Le Desespoir: The Cursed Paradise

Tell Her You Love Her

July 01, 1843

Johann stormed back into the huge house, his body rigid, his expression forbidding.

"Johann, my son," his father called from the door of the study, and he had no choice but to pause to greet him. "Is there something wrong?" the old man asked and Johann, who was not in the mood to talk to him, shook his head.

"Nothing I can't handle father. Have a good night," he said formally as he continued to march towards the staircase. However, he did not go directly towards his room. He was too restless to settle in for the night. Feeling confused, he walked down the hall to his younger brother's room.

The master of the house eyed his eldest as Johann marched upstairs with a troubled face and his own expression turned grim.

"It looks like it will be harder for us if we just let those peasants simply leave,” he commented, and his right-hand man who was sitting inside the study smirked.

"Master Johann is really besotted with the pretty lady even if she is a cripple," the man commented, which made the master's mood darker. Sighing heavily, he poured dark amber liquid into a glass and drank everything in one go.

"I think we have to solve this problem a little differently," the old man said after a brief contemplation as he turned to the man, his eyes narrowed. "You know what to do."

The assistant grinned, showing a yellowed set of crooked teeth, before inclining his head to the side. “Of course, Master. Leave it to me…”

=====================

Jehan was polishing his guns inside the hidden studio in his room. At the corner of the room was a cabinet attached to the wall where he kept the revolvers his older brother gave him for his birthday. There were twenty-one of them, the same number as his age, and he really liked them. That's why, even if he didn't use them, he would still polish all his guns before sleeping.

On his right were the paintings that he made in the three years since he met Hannah. He had only been doing landscapes before he met his lover. But after being with her, he found it interesting to do portraits as well. Since it was only a hobby, he only painted those people whom he cared about.

Most of his works were of Hannah, but he had some of her brothers too. He also had three of Julian, and, glancing at the painting on the further right, he smiled proudly. It was his latest work— a portrait of Jessica and Johann together, which he painted out of memory.

Of course, he had no intention of telling anyone about this, but he felt glad that he did it. This was, after all, a sign that he really cared about his older brother whom he knew cared a lot about him as well, and he hoped they would be able to fix the bond between them completely. These past few weeks he was able to spend time with his older brother made him realize that he actually liked his elder brother so much.

A noise outside his bedroom door made him turn around.

"Jehan! Jehan!" Johann called as he strode inside the room without knocking.

Jehan wasn't able to close his secret room since Johann already reached him. He felt annoyed with his older sibling for barging into his privacy, but the frantic look on Johann's face made him worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his annoyance already forgotten, and the older de Lancret suddenly sat on the floor in front of him.

"Jehan, Jessie’s breaking up with me— what should I do?" Johann demanded sorrowfully as he beseeched his surprised brother's face.

"W-what?" Jehan asked and the older de Lancret repeated what he said. "Yes, I know what you said but why are you asking me?"

Of all the things his brother might ask him, his love life was the least he expected.

"Because you and Hannah seemed to be doing fine," Johann stated which made his brother blush.

Their topic seemed so ridiculous that he wanted to laugh but his older sibling really looked very serious.

"Tell me what happened," he softly ordered, and his brother told him.

"I can't understand why she said I'm treating her like a w***e," Johann complained afterwards. "Haven't I been caring enough?"

Jehan frowned as he thought. He had a feeling that his brother's missing an important point. He cleared his throat.

"Have you ever told her that you care for her?" he asked his brother who looked confused.

"Do I have to tell her that? Isn't my action enough?" Johann asked like a little kid and Jehan couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother, of course, she would feel like a w***e. You never told her you love her. Since she's a woman, she has to know in words what you're really feeling. If not, she would think otherwise," Jehan chuckled, not realizing that he had called Johann brother for the first time. "My God, what have you been doing for the past nine years?"

Johann, who didn't miss Jehan calling him brother, stopped and stared at his sibling, and then he smiled. "You're right," he grinned. "I should tell her that I love her— that I can't imagine life without her," he said as he nodded. "Thanks a lot…brother."

Jehan blinked several times upon realizing that they had called each other what they haven't been calling each other before, and then he smiled. A big chunk seemed to be lifted off his shoulders, and he felt light.

"No problem," he answered with a smile, and then he felt the urge to give Johann something so he cleared his throat.

"Brother," he called softly as he stood up and took a canvas from the other side of the room. Without talking further, he handed the painting to Johann, who was surprised to see his likeness with the woman he loved.

"You can keep that," Jehan said, pleased that Johann seemed to like his gift.