Bonus chapter: Breakfast with the Voidwalkers

"You know, brother..." Ophelia started, as she took a bite of her toast. "Ellen had asked me a question a few days ago that just kept lingering in my mind."

"What is it?"

I raised my head, turning my attention away from the book I'd been reading and focusing on my sister.

It was a normal occurrence that Ophelia kept asking obscure questions that came into her mind, almost like a kid who was new to the world.

Well, she actually was comparable to one, so it was quite understandable.

"Well, what do you think came first? The chicken or the egg?"

"What?"

I blinked in response, taken by surprise by her question.

While I did expect her to ask something obscure, I didn't expect her to ask such a needlessly useless question.

"Let me explain..." Putting her food away, Ophelia raised her hands, imitating an egg and a chicken.

Well, she tried at least.

It looked more like an O and an upside-down V.

"Chicken lay eggs, right?"

"Precisely."

"And they also come from eggs, right?"

"That's also correct."

"So how does the egg exist when there was no chicken to lay those eggs?"

I raised an eyebrow in response, trying to guess if she was joking or actually being serious.

"Didn't you have time to think about that in all those 140 years?"

Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows, looking at me with an expression of confusion.

"Why would I do that? Who the hell would ask themselves such a question?"

You.

That's what I wanted to say but chose to keep it to myself, not seeing anything I would get from needlessly questioning the actions of my sister.

In the end, she would feel insulted again and ignore me, telling me that I was mean, and didn't deserve her affection.

Sighing, I put the book away, crossing my arms.

"So, what do you think?"

"Well…" Finishing her breakfast, Ophelia thoughtfully put a finger to her lip. "I've read books about the construction of chicken eggs and, according to them, chicken eggs consisted of something that can only be found in the ovary of chickens. Therefore, it is quite logical to assume that the chicken would come before the egg."

Why would you even read a book about such a thing?

Again, instead of questioning her out loud, I just chose to keep it to myself.

While I was pretty good at reading her emotions, I still couldn't understand the reason behind her emotions or actions.

They just seemed so...random.

As if she put no thought behind it, and just did it because it looked interesting or fun.

"And what did Ellen say?"

"She said that it didn't make sense for a chicken to just appear out of nowhere and that it wouldn't make sense to which I reminded her that magic existed and somebody could have just created one."

"Quite convincing."

I responded in a disinterested tone, my gaze moving to my cup of coffee.

"Right! But it seems like there isn't any known magic that could create such a lifeform in the first place and then I argued that it could have just been an unknown magic, but she said that nobody would just randomly think 'Oh let's just create a bird that creates delicious eggs, but with the twist, that another chicken could hide in that egg'! But...."

Ophelia just kept talking, while I silently watched my sister ramble about her experience with her friends, completely straying away from the initial topic.

Well, at least she was happy, I guess.

"Uhuh."

Taking a sip from my coffee, I suppressed a yawn, sometimes releasing a sound of confirmation.

"So!" Ophelia slammed her hands on the table as she leaned forward, locking eyes with me. "What do you think?"

Adverting my gaze, I sighed, before recalling memories of something I'd read about it.

"Well, according to multiple books I've read-"

"Why would you even read books about such a thing? Weirdo."

Ophelia interrupted me, looking at me as if I was a new, unknown species that she had never seen before.

The corners of my mouth twitched as she said that.

She asked me the same question that I wanted to ask her before.

"...anyway, researchers have found out that-"

"Boring. Keep it shorter."

Again, she interrupted me.

Putting on a strained smile, I tried to suppress the irritation that was welling up inside me.

"...In short, eggs are older than chickens."

"That doesn't make any sense, though. Eggs cannot exist without chicken because of the calcium crystal needed."

If you wouldn't believe my words in the first place, why did you even ask me?

Letting out a deep breath, I calmed myself down.

"Yes, it does. You only have to specify what exactly you mean. Eggs in general existed before chickens, but chicken eggs did not."

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

"Of course, I meant chicken eggs. Can't you read between the lines?"

That was it.

Even my patience had an end to it.

"Alright, honey," I said in a dangerously sweet voice while calling her by a pet name.

Hearing that, I could see that Ophelia froze up, instantly knowing that something was wrong.

"...what's wrong, brother..?"

Her voice shivered as she put on a strained smile.

"...you wouldn't try to punish your cute sister for asking a harmless question, would you?"

Certainly, I wouldn't punish her for asking a question, but for her absurdly annoying behavior.

"No, I won't."

I chuckled for a second, watching how Ophelia had calmed down after I said that there would be no punishment.

Relaxing her body, she returned to her usual happy state,

"No sweets for a week. That's not a punishment, is it? After all, it's for your health."

For some reason, I enjoyed the sight of Ophelia's relaxed face turning into one of utter horror.

"WHAT?!"