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Chapter 20
“Why are you here… Sister… and Director…?”
The emotional reunion lasted only a moment. Lily, confused, searched for Susan. Rosha wanted to explain calmly, but the orphanage building was on the verge of collapse. On top of that, Rosha’s energy was nearly depleted, and lingering any longer could prevent them from escaping.
Rosha held Lily’s waist. Before the startled girl could struggle, Rosha opened a rift in space. In an instant, both Rosha and Lily were sucked into it.
“Ah!”
In the blink of an eye, their bodies fell through the air onto the ground. Even while falling, Rosha protected her sister to ensure Lily wasn’t hurt.
They landed on a high hill overlooking the village. Having forced herself to warp twice in one day, Rosha felt her fingertips trembling.
“Sister, are you okay? Sister!”
Lily, now freed from Rosha’s embrace, inspected Rosha’s battered body, worried. It wasn’t the right time to cry and enjoy a reunion.
“…Lily.”
Rosha, drained of energy and barely able to stay upright, tightly grasped Lily’s hand.
“You were really… scared, weren’t you…?”
Trying to reassure her frightened sister, Rosha wiped the cold sweat from her brow and forced a smile.
“I’m fine. I just overexerted myself a little.”
“Uh… how… how did you find me?”
“I’ll explain everything later. First, we need to get out of here.”
“Get out…?”
“The orphanage director is dangerous for you. Earlier, when you collapsed… she…”
She was going to offer you to the demon as a sacrifice.
Rosha clenched her teeth, unable to say such words directly to her young sister, and instead mumbled.
“…I’m family, and I came to find you.”
“…”
“You had no reason to be in that orphanage.”
Yes, what more explanation was needed?
Lily had stayed in the orphanage only because she lost her family. Whatever Babel’s purpose, that was the pretext. But now that Rosha, her family, had found her, there was no reason for Lily to remain there.
Feeling that this explanation was enough, Rosha pulled on Lily’s hand.
“Let go of me!”
But Lily pushed Rosha’s hand away.
“Lily…?”
Rosha had dreamed of the day they would reunite, but this was not a moment she had imagined. Her own sister refusing to go with her…
“Why… why are you acting like this?”
“…”
“Is it because it’s been so long that I feel like a stranger? I’ve been searching for you all this time…”
“…”
“Lily, didn’t you want to see me?”
Lily looked up at Rosha with trembling eyes, then lowered her face and shook her head.
For some reason, she hesitated to follow Rosha.
“Did the director threaten you?”
“…No.”
“Did she say she wouldn’t let you go with your family?”
“The director didn’t say that!”
“Then… why…?”
The hesitant Lily finally broke into a trembling, resentful voice.
“I was only waiting for you… but you forgot me and lived happily without me…!”
“What…?”
In that instant, Rosha felt a thread snap inside her heart.
Lily’s words struck at everything Rosha had endured, mentally and physically, leaving her efforts meaningless.
Lily, how could you say that to me?
I’ve always thought of you every day, like a spell, fearing even a single day without your name.
A surge of emotions rose, but Rosha controlled herself. Lily was still young and had been under Babel’s influence for a long time. Her mind must be fragile after hearing words meant to separate family. Being her sister, it was natural for Rosha to understand and embrace her.
“What are you saying? I would never do that.”
Rosha spoke as calmly as possible, trying to soothe Lily.
“The director said that. She said you had completely forgotten about me. That day when the monster appeared, she said sending me down to the village wasn’t to protect me but to use me as bait! That you only wanted to survive!”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“She said that the reason you didn’t come to find me for so long was because you’d forgotten me, and that you were happier without me! Even back then, you disliked me!”
“That’s…”
Rosha was momentarily at a loss for words.
She hadn’t realized that Lily still held resentment from the days when Rosha had failed to act like an elder sister. Even if she had, she didn’t expect Lily to release such sorrow at this long-awaited reunion.
“I never truly disliked you…”
She had only been upset as a child for losing her family’s attention. She had never hated Lily. She had always regretted the past days of losing Lily and feeling jealousy toward her.
I should have treated you better, shouldn’t have gotten angry…
Shouldn’t have sent you to the village alone… Should have stayed with you no matter what…
Rosha’s guilt had always followed her.
“Lily, don’t you see? That person is trying to drive a wedge between us.”
“…”
“If I really hated you, why would I have come all this way to find you?”
