Chapter 54: Refusal.

It was well past midnight.

Yukomis, who had made Signa try on all kinds of clothes, was holding Signa and brushing her hair.

Even though she had long since thinned out any tangled or damaged hair, she just kept doing it for a long time.

Yukomis, who looked back, had a satisfied expression as if brushing her hair was really the best entertainment. It was as if… she wanted to do something more for her, but she didn’t know how to express such affection.

Yukomis didn’t know what children of this age liked or what she should do to make them happy.

Because ‘fulfilling her duty’ was always more important than ‘enjoying’ due to her extreme mother.

After midnight, Yukomis, who seemed to be tired from the emotions that had been pouring in for a long time, fell asleep as if collapsing.

Signa, who had secretly hidden a short safety pin inside her underwear while changing into numerous clothes,
loosened the leash and shackles that were loosely fastened.

It was a familiar task. It was also what she was most confident in besides swordsmanship.

Signa hugged the Holy Sword that was hanging on the dresser and walked lightly to the window.

「Ma, Master. Why haven’t you caught me all this time.」

The Holy Sword whined in a really sad voice as soon as it was slightly pulled out of its scabbard.

‘You said you hated me…

Sitting by the window on the 1st-floor hallway, Signa sighed inwardly.

Yukomis was still asleep.

At times like this, she didn’t know how fortunate it was that she didn’t have to speak out loud when talking to the Holy Sword.

「Where is there anyone who would just accept that!」

‘You said you didn’t want to talk about it again.’

「Are you really not saying anything?」

‘I thought you would need time to calm down.’

「Idiot. Idiot. Master. I really thought you would come to apologize soon. I didn’t see your face for several days because you said you didn’t want to see me.」

It was always like this.

She had been in several pseudo-love fights, but the Holy Sword’s anger always failed to overcome her affection for herself.

However, since it would be cowardly to take advantage of that, she would have carefully appeased the sulky Holy Sword even if she felt sorry for it under normal circumstances.

However, Signa, who was really in a terrible situation, not to mention that there was a war where the Holy Sword might be needed even tomorrow, had just roughly neglected the Holy Sword for several days.

‘I had some problems too.’

So it wasn’t a lie.

‘Anyway, I’m sorry for everything. Are you done being angry now?’

「Master idiot.」

‘You don’t really hate me, do you?’

「I really hate you……」

‘I still ‘need you’.’

It was a magic spell-like word to the Holy Sword.

「Are you only looking for me at times like this again? Are you just saying that every time?」

‘No. Where else in the world would there be a sword that I can rely on more than you?’

「I, I know everything! You only pretend to be sorry because you need me!」

‘It’s not like that. I haven’t even touched another sword in the meantime.’

「Ugh… I really hate you. Shameless master.」

She said that, but the handle of the Holy Sword trembled pleasantly.

The Holy Sword, with its blade slightly protruding out of its scabbard, began to look around.

「This is still the detached palace, isn’t it? What’s the problem?」

‘Yukomis is not in good condition.’

「Your younger sister?」

‘She’s in a much, much worse condition than I thought.’

「Why again this time?」

Even the Holy Sword was saying ‘again this time.’

‘First, you look directly.’

Signa brought the Holy Sword to the window.

‘Fvanoll. Can you feel the magic power from the window?’

「This is… a barrier.」

‘That’s right. It’s a barrier to prevent the entry of magicians.’

To be exact, it was a barrier that prohibited the passage of magic-powered beings.

Signa wasn’t a magician, but she always carried magic power within her body.

So she couldn’t pass through this barrier.

Although she couldn’t see it, even if she opened the window and put her palm on it, it felt like there was a solid wall in the air.

「Why is there such a barrier?」

‘Yukomis is now… imprisoning me… or something like that… uh…’

Signa realized that it was impossible to say this in a roundabout way.

‘She imprisoned me.’

“Yes?”

‘So what happened was…

Fvanoll, who had heard the explanation from Signa, raised her voice.

「Now, are you being imprisoned not only on the opposite side of the world, but also at home?」

「You were even harmed by your younger sister?」

‘That is…’

「Master, are you doing this on purpose?」

‘It’s really not like that.’

