Ch.238238. The Saint’s Lingering Attachment

“You tried to pounce on Findenai?”

My mouth, which had been responding indifferently to whatever Deia was saying beside me, snapped shut.

Unconsciously, my head turned toward her, and my gaze fixed on her.

“No, I didn’t.”

Though it was a disconcerting question, I answered calmly, surprisingly.

Perhaps I had subconsciously considered that Findenai might have spread such false rumors.

“You hesitated a bit there?”

But my opponent was my sister, after all.

Though we hadn’t spent our childhood together, she was still one of the people who knew me well, bound by the framework of family.

“I did not do it.”

I denied it firmly again, but Deia’s suspicious gaze hadn’t subsided yet.

“I know Findenai talks a lot of nonsense.”

Deia approached stealthily and looked down at me sitting at my desk.

The fingers of her crossed arms twitched as if she were a sheriff itching to draw a gun.

“But she’s never spoken in such detail before.”

“……”

What kind of situation was this?

I wondered what this insane situation was, having to provide evidence to my sister that I hadn’t had relations with a maid.

“You came right up to her.”

Snap!

Deia grabbed my wrist that was holding the pen. She slipped between the desk and chair and placed her knee between my legs.

“Grabbed her wrist, cornered her against the wall so she couldn’t escape.”

A posture as if cornering me sitting in the chair. Along with her scent tickling my nose, her slightly longer hair slid down smoothly.

“And declared you were going to devour her?”

Watching Deia who was pretending to devour me with her mouth wide open, I responded bluntly.

“Move aside.”

“It’s too detailed. Tell me honestly, is it true or not?”

“Huff, I just warned her. Findenai sometimes crosses the line.”

“So you did do something?”

“……”

“Seems like your habits haven’t changed.”

Despite saying that, Deia still didn’t move and continued looking down at me. At a distance where our foreheads might collide if we weren’t careful, I took a deep breath and spoke again.

“Move aside.”

“I’m telling you to be careful. Don’t become like that bastard.”

I understand why Deia is worried, having been burned so many times by the original Deus.

Back then, Deus routinely toyed with the family maids, and even the maid uniform Findenai wears was Deus’s creation.

“But hearing about Findenai suddenly made me think.”

“…Step back first, then we’ll talk.”

Her breath was falling directly on me. But despite my words, Deia remained unmoved and continued.

“You’re ultimately using the body of my second brother, right?”

“That could be said, yes.”

“Then couldn’t your preferences also follow my brother? Those things usually come from how the body responds.”

“……”

It was a fresh line of reasoning.

I hadn’t thought about that aspect before, but unknowingly, my tastes in food, music, and such might have changed to be similar to Deus’s.

“Findenai’s maid uniform is also my original brother’s preference. So I wondered if you, who normally shows no reaction, suddenly acted that way.”

“But if that were the case, I should also be greedily demanding drugs and alcohol.”

Because Deus likes those things.

But Deia shook her head with a subtle expression.

“Aren’t addiction and preference different? Even I could become addicted if I took drugs.”

“You have a point.”

It was a minor concern, just something to refresh my thoughts in the midst of research.

But anyway.

“Move aside.”

I was starting to feel suffocated.

But Deia narrowed the distance even more and whispered.

“Does your heart race?”

“…What?”

“Or do you get excited?”

“That’s insane.”

Suggesting I’m aroused by my sister? When I spoke with genuine anger, Deia finally pulled back and nodded.

“Then it seems desires and preferences aren’t controlled by the body.”

“……”

“My brother was aroused by me.”

“Is that why you got so close? To check?”

“Isn’t that obvious? You never know. What if you suddenly went crazy and came onto me?”

“Huff.”

My head throbbed. I needed to make things clear to Deia.

“We are siblings. I will never look at you in that way.”

“…That should be obvious, but given my shitty past, it’s hard to believe.”

Deus Verdi.

I never thought there would come a time when I’d dislike you this much again.

The valley he dug was so deep that I was about to sigh and say I understood, but…

I realized there was something off about her words. Strictly speaking, they didn’t quite add up.

“Yet you call him ‘brother.'”

Though she added “bastard” after it, she was still using the term “oppa” rather than just cursing as before.

“……”

At my words, Deia crossed her arms and turned her head away. As if embarrassed, she mumbled with a subtle expression.

