Brothers

On the day of her mother's funeral, Felix moved into the Vosroda estate. A beautifully manicured garden, an ancient yet luxurious castle, polite and deferential servants, and a fearsome, magnificent dragon lounging in the pond—only much later did Felix learn that it was a mutated, evolved Fishcleaver Dragon. She timidly walked into the main hall and beheld the three people who were her family in name only: The Duke of Vosroda, whose features seemed shrouded in black shadow that could never be discerned, standing like a stone monument, like a mound of swords; Lady Beverly, cold in countenance, whose dazzling beauty could not conceal her spite; and her elder brother, Dimi. Only long afterward did Felix hear tales of the Duke of Vosroda's reckless, romantic youth, and learn that Beverly had once been a lovely maiden whose beauty outshone all of Jialesi while passionately dedicating herself to charity. Yet to protect his clan, a carefree youth would turn into an austere, cold family head; to protect her son, an adorable young woman would transform into a spiteful, cruel mother. She had known from the start that her greatest rival was Dimi. Maintaining politeness without losing her childish innocence, she sought to please everyone she met, especially her father. But the Duke of Vosroda spent the vast majority of the year away working and conducting inspections; when she finally caught a rare window of his downtime upon his return, she found it impossible to squeeze herself into his world. "For a descendant of Vosroda, taking first place is only natural." "Champion? Not bad." "Guide your swordsmanship? I'll consider it when I have time." Every single time, her father was inspecting Dimi's accomplishments. When Felix eagerly stepped forward on her own initiative, the shadowy figure barely seemed to glance at her, offering nothing more than a faint hum through his nose to show he had heard. Compared to Dimi, Felix's attempts to please and all her modest achievements were utterly insignificant. Whatever she could do, Dimi did better; whatever she couldn't do, Dimi excelled at with ease. And... "This must be the bastard child, right?" At Dimi's birthday banquet, Felix appeared before outsiders for the first time as the Second Young Master of the Voslodar clan. Under the brilliant chandeliers, the hushed whispers drifting beneath the banquet tables were like fishbones lodged in her throat, so venomous they choked the breath from her lungs. That night, Felix hid away early in her room at the far end of the third floor, leaving the lights off to lick her wounds in the dark. Young as she was, she could not yet grasp everything clearly; she only knew Dimi was her enemy. He was the one who had monopolized their father's affection; he was the one who left her without a place to stand. As long as her radiant older brother existed, the younger brother would remain forever dull and eclipsed. Without knowing where her resolve and spite had come from, Felix hid behind a vase in the castle's stairwell. Dimi's room was on the fourth floor, and he was bound to pass by on his way back. Soon, she heard Dimi's footsteps, and he was alone. The Voslodar clan demanded self-reliance and discipline from its members; unless leaving the estate, the eldest young master had no servants attending to him in daily life. Yet Dimi did not head toward the fourth floor; instead, he walked down the third-floor corridor toward the interior. Left with no choice, Felix tried to pick up the vase and hurl it at him, but its weight was far beyond what a child could handle. She could only clutch the vase and stumble forward, hurtling directly toward Dimi! Dimi reacted the moment he heard the footsteps. He was just about to dodge when he caught sight of Felix behind the vase, so he stopped in his tracks and tried to block it with his hands. But Felix pushed forward with every ounce of strength in her small body. Even a few years older, Dimi couldn't hold it back. Not only was he struck by the vase, but the shattering porcelain tore bloody gashes all over him! A shard pierced Felix's hand as well, the sudden sting jolting her reason back to the fore. Seeing Dimi collapsed amid the shattered porcelain, covered in cuts, she finally realized what she had done, trembling in helpless terror. Dimi, however, remained remarkably calm. Lowering his voice, he barked, "Get back to your room! Quick, and close the door quietly!" He shouted it twice. With her mind a jumbled mess, Felix subconsciously obeyed his command and scurried away in panic, inadvertently stepping on a small box beside Dimi and coating the sole of her shoe in cake frosting. Once Felix had slipped back inside and shut her door, she heard the servants crying out in alarm, followed by Dimi's sheepish apology: "I'm sorry. I was running down the hall just now and