Chapter 503: Dine

Dia suddenly felt a sharp pain across her forehead. She let out a soft whimper and pulled the blanket over her head, but it was quickly yanked away. Blazing, piercing sunlight pried her eyelids open and danced across her pupils. She immediately flopped face-down onto the bed, pressing a pillow over her eyes. With a crisp smack, she yelped and sprang up, clutching her backside as she shot Ashe a resentful glare.

"Time to get up."

"Do you have any idea how rude it is to barge into a girl's room, rip off her blanket, and smack her butt?"

"But this is my room, my blanket, and my..." Ashe tilted his head and glanced over. "At least half of it is mine, right?"

Dia hurled the pillow at him. "Shut up!"

He caught it and tossed it right back. "Hurry up and get up. You're always the one sleeping in."

"I only sleep because I keep you company. I could totally stay up if I wanted to," she muttered.

After washing up, she stepped out of her room just in time to see White Queen dragging Little Witch out of the neighboring room. White Queen looked grim, while Little Witch kept her eyes shut, her body limp with drowsiness.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She stayed up all night playing games."

"Then just let her sleep."

"No. If I let her sleep, she will do it again next time," White Queen said. "I am going to supervise her studying today. No matter how sleepy she gets, I won't let her sleep. That way she will learn her lesson."

Dia rubbed her backside. "Wouldn't it be easier to just hit her?"

"When I pulled off her blanket earlier, she actually raised her butt on her own and waited for me to hit it," White Queen said, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Ashe has healed her too many times. She has built up a resistance!"

Little Witch mumbled, "Daddy, save me..."

White Queen huffed as she carried her downstairs. "Not even Ashe is getting you out of this today! He'll be studying right with you!"

Dia followed and saw Black Butler busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

Noticing her gaze, she said, "The Lala Fat needs a bit more time. Go soak with Ashe for now."

"Got it."

Dia stepped out of the main house. In the yard, Red Death Apostle was doing her morning training. White vapor occasionally formed in the air, accompanied by whip-like shockwaves. Closer inspection revealed Aqua Lines lashing through the air at supersonic speed. Something inherently soft and fluid was now wielded with fierce, overwhelming force.

Red Death Apostle nodded at Dia in greeting before immersing herself once more in the beauty of her craft.

Dia walked to the back of the yard to a steaming hot spring pool. Ashe sat reclining inside with his eyes closed, wearing swim trunks.

"Don't turn around," Dia warned.

She undressed and used Aqua Lines to weave herself a swimsuit, a skill she had learned long ago from other Sorcerer's Handbooks. Testing the temperature with her toes first, she eased one leg in, then the other, steadying herself with her hands before slowly lowering into the pool.

Unlike Ashe, she did not recline. She sat upright with her shoulders still above the water and the soft curve of her chest remaining above the surface.

Ashe sat up and glanced at the distance between them. It spanned practically the diagonal of the small pool. "You're sitting pretty far away."

"Whose fault is that, waking me up like that?" Dia huffed, her eyes drifting toward his faintly visible abs beneath the water. "You really love soaking in hot springs after waking up. Deep in hiding as you are, you still picked a place with one."

Ashe looked up at the sky. "It's a bad habit I picked up from Iger. I wonder how they're doing now."

"They'll be fine."

Ashe sighed. "Hard to say. We barely escaped Nabistin ourselves. They weren't with us back then, so their only chance was hiding in the underground city. Too bad I'm not even a sorcerer anymore. I can barely protect myself, let alone go save them."

"This is a fair deal as the price for rejecting Aine," Dia said with a smile. "As long as you don't use mana or enter the Virtual World, the Divine Spirit won't be able to find you. We can settle down here."

Ashe complained, "I can get by with the majority of it, but the Substitute spirit has been a real hassle. The other spirits just need resonance to work. That one still requires me to beg it for ages after resonance before it moves, just like you." ℯℯ𝑙.

"I am not lazy!" Dia splashed water at him, and he retaliated in kind.

After a brief skirmish involving water magic, Ashe suddenly moved close to her. Dia stiffened instantly. She could hear the steady splashing of water flowing into the pool, accompanied by the faster pounding of her own heart.

"I may still be using spirits, but my ability to fight is pretty much gone," Ashe said. "Does that bother you?"

"Bother me how?"

"I mean, would you mind that I can no longer protect you, and might even need you to protect me instead? Despite the collapse of the Gospel System, making it hard for others to track me down, sorcerers proficient in Prophecy or Fate Class could still locate me. Countless people must want me back on the throne to restart the Gospel System, yet I cannot even protect myse—"

Dia cut him off, "I don't mind. In fact, I have been looking forward to this for a long time."

Ashe took a startled step back. "You have been looking forward to me becoming useless?

