Chapter 37 : Sisters · Part Two

“Marina!”

The sudden shout, using her full name.

Hitana’s clearly overreacting response startled Marina, scattering her heartfelt gratitude and joy; before she could speak, Hitana grabbed her hand and forcibly dragged her out of Anselm’s study.

Anselm watched Marina’s bewildered and helpless expression, meeting her apologetic beautiful eyes, silently smiling and nodding gently; after seeing her relieved expression, he turned and sat in the large chair behind the desk.

“Young Master, there seems to be no room for reconciliation this time,” Saville, who always appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, said.

“There was never any room for reconciliation from the start.”

Anselm glanced at the few documents on the side table, and Saville brought them over for him.

“You must have noticed her abnormality, Saville.”

“Yes,” the old man bowed slightly, “Based on all available information, Miss Hitana should not harbor such great malice toward you.”

He paused, then continued in a matter-of-fact tone: “Even if she did at first, after your several lessons, it should have turned into basic respect.”

Anselm carefully read the documents Marina had processed; this girl from a remote village surprisingly wrote in a fine hand; in just two days, her written expressions were quite appropriate; no one could believe such documents were written by a village girl.

But Anselm believed, because he knew how much effort this girl had put into changing her fate; in all the stories he had witnessed about Hitana, the comparison of these sisters’ personalities, actions, and outcomes… was both absurd and cruelly silencing.

“Saville, do you know a method of training dogs?”

Anselm did not answer the old butler’s question, instead starting a very strange topic.

He picked up a quill, began revising and annotating Marina’s documents, writing comments, and leisurely said: “After giving a command, deny any action the dog takes; due to the limitations of loyalty and intelligence, the dog will only feel endless confusion and bewilderment about itself, without considering the master might be at fault.”

“Over time, it will endlessly doubt itself, unable to respond subjectively to any command and when this effect is achieved, the trainer then provides thorough and detailed guidance, along with rewards, making the dog, which no longer trusts itself, develop infinite obedience and…”

“—dependence.”

Saville showed a thoughtful expression, while Anselm, writing rigorous annotations for Marina, continued: “Of course, people and dogs are different, but this method still holds very, very high reference value.”

“Destroying an existence’s sense of self…”

The young Hydra chuckled softly, adding a small praise to his annotations.

“Only requires an environment without any recognition or support.”

***

Marina, almost dragged to the room, had no chance to ask what was going on.

Until Hitana, panting, slammed the door shut, the always somewhat timid sister cautiously asked: “Hitana… what’s wrong?”

Hitana, breathing heavily, stared at Marina for a long time before suddenly blurting out:

“He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

“…You’re angry because of something so impossible?”

Marina, relieved, found it amusing: “How could Lord Hydra do anything to me? What are you thinking, Hitana?”

“I—”

Hitana opened her mouth; she looked at Marina’s increasingly fair and delicate, glossy face.

Her sister was a great beauty, much prettier than herself, Hitana had always thought so.

Even in the village, when her skin was rough and sometimes cracked from the cold, she was still very beautiful.

But now, anyone on the street would think Marina was some noble’s daughter, not a village girl from a remote place.

All this was hard-earned; the peace and joy on her sister’s face were so real.

The anger and grievances Hitana wanted to pour out were all stuck in her chest, unable to be voiced.

“I have a lot to tell you, I don’t want to talk to that guy!”

The girl huffed: “Do you know how amazing I’ve become after this trip?”

Marina looked at her sister’s proud and playful demeanor, taking in the bandaged areas on her body, feeling both relieved and heartbroken, beckoning her to sit beside her.

Hitana giggled, scampering to her sister’s side and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, occasionally swaying to bump her shoulder.

“I’ll tell you a big secret first… I guessed—no, deduced it myself! Lina, you definitely don’t know.”

Miss Young Wolf whispered mysteriously: “Do you know what kind of big figure I got involved with this time?”

Marina thought for a moment, tentatively answering: “The Grand Duke of Gray Tower?”

“Exactly, that—”

“…Huh?”

The girl blinked twice, staring blankly at her sister.

“Ah, well…” Marina touched her cheek, a bit embarrassed, “Because of the work Lord Hydra gave me, I looked through a lot of documents about Chishuang Territory in his study; they mentioned that the Grand Duke of Gray Tower is the actual controller of Chishuang Territory now… since you said it was a big figure, related to Chishuang Territory, and someone above that, I thought… it must be him.”

“Oh… oh! So you saw the documents beforehand! That’s fine then.”

“Hmm, thanks to Lord Hydra.”

Hitana felt relieved but was irritated again by Marina’s last sentence.

But she quickly put on her “I’m so awesome” look again, proudly recounting what happened in Xiaofeng Fortress, selectively and embellished.

“Lina, Lina, do you know what that scheming Hydra guy was really up to?”

She tilted her nose up, extremely smug: “I saw right through him! He couldn’t fool me!”

This time, Marina furrowed her brow with some difficulty, thoughtfully repeating a few key words Hitana mentioned.

