Two days passed and I stood in between Allen and Konrad to welcome home the Duke and young master Darius after being away from home for months.

We stood by the main doors of the castle, with our trusted personal servants behind us.

It was kind of surprising that they were only returning now after receiving word that their precious youngest has recovered.

I honestly half expected that they’d come rushing like how Allen rushed home, and maybe also bring some other kind of nuisance to me.

I wanted to ask why they didn't use the teleportation crystal like Allen did, but remembering Clarisse's comment from before, keeping my mouth shut is the wisest decision on that matter. It was curious enough that two crystals connected to one another existed, like some kind of quick waypoint for travelers and they happen to be housed in our residence and in the royal palace.

Soon enough, the front gates opened and the ground seemed to be shaking as I could hear the incoming sounds of many hooves about to enter through it.

I flinched when two distinguished riders entered first, leading the cavalry behind them, with two flag bearers on each side.

Their sharp gazes were palpable and I subconsciously took a half step to hide behind Allen.

Those two riders both have red hair like Allen, with the older one having what they call as "true flame" and the other has a red and rose gold ombre going on with his hair. Though, unlike Allen who has long hair, those two kept it short and manageable.

The one with the true flame hair stopped his horse in front of us, and the others did the same, the flag bearers finally lowering their arms.

The sensation of having too many eyes on me made me lower my head and clutch onto Allen's clothes from the back, taking another step to hide myself behind him.

I've never liked being in the center of attention.

Allen smiled gently at me over his shoulder. "They won't eat you."

Surprisingly, Konrad didn't add any snarky comments and instead gazed at me intensely with a stoic expression. I have no idea what's up with him since his visit to my terrace some nights ago, but I sure hope I didn't set his mind to the path of sacrificing me already for being useless in some complicated political way that only he could understand.

By the time the two new red heads got off their horses and approached us, I was fully concealing myself behind Allen.

"Little Fiore…?" A man's voice called out to me tentatively.

Peeking around Allen's shoulder, I met the younger redhead's pale amethyst eyes and the first words that came to mind was that he's undoubtedly the prettiest out of the three siblings.

Glancing at the older redhead, I noticed that he also had those deep purple eyes that Allen has, and the lines on his face were fewer than expected. If I'd hazard a guess, the Duke is probably in his late fifties.

"Oh…" A sob escaped young master Darius as he reached out his trembling hands.

Looking back up at Allen, I frowned.

"Why…am I different…?" I mumbled, making Darius's hand stop in midair and everyone else stiffen.

Konrad only sighed at that before putting on a majestic smile.

"Welcome home, Duke Damian. I'm glad to see that you are in great health."

The Duke slightly bowed his head towards Konrad.

"Your Highness, we meant no disrespect in ignoring your presence. Also, please call me 'father' here in our residence."

Konrad only waved a hand negligently, his smile becoming slightly larger when he noticed Allen's cold glare.

"Yes, Father. As you wish."

"We could ignore him forever. He's a bad match for our Aine." Allen muttered.

☆☆☆

Konrad and the Duke went to a different room to discuss some politics while I got summoned to the gardens an hour later.

I took a large sip of my tea before facing the two of them.

Allen is still wearing his luxurious office clothes, while Darius has changed into something light and comfortable, his hair still slightly wet.

Allen also took a small sip of his tea before looking at me with an almost bittersweet smile.

"You…mentioned earlier how you were different." Allen said, meeting my eyes. "Members of House Carran always had red hair and amethyst eyes, due to the myth of our family having stood at the vanguard for the royal family, as our red hair symbolizes the flames that will raze down our enemies while protecting our own homeland."

Darius frowned at Allen. "Why are you..?"

"Our little Fiore had suffered severe trauma and partial memory loss due to the incident." Allen told him coolly. "I didn't touch upon this subject, as I had hoped she wouldn't be bothered by it like when she was four, before everything went south due to her engagement to that bastard."

I took another sip of my tea nervously, as I've never heard Allen be this vicious before.

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled as I set the now empty cup down.

How I wished I kept my mouth shut earlier.

"I wish you lost the memory of how much you doted on Konrad instead, to be honest." Darius told me with a pout. "Well, I guess you're more fond of him than us since we were busy with our own studies and he often skipped classes to be with you."

I frowned at that information.

That couldn't be right. The Konrad I knew from my drafts and from the original Aine's diary, he wasn't anything special in any way, though she did mention that he's some sort of prodigy. I passed it off as him showing off to her.

Also, it contradicts his original character sheet.

Konrad was modeled to be a partial Wise Prince trope due to his backstory of losing his mother after giving birth to a younger sister, who then died at the age of five due to an illness. Then the King sent him away to his future fiancée's house because his face greatly resembled the late queen and couldn't stand seeing it until the threat of war loomed over their kingdom.

The original Crown Prince Konrad Riegan,  he worked his ass off more than anyone else as his position was being threatened by his younger half brother's existence when the King remarried.

However, I never heard anything about his family apart from the King being sick.

My frown went deeper, as my need to establish my own intelligence network became more urgent.

I didn't realize that my frown was causing some distress to my older brothers who were staring at me.

"In truth, we only share the same father and you were once born with red hair, like us. It was the same red as Darius's." Allen hurriedly continued and I looked up at him. "However, when you became the Holy Maiden…"

I held up a hand to stop him upon hearing that, as I remembered the diary entry I read before that didn't make sense before.

'My hair became like Mother's. I'm sad that I no longer have anything similar to my older brothers, but they assured me that they still love me since I'm their one and only baby sister. Father also said that he will remove all of our family portraits, save for one that he kept somewhere I couldn't see because it'll only be a reminder of what had changed since I became the Holy Maiden last year.'

The original Aine had written that at the age of eight, a year after she took the position.

I had found it odd that not a single portrait was hung in the estate, and I couldn't understand the reasoning in the diary until now.

I had expected us to be half-siblings, since it's something I'd actually write but to hear that truth made me feel like I sucked on a slice of lemon.

It kind of hurt my pride that my mother was a second wife, even through legal means. However, by the way they view her and talk about her when she's not home, it made me wonder how I have written her.

"I understand. I'm sorry for randomly asking about the past and making a fresh new cut on an old wound..." I told them with a smile, making them stare at me with wide eyes.

I flinched when I saw their reaction and I swear Darius looks like he's about to cry.

Man, they really love their sister, it's making me slightly envious.

So why was I brought into her body and continue living her life for her?

She should have enjoyed this fleeting happiness with her loved ones.

She should have cherished each moment, no matter how stifling their overprotectiveness was.

At least their strictness and overprotectiveness was something out of love.

Even her father cared so much for her.

I subconsciously looked down at my hands with a bitter smile, my own tears threatening to fall from my eyes for a different reason.

The original Aine is naïve and stupid to let go of such a wonderful, caring family.

I don't remember having this much amiable family relationship in my original life, as I was forced to mature before my age and I never opened up to any family member even when I was suffering depression as I didn't want to inconvenience them.