Chapter 179: I Certainly Don’t Love Her

Albert finally returned from the surge of memories that had flooded his mind moments before, as if his consciousness had briefly drifted away from reality before gradually anchoring itself back in the present. He remained silent for a few moments, cradling his younger sister in his arms and tenderly stroking her head, attempting to regain his full composure after everything he had recalled.

He looked down at Mio nestling in his arms, contemplating her small face for a few seconds before asking her in a gentle tone:

"Did you eat your breakfast today?"

Mio slowly shook her head in refusal.

Albert needed no further explanation to understand. He placed her down softly onto a chair at the table and let out a quiet, internal sigh.

His little sister frequently refused to touch her food unless he was sitting right beside her—an exceedingly bad habit that Albert had tried multiple times to break, though without success so far.

Even so...

He could never truly bring himself to be angry with her.

To Albert, Mio was a wonderful sister.

And in the end...

She was his only family.

He had no one else to rely on, no other person with whom he could feel less alone in this world. Because of this, the minor details of their daily life held immense value for him—even those mundane things that others might deem trivial.

Mio would always compel him to sit beside her during meals, even when he insisted he wasn’t hungry, and she would grow pouty if he attempted to leave the table before she had finished her food.

Over time, the two of them became accustomed to sharing every meal together.

Perhaps that was precisely why Mio simply couldn’t accept the idea of eating alone.

Rising from his seat, Albert said:

"Wait here for a moment. I’ll fetch breakfast from the cold storage."

Mio nodded her head as Albert headed toward the storage facility.

The diet required for Celestial Dragons was entirely different from the food humans could consume. The distinction was far more than a matter of taste or basic nutritional value.

In fact, for a human to consume food formulated for a supreme race like Celestial Dragons was practically suicidal.

Human bodies simply lacked the fortitude to endure the immense energy packed within such ingredients. For this reason, the instructor brought by Lady Amelia had taught them a special preparation method—one that preserved the ambient energy contained within the ingredients while rendering it digestible for their young bodies.

One of the most essential components of that recipe was known among Celestial Dragons as Florian Blood.

Yet it was not literal blood.

In reality, it was a blood-like substance harvested from the brain of a monster known as a Florian—a creature belonging to the Noble Tier.

Naturally, Albert and Mio could not consume such an ingredient raw as if it were ordinary food. Doing so would turn the meal into an attempt at poisoning themselves rather than eating breakfast.

Thus, the instructor had provided them with a specialized recipe and precise culinary techniques, along with instructions on properly preserving Florian brains so portions could be extracted as needed.

Albert descended toward the underground storage area.

He first traversed the standard storage bay before continuing down a long corridor until he reached the cryogenic vault.

The moment he stepped inside, a bone-chilling cold brushed against his skin. He wrapped himself in a thicker layer of mana, shielding his body from the sub-zero temperatures.

He kept walking until he stood before a massive glass container.

Inside sat the giant brain, preserved within a glass cylinder filled with a crystal-clear fluid resembling water.

Albert paused before it for a brief second before carefully unsealing the container.

He could not afford a single mistake.

Extracting the brain, he severed a tiny portion, meticulously returning the rest to its container before preserving the severed piece using his personal mana aura.

Next, he gathered the vegetables and secondary ingredients necessary for the recipe, stepped out of the cryogenic vault, and made his way back up to the kitchen.

There, he began preparing the meal precisely as his instructor had taught him.

His movements were calm and methodical. He had grown well-accustomed to preparing this dish over the recent months, fully aware that a single slip-up with any ingredient could lead to disastrous consequences.

A few servants were present in the kitchen, yet none dared approach him while he prepared the meal.

It was not out of a reluctance to help, but simply because they were strictly forbidden from coming into contact with that specific ingredient.

Handling it incorrectly was the swiftest route to death.

After working for some time, Albert finally completed the meal for himself and his sister.

The food was still fresh and piping hot as he carried it to the table, placing the dish before Mio.

The moment the young girl laid eyes on her plate, her eyes lit up with a clear sparkle of excitement and happiness.

She blurted out happily:

"Thank you, Brother!"

She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a joy-filled hug.

Albert smiled, patting her head gently before taking a seat beside her.

Lifting the spoon, he scooped a small portion of the food, blowing on it softly until the heat subsided, before bringing it toward his sister’s mouth to feed her himself.

His smile widened as he watched Mio eat with utter delight. He then took his own portion and began eating alongside her.

For a while, the quiet clinking of spoons and rhythmic eating were the only sounds in the room.

Albert was deep in thought, completely caught off guard when Mio broke the silence with an extraordinarily simple question:

"Brother..."

Albert raised his eyes toward her.

"Are you in love with Lady Amelia?"

CLANK!

The spoon slipped from Albert’s hand, hitting the dish.

He froze dead in his tracks. Slowly raising his head, he stared blankly at Mio.

His little sister looked back at him with pure innocence, as though she hadn’t just uttered words capable of making a person’s heart skip a beat.

Albert scrambled to maintain his composure, yet a deep crimson flush began creeping across his face inch by inch.

He stammered hurriedly:

"D-Don’t say such things, sister!"

Swallowing hard, he tried to sound as composed as possible:

"Lady Amelia is our benefactor, and I respect her more than anyone else in this world."

He added hastily, eager to put an end to the conversation before it grew any more embarrassing:

"She is simply a friend."

Mio continued staring at him for several seconds.

She knew her brother well enough to realize he was frantically grasping for any possible excuse to evade her question.

She tilted her head innocently:

"But Brother..."

Leaning in slightly, she added:

"Why do I feel your heart beating so much faster the moment I mention Lady Amelia’s name?"

Albert froze once again.

He couldn’t even fathom how his sister had managed to pick up on that.

His hand rose subconsciously to touch his chest as if to verify it himself, only to yank it back the instant he realized what he was doing.

He shook his head vigorously.

"No."

He insisted with greater firmness:

"I harbor nothing but deep respect for her."

Yet Mio didn’t look convinced in the slightest.

Gazing at her brother’s stubborn posture—a desperate attempt to mask what seemed blatantly obvious to her—a memory suddenly clicked in her mind.

She said:

"Nanny Amanda read me a romance story ."

Albert raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Mio continued:

"It described what love feels like."

She began reciting the words etched into her memory from the tale:

"She said love is a burning desire to stay close to someone, to protect them from any danger, and to constantly look at them as if they were your entire world."

Silence descended upon the room.

Albert’s movements halted completely. He sat holding his spoon while his sister’s words spun endlessly inside his mind.

A desire to stay close to someone...

To protect them from any danger...

To look at them as if they were your entire world...

Albert tried to shake his head, desperately brushing those thoughts away.

No...

It wasn’t like that.

Amelia was simply a friend.

A deeply cherished person, yes—a benefactor to both him and his sister, someone he wished to protect to repay his debt. But that didn’t mean...

Yet the moment he tried to halt his train of thought, Amelia’s image bloomed in his mind.

Her smile.

Her voice.

The way she looked at him without a single trace of fear, even when witnessing his true form as a dragon.

He recalled how she extended her hand to him when he had no one left, how she granted him and his sister a sanctuary where they could live without fear, and how she demanded absolutely nothing in return.

And in that very instant...

The crimson blush returned, flushing his face even harder.

Albert lowered his head abruptly, attempting to hide his face from his sister.

Mio watched him in silence.

A tiny, knowing smile played upon her lips—as if she had just unearthed a profound secret that her brother wasn’t yet ready to admit even to himself.