Shomin no Aji - Chapter 458.2 (Patreon)

My relationship with Oniisama.
“Cristea, you know that Father had a little sister, right?”
“Eh? Yes… I believe she was two years younger than him… but, I heard she passed away before I was born…”
“Yeah. That person was my birth mother.”
“Ehh?”

Oniisama wasn’t my older brother, but a cousin!?

“My birth mother fell in love here, in Adelia Academy, with the second son of a Viscount family who was of a far lower status than her. And because everyone opposed to this relationship, the two eloped…”
“......”
“For a while, they lived in the countryside in a state of near disownment, but when I was born they made peace with my grandfathers, and my birth father agreed to work as an assistant to Father, and when I was two years old the disownment was forgotten, and we were to return to the Duke’s residence.”

He then took a sip of his tea, which had probably become quite lukewarm, and gently set the cup down.

"On the way there, our carriage was involved in a landslide accident. By the time we got pulled out of the mud, my birth parents had already passed away, but I barely managed to survive becasue they protected me.”
"That’s…”

I didn’t know Oniisama had such a painful past.

“At the time, Father and Mother, who had just taken over the Ellisfeed household, were just married but had no children. So I was adopted by the Ellisfeed family’s main branch."

Oniisama stared into his cup the whole time and continued talking without looking at me.

"For a while after I was taken in, I was so shocked by the loss of my parents that I didn't speak to anyone. Father and Mother were very kind to me, but my Grandfather and Grandmother were so shocked by the loss of their daughter and the pain of seeing me, who looked so much like my mother, was so large that they ended up moving to the Ellisfeed family's vacation home and stopped coming home.”

It's true, I've never met my Grandfather or Grandmother. I was told that Grandmother's health was too poor to travel. Thus, I've only received a few letters from them… I didn't know there was such a reason.

"Just when I opened my heart to Father and Mother, and we started getting along as parents and son, Mother got pregnant. With you, Cristea."
"I…”

So I wasn’t a child Otousama and Okaasama picked up outside, but their biological child.
Oniisama resembles Otousama quite a bit, so I was sure I wasn’t the biological one, but… Oniisama was Obasama’s child, and my cousin.
I had no idea.

“I was frightened. I thought that if they had a child of their own, they wouldn’t love me anymore. After that, I had a very rough time until you were born, and I caused a lot of trouble to Father and Mother… no, I caused them to worry unnecessarily.”
“How could they not love you anymore, that’s impossible!”

When I shouted back without thinking, Oniisama chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so. It was an absurd fear. They both loved me just the same as before. And when you were born, Mother let me hold you in my arms and told me that I should protect and love you just as they loved me. I decided then and there that I would protect you for the rest of my life.”
"Oniisama…”

I couldn't help but admire the serious expression on his face as he stared straight at me.

“But it was very difficult after that, you know? It turned out that your magical power was enormous, and every time you threw a tantrum, the room would end up in a mess. I was forced to learn how to protect myself before I could protect you."

Oniisama said as he winked playfully.

“Geez… Oniisama, that’s rude!”

I said reproachfully, and everyone who had been listening with serious faces softened their expressions and chuckled.

Next chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54730888