I: "..."
I really wanted to dump a bucket of cold water on his head to wake him up. I took a deep breath. "Please calm down first."
Sebastian realized his state wasn't suitable for a conversation, so he pressed his lips together and stopped talking.
The car was very quiet, only the sound of shallow breathing filling the space. The underground parking lot was dark, oppressively so. Sebastian suddenly asked:
"Do you remember when Silius came to see you and asked you to throw me out?"
Silius was his younger brother, the one who took advantage of his injury to expel him from the company.
After I took Sebastian in, Silius had come to threaten me, saying that if I didn't throw him out, he'd make trouble for my family.
I had blocked the door with a kitchen knife:
"Then come at me! I want to see who dares risk their life in this law-abiding society."
"Threatening me, huh? Let me tell you, the one thing I'm not afraid of in this life is threats. If you have the guts, come at me, don't just talk big."
I waved the kitchen knife at him, and the man immediately ran off, shouting "Crazy!" as he fled."At that moment, I was just watching in the room, and I thought you were incredible. I'd never seen anyone like you. He spoke softly."
"Later, I thought, you had the courage to protect me with a knife. What right did I have to be weak?"
After he finished speaking, the car was silent for a long while.
I closed my eyes. Although I didn't want to, I still shattered his illusion.
"When I held that knife, I was also very scared. But I thought of the person behind me, someone my sister liked, and I thought if I was protecting the person my sister loved, I wouldn't hesitate, not even if it meant dying."
"Sebastian, I cursed him, waved the knife at him—all of it was for my sister, not for you."
"...I'm sorry."
Sebastian didn't seem very angry, or maybe he just didn't show it.
He only smiled at me. "Anastasia, sometimes, I really hate how ruthless you are."
"You could have kept this from me or told me a kind lie. That would've been better for everyone."
"But you chose to tear that veil away, making us all uncomfortable."I lowered my eyes.
"A kind lie is still a lie. No matter how many prefixes you add, it doesn't change the nature of deceit. It's meaningless."
"Would it make you happy, even if just for one day, in your eyes, would that not have some meaning?"
"You just don't care about me..."
He sounded like a complaining wife, dissecting every word I said, growing more aggrieved as he spoke, his eyes reddening with bitterness.
"Please don't do this."
I pressed my forehead, trying to be tactful.
"Our relationship right now is not even at the level where caring or not matters." This conversation was getting more and more absurd...
"How about we both calm down first?"
I suggested, "Let's grab a meal, I'm starving."
The meal was quiet. My head was foggy, and I couldn't sort through my thoughts. Sebastian probably felt the same way.
He silently peeled shrimp for me, ladled soup, his brows tightly furrowed, and didn't say a word. Probably trying to avoid the argument we just had.
"How is your sister now?"
"Not good."
I said with a gloomy voice, "The doctor said it's not looking good."
"Don't be too sad. I'll find another..."
"Anastasia!"
Suddenly someone patted my shoulder, accompanied by a light, cheerful laugh. I turned around and, with surprise, exclaimed, "Kart!"
