Levinas's sniffling wouldn't stop.
Her expression grew increasingly gloomy, and her downturned lips trembled as if trying to hold back tears.
I needed to comfort Levinas.
I gathered words of consolation in my head, then put them all away.
There was sothing I needed to do before speaking.
To convey sincerity, what was needed wasn't words, but a hug.
-King is the best!
-King is aweso!
Levinas always conveyed her true feelings with a hug.
A ti of feeling secure, holding each other tightly.
In this mont, every word was filled with sincerity.
So I hugged Levinas tightly without hesitation.
"Levinas."
"Yeah...?"
"I promise I'll definitely co back. If I don't co back, I'll be a bad snake instead of a cat."
"What! A snake?!"
Levinas opened her horned rabbit eyes wide.
As if she'd never been crying, her sniffling stopped completely.
"You'll have to co back for sure if you don't want to be a snake, right?"
"Y-yeah... but is that okay...? A snake..."
"It's fine. If I co back, it won't matter."
"R-really...?!"
Levinas wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.
Then she stomped on the floor like an angry person.
"What's wrong?"
"King scared Levinas! I almost cried because of King!"
"Uh, yeah?"
Was what I said that scary?
Feeling sorry, I couldn't et her eyes for a mont.
"Being a bad snake ans you'll definitely co back!"
"Y-yeah..."
To avoid being a bad snake, I'd have to co back no matter what.
It ant becoming the thing Levinas hated most in the world.
The very idea of her hating was unthinkable.
From Levinas's perspective, it could only be heard as a promise to return without fail.
Hmph.
Levinas grumbled while stomping on the floor.
After showing a bit of dissatisfaction, she returned to her usual self.
"Since King scared , you have to take a punishnt!"
"Huh? What kind of punishnt?"
"Hmm..."
Levinas, with her arms crossed, picked up the bag on the floor.
She even put it in my arms as if telling to take it.
"I'll decide the punishnt later, but for now take this!"
"O-okay. But I don't need it right now..."
"What...?!"
"I'm not leaving right away. The carrots inside will just go bad."
"Oh! That's right!"
Levinas turned the backpack upside down.
As she shook it out, nurous carrots tumbled out.
"Why are there so many carrots?"
"So King won't be hungry!"
"......"
It was a touching gesture.
I watched silently as Levinas tidied up the carrots, then turned my gaze towards the entrance.
I sensed soone's presence there.
"Levinas, just a mont."
"Okay!"
Leaving Levinas to hide carrots all over the house, I moved to the entrance.
Saebyeok, Gaeul, and Yeoreum were standing outside, not coming in.
"Um, Gyeoul..."
Did they hear our conversation?
Saebyeok was hesitating.
I didn't want to keep this atmosphere among family mbers any longer.
Without hesitation, I gave Saebyeok a tight hug.
"I'm always grateful for you too, Saebyeok."
"Y-yeah... but Gyeoul, I have sothing to tell you."
"Sothing to tell ?"
"Yeah..."
Saebyeok glanced towards Yeoreum.
Yeoreum nodded with a faint smile.
"Let's be honest too. We can't keep hiding it forever."
I could sense from their behavior.
That sothing important was about to be said.
"I'm ready. Tell when you're ready, Saebyeok."
"Yeah... the thing is... I actually erased your mories once..."
"My mories...?"
The world inside the portal naturally ca to mind.
A world devoid of any signs of life.
Erased mories and a seemingly destroyed world.
As the combination of the two worlds ca to mind, my breathing started to beco rough.
"Gyeoul is actually..."
Saebyeok's eyes were cast down.
Her drooping ears and tail looked pitiful.
Through Saebyeok's behavior, I could understand.
That this would be a very long story.
---
---
We talked for a very long ti.
Most of it was about my past.
From the destruction of the world I lived in, to erasing my mories due to unbearably horrific experiences.
According to Saebyeok's explanation, they were mories that could turn a person into a wreck.
"That's..."
I didn't want to believe it, but I had seen and experienced things firsthand.
I had no choice but to believe it was all true.
What on earth had I gone through in that ruined world to erase even my mories?
Just hearing about it was shocking.
The actual experience must have been even worse.
I looked back and forth between Saebyeok and Yeoreum beside her.
The two won stood there like criminals.
Even Gaeul seed to sense that the atmosphere was unusual, and was watching us carefully.
