70
We are Korolevas
M y sister looked at me distressed; that would be the word that best defined the expression on her face from the doorway.
She didn't come alone. Mama imperial eagle followed her chick, with her head held high and that feathered magnificence that characterized her.
She closed the door behind her, leaving the three of us in absolute silence.
I didn't even know where to start, and I supposed they didn't either, because "how are you feeling?" was too obvious. And how do you tell your mother and sister that you killed your brother, the same brother we all thought was dead and had mourned?
I clenched my fingers against the sheets, searching for the right words to say.
I didn’t need to open my mouth because Irisha stepped forward. She ran to the bed and started crying as if all the water on Earth was concentrated in her blue eyes. She melted against me, muttering "I'm sorry" repeatedly in a loop.
I looked at my mother, not quite understanding the reason for this behavior. There was nothing she needed to apologize for; on the contrary, if anything, it was I who owed them some apologies, along with an explanation of why I killed a member of our own family.
Irisha and I didn’t have an exceptional bond, so I felt uncomfortable with her tears. I didn't know what to say or how to act. My mother sensed my disturbed state and asked my sister to calm down, saying that she was upsetting me and the nurse had told them to keep me calm.
My sister did her best to calm down. Even so, it was hard for her, with too many accumulated tears. When she managed to maintain a reasonable breathing rhythm, I dared to ask:
"Can you tell me what's going on?" I looked at both of them.
My mother opened her purse and handed me a photograph.
"Judge for yourself. Here is the woman who dealt behind your back with the Mentium and caused the Capulets to distrust you even more."
I frowned in puzzlement; I had assumed that Yuri and Irene had been behind the distribution of Mentium and that the photo would show Irene in disguise, but when I saw the image, my eyes widened.
"But how is this possible?" I muttered incredulously. I recognized the woman as a member of my family, the carefree and somewhat dreamy girl who had just bathed me in tears. "Irisha? You?"
I couldn’t believe it. She made a move to cry again, and my mother stopped her, telling her that if she had been brave enough for some things, she now had to be brave for others.
She hiccuped and let out a long sigh before giving her halting explanation.
"I know what I'm going to say is no excuse, and you have every right to be angry with me and never speak to me again if you don't want to, but I swear I didn't do it with bad intentions."
"Speak," I responded curtly. I wasn’t going to judge her motives without hearing the explanation.
My mother handed her a handkerchief. She dried her tears and began her story.
"I've always felt left out," she confessed, sniffling. "Everyone seemed to have a role in the family except me. Yuri was the heir; you were the one who stopped at nothing and achieved everything you set your mind to, and Sarka, the youngest, with an innate talent for arts and sciences, whom we had to care for, spoil, and protect from the day she displaced me and took the place I held until then. And what was my role to be after that? I didn't seem to fit anywhere. I wasn't a boy, I didn't have your boldness, nor was I the princess. If I got close to you or Yuri, I became a nuisance, and if I hovered around Sarka, I annoyed her because I either disturbed her sleep or angered her by taking her toys. I spent years acting out of jealousy, throwing tantrums, because deep down, I did feel envious."
"Are you trying to tell me that the Mentium deal was revenge because I made you feel left out?" I asked.
"No! It wasn't that! On the contrary! I had spent years trying to find something to show you all that the Koroleva name ran through my veins too."
"And you decided that something was selling a drug I had ordered destroyed behind my back?" She shrugged, grimacing.
"It sounds horrible now, especially with what has happened, but when I came across that internet ad from a guy looking to buy all the Mentium boxes people might have in their homes, in exchange for a substantial sum, I didn't think about the consequences, only that with everything in the factory's warehouse, I could help."
"Help?"
"I knew you didn't want to marry Romeo, so maybe, if I improved the family's finances with the resale of Mentium, you could divorce and be happy. I know it sounds sappy and absurd; I shouldn't have acted on my own, now I know that."
"You did it for me?" I blinked in astonishment. She nodded in shame.
"All the responsibility fell on you since Dad died. No one offered to shoulder the burden so you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your life with a man you were incapable of loving. I thought about how lonely I had felt and that surely, you were feeling the same way. Taking on a role you didn't want. I watched you throughout the wedding and at the breakfast the next day. I saw your anger, your rage, and at times, even sadness. It was the closest I ever felt to you. And then Juliet told me she hoped you and her brother could come to understand each other because he hated having to marry you, and she adored you. I believed that one of us deserved to do something to get you out of the mess and not just stand by. After all, it wasn't fair that all the weight fell on your shoulders. The easiest thing was to help you get a good sum and thus be able to free yourself from..."
"The Capulets." She nodded.
