Kei arrived at my room.
"Eh, why do you have Yumeko in your room? I thought you said that this girl can't be your girlfriend."
I wish we'd stop this unpleasant talk about girlfriends. It's starting to make me feel unfaithful.
"What's more, what happened to your hair?! I barely saw you 6 hours ago! Why have you changed your entire hairstyle?!"
Kei began drilling it into me.
"Though... this new look does look different. You know what they say, change is good!"
Kei smiled and laughed.
She calmed down and looked over at Yumeko. They exchanged looks.
"We already know each other, so we don't need introductions."
Kei told me.
"You know each other as students and acquaintances but you don't know each other as sisters."
Yumeko remained calm, since I told her earlier, but Kei's mouth dropped.
"Hah?! What'd you mean, sisters?! Who is she?!"
"She's my biological younger sister. When you look at her closely, doesn't she look like Ai-nee?"
I tried to convince her with Yumeko's looks.
"My eyes are silver like Aihara and Mom."
Yumeko spoke for the first time since Kei entered the room.
Now, that I think about it...
"Have you met Ai-nee yet?"
"Yeah, I coincidentally saw her in the corridors. She asked me if I was Yumeko and started to cry all of a sudden."
That doesn't sound like her but it's understandable. A sister you previously believed was dead suddenly was alive.
"A sister I never knew existed... That's crazy..."
Suddenly, the two of them seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength.
"When were you born?!"
They yelled at the same time.
"I was born on September 12th."
Yumeko smiled from ear to ear, smugly.
"September 1st."
Kei stepped back, shaken. She wasn't expecting to be younger than Yumeko.
This made me feel younger than them. If they were born one year before, they'd both be older than me.
For the rest of the time, Kei and Yumeko were hitting it off the moment they discovered that they were sisters.
The main subject seemed to be... me.
·———·
The next day, I decided to confront Alexander. I went to the girls' dorms and found out about Anastasia's new room number.
I went to her room and knocked on the door.
"Coming!"
I heard a muffled voice.
Anastasia opened the door in a hurry. My eyes widened when I saw her. She had cut her hair shorter. She looked cute.
I wanted to talk to her normally but she seems extremely nervous. Without a doubt, Alexander is in the room.
"S-Shoya, what're you doing here?"
She asked me.
Anastasia was clearly shaken.
"You cut your hair, I like it."
"T-thanks. I also like what you did to yours."
She forced a smile.
"I came because I was worried. Everyone was saying that you were sick but because you weren't in for a while, it got me nervous."
"Well, a-as you can see, I'm fine."
She's stuttering a lot. She's afraid. It makes me hate myself since I can't do anything directly.
"Can I come in?"
"No!"
She shouted with a hardened expression. When she realised that she shouted, Anastasia returned to her unusual timid demeanour.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I may still have a cold and it may get to you."
Anastasia should know that Streia have a strong immune system. Even if someone catches a cold, it won't be as easy to transfer it to another Streia.
"He's here, isn't he?"
I asked her.
"Huh?"
Anastasia looked confused.
"I want to talk to you, Alexander Darius King."
I practically shouted.
"S-Shoya! What're you talking about?! There's no one..."
"Anastasia. It's fine. He's gone through the trouble of finding out who I am."
A calm and intelligent voice spoke out.
"Come in."
The mistress opened the door for me. I looked over at her but she averted her glance.
The moment I entered, I felt killing intent directed at me. I reacted instantly, summoning Erebus and pointing the blade at the one emitting it.
It was an older woman. She looked slightly taken aback by my sharp senses.
"Shoya! Do not do that! That's my mother!"
Another girl shouted.
It was Calira. She and Sebastian stood beside Alexander, who was sitting on the sofa.
I retracted Erebus.
"Thank you for testing him, Alita. What's your conclusion?"
Alexander asked.
"Beyond my capabilities."
She chuckled.
Alita was an older woman with a single eye—her left eye was masked with an ugly scar. She also had one on the corner of her mouth. She looked more like a military veteran than a servant.
"I would lose ten times out of ten if I faced him."
"Then you're stronger than me."
Alexander openly said with a smirk.
He's not stupid, that's for sure. The reason as to why he's openly admitting it is because he wants to provoke me.
If I were to attack him, he'd be able to destroy me and my family with the backing of a Mortal Sin. It would be over for me.
"What are you, boy?"
Calira and Sebastian's mother, Alita, asked.
"If you want, I could be your worst nightmare."
I threatened her.
If I were to go too far, I would be destroyed by Alexander's authority. But judging from him testing me, he seems to like developments like these.
Shadows trickled as mana leaked from my body. Alita glared at me, with one eye, as I got closer to her.
"Shoya!"
Calira shouted, worried for her mother.
I stopped mana leaking from my body and erased my shadow aura.
"Young people these days..."
The woman sighed.
"I knew they were more talented than the kids in my generation but to think there was someone like you."
She winced as she said her next words.
"You're more like the devil than a nightmare."
The room went silent when Alexander began clapping. He looked at me and smiled.
"A wonderful performance. So, I'd like to ask you why you've come, Shoya."
Everyone in the room turned to look at Alexander. No dared to speak.
"You know why."
Alexander glanced over at Anastasia, who hid in the corner. It seemed like the servants had more freedom than her.
"Let's talk about power, shall we, Shoya?"