How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 57
Perhaps the sacred object needed to be filled with holy water and exposed to sunlight from the beginning. The original work might have simply called it ‘water’, and the protagonist, while being chased, ‘coincidentally’ succeeded by using holy water.
The unhelpful original story seemed capable of such ambiguity.
“Weren’t you planning to go to the Grand Temple to steal holy water for the ‘Black Lake containing the Shadow of the Sun’ anyway? Then while you’re there, steal the ‘Blue Rose bloomed from the Sun’s Tears’ too.”
“…You’re encouraging bad deeds too easily.”
“Who said that? Tormenting heroes or harming innocent extras is bad, but tricking villains isn’t a bad deed.”
Aesi burst into laughter at Angelina’s words, which were filled with confidence.
“You’re right. Those guys deserve to be tricked a little.”
“Right?”
“Kyu?”
Startled by their simultaneous laughter, Pudding, who had been dozing curled up between them, looked at them both with a surprised face.
Then, as if it didn’t matter, he lowered his head again.
He rested his face on his neatly folded front paws and closed his eyes. But he didn’t fall asleep. His tail, swirling round and round, subtly indicated his good mood.
“A few days later, on the day of the full moon.”
Angelina said, straightening her back.
“The moon and sun will rise together.”
One of the rare special days of the year.
“Since the entire Order will rush to the tomb to recover the crimson thorn, Aesi, you go to the Grand Temple.”
“Are you really planning to go to the tomb?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
Angelina took a step closer to him.
“There won’t be any dangerous situations.”
Because that’s not where I’m destined to die.
Knowing exactly how and when she would die was depressing, but on the flip side, it made her actions bolder.
Gently hiding the truth, Angelina reached out to him.
She softly pulled his gentle hand. Then she took off the platinum ring on her left index finger and put it on his right ring finger.
“This is a promise that I’ll be safe and a wish for Aesi to be careful too.”
It seemed a bit loose, but that wasn’t a problem. Because it was a magical ring, it would automatically adjust its size to fit the wearer.
“Are you giving this to me?”
“It’s a gift from the most precious person in the world to me. So, Aesi must treat it preciously too.”
It was a bit funny to be returning a gift from her brother to her brother, but Angelina thought there was nothing better to show her sincerity to him.
As Angelina held his right hand tightly and fiddled with the ring, he raised his hand and gently lifted her chin.
He was sitting on the balcony and she was leaning beside him, so her gaze naturally went up.
“If the person who gave you this is your most precious person, then what am I?”
“Huh…?”
This was an unexpected question.
The person who gave this was her brother, and the person in front of her was also her brother, so how could she choose who was more precious?
How to choose between brother and brother?
But anyway, given the condition that she didn’t know this now, she had to answer.
After pondering for a moment, Angelina began to speak.
“For that person’s future, I would gladly sacrifice my fate.”
Hoping for a slightly more hopeful future for her brother after she’s gone, she’s looking for a friend.
“For Aesi’s wish, I could give all of my remaining time.”
If what her brother wants is the destruction of the Sun God’s Order, she intends to pour all the time allowed to her into that.
The hand holding Angelina’s chin twitched. The look in his eyes, faintly visible through the mask, seemed to waver too.
The moonlight moistened their silence.
Eventually, Aesi moved first. He gently pulled her chin and kissed her forehead.
With a soft sound, a faint magic circle glowed and then seeped into her forehead.
“Call me when you’re in danger. I’ll come running right away.”
He whispered softly.
What he left on her forehead was both a tracking spell and a summoning spell.
It wasn’t a spell that could be easily cast as it required the full permission of the other person, but there was no way Angelina would refuse him.
Moreover, it was a spell that continuously drained magical power like a bottomless barrel, so most magicians avoided it.
“To me, a friend is more important than sacred objects.”
To him, nothing was more important than Angelina.
“Don’t forget that.”
After adding in a gentle voice, he smiled and leaned his body outside the balcony.
His body suddenly fell backward.
