Sunlight streams in through the skylight.
The warmth that gently touched her neatly closed eyes woke Elsie from her deep slumber, leaving her feeling refreshed. As she slowly opened her eyes, her jewel-like blue eyes appeared from behind her long eyelashes.
The moderately soft bed allowed her to fall into a deep sleep without tossing and turning.
“This bed is nice, heuht-”
Elsie stretched and relaxed her body, rolling around on Doyun’s bed.
It wasn’t easy to get out of bed in the early morning.
“Eucha.”
Elsie abruptly sat up and looked down at her disheveled clothes in dismay.
Her gown, more than just disarranged, was half-slipped off, revealing her white nakedness to the point where it seemed pointless to even wear it.
“His clothes need to be a bit bigger.”
It was a natural result of rolling around in a large gown that didn’t fit.
But what did it matter if her clothes were a little loose? She was alone anyway.
Still, feeling embarrassed, Elsie got out of bed and straightened her clothes.
Her white skin disappeared beneath the soft gown.
Fully awake, listening to the bright sunlight streaming in through the skylight and the chirping of birds, Elsie finally tidied up the bedding.
She felt so refreshed that she momentarily forgot she had stayed overnight at someone else’s house.
“Alright!”
Smiling contentedly, Elsie sat on the bed for a moment. She lightly combed her hair with her fingers and then slowly closed her eyes.
She drew upon the power of the Valkyrie sleeping within her.
Little by little, slowly. To prepare for any possible backlash, she began to manipulate the energy with extremely precise control.
The energy within her body, which began as a small ripple, turned into tiny droplets.
Gradually accelerating, it soon began to rotate like a whirlpool in a torrent.
‘Is there anything wrong with my body…’
A smile spread across Elsie’s face as she opened her eyes.
She felt a slight decrease in output. But it wasn’t to the point where she couldn’t use her power at all, like yesterday.
Excited, Elsie ran to the front of the door, opened it quietly, and went outside.
*
Step, step.
Quiet and gentle footsteps approached.
Exhausted and caught in an uncomfortable sleep, Doyun tossed and turned, thinking.
‘There’s no way there would be footsteps in the house.’
Since his parents passed away, he had always been alone in the vast and empty house that felt so desolate.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had heard such footsteps in his sleep. It had been so long that even his memories were hazy.
As he struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, weighed down by fatigue, he began to see something in his blurry vision.
“Han… wake up.”
“Ugh…”
Doyun, momentarily squinting at the dazzling sunlight, discovered a beautiful silver thread dangling at the edge of his hazy vision.
“I feel so sorry that you had such an uncomfortable sleep…”
A beautiful, sweet voice coming from beside him kept tickling his ears.
He felt like falling back asleep, intoxicated by that lovely voice that would make anyone’s heart flutter.
‘Who… is it?’
He wondered if it was a dream, but it wasn’t.
Doyun’s memory, straddling the boundary between sleep and reality, was still hazy.
Doyun waved his hand around and lightly grabbed the pretty silver thread he saw at the edge of his vision.
Squeeze-
“You little sh*t… Is having bad hands in your sleep a habit?”
Elsie, whose hair had been slightly pulled, was lightly annoyed.
But seeing Han Doyun’s face, which looked exhausted as if he hadn’t slept at all, she felt sorry and couldn’t bring herself to stop him.
Doyun thought.
There was no way he would hear footsteps and voices in his house where he lived alone. But there was definitely a presence right next to him.
That meant…
‘A thief!’
Doyun’s eyes widened, and he instantly woke up, feeling blood rushing through his body as he tensed up.
His hand, unconsciously exerting force, pulled on the long silver hair.
“Waaack!”
A small head fell onto his stomach and bounced off.
Only then did Doyun, realizing that he had let Elsie sleep at his house, was startled and sat up.
“Elsie?!”
He hadn’t realized it because he was exhausted from tossing and turning in his sleep.
Han Doyun, his eyes wide open, suddenly pulled on the hair he was holding.
With a dizzying sensation of his scalp being pulled, Elsie’s face slammed into Han Doyun’s abdomen.
Tears welled up in her eyes from the stinging pain.
“Keheung-!”
Elsie, making a strange noise, bounced off and fell to the floor.
At the same time, her loosely tied gown came undone, and cool air began to seep between her body, which had been warmly wrapped.
As the gown fluttered open, Elsie’s body was subtly revealed, as if it would be seen but not quite.
“Waaaaaack!!!”
Doyun screamed at the sight.
*
Muscles swollen with rage strained against his clothes as if they would burst.
Dane was sprinting down the street with such tremendous force.
Vedrfolnir, who had hurriedly flown after Dane, shouted at the excited man.
[Dane!]
“Elsie-!”
[Calm down first. Nothing will be solved by you getting worked up.]
“No! It will be solved now that I know! My, my sister went through something like that and her life was threatened…”
He knew nothing. Nothing at all.
Dane, running like crazy, choked up.
