How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 56
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Angelina carefully chose her words, wary that she might accidentally blurt out “brother”.
“Did you find the sacred object?”
“The holy water wasn’t for finding the way, but for breaking the barrier.”
“Didn’t you take the holy water?”
“I thought I wouldn’t need it since there was a separate guide.”
“A guide?”
“Yeah. An ill-mannered one.”
“…?”
Angelina was briefly curious about who it could be. To be able to locate sacred objects, it would have to be someone who could use holy power.
Around her brother, such a person…
“Grr!”
But her thoughts were interrupted by Pudding’s snort.
The curiosity quickly faded.
If he had been pursuing the Sun God’s Order as the Tower Master all this time, he probably had at least one holy power user as an informant or guide.
There was no need to know everything.
“Then do you have to go again?”
“Yes.”
“I see…”
I made you take a pointless trip.
But the fact that holy water was needed to break the barrier wasn’t mentioned in the original story, so she couldn’t have warned him in advance.
‘The explanation really is unhelpful.’
For this reason, she didn’t trust the explanation about the next sacred object they were going to find. She needed to be more thorough, in case something important had been left out.
“Then how about a different sacred object?”
The Tower Master’s fingertips, which had been tapping his mask while resting his chin, stopped.
“A different sacred object?”
He showed immediate interest.
The Tower Master straightened his back and wiggled his fingers. It was a habit that appeared when he was deep in thought.
He rubbed his thumb against his index finger, then clenched his fist. Seeming to have finished thinking, he opened his fist and spoke.
“Which one?”
“Hmm… The rose?”
Aesi’s fingertips twitched.
“…I thought you’d talk about a different one.”
“Which different one?”
“The crimson thorn guarding the Sun’s Tomb.”
“Why did you think that?”
“You said you visited the Grand Temple.”
“As expected, Aesi, you’re amazing. You’ve already gathered such information?”
Although she already knew that he knew everything, Angelina pretended to be surprised with feigned innocence. Of course, it wasn’t an act to deceive him, so Aesi responded with a chuckle.
“Didn’t you come all the way here to get the crimson thorn?”
“You’ve figured it all out.”
“But you’re offering me the rose?”
“The crimson thorn has a different purpose.”
“A different purpose?”
“Yes.”
Angelina rested her chin on her hand and smiled prettily at him.
While conversations with her brother were often stifled by the many things they hid from each other, talking with ‘Aesi’ flowed smoothly.
They were hiding their identities in the same way, and it was the same person, but strangely, the conversations she could have with ‘Ante’ and ‘Aesi’ were different.
In any case, to Angelina, they were all her brother, so it felt comfortable and pleasant to be able to open up without hiding anything.
“Are you curious?”
She felt a bit playful.
“If I’m curious, will you tell me?”
“Of course.”
“Then tell me.”
“I have a favor to ask of Aesi.”
“A favor?”
“Yes. So the crimson thorn is the price for that favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“There’s someone I want you to take care of.”
“Who?”
“A victim of the Sun God’s Order.”
“…Sounds like a troublesome favor.”
In response to his reluctant reaction, Angelina casually replied.
“That’s why I’m preparing a compensation.”
Does that mean she won’t give it if he doesn’t accept the favor?
Aesi let out a chuckle.
“…Since when did you become so clever?”
“Do I look clever? Not cunning?”
“With that face, you can never look cunning.”
This time, Angelina chuckled at the natural compliment-like words.
While she often thought of her brother and ‘Aesi’ separately due to his different tone and conversation content, at times like this, glimpses of her brother would pop up, making her heart feel warm and fuzzy.
“Will you do the favor?”
“Let me hear how you’re going to give me the rose first.”
“It’s similar to the lake. I’ll tell you the place and method.”
“I already know.”
“You know?”
“It’s in the Grand Temple.”
“You really do know.”
“But… you seem to know exactly where in the Grand Temple it is.”
All he knew was that the High Priest had already found that sacred object and taken it to the Grand Temple.
