Chapter 32: Prelude

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༺ Prelude ༻

'…What should I do about this?'

Now I'm in a complicated situation.

"Sob…Sob…"

Because I realized that my sister, Aria, was still worried about me.

'Damn, I can't let this happen.'

There is a reason why I got rid of Isolet's concerns about me at the cost of being beaten by her.

Everyone who is 'concerned' about me will be 'cursed' in the event 'Ordeal of the System,' which will transpire one day.

Just when I somehow managed to get Isolet to turn her back on me… a new variable has appeared before my eyes

"...…"

As I stared at the new variable in front of me, I closed my eyes tightly and decided.

"…Ahmm."

"...!"

After erasing the stellar mana cloaking my body, I intentionally let out a signal. Aria, who was trembling while looking down at the file, flinched, then quickly closed it and stood up.

"Uhm? Ms. Aria?"

"…Shh, be quiet."

Aria, who quietly whispered to Kadia, who woke up after hearing the sound, sneaked up to the door.

"Heup!!"

"Arghh!!"

The next moment, she opened the door with all her might and blew me away.

"Wh-What… Why are you doing this…"

"You, you…! I told you!! Don't even come near our room!!"

"Gasp… That's right."

She grabbed me by the collar and began yelling at me, as Kadia trembled behind her while tightly hugging her pillow.

I briefly glanced at Kadia and complained to Aria, who was holding me by the collar as if I was being wronged.

"No, but… since she took the drugs, shouldn't I mess around a bit?"

"Please, please just shut up. Please."

"Do you know how much money I spent on that drug? 3,000 gold! 3,000 gold! I can't just blow that money into the air, right?"

"Stop it. Please."

"I'm sure she will feel great since I bought the best product…"

"Brother… Stop… Please stop it…"

I was again using the same method that made Ferloche and Isolet give up on me and prayed that my sister would do the same, but suddenly tears rolled down Aria's face.

"Brother… You weren't like this… Why the hell are you doing this…?"

I almost hugged her like I did when I was a child in response to her unexpected outburst, but just before I touched her back, I came to my senses and quietly lowered my hand.

"You who hated this kind of thing more than anyone when we were young… don't you remember?"

"…I can't really recall."

"Brother… I remember clearly you said, 'I will slice the lower halves of people who would do such a thing.'"

"Well, I don't remember?"

Of course, I remember clearly what I said, but I was pretending not to know. Seeing this, Aria grabbed me and began shaking me.

"Are you under a curse? Or are you being threatened? Or…"

"Behave reasonably."

"…Ugh!"

Aria's remarks were starting to get more dangerous, so I hurriedly pushed her away and stopped talking. Then I stared at her with a cold expression and said.

"Why are you arguing with me when you don't have a clue about me?"

"Tha-That's…"

"Fine, I'll consider those 3000 gold as waste. That should be enough, right?"

"..."

"And as I said, if you keep up this rude behavior…"

"I'll definitely find out."

"…What?"

I realized that it would be hard to get rid of her concerns today, so I was going to finish dealing with this situation moderately and head over to my room, but suddenly Aria spoke in a determined tone.

"I'll find out for sure…. the reason why you changed like that."

Looking at her speaking in such a serious tone, I read her information displayed on the window with the ❰Inspect❱ skill.

[Stats]

Name: Aria Raon Starlight

Strength: 4

Mana: 7.2

Intelligence: 7

Mental Strength: 8.5

Passive Status: Stargazer

Disposition: Guardian

Goodness Stat: 95

After seeing her 'Goodness Stat,' I couldn't utter a word and quietly turned around and began heading to my room.

'…I'm in trouble.'

My little sister, who couldn't forget my younger self from her childhood, became a new threat.

There are many events I need to overcome and countless enemies I need to deal with… it's crazy to think that a family member could become as threatening as those people.

– Flop

When I arrived at my room, barely holding onto my mental state that was on the verge of collapse. I lay listlessly on my bed and began staring at the ceiling with a vacant gaze.

