After leaving the villa, I sat down in a quiet spot, trying to sort through the overwhelming realization that had shaken to my core.
The first thing I focused on was Serpina’s successor.
"Serpina survived almost to the very end."
As expected of the final boss of the ga, she was rarely taken prisoner and managed to rule as a sovereign until she was down to her last remaining territory.
Back when I first arrived in this world, I had assud she wouldn’t die from illness or so sudden accident for that very reason.
Ti and again, this arrogant, golden-haired monarch had fought fiercely to block my path.
And once her nation fell, she was simply recruited like any other defeated ruler.
Since unification marked the ga’s ending, I had never found much use for her beyond that.
If soone truly wanted to take advantage of her abilities, the only option was to play the ga from her faction’s perspective.
However—
On the rare occasion that she was removed from power, her successor was always different.
Given her overwhelming legitimacy, youth, and talent, she was never really in a situation where a successor was necessary, so it wasn’t surprising that different people inherited her position each ti.
The problem was—
"None of them were particularly outstanding."
Surprisingly, the most common pattern was that so long-serving, diocre B-rank general would take the throne.
Serpina’s army was so overwhelmingly strong in every other aspect that balancing it with weaker commanders seed almost necessary.
The only exception I rembered was when Jenna had taken over.
As the de facto chief strategist of Serpina’s forces, she had been one of the more notable figures in her army.
"Given the sheer strength of the nation itself, any successor would be at least moderately powerful. But would they be strong enough to fulfill the fate of unification? Probably not..."
Was there sothing I was missing?
Well, there were figures like Irian, whom I had never even seen once in all my 10,000 hours of gaplay.
And in the first place, a tiline where Lunarian Iniang was destined to beco the unifying ruler was already a scenario utterly unfamiliar to .
Still—
If I could find out exactly who the successor would be, I might be able to plan ahead...
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
"Enough. There's no need to overthink this."
My goal was simple: to make Lady Luna the unifying ruler.
And to achieve that, Serpina could not be allowed to die.
Which ant that I didn’t need to care about her successor.
As long as she remained in power, it was a non-issue.
"No matter what happens, I will protect Serpina."
To anyone else, I must have sounded like an incredibly loyal retainer devoted to his sovereign.
With that final thought, I slowly rose to my feet.
Right. Instead of worrying about problems I couldn’t solve, I should think about sothing else.
"I wonder if I’ll be moving into Lady Airen’s residence soon?"
There were still so formalities to take care of before leaving my current lodgings, so it might take so ti.
But even so, the thought of living with her again was sothing I couldn’t help but look forward to.
What had started as pure coincidence now felt like the natural way things should be.
If the mansion was large enough, would Reika be staying with us too?
I wouldn’t mind.
But I would need to seriously consider the nature of our relationship.
Jinor had already been moving forward with the marriage proposal, and yet here I was...
Regardless, Reika’s opinion was what mattered most.
If she didn’t reject the idea, I had no reason to refuse either.
Even though the idea of marrying two won at once felt a little unsettling to as soone from a modern background,
It didn’t seem to be a particularly strange concept in this world.
Thinking about Reika naturally led my gaze to the rapier hanging at my waist.
Right. This rapier.
At first, I had thought it was just an ordinary weapon—
But I had clearly confird that it functioned as a magical amplifier.
"Reika... If she stays by my side, she would be an incredible asset."
Of course, I had no intention of getting close to her purely for efficiency’s sake.
In the beginning, efficiency was the only thing on my mind.
I had known nothing about her, so it had seed only natural to try and win her favor after lucking into a eting with the first and greatest magician in history.
But—
She had stood up for when she shouldn’t have.
Even when she was sold off to Serpina’s army, she had stayed by my side.
I didn’t want to drag her along simply because she was useful to .
She longed for freedom.
She wanted to roam the world without being tied down.
I recalled her flushed face as she lowered her head, handing chocolates she had made alongside Airen on Valentine’s Day.
If freedom was what she truly desired—then I would gladly give it to her.
She had already done more than enough for .
If Jinor and everyone else only saw her for her value as a magician—
Then at the very least, I wanted to see her as a person.
Wouldn’t it be far too sad if everyone reduced her existence to nothing but magic?
