Chapter 196

“Hey, speaking of which, isn’t that Sheffy down there… heading this way? And Princess Belith too?”

“!”

Finally, you said something useful!

Xiarette quickly grabbed the stone-framed window and looked down to the ground.

At last, she saw the figure she had been longing for.

Carried on Belith’s back, sound asleep with her arms draped over her shoulders, returning along the path to the Demon King’s Castle—was Sheffy.

“Uuu… Sheffy! You’re finally back. Your sister’s here to pick you up!”

26. Wrecking the Place Again!

When Sheffy opened her eyes again, it was already midday under the blazing sun of the next day.

She thought to herself this was just another typical morning where she had overslept. But the moment she heard that gentle, watery voice say, “Good morning, Royal Sister,” her mind began to stir restlessly. In the end, she chose to painfully shut her eyes again—refusing to respond, trying to sleep a little longer.

If she couldn’t fall back asleep, that was fine.

After all, she was avoiding the doting and annoying look in Belith’s eyes.

Damn it… everything that happened last night wasn’t a dream?!

It was painfully clear that she hadn’t activated her self-healing magic. The soreness in her calves and arms, along with the lingering echo of her own pitiful cries in her head, all served as vivid proof of just how real the events in the Forbidden Book Repository had been.

Of course, the most undeniable proof…

Was that her clothes had been changed.

Sheffy squinted subtly and checked what she was wearing—it was that cat-patterned pajama set she had once declared, “I’d rather die than wear this again.”

Sheffy used to quite like those pajamas. But ever since she learned that while she was away from home these past few days, Belith had been secretly wearing them every day, she had classified them as forbidden.

And then there was the fact that, as she unconsciously turned over, the tactile feedback made it clear that even her underclothes had been replaced with a freshly laundered, sun-warmed set.

Mmph…

So utterly disgraceful… (literally, in her own home)

Belith softly called out to her royal sister a few times. Seeing there was no response—instead, Sheffy buried her head into the pillow like a kitten and even mimicked a soft “grr grr” snoring sound to fake sleep—Belith didn’t press her.

With joy swelling in her heart, Belith chuckled quietly and crept up to the bedside.

She leaned over and gave a gentle kiss to Sheffy’s cheek, which had turned completely red and couldn’t be hidden. A heart-melting whisper followed, pouring into Sheffy’s burning earlobe.

“Since Royal Sister is still asleep… then even if Belith sneaks a kiss, she wouldn’t know, right? Heehee… Then Royal Sister, keep sleeping… Last night, you were… really amazing, you know?”

“…!”

She wanted to jump up and smack her on the head—but shame, that terrible thing, made her keep pretending to sleep!

Belith was considerate.

She said those words deliberately, her footsteps slow and unhurried as she made her way out of the room.

Each step was calculated, just like soft cat paws scratching at Sheffy’s heart. Beneath the covers, her little feet began to rub against each other unconsciously.

Until the quiet click of the door closing was heard.

Sheffy shot up with a flurry!

Her messy silver hair puffed up like a silver puffball hamster, and her misty, beautiful purple eyes—flushed and shining—looked a little ridiculous under her blushing face.

But what truly expressed the storm in her heart were the furious words she shouted, biting her lip hard:

“Belith, you little—!! Belith, you impudent brat!! Overstepping your place! A younger sister violating her elder! How dare you… huh?! How dare you! Such rebellion! What a disgrace to the family!! You…!”

“Hmhm~ Royal Sister’s wise rebuke, Belith has taken it to heart. But now Belith’s going to make you breakfast… oh wait, I mean lunch? Anyway, Royal Sister, please rest up. I’ll come back and apologize properly later~”

“Why aren’t you running already!!”

This was what helpless fury looked like.

Sheffy grabbed the velvet pillow she had been sitting on and hurled it at Belith, who stood grinning mischievously at the door.

That door-closing sound just now—turns out it wasn’t Belith leaving. She had only opened the door from the inside, then closed it again—still inside the room!

But a wise girl knew when to retreat. The moment she saw her Royal Sister truly explode, Belith quickly darted out the door and shut it tight behind her. The pillow thudded uselessly against the door panel, hitting nothing but air.

That only made Sheffy even more frustrated!!

She pinched her bare thigh hard to calm herself down—the pajama pants that came with her cat-patterned sleepwear were a short style, flaring out like little bell-bottoms.

The room was utterly silent.

Outside the Demon King’s Castle, even the splash of each giant fish leaping and falling back into the water could be heard clearly.

The pinching hurt.

Her mood… seemed to have settled a bit…

As if!

If she could actually calm down after all that, she might as well just jump into the lake and drown with the fish!

Giant fish: Much obliged, rawr.

She suddenly ducked her head down, trying to bury her face back into the pillow—only to come up empty.

Right. The pillow had already been thrown.

With no other option, she flung the blanket over herself and curled up into a ball underneath it. The whole little loli vanished into the covers, leaving only a few strands of silver hair peeking out from the edge—revealing the silver fluffball inside.

The bundled-up lump of bedding rolled across the bed, back and forth, faster and faster. Who knew if pitiful little Sheffy was truly trying to soothe her mood, or if she simply found the rolling fun and decided to pick up the pace.

The fluffball came to an abrupt stop.