He couldn’t know what it looked like or where in the Grand Temple it was hidden.
“Yes. I even know what it looks like.”
“…Where on earth did you pick up these things?”
How did she know things that even he, who had spent his lifetime pursuing those bastards, didn’t know?
Could it be that her old memories really have returned? No, even if those memories had returned, it would be difficult to know the identity and location of the sacred objects so thoroughly.
If she knew this back then, it would mean the Grand Temple knew too. Then all the sacred objects would have been recovered by the Grand Temple long ago.
But aren’t they still searching, unable to find them?
“That’s a trade secret.”
Angelina winked and whispered.
No matter how much they were opening up to each other, this was the one thing she couldn’t tell him.
How could she possibly say that this was a world inside a novel, that she was soon to die, and that because of that, her brother might become the villain…
This was the one thing she had to keep to herself until her death.
“Is it a dangerous method?”
He didn’t press further. He was probably very curious, but deliberately holding back.
Instead, he only checked if that ‘trade secret’ was dangerous. That was much more important.
“No.”
“Then it’s fine. You don’t have to tell me.”
“See? You are kind, Aesi.”
“You’re the reckless one.”
“What did I do?”
“You’re planning to go get the crimson thorn.”
“Is that reckless?”
“Do you know that the High Priest has personally stepped in because of what you said at the Grand Temple?”
“I guess so. They need to verify if it’s true.”
“Because of that, even the Holy Knight Order has made a big move. Right now, the ‘Witch’s Tomb’ is more heavily guarded than the usual Grand Temple. And you’re saying you’re going to sneak in there.”
Despite his stern rebuke implying how she could claim this wasn’t reckless, Angelina’s smile didn’t fade.
“That’s right. The entire Holy Knight Order is focused on recovering the crimson thorn. The High Priest, and even most of the high-ranking priests have flocked to the ‘Witch’s Tomb’. The tomb is probably more crowded with Sun God’s Order officials than ever before.”
“You know this and still plan to go there?”
“But Aesi, do you know what that means?”
“…?”
In place of the silent Aesi, Angelina answered with a grin.
“It means the Grand Temple is empty.”
“…!”
Whether he truly hadn’t thought of this, he showed great agitation. It was noticeable even with his face hidden behind the mask.
“The blue rose that bloomed from the Sun’s Tears… It’s not actually a flower, but a blue Glencairn glass.”
“…A whiskey glass?”
“Yes. They say it’s small enough to fit in your hand and beautifully crafted with delicate details. I haven’t seen it myself, but people who have say it honestly looks more like a tulip than a rose.”
Angelina shared all the information she had seen in the original story without omission.
Considering that when they went to get the black lake containing the shadow of the sun, the holy water had uses beyond what was mentioned in the original story, the same could happen this time.
So she thought that by sharing everything, even if she missed something, Aesi might notice it.
“You know the central prayer room, right? There’s a preparation room behind it, and the sacred object is there.”
“In such an easily accessible place?”
“It’s not specially hidden or enshrined, but naturally mixed with other glass cups used during worship.”
“The darkest place is under the lamp, huh?”
“Something like that. It’s also a perfect place to guard inconspicuously, isn’t it?”
Moreover, the preparation room was off-limits to non-related personnel and was quite thoroughly guarded.
They took advantage of the fact that no one would find it strange for security to be tight in a place storing various items used in worship.
“Usually, it looks like an ordinarily pretty glass, hard to distinguish from others, but if you fill it with water and shine sunlight on it, it will turn blue.”
After saying that, Angelina briefly recalled a scene from the original story.
『Catherine, who was being chased, had no immediate source of water. In a hurry, she poured the holy water used for worship into all the displayed glasses and threw open the curtains.
As the sunlight touched them, one glass at the very front began to take on a color like the deep sea.
The glass that gradually changed color soon dyed even the holy water inside a vivid blue, finally revealing the appearance of the ‘Blue Rose’. 』
“…Maybe we need to use holy water instead of regular water.”
The original novel was a world ruled by coincidences.
