“……What?”
Lily doubted her ears.
What did this Unnie just say?
She must have misheard.
A slave? Who said that?
For a moment, she thought it might be her sister’s mischievous prank, but—
Hic…
She was crying.
For the first time, Lily saw her sister’s tears.
The sight of tears streaming down her excessively beautiful face was so breathtaking it left her breathless, but it didn’t sit well in her heart.
Tears shining like jewels rolling down that milky white face.
Lily wanted to swallow those tears, erase them from her face.
She wanted her to cry only for her.
She wished for her to smile only for her.
And hoped she would only look at her for a lifetime.
Even if it meant becoming a slave… her…
‘..No.’
Lily slowly pushed back the darkly rising desires in her mind.
She promised herself.
Until she became an adult, she wouldn’t show any malicious intent towards her.
She decided to thoroughly hide her clingy feelings from the one who only saw her as a younger sister, not as a woman.
But she didn’t plan to hide it forever.
Though she couldn’t approach her now, the moment she became an adult, she vowed to devour her whole.
For that day, Lily had been waiting eagerly this entire time.
But—
A slave?
Not to herself. To someone else’s slave?
‘…It’s because of that girl.’
Despite her heart boiling with rage, Lily’s mind was disturbingly calm.
She could easily figure out who made her sister cry.
She stared at her.
The girl looking at her sister with a relaxed smile.
She wanted to kill her.
Tear that hateful smile apart and free her sister from her grasp.
But she couldn’t.
Instinctively, she understood.
The overwhelming aura of a powerful adversary radiating from her.
She realized that she couldn’t even touch a hair on her head.
Crack-
Biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, she suppressed her anger.
‘It’s impossible right now.’
But.
But someday.
She would make sure that this loathsome woman would never lay a hand on her sister again.
*
They say that men only cry three times in their life.
When they are born. When their parents die. And when their country is taken from them.
That doesn’t mean they cry exactly three times, of course.
It just means a man’s tears are precious and only flow during decisive moments of sorrow.
In reality, I hardly remember crying at all until now.
I shed a tear at my mother’s funeral once.
But besides that, never.
But then—
“Huh.. Hic… Hic…”
Who is this pathetic person crying like this?
My tears have never been this light.
Yet here I am, unable to contain my emotions.
Crying twice, even, in one day.
How am I crying in the arms of someone who is much younger than me?
If I had seen myself like this before Bingi, I would have been clutching my neck while cursing myself.
‘But what can I do since it’s coming out…?’
Maybe it’s because I’ve turned into a woman. I seem to have become overly emotional.
As I sniffle, Lily pats my back gently with her small hand.
“Unnie.”
“Huh…?”
Lily’s delicate little hand wiped away my tears.
Looking at her warm voice calling me, I saw—
“Huh… Hic…”
Lil… Lily, why are your eyes like that?..
Her sweet voice was in stark contrast to her dark eyes, as if they absorbed all light.
I had seen those eyes somewhere before.
In the novel, when Lily’s illustration appeared.
In that picture, Lily had the exact same look in her eyes as she does now.
‘Ha… but why…?’
In the story, Lily lost her sister and lived on the run for years.
Considering how hard and miserable her life was, it made sense she would have those eyes.
But why now, does she have that same dead look in her eyes?
“Unnie.”
“Huh…?”
“You love me, right?”
“Huh… what? All of a sudden?”
“You love me??”
Hic.
She pressed down on me like she was pinching me.
The force of her pressure made my whole body freeze.
“Of course I love you… You’re my little sister…”
“…”
As I answered with a trembling voice, she stared at me for a moment, then—
“…I can’t help it.”
“Lily…? Huh?!”
She pulled my head toward her lips.
It was definitely skinship we had done countless times before, but somehow, it felt different.
The kisses before were like a baby bird gently nudging its mother.
But now it was as if—
“Huh?!! Lil-..?”
Like a predator, she was voraciously consuming my lips.
Hic…! Huh..!!
As my body jolted, she held my head with both hands, making sure I couldn’t escape.
Our lips crashed against each other violently while something soft slithered into my mouth.
“Huh?!?”
This soft object sweeping across my tongue was—
Lily’s tongue.
“What the hell are you doing!!!!!”
Bam-
With someone’s scream, a golden wall rose from the ground, separating us.
Then suddenly, something gripped my neck and yanked me backward.
“Huh?-”
And in an instant, she appeared before me.
Athena was glaring murderously at Lily.
“You… I clearly told you not to touch my belongings, didn’t I?”
Unphased by the hero’s fierce aura, Lily appeared to smile just a little.
“This is something my sister and I always do.”
“…What?”
A look of shock crossed Athena’s face as she turned her gaze toward me.
Her golden eyes burned fiercely.
“Is that true, Hera?”
“Uh… ah?”
As I lost my senses due to Lily’s intoxicating kiss, Athena pressed me for another answer.
“Hera. You have to answer.”
“Uh… Yes?”
I shook my head violently, trying to regain my lost senses.
‘It must be Lily’s mistake.’
This must be something spontaneous caused by the sudden situation.
