tw: slight mention of s*icide

“…?!”

In front of the surprised Ashmia stood a tall, beautiful young man with black, well-groomed hair and blood-red eyes.

“What? You’re already walking around like this? You seem to be doing better than I thought.”

‘Ashmia’s memories’ reflexively responded to the rude tone. It was a word that Michael would’ve never said even if it killed him, a word he disliked more than ‘father’.

“…Brother Damian.”

Damian barged into the hospital room. Ashmia was confused for a moment and couldn’t figure out what to do or what she shouldn’t do. The discomfort left by Damian in Ashmia’s memories was the cause.

‘I knew it, but still. I guess you didn’t get along well with your siblings.’ Ashmia thought, trying to pull herself together.

“Yeah, I wasn’t seriously injured. But didn’t you just come by?”

Damian watched Ashmia as she mumbled quietly in an annoyed tone and then sat down on her sofa.

“I said I couldn’t drop by because I had work to do. Do you have anything else to eat? This isn’t a ‘special room’; it’s a mess. Call the guys out there.”

The door was still open so a guard from the hallway heard the sound and walked into the hospital room.

“Go fry a chicken or something. You have half an hour.”

“In… In half an hour?!”

Damian raised his eyes at the man’s retort.

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry!”

After the man ran out of the hospital room, Damian unbuttoned his shirt and put his legs on the table in front of the sofa.

“Hey.”

Ashmia took a deep breath to build the courage to say the word she wished she didn’t have to.

“Brother.”

“What?”

“What are you doing right now?”

Damian frowned and looked at Ashmia.

“I thought you were fine, but the explosion deafened you. Did you not hear what I just said to that bastard?”

“I heard. Go home and eat. What did you come all the way here for?”

Damian’s eyes narrowed. It was as if to say ‘See that?’ with his eyes. However, Damian soon found the stabilisers on the bedside table and understood.

“Are you on drugs? You’re answering everything I say and you answer it wrong.”

Damian raised the corner of his mouth in an amused smirk.

“People say that if someone’s on the brink of death, they change. So that’s what happened to you.”

Ashmia was stunned.

Was that the attitude of a brother who visited her sister after she almost died?

Damian’s trashy personality was annoying, and it was hard for Ashmia to keep calm knowing that he was the person who made Nikita shoot Michael.

If I take the gun from a guard and shoot Damian, won’t all of the tragedies that will happen because of him disappear?

After the thought crossed her mind, Ashmia heard someone running down the hallway.

“Master Damian! Welcome!”

Thanks to Vanessa, who rushed back to the hospital room after hearing the news from others, Ashmia was able to shake off her cluttered thoughts.

“You’re… Vanessa Willer, right?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“Come here.”

Vanessa approached Damian at his demand.

Hit—

“Ugh!”

Damian suddenly lifted his foot and kicked Vanessa’s stomach. Vanessa and Ashmia were both surprised by his sudden violence.

“Older brother?!”

After being kicked, Vanessa stood up straight, enduring the pain.

“Who do you have to risk your life to protect?”

“Miss Ashmia Kalanishiel!”

“That’s right. But…”

Hit—

“Knowing that, what did you do to make her look like this? Come closer again.”

Hit—

“Ugh!”

“Shut up. Don’t make any noise.”

Damian stood up, took off his jacket and unbuttoned his sleeves.

“Did you say that your ability is hardening?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“Did you try using it when you had to?”

“No!”

“So you do know what you’ve done wrong. Clench your jaw.”

Damian swung his palm towards Vanessa who swallowed dry as if she was prepared.

Slap—!

“…?!”

Ashmia suddenly ran in front of Vanessa, raising her arms to block Damian’s palm. However, his slap was so strong that Vanessa quickly reached out and supported Ashmia’s body as she collapsed.

“What are you doing?! It’s dangerous!”

“Brother, what are you doing right now?!!”

Damian shouted in frustration only to be met with Ashmia’s scream. Her cheek was bright red after being hit by Damian’s hand.

“Vanessa threw herself to protect me! What are you doing?! I won’t be praising you for doing a good job!”

“You, you…”

Damian’s hand trembled as he pointed at Ashmia.

“Are you crazy? You dare yell at me in front of our subordinates?!”

“Vanessa is my bodyguard! Even if you take my soul and punish me, I’ll protect her!”

