Brothers

The Horn Tree in the yard had started shedding leaves again. Yellow-green leaves whirled through the air as a group of children chased them around, playing and shouting, their laughter filling the whole school.

At the classroom door not far away, Roy leaned against the mottled wall, staring blankly at the half-star on his left sleeve. His brow was furrowed, and he looked completely out of place amid all the commotion.

"Roy, I was in a bad mood yesterday, so I didn't stay after school," Faywen said, suddenly appearing beside him, an apologetic look on her pretty face. "When class is over this afternoon, I'll help you review."

Roy nodded, his expression still tense. His mind was nowhere near what she was saying.

"Oh, right. Teacher Cadell wants you to see her upstairs."

"How are you finding school? Have you gotten used to spending time with the other children? What do you think of the classrooms? Is there anything in particular you'd like to see improved?" Principal Cadell braced both hands on her desk and looked encouragingly at Roy, who sat opposite her.

Her deep smile lines made it seem more like an interrogation.

"I think everything's great," Roy replied honestly. "I'm especially grateful for Teacher Faywen's patient guidance. I wouldn't have improved this quickly without her."

"Faywen is a wonderful teacher, and everyone at the school loves her. If she didn't have to spend so much time looking after her parents, she'd be even better at her job."

"By the way, Principal Cadell, I have a question." Roy paused. "Does Teacher Faywen have a biological brother?"

Principal Cadell shook her head. "Faywen has no siblings. She has only a father who drinks himself senseless and a mother who's lost her mind. Neither can work, so she supports them both. That's why she's never married."

Roy was even more confused. That wasn't what Faywen had told him yesterday.

"I thought she had a younger brother, and that she was so kind to me because she mistook me for him."

Principal Cadell shook her head, her expression serious. "Roy, Faywen has been helping me run the school for ten years. I treat her like my own daughter and know everything about her. I can assure you she has no siblings. She cares about every student. She's just been paying a little extra attention to you because you're new here."

Roy didn't press the matter. He seemed to accept her answer.

Principal Cadell smiled and patted his head. Several of the school's adolescent boys had crushes on the young, beautiful Faywen, imagining that their lovely teacher treated them differently from the others. She figured Roy was one of them.

"Anyway, Roy, you have a lot of potential. In just half a month, you've covered more than two months' worth of lessons for the other students. You're brighter than the other sixty-four children. In a few years, you might become one of House of Cadell's outstanding graduates. Then your teacher will paint your portrait herself, and your achievements will be preserved here at the school forever, to inspire those who come after you."

Principal Cadell opened a drawer in her desk and took out several framed portraits to show Roy. The lifelike oil paintings depicted slightly awkward-looking boys and girls in their early teens.

Roy's gaze passed over one of them—and stopped dead.

"Helheim, graduated December 20, 1259."

It showed a young boy, about thirteen or fourteen, with black hair and faint freckles across his nose. He looked unremarkable, the kind of person who could easily be overlooked in a crowd. But an ugly, finger-length scar beneath his right eye made him unforgettable.

Roy was sure he had seen him before, but for the moment, he couldn't remember where.

"Where do your outstanding graduates go to work?"

Principal Cadell looked proud. "Your teacher has some influence in Aedirn. They're all talented, but still need polishing. So I recommend them to other cities, like Leria and Livia, Upper Posada and Xiabosada. Some even go to the capital, Fangerburg. Most find work involving writing. They become history researchers, copyists, librarians..."

Roy put on an eager, admiring expression, but deep down he suspected Principal Cadell was lying. The school didn't seem to have such simple goals for its students.

After school, Faywen was explaining a few complicated words to Roy when a slovenly, heavyset middle-aged man suddenly barged in.

His face was broad and fleshy, and his dark-brown shirt was stained with wine and food scraps. His hair was a tangled, greasy mess, as if it hadn't been washed in days, and a moldy smell clung to him. He looked as dejected as a beggar.

He shuffled over to them, eyeing Roy suspiciously before turning to the woman. Holding out his right hand, he spoke with a slur, as if it were only natural. "Faywen, why didn't you come home yesterday? Give me some money... I need a drink!"

Faywen quietly pulled Roy behind her, standing in front of him. Her pretty face tensed as she said coldly, "I don't have any money for you."

"You little brat, what'd you do with your money? Couldn't you save some to take care of your old man?" The middle-aged man's brow creased into a deep frown. He bared his crooked, yellow teeth and spat a glob of phlegm at her. "You'd better bring money home tomorrow, or you know what'll happen!" After threatening her, he turned and stumbled away, cursing under his breath.

"Is he your father?" Roy asked carefully, looking at Faywen's ashen face.

"That's right. His name's Bob. He's my father," Faywen said hollowly. "Scary, isn't he?"

Roy hesitated. He didn't want to criticize someone's elder. "He's only like that when he's drunk, right?"

