For a precise ten seconds since the door opened, I could neither speak nor act.
Only my hand aimlessly wandering in the air and my eyes trembling anxiously served as ambassadors of my current unstable state of mind.
"You do not remember me, do you? Well, that's understandable. The last time I saw you was before entering the academy…"
The most despicable creature is now smiling at me.
Looking at that smile, my heart seems to boil, and my blood vessels feel like they are about to burst.
Calm down.
Getting agitated now won't do me any good.
Wasn't this a situation bound to come, eventually?
I've sworn to strangle him and chew every single molar thoroughly until I erase his existence.
If I lose control now, it'll all go wrong soon enough.
Right, for now, I need to keep a normal facade, as if nothing is wrong.
To do that, I should carry on the conversation with a calm… a calm…
…
Are you kidding me?
After ripping his limbs and shattering his bones into pieces, even scattering them in a volcano wouldn't be satisfying enough!
Here he is right before me, and I'm supposed to just let him live?
Am I supposed to destroy his future thoroughly?
Is there any need to see his future?
No! I just need to kill him right here!
No need to drag it out, just sever this cursed tie from my past, here and now!
As if responding to my will, my wandering right hand moves towards my chest.
Soon, it grips the hilt of Ceyram's sword within my garments.
The moment I grab the hilt, all my stray thoughts vanish, leaving only a single emotion called murderous intent.
– Click.
"?!?!"
A mysterious hand suddenly grabs my wrist.
[If you don't want to crack your skull, snap out of it.]
The cold, yet calm whisper of the demonic sword.
Simultaneously, the murderous aura invading my body quickly subsides.
"Sian, the youngest of the Vert family, greets his elder brother…"
With controlled composure, I pull my hand from within my garment and immediately bow.
It's the best course of action for me at this moment.
"…Do you remember me?"
"Of course. How could I, as a younger brother, fail to recognize my brother's face?"
"I am glad. Honestly, I feared that you wouldn't recognize me, but I'm relieved you remembered me at first glance."
Aschel pats my head affectionately.
I force back the rising urge to kill once more.
"First, I should apologize. I intruded into your room uninvited. It must have been unpleasant for you to find a stranger in your space."
"It's alright. It was nothing more than an empty room with no owner."
"You probably don't know how long I've waited for this moment, Sian. My visit today was solely to meet you."
To meet me? You?
In my past life, the first time I met him was long after graduating from the academy.
A person like him, who never bothers with anything unnecessary, has come to meet me now?
Unless there's a hidden agenda. The moment I perceive his intent, my roiling emotions cool down and my thoughts shift to reason.
I conceal all my inner thoughts and speak softly.
"I also sincerely wished to see you, brother."
* * *
"Really, you have so little baggage, but still you make me carry it. You really don't understand women at all, do you, young master?"
Emily is climbing the stairs with a bag containing nothing but clothes.
Having finished helping with the packing, she's now headed to Sian's room with his remaining belongings.
But for some reason, the faces of the other attendants who helped pack looked strangely serious.
As if they were trying to hide something they all knew.
Among them, one maid she was close to pushed her towards Sian's room, implying there was something she needed to see.
Expecting some sort of surprise for her efforts, even though it seemed unlikely, Emily reached Sian's door without much thought and knocked.
– Knock knock.
"…"
Silence was the only response.
Tilting her head, Emily knocked again.
– Knock knock.
"Young master, it's Emily! I brought up your luggage!"
A moment later, Sian's heavy voice came through from the other side.
"…Come in."
Taken aback by the unexpected atmosphere, she nevertheless entered the room.
"You call this luggage? You could've easily carried it up yourself, I had to…"
Her usual grumbling paused as she froze, struck by the sight before her.
Her eyes captured the presence of two men.
"Ah, is that lady her? The maid you spent time with at the front?"
The unfamiliar man greeted her with a bright smile.
Emily knew him, though.
He had the kind of striking look that made one think a divine being had descended to the mortal world.
There was only one person in the Vert family with such a distinguished appearance.
"First… Young master…?"
The heir of the Vert family, Aschel.
For some unknown reason, he was sitting right there in Sian's room.
Emily quickly covered her mouth, bowing deeply in haste.
"I apologize for my rudeness, not knowing you were here, First Young Master!"
She wished she could disappear into a mouse hole, having shown such a casual demeanor before the person regarded as the most desirable master among all attendants.
"Ha, it seems you are quite comfortable with each other. After all, you must be the maid Sian cherished enough to take to the front."
"…"
Sian responded with silence.
It appeared that Aschel was getting ready to leave, indicating that they had already had some discussion.
"Sorry for taking your time right after you've arrived home. You must be tired."
"It is no trouble at all. It was an honor to have a conversation with my elder brother."
