Chapter 77

When he left the Vermilion domain, Sanche had not believed for a second that the scandal plastered across every gossip rag about Erabelle was true.

...The gap is just too big.

But it was true, and that made the situation serious.

Their families, their physical levels... He seems to keep his urge to dominate under control, but even so, the difference is enormous. First of all, would a house like that even treat my sister well...?

At that point, he was struck by a faint sense of déjà vu.

Wait.

Someone else agonized over things like this all the time...

Sanche clutched his head.

I’m worrying exactly like Father right now! This is so damn annoying!!

Damn it... I should force the Senate to approve restoring Sis’s inheritance rights. They’d welcome the proposal with open arms.

Even if the central nobles opposed it on principle, this was Avganis they were talking about.

And if that doesn’t work, I could siphon off part of my own assets and prepare a dowry for her... except she’d kill me for it.

She was already hanging by a thread.

And with that rotten temper of hers...

Wouldn’t it have been better if she’d found a man our family could actually push around?

He had known she would get herself into trouble chasing looks like that.

While Sanche pondered how to slip her a dowry without getting beaten to death, Dezeb finally emerged from the bedroom and met his eyes.

“Did you clear the stage?”

“Ah, yes. I just finished...”

He had gone inside saying he had something to discuss and, as always, came back out looking suspiciously like he had just taken a shower.

Sanche was no longer surprised.

It was still awkward, though.

Brazenly settling into someone else’s newlywed home was not easy.

“You must be hungry. I’ll make dinner.”

“I’ll help.”

He really does seem like a decent person.

Some of the weight on Sanche’s mind finally lifted.

You could never truly know another person, but after watching Dezeb for ten days, that was the impression he had formed.

It felt like it was finally time to go home.

***

Late the next morning, Erabelle staggered out of the bedroom and immediately locked eyes with Sanche, who was freely helping himself to Dezeb’s coffee equipment in the kitchen.

“Where’s Hyung?”

The question came the instant he saw her, bright and cheerful as ever.

Erabelle slowly walked toward him.

“Where’d he go? What, why are you— Ah! Ow! Why are you hitting me?! Ow!”

Abandoning the pour-over, Sanche twisted away and bolted.

Erabelle had no choice but to chase him in circles around the living room.

He could have simply stood still and taken the beating, but no.

Apparently she needed morning cardio too.

“Ow! Stop! I said stop! Ow!!”

After landing one final smack, Erabelle pulled out the chocolate cereal she had hidden deep inside a drawer.

“I’m going to eat. Pack your things while I do. You clearly said you were leaving today.”

She poured chocolate milk over a mountain of chocolate cereal and added a warning.

“If you don’t leave, I’m really not letting it slide this time. I already booked your departure, so get moving.”

“You’re seriously calling that a meal...?”

“No backtalk.”

Sanche sighed and clicked his tongue.

“Figures you still don’t know. Tsk, tsk.”

“What? Don’t know what?”

Erabelle frowned at the cryptic remark.

“I already packed everything.”

“Since when do you keep your promises?”

Apparently he had finally matured enough to keep his word.

Amazing.

Truly, the universe was a terrifying place where miracles and wonders could happen without warning.

Shaking her head, Erabelle carried her cereal bowl over to the television and put on “Romantic 4.”

James’s refreshing smile greeted her.

The television was enormous, which meant James’s face was enormous too.

Braving the possibility of scandalous videos had been worth it when she chose the larger screen.

“......”

“......”

The two fell silent, absorbed in the show.

James’s bright laughter filled the quiet living room.

A gigantic James sprinted along the beach with a radiant smile.

“Insane.”

Sanche stared in awe.

“Why is that guy always running across the sand when it’s blazing hot... I mean, he does look good.”

He hurriedly corrected himself like someone who had learned, through repeated physical education, to watch his mouth.

“Ugh, embarrassing.”

Sanche, who had barely managed to graduate from school, lamented with entirely undeserved superiority.

“I seriously don’t get it. Hyung is like five thousand times more—”

“Shut up.”

I know better. You’ve never even seen the bare Level-13 main body with your own eyes.

After ten days of being driven up the wall by that Vermilion runt, Erabelle crunched through her sugar-loaded cereal with righteous hostility.

“Get lost.”

“Could you speak in complete sentences, for ****’s sake?”

“Shut up and get lost.”

Sanche exploded.

“What do you even see in this stuff, Hyung?”

“Hey, you seriously believe that?”