“Assassination, viscount, Grand Duke of Gray Tower… merciful, death?”

Seeing her sister’s conflicted expression, Hitana’s pride grew even more.

Then, within a few minutes, she saw Marina’s eyes suddenly light up, blurting out: “The assassination at the banquet was orchestrated by Lord Hydra? And the Grand Duke of Gray Tower wanted to help those two viscounts escape to expose Lord Hydra’s scheme, making him lose the support in Chishuang Territory?”

Hitana, unable to think.

Her proud expression froze on her face.

“No, this, you—” The girl jumped up in disbelief, “How did you guess that, it’s impossible!”

“There were a lot of documents about Count Chishuang and his allies in Lord Hydra’s study; I read them all.”

“So I knew the relationship between those two viscounts and Count Chishuang; plus your description, Hitana… it wasn’t hard to guess.”

—The truth was, Anselm’s explanation to Hitana was just connecting all the existing facts.

But Hitana didn’t believe someone would orchestrate their own assassination, while Marina quickly grasped this key point.

Under Hitana’s incredulous gaze, Marina shyly averted her eyes: “It’s not that I’m smart… It’s Lord Hydra. I told you, Hitana, he lets us see a broader world; just a simple paperwork job, and he’s willing to let me access so many intelligence documents… he’s someone we should repay with all our hearts, Hitana!”

“What are you talking about!”

Lord Hydra, Lord Hydra, Lord Hydra…

Marina’s reverent and longing tone and expression, that intense and sincere emotion, made Hitana unable to suppress the agitation in her heart any longer.

“He’s done this, deceived us like this and you still admire him so much?!” Hitana looked at Marina in disbelief, “He’s a liar! Using that method to gain everyone’s praise and loyalty, don’t you find that guy disgusting at all?”

“…Hitana, you—”

Marina was stunned for a long time; she understood her sister’s personality was like this, but she knew… if Hitana couldn’t accept such things, she could never stay by Anselm’s side for long.

The always timid sister mustered her courage, speaking with utmost seriousness, not persuading but refuting, even criticizing Hitana:

“Stop being so childish, Hitana.”

Facing that angry and incredulous gaze, Marina, with her heart nervously pounding, gritted her teeth and continued firmly:

“You’re sixteen now, not the twelve-year-old little girl anymore. You should know that not everything in this world needs to be judged as right or wrong, good or bad.”

“Yes, Lord Hydra deceived us, so what? He used that deception to gain our support, and then? Did he do anything to betray that support?”

“Did he exploit us without limits like Count Chishuang? Did he collude with those despicable noble bureaucrats? Up to now, has he done anything purely out of malice to harm you, me, or any of us ordinary people?”

With facts to back her, Marina’s voice grew more resolute: “No, he hasn’t done any of that; he could have continued deceiving to do those filthy things, but has he? Hitana, do you know how many documents have piled up in his study waiting to be processed in these two days? Do you know who has been maintaining the stability of Chishuang Territory after Count Chishuang’s death?”

“You don’t know! Your eyes only see the hypocrisy you despise, the hateful Hydra, only that utterly evil Hydra in your biased mind!”

“Go look outside, see the gifts piled up in the courtyard, ask anyone on the street how they view Lord Hydra, ask if they feel the same as you, Hitana!”

Marina met her sister’s gaze, slightly relieved, softening her tone: “So, stop hating Lord Hydra so much. He won’t always indulge you like this. Don’t make mistakes again, Hitana.”

After saying this, Marina suddenly felt a deeply uncomfortable sensation.

The next moment, tears burst from Hitana’s eyes.

“Get out!”

She roared furiously at Marina: “Why aren’t you on my side? You’re my sister! Why are you speaking for the guy I hate!”

“Hitana, you—”

“Marina, you should have seen your expression in the study with that guy… and just now when you mentioned his name. Do you like him? Do you want to be like those women fawning over Hydra, becoming his lover?”

“Hitana!”

These outrageous words sent Marina into a rage.

The girl, who had never truly scolded her sister before, raised her hand and, somewhat out of control, slapped her cheek.

“Do you even know what you’re saying! How could you!”

Even after the slap, Marina regretted it instantly, but she still spoke sternly, full of anger and disappointment.

“…”

Hitana held her cheek, silent.

And from those cold, dark red eyes, Marina read an emotion she had never seen before.

Hatred.

The tearful young wolf turned without hesitation and stormed out, leaving Marina alone, at a loss.

In truth, just as Hitana had not yet fully understood Marina’s well-meaning intentions,

Marina similarly did not understand what her absurd, headstrong, self-centered sister had gone through after waking from her faint today.

—Hitana, who had asked why she faced an assassination, heard directly from Anselm, who never lied to her, that the assassination was arranged by him.

Who would show any leniency to someone who tried to have them killed?

And poor Hitana, to avoid troubling her sister who had found a good life, deliberately hid this matter.

What she received in return was such ruthless, cold criticism, and… a slap.

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