accidentally knocked over the vase..." Back then, Felix thought she had gotten away with it, breathing a sigh of relief before going to sleep in peace. But upon waking the next morning, she realized it hadn't been covered up at all. The evidence was the trail of frosting-stained footprints leading from the hallway right up to her bedroom door. And, three days later, the first attempt to poison her. "Felix." Dimi's voice sounded outside the door. "We need to talk." Sonia and Felix exchanged a glance. The latter called out loudly, "Whatever it is, let's talk tomorrow!" "...It is already six in the morning." The village girl and the Second Young Master blinked, checking their miracle bracelets only to discover that an entire night had passed. The sky outside was still blanketed in stars, which was why neither of them had noticed the change in time. Had they truly spent the entire night agonizing over what to do with Yaxiu and the others?! "I still don't want to see you!" Felix replied anxiously. "Once I've prepared myself mentally, I'll meet with you, but not right now!" After a brief silence, Dimi said, "You don't have to see me, but you cannot stay here. Whether you return to Sword Flower or check into a hotel, you must sever all ties with everything in this villa. I will handle the rest." A chill swept up their spines and spread through their bodies—had Dimi found out? "Tell him to come inside so we can get to the bottom of this," Sonia said in a hushed voice. "If he truly knows and is willing to keep the secret with us, it won't matter. But if he intends to report us..." Felix looked horrified. "He's a Sanctuary Sorcerer!" "My teacher is the Hidden Hand Sword Saint," the Paw-Stretching Swordmaster said coldly. "'Blade of the Hidden Hand' is specialized in shattering Sanctuaries. When I went down to the basement earlier, I was already prepared to kill all three of them. What makes you think I'd hesitate when he's all alone?" A mere Dimi was just one of the opponents Sonia had encountered in the past; they didn't even have a friendship to speak of. Slaying him carried zero psychological burden for the village girl. If he insisted on standing against Yaxiu, he could prepare to become the very first sacrifice of the Sword Princess's flight. With Yaxiu already back in her hands, Sonia had nothing left to fear. "There's no need to go that far. I have no wish to be buried alongside you," Felix shook her head hurriedly. "If you kill Dimi, all of Jialesi will be in an uproar. I'll convince him... I definitely will!" They moved the coffin and the three sleeping figures to a second-floor bedroom. Then Sonia concealed herself within the shadows of the second floor, watching Felix open the villa's front door. Dimi was still wearing the same tactical attire from the night before, seemingly not having returned home to rest at all. He stepped inside and looked at Felix, who had changed back into men's attire. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is it worth it?" "What?" "I don't know why you've kept it hidden for so many years, but you surely never wanted to expose your true self." Dimi's voice was somewhat low. "Now, to protect a few outsiders, why go to such lengths?" "I merely had my secret uncovered by you bastards who broke into private property." "Right at the moment we opened the bedroom door, you just happened to return from the Void Realm and catch us?" "That's because the front door has an alarm. The instant you entered, I knew while still in the Void Realm, so I exited the Void Realm immediately to see if thieves had broken in." Felix did not yield an inch, meeting Dimi's gaze with wide, unblinking eyes, her face betraying not the slightest hint of guilt. A faint look of helplessness appeared on Dimi's face. "I came to protect you, not to interrogate you." "At this point, you still want to put on the airs of an elder brother?" Felix said coldly. "Three days ago, when I was being hunted by the Fandell Gang on the train, did you protect me in front of your mother?" Dimi's frame trembled slightly. He sat down on the nearby sofa, looking down at the tips of his feet. "That coffin," he said. "Yadas and Aisha will definitely report it in a few days... or perhaps Aisha already knows who the coffin truly belongs to." "Among the outsiders who invaded the Stars, there is a group of three Sanctuary Sorcerers. Although one of those Sanctuary Sorcerers only ever used fire sorcery spirits, his Sanctuary already exhibited the preliminary characteristics of the necromancy faction's 'Shadow of Death.' He is clearly a necromancer at his core." "'Shadow of Death'?" "As a Sanctuary Sorcerer's mastery of the space faction deepens, they will unconsciously merge their primary discipline with their Sanctuary, causing its properties to alter in various ways," Dimi explained. "For instance, the 