42. Family (part 2)

"She died doing something that she wanted… huh?" I said, finally with a soft smile. Seeing the change in my expression, even my stepfather formed a grin as well.

"A long time ago, I asked her what exactly she wanted to do." Stepfather said while turning his eyes at the ceilings. 

"She said something along the lines of… 'doing her best for Nathan'."

Hearing this answer, I opened my eyes widely.

"... When was this?"

"I think it was the year you arrived. Everything was still very new to us, and I just wanted to confirm her wishes." Stepfather explained, and I understand that this is early days.

"Felicia has always been obsessed with me, huh?"

"Right. Even I find it odd about what's so special about you." Stepfather said with a joking tone, but even then it still came a bit too cruel. 

I always find it difficult to understand his jokes, because most of the time they just come out as genuine insults. 

"But, after asking her so many times, she finally told me exactly why she was so clingy towards you."

"She was my half sister." I gave the answer before he could say it, which surprised my stepfather quite a lot.

"You… knew? Who told you?"

"Believe it or not… Zero did. President Zero of the dark republic." I said with a firm tone, and stepfather opened his eyes wide.

"That's not… possible. Only me and Felicia know. Unless…" Stepfather started thinking again, and I tried guessing what's on his mind.

"Who is her mother?" I asked after guessing, and Stepfather chuckled because I read his mind.

"You probably got the right guess. Her mother is actually a noblewoman from the dark republic." Stepfather said, and I opened my eyes wide. "She went to visit Fiordall for an arranged political marriage with a noble of ours, but she just happened to meet your father."

"Felicia was from… the dark republic?"

"Not exactly, because she was born right here at Fiordall. Her marriage to the nobleman from the count family was called off because she fell in love with your father, and the two eventually got married." Stepfather explained, but I was too shocked to understand.

E-Excuse me...?

This was never found in my history lessons with Dad or anyone else. This is definitely something that was kept a secret from me.

"So father was… married to someone else?" I asked with such a shocked expression, and my stepfather nodded.

"Only for a year. Because right after giving birth to Felicia, her mother passed away."

I see… that is truly unfortunate indeed. But, had that not happen, I probably wouldn't be born.

"About two years after that, your father got remarried with your mother. Of course, they kept this a secret from you in respect to your mother." Stepfather told me what happened after that, and I still feel very confused.

"I don't get it. If father has… remarried, then why not have Felicia be adopted as my sister?"

"The situation wasn't easy. And honestly, even I found the situation quite annoying." Stepfather said with such an annoyed tone, and I can tell this matter is outside of his control.

"After marrying your father, Felicia's mother lost her noble rank from the dark republic. They threw her away and left her at Fiordall, because she didn't marry a count family."

"J-Just because of that?"

"You'd be surprised by how greedy some people can be. In any case, marrying your father does not have any political or monetary benefits whatsoever to the family because your father was technically a commoner. At least, at the time, he wasn't that famed or well known." Stepfather explained the situation well, and I just can't understand the purpose behind any of this.

"So, she was thrown away by their family?"

"No. They actually wanted her. Felicia's mother's family wanted to take Felicia for themselves, but your father never allowed it. 

So, he hid Felicia away from their sight. He secretly trained her and never even told her that she was his daughter. Felicia told me that the one who told her about her father was actually the grandma who Felicia was staying with during her time in Fiore village."

That… is crazy.

If his intention was to protect Felicia, then… wouldn't it make more sense to just take Felicia in as his daughter?

Then again, the nobles from the dark republic might find her and see father as an enemy. If that's the case, they might even use him for reasons of supporting Felicia. The noble world is always just so messed up.

"Well, at least their country is no more." I said in regards to all the things that Felicia experienced, and stepfather nodded in agreement.

"Right. But, that still confused me about something." Stepfather then leaned forward as if about to ask a very important question, and I sharpened my ear to listen.

"You… had a crush on Felicia?"

…?