But… can you accidentally shove a tongue in?
A mistake… right…?
Setting aside those rising doubts, I looked at Athena.
“Isn’t it okay since it’s just between girls…?”
“…..”
Athena looked at me as if I were ridiculous.
Then, as if realizing something—
“You little… you’ve been quite devious, haven’t you?”
She stared at Lily with a smirk.
Not backing down, Lily declared clearly while looking at Athena.
“More than you who makes people slaves against their will?”
“…Are you trying to die?”
Athena’s harsh words startled me, and I quickly clung to her.
“Ah… no! You promised to protect me!”
Athena looked at my desperate plea and then, after a short sigh, raised one eyebrow.
“Then you should call me by my title, Hera.”
She forced me to call her by her title.
I couldn’t respond immediately, my mouth fumbling.
‘I don’t want to say it in front of Lily…’
“If you don’t like it, then what?”
But at her words, I hastily opened my mouth.
“Ah… okay! Please… keep your promise… Master.”
Clack-
It felt like I heard grinding teeth.
Athena tilted her head to sneak a glance at Lily and, mockingly, a sly smile crossed her face.
“My cute slave is begging this much, so I should probably listen.”
“You…”
It was chilling.
Is this what it feels like to have daggers shot into your chest?
An unfathomable aura lingered between Athena and Lily, making my shoulders stiffen.
‘W-what should I do…’
As I fidgeted between the two, a voice seemed to save me.
“Athena.”
Dania called to Athena with a calm face, as if the storm had disappeared.
“……”
Athena stared at Dania intently.
At a glance, it almost looked like she was staring at her chest.
Just my imagination, surely.
“Can I ask you one thing?”
Dania’s question drew Athena’s gaze upwards.
“What is it?”
“Did you forcefully bind a Master-Servant Contract onto Hera?”
At Dania’s pinpoint question, Athena flinched.
But she quickly shrugged, donning a nonchalant expression.
“So what if I did?”
At her words, Dania’s expression began to subtly shift.
“Can you still call yourself a hero after doing that?”
“Heh… Hero?”
Athena gave a sardonic, taunting smile.
“I never asked to be called that. People just decided to worship me because I helped catch some monsters.”
“….”
Those words sounded like something a villain would say.
Even in the novel, Athena wasn’t a saint.
She acted solely based on her own interests, entirely indifferent to people’s lives or the peace of a nation.
Thus, she’s a mastermind.
“If you’ve finished your business, could you kindly get lost? I’m rather busy.”
“What are you planning to do with Hera?”
Athena glanced back and forth between me and Lily.
“It seems my slave has been wagging her tail here and there. I think I should educate her not to do that going forward.”
“Hey!!!”
With rage bursting forth, Lily could no longer hold back her anger and shouted, charging at Athena.
But she was quickly restrained by Dania’s hand.
“Lily. Stop.”
“Unnie!!! But that girl…!”
“Lily.”
“……”
Lily couldn’t say anything upon seeing Dania’s firm expression.
Dania’s hand was tightly clenched, blood dripping from where her nails were embedded in her palm.
Athena looked at her and chuckled.
“I was starting to lose patience… Unlike your sister, you have some awareness, huh?”
As though she had no more business here, Athena sprinkled her mana into the air.
Before long, a massive magic circle appeared in the sky, and a bright light began to descend, enveloping both me and Athena.
“I think we’ve had enough introductions. It’s time to say farewell, Hera.”
“F-farewell?”
I looked up at Athena with a dumbfounded expression.
“U-urgh, so suddenly? What about them…?”
“I’ll send someone separately. You don’t need to worry; I’ll keep my promise.”
“Wait… Just a little more time…”
“You’ve already had plenty of time, Hera.”
Farewell? Just like that?
I hastily turned to look at Lily and Dania.
Dania was looking at me with eyes that shook like leaves. Lily—
“Unnie!!”
In a rush, she dashed toward me, wrapping me in her embrace.
“Don’t go…! I’ll somehow break that contract!”
“Lily…”
“I-I’ll learn some magic… I can… or… I can kill her! Ugh…”
“Lily.”
Panicking, trembling in fear, I held Lily tightly.
“Lily. I’ll be okay. I promise.”
“How can you know what that girl might do?!”
To reassure her, I decided on a little lie.
“It’s okay, Lily. Have you forgotten how strong your sister is?”
I folded my arms like a bodybuilder, cracking a joke for her trembling figure.
“Y-yeah… but…!”
Finally, I made up my mind to say what I wanted Lily to hear the most.
“Lily. Go to the academy. Make many friends and gain various experiences.”
“And always smile brightly. You’re the prettiest when you smile, you know?”
“I’ll definitely come find you someday… Until then, wait for me, Lily…”
“And…”
Don’t forget about me.
As I finished speaking, I kissed her forehead.
But just before I pulled away—
Snap
With the sound of fingers snapping, light erupted before my eyes, and my vision changed.
Thus—
The woman with black hair, holding Lily dear.
In an instant, vanished without a trace.
“…….Unnie..?”
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