Signa really had nothing to say about that.

But it wasn’t like she was looking for such a situation because she liked it.

‘Anyway, can you see the window barrier? What’s it like?’

So she just forcibly changed the topic.

「It’s a barrier… but it’s strange.」

‘What is?’

「Is this magic really used by your younger sister?」

‘There’s no one here besides her who can cast such a complex conditional barrier, right?’

「That’s true, but… it’s really strange.」

‘What’s the point?’

「The way the flow is connected and cut is really rough. The places that need to be connected are forcibly connected by sending more magic power than necessary, and the places that need to be cut to introduce conditional formulas into the barrier are forcibly torn off as if they were being bitten with molars.」

「To be honest, it doesn’t seem like your younger sister’s barrier at all. Everything was made to function on the spur of the moment. The magic that she uses always optimizes the magic power efficiency and uses the most elegant and simple formula. Since she has a large amount of magic power from the beginning, it doesn’t matter if she wastes it to some extent… That perfectionist tendency was so surprising to me.」

Fvanoll seemed really shocked.

「But this is… It’s relying too much on the caster’s amount of magic power that is out of standard. So the maintenance of the barrier is significantly reduced.」

‘What does it mean that the maintenance is reduced?’

「It needs to be repaired periodically.」

‘So how much?’

「Several times a day. Well… at least three times for sure…」

‘Wait a minute. You said that barriers were placed on all the windows of the detached palace… Then do you have to do all the windows…?”

「If they’re all like this. You have to.」

The Holy Sword answered firmly.

「Isn’t it strange from the beginning? You remember that your younger sister deployed a huge fire barrier in the Great Forest to prevent the burning of the sacred tree, right?」

‘That’s right.’

「It wouldn’t have been a problem to cover the entire detached palace, but why did you have to use such a cumbersome and annoying barrier? Why did you have to put a barrier on each window? Even a non-visible barrier that only magicians can see? That doesn’t make sense.」

The Holy Sword was right.

Maintaining dozens of these small barriers at the same time was more difficult than hitting a large one.

Is that why she was sleeping like death now?

Was it because her fatigue was building up from maintaining these barriers?

‘…Is it because she didn’t want to be caught? Because it’s too noticeable?’

「From whom?」

‘Aisha and Karat know that I’ve become like this, and Parnen probably knows it for sure. They’re probably still thinking about how to stop Yukomis now. Then who else?’

「Someone from outside the ducal family?」

‘Yes. A guest came, or something.’

Guest? It was a fleeting thought, but it was very plausible.

‘Even a magician could immediately notice these barriers. If I put it all over the building, it would stand out even if I just looked at the detached palace from afar, but that’s too suspicious.’

But a magician meant a nobleman.

If a really precious guest had come, Yukomis, the highest-ranking person in the mansion, would have to greet them.

But she wasn’t even thinking about leaving the detached palace while she was with Signa.

That meant that the other person’s influence or status was insignificant.

Conversely, Yukomis was in seclusion, so she wasn’t receiving most guests anyway.

If a guest wanted to enter the mansion, they would have to be a very special person.

‘…In summary, a person with an insignificant status, but so special that they couldn’t be refused. Who is that?’

Did Ilesha come again? No, she’s too high a person for that.

Maybe it’s not a guest at all, but her mother, Duchess Solenas? It could be.

But if it’s her mother’s personality, she would immediately organize a division with maids and servants, stick to her side, and search the mansion inside and out.

She wouldn’t leave here without looking around if there was even a speck of dust of mismanagement while she was away from the mansion.

Another comrade from the Wyvern Knights?

That’s not it either. Yukomis, who is awkward in expressing herself, wouldn’t bother inviting them, and they know that Yukomis finds them burdensome.

Except for Ilesha, who is as kind as she is, or Silissa, who is as insensitive as she is… They won’t come looking for her.

‘It’s strange. Yukomis barely has any relationships to begin with.’

「The, then what about Master? Is it not a friend of Master?」

‘Surely not. Who would come looking for someone like me, who was ‘Signo’ until recently…?

Signa stopped talking there.

