again, as much as she knew that Luciano had only mentioned their mother out of courtesy for her.

"She has been staying in Mendoza because you are here, after all. You know our parents believe calamity will befall if they stay in the same city for more than sixty days a year. Why don't you join us for the sake of all the trouble they're going through?"

"It's you who bears the brunt of such trouble, not them," Inés pointed out.

Lucian simply shrugged, not bothering to deny it.

"I would like to stay for your sake, but I would rather not, for their sake. They will undoubtedly argue again because of me."

Her reasoning didn't seem to make sense. Luciano didn't hide his disappointment as he gazed at her, eventually acquiescing with a nod.

"They will argue regardless, even if it weren't for you."

An awkward silence followed. Inés stared at her brother quietly, as if hoping for him to take his leave first.

Luciano might not have been the quickest on the uptake, but he wasn't entirely clueless, so she had no doubt he knew what she was waiting for. And yet, he remained rooted in place, which was unusual for him. His gaze lingered upon her. Inés had always felt uncomfortable when Luciano looked at her that way - clearly worried and concerned for her, and even caring.

At some point in her past lives, she had taken this for granted. They had worried about and relied on each other, had cared for each other much more than their parents, joked with each other, hugged and laughed and kissed each other on the cheek. They had once been inseparable, as if they were each other's only family.

But those memories now existed only in her mind, just as all the other moments of her past lives.

At one point, Luciano had been the most conflicting presence in Inés's life. Unlike their parents, who were often far away and whom they could avoid if they wanted to, he was her brother who was raised with her in the same home. Wherever she went in their castle in Perez, or in their residence in Mendoza, Luciano had been there. He was unavoidable.

As she relived her childhood for the third time, she had ignored him, pushed him away, despised him. But beneath it all, she wished that it had all been dream and that she could simply forgive him. Her affection for him had lingered, even at the lowest moment in her life. Perhaps it was because when she met Luciano again, he wasn't the twenty-three-year-old young man who had killed Emiliano, but merely a nine-year-old boy. His innocent gaze and the hands that pulled her along and helped her up as if nothing had happened made him feel like a separate entity.

It was the same as when she had stared down at her little hands, repeating to herself over and over that she couldn't have wrought harm to anyone or mothered a child. Similarly, she had repeated to herself that the young boy couldn't have killed her loving husband. And in the end, they had shared a childhood again.

"I shall take my leave, Luciano."

"You looked so healthy when you first arrived in Mendoza. Has something happened to upset you? You seem somewhat pallid now."

"Nothing of consequence. I'm merely fatigued," Inés replied evenly.

"Are you unable to sleep?"

"I sleep soundly. Juana can attest to that, right?"

Inés directed her query to Juana, who had remained at a distance with a polite bow as soon as she had noticed Luciano approach them. But she didn't seem to have heard her, because there was no reply.

Inés put on a fake, wry smile, as if she found the lack of an answer awkward. "She said so earlier."

"I heard you called for your physician."

"I came here to retrieve something, so I thought it an opportune moment to see her."

"You could have dispatched Juana. Are you sure you're all right?"

The more persistent Luciano's questioning became, the more evident Inés's irritation grew.

They were no longer close enough to have such long conversations. Ever since they were children, she had resolved not to think of him at all, to no longer love nor hate her brother. This resolution solidified further as Luciano neared the age at which he had taken Emiliano's life.

Their relationship had fallen out completely, after years of failing to avoid her brother in their home, when she turned sixteen. He had visited her in Perez out of concern for his ailing little sister, but she hadn't allowed him to come into her room, and when she had caught a glimpse of his face once, she had even had a seizure. It was when Luciano had been exactly twenty-three, the same age at which he had killed Emiliano in a past life. She clearly remembered the look of despair and utter confusion on her brother's face. After that day, he had never come to see her again.

Things improved after she turned twenty. Now that they were both adults, they could easily avoid each other at will. Just like strangers who ran into each other at obligatory social gatherings-familiar, but not friendly.

"It was something I needed to retrieve myself. That's all," she replied.

"It must be something very precious to you. If you had sent a message, I would have brought it to House Escalante on your behalf," said Luciano.

"I could never burden the son of Duke Valeztena with such a petty errand. Mother would be beside herself."

"It would have been a good pretext to check up on you there," he insisted.

Inés wondered why on earth Luciano was still standing in front of her instead of avoiding her like he usually did. She already knew that Luciano was not on good terms with their mother anymore, but their father might have said something.

"There's no need for that. I am doing well."

"But you made a sudden visit to the Valeztena residence and summoned your physician. And you look pale," he observed.

"She is the physician I have been seeing regularly ever since my first period. Mother had her assigned to me out of concern that her daughter's womb may be barren, hindering her from fulfilling her marital obligations."

The tips of Luciano's ears blushed at the mention of her period and the explicit explanation. It was not a topic of conversation that would come up naturally between awkwardly distant siblings like them.

Inés smiled wryly as she added, "Thankfully, the physician assured me that I will not bring disgrace upon House Valeztena. You need not worry."

"Don't speak of it like that, Inés," Luciano muttered.

"What point is there to a marriage without a child? If I fail to have one, I may end up having to come back here, a pitiful old woman you will have to take care of."

"You can come back whenever you want, Inés. I'm simply..." Luciano trailed off, running a free hand over his face. His smile was gone without a trace, and his sharp, cold features stood out. But Inés knew that this was a clear sign of anguish rather than anger in her brother.

"I was simply worried about your well-being. I feared you might feel uncomfortable seeking medical aid at the Escalante residence or that you might be concerned whatever the physician discovers would be relayed to your husband's parents. I presumed that was why you came here."

