The man's breath produces smoke as he runs on a rainy night.
Despite being wet, he continued on and arrived at a local shop.
Without a knock, the man barges in and falls down the front.
Inside the shop, a man is currently counting his money.
He is outlining what and how much he will need to purchase a few stocks.
When he saw the man enter without an announcement, he became suspicious.
This changed when he saw the man's face.
"Luther?"
The man— Luther is on the brink of death.
"Tell me what happened."
"I don't have any time, Eriwn. Please take care of her."
In the arms of Luther, there is a child envelope by a blanket.
He hand the baby in the arms of Erwin.
Now that he hands the baby, he felt reassuring that made him succumb to the death.
"Honey, Is there something wrong— Brother!"
Erwin's wife heard a noise from beneath and decided to investigate who was visiting this night, but she had not expected to witness the death of her own brother.
She rushes to his side, checking to see if he is still alive, but discovering that he is no longer breathing, she hugs him as her tears fall.
Erwin hugs his wife on her back and looks at the baby.
"I will take care of you. No—we will look after you."
…
2 years later…
"Push!"
"Argh!"
"You can do it."
"Argh!"
"Finally! Here, he is a boy."
After the midwife help the doctor, she let the mother hold her child.
"Do you have any name for him"
"I have honey. He will be Alex from now on."
"If that is what you want, his name will be Alex. Alicia will be overjoyed when she learns about her brother."
"I'm sure about that."
"You can take a rest for now. The midwife will take care of Alex."
She reluctantly hands the baby to the midwife.
…
10 years later…
"So his name is Alex… Call me Sister Bea, Nice to meet you!"
Alex eyes are sparkling as he look at her.
This is how he met his first crush.
"Please marry me!"
"Eh?"
"No way! You're my brother so your mine!"
"But I want to be her husband"
"I think we're too young for that."
"Anyway, where did you hear about this kind of thing?"
"The kids that I played with tells me that if you want to get close to someone, asked her to marry her."
"Who are those kids? I need to talk with them."
"Calm down Alicia."
…
2 years later…
Alicia Hambell, 14 years old.
"So you're gonna study at the Academy City? As your father, I'm quite not sure about it."
"Yeah, what if your gonna hurt? Or something horrible will happened—"
"Father, Mother, I'm already at the age where I need to get a practice to stand by my own feet in the future. As your daughter, I will make the both of you become proud of me."
Despite the hesitation, Ann give her nod of approval while Erwin sigh thinking that kids grows too much faster these days.
"I see… then we're gonna see you off tomorrow."
"Thank you."
…
On the same night…
"Are you sure we're not gonna tell to her?"
"Yeah, we will keep this a secret on our grave. Although she's your brother's daughter we decided to grow her to be our daughter. It might be selfish but I don't want to see her get hurt by the truth."
"Me too. I already consider her as my daughter so I know that feeling."
Meanwhile, Alicia who's about to knock the door was shocked to hear the truth.
This is her last night with her parents so she wanted to sleep with them but she didn't expected that she will hear an unexpected truth.
"Alex is not my brother…"
Her voice is too low to hear, but it is tinged with sadness.
Despite knowing the truth, she decided to proceed with her plan.
She knocked on the door, and her parents were surprised by her late-night visit.
She invited them to sleep with her, and they sighed as they accepted her offer.
They understand why she wanted to sleep with them, and they, too, will miss her.
Unbeknownst to her, this is the last time she will experience their warm embrace.
…
3 years later…
"You're Alicia right?"
"Aunt— Big Sis Erica!"
"Yes, it's me. It's been a long time since we met."
"So why are you here in the Academy City?"
"Well… Uhm… You see… I really miss my niece, which is why I am visiting you.
"Is… that so?"
Alicia suspects there is something wrong with her, but she decides not to investigate further.
…
A month later…
"I'm so sorry!"
"Why? Why you didn't tell it immediately? Why? Why? Why?…"
Erica lacked the courage to tell what happened to her parents at first, but in the end, she could not keep it a secret any longer and revealed their deaths.
Alicia cried and cried on her chest, and Erica simply hugged her.
After the confession, Alicia did not blame her because she could see Erica was also hurt.
Erwin was her only family member, but he died much earlier than she expected.
Erica had hoped that he would witness her wedding and hand her over to her future husband in front of the altar, but this would no longer be possible.
She's alone now…
No, she still has her niece and nephew, so she must cheer up for their sakes.
…
(A/N: V1 after…)
A month later…
Today marks the start of her final year at the SGKS.
It feels like yesterday, but she recalls that she and Yan spent their own vacation in May City with her brother.
It feels like yesterday because they only arrived from May City yesterday, so it is literally yesterday.
Everything is going as usual except for the change in her classroom, but a letter from her aunt changes everything.
A week later, she received a letter in her dormitory.
After reading the letter, she collapses on her knees, seemingly unable to stand.
Alex has died.
The guards discovered Alex's body in an alleyway a day ago.
As she continued to think about her brother's death, her mind began to spin and she wanted to vomit, but before she could, her brain stopped working and she passed out.