༺ Prelude ༻
‘…What should I do about this?’
Now I’m in a complicated situation.
“Sob…Sob…”
Because I realized that my sister, Aria, was still worried about .
‘Damn, I can’t let this happen.’
There is a reason why I got rid of Isolet’s concerns about at the cost of being beaten by her.
Everyone who is ‘concerned’ about will be ‘cursed’ in the event ‘Ordeal of the System,’ which will transpire one day.
Just when I sohow managed to get Isolet to turn her back on … a new variable has appeared before my eyes
“………”
As I stared at the new variable in front of , I closed my eyes tightly and decided.
“…Ahmm.”
“……!”
After erasing the stellar mana cloaking my body, I intentionally let out a signal. Aria, who was trembling while looking down at the file, flinched, then quickly closed it and stood up.
“Uhm? Ms. Aria?”
“…Shh, be quiet.”
Aria, who quietly whispered to Kadia, who woke up after hearing the sound, sneaked up to the door.
“Heup!!”
“Arghh!!”
The next mont, she opened the door with all her might and blew away.
“Wh-What… Why are you doing this…”
“You, you…! I told you!! Don’t even co near our room!!”
“Gasp… That’s right.”
She grabbed by the collar and began yelling at , as Kadia trembled behind her while tightly hugging her pillow.
I briefly glanced at Kadia and complained to Aria, who was holding by the collar as if I was being wronged.
“No, but… since she took the drugs, shouldn’t I ss around a bit?”
“Please, please just shut up. Please.”
“Do you know how much money I spent on that drug? 3,000 gold! 3,000 gold! I can’t just blow that money into the air, right?”
“Stop it. Please.”
“I’m sure she will feel great since I bought the best product…”
“Brother… Stop… Please stop it…”
I was again using the sa thod that made Ferloche and Isolet give up on and prayed that my sister would do the sa, but suddenly tears rolled down Aria’s face.
“Brother… You weren’t like this… Why the hell are you doing this…?”
I almost hugged her like I did when I was a child in response to her unexpected outburst, but just before I touched her back, I ca to my senses and quietly lowered my hand.
“You who hated this kind of thing more than anyone when we were young… don’t you rember?”
“…I can’t really recall.”
“Brother… I rember clearly you said, ‘I will slice the lower halves of people who would do such a thing.'”
“Well, I don’t rember?”
Of course, I rember clearly what I said, but I was pretending not to know. Seeing this, Aria grabbed and began shaking .
“Are you under a curse? Or are you being threatened? Or…”
“Behave reasonably.”
“…Ugh!”
Aria’s remarks were starting to get more dangerous, so I hurriedly pushed her away and stopped talking. Then I stared at her with a cold expression and said.
“Why are you arguing with when you don’t have a clue about ?”
“Tha-That’s…”
“Fine, I’ll consider those 3000 gold as waste. That should be enough, right?”
“……”
“And as I said, if you keep up this rude behavior…”
“I’ll definitely find out.”
“…What?”
I realized that it would be hard to get rid of her concerns today, so I was going to finish dealing with this situation moderately and head over to my room, but suddenly Aria spoke in a determined tone.
“I’ll find out for sure…. the reason why you changed like that.”
Looking at her speaking in such a serious tone, I read her information displayed on the window with the ❰Inspect❱ skill.
[Stats]
Na: Aria Raon Starlight
Strength: 4
Mana: 7.2
Intelligence: 7
ntal Strength: 8.5
Passive Status: Stargazer
Disposition: Guardian
Goodness Stat: 95
After seeing her ‘Goodness Stat,’ I couldn’t utter a word and quietly turned around and began heading to my room.
‘…I’m in trouble.’
My little sister, who couldn’t forget my younger self from her childhood, beca a new threat.
There are many events I need to overco and countless enemies I need to deal with… it’s crazy to think that a family mber could beco as threatening as those people.
– Flop
When I arrived at my room, barely holding onto my ntal state that was on the verge of collapse. I lay listlessly on my bed and began staring at the ceiling with a vacant gaze.
