Chapter 37: Reading


    About two months has passed since the time me and Sis first started reading together.


    Just like I wanted, it actually became routine between the two of us. Sis actually sometimes skips training on certain days to read books as well. As I mentioned before, Illnada was a book about a young elven noble of a small kingdom, dreaming of reuniting all elven tribes and kingdoms to form an empire.


    At first I expected a ssic epic of a hero who is great in battle, going out to meet every tribe and battling them before having them pledge their allegiance to him. But the epic actually dove much deeper than that. Rather than focusing on the actual battles, it instead told us of the politics behind it.


    Why didn''t the kingdom just send the Duke with the most military achievements, to lead all of the kingdom''s forces?


    Well, it''s because of politics. The other nobles were worried that the Duke would be even more powerful if he raised any more achievements than he already has. Thus the kingdom''s forces were instead lead by the Duke and other high ranking nobles, who often disagreed with him.


    When the kingdom learned of a ''small'' rebellion in the north, many nobles sent their inexperienced sons to lead their banners to take home the glory of war. They expected that the big shots would be able to handle it themselves, thus they just joined to reap the harvests.


    It also told of the logistical difficulties and how bad logistics could make a powerful army crumble in its own weight.


    It seemed to have woken Sister up from her military fantasies. The dreams of ying a hundred enemies all by yourself was suddenly gone. There was no ''champion'' or ''hero'' in the battlefield. No matter how much training someone does, a loose arrow to the throat or the head would kill someone.


    There was only so much an individual could do, even the kingdom''s most powerful knight was in, not a very heroic death as well. He was wounded by a poisoned de and died before getting proper treatment. It wasn''t like his enemy was some sort of master swordsman either, just a peasant soldier, in desperate measures hoped to atleast take him down with him and seeded.


    After reading such things, Celine slowly realized that strength wasn''t everything. So instead of dedicating all her time to training like she always did, she would sometimes read about the geography of the country, sometimes about political theories, sometimes she woulde to me in my garden and ask about which nts are poisonous and what not.


    I was also pretty surprised by the sudden change in Sister''s mentality, and I was worried that she wouldn''t remain so ''innocent'' for long. So I decided to speed things up.


    "So this is actually edible Sis. It''s pretty easy to spot as well, you can usually find them near bodies of water" I said as I taught my sister about which mushrooms are poisonous and which are not


    It was currently dusk and the sky was getting pretty dark


    "Oh I see." Sis said as she took their images to heart


    "That should be enough for today Sis~ Also I have something I want to show you" I said


    "Really? What is it?" Sis asked as she saw my excitement


    "Shhhhh, we can''t let Mom know~" I said as I urged her to keep her voice down


    "Actually, Sis I found some humans the other day." I whispereed


    "WHAT? Did they hurt you?" Sis said in shock, as she quickly checked my body


    I haven''t said anything, I just said I saw a human but Sis already assumed I must''ve been hurt. Well it''s not a surprise. As a kid, even Mom told me that you should NEVER trust humans. They said that they would try to befriend you first, and if that didn''t work they will forcibly take you away.


    Not to mention the ''kill-on-sight'' order we have in the vige. So Sis has some ''slight'' prejudice against them.


    "No, I was able to kill them pretty easily don''t worry~" I said as I waved my hands saying I was ok


    "Good, they deserved it."


    Yeah ''slight'' prejudice.


    She didn''t even bat an eye on the fact that her younger brother just killed someone. To her it was like saying ''No'' to the strange man asking you to get inside the ice-cream truck.


    "They''re not important Sis, but instead~" I said as I took out the bottle of Wine that I looted from them


    After taking it, I made sure to keep it in a dark and cool ce, to preserve it a little bit longer.


    "Look Sis, I got Wine~ the same thing the people on those stories drink~" I said


    "What? Let me see~" Sis said as she held the bottle


    "But Uncle Vielle said that we shouldn''t drink this until we''re older..." Sis said in worry


    Truthfully, I didn''t really care about what would happen to the bottle. In fact, I would like to avoid being drunk as much as possible. Just the possibility of my inner thoughts being leaked out, made me shiver in fear.


    "Yeah, maybe we should hide it?" I asked


    "Un, that''s probably better" Sis agreed


    "But I have another thing I actually got~" I said as I brought out a book with a red leather cover


    There were the words ''Maria'' written in the cover. I tried my best to make it look like an actual book, as I tied the book cover myself. I also wrote ''written by William Shakespeare'', as well as adding a ''This book is dedicated to'' section. I made sure it looked like as real as it could be.


