Chapter 75

“If there’s a second woman, that would be me. Erabelle already has several main wives.”

“W-what does that even mean...!”

At the commander’s absurd reply, Sanche’s temper flared.

When he demanded to know why they were living here if Erabelle was not some hidden mistress, Dezeb simply said the place suited her tastes.

That only irritated Sanche more, because it was true.

“I’ll explain everything later. I’ll explain, I promise!”

Erabelle desperately reminded him of what she had said in the car.

Sanche shouted back that she might as well throw him in prison, then.

Dezeb intervened and made both of them sit on the sofa.

“Since when have you two been living togeth—th-thank you.”

Sanche reflexively thanked the commander as he accepted the coffee Dezeb handed him.

A mug of hot milk was placed in front of Erabelle.

When Sanche stared at it, Dezeb explained,

“If she has too much caffeine, she can’t sleep properly.”

It was the sort of explanation that made Sanche’s face heat up for no reason.

“If you mean how long we’ve been living together, it hasn’t been very long here. A month or two, I think.”

Something about the way he phrased it caught Sanche’s attention.

“Here...?”

“We lived together in Riven for about half a year too. Before Erabelle transferred out.”

Sanche’s mouth fell open.

Erabelle’s did too.

“...Why are you surprised?!”

“I just honestly didn’t think you’d tell him everything...”

“Honestly? So all of that is true? You...!”

“We’re coming up on our fourth year.”

“...Sorry?”

“It’s been almost four years since we started dating.”

Sanche’s mouth dropped open again.

That was far longer than he had expected.

“To be precise, about three and a half years. We first met at the New Year Festival. It wasn’t love at first sight. At first, I just thought she was strange. She came to a banquet and did nothing but eat.”

Dezeb glanced sideways at her.

Lieutenant Erabelle Vermilion muttered in a tiny voice,

“...The food was good.”

“How is that something you can say right now?”

A disgrace to the family.

Sanche glared at his sister for a moment before turning back to Avganis, who continued calmly.

“I happened to discover that she was support-line, so I recommended that she enlist.”

So this man really was the root of everything.

“Once we started living together, I fell first. She’s very consistent. Diligent, responsible, and kind.”

“Kind?”

“The longer you look at her, the prettier she gets. So I was the one who asked to get closer. The way she panicked was really cute.”

“...?”

“Ah. Maybe that was unnecessary detail. Anyway, she kept putting up walls, so I had a difficult time for a while.”

“...”

As the absurd story continued, Sanche suddenly snapped at the sister sitting beside him.

“Why are you the one who keeps looking surprised?!”

“I-it just slipped out...”

Sanche hunched his shoulders and shot her a vicious glare.

She had been caught.

Of everything the commander had said, there was exactly one part Sanche believed: that Dezeb had discovered she was support-line.

Nothing else.

What were you doing to let even that get out?

You really have no sense of danger around people, do you?

And you were the one telling me to sit quietly!

“You really are out of your—!”

He was about to start shouting again when the soft click of Dezeb setting down his cup made him flinch.

A chill slid down Sanche’s spine.

It was the same sensation he had felt in the restaurant when their eyes met while he was whispering to Erabelle.

But then his whole body went slack at what Dezeb said next.

“After four years, I thought it was about time we exchanged signums. I didn’t expect the article to come out first. I was a little careless.”

“E-exchanged signums?”

That was absurd.

You could suspect that two people might be compatible candidates.

But becoming a pair was an entirely different matter.

No one formed a pair unless they were hopelessly, irrationally in love.

If one of them died, the other would spend the rest of their life barely functioning as a human being.

Even with lifelong medication and constant medical supervision, life expectancy would drop by at least half.

And for whatever remained of that life, they would average barely two hours of sleep a day.

For the rest of their lives.

“Why... No, wait. Why my sister? I’m sorry, but I genuinely can’t understand any of this. My sister was born a commoner.”

“I’m not particularly interested in being heir.”

Said the future marquess.

Any children he had with Erabelle would all be low-grade.

“And her body is only Level 2.”

“I don’t care much about appearances either.”

Sanche stared at the breathtakingly handsome man who had just said that as casually as if it meant nothing and felt a fresh crisis coming on.

“Her personality is terrible too. Do you know she stans at least a dozen celebrities?”

“I already told you. I know she has plenty of main wives.”

Sanche turned bright red.

“Y-you really know about that...”

“It’s difficult not to.”

“That’s... true...”