"Don't worry, you can curse him all you like. I don't mind. That man's never been sober, and he's never cared about anyone in the family... He starts drinking as soon as he opens his eyes, and when he closes them, he's drunk." Faywen's pretty face was numb, her helpless tone touched with faint scorn.

Anyone stuck with a father who drank himself senseless would have drawn the short straw.

"Bob's never acted like a father. He didn't even care when his son went missing."

His son? Faywen's younger brother? The one Principal Cadell had said didn't exist.

Roy looked at Faywen strangely.

"Faywen, what's going on? Will you tell me about it?" Roy asked. To make his offer more convincing, he added, "I spent some time with a Witcher master. To be precise, my mentor was a Witcher from the School of the Viper. He taught me how to handle unusual troubles and difficulties. Maybe I can help you."

"You're serious?" The woman raised an eyebrow, her lovely eyes skeptical. "As far as I know, your eyes don't look like those of the powerful Witchers."

"That's because I'm still an apprentice. I haven't undergone the Trial of the Grasses yet... My body's no different from an ordinary person's." Roy went on to tell her about some of his experiences with the Witcher.

Faywen fell silent for a moment.

"All right, Roy. I believe you. I don't understand why a Witcher apprentice would work at an herb shop in the market, but since you're willing to listen and have some experience with this sort of thing, I don't mind telling you. At least you won't immediately think I'm crazy like an ordinary person would, right?"

"To be honest, it's unbelievable. Even I don't know what that brother of mine looked like, how old he was, or where he is now." Faywen gave a self-mocking laugh. Her pretty face was clouded with conflicting emotions; even she thought it sounded absurd.

"When I first tried telling people about it, everyone around me thought I'd gone mad. Not Principal Cadell, whom I respect, nor the sweet, mischievous children—none of them had ever seen my brother, and none of them remembered... that I'd ever had a brother."

"I tried proving to that drunk that he had another son. I showed him the extra boys' clothes I'd found at home! But he accused me of having a bastard child. As for my mother, she couldn't understand a word I said. Eventually, I realized that if I kept talking about it, everyone would think I was possessed by a demon and haul me off to be purified at the stake. So I've kept it to myself ever since and acted as though everything was normal. It's been about two years now, I suppose. I haven't told anyone." Faywen fell silent for a moment.

Roy's confusion deepened. "Teacher Faywen, this is strange. No one remembers him. How can you be so sure you had a relative like that?"

"Because I have proof... I told you, I found some boys' clothes at home. If that drunk hadn't burned them all, I could show you." A note of regret flickered in Faywen's lovely eyes, then gave way to certainty. She clearly believed in her theory. "Also, ever since I started working with Principal Cadell, I've had a habit of writing in a diary every two weeks or every month, recording things that made an impression on me. Things at school, at home, or things I happened to see on the street. I've kept it up for ten whole years."

"I occasionally look through those diaries. I expect a lot of myself, and I dream of becoming someone as respected and loved as Principal Cadell someday. So I often use those records to correct my less-than-proper words and actions."

"Faywen, you've already done that. Everyone at the school likes you, as do the children's parents," Roy said sincerely. He felt the woman in front of him was putting him under far too much pressure.

"I still have a long way to go." Faywen shook her head, gazing absently into the air. "The year before last, while I was reading through my diaries, I found some strange entries—"

Faywen paused, then spoke with sudden emphasis. "There was someone else in my home besides me, that drunk, and my poor mother. There was a fourth person!"

Roy hunched his shoulders. It felt like listening to a ghost story.

Faywen took off the silver necklace she wore around her neck. With a gentle squeeze, she opened the square pendant and took out a crumpled slip of paper folded into a small square. She opened it and smoothed it flat. It was about the size of her palm, with crude, simple lines depicting two figures, one tall and one short, holding hands. On the left was a tall woman; on the right, a boy with adorable blushes on his cheeks.

They were smiling brightly, their faces close together. They were clearly a brother and sister.

"Later, I found a pile of boys' clothes at home. They were clearly much smaller than the drunk's clothes. And then there's this picture that somehow appeared in my pendant. I'm sure I had a younger brother. I just don't know what happened—I can't remember him at all." Faywen's pretty face twisted with confusion and frustration. After a moment, she continued.

"I felt it especially strongly when I helped you out in the slums that day. I know there must be a lot of similarities between you and him."

"I don't know what he looked like, but my instincts tell me he really existed."

That explained why Faywen had been so unusually kind to Roy the first time they met.

But Roy still felt that something wasn't right. For now, he decided to go along with what she was saying and see what he could find out.

"Faywen, I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but could I see those entries in your diary?"

"Of course, if you want to read them, that's fine. I can explain any words you don't know," Faywen said, her pretty face tense as she spoke cautiously. "But don't tell anyone what's in there unless we have solid proof. It's for your own good, understand?"