    "I also got a book from them~" I said,


    "Well what is it about?" Sis said in curiosity


    "I haven''t read it yet, I wanted to read it with you like before~" I said as I handed it over to her


    "Let''s save it forter okay? Let''s eat dinner first" she said as she took it with her


    --------------------


    "Mom, Riel will be reading with me again for tonight, okay?" Celine said as she finished her food


    "Oh my~ you really changed haven''t you? Well go for it, just don''t bring food in the bedroom again okay?" Mom said


    "Un, we''re sorry aboutst time." Sis apologized


    After we seeded on bringing cookies the first time, Sis got more bold and decided to prepare sandwiches. Of course, that time Mom caught her, and finally asked what we were doing every night. So Sis confessed about ourte-night reading sessions, and Mom kind of supported it since then.


    "Well, goodnight Mom~" Sis said as she went upstairs first


    "Goodnight also Mom~ Me and Sis will be learning lots, okay?" I said as I kissed Mom on the lips, before heading upstairs myself


    Of course, I wasn''t nning to fuck Sister tonight, not when Mom is sleeping in the room just next to us. Also we probably won''t reach the sex scenes tonight anyway, since it''s at the middle part of novel. But Sis would be training tomorrow, so I have plenty of chances to read ahead of her before ''spoiling'' her about future events.


    "Well, let''s get this book started shall we?" Sis said when she was me enter the room


    I once again saw her sitting at the floor, but although I''ve seen her sit like this for months now. There was something a little bit different today. I know it''s just me, but Sis looked more beautiful in my eyes right now.


    As I went beside her, I gave her a deep kiss on the lips. She was first shocked by the sudden kiss, before she just went along with me as she closed her eyes. We''ve been doing this for years now, so there wasn''t anything strange for her.


    "Fufu~ I always thought that reading books were prettyme, but luckily you convinced me otherwise." Sis said in a grateful manner, before opening the book


    The book started with a quote:


    "I do not love the sword for its sharpness, nor the arrows for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I only love what they defend."


    Something I definitely didn''t steal from someone else. Yup yup. I needed something that would make it seem like a military novel, so that is what I remembered.


    We continued reading, and Sis was really engrossed on the first parts. As I thought something with Military and protecting one''s family really resonated with Sis.


    "''Maria then shot an arrow, but unfortunately itnded just outsi-'' Nooo~ you''re so close already, how do you miss that?" Sis said in dissatisfaction


    At this point she was basically inserting herself into the novel. After all, I practically made the MC with her in my mind, or more urately, her image of herself. She probably sees herself as someone who is strong and independent. Someone who is quiet but actually cares a lot for her family. Someone who does her duty as the older sibling.


    So that''s what I made the MC like.


    I also made the MC''s brother based on the preferences she told me; ck hair, violet eyes, and likes to read books. Which is eerily simr to ''someone'' I know, but I won''tment on it.


    We continued reading the book as we switched turns reading it out loud. When we were finally getting closer to the sex chapters-


    "Hey Sis, it''s already prettyte~" I said as I finished reading a chapter out loud.


    "Really? I didn''t notice~" she said as she looked at the clock


    "Onest thing then, I didn''t quite hear the line her brother saidst time. Could you please say it out loud?" Sis requested,


    I actually felt pretty bad at first, because I thought my speaking skills were subpar. But then I actually read out the parts she meant-


    "In case you forget Sister, ever since you were gone, there was never a moment that I wasn''t thinking of you"


    "And the other one?" Sis said as she told me of another line she didn''t ''quite hear''.


    "May the way I look at you The way I speak with you and the way I treat you reflect the truth..."


    "That I have loved you since forever."


    "I see..." Sis nodded her head like she was listening to music


    "That should be enough for tonight" Sis said with a smile


    "I think so too" I said as I put away the book


    "Actually Riel, that book doesn''t belong to the library right?" Sis asked


    "Un"


    "Could you then give it to your Sister instead? I mean it''s not like it belongs to you either" She said with a red face


    "You''ve never asked me for a book before..." I mumbled


    "I just thought that I like this one''s ehem, ''plot'' I think I could try rereading it, once I''m done" she said shamelessly


    We haven''t even gotten to the good parts yet, and she already likes it this much. Well she will appreciate it more, once she has the ''knowledge'' to trulyprehend this shitty fanfiction.


    "Sure Sis, but seriously let''s go to sleep already" I said as I put it away on her bookshelf before going into the bed with her.