– Don't apologise for your stupidity," he mumbled. – My trifling life changes seem enormous to me alone. You have never loved and cannot understand me!
– I don't think I ever will. – I spoke the truth, for I really thought love and all that goes with it was downright stupidity. – I don't want love.
– Do you think she'll ask your permission?
– I'm already in love," I grinned, trying hard to keep myself from sounding annoyed.
– What news! And with whom? – Markus asked mockingly
– The moon and the sunset.
My brother looked at me like I was crazy. Then suddenly he laughed out loud. I watched his tantrum with an impenetrable face and waited patiently for it to subside. Finally, Markus pulled himself together and gave me a mocking look.
– You're comparing loving a girl to loving a sunset? With your notions of love, you can only entertain children and write books for losers to justify their failure with the opposite sex!
Markus was always a joker, and his irony never missed the punch line.
I chuckled unwillingly.
– Who knows, maybe in the future this book will be a success among mortals! – I said with a laugh. – But now make it clear: who is the lucky girl?
– Do you remember Mroczek family? – my brother asked me instead of answering. – The Polish clan?
At the mention of the object of his affection, Markus's eyes warmed.
With a slight smile on my lips, I nodded.
"One of the Mroczek girls, then?" – I thought.
– Mariszka. – Markus exhaled the name with such favour that I could barely keep from laughing derisively. It was entertaining to watch him – had love really changed him that much?
"Mariszka. Ah, yes. The thin beauty with hair the colour of ripe wheat," I remembered and smiled.
– Well, congratulations to you: she's really good," I congratulated my brother, deciding that Mariska Mroczek was indeed perfect for a serious vampire like him.
– She's gorgeous," he corrected me.
– You know better," I smiled.
Despite my fair prejudice against love, I was happy for my brother. He'd believed in love, and he'd looked for it, and waited for it, just like people do. And at last he had found what he longed for.
I neither sought nor believed. The words "love", "seek", and "wait" seemed disgusting to me. Only humans can be so naive.
– I hope… No, I'm sure you'll find your life partner soon," Markus said with a smirk.