Chapter 143: I want to make you smile.

Yukina’s eyes blinked; she didn’t remember Ephnel ever wearing a ring.

“Naoko, is this…?”

“It’s an Apostle’s ‘Beacon’,” Ephnel explained.

“Masaki Hinaki gave it to me a few days ago. I’ve kept it on me, and just put it on today after being discharged from the hospital.”

“I see…”

Yukina gently held Ephnel’s hand, leaning her face in closer to look.

Extremely faint glowing patterns floated on the ring’s surface, resembling some kind of strange script, but they would vanish if viewed from a slightly different angle.

At a glance, it was just an ordinary silver ring.

Yukina watched quietly, her gaze suddenly shifting.

“Naoko… I heard that wearing a ring on your right ring finger means you’re passionately in love.”

“Is that a thing? I just felt it was the perfect size for this finger…”

“But it’s not wrong, is it.”

Yukina gently squeezed Ephnel’s hand again, staring somewhat dazedly at their tightly interlaced fingers.

She suddenly asked in a small voice:

“When I come of age, will you marry me, Naoko?”

Her voice was as soft as a feather, sending ripples through Ephnel’s heart.

“I will.”

Ephnel answered.

Even though Ephnel believed from the bottom of her heart that she wouldn’t possibly be alive in a few years, or exist as a whole human being—she didn’t believe in such a “future”—she still couldn’t help but fantasize about an “after” with Yukina.

Ephnel suddenly felt she must be getting old.

Faced with something so happy and beautiful, her first reaction was regret.

If she had been a little braver, Ephnel didn’t know if she would have said something else entirely.

“I’ll wait for that day…”

Yukina smiled brilliantly.

Ephnel watched her quietly.

A week had passed since she and Yukina had confirmed their relationship.

A lot had happened in that week.

And her promises to Yukina had naturally followed one after another.

Ephnel also felt the pain of being in a different world from Yukina growing deeper and deeper.

She knew she shouldn’t make promises she couldn’t keep, she truly knew she shouldn’t, yet Ephnel still gave an answer that went against her heart.

But since a promise was made, she had to do everything in her power to fulfill it.

Even if the world didn’t bless everyone, Ephnel didn’t want everything she had with Yukina to be just a beautiful, fleeting bubble.

She had to keep moving forward, striving and persevering, for the sake of her promise to Yukina.

Agents have a high resistance to drugs, as well as to bacteria and viruses, so they rarely get sick.

Of course, lying in the mud covered in wounds was an exception.

The more their Order energy was weakened, the more an Agent’s power would drain, bringing them closer to a normal person.

A time of serious injury was precisely when an Agent was at their most vulnerable.

But thanks to this, the various medications used in the hospital were like a light sprinkle to an Agent.

An Agent’s recovery relied primarily on their own self-healing abilities, and the speed of that recovery would change according to the strength of their Order energy.

This was inseparable from the enhancements brought by Order energy.

This was why Ephnel’s injuries healed so slowly on the first day, but her recovery speed suddenly accelerated several times over on the second.

‘Looks like going out tomorrow won’t be a problem.’

Ephnel carefully and slowly moved her arm joints, meticulously assessing her body’s condition as she came to this conclusion.

In truth, Ephnel had been thinking about one thing.

The “weekend date”—this was the promise Ephnel and Yukina had made on that morning five days ago.

Although she didn’t know if Yukina still remembered, or if she was deliberately not mentioning it because of her physical condition, Ephnel remembered the promise she made with Yukina crystal clear and naturally wanted to fulfill it.

Because she wanted to see Yukina smile.

Today was Saturday, tomorrow was Sunday.

At least there was still time left this weekend.

Besides, Ephnel could feel her injuries improving; just going for a walk wouldn’t put any strain on her body.

So today, she could only stay home and obediently recuperate.

The brief, tender moment with Yukina after returning home didn’t escalate into a scene of passion between the two.

Yukina sat to the side, quietly finishing her school-assigned homework, while Ephnel, with nothing better to do, lay there with a look of resentful longing, staring blankly at the white ceiling.

When she was discharged, the doctor had instructed her to “get plenty of rest,” so Yukina urged Ephnel to sleep.

Ephnel didn’t want to go through the whole ordeal of going to bed—it had to be said, getting dressed and undressed was quite a hassle—so she was only willing to take a short nap on the sofa.

But after tossing and turning for ages, she just couldn’t settle down.

It wasn’t that her wounds hurt, it was just… how could Ephnel possibly fall asleep?

During their earlier intimacy, Yukina had kissed and touched her.

Unintentionally or not, Yukina had always targeted her waist and legs, as well as her neck and ears.

Indeed, these were the few places on Ephnel’s entire body not covered by gauze, so it was natural for Yukina to choose them.

But these spots were extremely sensitive, and in just a short while, Yukina had worked Ephnel into a state of frustrated arousal.

Ephnel had thought Yukina was about to get her revenge for what she had done these past few days.

She closed her eyes, ready to accept Yukina’s invasion, but then nothing happened—Yukina pulled her hand away, got up, and went to do her homework.

There was some relief, but also some disappointment.

She was relieved to have dodged a bullet; even though she had been with Yukina several times, she still wasn’t used to the random scraping and rubbing of Yukina’s fingers.

To be honest, as good as it felt, there was also a little bit of pain.

But the disappointment was genuine too.

To be teased like that and then just left hanging… it would be a lie to say she felt nothing.

To Ephnel, Yukina was like an aphrodisiac, the kind that takes effect the moment it’s consumed.

In the end, Ephnel didn’t have the nerve to call Yukina back.

Because…

It would be a complete loss of her dignity as an older sister.

Her little sister had to finish her schoolwork.

She needed to study, not indulge in lust.

Was she supposed to ask her to give up her hard work just to tumble in the sheets with her?

And on such a narrow sofa, at that.

It would damage her image as an older sister no matter how you looked at it.

Also, Ephnel’s current physical condition wasn’t ideal.

If they really did it, she didn’t know what might happen when they were lost in the heat of passion.

If she tore open her wounds, it would be excruciatingly painful.

There was nothing to be done about it.

Although her injuries had healed quite a bit, she was still a long way from a full recovery.

Just walking around was probably fine, but if she neglected her injuries because of this, the intense pain would likely just become harder to quell, wouldn’t it?

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