He had been too busy with the Knights to pay proper attention.
His sister’s face, smiling and telling him to have a good trip.
The result of ignoring the loneliness and pain that he had glimpsed there was this.
“Shibal-!”
Dane, spitting out a curse, jumped onto the building blocking his path.
[Dane! Listen to me! You idiot!]
Vedrfolnir flapped his wings and blocked Dane’s path.
“It’ll be too late even if I go in a straight line. Don’t get in my way! Vedr!”
[Listen to me. Do you think your sister, who has lost her memory, will recognize you if you just rush over there like this?]
Dane snorted, wondering what he was talking about.
“There’s no way Elsie has forgotten me. That sweet girl… No, even if she has forgotten, she’ll remember when she sees me. How much do my sister and I look alike!”
[You’ve completely lost your mind. This isn’t like you. Do you think lost memories will come back just because you see someone who has eyes and hair that are a similar color?]
“….”
Vedr, seeing Dane speechless, landed on his shoulder and spoke again.
[You’re not planning to startle your sister, are you? Aren’t you the one who always praised yourself for being a caring brother?]
“That’s…”
[She was such a fragile child that she would run away from me. She must be unstable because she lost her memory. So shouldn’t you approach her more carefully?]
Dane’s head, which had been unusually excited, began to cool down little by little thanks to Vedr’s calm persuasion.
Various images of Elsie that he had kept in his memory since childhood repeatedly appeared and disappeared.
‘I should have taken more pictures…’
Dane briefly took out a picture of young Elsie from his pocket and wiped his eyes.
[…Are you some kind of father with a daughter? It makes me feel weird, so stop it.]
“…Alright, alright. But… I can’t rest easy until I see Elsie.”
[Don’t be impatient. I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday, but it seems like your sister has a guardian. So rest assured.]
All of Dane’s movements stopped for a moment, and only his head quickly turned.
Vedr couldn’t help but be disgusted by Dane’s appearance as he looked at him, making a cracking sound in his neck.
“A guardian…? A guardian? Isn’t Elsie living alone?”
[Yeah. He seemed like a pretty strong guy. He seemed to have a pretty good physique for a human. Well, not as much as you, but…]
Vedrfolnir’s continued explanation shook Dane a second time.
Veins began to protrude on his face.
[What? What’s wrong now?]
“So yesterday… the boy you mentioned… took Elsie into that house…?”
[That’s right. It seems like a student from the same school is acting as a reliable guardian, so rest assured.]
From this strange bird’s point of view, that’s how it could be interpreted.
‘Right, this guy isn’t human… But-‘
“Why are you telling me the most important thing now!!!”
He was short-sighted. It was clear that Elsie had a man.
It wasn’t hard to come to that conclusion with just a little thought.
There was no way those evil academy male students would leave his lovely sister alone.
‘Took her home? Home? It’s already dawn because I was holed up at the guardhouse?!’
Elsie’s story that he had heard from Forseti, and the information that Vedr had belatedly conveyed.
It felt like he had been hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer.
Dane leaped into the sky. And he sent a thought to the nameless eagle waiting in the forest.
Vedr, sharing memories with the eagle, was startled and shouted at him.
[Are you out of your mind?! This is right above the city!]
“This is the fastest way!”
[No, have some common sense-]
**Mythic Grade Beast Summon: Nameless Eagle!**
This was not like the usual Dane.
It was the moment he realized how irrationally he could become when it came to matters involving his sister.
_**Fzzzt-!**_
A rift that divided dimensions opened in the sky above Glitnir’s center.
A temporary Bifrost connected to the rift, and from beyond it, an eagle that had returned to its original size spread its jet-black wings and soared into the sky.
A gigantic size comparable to a dragon.
The nameless eagle arrived in Glitnir.
[Does it make sense to summon an eagle right in front of you to travel such a short distance!]
“What do you mean it doesn’t make sense! How long would it take to traverse this big city?!”
Dane, riding on the eagle’s back, lightly bickered with Vedr.
As the nameless eagle returned to its original size, it too had transformed into a giant hawk the size of an adult man.
“There’s no time for this! Eagle! Let’s go! It’s in the direction of the forest where you were hiding!”
The nameless eagle, which had risen into the sky and was preparing for a high-speed glide, turned its head 180 degrees and looked back at Dane.
He had summoned it only to tell it to return to its location.
“Let’s go!”
*
Doyun, his ears flushed red, found it difficult to maintain his composure this time.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Elsie, who was collapsed on the floor.
It was such a dizzying and sensual sight.
In the midst of all this, whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, it wasn’t blatantly revealed, but rather dangerously concealed…
‘It’s even more stimulating! Dangerous!’
The white skin that seemed soft at a glance stimulated unnecessary imagination.
“Keueung…”
Elsie, stroking her tingling face, got up and grabbed the waist tie of her gown, which was slipping off.
She almost got into a dangerous situation. Or perhaps it was already dangerous enough for someone.