'Spiritual Pressure' of a soul Sanctuary can suppress all living creatures within it, while the 'Shadow of Death' of a necromancy Sanctuary can cause the vitality of an attack's source to wither away. Sorcery spirits can be swapped, but a Sanctuary cannot be altered. "Jialesi has few necromancers to begin with. Now that a necromantic Sanctuary has appeared among the invaders, and a coffin covered in necromantic rituals turned up in your basement, Aisha will only need a few more desserts to connect the dots. Sometimes her intuition is so sharp it frightens even me." Naturally, Felix refused to concede. "Couldn't it just be that I've been cultivating the necromancy faction?" "You wouldn't cultivate necromancy." Dimi shook his head. "The necromancy faction requires studying corpses, and ever since childhood, you've been a gentle person who could never bear to look upon death." "People change." Felix lowered her eyelids. "Especially for a bastard living under the constant threat of death. Becoming twisted in any way is only natural. "Besides, even if your guess is correct, do you intend to place righteousness above kin?" She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Under Decree No. 51, harboring outsiders is treason punishable by death. If you're so certain I'm harboring outsiders, did you come here to protect me, or to turn me in?" "As long as you sever all ties—" "What if the outsiders frame me?" Felix sneered. "What if they claim I helped hide them? Will the Throne Room let me off?" "It will." Dimi declared with absolute certainty, "As long as you turn yourself in, Vosroda will definitely protect you before the Throne Room and keep you safe!" "Those words wouldn't have fooled me even as a child," Felix mocked. "Why would the esteemed Star Cast Duke of Vosroda ever protect someone like me—" "Because if he doesn't protect you, he will lose his heir!" Dimi surged to his feet, his eyes burning as he glared at Felix. "If you don't believe Vosroda harbors any goodwill toward you, what about my vow?!" He drew his longsword and planted it into the floor. "I, Dimi, swear to stand and fall alongside Felix! Whoever dares arrest my brother must crush my Sanctuary first! If Father refuses to protect you, he can prepare to lose every single heir! "Exhausting the prestige of the Five Pillars of Stars, I refuse to believe we cannot shield you before the Throne Room! If it truly comes to that, my Sanctuary will be your final refuge. Unless reduced to yellow earth and white bones, I will keep you safe for a lifetime!" Felix caught her breath, choked up and speechless for a moment. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined her half-brother would go to such lengths, when they had drifted apart so long ago. What was more, she couldn't even doubt Dimi's sincerity. His character was plain for all to see; since he had said it, he would without question stake his own life as leverage to pressure the Duke of Vosroda. No matter how severe the Throne Room might be, it would have to heed Vosroda's plea—not to mention Felix could claim she had been coerced (which was indeed the truth), making acquittal extraordinarily likely! Admittedly, Felix was sorely tempted. After all, Yaxiu and the others were dead asleep and completely incapable of speaking. With Dimi clearing her of treason, she could safely see the trio off without becoming entangled in the fallout! And yet. And yet. A god of slaughter was still lurking on the second floor! The more moving Dimi's words sounded, the more resolute Sonia's murderous intent grew. Right now, she might already have the sorcery procedure for "Blade of the Hidden Hand" primed in her grip! Felix was beside herself with anxiety. Dimi's stance was clearly to protect his brother while upholding the law, whereas Sonia's core requirement was that no one lay a finger on Yaxiu. The contradiction between the two was irreconcilable. What followed would either be Sonia slaying him and fleeing, or the two of them tearing the villa apart in combat and drawing unwanted attention. Either way, Felix would be completely exposed. Even if only to divert the Throne Room's attention, the Paw-Stretching Swordmaster would surely lay bare Felix's secrets! Just as the air in the villa grew suffocating and murderous intent was on the brink of erupting, the front door suddenly swung open. "Good morning, Felix... Ah, did I arrive at a bad time?" A beautiful lady stepped gracefully into the villa. She had deep-blue hair cascading to her waist like the night sky, and eyes as clear and azure as Qinghai Lake. With vermilion lips, pearly teeth, and snow-white skin, a faint smile graced the corners of her mouth, and her curved brows made her look exceptionally charming. The moment she stepped inside, the entire villa seemed to brighten, as if the starlight outside were chasing her shadow.