‘…No, there is someone.’

「Who is it?」

‘My sister.’

「Sister? Not your older sister, Master had a sister… Ah!」

The Holy Sword also realized it there.

「You’re talking about the sister from this life that you mentioned before!」

‘……Yes.’

Why she had suddenly become so uneasy. Why she had changed so drastically.

Why she had made this decision without any signs.

‘My sister… Minon Irendel doesn’t know that I’ve turned into a woman yet.’

Signa recalled that Yukomis was knocking on the detached palace door and apologizing several times, saying ‘I’m sorry for making you a woman.’

‘So that was it. So she said those words again…?

「So you want to prevent Master and your sister from meeting?」

‘It’s worse than that. Judging from the look of it, I don’t think I properly explained that I became a woman.’

Why hadn’t she thought of this?

There was only one person who could suddenly increase Yukomis’s anxiety like this.

‘I said I would become a guardian and raise her properly, but I failed to protect her, not only that, but I severely injured her and permanently made her a woman.’

Now that she said it out loud, it was really a total failure.

‘As expected, Yukomis, who is a perfectionist, has almost never reported a failure to others. And I have to convey that fact to my family.’

「Wow…」

The Holy Sword said in a somewhat tired voice.

「That would be really hard for your younger sister to say.」

That was why she was eaten up by the anxiety that she might be returning to her family with her sister.

‘Idiot. How can I, who have seen that serious addiction with my own eyes, return to Irendel alone…’

Signa finally realized.

Where her plan had started to go wrong.

Everything fit perfectly.

The suddenly heightened guilt and anxiety, and the reason why she kept saying something suggestive to Aisha, who came to the detached palace.

These paranoid barriers. Everything.

‘Fvanoll. Release this barrier.’

The expectations were all wrong, and things had all gone wrong,
but Signa was still sure that she was right about the direction. She couldn’t let Yukomis live like that forever.

She had to make Yukomis believe in herself.

「Is that okay? Is it really okay to go out from here? After hearing Master’s explanation… Your younger sister’s condition seems dangerous…」

‘It’s necessary. Do it.’

The Holy Sword, due to Signa’s firm attitude, no longer retorted.

Although she had a picky personality, Fvanoll was ultimately an existence that followed her master.

「…I released it.」

‘Thank you.’

「But I still don’t know. What are you going to do after you get out of here?」

Signa, hugging the Holy Sword and struggling to cross the window sill, conveyed her thoughts.

‘If there’s one thing more serious than not accepting pampering, it’s accepting that pampering.’

She had said similar words to Aisha.

‘I’m a little scared because the symptoms are much more serious than I thought, but nothing will change. My plan is the same as the first.’

「The first time…”

‘Even though I’m in this shape, no matter what Yukomis thinks of me, I’m her sister. At least I was her sister at one time. I can’t just sit there like an idiot and put on a leash and watch her only choose options that will destroy her life and mind.’

Did she say she had the switch in her hand?

She thought she had lost it, but that wasn’t the case.

She still had that switch.

‘Now that I know the cause, I have to act.’

「Are you going to meet your sister?」

‘Yes. It’s really a shame to explain that I’ve become like this… but I can’t help it. In fact, I can’t hide it forever.’

I see…

The Holy Sword sadly agreed.

「Do you know that I’m not sure if you’re doing this on purpose, but that gap between only showing a helpless and shaky appearance, and sometimes speaking like you’re in your prime… makes me flutter so much…」

The words that the Holy Sword added instantly made the urgent situation lose its meaning.

‘Do you really have to say those words at a time like this?’

Signa opened the 1st-floor window and went outside. And she trembled for a moment in the night breeze that was starting to get chilly.

Crackle. Crackle.

She couldn’t bring her shoes, so she was walking barefoot.

However, this time her feet didn’t hurt much because it was a path made of well-groomed grass and neat stones.

It was a world of difference from when her soles were torn while moving in the cave.

As soon as she reached the small garden gate leading from the detached palace to the main house, Signa suddenly stopped in her tracks.

「Why are you stopping suddenly?」

‘She’s here.’

There was no need to say more than that.