“Well, um… he’s a bastard, but still. He sacrificed himself for the family.”

“……”

“Of course, I still hate him to the point of disgust. I wish he’d never appear in front of me again.”

I’m sure.

The wounds wouldn’t heal easily, but…

“Still… I can call him ‘oppa’ now. There are many siblings who have terrible relationships.”

“Yes.”

A gentle smile formed on my lips. There was only one thing I could say to her.

“You’ve been strong.”

“I haven’t forgiven him!”

“He probably wouldn’t expect forgiveness either.”

Even if there had been no change in their relationship, even if Deia still hated him…

Just calling him “oppa” showed she had overcome a lot.

A moment of silence.

Deia, who seemed like she might say various things, finally swallowed and expressed her gratitude to me.

“It’s thanks to you. I think I was able to overcome it like this because I got somewhat used to that bastard’s face.”

“I’m glad.”

If I’ve been of help to her, then I’m satisfied with that much.

But.

“But you call me ‘you’?”

“……”

“Even though I’m your brother too, albeit a step-brother. I don’t particularly like that form of address.”

No, honestly speaking.

She calls Darius and Deus “oppa,” but calls me “you,” which I didn’t like very much.

At least I don’t think I’m a worse brother than those two.

At that, Deia’s lips moved as if she was about to say something, then…

“Ah, whatever!”

She got annoyed, turned around, and went outside.

It was very similar to the scene in movies where a little sister gets annoyed and locks herself in her room.

I unconsciously stared at the stairs she had gone up for a while before focusing back on my research.

[Are you busy?]

But not long after, a gentle voice came from beside me.

It was Stella, the Saintess with faded blonde hair and blue-green eyes.

“Didn’t you say you’d become an evil spirit?”

When I asked Stella, she covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.

[Yes. I’ve become an evil spirit and have been playing pranks on many people.]

“What did you do?”

[Shall I tell you?]

I still didn’t put down my pen.

Even while calculating magic formulas, I listened attentively to Stella’s story.

[A cat came into the royal palace. So my senior and I secretly brought the cat in and fed it.]

[We cleaned the rooms before the maids came, taking away their work.]

[I went to Tairne and surprised him, and I also patted Lucia’s back and ran away.]

[I even picked a flower from the garden and brought it.]

Stella smiled brightly as she held out the flower with a pop. Despite it being difficult for her to move around due to being materialized by my magic, she had done quite a lot.

After her childlike mischievous stories ended, I continued calculating formulas and asked her.

“Was it fun?”

At my question, Stella smiled brightly with a different atmosphere than usual. A pure, innocent expression.

[It was so much fun. Especially doing it with my senior made it even more enjoyable.]

I don’t know where that Dark Spiritmaster is now, but I could tell that Stella had quite an enjoyable time.

[You know what my lingering attachment was, right?]

“I wasn’t certain. I just helped because I thought it might be this.”

The lingering attachment I thought Stella had.

Seeing her extend her middle finger toward me and curse despite her embarrassment, I could vaguely guess.

“A life for her own enjoyment.”

[Hehe.]

Stella, who grew up in a convent from a young age and lived under God’s teachings.

As she became a Saintess, she aligned herself more with the doctrine and lived for others.

[I don’t regret that life. Rather, I’m very proud and satisfied with it.]

Even if she could go back to that time, Stella would surely live the same life.

Loving everyone she met, praying for them, crying with them, comforting them.

And in the end, losing all her holy power.

And dying miserably at the hands of a demon.

[But while traveling with you, I realized that I needed these moments in my life too.]

Even if they were small, silly pranks.

Since Stella had never done such things before, they became a significant spice in her life.

[I’ve learned a lot thanks to my senior.]

Stella laughed softly.

Being with the Dark Spiritmaster had a good influence on her.

If I were to define their relationship in a word, they could be called friends.

[I no longer have any lingering attachment, Shinwoo Kim.]

Stella approached gently and carefully embraced me from behind. Naturally, I couldn’t feel any sensation, but…

Was it because of the mana she possessed?

Or was it an illusion due to visual effect?

I felt a sense of warmth and touch.

[Thank you. It’s enough now.]

And she expressed her gratitude to me.

As if comforting me.

[When your efforts for the dead bear fruit.]

Stella whispered that it was okay.

[I’ll close my eyes now.]