A genuine disgrace to the family.

Mortifying.

“Still, she’s cute, so I don’t mind.”

“What exactly is cute about her...?”

“It would be strange if her younger brother knew. Isn’t your sister’s cuteness something only the person dating her is supposed to know?”

“...Ugh. Chills.”

Sanche rubbed furiously at his forearm.

“You really are siblings.”

For some reason, Dezeb gave a small laugh as he looked at the two of them sitting side by side.

“You make exactly the same face when you dislike something. I didn’t expect you to know absolutely nothing, though. Erabelle, have you really never mentioned me at home?”

“The commander’s private life is classified.”

“So you do understand that you count as part of my private life?”

Dezeb pouted as he grumbled.

With a face like that, even the childish gesture nearly made Sanche forget the situation and feel his heart skip.

What, are all Level 8s like this?

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way. If I’d known, I would have sent the marriage proposal in advance. The articles must have shocked you.”

“My father more than me...”

“I’ll send the proposal letter tomorrow.”

He is absolutely going to faint.

Sanche’s head spun.

He still did not believe the commander.

There was no way he could.

House Avganis was one of the empire’s princely houses.

A minor provincial family like House Vermilion, barely managing to preserve its lineage, could not even be spoken of in the same breath.

A tiny provincial territory like Vermilion would not last a few days if it ever came into conflict with Avganis.

Holding out on pride for several days?

Honestly, not even a few hours.

If ordinary commoners were subjects beneath nobles, then ordinary nobles were little more than subjects beneath families like Avganis.

And a man like that was supposedly paired with a commoner-born support-line contractor?

Ridiculous.

Utter nonsense.

Sanche believed none of it.

He doubted everything.

His sister had clearly become trapped in some difficult situation.

Whatever it was, he would uncover the truth and bring her home safely.

He decided that entirely on his own.

＊ ＊ ＊

[They say you helped my one and only lover a lot. I should be the one thanking you.]

[We’re coming up on our fourth year. It’s almost been four years since we started dating.]

A two-headed creature sat chirping away on the sofa.

One face belonged to Majia Oloror, the other to Sanche, their bodies fused together like conjoined twins.

[You never talked about me?]

[Have you really never mentioned me at home?]

Erabelle could only stare at them, her mouth hanging open.

[You really are surprised.]

[The articles must have shocked you.]

How could I not be shocked!

The two-headed thing kept talking to itself.

She could not even decide whether to call it one creature or two.

[You’ve got plenty of energy, huh? The moment you step outside, you start fooling around.]

[Still, she’s cute, so it’s fine.]

“You edited that strangely.”

The slender, beautiful man standing beside her gave a derisive snort.

“Cute or not, cheating is out of the question. If there’s some bastard you want skinned alive, go ahead and try it.”

Erabelle looked up at the man who had just said something so horrifying.

His beauty was more chilling than the threat itself.

Ink-black hair like spilled night, without the slightest glimmer of reflected light.

Skin as white as snow.

A straight, elegant nose.

Just looking at him stirred something strange inside her.

He was absurdly, impossibly beautiful.

“If you keep looking at me like that, it makes me want to do it.”

Flustered, Erabelle quickly lowered her gaze.

A quiet snort sounded above the crown of her head.

“By the way, this one really is a nightmare, isn’t it?”

Is this a nightmare...?

Looking at the two heads made her want to smack them twice as much.

“Was it really that shocking? And why are those two repeating everything I said? Are they complaining that I keep saying the same things?”

He sounded amused.

“You might as well get used to it quickly. You’ll keep hearing them until we get married anyway.”

Still teasing her, the beautiful man picked up a paper cup of instant coffee mix.

Looking as though his blood sugar had suddenly crashed, he warned her,

“No coffee. You already had some today.”

She normally pretended not to notice because it was frightening, but honestly, he nagged too much...

Anyway.

It’s a dream.

I should be allowed to drink a little in a dream.

The two-headed creature held a packet of instant coffee mix in one hand and a can of beer in the other, pouring one over each of its heads.

Jealous...

“...”

The beautiful man went silent for a moment.

Apparently he was jealous too.

“Wake up so we can eat.”

The two-headed thing even snatched the coffee out of her hand.

Erabelle gasped sharply and opened her eyes.

And there, beside her as though it had become the most natural thing in the world, Dezeb grumbled,

“They say dreams are manifestations of desire. What kind of desire involves pouring instant coffee and canned beer straight into your stomach?”