"...I'm disappointed."
At my murmur, Saebyeok and Yeoreum flinched.
Saebyeok grabbed her own arm, and Yeoreum bit her lip.
Their gloom was palpable.
"I'm sorry... I..."
Saebyeok couldn't continue her words.
I approached her.
"I'm fine, but you've been suffering alone."
"Huh...?"
Saebyeok looked up.
Yeoreum also had a surprised expression.
"I know how much you two care about ."
Saebyeok was a child who always put family first in her actions.
The sa was true for Yeoreum.
"You're not angry?"
"Not at all. I'm just grateful, if anything."
Saebyeok must have concluded in her own way that my mories were too horrific to handle.
I wanted to trust Saebyeok's judgnt.
"I'm really sorry..."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Saebyeok hadn't done anything wrong.
Of course, that didn't an my heart wasn't troubled.
The family and friends in my world.
Thinking of them made feel like I was about to cry.
Tears I hadn't shed even when my stomach was pierced by a horned rabbit's horn.
"Gyeoul."
"Yes...?"
"Your sister has so good news."
"...What kind of news?"
"Well..."
Shocking words burst from Yeoreum's mouth.
She said that ti was flowing backwards in the world I used to live in.
Gaeul, who had been listening quietly to our conversation, started to chi in.
"Paper rip! Ah?! Stuck?!"
Gaeul, who had been imitating tearing paper, put on a surprised expression.
From her words about it being stuck, I could understand she ant the torn paper had been put back together.
"The torn paper was put back together...?"
"Heh!"
My goodness.
Was ti really flowing backwards?
It was astonishing.
The difficulty of suppressing an incident usually differed between its early and late stages.
If ti reversed to the early stages of the incident, many people could be saved.
"I think Gyeoul ca here to save Gyeoul's world."
"M-...?"
"Yeah. I believe all of this isn't a coincidence."
"That's..."
Certainly, one couldn't cross dinsions by coincidence.
As I thought about it that far, goosebumps started to rise all over my body.
'Everything can be restored to how it was.'
There was no need to be discouraged yet.
I had been given the opportunity of ti reversal.
Sothing transcendent had given a chance to save the world.
"I...!"
Just as I was about to express my joy, Levinas called from inside the house.
"King! Kiiiing!"
"Yeah?"
"Levinas thought of a punishnt!"
What on earth could the punishnt be?
I ran into the house, holding Saebyeok's hand.
Gaeul followed behind us.
Although shocking conversations had taken place, we were the sa as always.
---
---
We entered the house.
Levinas was drawing sothing with quite a solemn expression.
I silently waited for Levinas's punishnt.
Then Saebyeok patted my shoulder beside .
"Gyeoul, I can restore your mories if you want..."
"...The shocking and horrible ones?"
"Yeah..."
"...It's okay. I'll trust your judgnt, Saebyeok."
Saebyeok sotis acted more mature than .
Since that Saebyeok had made this decision.
Ti was already reversing, and all the horrible things could be undone.
I was betting on being able to change everything.
Saebyeok nodded, saying she understood.
At the sa ti, Levinas, who had finished drawing, stood up.
"King! Here's the punishnt! King has to be the big sister all day today!"
"Uh..."
Being the big sister all day as punishnt.
Isn't that the role I've been playing all along?
I looked at Levinas with a confused expression.
"Levinas, isn't this punishnt strange...?"
"Y-you think so too...?"
'Too'?
It ant Levinas knew it was strange as well.
"How about the opposite instead?"
"Little sister! Of course it's little sister?!"
Hmm...
Levinas, who had been thinking, closed her sketchbook.
I caught a glimpse of the word 'sister' written in the sketchbook.
"Okay. Then I'll be the little sister all day as punishnt."
"Huh...?"
"Heh...?"
"......?"
All three children tilted their heads simultaneously at my statent.
It was a head tilt I found hard to understand.
"What's wrong?"
"King, are you only going to be the little sister for one day...?"
"Um... should I do it longer?"
"Yeah! Do it longer!"
So not just one day, but maybe two days?
Since I've been deceiving the children until now.
Being the little sister in family play as punishnt didn't seem too bad.
Since it had co to this, I decided to try being a good little sister.
Though I wasn't sure exactly how to do it.
3/6 Enjoy the chappy!
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