"There’s still ti. I can think about it slowly."
With those thoughts, I soon arrived back at my lodgings.
It hadn’t been the most eventful day, but it had been exhausting nonetheless.
"Tonight, I need to take a bath and get to sleep as soon as possible."
With that simple plan in mind, I pushed open the door to my room—
"Ah—aaah...!"
A startled voice pierced the air.
To be precise, if the speaker hadn’t cut themselves off,
It would have been closer to an outright scream.
The real problem was—
The voice clearly belonged to a woman.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
"????"
I stood there, completely dumbfounded, staring at the scene in front of .
...Janis was changing clothes.
The face, the features—there was no doubt about it.
This was Janis al Kasky.
But... that didn’t make sense.
Because Janis al Kasky was a man.
And n didn’t have those.
A man shouldn’t have that kind of chest.
A man shouldn’t be wearing that kind of lace underwear.
Of course, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility—humans were unpredictable creatures—but by all logical reasoning, the chances of Janis wearing that kind of underwear were extrely slim.
And then there was the pale, flawless skin, the undeniably feminine curves, the delicate waist and rounded hips.
Even if I brought in a hundred people, every single one of them would say this was a woman.
Then... what the hell is this?
Was Janis actually a woman all along?
Had he—no, she—been hiding it this entire ti?
Sure, Janis had always looked a little too pretty for ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a man. His mannerisms weren’t exactly the most masculine either.
But still—he never really seed like a woman.
Was that even possible?
Right when I was starting to spiral into my thoughts—
"T-That’s not it!"
"Huh?"
Eyes shut tight, she practically begged .
"I-I'm not Janis! Please... I can explain! Just don’t throw out...!"
...What?
I stared at her blankly.
"Janis... ‘oppa’?"
A person who looked exactly like Janis, but was undeniably a woman, had just referred to him as her brother.
Which ant there was only one possible conclusion.
I didn’t even need my 100 Intelligence for this—anyone could figure it out.
"Twins?"
And since she called him "oppa", it was obvious which twin she was.
"Are you Janis’ twin sister?"
"Y-Yes! That’s right! I can explain everything... so please...!"
She looked at with such a desperate expression that it would have been cruel to deny her the chance to explain.
This situation made no sense—
But still—
"Fine. Might as well hear her out. It’s not like it costs anything."
I had no interest in tornting a stranger who was pleading for rcy.
"Alright. I won’t throw you out. Just calm down."
"T-Thank you... But um, I-I'm really sorry, but c-could you please... l-look away? I-I’d like to finish dressing...!"
Ah.
I’d been standing there, staring at a woman in nothing but her underwear.
And yet, I felt... nothing.
She had a nice, well-proportioned figure—attractive, even—
But after seeing Lady Airen change into her training robes after waking up next to , this wasn’t even comparable.
That had been a lethal sight. One that had completely obliterated my groggy state in an instant.
I’d probably never forget it for the rest of my life.
"Alright, I’ll step out. Just call when you’re done."
Click.
I shut the door behind and started piecing together the situation.
"A twin sister. Alright. But why? Where’s Janis?"
Now that the initial shock had passed, a deeper question surfaced.
"Wait... if it was just a matter of him being sowhere else, why would his twin sister need to be here?"
The simplest explanation was usually the right one.
If Janis had simply left, there was no need to have his sister replace him in the dorm.
There were no curfews, no headcounts, and no mandatory roll calls here.
This wasn’t an academy dormitory—it was a state-funded lodging facility for officers who didn’t have permanent housing in the capital.
But—
There was only one scenario where this kind of elaborate deception was necessary.
"When you need an alibi."
It all made sense when I considered what Janis stood to gain from having his twin sister occupy his room.
An alibi.
Janis was gone, but as long as a third party could confirm that he was here, then he would still be considered present.
And when it ca to creating an alibi, what could be more effective than a twin?
"If he needs an alibi... then what exactly is he up to?"
Janis had never struck as the kind of person who would get involved in anything shady.
But maybe I had underestimated him.
Before I could think further—
"...You can co in now."
Her voice—similar, yet subtly different from Janis’—called out from beyond the door.
It seed she had finished changing.
For now, I needed to hear what she had to say.
Opening the door, I stepped back inside.
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