Chapter 66 - Stepbrother (2/2)

Calling out in a soft voice, although not too loud to avoid arousing unwanted attention, the elven girl stopped Henry fro

He turned around with a surprised face, heher to respond, and had planned to let her think about it

“You’re right, the dungeon is no safe place But I already went to the Guild to get a guild card See, you don’t have to worry too much

I have to tell you… Thank you for caring I’ood ords, but just know that it means a lot to me Thank you … brother”

Forcing out the last word, Nisha couldn’t see the stunned expression painted on Henry’s face since she buried herself beneath the covers to escape his gaze as soon as the last sound left her mouth

Seeing that she wasn’t going to talk any man closed the sturdy oak door behind him and discreetly went back to his bed

He had wanted to speak to Nisha for a while now, and the dungeon came as a convenient excuse However he hadn’t anticipated that she would appear so cooperative and even call hi of this turn of events

As his ownwell, the happiness she had showed to his consideration had touched a soft spot in his heart

As Henry had promised, Luthais and Galan did not find out about her trip, or at least didn’t mention it on either the next day and when they went to the royal palace for the Day of Light

Convinced that Henry’s words were not a ruse and he had meant what he said, Nisha used the opportunity and sat next to hie to start a conversation

Although astonished, he was still e

Luthais smiled and didn’t try to interfere

Whenever she had the chance, Nisha would try to learnwith hiether to the acadeet a better understanding of her stepbrother

Partly because she had a guilty conscience for ignoring him so far

Surprisingly, Henry was quite different fro sense of , but he never insisted on enforcing rules or following every instruction he was given, if he thought there was a better way, he’d have no quals differently

Popular in the acadeh society, he often took it upon hi nobles, and how she should behave with them so as to have as little trouble as possible

When she asked him if it bothered hied and his answer aon

“Isn’t it a good thing to have more people around? We are fa with each other, ill forever be able to rely on each other”

His answer sounded way too optie of pain in his eyes hinted Nisha on proble to mention

Apart froht skills, the greatest surprise for Nisha was to discover Henry’s love for art Especially music; the way he played the lute and the piano was al that her stepsister had taken an interest inthe tiether

After anotherwith Hale everyher food reserves every now and then in the dungeon, and socializing with Henry during her free tion did not notice that her step brother had also started to understand her fairly well

After a short refreshi+ng shower, the two of the the lute and her whistling a melody

“Say, Nisha, what is troubling you?”

Without interrupting his performance, he casually asked her

Nisha, on the other hand, was taken aback and i She had tried to keep their conversations’ topics on light ht it would be unfair is she was to unload her problems on him

“I don’t re recently What do you mean?”

Henry nonchalantly

“You have a tense expression whenever we go to the city or talk about it, you’re uneasy about it Especially yesterday, after you returned froreed to uess that you worry about so?”

Delicately placing the instru lued to her

Right now, his si Nisha Had his hair been white, the one in front of her could have been her grandfather’s twin, they weren’t exactly identical, but he bore a great resemblance with the old man, at the very least

With Annabelle and Lydia engrossed in their trader’s training, the elven girl had had no one to confide in lately Most of her troubles were too trivial to bother Bael and Gabriel, and confessing things to servants wasn’t a very smart move for a noble

In the end, she decided to trust Henry

“It’s like this IAt first it was fine but then I ot into trouble, and at the sao back there What if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore? Or was fired because of my mistake?

Now, every tiuilty I know I should go see her and take responsibility forher

What should I do?”

I should have told him earlier

Subconsciously, Nisha already knehat troubled her and affected her behaviour Putting it into words and asking for an outside opinion had had a cleansing effect, relieving her of all her tension and anxiousness She waited for Henry’s answer

“Isn’t it just a ize and show that you intend to take responsibility, your friend shouldn’t have any resento there as soon as possible and take care of the situation; delaying for too long ood

Do you think you can do it?”

Reassuring her with a gentle smile, he spoke the exact words Nisha needed to hear Every tieon in the last moon, she hadfurther attention on herself, and only hunted in the most remote corners of the first layer, in case the Guild found her and Aubrey learned about her location

“Encouragement was apparently exactly what I needed I will have to apologize and I’ll probably be punished, but ain Thank you

Now that we solvedyou? And don’t think I wouldn’t know, just as you saw through h you!”

The kind sht of Nisha’s wink

“Can’t hide anything from you, can I? Okay, let’s see … where do I start?”