Dia grabbed his hand firmly and pulled him back. "I mean, I have been looking forward to protecting you! How could I possibly mind? Back then, when Lys was nothing but a walking difficulty modifier making your life harder, you did not mind either."

"Hey!" Little Witch's annoyed voice came from the main house, immediately followed by a smack from White Queen.

Ashe blinked and lowered his voice. "Actually... at first, I did mind a little. But somehow, at some point, it just stopped mattering."

"That is because you came to see us as family," Dia said. "And I feel the same."

A sudden thought struck her. "In a few years, when things settle down outside, how about we move to a small town and blend in? We cannot stay in hiding forever, and Little Witch should grow up in a normal environment. As long as we each take on a sorcerer profession, we should be pretty popular."

"Sorcerer professions?" Ashe blinked.

"With your healing abilities, you could be a healing sorcerer. I want to try being a clothing designer, since I think I am actually pretty talented at it. A weaving sorcerer and a healing sorcerer... how does that sound? Then we can raise a pet, grow some flowers, and take little trips near home whenever we are free."

"Sounds pretty ordinary."

"Compared to agencies, being a princess, and serving as Gospel's First, of course it is ordinary. But isn't that a good thing?"

Ashe smiled. "Of course it is. This is the peaceful life I have always dreamed of."

"Sister Red likes adventure, so she would probably want to join Bluebeard in exploring the abyss. Sister White and Black dislike going out or meeting people, so we can just take care of them. As for Little Witch, we will find her a suitable sorcery class in a few days... We may not get used to it at first, but for the sake of the future, it is all worth it."

"The future..." Ashe murmured.

"Yes, for the future," Dia said with a smile. "Our lives have only just begun. It will be many years before we retire to the Virtual World."

Ashe looked at her with a gentle smile. Dia felt a little puzzled. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. I just realized you are much better than me at planning life," Ashe said while scratching his head. "I did not expect you to even plan out how I am going to live..."

"Hmph, I have read plenty of Sorcerer's Handbooks. This is trivial to me," Dia said, placing her hands on her hips. "Now hurry up and apologize for your earlier rudeness!"

"Alright, alright. Your Highness, please forgive my earlier offenses toward your forehead, your blanket, and your... butt..."

As Dia listened, her eyes suddenly lit up. She leaned closer, full of anticipation. "Say it again."

Ashe hesitated. "Your Highness?"

"Mhm!" Dia beamed as she hugged him. "Say it again!"

"Your Highness, can you stop messing around?" Ashe said helplessly. "Didn't you dislike that identity?"

Dia giggled, climbing onto him. "I just disliked being Princess of Isa."

The hot spring lacked an anti-slip surface. Ashe lost his balance, and both of them sank into the water together.

***

"You can come eat now."

"Ugh... every day I have to watch Sister Dia attack Daddy..."

"Brush your teeth properly!"

Hearing the voices of the others, Dia felt a little embarrassed. She tried to grab Ashe and rise to the surface, but her hands caught nothing.

She could not rise, nor could she sink. She remained suspended beneath the water, drifting in a daze.

"Dia."

The voice came from above the surface. She looked up.

Through the ripples created by raindrops striking the water, she saw a white-haired little girl crouching at the edge. Rain kept falling all around them, feeling as though it would go on forever.

"Big Sis Lys..."

"You can still change your mind. I cannot win against you," Sleeping Beauty said. "However, once you fall asleep, you will never wake up again, and that includes the others. Just as you feared, the Gospel's First will not allow any other noise to exist. When I inherit the Gospel, your personalities and wills will be completely erased. Even I, the personality that exists solely to carry the Gospel, will not be spared."

"Just now—"

Sleeping Beauty interrupted, "While I slept, I think I learned a few strange abilities. So I wrote you a fairy tale, giving you a beautiful dream and a chance to confess everything you regretted never saying..."

Dia murmured, "All the words I regretted keeping inside..."

"So," Sleeping Beauty asked, "have you made your decision?"

Dia suddenly asked, "Can I hide within your eyes?"

Sleeping Beauty shook her head. "No. Only one of us can be awake. When I sleep, you can enter the Virtual World. When you are awake, I must remain asleep. Once the drowsiness in my mind fades, you will fall into your final slumber."

Dia felt a trace of disappointment at the answer, but also a strange sense of relief. She smiled softly. "Then it's all on you now."

Sleeping Beauty stood up. "Alright. Goodbye, Dia."

"Goodbye, Lys."

As Lysdia stood, the flowing river submerged the illusion beneath the water. At the same time, everyone's Book of Gospel appeared once more.

On it, the name in the top spot of the Gospel Rankings twisted and warped before finally taking shape.

[Gospel Ranking No. 1: Dine]