"I'm sorry. I'm a fool and useless; I'm not cut out for these things. I shouldn't have done what I did. That guy died because of me, and I can't forgive myself for it. Nothing I do turns out right!"
"How did you know the access codes to the warehouse? And why did you dress up like me with mom's terrible taste in clothes?"
My mother raised her eyebrows.
"You wish you had my taste and not that of a woman with the scent of venereal disease."
"Some of us seem that way; others are. How long has it been since you had a full check-up, mother?" I blinked innocently. She snorted.
"Speak to me with respect."
"Haven't I? I'm just concerned about your health." I turned my face to my sister, whose eyes looked like they were watching a ping-pong match. "Explain yourself."
"Well, I tried to look as much like you as possible, considering that the clothes I had that weren't mine were in our mother's closet. I figured if one of the warehouse workers crossed paths with me and saw me in that outfit, they would think it was you. It was a 'just in case'; the time I arranged with the university student was during breakfast. The day you took mom and me for a tour of the factory, I memorized the workers' schedules. If I was quick, I could get the goods out in half an hour while the workers were on their breakfast break. As for the code..." She bit her lip. "I just needed a phone call to your warehouse manager. Don't blame the poor man; I tricked him. I pretended to be you and told him we needed to change the security code because the police had contacted me about a security breach and that when he had it, he should send it to you by email." I was more than surprised by her story; my little sister was much sharper than I had imagined. "I did it the day you were shot in the car. Mom told me what happened and that you'd be at the golf club, so it was perfect. Don't kill me, but I know your email password, not that I know it on purpose, but one day when I passed by, I saw you typing it by accident and, considering the word and the date, I couldn't forget it." It was Yuri's name and the year of his death. "I stood in front of the phone with your session open, and as soon as I received the code, I congratulated myself mentally because there was no need to delete the message. It seemed like the warehouse manager himself had changed it and provided it to you for security." I remembered that message, and it hadn't seemed strange to me.
"And the money?"
"Cryptocurrencies. It was the safest and least traceable option. Also, with the market price, the amount has doubled. I promise I didn't expect to take so long to tell you, but things kept getting complicated. You were kidnapped, that guy self-immolated, I realized it was all my fault, and I didn't know how to face it. Telling you or mom made me feel extreme shame. Everything was turning against me. Nothing could go right for me, even if the intention was good! Because deep down, I'm not like you, no matter how hard I try! We're as different as vinegar and oil."
I felt pity for my sister. She condemned herself too harshly, and her plan wasn't entirely bad; she had kept us on our toes without us suspecting her for a moment. It wasn't bad at all, not bad at all. That made me feel proud, and I felt the need to tell her.
"Oh my God, Irisha! Don't you see? You've acted like a Koroleva!" She lifted her head abruptly, and I gave her a genuine smile.
"You're not mad?"
"No! I'm proud that you planned all that without anyone's help! Well, maybe you should have talked to me or mom when you saw things starting to go wrong, but I admire your courage and appreciate your concern for my happiness. Few people have done such a selfless act for me. I'm sorry I wasn't the best big sister in the world and didn't realize I made you feel so bad."
"You've been the most inspiring," she murmured happily, "and I promise I'll talk to Romeo and Massimo myself and tell them that..."
"You are not going to say anything," my mother interjected. "You've done enough. I personally made sure Irene took the blame, and you’re not going to undermine my effort. To the Capulets, she was the culprit, and that redhead will never open her mouth again thanks to Romeo, who finally gave her the place she deserved by making her pig food. I would like this matter to remain between the three of us. The secrets of the Koroleva women should stay among them."
For once, I agreed with my mother; Irisha's intention was good, and there was no need to stir things up. And if Irene had taken the blame, so be it, she deserved no less.
"That sounds fine to me," I agreed.
"Then, do you forgive me?" Irisha asked.
"Only if you invest the cryptocurrency profits well. Make good use of them."
"Don't worry."
Irisha hugged me so tightly that it hurt. I didn’t complain.
I had admired the wrong sibling and disregarded the sister who deserved all my support.
"And since we're on the subject of confessions and guilt, I also need to tell you something about what I did last night, which you might never forgive me for." I took a deep breath. "Yuri..."
"Your brother died two years ago to all of us; we already went through his death and the subsequent mourning. It's not good to unearth the dead. Last night you did what you had to do, I have no doubt about that."
My mother fixed her determined gaze on mine, and I saw my reflection in her eyes.
It was her way of telling me that she was on my side, that even though my actions deprived her of being with her other son, I had done the right thing.
I felt a great relief.
After all, as she herself had said, we were Koroleva women, and we covered for each other.