[Acquired False Evil Points: 300pts! (Death Flag)]
“…Sigh.”
After removing the hideous system window that appeared in front of my eyes, I tried to ruminate, but soon gave up.
For so odd reason, neither the self-lantation nor self-rationalization, which usually cos out as a coping chanism, appear at all.
I just want to stop thinking for a while and rest.
The system, the Demon King, the Sun God, and so on, I want to rest in peace for just one day…
“ow.”
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, a familiar w tickled my ears.
Realizing the aning of the sound, I barely held onto my fading consciousness and turned my head to the side with a smile.
– Lick
And at the sa ti, the black cat doll, which has now beco an inseparable existence, began licking my cheeks.
“ow…”
The next mont, the doll lay on its back and revealed its belly and began staring at with anticipated eyes.
“For the past few days, you haven’t budged a bit… Why do you seem lively tonight?”
“M-ow… w, ow…”
Seeing the adorable doll, I began to press its belly, while feeling imnsely grateful to it for helping forget everything and relax.
Maybe I’ll play with the cat doll all night long.
.
.
.
.
.
“Young Master… it’s ti for breakfast.”
“Oh, really?”
As I put aside my concerns in the back of my mind and spent ti imrsed in the cat doll’s reactions, the morning arrived before I knew it.
I honestly regretted not sleeping when Kania called for breakfast. Still, when I saw the curled up cat doll that stopped moving again, a thought flashed through my mind.
‘…In the first place, it stopped moving at 4 o’clock in the morning. I just couldn’t fall asleep.’
Rather than sleeping for 3 hours and spending the rest of the day in a sleep-deprived state, playing with the cat doll which raised my ntal strength by 0.3 will be more helpful.
With that in mind, I put the limp cat doll in my bag and opened the door to have breakfast.
“…Buttered rye bread. Then, enjoy your al.”
Then Kania, who was blushing for so odd reason, left the breakfast in front of and rushed to the door of my room.
“Hey, Kania.”
“Ye-Yes?”
I called her out and asked her a question that I had been curious about for a long ti.
“You suffer from stomach aches a lot these days, right?”
“Ah… well, it seems so.”
Then she avoided my gaze and answered while breaking out in a cold sweat. My brows slightly furrowed at her reaction and I asked.
“Maybe… is that related to the black cat doll?”
“Eh?”
“No, it’s just because I actually like stroking the doll’s belly… and it seems like you always have a stomach ache the day after I pet its belly.”
“I-I see.”
“By the way, does this doll operate with the help of your dark mana? Maybe they might be connected…”
“No.”
“Huh?”
As I cautiously inquired about the connection between the cat and her stomach ache, worried that my actions might be causing her harm, Kania cut off resolutely.
“That cat doll has nothing to do with .”
“But your dark mana…”
“…Except for my dark mana, it has nothing to do with . So, don’t worry… and feel free to do what you want.”
Having said that, Kania nodded and began heading back to the door.
“…Oh, right!”
“…..?”
While I was looking at her perplexed, I soon cleared my head when I recalled the fact that I had forgotten entirely while playing with the kitty, and then hurriedly got up and said.
“Now is not the ti to have breakfast. We need to see Kadia soon.”
“What? Why Kadia all of a sudden… Ah!”
After a brief mont of confusion, Kania soon realized the aning of my words, then left the room along with and began heading towards Kadia’s room with a bright expression on her face.
The ti has finally arrived to treat Kania’s curse.
.
.
.
.
.
“…What’s this tea?”
“Th-That… I was going to give this to the maids…”
“…You an you’re just trying to drink this expensive black tea amongst yourself?”
“…What’s going on?”
After luring Aria out of the room by yelling loudly at a maid standing outside, I gave Kania a signal to enter the room.
“I apologize… Provisional Lord… It’s all my fault…”
“Stop it!! It was none other than father who allowed the servants to drink black tea to their heart’s content!! What’s the matter!?”
Just as the maid began to tear up while cleaning the tea I had spilled, and Aria was wondering what the hell was going on, I noticed that Kania sneaked out of the room.
