Chapter 187: The Things Children Blame Themselves For
If you have to ask for love, then there is no love.
Tesla asked Milo if she loved her brother and her response was...
"I don’t... hiuc... love him."
The little girl started crying.
All eyes widened.
They glared at Tesla and the merchant was shocked the most.
But more than the shock, he had to protect himself first.
He flayed his hands while stepping backwards.
"I swear I thought it would be a wholesome moment. I didn’t expect her to say that."
Xavier held his collar.
"She is crying because of you. She is my little sister too."
"What? You never even interacted with her properly." Tesla replied.
"I accepted her as my sister in my heart. I don’t need to talk to do something like that."
"... Alright. But don’t you think we should talk about her answer instead of bullying me?" Tesla suggested.
Xavier clicked his tongue.
He let go of the merchant.
Tesla sighed in relief.
But even if he hadn’t mentioned Milo’s answer, everyone would have focused on that eventually.
She had said something concerning and confusing.
The people who were supposed to go out of the basement had also stopped because of her answer.
But Xavier gave them a glare and they went on their way.
All of them stood in silence and only when the basement became empty from the people, Xavier turned to Tesla.
Tesla was behind them, afraid he would be crucified.
"What?" He asked, trembling a little.
Xavier didn’t answer and shifted to the side.
The others did the same.
Now there was a clear passage between Milo and Tesla.
Tesla watched them, clueless.
"Wait.." He caught on.
"Are you pushing me to have a talk with her?"
Everyone nodded.
"You are the only one closest to her after Zane." Hena said.
"She also calls you handsome uncle." Jammy said, his tone bitter for some reason.
Tesla gulped.
"Don’t tell Zane about all this. If he got to know that my question made her cry, he will skewer me alive."
They gave another nod and Tesla stepped forward.
He put a smile on his face and stopped in front of Milo.
She wasn’t crying anymore but sadness still hung on her face.
"Hey, Milo. Come on now. Why would you say that? Look at how you are patting your brother’s head. You do love him very much." Tesla started the talk.
"I don’t!" Milo yelled.
Tesla shrieked.
Not only she shouted, she also refused her love for Zane. Not to mention Tesla didn’t want Zane to wake up.
"Now. Now. Let’s not shout. He will wake up. Just tell me this, why do you think you don’t love your brother?"
Everyone perked their ears.
Tesla asked the main question or at least the right question. They wanted to know what was inside Milo’s heart.
"I.. I..." Milo dropped her gaze.
"If I loved him, I wouldn’t be making him worry about me."
"Huh?"
It was a collective huh.
Her answer was something they weren’t expecting at all.
Instead of mentioning something bad about Zane, she mentioned herself.
"I don’t understand, Milo. Can you be clear?" Tesla pressed.
Milo clenched her small fist.
"If I loved him, I wouldn’t be sick. I would be strong. I would be smart. I know he tries very hard to not make me feel bad about my illness but that very thing makes me feel so very bad. If I loved him, I wouldn’t be the reason for his worries. I couldn’t tell him all this. I could only show a smile to make him see I am fine. Hiuc.."
Tears trailed off her cheeks and everyone’s gaze softened.
They got it all wrong.
A small smile came to their lips and Tesla placed his hand on Milo’s head.
"You do love your brother, Milo."
"I don’t."
Tesla smiled. "You not loving him because you make him worry is proof enough that you love him."
Milo looked up.
Her tears stopped.
She parted her lips but instead of a little girl voice, a manly voice came.
"You surely talk like an uncle. No wonder she calls you that."
It was Zane.
Tesla looked down and when he saw two open eyes...
"I am dead."
He accepted his fate.
He sat on his knees.
"Brother. Did I wake you up?"
Milo was more worried about that.
Zane sat up right.
He held Milo’s head and before she could understand, he pulled it closer to his chest.
"Brother?"
Zane rested his chin on her head.
"You think too much, Milo."
"I..."
"Of course I worry about you. And even if you were without any illness, I would have worried about you then too. That’s what family does.
If a family member comes home even one minute late from their usual time, the worry begins. It’s not others who make people worry, the people themselves chose it. You have no hand in that. So don’t be hard on yourself. I love you even if you don’t love me."
Milo heard Zane’s heartbeat but she felt his words had a heart of their own as well.
Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed on her brother’s chest.
Everyone smiled seeing the siblings. Their worries were unfounded.
Milo loved Zane so much that she thought she didn’t love him at all.
After ten minutes, Milo removed her face from Zane’s chest, snot still clinging to his shirt.
"I made your shirt ugly. I am sorry."
"Don’t mind it."
Zane wiped the snot with his hands and then he wiped it on Tesla’s coat.
"Why?!" Tesla could only say that.
Zane left the table.
"You did make her cry."
"Fair."
Tesla accepted the snot.
Zane looked around.
"Everyone left already?"
"Yes. We were waiting for you to wake up." Xavier said.
Zane stretched his arms.
"Well, we should also get going then."
"What will we do?" Draxus asked. "You have made two groups. So what is our work?"
Zane yawned and in a carefree manner, he revealed their work.
"We will invade the church where I first met Horum."
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