They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System - Chapter 479

Chapter 479 He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, she rushed on, as if worried he was too polite to tell her the truth. "I'm still learning," she said, her voice gathering strength, her hands curling lightly in her lap. "Trying to understand you better. We didn't grow up together, like you did with Arthur and Somto. Or even Stephanie and Nicholas. I didn't have a lifetime to figure you out." She lifted her chin then, meeting his gaze with a quiet determination that stunned him.

"But we're family now," she said firmly. "And every day, I'm consciously trying to understand you more. Little by little." She took a slow breath, as if to steady herself. "I know one day, we'll be much closer than you are to any of those people who grew up with you." Her voice softened at the end, threaded with something fragile but unshakable. "Because I'm willing to understand my big brother." For a long moment, the room felt hushed around them.

Carl looked at her, at the earnest hope in her eyes, and something inside him went so tender and pained he had to look away, just for a heartbeat. He couldn't tell her the truth. That he wasn't angry. That he was proud of her, always. That he wished, selfishly, she would look at him first, before anyone else. That he was already closer to her than he had ever been to anyone. But he could never say any of that.

So instead, he reached across the desk and lightly rested his hand over hers, warm, steady, a promise in the simplest form. "No," he said finally, voice quiet but clear. "I'm not upset, Nnenna." He gave her a small smile, gentler than any words. "And you're already doing better than you think." He didn't elaborate, because if he did, he might say too much. And he had already promised himself he would always, always, protect her peace, even from his own heart.

Already, towards the end of her explanation, Carl couldn't even find a trace of annoyance left in him. Just something quieter. He wasn't sure what to call it, maybe a kind of ache, maybe just a weight that settled without warning. The way she had looked at him, so earnest, so determined, it was impossible to feel anything but a quiet, bittersweet warmth. She really means it, he thought. She wouldn't lie to me. And even if she had never said a word about it, her actions spoke louder.