Look, I Don’t Need You

Looking at Solor’s earnest, heartfelt expression, Ellie wanted to respond with only one thought:

—That expression of yours looks delicious.

The tightly furrowed brows meant worry.

The heavy sigh meant tension.

And those eyes staring straight at her—

He was thinking.

He was wondering what he should say to her.

This was a scene Ellie never expected.

She had never imagined that one day, Solor would face her with such a complicated expression.

She had always assumed this emperor-like brother of hers would show nothing but a cold face and wield his self-appointed righteousness to hate her as an enemy.

Solor, that man, had always been far more ruthless than her.

Like any emperor, the people were merely pieces in his hand.

They claimed it was for the prosperity of the empire, but at the core, wasn’t it all for power and glory?

The bond between ruler and ruled had always been inseparable like that.

As for family affection… that had long been abandoned.

When his mother died, Solor immediately understood—

He must become emperor.

For power, for honor, and so that one day, the one who collapsed in a pool of blood would not be him.

Even recalling it now, Ellie couldn’t help letting out a cold laugh.

The moment he ordered assassins to create a staged carriage accident to kill her mother, Solor had only been a boy barely in his early teens.

At that time, the two of them stood on opposite sides of the empress’s tombstone.

Had they even seen each other’s figures in their eyes back then?

But—those were matters of the past.

In Solor’s original world, the brother he fought for more than a decade had already vanished.

In Ellie’s current world, the cold-faced brother staring her down had been replaced by another version entirely.

Everything looked familiar, yet nothing was the same.

“Ellie, did you hear what I said?”

Perhaps only in front of his sister would Solor show such awkwardness.

He rubbed his thumbs together, looking so nervous that his palms might already be sweaty.

Ellie had spent the past few days in the rear garden, not seeing Solor’s court persona.

It made her curious—what kind of figure did this gentle, almost timid-looking brother show before nobles?

Surely he wasn’t like this… rubbing his hands like a buzzing fly whenever he got nervous?

If so, that’d be too embarrassing.

She could mock him for a whole year.

Back then, during their power struggle, just one small mistake on Solor’s part almost got her most trusted knight poisoned.

Although Ellie hadn’t been the one behind that incident, she had mocked him for years over it.

Even now, after reincarnating into another world, she still remembered it clearly.

“Yes, of course, Brother. I heard you.”

“N-No, you didn’t hear at all. Ellie, are you angry with me?”

“How is that possible?”

Ellie let out a small laugh, as if using her expression to tell him she was definitely not angry.

“No matter what you do, I would never be angry with you.”

“Ellie…!”

But clearly, Ellie’s smile—her explanation—completely failed to reassure Solor.

“If something is wrong, I want you to tell me. Haven’t we always been the closest? If you need me, then tell me. Didn’t you say you would rely on me? I’ll help you.”

Solor had held back for so long, but finally spilled out those words.

This so-called relationship.

This so-called reliance.

These bonds, these emotions—

Ahh, I don’t really understand them at all.

Ellie could understand the words he spoke.

But Ellie could not understand what he meant.

Rely on her brother?
What did that even mean?

In her twenty-something years of life, they had spent more than half as enemies.

She had long forgotten what it meant to rely on someone.

From the beginning, ever since she lost her mother, hadn’t she always relied solely on herself?

As the second prince in her past life, she had always wanted to run away when she was young.

She had been sentimental—she loved her mother deeply.

Even though her mother locked her inside the assassin organization she once led, denying her food and drink, forcing her to understand the consequences of losing power and becoming a prisoner.

Her mother made her hold torture tools and punish those who tried to escape, showing her that they had no path of return.

Those who died in front of her…
Those were the futures of girls who tried to escape—just like her.

Her mother had taught her much—how to survive, how to become strong, how to surpass the first prince and become the true heir.

And then—

Her mother died, taken care of by Solor’s people.

Was she sad?

Of course she was. That was her mother.

But more than sadness, that day brought a brutal enlightenment—

Brother…
Can we truly never go back to how we were?

Is there no way to return?

After Solor’s mother died, Ellie had been hiding constantly.

Afraid Solor would blame her.

Afraid that once their eyes met, she would lose everything she once had.

But look—there was no hiding from it.

Just like the runaway carriage that dragged her mother into the abyss.

She could not run.

She could not avoid it.

She could not escape at all.

And now?
This happy, gentle Solor suddenly spoke such words to her.

Too unfamiliar.

So unfamiliar that Ellie couldn’t react immediately.

She had never imagined the man before her would ever say such things.

“…”

Thus, she smiled silently.

The tea in her cup was already gone, but she still lifted it and swallowed nothing, pretending it was full.

“Always relying on you… that wouldn’t be good, would it?”

This was Eric’s answer.

And this was also the answer of the Ellie she now was.

Because she truly didn’t understand what it meant to “rely on her brother.”

Father, mother, brother, nobles, ministers…
Even the personal assassins she once commanded—none were worthy of trust.

Even the assassin who had accompanied her since childhood had eventually been “stolen” away by the captain of Solor’s knight order…

Well, fine—let’s just say she found her own path before I did.

Everyone walks down their own dark road until the end anyway.

If things hadn’t been so tense back then, he should have wished her well.

After all, they were the same kind of people.

People who had no one they could rely on—
So they burned themselves running down a single path.

“…”

Perhaps it was Ellie’s casual reply.

Perhaps it was her habitual way of speaking.

To her—who had once been Eric—this answer felt correct.

The Solor of her past life would have been thrilled to see such mutual disdain.

But this Solor wore a complicated expression.

He took a deep breath, almost forcefully.