Chapter 141: Future sister-in-law

Chapter 141: Future sister-in-law

I breathed in the cold air and climbed into the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Blanc was waiting for me.

“The result?”

“...”

My silence was followed by an answer.

“Well...”

In the darkness of the carriage, Blanc watched me closely.

“Why...?”

A cautious question followed.

It was understandable.

I had been fortunate enough to have a quick meeting, and I should have been told that I could pay for it and that she would do it for me, if not right away.

“Are there some curses that the saint cannot remove...?”

“If there were, I would have felt better.”

As my words trailed off, the carriage pulled away.

The world outside the carriage hadn’t changed, but it never felt beautiful.

I thought I had long since stopped resenting the world.

Alas, there was still more to resent.

My jaw clenched and I stared out the window for a while.

I realized the silence was passing, and I glanced at Blanc, who was waiting for my answer andI opened my mouth.

“...It’s complicated to explain, but it’s impossible to force the saint to do something.”

“Ha, what kind of situation is that? Do you think it’s better to tell the cursed person first? Did you ask him? It’s not like he doesn’t know his condition.”

“...I agree with you on that point, there’s no way Zetto, with his senses, wouldn’t recognize the energy in his chest, but if I asked him, would he be kind enough to tell me? He’d probably hide it because he hates causing trouble.”

Moreover, Bernice knew of Zetto’s curse. This confirmed my suspicion that the energy in his body was a curse.

Even though I had already guessed it, my head was throbbing with confirmation.

“So...?”

“Well, the ‘Zetto I know’ was.”

Past tense.

Not that Blanc would understand the ‘real meaning’ of that.

Okay.

The Zetto I knew was like that.

Pretending to be okay.

Pretended to be fine.

His gentle smile, the one he showed me every time, came back to me as a bony lie.

Zetto had deceived me and faced the demons alone so I lived but he died.

The world after ‘that day’ was much different than I had dreamed.

It was an incomplete world with nothing but despair and regret.

I was incompetent...and I don’t think I’m any different now.

An incompetent regressor, that’s who I am now but if there’s one benefit to being a regressor, it’s that I’m well aware that my current self-loathing doesn’t help.

If I don’t move, nothing will change.

The world I lived in was like that and the ugly scars on my abdomen proved it.

“What can you do? At least knowing that makes things easier, even if the details are problematic...”

“I do know. I know, but...”

It was a ridiculous way to undo a curse that endangers people’s lives.

It was like something out of a fairy tale, or maybe a real fairy tale, but it was so romantic that you wouldn’t think it was a demonic curse.

A kiss from the one you love.

I’d rather have Zetto show me how to do it.

Even if he knew it was a curse, he wouldn’t know how to break it.

It’s in the book.

A blind Zetto would have a hard time figuring it out without confiding in someone.

And if he had talked to St. Bernice about it, he might have already accepted his death.

A curse that even a saint couldn’t fix.

It’s a terrible thing, isn’t it?

‘Then...’

...Why did he bring his sisters to the Academy?

I wonder if he felt the curse before and brought his sisters to the Academy.

The Academy is safe.

The meaning of those words, spoken so casually, is now fully understood.

“...Aizel.”

“Huh?”

Blanc, who had been staring at me, smiles bitterly.

Then she walks over to me and hugs me.

Why?

It was a baffling gesture.

It wasn’t until I was in her arms and realized that her clothes were getting wet that I realized why.

Luckily, thanks to Blanc’s concern, it didn’t take long for me to regain my composure.

In Yuri’s eyes, it seemed so.

Indeed, it did.

Yuri was torn.

It was a limited edition, and if she missed this opportunity, it would be hard to get one. Especially now that she was at the academy and her radius was limited.

After all, she had seen the same wistful expression on the face of the child she was looking through the window at, Rei.

But she couldn’t overcome her love for Coby and Becky so she didn’t care.

They were other people’s children, not hers anyway.

But were Zetto’s siblings really “other people’s children”?

Suddenly, Yuri’s mind flashed back to the scene where Rei and Gepetti were saying things like, “I like sister Yuri!” to Zetto.

Wasn’t this a golden opportunity to get ahead of Aizel?

And if, and I mean if.

If she were to marry Zetto as her father said, then Rei and Gepeti over there would be sisters-in-law to her.

Yuri looked down at Becky, who was looking up at her with cute eyes.

‘...It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.’

She decided to consider this an investment in her future sister-in-law.

Yuri walked over to pay the bill.

“Hah...”

Rei sighs when she realizes the doll is gone.

“Good.”

Gepetti gives Rei a pat on the back.

Just as Rei and Gepetti were about to leave.

“Hey...!”

Yuri stops them in their tracks as she hurries out of the store.

Turning her head, Rei stares at her with wistful eyes.

In Yuri’s hands, the “Becky” looks even cozier than when it was on display in the store.

“You’re Zetto’s brothers, right? Rei...? I met you yesterday, remember?”

Rei nodded weakly as Yuri approached her with those words.

“You must be a friend of brother Zetto, I’m Gepetti.”

Gepetti, who had suddenly become a lively younger sister, introduced herself.

Yuri and Gepetti exchange introductions.

“So, Yuri, why did you call us?”

“Oh, I thought maybe Rei wanted to have this doll...”

“...”

Rei’s eyes sparkled at Yuri’s question.

Her eyes were filled with anticipation, and her pupils had the air of a hero.

“Anyway, since we’re going to be staying together at the academy, can you consider it a gift from your sister? Take care of yourself, Rei. You too, Geppeti.”

The doll was handed to Rei with a smile and Rei took it carefully.

“Thank you.”

“...Thank you.”

Holding the doll in his arms, Rei bows her head low.

Watching, Yuri smiles wistfully.

Geppeti then asks Yuri a question.

Isn’t she in the same class as brother Zetto?

When Geppeti asks where Zetto is now, Yuri replies that he is in the Academy’s main building.

“...If you’re free, would you like to take a look around?”

The formal class was already over, and they were still doing sums.

Yuri thought it would be fine to go in and out of the classroom.

Rei and Geppeti exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.

Geppeti wanted to get a feel for Zetto’s relationships with women, and Rei was just fine with it.

***

“This is the classroom. It’s class A, so only the best cadets are here.”

Yuri explained as they stopped in front of a door with a sign that read “First Year Class A”.

“We’re in self-defense training right now, so... We’re the only ones here, but...”

Yuri trailed off as she placed her hand on the door.

The door swung open, revealing the interior of the classroom.

Geppeti rolled her eyes, trying to find Zetto quickly and Yuri, who had opened the door, did the same.

Zetto was lying on the floor with platinum hair hung down over his face.

“Ms. Aizel, you seem to be making a lot of mistakes today.”

“I know.”

Seeing that, Yuri slammed the sliding door of the classroom open.

BANG!

The sound drew Aizel’s attention, who was poised to pounce on Zetto, to the door.

“”......””

A strange air current flows between Yuri and Aizel.

Gepetti, being a very capable AI, could easily figure this out as a word pops into her head.

‘Harem...’