[Acquired False Evil Points: 100pts! (Covert Operation)]
At that mont, I put a stop to my false anger and walked out of the hallway, clearing the false evil point acquisition window that appeared in front of .
“Kania, did you see the maid I scolded earlier?”
“…Yes, I saw her.”
“That kid, isn’t she the maid who protected the Starlight mansion until the end in the previous tiline?”
“That’s right.”
“Then promote her and raise her salary. Of course… do it in secret.”
“Understood.”
After coming up with a way to apologize to the maid, who spilled the tea, I carefully asked Kania a question.
“So, what’s the result?”
“…See for yourself.”
After Kania scanned the surroundings for a mont, she soon manifested a dark aura in her palms.
“…Ohhh.”
My face lit up as I watched it.
One might think, why do I like this manifested dark aura so much, but this aura has a more remarkable ability than ets the eye.
If Kania clasps her palm while manifesting that aura, all the light in this mansion, as well as the surrounding area will be sucked in by that aura, leaving nothing but total darkness.
The point is that this magic is not the elentary black magic spell that Kania has been forced to use because of the curse, rather it’s a sowhat powerful interdiate black magic spell.
In other words, her curse has been neutralized more than expected.
“…You seem to have recovered much more than expected, isn’t that so?”
“Yes, the ‘Elixir of Potential’ worked better than I thought. I was afraid my sister would wake up, so even though I touched her for a few seconds, the curse had been cured to this extent.”
“Well, Kadia hasn’t fully awakened her powers yet… so continued physical contact won’t have any significant effect. Still, it will provide so breathing room for now.”
As I said so with a brightened expression on my face, Kania, who had been silent for a while, soon opened her mouth with a stiff expression.
“Young Master, that’s why… I don’t think you need to give any more life force in the future.”
“Don’t be silly.”
After resolutely dismissing her words, I said with a stern expression on my face.
“Even if the curse has been neutralized to so extent, your life force is still constantly being gnawed away by the curse of self-destruction.”
“But Young Master, if you keep giving life force…”
“I recover quickly. I also bought a recovery skill from the ‘System.’ But you don’t recover, do you?”
“…Then give once a month.”
“Once every three days.”
“That’s too much.”
“Don’t you realize your life is at stake?”
After quarreling for a while, both of us passed by an antiquated room. We stopped walking and quietly gazed at the naplate next to us.
Abraham Raon Starlight
“Shouldn’t you see his face once before we leave?”
“……..”
As I looked at the naplate with a bitter expression on my face, Kania quietly stood by the door and said.
“I’ll stand guard watching out for Lady Aria.So, Young Master, you should go and briefly greet him.”
“…Thank you, Kania.”
After quietly expressing my gratitude to Kania, I opened the door and went inside.
“…Father.”
When I entered, my father’s visage caught my eye. He was lying in bed with his eyes closed.
Seeing my father, I took a deep breath, then quietly uttered a few words.
“I won’t talk long.”
I didn’t want to be lodramatic, so I suppressed my emotions and left a short ssage.
“…I’ll certainly return here after I defeat the Demon King.”
When I left the room after such a brief greeting, Kania asked a question with her brows raised.
“…You ca out sooner than I thought?”
“Because I didn’t want our eting to be lodramatic.”
“I see. I was about to call you since Lady Aria is coming this way. What should we do?”
When I got out of the room, I closed my eyes tightly when I heard Aria coming to see . I soon opened my mouth and began to walk with hastened steps.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.”
“…Yes.”
Thus, I went straight to the gates of the mansion and boarded the carriage that Kania had priorly parked by the side of the road.
“Young Master, Lady Aria is coming out.”
“…The carriage needs to get going.”
Then, with a rattling sound, the carriage departed. I leaned back in my seat, ignoring my sister’s anguish howls, calling my na, and asked Kania, who was sitting next to .
“Kania, can I ask you to cast normal magic instead of black magic?”
“…Yes?”
“I can still hear Aria’s crying, it seems that this carriage isn’t equipped with soundproof magic… I know it’s hard, but can you cast a soundproofing magic spell?”