At her denial, Sanche snorted.

“The soundproofing here is really good, huh?”

“Where did that come from?”

Even as she answered, Erabelle sensed the trap.

“You two disappear into the bedroom at all hours.”

“We had things to discuss.”

“And every time, you come back out freshly showered.”

“......”

“How many times a day are you doing it?”

“Well, we’re compatible.”

Erabelle forced herself to answer brazenly.

“I’m compatible too, you know?”

Sure you are...

“Who does it that constantly? Even compatible groups that pile together aren’t glued to each other like that.”

“......”

“You know why? Because even they separate work from private life. You shower in the morning and leave, then shower together after work, then disappear before dinner to shower again, and then vanish one more time after dinner.”

“Well...”

“Hey, even a bathhouse attendant washes less than that. Who bathes four times a day?”

“It was only sometimes.”

“Yeah, right. Whatever. But denying the relationship at this point is pretty shameless, don’t you think?”

“......”

“And who gets waited on hand and foot by a dyed-in-the-wool noble every morning and night? He cooks every meal, blends fruit for you, cleans up, does the laundry, handles the housework...”

He nags too much...

“Hey, even if you’re my sister, you’re acting like trash. Don’t you feel bad for Hyung?”

“...Would you stop calling him ‘Hyung’ already?”

With no argument left, Erabelle attacked the speaker instead.

“I’m going to keep calling him that. What, why? He told me to. If you have a problem, take it up with Hyung.”

That’s a little difficult...

Thanks to this brat, she had even lost control over honorifics.

Hearing Dezeb called “Hyung”—a term they did not even use in this world—was doing strange things to her head.

Meanwhile, Sanche delivered his next words like an official notice.

“Whatever. Call Father before you seriously regret it. I’m warning you.”

“Fine. I’ll do it later.”

Suddenly exhausted, Erabelle turned back to the television.

James was still smiling brightly, but she no longer felt any enthusiasm.

She pushed aside her empty bowl, climbed onto the couch, and sprawled out.

“I’m taking a nap. Wake me up later. Departure’s at four, so we need to leave at two.”

“What? You’re sleeping again? You just woke up.”

“Yeah. But seeing your face first thing made me tired again. Ugh. What an eyesore.”

“You...! Gah!!”

Letting Sanche’s tantrum wash harmlessly past her ears, Erabelle fell asleep almost immediately.

***

Ever since her injury in Molin City, Erabelle’s nightmares had been largely the same.

Things she had experienced.

Places she had lived.

Fragments of the past, broken apart and recombined.

But this one...

...

She touched an ornate marble wall.

Cold seeped into her fingertips.

Erabelle raised her head toward a soaring ceiling flooded with light.

It was an enormous temple.

Gold and azure jade had been worked into intricate patterns across the interior. The marble floor, drenched in a cascade of white light, gleamed like a vast glass mirror.

...The genre just changed completely.

She had never once set foot inside a Sanctuary temple.

She had only seen illustrations of them in academy textbooks.

For one thing, she belonged to the Great Spirits’ plane.

She had never even crossed the threshold into Sanctuary, so why was she dreaming of this place?

Is it because I’ve been too stressed lately?

...

Erabelle pressed her palm harder against the cold marble. ℴ

When she pulled it away, her fingertips had turned pink.

Am I actually losing my mind?

How much does psychiatric treatment even cost? If it’s too expensive, that’ll be a problem. And how long would treatment take? More than twice a week would be hard to fit in. I’m already short on training hours...

“Lady Vermilion.”

She had been leaning her forehead against the chilled marble, worrying about medical bills, when an unfamiliar voice made her turn.

A figure stood several steps away, dressed in a white hooded robe trimmed with gold.

A priest.

Beside him, a tea table had already been prepared, complete with porcelain cups.

Erabelle made a decision.

She would book a hospital appointment tomorrow.

“I heard you were badly injured. I’m glad to see your body appears to have recovered.”

“...You know me?”

“Of course. You are the most famous person in the Upper Realm these days.”

“......”

“Please, sit down first.”

He gestured toward a chair.

Erabelle sat as instructed, studying the divine stranger across from her.

“What brings you into my dream, Father?”

They were called priests, but they were gods who served the concept known as light. Different from the Pantheon, which encompassed many concepts, but still a congregation of gods all the same.

Speaking of the Pantheon reminds me of the company commander. I wonder if his hairline is holding up.

“You believe this is a dream?”