"It's not," Inés replied, sighing. Luciano's concern pricked at the pit of her stomach. Her fingers fidgeted, just as they had played with Cárcel's letters earlier.

"What about Duke and Duchess Escalante?"

"They've been very kind to me," she told him.

"I'm relieved to hear you say that." He lowered his hand to reveal another gentle smile on his lips, far warmer than his sister's. "Truly. I feared..."

"That I would be having a hard time? Because of my disposition?" Inés shot back.

"You are practically flawless, Inés."

It was clear that he was exaggerating. Inés let out a scoff.

Luciano, undeterred, continued solemnly. "But marriage is no simple affair, and neither is suddenly joining someone else's family."

"Everything has been fine thus far, Luciano," Inés assured him again.

"What about... Escalante Prison?"

"He's fine, too..." Inés said trailing off hesitantly before raising her gaze to meet his. "Actually, he isn't fine-"

"Has that bastard-pardon me, your husband caused any trouble?" Luciano cut in.

"No, he's more than fine, he's wonderful. Our time in Calztela has been delightful. That's the reason why I was looking healthier when I arrived in Mendoza. Also, Cárcel has been insistent on ensuring I'm well-fed."

"I've never seen you smile like that, Inés," Luciano muttered in awe.

Inés's face froze awkwardly. Noticing her immediate discomfort, Luciano looked apologetic. Another awkward silence descended upon them.

Inés stiffly thought back to how on earth she had started smiling without even realizing it while speaking of Cárcel. No wonder her brother was surprised. The only kinds of smiles he had ever seen on her must have been polite ones or faint smirks, devoid of genuine emotion. Her fingers fidgeted again as if she was recalling those letters she had held earlier and asking them for guidance in this situation.

Emiliano was alive and well in Bilbao, pursuing a prosperous future, and the current Luciano remained blameless. Technically, the current Oscar was also innocent, but there was no comparing him to her once-beloved brother. Unlike Oscar, Luciano had always been within her realm of comprehension. In other words, the normally noble Inés, who valued honor and reputation, could understand Luciano's decision, unlike the Inés of the past who had run away with a painter's assistant mere three months before her marriage to the crown prince. Her concerted effort to neither despise nor love her brother in this life had come from this fundamental understanding of his actions.

In her childhood, he had been her whole world, giving her more affection than both of their parents combined. He would have deemed a lowly, poor painter entirely undeserving of his sister, but the crux of the matter must have been that she, as the daughter of House Valeztena, had eloped with another man despite her impending marriage to the crown prince. Oscar must have exerted immense pressure on Luciano, and Luciano likely had no choice but to comply with his family's life at stake. Thus, she understood, and despaired at the inevitability of it all that fateful day.

Ultimately, she had led Emiliano to his death. She had dragged that guileless, kindhearted young man into her life bound to plummet into the depths of despair at the hands of Oscar.

But the brother who had once killed her husband had also been the only member of her family willing to die for her during her life as the crown princess. Inés had witnessed Luciano shed tears for the very first time that day.

"I would lay down my life for you, Inés. Whatever path you choose, I shall bear the burden of it all. So, do what you wish. Don't worry about our father, mother, or even me..." His hand trembled as he offered her the bullets, sounding as though he knew everything. His words were a low whisper. "End the crown prince's life, Inés. Take your revenge into your own hands, like the woman of Perez you are. If it frightens you, I'll do it for you."

"You have nothing to do with this, Luciano."

"My hands are yours, Inés, for we are both Valeztenas. If I take his life, it shall be as though you did so yourself. The same holds true in reverse. We are in this together."

"And once Oscar is gone, what then?"

"Then I shall ensure your survival."

"How?"

"Perhaps I shall start a war."

Inés recalled laughing out loud through her tears at the absurdity of his suggestion. She had thought of her brother's face at the very end before turning the barrel of her hunting rifle and taking her own life instead of Oscar's. She hadn't wanted Luciano to sacrifice himself for her sake.

Even in this life, in which they had barely shared any memories together, Luciano remained a protective brother. She recalled the boy who had run to her and enveloped her in a hug to protect her whenever their mother would hit her during their youth. As much as she remembered the fact that he had killed Emiliano, and as much as she regretted ending her own life, she never had any regrets about not taking Oscar's life in that moment.

Because killing the crown prince would have been tantamount to killing her brother and all of House Valeztena.

After all, she was a Valeztena.

"Luciano..." Inés impulsively called out as he turned to leave.

"Yes?"

"After the crown prince's marriage ceremony, come visit us in Calztela." The invitation was even more impulsive. Her mind was in a daze, as if she were still reading Cárcel's letters. She wasn't even sure why she extended such an offer. Cárcel Escalante was to blame. He continued to change her into someone she didn't recognize.

Luciano's eyes widened in surprise.

"You enjoy hunting, do you not?" she asked.

"I do..."

"Cárcel shares your passion. There's a lakeside area near Calztela that is perfect for hunting, and the scenery is quite wonderful. So..." Inés struggled to articulate the words, as though she were stumbling through a foreign language. "I thought it might be nice for you to join us for a hunting excursion."

"Are you... inviting me to your residence, Inés?"

"Yes." Feeling her throat grow tight, Inés clenched her hands into fists and continued, "I'm inviting you to hunt with me." Just as we did when we were younger. She resisted the urge to say that. Much the same as that day she had confessed it to Cárcel, the facade she had put up peeled back a little.

"Inés, you... know how to hunt?"

"Cárcel taught me," she explained. If Luciano were to ask Cárcel to confirm this, she was sure that her husband would simply go along with it. Inés stared at Luciano, as if urging him to respond.

"I... yes, I would love that," he finally said.

"Very well."

"I promise I'll go, Inés," Luciano added, suppressing his glee.

Inés simply nodded and turned on her heel to leave.