“Lady…!”

Damian raised his hand again, but he didn’t budge. He stared into her golden eyes which were staring back at him and then lowered his hand, swear words slipping out of his lips.

“What a waste of time. Brat.”

Picking up his jacket, Damian walked past Ashmia and left the room, shoving Vanessa roughly with his shoulder during the process.

“L-Lady! Are you okay?!”

As soon as Damian left, Vanessa looked at Ashmia’s red, swollen cheek with tears in her eyes. Vanessa couldn’t help but cry.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. It’ll get better if I cool it with some cold water.”

“Why did you protect me?! I should’ve been hit!”

“There was no reason for you to get hit, so why would you be?”

“Miss…”

Vanessa quickly brought a towel soaked in cold water with tears still in her eyes. Feeling the coolness on her cheek, Ashmia took a seat on the sofa and praised herself for not killing Damian.

“I have fried chicken!”

While the towel was being soaked in the water once more, the man from a while ago came back in a hurry with a fried chicken wrapped in paper. The scent made Ashmia salivate, forgetting the pain in her cheek.

“Do you have Cola?”

“Yes, here it is!”

“Yes! Thanks!”

Ashmia smiled and turned to Vanessa who had a puzzled look on her face.

“Shall we have a late night snack?”

It was a really tough day until the very end. Ashmia couldn’t eat all of it, so she thought of sharing with Vanessa as compensation.

As she unfolded the paper wrapped around the chicken on the table, Ashmia ripped off one of the delicious looking chicken legs with one hand. Ashmia felt happy, thinking she was lucky to be revived for that exact moment.

***

Her mother, Maverett Kalanishiel, introduced a young woman to Ashmia one day.

“Oh, hello Miss! My name is Vanessa Willer!”

Maverett comforted Ashmia who was hiding behind her.

“Mia, shouldn’t you say hello? She’ll be your bodyguard from today.”

“…What is a bodyguard?”

“Someone who will protect you, Mia.”

Maverett smiled and continued.

“She’ll always protect Mia, even when mom and dad won’t be around. So come on, sweetheart.”

tl/n: i left it out because it didn’t sound right in english, but here maverett is saying “언니가” which translates as “this older sister” and she’s referring to vanessa. for the future, just so you know vanessa is older than ashmia.

Ashmia was trembling, but she still carefully grabbed Vanessa’s extended hand.

“…Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too! I will sacrifice my life to protect you for the rest of my days!!”

“That attitude is good, but don’t be too fussy from the first day.”

“S-Sorry!”

Seeing Vanessa reply nervously to Maverett’s joke, Ashmia burst into laughter.

Even after Maverett’s death, Vanessa kept her word. When Ashmia had fallen into despair, Vanessa did not leave her side until the end.

Beyond physical security, she encouraged and comforted Ashmia to carry on with her life.

The ‘Ashmia’ from the memories was grateful to Vanessa for protecting her for nearly a decade. For Michael Rose, however, Vanessa’s current appearance was very unfamiliar because the person Michael remembers was a self-proclaimed mad dog.

Vanessa, who lost one eye and one arm after the ‘bomb truck incident’ was always at the forefront of the mafia war that followed. Her near-suicidal assault, which fully exploited her abilities, was always feared by her enemies.

Not many people knew that it was a form of Vanessa’s self-punishment because she went mad with guilt for failing to protect Ashmia. She had done such reckless things countless times and ultimately met her end one day when the war was over. After killing hundreds of people alone with thousands of bullets, she shattered like glass and ended her life.

***

“The Black Lion’s mansion?”

Ashmia asked, tilting her head while preparing for her discharge by wearing the clothes that Vanessa had brought her.

“Yes. The young Lady’s safety comes first, so Don Kalanishiel talked about letting you stay with him for a while.”

“Who said that?”

“That’s what Master Damian said.”

“…My brother?”

Ashmia stopped while she was buttoning her shirt.

‘That’s a little surprising.’

However, because of his appearance last night, Ashmia began to suspect that her brother also had some kind of plot.

“But Don Kalanishiel was against it.”

“Of course he is.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because I can’t show my weakness to the person who tried to kill me.”

“That’s true, but…”

Ashmia could understand what Vanessa was saying. No matter how important appearances are, Vanessa complained that there was nothing more important than the safety of his daughter.