"Yeah. Of course I did. I had no idea she was blood related to me, and she was really god damn pretty! Why wouldn't I?" I answered a little angrily at him, and my stepfather laughed after seeing me explode.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. And honestly speaking, I wanted to tell you about her because you kept chasing after her. But, after deep consideration with your stepmother, we decided that it might've been best for the two of you if you just never knew." Stepfather explained how he feels, and I lowered my gaze after understanding.

"Actually, I hated not knowing more. Because when Zero told me that Felicia was actually my sister, I finally realized the reason why she has been rejecting me this whole time." I told stepfather about what happened, and he nodded in silence.

"How did Felicia… react to you knowing?" Stepfather asked, and I smiled a little after remembering.

"Well, she cried. At first. And once I told her that I never truly minded all of that… she looked so happy." I said in reminiscence to what occurred, and stepfather smiled as well while nodding.

"That's good. I'm sure she looks at you the same way as well. It's a pity that she lived her life in such a way, but… had that not happened, the two of you wouldn't have seen each other in the same way." Stepfather said, and truthfully, I'm very surprised that he is being very supportive about Felicia and I.

"So, you actually… don't mind me and Felicia liking each other?" I asked to confirm his thoughts, but he only looked annoyed.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I mind. Originally, I planned on marrying that Reju brat to her." Stepfather finally said what's on his mind quite angrily, and I regretted asking.

"Sorry for asking."

"It's fine. Did she… say anything else to you before it happened?" Stepfather asked, and my mind was reminded at the last moment that I had with Felicia.

Right before she saved me, right before she covered my entire body with her dark fire origin, the words she said to me had been in my head at every single moment. I can never forget it, because it has been something she has always wanted to say to me for a very long time. 

And, it just so happens that it was something I've always wanted to hear.

"She said that she loves me!" I said while laughing a bit, and this is the first time I've laughed in so long. Because I was so happy, because I finally realized how important it was.

I didn't realize my eyes felt so painful, and apparently I was already crying long before I answered. Stepfather saw the emotions battling inside me, and he nodded firmly from his seat.

"That's wonderful. I'm glad that she was able to say that in the end." He said with a soft smile, and I nodded firmly while smiling as well.

I wiped all the tears from my face while stepfather got up and grabbed a tissue from the shelf. He gave me the box of tissue, and I used five strands to get rid of the snot.

"I will say something. Felicia… wouldn't want you to be this sad." He said to try and cheer me up, and I nodded firmly.

"Yeah. I know. She was one of the first who helped me after the village massacre." I said with a smile, and stepfather smiled as well to see me finally letting it all go.

He is right. Felicia's wish has always been about making me happy. She has also lived in the village, and yet she ignored all the pain when the massacre happened to take care of me. She ignored her own feelings when I chased after her, because she doesn't feel that it is right for her to feel that way knowing the truth.

But now, she has finally been freed of the shackles of the truth. She told me how she feels, and nothing can make me any happier than finding out my crush also feels the same way as I do after so long.

Looks like… I've been such an idiot to her since forever.

"I'm sorry for crying like this in your office." I said to stepfather before he sat back down at his chair, and he only chuckled.

"Oh, please. You should've seen how Elice cried. Felicia was truly like a role model for her, so it was agonizing for her." Stepfather said, and it seems like I have ignored that important fact about Elice. I may have to apologize to her later on.

"I'll apologize to Elice. I can't protect Felicia well."

"Forget that for now. I'm sure your mother will look for you soon, so I want to talk to you about more important things." Stepfather said with a serious tone, and I realized what the topic was going to be about.

"About the headmaster...?" I guessed, and he nodded firmly.

"Zero and the headmaster… I don't understand exactly what's going on, but if he really was as strong as you said, then it makes sense as to how he slaughtered the village full of powerful people. If that's the case, then we will have to give this fight our all." Stepfather explained, and I nodded firmly at him.

"In that case... can you heed a selfish request of mine?"

"State your wish, Nathan Fiore. All I have is a blank check." Stepfather said with a cold smirk, and I am glad that he is taking this matter as seriously as possible.

"Once we find where the headmaster is... we'll face him with our all. However, Frisena's military is lacking manpower, and she's going to need help.

I want Fiordall's army."