[Acquired False Evil Points: 300pts! (Death Flag)]

"…Sigh."

After removing the hideous system window that appeared in front of my eyes, I tried to ruminate, but soon gave up.

For some odd reason, neither the self-lamentation nor self-rationalization, which usually comes out as a coping mechanism, appear at all.

I just want to stop thinking for a while and rest.

The system, the Demon King, the Sun God, and so on, I want to rest in peace for just one day…

"Meow."

"…Ah."

Suddenly, a familiar mew tickled my ears.

Realizing the meaning of the sound, I barely held onto my fading consciousness and turned my head to the side with a smile.

– Lick

And at the same time, the black cat doll, which has now become an inseparable existence, began licking my cheeks.

"Meow…"

The next moment, the doll lay on its back and revealed its belly and began staring at me with anticipated eyes.

"For the past few days, you haven't budged a bit… Why do you seem lively tonight?"

"M-meow… mew, meow…"

Seeing the adorable doll, I began to press its belly, while feeling immensely grateful to it for helping me forget everything and relax.

Maybe I'll play with the cat doll all night long.

.

.

.

.

.

"Young Master… it's time for breakfast."

"Oh, really?"

As I put aside my concerns in the back of my mind and spent time immersed in the cat doll's reactions, the morning arrived before I knew it.

I honestly regretted not sleeping when Kania called me for breakfast. Still, when I saw the curled up cat doll that stopped moving again, a thought flashed through my mind.

'…In the first place, it stopped moving at 4 o'clock in the morning. I just couldn't fall asleep.'

Rather than sleeping for 3 hours and spending the rest of the day in a sleep-deprived state, playing with the cat doll which raised my mental strength by 0.3 will be more helpful.

With that in mind, I put the limp cat doll in my bag and opened the door to have breakfast.

"…Buttered rye bread. Then, enjoy your meal."

Then Kania, who was blushing for some odd reason, left the breakfast in front of me and rushed to the door of my room.

"Hey, Kania."

"Ye-Yes?"

I called her out and asked her a question that I had been curious about for a long time.

"You suffer from stomach aches a lot these days, right?"

"Ah… well, it seems so."

Then she avoided my gaze and answered while breaking out in a cold sweat. My brows slightly furrowed at her reaction and I asked.

"Maybe… is that related to the black cat doll?"

"Eh?"

"No, it's just because I actually like stroking the doll's belly… and it seems like you always have a stomach ache the day after I pet its belly."

"I-I see."

"By the way, does this doll operate with the help of your dark mana? Maybe they might be connected…"

"No."

"Huh?"

As I cautiously inquired about the connection between the cat and her stomach ache, worried that my actions might be causing her harm, Kania cut me off resolutely.

"That cat doll has nothing to do with me."

"But your dark mana…"

"…Except for my dark mana, it has nothing to do with me. So, don't worry… and feel free to do what you want."

Having said that, Kania nodded and began heading back to the door.

"…Oh, right!"

"…..?"

While I was looking at her perplexed, I soon cleared my head when I recalled the fact that I had forgotten entirely while playing with the kitty, and then hurriedly got up and said.

"Now is not the time to have breakfast. We need to see Kadia soon."

"What? Why Kadia all of a sudden… Ah!"

After a brief moment of confusion, Kania soon realized the meaning of my words, then left the room along with me and began heading towards Kadia's room with a bright expression on her face.

The time has finally arrived to treat Kania's curse.

.

.

.

.

.

"…What's this tea?"

"Th-That… I was going to give this to the maids…"

"…You mean you're just trying to drink this expensive black tea amongst yourself?"

"…What's going on?"

After luring Aria out of the room by yelling loudly at a maid standing outside, I gave Kania a signal to enter the room.

"I apologize… Provisional Lord… It's all my fault…"

"Stop it!! It was none other than father who allowed the servants to drink black tea to their heart's content!! What's the matter!?"