Of course, Elsie, unaware of that, was just relieved that she hadn’t become a naked pervert.
Tightly fastening her clothes, Elsie let out a sigh of relief and looked at Han Doyun with a bewildered expression.
“You did this last time too… Your sleeping habits are really bad! I almost got into a dangerous situation!”
“Elsie… it was already too dangerous… That appearance was really… my patience is…”
Doyun, unable to stand in an awkward posture any longer, slumped down on the sofa and rubbed his face with his hands.
The pounding of his heart echoed in his head.
Elsie, narrowing her brows and tilting her head at the sight, wiped her eyes and approached Han Doyun.
“What are you talking about… I was just trying to wake you up, but I was the one who got into trouble…”
Elsie, whose eyes were watering from the stinging pain of her scalp being pulled, wiped her eyes.
“Elsie. It was my carelessness. I’m really sorry. But please step away a little… It’s a little difficult if you keep coming closer… I’ll only need a moment, so please.”
Doyun, sitting down and covering his face, was bowing his head as if in agony. Elsie’s eyes widened at his serious voice, and she took a step back.
‘Right. I’m making a fuss from the morning, trying to wake him up after he even lent me his bed and slept uncomfortably on the sofa himself, so it’s understandable that he’s angry…’
She was in his debt, more than just a friend. He was the homeowner, and he had helped her out of pure kindness.
What did it matter if her hair was pulled a little, her face was bumped a little, and her clothes were almost taken off?
‘The last part is a little embarrassing, but. That’s not the problem…’
Elsie lowered her head and clarified her situation.
She gripped the hand that was fastening her loosened clothes tightly.
After calming his burning heart for a while, Doyun slowly raised his head when the surroundings became too quiet.
Elsie, sitting on the dining table chair with her legs neatly together, was drooping her head. She looked very dejected.
“Uh-”
Doyun couldn’t continue speaking. It was because he had never seen Elsie looking so dejected before.
‘Could it be because of what I said earlier…?’
Elsie occasionally wiped her eyes with one hand. She looked unmistakably hurt.
Doyun’s heart sank at the sight of her pitiful appearance.
‘Aish, the tears won’t wipe away properly.’
He had felt it before, but once his tears started, they wouldn’t stop easily.
This wasn’t good.
‘It’s embarrassing.’
“E, Elsie!”
“Huh?”
Elsie raised her head at Doyun’s flustered voice.
Red and swollen eyes, moist pupils. She looked like she was crying no matter how you looked at it.
‘Did I say something a little too harsh after all?!’
It was the moment Doyun thought so and opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry-”
*Knock knock knock!!!*
Both of them flinched and looked at the door at the tremendous knocking that threatened to break it down.
“What is it?!”
Elsie muttered in surprise.
Doyun, feeling that the atmosphere had become strange, naturally brought his hand to his head, which he had extended to Elsie.
Doyun scratched his head like that and approached the door. An unknown visitor who was knocking incessantly. The timing was too bad.
‘There’s no way anyone would come to visit this early in the morning…’
*Knock knock knock-!*
Doyun, a little annoyed by the excessive knocking, shouted.
“I’m opening it, opening it!”
Before opening the door, Doyun briefly looked back at Elsie.
Eyes wet with tears, a body huddled up while fastening her clothes.
She looked pitiful. At least, that’s how she looked in his eyes.
‘What is it? What’s going on?’
Elsie was just curious about the visitor who was suddenly knocking on the door.
*_Squeak-_*
Doyun opened the door with a heavy heart.
“Who are you…?”
A man with a tall and handsome physique was standing in front of the door. The man, dressed in a blue-tinged uniform, was standing there trembling with a face crumpled with anger.
Doyun’s face slowly hardened at the sight of the man. It was partly because of the tremendous pressure he was exuding, but more than anything, it was because of his appearance.
Blue eyes emitting a fierce light.
Dazzling silver hair reminiscent of someone.
‘The rumored weirdo? Or Elsie’s…?!’
Doyun froze, his mind delayed by the features that were so similar.
“El… siee…”
“What?!”
Thwack!
The visitor who had suddenly appeared, Dane, couldn’t miss the gap created by the moment of hesitation.
He grabbed Doyun by the collar with tremendous grip and turned his head.
Beyond the door, on a chair in an unfamiliar house, was his beloved sister, whom he had wanted to see so much, sitting pitifully.
Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open, as if she was very surprised.
Her tear-soaked eyes were swollen red, and she was huddled up while fastening her disheveled clothes.
It was the moment Dane’s restrained reason snapped.
“What, what… what did you do to my, my… sister-!!!”
An unimaginably powerful force was imbued in the hand gripping Doyun’s collar.
“S, sister?! W, wait a minute-!!!”
Elsie, who had been watching in shock, didn’t have time to react to the shocking words.
Doyun, who had been dragged outside in an instant, was thrown away by Dane’s tremendous power.
*_Paaaaang-!!!_*
All the way up to the sky.
“Uwaaaack!”
“Die!!!”