Chapter 239: The House is Family

"If we disappear, you can go back to your old life."

Ulrich stared at her.

"Leave where?" He asked.

Hermione opened her mouth.

Then stopped.

"S—Somewhere," she whispered. "We will find somewhere."

"You have nowhere to go."

Ulrich said bluntly

Blunt enough to make Esther’s shoulders shake.

Ulrich continued.

"You do not belong anywhere outside these walls."

Hermione’s hands tightened into fists.

"The covens will use you."

His eyes moved to Airam.

"Libra will use you. Or will kill you, which is likely the case."

Then to Hermione.

"Your father will use you."

Then to Esther.

"Everywhere else, you will spend your lives hiding. You will live in fear of being found. You will be hunted by people who want your power, your blood, or both."

The three sisters stood in silence.

Ulrich’s voice lowered slightly.

"The only place you have right now is here."

His gaze did not soften, but something in it changed.

"Here, you have a name. A name I gave you."

Esther’s lips trembled.

"W—we do not want to cause trouble for Lord Ulrich," she said, clenching her small fists.

Tears fell from her eyes and darkened the grass at her feet.

"We will only keep bothering you."

Ulrich’s expression barely shifted.

"You have bothered me for two years."

Esther flinched.

Ulrich continued.

"You have caused trouble for two years. Nothing is changing now."

"That is not it!"

Hermione’s voice broke.

She stepped forward.

Her bag fell from her hand onto the grass.

"E—Even you know it," she said. "Deep down, you know we only make your life harder."

Her tears spilled freely now.

"You regret it, do you not?"

Ulrich did not answer.

"You regret taking us in."

Hermione clutched at the front of her nightgown.

"You hate us."

Her voice became smaller.

"You said you should have killed us."

Esther started crying again.

Hermione’s breath caught in her throat.

"And we..." She swallowed. "We said we hated you too."

Her eyes dropped.

"We thought you had abandoned Airam."

She shook her head hard.

"I—I did not mean it.... I was afraid. I was angry. I did not know what you were doing..."

Her voice broke completely.

"I am sorry."

Ulrich exhaled slowly.

"You said you hated me," he said. "Does that matter?"

Hermione and Esther both looked up.

Ulrich’s expression remained composed.

"Did you expect me to resent you for that? I felt nothing when you said it. I am not childish enough to be wounded by a few words spoken in panic."

His tone was not angry.

It was almost indifferent.

"I do not expect either of you to like me. It changes nothing."

But the words did not comfort them.

They hurt more.

Hermione’s face fell.

Esther pressed both hands over her mouth.

Ulrich had not said that he forgave them.

He had not said that their words had mattered because he cared for them.

He had said that he expected nothing.

No affection, no gratitude, nor love.

It was as though he believed he had no right to expect any of it from them.

As though, in his mind, the relationship between them had always been one-sided.

Airam watched him carefully.

She understood what he was doing.

He was trying to make it easier for them.

He was telling them they did not need to stay because of guilt.

But Hermione and Esther only seemed more wounded by it.

Ulrich looked at them both.

"As for the words I said while unconscious," he continued, "they are meaningless."

Hermione’s eyes widened slightly.

"I have made threats before. That was no different."

His crimson gaze remained fixed on them.

"If I wanted you dead, you would have died two years ago."

Hermione lowered her gaze.

Her shoulders trembled beneath the cold night air.

"So..." She whispered. "You do not even expect us to forgive you."

"There is nothing to forgive," Ulrich replied.

Hermione’s hands clenched at her sides.

"We said we hated you," she said. "We blamed you. Even after everything you gave us..."

Ulrich’s eyes shifted toward her.

"I took everything from you."

Hermione looked up sharply.

The answer had not been what she expected.

"W—What are we to you?"

She asked.

Ulrich did not answer.

Hermione’s eyes filled with tears again.

"Saying that you felt nothing does not make us feel better," she said.

Her voice shook.

"Saying you do not expect us to like you does not make it easier. It makes it worse..."

One hand rose to her chest.

Her heart beat so hard that it hurt. The pain seemed to spread through her whole body, tightening her throat and making each breath difficult.

She did not want Ulrich to say that their words had hurt him.

She did not want to know she had wounded him.

But hearing that he felt nothing was worse.

It made her wonder whether there had always been a wall between them.

A wall she had never truly crossed.

She remembered the ballroom again.

The music.

The warmth of his hand around hers.

She had believed that he trusted her. That he cared for her in a way he did not know how to say aloud.

But perhaps she had imagined it.

Perhaps the dance had meant nothing.

Then Airam had been taken.

Hermione had shouted at him.

She had accused him of abandoning Airam.

She had said she hated him.

And perhaps all she had done was prove that Ulrich had been right never to expect anything from them.

But that was not what she wanted.

It had never been what she wanted.

"W—we do not hate you, Lord Ulrich..." Esther said weakly.

Her voice trembled.

She rubbed at her eyes with both hands, trying to wipe away the tears, but more kept falling.

"P—Please forgive me."

Esther’s lips quivered.

"I said stupid things...hic...I said awful things..."

She looked at Ulrich through wet lashes.

"But I do not hate you. I cannot hate you...I like you so much, Lord Ulrich. I am thankful to you.... I am sorry...so sorry..."

Then Esther dropped to her knees.

The grass dampened the hem of her nightgown, but she did not seem to notice. Her crying grew louder, each sob shaking through her small frame.

"Why are you like this?" Hermione whispered.

Ulrich’s gaze moved from Esther to her.

Hermione could not hold his eyes for long.

"After everything we said," she continued, "after hearing you say that you should have killed us... how can you expect us to believe that you are fine with us staying and we are not a bother...?"

