Chapter 130: A Promise and a Blade
The little girl who had once been so fiercely competitive, always trying to one-up him, had finally grown up.
It was just… she seemed to have grown a little crooked.
Rovel's gaze softened as he watched the sleeping face of his sister, Yuki. After he'd left the Zhou Family, she must have been forced to shoulder so much more responsibility, hadn't she? The thought that she had even developed asthma because of the stress was a knot of guilt in his chest.
That unnerving maturity, so completely out of place for a girl her age, had been seared into his memory. Her entire development had been forcibly fast-forwarded, skipping over the essential stages of a normal adolescence. She had been left with none of the typical emotions or experiences a young woman should have.
That, Rovel mused, likely included a healthy understanding of romance and desire. All his internal commentary about Yuki's "brother-con" tendencies was filtered through this understanding. She didn't know how to express her deep-seated need for family and affection in a normal way, so it came out twisted and obsessive.
His own feelings for her were a complicated tangle, but the most prominent thread was guilt. A deep, gnawing guilt.
If he had stayed with the family back then, could Yuki have grown up as the vibrant, cheerful young lady she was meant to be, instead of being molded into the heir?
It was a question he could never answer, a path he could never allow himself to truly ponder. Because his current freedom… it was a gift his mother had purchased for him with her own life.
She had once told him not to hate his father, for he, too, was a product of that suffocating environment. His father had even resisted, once, but he had failed.
But that wasn't an excuse. It couldn't be. Rovel could never bring himself to forgive that man, or the Zhou Family. Not for what they did to his mother, not for what they did to Yuki, and not for what they had tried to do to him.
"Brother…"
A soft murmur pulled him from his thoughts. Yuki was stirring in her sleep, her brow furrowed.
"Don't go…"
Then, a moment later, her expression smoothed, and a low, throaty chuckle escaped her lips. "Gu-hehehe…"
Rovel sighed, a faint smile touching his own lips. Well… whether she truly lacked all desire was certainly up for debate.
The next morning, when Yuki's eyes fluttered open, she found Rovel still sitting by her side, just as he had been when she fell asleep.
"Morning, Yuki."
"Morning, Brother," she purred, a sly grin spreading across her face. She sat up, deliberately tugging the collar of her pajamas down an inch. "On such a beautiful morning, don't you want to…" Her voice trailed off, thick with insinuation.
"…eat breakfast?" Rovel finished for her, his expression perfectly deadpan.
"Then let's do it!" In a flash, Yuki lunged, her eyes gleaming as she tried to pin him to the bed, ready for the next step.
"?" Rovel simply placed a hand on her face, holding her at bay. 'Did I say something strange?'
"I am Brother's breakfast!" she declared with triumphant finality.
Seeing her acting so outrageously, Rovel felt a genuine wave of relief wash over him. This was her normal.
Over a much more conventional breakfast, Yuki brought up the incident at the anime convention from a few days prior, scrolling through news updates on her phone.
Funahiki Gyō's identity had been exposed. As a wanted criminal who had killed dozens in Shenzhou, his appearance had caused a diplomatic stir. Shenzhou had officially questioned the Far East's regional director, but the man, Takashi Kusada, had offered little more than a public apology to the victims' families. No further action had been taken.
Meanwhile, the mysterious figures who had stopped the rampage—the 'Mysterious Descender' and the 'Anonymous Big Shot'—were still buzzing topics online. It had been confirmed they were Shenzhou citizens, but that was all. The poisonous mist had conveniently obscured the surveillance cameras, and the chaos of the scene meant there were no reliable eyewitnesses. Rovel's secret was safe.
Not long after they finished eating, Yuki's phone rang. She glanced at the screen, her cheerful expression souring for a split second before she silenced the call and tossed the phone aside.
Rovel had caught a glimpse of the caller ID: 'Father'.
"Sorry, Brother," she said, her voice losing its earlier energy. "Yuki can't stay with you anymore. I have to go back."
It was the inevitable consequence. He had taken her to a dangerous place and kept her out all night. Of course, she was being grounded again.
"Yuki…" Rovel called out just as she reached the door.
She turned, her playful mask snapping back into place. "What is it, Brother? Can't bear to let me go? Let me see…" She pretended to check a watch on her wrist. "There should be five minutes left. We could have a quickie—"
"I'll get you out of there," Rovel interrupted, his voice quiet but utterly serious. "Soon."
"…"
The mask fell away. Yuki stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes wide. For two long seconds, she just stared at him, a storm of unreadable emotions flickering across her face. Then, a genuine, brilliant smile bloomed.
"Mhm. I believe you, Brother."
Returning to the digital sanctuary of the Elysian Realm, Rovel found that Mobius had temporarily departed. In her place stood a person he hadn't expected to see.
"This is Rovel," Klein said, gesturing between them. "And this is Sakura. She's the one who carried you here back then. If it wasn't for her, you'd probably be a cold corpse by now."
"Ah… is that so?" Rovel scratched the back of his head, offering a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sakura."
"I have come this time to ask a favor," Sakura said, her voice soft and polite, carrying a formal edge.
"Please, go ahead," Rovel replied, matching her respectful tone.
"I wish to see the blade you were holding when you first arrived," she stated, getting straight to the point.
"…"
Rovel and Klein exchanged a look. A silent, frantic conversation passed between them in an instant. Then… Klein decisively swiveled in her chair, turned her back on him, and began furiously typing at her console, burying herself in her work and selling him out completely.
"Is something wrong?" Sakura tilted her head, a flicker of confusion in her calm eyes.
"Uh…" Rovel clasped his hands together, stalling. "Why are you interested in that blade, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I… I feel a very familiar aura emanating from it," Sakura explained, her gaze distant. "So I…" She trailed off, then seemed to notice his hesitation and gave a slight bow. "Ah. If my request is a difficult one, please accept my apologies. Just pretend I never said anything."
Seeing that Rovel seemed to be struggling for words, she didn't press the matter.
"It's not that it's difficult, exactly," Rovel said carefully. "It's just… I haven't fully mastered that blade yet. It's extremely dangerous. How about this: give me one day. Is that alright?"
"…I understand. I will visit again tomorrow." Sakura nodded once, then her form dissolved into shimmering particles and vanished.
The moment she was gone, Klein's voice echoed in the quiet space. "Are you really going to tell her?"
"She already suspects the truth, Klein," Rovel said with a shrug. "Think about it. You all barely mention anything about Rin. Even a fool could guess that something terrible happened to her."
"Then why didn't you just tell her now?" Klein spun her chair around to face him.
"Because she shouldn't have to see her sister in this state." Rovel's expression grew grim as he materialized Jizo Mitama in his hand. The katana was still wreathed in a malevolent black mist, pulsing with a evident hatred.
But its power over him was gone. The corruption could no longer erode his body. Even if Rovel were to drop all his defenses, the blade was powerless against him now.
"So what's your plan?" Klein asked, her voice losing its teasing edge.
"I'm going to dissolve her hatred," Rovel murmured, his eyes fixed on the cursed sword. "And then, I'll bring her back to Sakura. Even if she remembers nothing by then… it should be enough to give Sakura some peace."
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