Chapter 72

“What is that...?”

The doctor looked utterly baffled, as though he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I’ll ask Dezeb directly.”

“How about you think very carefully about why you haven’t asked him yourself until now?”

“Well...”

She couldn’t ask him.

“Could you ask him for me, Doctor?”

“You’re going too far.”

His face went rigid, as if a stranger on the street had just asked him to traffic human organs.

Erabelle quietly studied his expression, where faint anger, fear, and dread were all tangled together. His lips had pulled back far enough to expose his gums. It was the mouth of a beast, hardly something one could call human.

“Doctor, your teeth are showing.”

At her cautious remark, he flinched and hurriedly covered his mouth. Erabelle shook her head.

“I... uh, I...”

“Calm down.”

“...I’ll give you some medicine.”

He drew a deep breath, then opened a drawer and casually handed her a transparent plastic pill bottle.

“...”

Erabelle closed her fingers around it and stared for a while.

Seven dark red tablets.

She wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling.

“I’m not interested in cutting myself open just to run experiments.”

This wasn’t a matter of noticing something or choosing to believe it.

It felt more like watching the sun rise simply because morning had come.

After staring at the pills in silence for a long moment, she swallowed one dry.

“Here’s some water...”

The doctor had been pouring her a cup, but when he saw her swallow it without any, he grimaced.

“You’re good at taking pills...”

“I’m used to it.”

Once upon a time, she had practically been a professional pill-popper.

“Well, then...”

Beep-beep—

In the middle of their farewell, Erabelle straightened at the sudden alarm, pulled her phone from her pocket, and rose to her feet.

“...See you next week.”

“Yes. Take care of yourself. And make sure you eat properly.”

She bowed, stepped out of the examination room, and answered the call.

“Ah, Count? Huh? Calls? What are you talking about? When have I ever ignored your calls?”

The moment she picked up, the Count exploded, demanding to know how many days she had been avoiding him.

Blindsided by the accusation, Erabelle felt deeply wronged.

“There weren’t any missed calls. It must be a communications problem. Why are you so angry, my lord... what?”

Erabelle froze with the phone still pressed to her ear.

“What did you say...? Who’s coming where?”

***

Zeta Satellite, Integrated Station.

The capital’s Integrated Station stretched nearly 1,200 kilometers and had been developed to manage the constantly shifting coordinates of fixed gates in real time, as well as civilian screening and entry procedures.

Every civilian starship entering the capital had to pass through Zeta Satellite.

It was one of the busiest and most complicated places in the capital.

At the moment, however, aside from a handful of airport staff, there wasn’t so much as an ant in sight.

This was a restricted zone reserved for imperial nobles, major dignitaries, and VVIPs.

Erabelle stared as Sanche stepped down from the family head’s private craft.

That brat actually brought Dad’s ship.

“What are you staring at?”

The instant their eyes met, Sanche picked a fight.

“Why did you come?”

Mindful of the airport staff nearby, Erabelle used proper honorifics with the pure-blood noble.

“Why else? You caused trouble, so I came.”

Hearing that from Sanche of all people...

Erabelle suddenly felt disillusioned with life.

“Whatever. Why did you come?”

“Can’t you ask a little more politely? Kneeling would be even better.”

“Should I actually kneel?”

“No...”

Sanche immediately shrank back, checking her expression.

Erabelle absolutely would kneel.

And afterward, she would turn so cold she wouldn’t even treat him like a human being.

“I came sightseeing. Father saw your articles and practically shoved me out the door. Thanks for all those headlines, by the way. Oh, Sis, there are a ton of places I want to visit. I made a checklist.”

“Go back.”

“Why? This is my first time in the capital since I was a kid.”

“I’ll arrange your departure immediately.”

“I’m not going.”

And with that, he slipped past her in an instant.

“Where are you—wait... I said wait!”

Sanche was a high AT-line noble.

Which meant, among other things, that his legs were just a little longer than those of an ordinary person.

He was already pulling away.

Knowing it was pointless, Erabelle still hurried after him.

That damned bastard!

The security detail passed by her, exchanging polite nods.

She reflexively returned the greeting and said,

“Can’t you just take the young master straight back home? What sightseeing does he need to do in the capital?”