“…!”
Startled, Angelina quickly reached out to him. But with a strong gust of wind, he disappeared without a trace.
Looking at the balcony that had become quiet as if nothing had happened, Angelina let out the breath she had held in surprise.
“If he does something cool twice more, my heart might stop.”
“Kyu, kyu.”
As she grumbled needlessly, Pudding approached and rubbed his face against hers as if agreeing.
Holding Pudding who was burrowing into her arms, Angelina looked at her empty left index finger.
“…It might be harder to explain to brother why this is gone than to Aesi.”
Even though they’re the same person.
If it was the brother she knew, he would surely whine, wondering if she got rid of the ring because she didn’t like it. Her brother liked such jokes.
But comforting her brother who whined like that was also enjoyable, so a smile spread across Angelina’s face.
“Now I think I can sleep well.”
Whispering softly, she buried herself in bed.
As expected, she fell asleep quickly.
And it was a peaceful night without dreams.
***
A seaside village somewhere between the villa where Angelina was staying and the ‘Witch’s Tomb’.
A restaurant that sat widely overlooking the night sea like black ink was noisy today too. It was crowded all year round as it was a popular resort for both nobles and commoners.
However, the expressions of the three men sitting at a table slightly away from the commotion were not so bright.
“Your Grace. Do you really intend to get involved in this matter?”
Sean asked cautiously, holding a beer mug without taking a single sip.
The one who answered was Mason, sitting on the opposite side, already emptying his third glass.
“How many times are you going to ask that? If we’ve already come this far, isn’t it time to give up on giving up?”
“I’m saying this because we can still stop now if we want to.”
Sean frowned at the overly carefree Mason, then turned back to Blake.
“Your Grace.”
“Anyway, since we’ve come this far, I suppose we should meet her.”
Blake maintained a neutral attitude, neither affirming nor denying, as he took a sip of beer.
“I don’t know what that guy saw and heard that day, but I’m too suspicious. It’s none other than Marquis Flaubert’s sister.”
It was a well-known fact among those who had dabbled in politics that while Marquis Flaubert appeared to be a handsome gentleman, he was cunning and treacherous inside.
Since Angelina was the sister of such a person, Sean found it difficult to trust her completely.
As it was, Angelina’s overly honest words and actions on the way to the magic tower had aroused Sean’s wariness. When she pointed out Mason’s necklace, he even suspected it might be a disguised approach.
Moreover, hadn’t they recently heard the word ‘friend’ from the Tower Master’s mouth?
To Sean, Angelina Flaubert appeared as a suspicious and even frightening existence in many ways.
Yet this Mason guy went to the Grand Temple saying he would look into the necklace, met her, and came back almost like a follower.
Moreover, the events that supposedly took place there were hard to believe no matter how many times he heard them.
Creating a fake saint?
“No matter how greedy the old men in the Sun God’s Order are, this is…”
“That’s why we need to verify if it’s true even more.”
Mason stepped forward saying he would help Lady Flaubert, and Blake embarked on this journey to confirm the truth.
Only Sean, who followed them, was anxious to the point of going crazy.
“Even if it’s true, we shouldn’t help or get involved carelessly. If we make a mistake…!”
It would turn the Order into an enemy. It meant angering the Empire that serves the Sun God.
No matter how bad the relationship between Blake and the Crown Prince was, this wasn’t an issue of that level.
However, Blake remained calm.
“Do you think that woman is doing this without knowing that?”
His expression, as he answered calmly, showed not a trace of agitation.
“But that young lady must have another reason for doing this. There might be some backdoor deals going on that we don’t know about. To trap Your Grace.”
Given that the Flaubert Marquis family was close to the Empress, all of Sean’s concerns were valid.
However, Blake didn’t respond further, fixing his gaze on a wooden tag.
Although it was an old tag, the Marquis family crest imprinted on it was still clear.
He had been rolling this around in his hand for a while, and now he pulled out another tag from his chest.
It was the family tag of the Kadenhart Duchy.