Just as the maid began to tear up while cleaning the tea I had spilled, and Aria was wondering what the hell was going on, I noticed that Kania sneaked out of the room.

[Acquired False Evil Points: 100pts! (Covert Operation)]

At that moment, I put a stop to my false anger and walked out of the hallway, clearing the false evil point acquisition window that appeared in front of me.

"Kania, did you see the maid I scolded earlier?"

"…Yes, I saw her."

"That kid, isn't she the maid who protected the Starlight mansion until the end in the previous timeline?"

"That's right."

"Then promote her and raise her salary. Of course… do it in secret."

"Understood."

After coming up with a way to apologize to the maid, who spilled the tea, I carefully asked Kania a question.

"So, what's the result?"

"…See for yourself."

After Kania scanned the surroundings for a moment, she soon manifested a dark aura in her palms.

"…Ohhh."

My face lit up as I watched it.

One might think, why do I like this manifested dark aura so much, but this aura has a more remarkable ability than meets the eye.

If Kania clasps her palm while manifesting that aura, all the light in this mansion, as well as the surrounding area will be sucked in by that aura, leaving nothing but total darkness.

The point is that this magic is not the elementary black magic spell that Kania has been forced to use because of the curse, rather it's a somewhat powerful intermediate black magic spell.

In other words, her curse has been neutralized more than expected.

"…You seem to have recovered much more than expected, isn't that so?"

"Yes, the 'Elixir of Potential' worked better than I thought. I was afraid my sister would wake up, so even though I touched her for a few seconds, the curse had been cured to this extent."

"Well, Kadia hasn't fully awakened her powers yet… so continued physical contact won't have any significant effect. Still, it will provide me some breathing room for now."

As I said so with a brightened expression on my face, Kania, who had been silent for a while, soon opened her mouth with a stiff expression.

"Young Master, that's why… I don't think you need to give me any more life force in the future."

"Don't be silly."

After resolutely dismissing her words, I said with a stern expression on my face.

"Even if the curse has been neutralized to some extent, your life force is still constantly being gnawed away by the curse of self-destruction."

"But Young Master, if you keep giving me life force…"

"I recover quickly. I also bought a recovery skill from the 'System.' But you don't recover, do you?"

"…Then give me once a month."

"Once every three days."

"That's too much."

"Don't you realize your life is at stake?"

After quarreling for a while, both of us passed by an antiquated room. We stopped walking and quietly gazed at the nameplate next to us.

Abraham Raon Starlight

"Shouldn't you see his face once before we leave?"

"....."

As I looked at the nameplate with a bitter expression on my face, Kania quietly stood by the door and said.

"I'll stand guard watching out for Lady Aria.So, Young Master, you should go and briefly greet him."

"…Thank you, Kania."

After quietly expressing my gratitude to Kania, I opened the door and went inside.

"…Father."

When I entered, my father's visage caught my eye. He was lying in bed with his eyes closed.

Seeing my father, I took a deep breath, then quietly uttered a few words.

"I won't talk long."

I didn't want to be melodramatic, so I suppressed my emotions and left a short message.

"…I'll certainly return here after I defeat the Demon King."

When I left the room after such a brief greeting, Kania asked a question with her brows raised.

"…You came out sooner than I thought?"

"Because I didn't want our meeting to be melodramatic."

"I see. I was about to call you since Lady Aria is coming this way. What should we do?"

When I got out of the room, I closed my eyes tightly when I heard Aria coming to see me. I soon opened my mouth and began to walk with hastened steps.

"Let's get out of here quickly."

"…Yes."

Thus, I went straight to the gates of the mansion and boarded the carriage that Kania had priorly parked by the side of the road.

"Young Master, Lady Aria is coming out."

"…The carriage needs to get going."

Then, with a rattling sound, the carriage departed. I leaned back in my seat, ignoring my sister's anguish howls, calling my name, and asked Kania, who was sitting next to me.

"Kania, can I ask you to cast normal magic instead of black magic?"

"…Yes?"

