For Romantic Superpowers - Chapter 41 - By Any Means Necessary (1)
#41. By Any Means Necessary (1)
“Mr. Kevin…?”
Lia couldn’t easily accept the fact that Kevin had sent them. Why would he do such a thing? Even though he knew her relationship with Charlie wasn’t great.
But Perth understood immediately what had happened. He knew Lia had rejected Kevin’s suggestion to go to the festival together. She didn’t have to say it; he could guess roughly. So it seemed he had thought of a way to interfere with them.
Being a former knight, it was natural for Charlie, and by extension, Rufus, to be on good terms with him. Charlie, being an older brother, seemed to have a paternal attachment to Lia. It was predictable that this would happen if he spilled the beans to him.
The other party was smarter than he had thought. Pretending to be a friend had been quite annoying. Anyway, he was truly unpleasant.
“Kevin did nothing wrong. He simply told me you went to the festival.”
Damn it. Perth stifled a laugh internally. He avoided Charlie’s gaze and took a sip of coffee.
“Why did you follow us here just because Mr. Perth and I went to the festival?”
“Do you mean you’re not worried about going out alone with a stranger right now?”
“Mr. Perth and I are just friends!”
Their voices were too loud. Worried about causing a scene, Perth calmed them down.
“Please calm down, both of you.”
Charlie, angered by his calm tone, lashed out.
“Are you calm right now? Why did you take Lia out?”
Forgetting his resolve not to be disrespectful earlier, Charlie raised his voice unintentionally. Lia was also irritated.
“Why are you pointing fingers at us?”
“Why are you wrapping this guy around your finger instead of me, your older brother?”
“Why would I need a reason to prioritize my friend Perth over my brother?”
Lia’s words surprised all three of them. Charlie and Rufus looked at Perth and Lia alternately, doubting whether they were just friends. Perth had a headache. It was nice to hear that she valued him, but it was not the right time. It only fueled Charlie’s resentment. Why were these siblings so at odds? As someone who had never been with his siblings, Perth couldn’t understand.
“Maybe that’s why you shouldn’t have been brought into the palace….”
“It wasn’t my brother who let me enter the palace, but it was Mr. Perth here.”
Charlie glared at Perth even more resentfully at Lia’s words. Pressing his throbbing head, Perth spoke up.
“I think we’re getting off-topic, but may I speak?”
“Yes, please. Sit down and talk, bro.”
Rufus, who had managed to maintain his composure, pulled Charlie, who was standing up, back down into his seat.
“Firstly, as Lady Lia said, we are indeed just friends. However, I understand your concerns. To both of you, I’m simply a stranger.”
They all nodded. They waited for his calm voice to continue.
“Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s right to simply come and interfere without reason. Lady Lia is perfectly capable of making her own judgments.”
It was a subtle pressure to turn back. Charlie and Rufus realized why rumors circulated about his peak of power. Despite looking like a parasite, he was not to be underestimated. Not at all.
“And do you have something to say to Lady Lia?”
Charlie felt ashamed inwardly at his words. Initially, he aimed to separate Perth from Lia, but he also secretly wanted to apologize. However, due to pride, he didn’t want to speak up in front of him.
“By the way, older brother. Didn’t I clearly say I didn’t want to meet you again?”
“Lia, that was a mistake on my part.”
Rufus stepped in to defend him. It was a habit of his to mediate between Charlie and Lia. But this only fueled the fire.
“Younger brother! Stop defending him. I want to hear an apology from my older brother.”
However, Charlie couldn’t easily apologize. Lia, more angered by this, got up from her seat.
“And if you can’t muster up the courage to say that much, then don’t bother coming.”
Coldly leaving them behind, Lia stood up first. Once again, Rufus grabbed her.
“Why are you being so sensitive? We’re siblings. We can’t avoid each other for the rest of our lives! But do you have to go this far?”
“Let go of me!”
“Do we have to see each other to be family?”
Perth forcefully pulled Rufus’s arm away. Considering himself a knight, he was surprised when his grip easily gave way. Perth’s hand that grabbed him was bare.
“This is our family matter. Don’t interfere.”
Rufus shoved him away forcefully. Since he had intentionally used force, Perth’s wrist tingled slightly as he touched it. Then he put his glove back on.
“If you didn’t want interference, you should have resolved it from the start.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why only now, and why during the festival?”
“Well, normally the knight’s busy…”
“After the additional training time for the knights ended, there was plenty of time to travel back and forth between the greenhouse and dormitory.”
He briefly wondered how Perth knew about the additional training time. But he was one of the people in charge of palace affairs. It seemed natural to know this much.
