Chapter 719

Jane blinked her big, innocent eyes, gazing up at her big brother with crystal-clear clarity while thinking to herself, "Yeah right, like I'd believe that!" But then it occurred to her maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to let her big brother teach Huan a lesson. After all, look how he had treated her sister, driving her to the point of losing her sense of taste! Counting on her tiny fingers, she piped up in her sweet, childlike voice, "Big Brother, it’s Huan. Back when we were in M Country, he made a promise to Sister that he’d come back when she turned eighteen. But now, not only did he return way earlier, he even brought a girlfriend with him. And he told brother Harold that the whole promise was just him teasing Sister for fun." She pouted slightly. "Sister got really sad." A flicker of coldness flashed through John’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. His expression softened as he gently tucked Jane’s blanket around her. Switching off the main light and leaving only the soft glow of the nightlight, he picked up a book and began reading to her in a soothing voice. Under the gentle cadence of his words, Jane soon drifted off to sleep. Quietly stepping out of her room, John made his way to the neighboring door Mina’s room. He raised his hand to knock, but before his fingers could make contact, he heard voices from inside Mina’s, trembling with tears, and Harold’s, calm yet uncharacteristically gentle. "I… I didn’t want to cry," Mina hiccupped between sobs, "but the tears just kept coming, and I couldn’t stop them, wuuhh…" She sniffled, then added with a hint of defiance, "Harold, you’d better not make fun of me for this later!" Harold’s voice, though still detached, carried a softness that wasn’t usually there. "Fine. If the tears want to fall, let them. I won’t tease you about it." A brief pause. Then, as if offering a distraction, he said, "Didn’t you say you wanted more snakes? I’ll take you to buy some this weekend." At that, Mina immediately wiped her tears and looked up at him with slightly swollen eyes, her sorrow momentarily forgotten. "Really? I can have more snakes? I want a silver krait, a white-lipped pit viper, a king cobra—" Harold’s eye twitched as she enthusiastically listed them off. He pinched the bridge of his nose, already regretting his offer and mentally bracing himself to rein in her wild ideas as usual. But the words caught in his throat as he saw the faint redness around Mina's eyes. Swallowing hard, he managed to say, "Fine... but only if we remove the venom glands first." Mina immediately pouted in displeasure. "What's the point of keeping venomous snakes if you take away their poison? I want to study their venom!" Even in this situation, Harold felt an overwhelming urge to give his twin sister a good smack. "Absolutely not! What if one of those deadly snakes escapes and hurts someone?" Mina sniffled, her eyes welling up again as she hung her head low. Her voice trembled with hurt. "I knew it... Little Mute was just humoring me, and now you're doing the same..." Harold had never been good with words. While he could deliver sharp retorts when needed, comforting someone was entirely beyond his skill set. He'd actually prepared a whole speech beforehand what he thought were perfectly comforting words but the moment he opened his mouth, Mina had completely derailed his carefully planned approach. Now he was at a total loss for words. Before the silence could stretch further, John didn't bother knocking. He simply pushed open Mina's slightly ajar bedroom door and strode in. "Mina, if you want to keep those snakes, you can. I'll have a special snake house built for you in the garden. And if you're serious about studying venom, I'll talk to Lester tomorrow we'll find you a couple of expert herpetologists as assistants." Mina's eyes lit up like fireworks, her grin so wide it nearly split her face. "Big Brother is the best!" Watching her radiant smile, John felt his heart swell with tenderness. He ruffled her hair gently. "Time for bed now. I'll stay and read you a story." Mina waved her hands frantically. "No need, no need! I'm already eight years old way too grown-up for bedtime stories! You should rest too. Just remember my snake house and those experts tomorrow, okay? Heehee!" "The snakes and the story both are happening. Now sleep," John declared firmly, already settling onto the small stool by her bed with the same storybook he'd just read to Jane. Lying in bed, Mina stared wide-eyed at the ceiling as her brother's rich baritone filled the room. Though she secretly thought this whole bedtime story routine made her seem terribly childish and immature... But there was no denying it Big Brother's voice while reading the story was incredibly soothing. It carried a magical warmth that seeped into her heart, gradually washing away the sorrow Huan had left behind. Exhausted from crying earlier, Mina quickly drifted off to sleep, lulled by John's gentle tone. Gazing at her slightly swollen eyes, John turned off the nightlight and quietly left the room with Harold. Once outside, Harold tilted his small face up at his elder brother. "Thank you, Big Brother." The tenderness in John's expression vanished instantly. "Why didn’t you tell me earlier about Mina and Huan?" Harold clenched his fists at the mention of Huan. "I thought I could handle it." "You thought?" John's brows furrowed, his voice icy. "And your solution was letting Mina get hurt like this? She’s still young, and nothing irreversible happened but what if she were eighteen? What then?" Harold hung his head, silent. He had failed. He hadn’t protected her. "Go think about this yourself. If one day Mina and Jane really need you, how are you going to keep them safe?" With that, John turned and strode into his study. Shoulders slumped, Harold trudged toward his room. The moment John’s study door clicked shut, Bryan darted out from his own room and slung an arm around Harold’s shoulders. "Hey, don’t take it to heart. The Tyrant’s always been like this obsessed with us boys ‘bearing responsibility’ or whatever. I swear, the only time I’ve seen him not scowling is when Jane and Mina are around. Back in the day, he walked around looking like the whole world owed him five million dollars!" "Big Brother doesn’t care about five million," Harold deadpanned, shooting him an unimpressed look. Bryan choked mid-rant, then rubbed his nose sheepishly. "I was just trying to cheer you up, okay?" Harold fixed his gaze intently on Bryan and said solemnly, "Big brother was right. It is my fault for failing to protect Mina and making her so upset." Bryan's shoulders slumped instantly. "Harold, don't say that," he muttered, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "You're making me sound like some useless bum. If anyone should take the blame for not protecting our little sister, it's me..." But his dejection lasted only a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with mischief as he leaned forward conspiratorially. "Hey Harold, what if we grab a burlap sack, ambush Huan, and beat the living daylights out of him?" Harold shot him an exasperated sidelong glance. Only his reckless younger brother could come up with such a harebrained scheme. "Let's table the Huan beatdown for now, little bro," he said, steering Bryan toward his bedroom with a firm hand on his shoulder. "You need sleep school tomorrow, remember?" After nudging him inside, Harold quietly pulled the door shut behind him. Alone in his room, Bryan flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling with renewed determination. "Yeah... we're definitely beating up Huan," he murmured to himself. "I'll buy the sack tomorrow, then stake out his usual route. We'll jump him good and proper..." A wicked grin spread across his face as another thought struck him. "Oh! Maybe I can get some itching powder from Jane too. After we're done with him, we'll dust him with it that'll teach the bastard to mess with our sister!"