"I can still hear Aria's crying, it seems that this carriage isn't equipped with soundproof magic… I know it's hard, but can you cast a soundproofing magic spell?"

"Young Master…"

Aria's cries echoed with grief, so I had no choice but to ask Kania for a favor. However, Kania's face turned pale for some reason.

"What do you mean by crying?"

"…..?"

I was bewildered by the incomprehensible reaction, but Kania took my hand and spoke with a concerned look.

"Lady Aria opened the door, came out, briefly gazed our way, and then went right in. And now I can't hear anything besides the rattling sound of the wagon."

Upon hearing that, my expression froze, then I cautiously asked Kania.

"Hey, Kania. Is there any black magic that erases or clears your memory for a certain period?"

"Why do you ask…"

"Is there… If my brain is shut down for a while, won't this get fixed?"

As I said so, I covered my ears with both hands and muttered,

"No, cast a spell that puts me to sleep. Can you also manipulate my dreams? No, no… Just get rid of this crying. I think I'm going insane."

"Young Master…?"

"Kania… What's wrong with me…?"

I panicked and trembled at this terrible situation that I had never experienced in my previous life. However, when suddenly I felt my mind getting cleared, I smiled with a dazed expression.

"Oh, it's working. The cries have stopped."

"..."

"What kind of magic did you use? Did I just regain consciousness after passing out? Or is this a dream? Are you treating me by showing a fantasy?"

"Young Master…"

"Thank you, Kania. As expected, I can't really get through life without you…Haha…haha…"

While I was shaking hands with Kania, I soon realized she had a sorrowful expression on her face, so I inquired with a confused look.

"Kania? What's wrong?"

"Umm… Since when have you been in such a mental state?"

"Mental state? It's fine. Even if I look like this, my mental strength figure is still 9.3? So, I don't suffer from any kind of insanity… Severe fits of anxiety heal by itself and don't last for more than a few minutes. Isn't it amazing? Even now I regained my sanity rather fast."

"…Young Master doesn't seem sane at all."

When Kania spoke firmly, I, who was pretending to be fine, smiled slightly, then muttered in despair.

"Sorry… no matter how high my mental strength is, it seems I'm slowly reaching my limit…"

Then Kania lowered her head and muttered.

"I apologize… I'm still lacking… If only I had been more capable…"

So, for a long time, Kania's self-reproaching murmurs resounded in the carriage.

"I think… I think I need to seek some sort of psychiatrist in absolute secrecy… Let's find a suitable place…"

– Flap! Flap!!

"Ugh!!!"

Suddenly, a familiar-looking white owl flew over to the carriage window and flapped its wings vigorously.

"…Hoot!"

Eventually the owl spat out a letter on my lap, then flew up and disappeared over the horizon of the sky. Both of us, who were gazing at his direction, muttered in unison.

"It's from Serena."

"…It's from Lady Serena."

After those words, I quietly opened the letter on my lap as silence descended upon the carriage. I soon frowned and muttered.

"…Did she go crazy after remembering her previous life?"

"Huh?"

"See for yourself."

Then, with an absurd expression, I handed the letter to Kania and muttered.

"I don't know what it is, but it seems… it's one more thing to be concerned about… Sigh… How the hell am I supposed to deceive the girl who fooled me in the previous timeline…"

"…What is this?"

"Huh?"

But when Kania looked perplexed and asked what was going on, I scratched my head and spoke.

"Uh… She wrote it in an awful handwriting, but I can still recognize it…!"

However, as I looked at the letter again, I froze with my mouth agape.

"Is this like a password the Young Master and Lady Serena used? I don't know what it means, no matter how many times I look at it…"

Because I realized that the following contents of the letter were written in 'Hangul'.

– I'll see you soon.

P.S. I love you (perhaps?)

Serena Lunar Moonlight

As I stared at the letter with a frozen expression, I sighed and muttered.

"…Dog shit game."

These nonstop variables are really getting on my nerves.

You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02