Different from Dina's dignified expression, Lena's was pure and innocent as a fairy descending from heaven, untainted by the mortal world. Her big eyes were looking at us worriedly.
"Big brother, sis... I'm sorry about that." Lena said softly and lowered her head ashamed.
"Silly girl." Dina spoke hurriedly and hugged her. "it's not your fault. We always fight with your brother and mother, so don't worry about it."
"But, I don't like it when mom treats you like that. Besides, brother Bryan spoke so many ugly things... Why do they treat you like that? We are family and yet..."
I sighed when I heard Lena's sad voice. As I said before, I only consider two people in this palace as my family, and they are Dina and Lena. As for the others, they all can die for all I care.
Of course, I cannot say something like that to Lena, so I simply hugged her together with Dina to console her.
In this family, Lena could be considered the only one who is not hated for anyone. Because she is the youngest, and she is very innocent and likable, she is spoiled by everyone (except Bryan who bullies her from time in time). Due to it, she sometimes had the hope that we can be a normal family.
Unfortunately, it's impossible.
As someone who reincarnated 708 times, I can say that in families like this, love is almost inexistent.
After hugging Lena for a while, Dina finally let go of her. She tidied her clothes and looked at Lena tenderly. "Thank you, Little Lena, I feel much better now. I have lessons later, so I have to go." She then gazed at me and blushed slightly. "You too, brother... Thank you very much, and happy birthday. I'll give you my gift tonight in the ball, I almost forgot about it due to that stupid jerk."
I nodded and kissed her cheek. "Take care." She blushed again and ran away.
Lena giggled a little seeing it and then grabbed my arm. "Happy birthday big brother, will you accompany me to play today? Everybody else is busy..."
I thought briefly about my plans for the day and hesitated. Lena looked at me with puppy eyes when she saw it. "Please?"
I was defeated by that gaze.
"Okay okay, I'll go with you."
"Thank you, big brother! You are the best!" Lena shouted happily and pulled me by my hand.
She then told a maidservant to get food for us before taking me to the courtyard.
I could only follow her while smiling helplessly.
Daisy excused herself and told me that she had to prepare some things for tonight, so only Lena, I, and some maidservants went to the courtyard
The courtyard already had been arranged properly for some servants. They put a blanket on the ground below the shade of a tree, so Lena and I could sit there.
A few minutes later, the maidservant from before came carrying drinks and snacks and put them on the blanket. I did not finish breakfast before and was still hungry, so my hand quickly went for the snacks and grabbed a few.
Lena smiled sweetly seeing it. She also grabbed some snacks and began to eat together with me while pestering me to tell her some stories.
My relationship with Lena was the best among my siblings. When she was small, my other siblings did not like to play with her, and her personal servant was an adult woman, so I was her only playmate in the palace.
Actually, after living through 708 lifetimes, I have enough patience to play with a child, so Lena quickly took a liking to me.
From then, she always looked for me when she was bored. I patiently played with her each time and sometimes told her stories or songs I learned in my past lives.
Of course, my stepmother was upset when she learned that Lena spend every day with me, but even when she scolded Lena or forbade her from looking for me, Lena always found the way to sneak away to my place and ask me to tell her stories.
Sometimes she even entered my room at night to sleep with me.
I thought for a moment and finally decided to tell her a tale about a princess that fell in love with a prince of an enemy nation and how they fought during years until finally being together.
This story was something that I lived during my two hundredth or three hundredth life, so I managed to tell it in an interesting and engaging way. When I reached the end of the story, even the maidservants nearby were secretly paying attention to my words.
After finishing the story, Lena was looking at me with an enraptured expression.
"That story was pretty nice, big brother. I'm happy that the prince and the princess could be happy together."
I smiled softly and patter her head. "Yeah, it's good when love triumphs."
"Big brother, I also want to be happy with the person I love. It's my dream."
"Oh? Little Lena has someone she likes?" I asked in a teasing tone.
"Of course!" She answered instantly and blushed until the ears. "He is the most handsome, kind, and smart person I know. But I will not tell you his name." She said softly in a nervous tone so the maids could not hear. Then, she looked at me with a half-expectant, half-scared gaze.
"... Why do I get that feeling that your description matches with this brother of yours." I smiled teasingly.
"No! It's not you!" Lena's face instantly became pale.
The maidservants looked at us with startled expressions after hearing Lena's shout, but I gestured them that everything was alright.
I then opened my mouth to tell Lena that it was a joke, but before I could speak, she stood up and stuttered.
"I-I'm f-feeling a little u-unwell. I-I think I'll rest for a bit. Sorry about it, big brother." She then left quickly without waiting for my answer.
I shook my head and smiled helplessly. I'm not dense enough to not realize her feelings after seeing her behavior each day.
Well, incest is not something easy to accept in any world. She probably thinks that it's impossible between un because we are siblings.
But, to be honest, I don't care about it. Actually, I have done it in some of my past lives.
Well, she at least has a dream.
On the other hand, I don't know what to do in this life.
It's tiring to be a king, and I already played enough to being demon king. A hero... Nah, it's bothersome.
Maybe it's time to take a rest.
Well, it's not like I have to decide now.