In an Empire where countless provincial nobles fought tooth and nail to establish connections in the capital, House Vermilion took precisely the opposite approach.

“He came with the Count’s permission. There’s nothing we can do. Salarymen have to follow orders.”

Fair enough.

But there was no time to bond over the shared misery of employment.

Sanche had already left the terminal and was climbing into the waiting car.

Erabelle clutched at her hair.

Naturally, the Count’s people couldn’t understand her reaction.

The only people back home who threw fits over the capital were the old men of the Senate.

Everyone else in the County occasionally visited for sightseeing like normal people.

As the direct heir, Sanche had always been subject to the Senate’s scrutiny, so he deserved some sympathy.

But Erabelle was panicking as though she herself were one of those old men.

The Count hadn’t understood her either.

About an hour earlier, she had begged him with everything she had.

Where did he think he was sending his one and only precious heir?

Absolutely not.

If he sent Sanche, she would throw herself in front of the starship and lie there.

Her foster father had calmly informed her that Sanche had already departed long ago and was scheduled to arrive around five that evening.

The moment the call ended, Erabelle had flown straight to Zeta Satellite.

“Wow. The capital really is on another level.”

Their vehicle headed directly toward Satellite 107S.

The Count had apparently contacted Dezeb...

They were living together now, and the only person who could have given him the location of Dezeb’s current residence was Dezeb himself...

Erabelle grabbed at her hair again.

“Look at this shine.”

Sanche gazed serenely at the Upper Plane roadways, steadily getting on her nerves.

“First we’ll check out your place, then go eat. I’m starving.”

“Check out what?! Fuck, just go home!”

“Wow. Look how fast you drop the act the second there aren’t any outsiders around.”

“You little...!”

Erabelle exploded—

then froze.

A call.

She was getting a call...

from him.

“Yes, Dezeb.”

Her hands trembled as she held the phone carefully in both of them, but her voice remained steady.

[Did you meet your brother?]

“I just did.”

[Where are you?]

“We’re on our way home.”

[Home?]

“Yes. To the Vermilion residence...”

Ignoring Sanche chirping beside her about since when they had a home in the capital, Erabelle tightened her grip on the phone.

[Ah. That place.]

Dezeb sounded puzzled.

[That’s an unmaintained empty house, isn’t it? Your brother comes to the capital for the first time in years, and you’re going to make him stay there?]

No one had visited in over a year.

It would be even dustier than before.

“It’s fine.”

[Maybe for you. Not for him.]

He chuckled softly and continued.

[Not for me either. I’m not letting your only brother stay there when we have a perfectly good place available. Let’s start with dinner. Bring him to the hotel. I’ll send you the address.]

“Yes. We’ll come right away.”

Her mouth answered before her heart could object.

Erabelle closed her eyes.

Even after the call ended, she remained frozen in place for a long time, still clutching the silent phone.

“What’s wrong with you? Who was that?”

Sanche kept chattering beside her, but Erabelle stood motionless, unable to move.

***

“Listen to me carefully.”

Only after a long silence did Erabelle finally speak.

Then she began laying out warning after warning.

Sanche, entirely unlike her, found the whole thing amusing.

“Oh. Was that the victim who got dragged into a dating scandal with you?”

“...Victim?”

Sanche clicked his tongue at her shameless reaction.

“Of course he’s the victim. I read the articles too, you know. Do you think it’s fine to interfere with someone else’s marriage prospects?”

“Interfere? Me? With the Commander?”

“Are you a parrot?”

Annoyed by the way she kept repeating his words, Sanche launched into another lecture.

“If it was all a misunderstanding, you should’ve contacted home immediately and issued a clarification. Or released a statement. Something. You can’t just sit there pleased with yourself. If you keep parading your face around like that, you’re going to get into serious trouble.”

“...”

“Avganis is one of the highest-ranking central houses. If they sue you for defamation, you’ll spend the rest of your life buried in debt.”

“Me... defaming the Commander...”

“What is wrong with you? Get a grip. If you actually get sued, the interest will pile up faster than you can repay it—no, listen, I’m worried about you here. And why are you holding your phone up again?”