Tap tap tap tap.

The sound of footsteps chasing Signa was heard,
“……Signa. Where are you going?”

Yukomis’s voice echoed from behind.

Turning around, there was Yukomis, who looked the most desperate in the world.

‘As expected, she felt the barrier disappear and woke up immediately.’

Her clothes, which were just her pajamas, and her lack of shoes were not much different from Signa’s clothes.

“Answer me. Where are you going?”

It was an expected event. She didn’t think she could avoid her.

“You said you would be obedient. You said you wouldn’t do anything I would hate.”

Signa slowly turned her body towards Yukomis.

But she didn’t say anything.

“You also said you didn’t hate me.”

“But why are you running away already?”

Receiving the magic lights that dimly lit the path, something was faintly shining in her left hand.

‘That dagger.’

It was the very dagger that she had lost near Isit and found again.

The one she used to wake Yukomis from a coma. The one she called ‘small staff.’

“Sister.”

Signa replied, hoping that her expression hadn’t changed.

“Minon came, didn’t she?”

“That’s why you suddenly became so impatient, right?”

Yukomis couldn’t deny it. She just trembled lightly.

“Is that right? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Si, Signa.”

“Is that why you tried to keep me from going out?”

“Signa… I just…”

“Did you think that if I saw her, I would leave you?”

“No… It’s not like that.”

“Or did you even think like this? That I secretly sent a letter to her and called her? That I would leave to find a real family instead of a superficial fake sister relationship?”

Yukomis flinched again at the accurate guess.

Signa really had to use all her strength to speak harshly to the anxious-looking Yukomis.

“Signa. Let me explain. I really did it for you…”

Signa cut off Yukomis’s words.

“Is it okay to do anything if you just attach the condition that it’s ‘for me’?”

“It’s not like that…?”

However, those words no longer had any persuasion.

“It’s not too late now. Let’s go back together.”

“Sister. You’re smarter than this. Do you think that if you lock up someone you like, they’ll stay there forever? Do you think that makes sense?”

Yukomis took a step closer.

“Stop. Don’t come.”

However, she had no choice but to stop as soon as Signa said she refused.

“If you come closer, I’m going to run away to the guest room and scream. You know what I mean, right?”

Yukomis’s expression twisted with pity.

“I kept saying that it’s okay. I said I understood. But you’re not listening to my words at all?”

“Th, that’s not it! I’m just too precious to you… just in case…!”

“You said you believed in me. Was that always just words?”

And she scoffed, hoping it would sound as cold as possible.

“Sister, I’m really disappointed.”

Those words were enough to make Yukomis collapse.

“Don’t go.”

Yukomis, who had fallen to the ground, begged again.

“Please stay
with
me.
Let’s go back now.”

“If I don’t go? What can you do?”

“Signa…”

“You can’t use magic on me, right?”

As she said, she couldn’t use magic on Signa. Because she could harm her life.

Instead of answering, Yukomis raised her dagger high.

“Please go back. Please..”

“I don’t want to.”

As soon as Signa’s words were finished, she unhesitatingly stabbed her dagger into her right hand.

“Ugh!”

There was no loud scream.

Yukomis bit her lips and endured the pain that was encroaching.

“…Look.”

It was by no means a clumsy pretense.

Even in Signa’s eyes, it was clear that the dagger had pierced her right hand.

Her hands were trembling slightly as she endured the pain.

If nothing else, that pain must be really familiar to her.

‘So that’s why she brought the dagger first.’

What a misguided threat. Harming herself, not the other person.

To think that the first thing she thought of as soon as she woke up was that.

“You, you’re in great pain.”

Kwaak.

Yukomis pulled the dagger out of her right hand again.

“If, if you go, it’ll hurt more. So.”

Then, as if waiting for it, blood gushed out and soaked the grass.

Signa was about to run towards Yukomis this time as well.

But Signa suppressed it with superhuman patience.

And she answered, suppressing her emotions as much as possible.

“Then Sister can quickly heal it with magic.”

“…Signa?”

Yukomis froze at the cold answer.

Leaving her behind, Signa turned her back and opened the garden gate.

And she left Yukomis.