The Male Lead’s Fake Sister - Chapter 25

1STKISSNOVEL. DO NOT STEAL MY TRANSLATION!

Still, he must maintain his rationality above anything else.

For that reason, Tidwell gritted his teeth to suppress his overflowing desire.

‘I shouldn’t be more reckless than this.’

Or else he would mess things up.

If he pushed himself more, he would eventually get a reaction from Ravia, but that was not what Tidwell wanted.

In fact, there were plenty of ways to make Ravia angry and resent him.

For instance, Ravia would probably slap him in the face if he told her that he had been fooling her by pretending to be ‘Herod’.

But there was no reason for him to do that now.

If Tidwell chose to stimulate Ravia’s hatred by destroying her plans and what she valued the most, it would seem that Tidwell had achieved what he wanted on the surface. But that wasn’t the case.

‘If my sister ended up hating me, she might fight me to death.’

He was not scared to turn Ravia into his enemy. However, he knew that he had no choice but to kill Ravia if she ever fought him to death.

A cornered mouse can bite a cat.

And Tidwell didn’t want that to happen.

All he wanted was to keep Ravia by his side, and provoking her was only the basis to prevent Ravia from leaving him.

But Ravia was completely unaware of Tidwell’s thoughts, so this whole situation was just confusing to her.

‘Just now….’

What’s going on?

The wrist that he held didn’t hurt at all. The cool sensation she felt as his hand held her wrist as if it were a shackle proved that she wasn’t mistaken.

Ravia didn’t like to be in pain, so she should’ve been happy that Tidwell didn’t hurt her.

But in this situation, she would rather have a sore wrist.

If he said that he wanted to see her sprain her ankle, and then held her wrist tightly, it definitely meant he was threatening Ravia. However…

‘It doesn’t hurt.’

Her wrist was fine.

It wasn’t a threat.

Therefore, nothing had happened.

Tidwell just grabbed her wrist ‘without hurting her’.

Because of that, Ravia had no choice but to ask herself, ‘Why the hell?’

He’s been acting as if he’s an obedient and kind brother ever since, so he couldn’t have said something outside of the script, could he?

There can’t be such a cruel line as ‘I wish my sister would twist her ankle and be unable to move without my help’ in the script.

‘To be precise…’

It was a line the male lead of a tragic romance novel would say.

No way.

At that moment, a thought flashed through her mind.

The hand wrapped around her wrist loosened its grip. The chilly air replaced the warmth that once wrapped her wrist, and that sensation made her shoulders flinch.

“….”

Ravia’s icy eyes chased his hand as he loosened his grip. Her gaze went up and stopped at her brother’s relaxed expression.

A docile and sweet face, as though he didn’t say anything rude just a while ago. And yet, he spoke softly with that deceitful face of his.

“Just kidding,” he said with a smile.

“There’s no way I’d have such a thought.”

Funny enough, his deceitful face put her at ease. Ravia realized that she was finally able to breathe in this suffocating situation only after Tidwell returned to his kind brother act.

“…Yes, I guess so. I know that…very well.”

In your script, you’re supposed to be worried about me. I’m sure that’s how your attitude was written in your script. But, how on earth should I interpret your words?

‘This is confusing.’

My head is throbbing, but I must not show that it is in front of Tidwell.

And so, Ravia tried to get a hold of herself.

Lower your boundaries, restore your composure.

‘It’s not Tidwell’s intentions that matters now.’

Rather, seeing as Tidwell was acting ambiguously now, it gave her all the more reason to take out her trump card—Leticia—that she prepared before.

Ravia quietly took a breath.

No matter what Tidwell’s intentions are, things will get better as soon as Leticia and Tidwell meet.

I felt much better thinking that way.

The conversation resumed as if someone wasn’t rude to the other not too long ago.

“But I’m unsure of whether it’s okay for me to worry or not.”

“Why?”

“There are people who mistake worry as pity, aren’t there?”

“Yes. That’s true.”

In fact, ‘worrying’ was a good reason to cover up one’s true emotions. Ravia recalled many people who took pity on her or ridiculed her under the guise of being worried about her.

‘As expected, he was just trying to be considerate of me since I’ve looked too restless for a long time already. It would have been really bad if I got angry or if I shivered in front of him.’

Ravia was supposed to play the role of a kind sister. She was supposed to not know that her brother was the head of the underworld, and that she truly believed that the mask he had put on was genuine.

That’s why if she had reacted excessively when he said something strange, Tidwell would’ve been even more suspicious of her.

‘How nice it would have been if Tidwell is, in fact, a kind brother.’

Ravia thought bitterly. She had that thought from time to time whenever she saw him acting as if he were a harmless and kind brother.

What if, by any chance, Tidwell wasn’t pretending to be a kind brother?

If it had been so, she wouldn’t have to worry about putting on an act all the time. But upon realizing it was impossible, all that was left was misery.

Ravia shrugged and took one step ahead of Tidwell.

“No need to be overly cautious. My family has never been worried about me in the first place. For that same reason, it feels rather awkward to hear that someone is genuinely worried about me.”

“…I see.”

“Not to mention, my father is my only family.”

And I believe I don’t have to tell you about how my father has treated me for you to understand.

Ravia was talking lightheartedly, but her expression was blank.

“Well, it may seem to you that my father has been so nice to me lately, but as a matter of fact, he’s probably only doing so to make himself known as a loving father before he marries me off.”

As opposed to his image as a seemingly loving father, Ravia Leontine was abused all her life because she seemed like an illegitimate child.

But because of his act, she would be known as Ravia Leontine, a daughter who was loved by her father even though she wasn’t born with silver hair, the symbol of the Leontine Family.

“That’s why no matter what my father does to gain my favor, it’ll be hard for me to accept his affection…… Even now, I still don’t think of him as my family.”

“Because you threw away Leontine, sister.”

“Again with this? I didn’t throw away my family.”

Ravia turned her back on him with a frown on her face. Tidwell, who was behind her, smiled as their eyes met.

“Didn’t you admit it, too?”

“I think you misunderstood me.”

It was Leontine that threw her away. The only thing Ravia threw away was her lingering attachments to it.

Tidwell narrowed the distance between them and stood beside Ravia.

“But that’s not what’s important, sister.”

“Then, what is?”

“What’s important is that you said you wouldn’t throw me away.” He said.

Did I say that?

Ravia tried to remember. Then, she vaguely remembered a conversation she had with him at the library.

-Are you going to throw me away, too?

-I’m not throwing you away…I’m just leaving. Nothing good will come out of us being together.

I believe we did have that conversation before. Did he take it seriously? Even if he did, why does it even matter now?

No. Throwing something away can only be done by a person who owns something in the first place.

Due to that, Ravia laughed without realizing it.

“So does that mean I own you now?”

It was a question she could ask with such ease because she owned nothing to begin with.

With a sharp look on her face, she continued.

“I never thought of owning you.”

Does it make sense for me to own you? How can I throw you away when you’re someone I can never have?

Tidwell understood what she was thinking, and he agreed with her.

Tidwell, who nodded slowly, opened his mouth.

“I haven’t been owned by anyone before either.”

“Does that include the present?”

“I’m not sure. But you also know that not all chains are necessarily visible, sister.”

You can tie someone up without using heavy iron shackles. Because people are easily swayed by affection, by purpose, and by circumstances.

And now that Ravia has become Tidwell’s purpose, an invisible chain enclosed Ravia’s hands.

Even if she didn’t want to.

“We can’t deny that we’re tied together because we’re family.”

“…That’s right.”

And Ravia was able to understand the meaning behind his words.