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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: A Peculiar Proposal
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"..."
It was only then that I came to my senses.
My parents-in-law and my sister were the worst possible combination.
My sister flared up and shouted.
"Anyway, I need a guard! Do you know what kind of person I hate most in the world? Someone who's weak and incompetent and just gets dragged around! And that's about to become me!"
"What about the Crown Prince?"
I interjected.
Before I could even add that he wasn't a swordmaster yet, my sister cut me off flatly.
"That bastard is a pain. He asked me to attend the imperial ball and sing a song praising him, can you believe it? And then he told me to do something funny with my holy power to make him laugh because he'd made a bet with the other young lords."
"..."
"I did do something funny. I kicked him in the face and walked out."
I quietly shut my mouth.
My father-in-law was on the verge of collapsing from holding back his laughter.
Suddenly, I noticed a change.
Both Menelik and Winter were treating my sister differently than before.
It was as if they'd shifted their focus from her being the 'Saintess' to her being 'my older sister.'
And as if influenced by that, my sister's attitude had changed as well.
She was no longer hostile to Kivrin as she had been, and having cast aside her bluff, she pleaded her case earnestly.
My sister ran to me and grabbed my hands.
"Cheria, if you help me, I'll come running to heal the Duchess whenever she gets hurt. You like the Duchess, don't you! More than the Duke! If that's the case, you can think of me as the Duchess's personal healer! How about it?"
Faced with such a radical proposal, I was stunned.
"R-Really...?"
This is actually quite tempting.
If my sister were to heal her, Winter might not have to face the same ending as in .
Just as I was about to nod, mesmerized, Winter called my name.
"Cheria? Don't tell me you're actually swayed by that offer?"
"Swayed? It looks like she's already sold."
Menelik muttered.
A-ahem. I barely managed to snap out of it.
There were a few problems with accepting my sister's offer.
"Thank you, but I can't go to the Temple."
—*The sealing spell isn't perfect. To maintain the current state, you should avoid visiting the Temple if possible, try not to get hurt, and not have anyone you want to kill.*
That's what Jaehae had said.
Besides, I couldn't control my supernatural ability.
It would be a disaster if I ended up cutting someone down instead of creating harmony.
Kivrin, who had been listening quietly the whole time, spoke up.
"I-If I go with you, it'll be okay."
He spoke as if he knew exactly what I was worried about.
I blinked.
"Will that really be okay?"
"Sh-She says she wants to be worked that hard. We can't, we can't really stop her."
"..."
Ignoring the sour look on my sister's face, Kivrin smiled at me.
"I'll, I'll help, too."
* * *
I thought my sister would leave after her business was done, but she followed us all the way to the Coral Villa.
At the door, Winter spoke.
"Before you come in, you need to answer a question for me. Do you want us to treat you as the Saintess, or as Cheria's sister?"
"The latter, of course. I came here to score points with my little sister in the first place."
Winter's blue eyes stared directly at my sister.
My sister, uncharacteristically, tensed up slightly.
"I-Is there a problem? I know I'm being shameless."
The corners of Winter's eyes curved gently.
"If you had said the former, I would have thrown you out. What a shame."
"..."
But my sister's apprehension was only momentary.
Saying there was no need to assign her a separate room, she barged into mine.
I watched with a dubious expression as my sister laid out a blanket on the floor.
"Why do you want to stay in the same room as me?"
"I think I need a period of adjustment."
"A period of adjustment?"
My sister carelessly threw off her dress.
"Little sis, the fact that I came all the way here at your request will spread like wildfire. Of course, more people will disbelieve it at first, right? But if you stick by my side during the Consecration Festival, things will change. It'll be beneficial for the duchy, too. Ah, though the old man will hate it."
I hugged a pillow defensively.
"What, so the bodyguard was just an excuse? Was that your real goal? To show the nobles that we're together?"
"It wasn't a complete excuse. Well, I have prepared a few other ways to protect myself."
My sister took her nightgown out of her luggage and put it on.
Then she crumpled up her day dress and shoved it in carelessly.
"Why are you going this far?"
"I don't know either. I guess I don't want to get murdered by you. Have I done a lot of things to deserve a beating from you over the years?"
...Her self-reflection, completely devoid of any sign of remorse, was so typical of her.
I flopped onto the bed.
Soon, my sister also kicked her bag into a corner and then lay down on the floor, spread-eagled.
My sister opened and closed her mouth several times, as if choosing her words.
I was planning to just go to sleep without waiting, but my sister slowly called my name.
"Little sis. Cheria."
"..."
It was strange.
We were worse than strangers.
My sister had never once helped me when I was being neglected in the count's house.
If anything, she'd only mocked me.
And yet, my sister had always called me 'little sister.'
And I never failed to call her 'older sister.'
It was as if we were brainwashed, an unwritten rule we both meticulously followed when it came to our titles for each other.
"You're not already sleeping, are you?"
I heard the sound of my sister rolling over toward the bed.
To test if it really was some kind of brainwashing, I spat out a single word.
"Hey."
"...Did you just call me 'hey'?"
"Yeah, hey."
My sister shot up into a sitting position.
Her green eyes, like embedded emeralds, were as wide as saucers.
"How could you say something so harsh?"
Anyone who heard her would think I'd just cursed her out.
I pouted.
"Then Muria?"
"No! Don't call me that."
My sister scratched her arms furiously. So hard it was as if her whole body was having an allergic reaction.
I immediately realized something was wrong and reached out to stop her.
"Stop it, Sister."
"..."
My sister immediately grew calm.
I gestured with my eyes toward the scratch marks on her arm.
"Heal it."
"Okay."
With a touch of holy power, my sister's arm was instantly healed.
Suddenly, a very fundamental question occurred to me.
Why doesn't the holy power my sister manifests have any effect on me?
Neither for good nor for ill.
Until now, I'd thought it was because we were blood sisters.
But what if there was another reason?
What if it was related to the way Muria Mayol overreacts to the title 'Sister'?
I slowly let go of my sister's hand.
And then I nonchalantly changed the subject.
"What were you trying to say earlier?"
"..."
"You called me. Twice."
My sister blinked several times.
It was like watching a malfunctioning machine restart.
Soon, she returned to her usual self and said,
"Ah, did you know? God can take back the power he's given to the priests at any time."
My sister flopped onto her stomach on the floor.
Her golden hair, described as being like strands of honey in , spread across the floor.
"Remember how I said earlier that the people I hate most are the weak, incompetent types who just get dragged around? Sometimes, I feel like that describes me perfectly."
"...I thought you liked God, Sister."
"I do. He lent me this power, after all."
"For someone like that, he's pretty petty."
My sister looked puzzled.
"Petty?"
"He made it so you can't use your power when the second moon is out. He deliberately set a restriction."
My sister gave a faint smile.
"You're right. I didn't know he would place such a restriction either. That's why I used to panic as a child when I suddenly couldn't use my holy power."
I wrinkled my nose.
"What, he didn't even tell you beforehand?"
"Nope. He just said he'd chosen me specially, so I should serve him."
In , God was nothing more and nothing less than the being who gave my sister her power.
Because even uttering God's name was considered blasphemous, he was never mentioned by third parties.
My sister groaned, then straightened her posture.
"This is a boring story. Let's stop talking and go to sleep."
I watched my sister for a moment before slipping under the covers.
And then, after some time had passed...
Suddenly, there was a sound like a landslide.
