Silence and Warmth

As the eblors left, the four of us stayed behind.

"… What was that?" Ley suddenly asked. "These threads... The eblors could not see them, right?"

I was surprised.

"Did you see them?" I asked.

Ley hesitated and nodded.

Could it be that anyone but the eblors could see them?

"Strange. You should not be able to see them either." Sylvia put on a doubtful expression. "Unless…"

"Unless they have talents related to the soul." Dayana finished the sentence and looked at us with interest. "What a surprise. There are very few people with talent related to soul laws in the world, but the two of you seem to possess it. Very unusual indeed."

I frowned and Ley became slightly wary, although she quickly hid it.

The soul, huh?

I could not help but look at Ley and think about her skill.

Ley's skill is very powerful and dangerous, and it's able to interfere with the inner self of most living beings.

Thinking about it, perhaps that is the soul.

As for me, I heard the demon say that I might be talented when it comes to soul laws too.

It looks like this kind of talent is more unusual than I thought.

"You should be careful, children." Dayana stared at us for several seconds and spoke seriously. "Talents related to the soul are very dangerous. If you fail to control them, they may take you on a path of no return. I have seen many people corrupted by this kind of power, and none of them had a nice end. You should be especially careful, little Ley."

"Me?" Ley was surprised.

"Yes, you." Dayana nodded with a grave expression. "You are threading in a very narrow path, child. If you are not careful, you will fall into a bottomless abyss."

"That's…"

"I won't ask you what your skill is. It would be impolite of me. But I don't want to see a nice girl like you meet a tragic end. Be careful, don't let that power sway your will."

Ley hesitated briefly and glanced in my direction.

"… Don't worry. It won't."

"I hope so." Dayana smiled, erasing the solemn atmosphere completely. "Well, I guess there is no need to postpone our dinner anymore. Jane, Ley, you won't reject my invitation to dinner, right?"

Ley and I could not bring ourselves to reject her.

Just like that, Dayana brought us to eat dinner in a luxurious seafood restaurant nearby.

The food was really delicious, much better than the food that we usually eat, and the place was very nice too, but neither Ley nor I could bring ourselves to enjoy it.

Ley seemed to be deeply affected by Dayana's words, and I was concerned about her.

Dayana and Sylvia seemed to understand our situation, so they did not talk much during the dinner. In the end, the dinner ended in a silent atmosphere.

When it was over, Dayana excused herself saying that she needed to check a couple of things in the boutique before leaving.

Sylvia immediately apologized once her mother was gone.

"Sorry about that. My mom doesn't have bad intentions. It's just that she likes to give sermons to the people she likes."

I forced myself to smile.

"Don't worry, I understand. I know she didn't mean bad."

"That is good." Sylvia smiled in relief. "Jane, Ley, it was my first time going out with friends. I had a lot of fun today."

Ley and I looked at each other and smiled.

"We had fun too."

"Yeah, although it was a bit chaotic at the end."

"I'm glad." Sylvia smiled happily. "I hope we can continue having fun like this. See you later."

"Bye."

"Thank you for everything."

Sylvia smiled playfully and left while waving at us.

Ley and I watched as she walked away without saying a word.

Eventually, Ley turned around and started to walk back to home.

I followed her silently.

None of us spoke for a while. We did not bother to stop a taxi, even though we were quite far from home. It was as though we did not want to return home yet.

After almost twenty minutes, Ley suddenly spoke up.

"… Brother, do you think my skill is dangerous?"

I hesitated briefly before finally nodding.

"It is."

Ley bit her lips and looked at the ground. She knew it too. She knew better than anyone how dangerous and creepy her skill was.

She had seen firsthand the horrors of her skill dozens of times.

So she was afraid.

She could see herself following the path Dayana mentioned, falling into the abyss after letting herself be controlled by her powers, failing to resist the temptation of using her powers to get anything she wants.

And she was afraid of hurting her family in the process.

At that moment, I held her hand.

Ley was startled. Her black eyes looked toward me in surprise as I smiled and caressed her soft auburn hair.

"Stop worrying."

"Huh?"

"Even if one day you really lose control and abuse your powers, nothing will happen. Because at that moment, I will help you."

"Brother?"

"The duty of an elder brother is to protect his siblings, remember? As your brother, I will do my best to always protect you, even if I must protect you from yourself."

Ley's expression became blank. She stared at me dazedly as her cheeks blushed slightly.

Then, her lips curved up slightly in an innocent and cute smile.

"… You are the best brother in the world." She whispered so softly that I almost failed to hear her.

"And you are the cutest sister."

Ley giggled and held my hand firmly.

"But you are mistaken about something. You don't need to protect me anymore; I will protect you now!"

"Hehe, you are one year and nine months too young to protect me."

"Hmph, don't underestimate your little sister. Unlike you, I'm a genius."

"Ouch, that hurts."

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then, we continued our way home in silence as we heard the sounds of the cars passing beside us.

Unlike before, though, the silence now felt strangely comforting.

Because even in this silence, we could feel the warmth of each other.