“Young Master…”
Aria’s cries echoed with grief, so I had no choice but to ask Kania for a favor. However, Kania’s face turned pale for so reason.
“What do you an by crying?”
“…..?”
I was bewildered by the incomprehensible reaction, but Kania took my hand and spoke with a concerned look.
“Lady Aria opened the door, ca out, briefly gazed our way, and then went right in. And now I can’t hear anything besides the rattling sound of the wagon.”
Upon hearing that, my expression froze, then I cautiously asked Kania.
“Hey, Kania. Is there any black magic that erases or clears your mory for a certain period?”
“Why do you ask…”
“Is there… If my brain is shut down for a while, won’t this get fixed?”
As I said so, I covered my ears with both hands and muttered,
“No, cast a spell that puts to sleep. Can you also manipulate my dreams? No, no… Just get rid of this crying. I think I’m going insane.”
“Young Master…?”
“Kania… What’s wrong with …?”
I panicked and trembled at this terrible situation that I had never experienced in my previous life. However, when suddenly I felt my mind getting cleared, I smiled with a dazed expression.
“Oh, it’s working. The cries have stopped.”
“……”
“What kind of magic did you use? Did I just regain consciousness after passing out? Or is this a dream? Are you treating by showing a fantasy?”
“Young Master…”
“Thank you, Kania. As expected, I can’t really get through life without you…Haha…haha…”
While I was shaking hands with Kania, I soon realized she had a sorrowful expression on her face, so I inquired with a confused look.
“Kania? What’s wrong?”
“Umm… Since when have you been in such a ntal state?”
“ntal state? It’s fine. Even if I look like this, my ntal strength figure is still 9.3? So, I don’t suffer from any kind of insanity… Severe fits of anxiety heal by itself and don’t last for more than a few minutes. Isn’t it amazing? Even now I regained my sanity rather fast.”
“…Young Master doesn’t seem sane at all.”
When Kania spoke firmly, I, who was pretending to be fine, smiled slightly, then muttered in despair.
“Sorry… no matter how high my ntal strength is, it seems I’m slowly reaching my limit…”
Then Kania lowered her head and muttered.
“I apologize… I’m still lacking… If only I had been more capable…”
So, for a long ti, Kania’s self-reproaching murmurs resounded in the carriage.
“I think… I think I need to seek so sort of psychiatrist in absolute secrecy… Let’s find a suitable place…”
– Flap! Flap!!
“Ugh!!!”
Suddenly, a familiar-looking white owl flew over to the carriage window and flapped its wings vigorously.
“…Hoot!”
Eventually the owl spat out a letter on my lap, then flew up and disappeared over the horizon of the sky. Both of us, who were gazing at his direction, muttered in unison.
“It’s from Serena.”
“…It’s from Lady Serena.”
After those words, I quietly opened the letter on my lap as silence descended upon the carriage. I soon frowned and muttered.
“…Did she go crazy after rembering her previous life?”
“Huh?”
“See for yourself.”
Then, with an absurd expression, I handed the letter to Kania and muttered.
“I don’t know what it is, but it seems… it’s one more thing to be concerned about… Sigh… How the hell am I supposed to deceive the girl who fooled in the previous tiline…”
“…What is this?”
“Huh?”
But when Kania looked perplexed and asked what was going on, I scratched my head and spoke.
“Uh… She wrote it in an awful handwriting, but I can still recognize it…!”
However, as I looked at the letter again, I froze with my mouth agape.
“Is this like a password the Young Master and Lady Serena used? I don’t know what it ans, no matter how many tis I look at it…”
Because I realized that the following contents of the letter were written in ‘Hangul’.
– I’ll see you soon.
P.S. I love you (perhaps?)
Serena Lunar Moonlight
As I stared at the letter with a frozen expression, I sighed and muttered.
“…Dog shit ga.”
These nonstop variables are really getting on my nerves.
Wanna read ahead? You can access the Premium chapters here
You can support our group here
Reviews
All reviews (0)