A soft, faint sigh escaped from within—still tinged with lingering heat.

Sigh…

If only she had rolled this fast last night… she might have been able to preserve her dignity as an older sister…

That flower field conjured by the spell Manifestation last night had fulfilled a role it was never meant to.

It had set the atmosphere perfectly. In that, it had succeeded. Belith had been right—not only had she missed that flower field, Sheffy had too, just the same.

Being there made one feel light, detached from everything. It was easy to forget oneself in that kind of place. In a reckless moment, clenching her teeth, she had allowed Belith to do anything she wanted.

And in the end, the flower field had revealed its other effect.

We all know summer brings heavy rain. If you’re in an open plain, you might face a flood. Drowning the whole town with no way to drain the water—that would be a disaster of nature, a full-blown calamity.

But things were different with the flower field. There was no need to fear rain—because the ground that came along with the flower field would absorb all the water. Even if it somehow rained inside the Forbidden Book Repository, where rain was supposed to be impossible, not a single one of those precious books would get wet or damaged.

Sheffy’s defeat in this battle—where her very dignity had been on the line—was without a doubt due to her lack of preparation.

That Belith… she had clearly come fully prepared!

Did you think the life-sized plush doll of Royal Sister that she sewed by hand at home was just for fun? Wrong. She had recreated all kinds of details and would hug it in the dead of night, sneaking into Royal Sister’s room to train herself—refining her technique through countless repetitions.

The doll had eventually gotten so worn out that Belith had to stitch it up repeatedly just to keep using it for practice.

—And that really said it all!

To put it bluntly, yesterday, it felt like Sheffy had been swept away by Belith in one clean strike.

“Mmmgh… This isn’t fair…”

Xiarette, Belith… every time, they never gave her time to prepare. Utterly dishonorable!

[Belith… mm… hug me…]

“…!!!”

Belith, just look at what you’ve made me say!! What kind of pathetic words did you drag out of me last night, huh?!

There was nothing to be done about it. When emotions ran high, it was easy to expose the most vulnerable part of one’s heart—and Sheffy was no exception.

Who said a Royal Sister couldn’t act spoiled toward her younger sister? If she didn’t, then clearly the younger sister’s technique and persistence weren’t good enough.

This grudge—Sheffy made a note of it.

If she was given the time and chance to prepare, she would absolutely turn the tables.

She absolutely would…!

——KRRRR-BOOM!!

A deafening crash exploded through the air, instantly blowing away the trumpet call of Sheffy’s imagined revenge.

“Huh?!”

The white-haired fluffball cast healing magic on her aching waist as she leapt into the air to look around.

What on earth had just happened?!

Outside the window, clouds of smoke from clashing spells darkened the sky, while the distant lake was caught in the magical turbulence, shooting great waves high into the air.

—Boom!!

One wave hadn’t even settled when another burst of magic crashed head-on, shaking the entire Demon King’s Castle three times over.

Who was it this time?! Couldn’t they let someone plan their revenge in peace… ahem, I mean, couldn’t they just let someone sleep?!

Last time it had been Aunt Ailellek, but it couldn’t be her now—she had already been sent to the borderlands.

Anyway, time to go check it out.

Sheffy slipped on the slippers Belith had prepared for her and was just about to head out when—

She froze in place, a sudden thought striking her.

Wait a second.

There was an explosion just now… and I’m at home.

Does that mean…

Mental voice transmission is coming?!

[Sheffy!! You little brat! You’re wrecking the house again! Get out of here right now, damn it!!]

[You’re blaming me again?!]

I already said it wasn’t me! Father, you’re so damn unreasonable!

Alright then.

You’ve falsely accused me twice now.

Tomorrow, I’ll blow up your Demon King’s Hall myself.

27. The Clash

Let’s see just who’s out here fighting at the crack of dawn?

Well… to be more accurate, it only felt like dawn to Sheffy just waking up, but in objective time, it was already noon.

Time wasn’t the issue—the point was: who was fighting!

Hmm… judging from the nature of that mana collision, the answer seemed pretty obvious.

The more urgent the situation, the calmer Sheffy tended to act.

She had no choice but to be calm.

Because if the reason for the fight was what she suspected, then she absolutely had to stay calm to the end.

After all, there were some things in life that sound simple when you talk about them—like facing them head-on—but in practice, doing so was far, far harder than expected.

As magical blasts boomed through the air and the entire Demon King’s Castle shook, Sheffy calmly washed up and slowly changed out of her shame-inducing cat-patterned pajamas. She slipped into a silky, pure-blue silk dress that draped over her snow-pale skin. Unable to find any replacement underwear, she had no choice but to keep wearing the kitten-print pair Belith had picked out for her.

“Glug glug… mmph, bleh… Seriously, all of them… Why are young people so eager to fight… Burning up flowers and plants like that, what a waste.”

—Boom!!

The explosions outside the window were only getting worse. Sheffy spat her mouthful of water into the sink.

A single cold sweat rolled down her otherwise calm face. With trembling fingers, she placed her self-designed toothbrush on the gold-trimmed counter. Her movements stiff and mechanical, she laced up her short boots, tied the laces, and walked as slowly as she could toward the outside of the Demon King’s Castle.

Ah, wait—I haven’t washed my hair yet. Should I go back and do that first…?

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