我女朋友的妹妹

When he first heard Snow\'s story, he was surprised at first. Because he thought the other grew up without experiencing any hardship. He\'s a noble, after all. Anyone would have thought the same. That\'s like a common misconception anyone would have had.

Who would have thought that there would be an evil stepmother and stepbrothers trying to kill Snow? Kiran was glad that Snow at least had his father. Not to mention, this \'Assil\' guy, who was not only Snow\'s friend but also his childhood sweetheart. But the gratitude Kiran felt for Snow\'s father was short-lived.

After he heard of that absurd deal, he was like, \'what?\'. One would think that after not being able to be with the one you really love and being forced into a marriage he didn\'t want, Snow\'s father would be more understanding. But no, he instead proposed that stupid deal, making it harder for Snow.

Snow shook his head while wiping away his tears. "I can\'t. I know that my father would give in if I insisted with all my might. But... but..."

"You want Ash to recognize you," Astrid finished what he wanted to say.

He smiled bitterly. As expected, Astrid had already put two and two together, realizing that the Assil he was talking about was the same \'Ash\' who was friends with Reas. This made it even more embarrassing. Crying himself silly, only to say that he didn\'t want to do the easiest way to solve his problem.

"I know, it\'s stupid. Forcing myself to go through all these hardships, when I could easily stop it by just talking to my father," Snow said, his voice already a bit hoarse from the crying. "But when I met Assil again after a year of not seeing each other, and he just walked passed by me without even sparing a single glance, I just... the need for him to recognize me in this appearance intensified. It\'s childish and stupid, but I couldn\'t help myself."

"Ahm, well, I want to say that that wasn\'t the case, but I would be lying if I did," Kiran said with a complicated expression on his face, clearly not getting why Snow was making this kind of decision.

"Maybe it\'s childish, even a bit stupid. But it\'s what you wanted, is it not?" Astrid asked, in which Snow could only nod. "If that is so, then we will support you."

Frankly, Astrid could also not understand this roundabout way of doing things. But he could sympathize with it. From Snow\'s perspective, it must be a matter of pride. And maybe a part of him also wanted to test Ash. Something along the lines of \'if you can\'t even recognize me, then how can you be certain that you\'re in really in love with me\'.

Snow probably hadn\'t realized that himself. As evidence of how he couldn\'t even give them a proper explanation. Some might think that it\'s unfair to Ash. After all, in all angles, Snow was the one deceiving the other, not the other way around.

But that accidental meeting, after not seeing each other for a year, must have left a great impact on Snow. If things hadn\'t gone the way it did, he probably would have not made this decision. Given enough time, he would have probably given in and ask his father to change his mind or at least change the content of the deal.

Anyway, as he said, this was Snow\'s decision. Since he seemed to be very determined to do this, needlessly shoving their opinion on him would just be useless and might even have a negative impact. It\'s better to watch over for now.

"But wait, you said you already met this Assil guy again. When did that happen?" Kiran asked, looking confused.

"If I remember correctly, it would be the same night you and I met him," Astrid said in a cryptic tone.

Kiran\'s brows furrowed. "We also met him?"

"Yeah. We even had dinner together," Astrid continued.

Kiran\'s face was completely filled with confusion upon hearing that. Which got a small chuckle from both Astrid and Snow.

"He\'s tall and has long gray hair and a pair of light green eyes," Snow said to help the other remember.

"Reas\' friend from the military academy," Astrid added.

As if a lightbulb turned on inside his head, Kiran exclaimed, "Ah! That guy, Ash!"

Then Kiran\'s expression slowly changed as he looked at Snow. As if saying, \'is that guy worthy of your tears?\'. Astrid almost laughed seeing the other\'s expression.

-----

After the very productive lunch, the three left the restaurant. They decided to just go home after, since they still had things they had to do. Snow offered a ride to both of them. Kiran readily accepted, but Astrid didn\'t immediately say \'yes\'. Mostly because he remembered Wulfric offering him a ride back home.

After a bit of struggle, he declined Snow\'s offer and instead sent a message to Wulfric, asking the other if he could pick him up.

As he watched the car, where Snow and Kiran were, drove away. He wondered where he could sit down to wait for Wulfric. It would probably be at least 15 minutes before the other arrived.

But before he could decide whether he should just stay here or go to a nearby cafe to wait, a familiar car stopped in front of him.

Wulfric got out of the car and opened the passenger door for him. Even in his confusion, he still went inside the car and sat down. It didn\'t take long for the other to open the other door and sit in the driver\'s seat.

Astrid turned to Wulfric, narrowing his eyes at the other. "Did you not leave at all?"

That\'s the only explanation how the other could get here so fast. Him just staying at his car after he left the restaurant.

"Haha," Wulfric gave a dry laugh while scratching his cheek. "Yeah."