Ryan's eyes flickered and widened as he heard his sister's words.
Silence filled the room and it became quiet.
Ryan was lost in thought for several moments, oblivious to his surroundings, thinking about the faces of those people as his temperature rose.
But at that moment, Lara's voice woke him up.
"Ryan"
Ryan regained his senses.
"What?"
"What happened to you? I called you for almost a full minute."
"Sorry, I spaced out for a bit. So what about them?"
Liara took a breath to compose herself
"I know this will be difficult, but forget about revenge."
Ryan was taken aback by his sister's words and became slightly agitated.
"What the hell are you saying?"
Liara didn't react to his words; she simply continued calmly.
"I don't know if you know that the person who ordered your murder is the Prince of the Kingdom of Kavalon."
But Ryan didn't care if he was a prince or a king.
"I don't care if he's a prince or a king. All I know is that he tried to kill me."
"I know that, but we can't do anything to him. If he finds out about us, the whole family will bear the consequences, especially now that our kingdom's relationship with the kingdom of Kavalon has become friendly."
Ryan knew this; he even knew that his revenge might never happen, or might happen years later, because he was in another kingdom, and the two kingdoms were separated by a land teeming with orcs.
So he said words to reassure his sister that he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he wanted to.
He took a deep breath to calm himself and spoke softly to his sister:
"I don't think I'll even have a chance to meet him, so don't worry. And even if I did meet him, I'm not stupid enough to take revenge on him in front of witnesses."
Liara was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"Actually... it doesn't matter. Just don't do anything stupid from now on, and next time I'll bring you a communication crystal so you can call me if you need anything."
And at that moment he thought of a question he wanted to ask
"My sister, if such communication technologies existed, why didn't I see my father and mother communicating with the three of you when you were away from home?"
"Because these things are expensive, we prevented them from buying them, but now I bought one for them and I call them every now and then to check on them, don't worry."
Ryan blushed slightly and said quietly,
"I'm not worried."
A soft laugh was heard from the crystal, then Liara spoke.
"I know we didn't get along well in the past and it was our fault. We haven't come to the house to visit for years, we haven't even sent letters. But now I want us to be like a sister and brother, and I think Mira and Celine want that too. You know they love you and care about you a lot."
Ryan became even more embarrassed.
"Stop it. I'm not used to hearing things like that, especially from you."
But she assured him:
"Is it so strange for a sister to tell her brother that she loves him?"
Upon hearing the word "love," something stirred in Ryan's chest.
"Just stop, then. Are you finished with both?"
Liara laughed.
"Hahaha, yes, I'm done. Don't forget what I said, and I'll meet you in the capital."
Ryan wondered,
"Will you be there?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you that I'm going to marry the prince? I have to go and get things ready there, and I also want to see Ari and tell her about my marriage."
"Okay, let's meet in the capital and take Crystal to Mr. Aleth after I finish the call."
And so the light inside the crystal dimmed slightly, and its flicker no longer grew brighter because it used to happen when someone spoke.
'It was good, actually.'
It was actually good to talk to his sister; he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest and he felt relieved.
He looked at the crystal.
'Okay, let's go and return this to its owner.'
And he left his room.