Aschel stands up, smoothly, patting the also-standing Sian's head.
Sian remains silent, accepting the gesture.
"I should go and see mother now. If you face any difficulties at the academy, feel free to contact me."
"I will. Thank you."
With a gentle smile, Aschel leaves the room.
Once his footsteps fade away, Emily exhales a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Phew! I was nervous to death! If I knew the First Young Master was here, I would've come prepared!"
"…"
Despite her rambles, Sian remains silent.
"What did you and the First Young Master talk about? He wouldn't visit without a reason! Could it be he came to see you? If that's the case, it really shows how much…"
"Emily…"
Sian's call halts her mid-sentence.
Startled, Emily cautiously looks into Sian's eyes.
"I'm sorry, but could you leave for a bit…?"
His voice is low but filled with a profound gravity.
"Why are you acting like that all of a sudden…?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
Seeing Sian's expression, Emily couldn't say another word.
Ever since the duel with Kranz, Sian had always shown a confident façade, but now for the first time, a darker side emerged.
If he had a knife in his hand, it seemed as though he would brutally slaughter anyone, regardless of who it was.
His face was filled with an overflow of anger and killing intent.
* * *
The moment I released my repressed nature, I felt as if the blood in my veins reversed flow.
Unable to withstand it any longer, I ran to the restroom inside the room.
"Bleugh!"
Witnessing my vomit, I felt as if I looked at the repulsiveness of my deceit and pretense.
"Heh…"
Somehow, I managed to keep calm during that moment, and a bitter laugh escapes me out of disbelief.
[It's him, isn't it?]
Lifting my head, I see Ceyram looking down at me with her arms crossed.
Had she not stopped my hand, I would surely have torn him apart then and there.
Laughing like a madman, I nonetheless ask her quietly, "Why did you stop me?"
[Aren't you going to thank me first?]
"Wasn't it a chance for you too? If I had killed him on the spot, you would have found the perfect opportunity to absorb me, right?"
A souless being lost to rage is a delicacy for a demonic sword. If Ceyram really wanted it, she could have revealed her true nature and devoured me, her own master, seizing my body for herself.
But she didn't.
Instead, she desperately prevented it.
That's why I am now here, wide-eyed and conversing with her.
[Don't be mistaken. You're nothing but raw meat yet to be ripened. Eating slightly burnt raw food would only spoil the taste. You need to ripen further…]
Her gaze is cold, her lips curling upwards in a haughty smile.
It was a hideous smile unattainable by anyone else, a true show of a magic sword's ugliness.
An ordinary human might have tingled nerves and bones turned to ice upon such a sight, but I can't help but smile.
Now that's the attitude of my beloved sword!
[But after seeing the face of that bastard, I get why you started growling like a rabid dog. How'd it feel, meeting the enemy of your past life?]
"It was fortunate."
[Fortunate?]
Ceyram raises her brow in surprise.
"I've often thought of it while living this damned life again. When did he start hating me, the man I trusted and followed my whole life? Was it because my capabilities were too great, leading to his impatience, and did that impatience turn into envy? What if I had never been by his side from the beginning? Perhaps then I could have avoided such a wretched death?"
[How naively foolish. What? After considering him a brother, did you start to pity him?]
"Do you think that of me? He's still nothing but a shell without any significant title. What's the point of raising my sword in vengeance against such an unworthy bastard? It wouldn't settle my accumulated rage."
If it were 20 years later, maybe, but the current Aschel is nothing more than a rough stone yet to be carved.
To say he is different from the person who thrust the holy sword through my heart would be an understatement. What would killing such a man achieve?
"And yet, the moment I faced him, I knew…"
[What did you know?]
I can feel the pang in my heart as I recall that moment when the golden holy sword penetrated my heart.
He claimed he had never fully trusted me all the time we were together.
That deceitful look in his eyes.
His gaze was exactly the same then as it is now, chillingly identical.
"It wasn't me who changed him; he was always vile from the beginning. Sucking blood dry when needed and discarding without hesitation once uses are served… He was always that kind of person."
No matter how it's hidden behind a cunning smile, I've already seen his true nature.
It's like an indelible brand on my body, instantly recognizable on first sight.
"So how lucky can I be? The person named Aschel Vert, the one I want to impose all of the world's suffering upon, exists exactly as I wished…"
Nevertheless, I still won't kill him yet.
As Ceyram said, meat tastes best when properly cooked.
Eating it as soon as you see a slight char won't let you enjoy the best flavor.
"It's going to get a lot more interesting from now on, Ceyram."
[It should. That way, I won't regret my actions today.]
My resolution to achieve everything on my own.
In the life I vowed for myself, the name Aschel Vert will not exist.
Even if the gods stand behind him, it doesn't concern me.
I will utterly erase him from this world.