“But my brother… He’s the Deputy Commander, so he’s busy with administrative duties!”
“Mr. Charlie.”
Perth’s gaze shifted to Charlie. When their eyes met, Charlie felt like he was being seen through somehow. Perhaps it was just his imagination. Charlie swallowed dryly for no reason.
“You never intended to apologize from the beginning, did you?”
“Don’t just say anything!”
As expected, Rufus spoke up for him again. But Perth didn’t turn his gaze towards him.
“You thought Lady Lia getting angry was just a routine thing, didn’t you? You thought you hadn’t said anything wrong?”
Charlie’s pupils shook at his words. It was the same thing he’d said to Rufus when they’d come to apologize to Lia together.
“H-how could that…?”
“You said that, older brother?”
Lia, who had been standing, sat back down upon hearing Perth’s words. Her anger that had flared up subsided coolly upon hearing Perth’s reasoning. The fact that Charlie wouldn’t be bothered even if she got angry was shocking.
“I can easily guess. Instead of apologizing to Lady Lia, you were more proactive in mediating between the two, Mr. Rufus, and you didn’t even apologize when Lady Lia said she was leaving, Mr. Charlie.”
Perth had simply observed things. But he fabricated a convincing reason. He never intended to escalate matters from the start. Initially, he had intended to mediate between Lia and Charlie. But after seeing what happened, that became impossible. He was also angry at what he heard.
“Because of you…!”
Charlie’s true feelings surfaced momentarily.
“Because of me? If I weren’t here, could you apologize instead of making a scene?”
Perth crossed his arms and smirked slightly. Charlie felt his blood boiling at his mocking. He wanted to overturn the dining table right then and there. But if he did that, Lia, who was giving him a menacing look from the side, seemed like she really wouldn’t want to see him again.
“Is it appropriate to maintain your pride while apologizing?”
Perth didn’t stop there. His goal was to wound Charlie’s pride.
“Have you said all you wanted to say? I know what kind of person you are. The palace rumors are quite vivid. Heard that you’re a cold-blooded person who doesn’t even have a human heart? What do you know about sibling relationships on that topic? And I’m uncomfortable with someone like you being next to my little sister. Step away right now.”
Charlie’s outburst was directed not at Lia but at Perth. However, Lia’s expression became even paler. Surprisingly, Perth remained calm even after hearing insulting words directed at himself.
“Older brother, how could you say such things…!”
“That makes sense.”
Perth cut off Lia, who was about to retort.
“I don’t know about sibling relationships. I was adopted into the palace at a young age.”
That was the truth. In fact, besides him, there was only one heir in the Versier mansion. It was his much older brother. Although he was his brother, he hated him, as did his parents. Since there was an heir to the Versier family, he became even more useless. Having lived like a man since he was young, he never once thought of himself as a brother.
“However, I think I know at least as much about Lady Lia as Mr. Charlie does. Her abilities are real. It seems you haven’t properly appreciated her abilities, even though you claim to be her older brother.”
“Mr. Perth, how did you know? Did my older brother talk about my abilities?”
Except for Perth, all three of them were surprised by this statement. It was Kevin, not Perth, who had been there when Charlie had dismissed Lia’s abilities. Moreover, none of the three had mentioned what they needed to apologize for.
“If Lady Lia is so angry that she doesn’t even want to face him, then it must be because of something he did. Surely it was about her abilities.”
To Charlie and Rufus, it sounded like he was saying he knew more about Lia than they did. However, to Lia, it sounded like he was claiming to know because he had a record of upsetting her. His gaze briefly shifting to Lia made it even more so. But in fact, this was just another thing he had seen. Knowing more details allowed him to plausibly reason about the reasons for it. With just a brief contact, Rufus had given him a lot of information.
“It was just a slip of the tongue. He never meant to ignore Lia.”
“Mr. Rufus.”
Again, when Rufus stepped forward, Perth interrupted.
“If you’re going to mediate, you need to stand in the middle without bias. Continuing to speak in favor of Mr. Charlie will not convince Lady Lia at all.”
This time, Rufus felt worse about Perth’s words. He had always mediated between siblings. But taking his brother’s side?
“I’m mediating properly!”
“No, little brother, it’s the same. I’m always told to endure and relieve anger, but who said what? Does an apology always end the matter? If you didn’t think that way in the first place, you wouldn’t have unconsciously said those things.”
“Lia, I’m not saying that my brother didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t like siblings fighting.”
“You’re taking brother’s side! Isn’t the reason little brothers like you defend older brothers the same? Because my abilities are insignificant! Instead of thinking about working in the palace with these abilities, just get married!”