"You...... Why do you think that?"

After hearing Leon's words, Anna only felt that the world was spinning for a while, and she almost fell headlong, but she still held on to the last hope and struggled hard:

"Brother, haven't you seen the photos? You're so much like Mom, and your hair and eyes are the same color as Dad......

"Well, it's very much like that."

Leon nodded when he heard this, and said very frankly:

"It's because it's so similar, so I didn't suspect it in the past, but last week when I was out on the field, I went to the Lane family's genealogy room and saw a lot of things inside.

Anna, unlike me, who has no memory, you should know that my grandfather was from the Lane family, and the origin of our surname is not Lane County, but the Duke's family on Sequoia Avenue, right?"

"...... right"

Seeing that Leon had even found out about this kind of thing, the sick girl couldn't help but turn pale, and then bit her lip and nodded:

"I...... I didn't mean to hide it from you, but my grandfather said that he had mortal enemies with many people because of the competition for the title or something, and he finally escaped from the royal capital, so let's not touch that ......side."

"Well, I believe you."

After putting on his shoes, he stood up, looked at his pale sister in front of him, Leon silently stepped forward, gave her a deep hug again, and said in a calm voice:

"But I want you to believe me, too."

"I ......"

"It's okay, people always have some secrets that they don't want others to know, and I have such secrets to hide from you, but that doesn't stop me from thinking that you're my family."

After gently stroking Anna's hair, Leon stopped hugging, and instead gently held her cheek, looked into Anna's eyes, and said very seriously:

"I don't know what kind of family you think counts, but for me, blood proximity is not the only condition for family, or even necessary.

From a selfish point of view, who I want to share with the most when I am happy, who I want to talk to the most when I am in pain, who is my family, and the first person I think of is always you."

"Brother ......"

"I'm here, but I'm leaving."

Looking at his sister in front of him, who not only had red circles in her eyes, but even the tip of her nose was red, Leon smiled, twisted the tip of her reddened nose quite affectionately, and then took a step back, picked up her things, opened the door and walked out.

"Ah! Wait a minute!"

Just when Anna, who was still a little at a loss, wiped away her tears and followed up to prepare to send him off, she saw Leon suddenly turn around and ask:

"By the way, what did you tell me before I walked in?"

"Huh?"

"Ahh You told me that whenever I feel tired, come home, you will always be waiting for me......

After repeating Anna's words, Leon frowned and said with a displeased expression:

"You have to talk about it, whether I am related to you or not, whether it is your own brother or not, you can't drive me away when I come back!"

"Brother...... You're ......."

After reaching out and wiping the corners of her eyes, the sick girl who broke into tears and laughed shook her head, and said with some disgust:

"What strange things are you saying, where am I going to drive you away?"

"It's best if you don't, but even if you do, I won't leave."

After kicking Anna's shoes into it and stopping her from giving them away, Leon waved his hand at her, who seemed to have untied the knot, and went downstairs with a blanket and shopping bag.

When Leon came downstairs, Anna closed the door and walked briskly to the window, staring at the figure without blinking, until Leon boarded a carriage and disappeared around the corner with the sound of a whistle, and then reluctantly withdrew his gaze.

Maybe...... The situation you fear the most will not occur at all? Even if he knows what he has done, his brother may not necessarily be ......

"Tuk, tuk."

At this moment, there was a slightly heavy knock on the door, which startled Anna, and after she had settled down, she got up and walked over, and asked through the door:

"Who's out there?"

"My words...... Sort of yourself as your friend."

Gently knocking at the position of the door lock, in the crisp sound of the automatic twisting of the lock cylinder, the man wearing a black robe and a wide-brimmed hat on his head, who could not see clearly, walked into the room, nodded to the frightened Anna, and greeted in a cold and hard voice:

"I haven't seen you in almost six years, Miss Anna, how are you doing?"

Six years?

After hearing this keyword, looking at this man with slender and long eyes, even if he tried to smile with the corners of his mouth, there was still a trace of "crying" on his face, Anna suddenly reacted suddenly.

"You...... You're the one in the photo studio!"

"yes, it's me."

After taking off his hat and putting it on his chest, and bowing slightly to make a gentlemanly salute, the man who was born to cry politely and coldly apologized:

"Excuse me, I didn't mean anything else to visit this time, I just wanted to see how you were doing...... May I ask the one who just left, is that the family you chose for yourself?"

After hearing the man's words, Anna's face couldn't help but turn white, and then she bit her lip hard and nodded extremely stiffly.

"Yes......"

"Husband?"

"It's my brother......

"I'm sorry."

After looking at the insincere apology, the man with a rather stiff expression continued to ask:

"Sorry for overhearing some of your conversations, it seems like you've been getting along well over the years, so you should be pretty happy with what I've given you, right?"

「……」

"Miss Anna, please don't be so nervous......

Looking at Anna, whose face was getting paler and paler, the man's icy voice couldn't help but have a hint of helplessness.

"I really didn't have any ill intentions when I came to visit you this time, I just wanted to see how that thing was going, and the reason why I opened the door a little offensively was just because I was afraid that you wouldn't want to open the door."

After explaining his intentions, as if to make her feel more at ease, the man took the initiative to take a few steps back, until he retreated to the door, and then stretched out his palm to Anna and politely asked for advice:

"If you may, can you take out the thing I gave you and let me examine it a little?"

Seeing that he really didn't seem to have any malicious intent, Anna couldn't help but breathe a faint sigh of relief, and then shook her head vigorously, and said with a slightly apologetic expression:

"Originally, it was possible, but I just found out that I lost that picture???......

Lost? How can this be lost?

I've added more than one kind of obedience to this high-numbered test item that is expected to achieve its goal, and even if it is torn, crumpleed, or even burned to ashes, it should reappear next to you!

……

Waiting for an unexpected answer, the black-robed man was slightly confused.

Staring at Anna's eyes, it seemed that he had used some means to confirm that she was not lying, and the black-robed man couldn't help but squint his eyes, and then said in a helpless voice:

"Then it can't be helped...... Well, since the things have been lost, can you please tell me about the situation in the past few years?"