Chapter 44: His Sister’s Road

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: His Sister’s Road

The next morning when Liam woke, Isabella came thundering up in front of him, reaching out to put a knitted hat on his head.

It was a white beret, knitted from the high-grade yarn of the system shop so it was very light. Liam touched his head in astonishment, then went to the decorative mirror in the living room, studying himself in it.

The hat was a pure milk white, simple yet extremely elegant. Its shape set off his chestnut-brown hair falling past his shoulders, bringing out his gentle face along with his fair skin.

Liam turned to Isabella, getting out a single word: "Brilliant!"

Isabella giggled: "Beautiful, isn’t it? This is my first official piece!" As for how many failed versions came before the official one, Isabella didn’t say.

Liam took his sister by the hand straight to the storehouse his siblings had cleared for him, taking all the yarn out of the system storage bag. Crate upon crate of yarn stacked higher than either of their heads, filling two thirds of the room. Liam said:

"This is all the yarn I have. When I go to Altair today I’ll order you a glass cabinet with preservation, that way whenever you want a particular yarn one look will find it."

Isabella tried opening the crate nearest her. This was a fine yarn, slightly fluffy. The ball was very large yet lighter in the hand than cotton wool. Holding it, Isabella could feel its coolness and its softness. She loved it so much she couldn’t bear to let go.

"Liam, if I use all this yarn up, can more be bought?" Isabella asked curiously.

The system had already told Liam about this, that he could entirely produce this yarn himself by combining the current climate-regulating fiber material with ancient yarn-making technology. The climate-regulating fiber of today was made from the bark of a tree called the Isotherm, convenient enough but hard to dye. The clothes made from it aimed chiefly at convenience, so they didn’t look particularly attractive.

Liam had been planning to open this yarn factory for a long time. And this plan was of course meant for Isabella alone. He knew his sister was actually like Benjamin, not particularly fond of this farming work. All this time Liam had been watching his brother and sister closely, wanting to see whether there was anything they particularly loved. And the result rather surprised him.

Benjamin liked filming, while Isabella liked handicrafts.

So he had already laid plans for the two of them. He wanted Benjamin to take the road of cinema, Isabella the road of fashion. This wasn’t forcing them into a mould, it was that he wanted them free to pursue their own passions, rather than straining themselves at work they didn’t like.

As for the centuries-old farming enterprise, that would be shouldered by someone who liked farming, like him.

At that thought, Liam answered Isabella: "There will be, but not by buying. Sister, would you like to own a yarn factory of your own?"

Isabella went blank, pointing at herself: "A yarn factory? Me?"

Liam nodded: "That’s right, your own factory." He looked at the yarn filling two thirds of the room: "Use this yarn as your start-up capital. Once you have enough capital, I’ll supply the method for making the yarn. As for how you develop it, I won’t interfere."

He turned back, putting a hand on Isabella’s shoulder: "Sister, there are roads to a passion that can only be walked alone. The two of you support my road, so I’ll stand behind you and cheer you on." He stepped round in front of Isabella, asking softly: "Sister, do I look good in the hat you made?"

"You do." Isabella’s voice was a little thick.

"Would you like it if one day, everyone in this galaxy used something you made? Would you like to become someone people look up to?"

Isabella went still. What her brother said, it wasn’t that she had never thought of it before. It was only that her circumstances didn’t allow it, and this era didn’t allow it either. In a place where people revered Alphas and cherished Omegas, a Beta like her always stood in an extremely awkward position.

In strength, they were no match for Alphas. In matters of the heart, they were no match for Omegas. There were always clear laws protecting Alphas and Omegas, but the laws for Betas were always vague, added in simply for the sake of it.

If, if one day, a Beta like her could become a model for everyone, then...

Isabella’s hand tightened around the ball of yarn, her head lifting to look at her brother. Her eyes had filmed over, but the tears stubbornly refused to fall. She said solemnly:

"I would!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Liam broke into a smile, the corner of Benjamin’s mouth curving faintly too where he stood eavesdropping outside. Wanting it was good, the fear was that she wouldn’t dare want it.

"Then, sister, from now on do your best. Our eldest brother and I will always be here waiting for you."

Isabella nodded hard. Then she blinked several times in a row, forcing the emotion down. She touched her spatial bracelet, taking out several yarn keyring charms. After choosing for a while, she handed Liam one shaped like a calico cat and one shaped like an avocado, placing them in his hand:

"The video says this is a cat, and this is called an avocado." Isabella pointed at each one, introducing their names as though afraid Liam wouldn’t recognize them: "The cat one is for you, and the avocado one you can take to Daniel later."

Liam looked down at the two charms in his palm. The calico cat had one orange ear and one black ear, its tail striped in yellow, white and black. Around its neck was a little bell collar, which gave a few pleasant jingles at a gentle shake.