She lowered her gaze again.

Tears fell onto the grass.

"I—I cannot stay here."

The words were barely audible.

"I do not want to stay somewhere you hate me."

Her fingers pressed harder against her chest.

The pain there seemed too large.

"I do not want Lord Ulrich to hate me either," Esther cried.

She rubbed at her face again, her cheeks flushed red from cold and tears.

"I am sorry.... I am so sorry....hic..."

Her voice broke.

"I could never hate Lord Ulrich. Please believe me...believe me..."

Ulrich was silent.

Then he stepped forward.

Esther noticed his shadow falling over her.

She slowly lowered her hands from her face.

Her breath caught.

Ulrich stood directly in front of her, the moonlight behind him outlining his dark cloak and pale features. His left sleeve hung empty against his side, but he remained straight despite the pain that must still be tearing through him.

Esther looked up.

His crimson eyes met hers.

There was no hatred in them.

His expression remained as restrained as ever, but his gaze had softened.

The coldness Esther feared was gone.

"I do not hate you," Ulrich said.

Esther’s face crumpled, and she threw herself into him, unable to resist any longer.

"L—Lord Ulrich!"

Ulrich caught her with his remaining arm.

The impact made pain flash across his face, but he did not push her away. Esther wrapped both arms around his waist and pressed her face into his chest, crying so hard that her words came out broken.

"I—I am sorry!" She sobbed. "I am sorry....! Please forgive me! Forgive me! Pl—Please...huhnnn..."

Her hands tightened in his shirt.

"Please... I want to stay here.... I do not want Lord Ulrich to hate me....I don’t..."

Ulrich looked down at her.

For a moment, he seemed unsure what to do.

Then his hand patted gently over her blond hair.

"You have my name," he said.

Esther went still.

"This place belongs to you and your sisters as well."

Esther looked up at him.

Her sapphire-blue eyes were wide and wet.

Then fresh tears spilled over.

She buried her face against him again.

"I like you so much, Lord Ulrich..." She cried.

Her voice rose with desperate sincerity.

"Please believe me... I love you so much.... Please do not hate me.... Do not hate us... Do not abandon us..."

Ulrich’s hand remained on her hair.

"I told you already," he said.

His gaze moved past Esther.

Hermione stood a few steps away, crying silently.

"I do not hate you," Ulrich said. "And there is nothing to forgive."

Hermione’s lips parted.

Her ruby eyes trembled.

"B—But even if the witches come again," she said, "even if Libra comes, or our father—"

"I will do what I have done until now," Ulrich interrupted her.

"I will drive them away from you."

Hermione stared at him.

Ulrich continued.

"And if they take you, I will bring you back as promised."

"W—Why?" Hermione asked weakly.

The question came out as a small, broken sound.

Ulrich looked past the courtyard.

Toward the Estate.

Toward the dark windows, silent halls, and high stone walls of the home that had once belonged only to him.

Then he answered.

"Because you are part of my House."

Then he lowered his voice, remembering his mother briefly.

"The House is family."

For a moment, his eyes became distant.

He remembered her.

His mother’s smile.

Her voice.

The way she had once told him those same words when he was still young enough to believe that family meant no one would ever leave him.

The House is family.

Ulrich looked back at Hermione.

Then he felt arms wrap around his side.

Hermione had stepped forward.

She hugged him carefully, mindful of his wounds, and buried her face against his shoulder.

"I... am sorry..."

She said, her voice shaky.

"I—I could never hate you, Ulrich....Thank you for bringing Airam back, and thank you for everything..."

She raised her face.

Her ruby eyes were still bright with tears.

"I—I want us to stay together."

Esther looked up as well.

"W—We belong to Lord Ulrich," she said.

Ulrich’s eyes twitched.

Hermione tightened her hold around him.

"A—As you said so often," she added with a stutter. "As you promised."

He did say something along those lines that they belonged to him, to his house, to be precise.

But hearing the girls say it back to him felt different and clearly misunderstood.

Ulrich looked down at them.

"You will not run away from the House again," he said.

His tone returned to its usual sternness.

"You will not bring shame to the Rubenhart House."

Esther pulled back enough to look up at him.

"I—I will never leave Lord Ulrich again!" She declared, nodding her head furiously, tears still shining on her cheeks. "I promise!"

Uhnn..." Hermione nodded her head as well.

She lowered her eyes, embarrassed by how tightly she still held him.

Ulrich nodded.

He began to step away.

Then arms wrapped around his back.

Airam.

She had remained silent through the entire conversation, allowing Hermione and Esther to speak. Now she stood behind Ulrich, her arms around his waist, her cheek resting lightly against his back.

Ulrich went still.

Airam’s voice came quietly.

"You belong to us as well."

Her words were soft and low.

Airam closed her eyes.

A faint smile curled at her lips as she tightened her hold.

At last, her plan had worked.

She had known Ulrich would not allow Hermione and Esther to leave.

She had known that, if they heard the truth from him, the broken trust between them could be repaired.

Now, the three sisters were holding him.

Esther in front of him.

Hermione at his side.

Airam behind him.

Ulrich stood trapped between them for a long, quiet minute.

He did not tell them to let go.

Eventually, Hermione seemed to realize what they were doing.

Her face turned red.

She quickly released Ulrich and reached for Esther’s hand.

"Come on," Hermione muttered.

Esther still clung to Ulrich for another second before Hermione pulled her back.

Airam let go last.

Then the three sisters turned and walked toward the Estate together.

Esther’s bag remained forgotten in the grass.

Hermione collected it before following her sisters inside.

Ulrich remained in the courtyard for a moment longer, watching them go.

Then, slowly, he turned back toward the Estate as well.