“…”
“Trust me, okay? Let’s go together. From now on, I’ll really take care of you. I’ll protect you for life so you never meet another monster again.”
“…”
“Lily, please…”
Seeing Lily’s surprisingly cold reaction, Rosha almost clung to her, pleading.
“We’re each other’s only family now.”
“Only family…”
“Just as you have only me, I have only you, Lily.”
“…Really? Am I truly your only family?”
“Of course.”
“What about Rostellier?”
“…Huh?”
“Rostellier are all siblings. So aren’t they family to you?”
“…”
“You said I’m the only one, yet you made a lot of family in the meantime?”
Tears flowed from Lily’s green eyes.
“When I couldn’t even remember my birthday, and no one celebrated me…”
“…”
“You wore smelly little dresses given by villagers, while you always wore fancy new clothes, got gifts stacked like towers at the party…”
“….”
Lily’s words painfully struck Rosha’s guilt. Everything Lily said was a reason Rosha had always felt guilty when thinking of her sister. She had enjoyed comfort and luxury while Lily struggled somewhere unknown.
“Lily, I… I… I mean…”
Rosha couldn’t undo the fact that she had enjoyed so much while Lily had little. She could give Lily everything from now on, but she couldn’t negate the past.
“And… didn’t you have a new younger sibling?”
“A new younger sibling…?”
“Wasn’t the name Joshua?”
…Lily knew about Joshua.
She must have seen him when Rosha had visited the orphanage with him.
“My family is only you! What do you mean?”
Joshua was just a child Rosha had to care for because of her mission—nothing more.
Though she had grown slightly attached over time, there was no special bond.
“Then why do you bring him with you?”
How to explain?
It would be hard to accept at once, but I have a special power, and it’s my duty to protect the world with it. Joshua may be special, and a group trying to destroy the world is after him. So I’m protecting him out of duty.
…Would Lily understand if I said that?
What if she’s disappointed that I didn’t come for her and instead protected another child?
I must regain Lily’s trust.
Rosha forced herself to erase the image of Joshua seeking affection and firmly denied his importance.
“Joshua means nothing to me.”
“Even if you live with him, he could be more special than me, right?”
“Never! Joshua is… to me—”
“To you? What about him?”
“Just…”
Rosha said the words she should never have said.
“He’s just a troublesome burden I had no choice but to take on!”
Her words echoed across the snowy expanse.
“…I see.”
Only after a long pause did Lily speak. Her voice carried a strange sense of exhilaration. Rosha subtly lifted her head to see her reaction.
But Lily wasn’t looking at Rosha. She was looking past her.
‘No…’
A sudden, ominous feeling rushed over her. Rosha turned around.
“….”
Ten steps away stood a young boy, as small as her sister.
“…Joshua.”
Rosha looked at her reflection in Joshua’s eyes. Somehow, her face seemed as monstrous as the demon’s.
Though they faced each other, she couldn’t see his expression. It was as if she had become blind.
Joshua didn’t wait for her to recover her senses. Turning away, he ran barefoot down the snowy hill.
“Wait, Joshua!”
Rosha instinctively tried to follow him.
“Sis…”
But the fragile voice of her sister behind her forced Rosha to turn back.
“Sis… my head… suddenly…”
Lily collapsed onto the snow. Rosha dropped Joshua and ran to her, holding her small body.
“Is your head dizzy?”
“Mm…”
Rosha glanced briefly in the direction Joshua had disappeared. Only small footprints remained in the snow. She pushed aside the guilt she felt toward Joshua and focused on Lily.
“Ride on my back!”
She planned to carry Lily to safety first and then check on Joshua. Lily obediently held onto Rosha’s shoulders and put her weight on her back. As her small hands wrapped around Rosha’s neck, Rosha prepared to lift her.
At that moment, she felt a cold blade at her neck.
“Farewell, Sister.”
But it was already too late.
“Gah…!”
The blade sliced across her neck, and blood gushed out. Rosha, carrying her sister, collapsed forward. Her hot blood stained the pristine snow red.
“Li… Li…”
Lily, the owner of the unspoken name, didn’t give Rosha a single glance.
“Li… Li… Li…”
Rosha reached out, but Lily ran down the hill in gleeful steps, her short hair glittering, in the same direction Joshua had gone earlier.
“Ugh…”
Lily clutched her own neck, but she couldn’t stop the massive flow of blood.
It was the moment death came for the young God’s magic knight.