As for the avocado, it was the shape of an avocado halved lengthwise with glossy black eyes and that very familiar small pursed smile. Liam couldn’t hold back a small laugh.

He took the yarn loop at the cat’s head, threaded it through his smart watch then pulled it tight. Once it was hung he lifted his wrist for Isabella to see clearly, then shook his fist:

"Sister, it’s so cute. I love it."

Isabella laughed with enormous delight, turning to run outside. She had barely reached the door when she crashed into Benjamin standing to one side. Benjamin coughed lightly in embarrassment, crooking a finger to scratch at his nose a few times:

"Ah, I came to call you two in to eat."

Isabella pouted, throwing him a razor-sharp glare. Then she took out a charm shaped like a yellow ear of corn with two green leaf arms and a face with eyes crinkled in laughter, handing it to him:

"Here, a present for you. Don’t say I play favorites!"

Benjamin laughed, taking the charm, hanging it on his wrist the same way Liam had: "All right, I’ve received the vast and boundless respect of my dear sister. Let’s go and eat, quickly. Liam still has to get to Altair today."

He put an arm across Isabella’s shoulders, pulling his sister along toward the main house. Liam gave a helpless laugh, putting the avocado charm into his spatial bracelet, following unhurriedly after them.

The fresh meal at the start of the day quickly dispelled the sentimental air of early morning. After eating, Benjamin flew Liam to Altair Port, handing his brother over to Daniel in person before he turned to leave. This time meeting Daniel, Benjamin was plainly less tense than the first time, still holding the attitude of admiration for an idol without being too impolite.

Daniel watched his tall back going away, unclear what the feeling in him was. To call it liking was not yet quite it, but to call it indifference was wrong too. In short it was an extremely strange feeling.

Liam saw Daniel gazing blankly after his brother’s back, nudging him lightly at the elbow to tease:

"What are you staring at my brother like that for? Don’t tell me you’ve been drawn in by his good looks?"

Liam wasn’t blowing his brother’s trumpet to the skies in saying this. Their Daddy had been a handsome Alpha, and back when the Martinez family was still prominent he had ranked among the top thirty most attractive Alphas in the Polaris star system. As for their Papa, there was no need to say, one look at Liam now told you how beautiful he had been. Before he defied Mr. Vance, insisting on marrying Liam’s Daddy, his Papa had been pursued by a great many noble Alphas.

Benjamin had inherited most of Mr. Martinez’s handsome looks, tempered by a few of the gentler features of his Omega Papa. He was exactly the sort of Alpha whose gentle good looks made any Omega who saw him flutter.

It was precisely for that reason that Mr. Mason had had to tell his son to mind his limits, not to go beyond friendship with Benjamin. He could see that with looks like Benjamin’s, his son would certainly develop feelings after long contact.

Hearing Liam’s teasing, Daniel pouted: "I only looked once, you’re reading far too much into it. Get in the car."

The two of them got into Daniel’s flying car. Once the route was set and autopilot engaged, Daniel turned to look at Liam:

"You look very different today, prettier than usual somehow?"

Liam smiled brightly, pointing at the hat on his head: "It’s thanks to this. My sister made it for me with her own hands." He pointed at the cat charm on his wrist as well: "And this too. Well? Isn’t it lovely? Do you want one?"

His chin tilted up, the words if you want one then beg me written plainly across his face.

Daniel rolled his eyes, seized by an urge to sever the friendship. Even so, if he were to pass judgment on these things, he couldn’t well lie to himself: "They really are beautiful. Did she weave them herself? I’ve never seen anything like this before."

Liam shook his head: "Not woven, crocheted by hand. Do you see each stitch here? Every stitch was hooked together by hand." He took the avocado charm out of the spatial bracelet, handing it to Daniel: "This is a present from her to you. As for how it’s made, wait a few days until she’s set up her vlog channel, then I’ll send you the information to look at yourself. If I explain it now you won’t understand."

Daniel genuinely didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop him loving this small present. He took the charm from Liam’s hand, copying Liam in hanging it on his own smart watch. Daniel studied the charm for a long time, unable to work out what animal it was.

"Liam, what creature is this?" he asked curiously.

Liam opened the information and image of the avocado on page three hundred and twenty-seven of the book introducing ancient plants:

"Here it is. Its name is the avocado. The charm you’re wearing is modelled on a personified cartoon image, an avocado itself doesn’t have eyes and a nose and a mouth like this."

Daniel made an "oh" sound, feeling his knowledge of plants had gone up another level.

[Ting! The set destination has been reached, please carry out the landing procedure.]

The flying car’s smart system announced their arrival, so Daniel immediately pressed to land in the restaurant’s parking area.

The two of them got out, going straight up to Daniel’s office on the second floor.