How to Reach a Happy Ending

Yupi and Terre had taken a reef jutting up out of the sea for a chair.

Turning their heads away, then facing each other again and again, the two of them carried on a quiet, unhurried conversation.

"Looks like things are going well."

I watched them from a distance. I couldn't make out a single word, but from the way Terre was breaking the ice and the way Yupi's expression shifted from moment to moment, I could tell the family was the topic running back and forth between them.

"Ask her honestly. Then Yupi will answer you honestly."

That was the advice I'd left Terre with before I came here — about the truth of that day, and about why her sister had hidden it from her. It was a painful memory for Yupi, but she was never the kind of person to run from the truth. She'd been ready to face it at any moment. The only reason she'd never told her beloved little sister was that she genuinely wished for Terre to become the new family head and change the Citrine family for the better.

True, Terre was a sinner who deserved to die — but it was equally true that she had blood on her hands. She must have believed her sister, far less prone than herself to letting emotion outrun action, was far better suited to the seat of family head.

They'll sort it out between the two of them.

Even as I was imagining all this, the sisters kept chatting away in low voices. The topic seemed to have just turned to the family — I could see Terre, that rascal, going on with a grave look on her face even from here. My guess was she was asking whether the visions she'd witnessed were true. And sure enough — proof enough — Yupi's face began to change.

She listened carefully to Terre's every word for a while, shadows slowly gathering over her features, and then—

Ah. She's crying.

Burying her face in both hands, she broke into sobs. We were far away and the rain was hammering down like a flood, so it was hard to see clearly, but Terre springing up from her seat in a full-blown panic told me roughly what was happening.

The novel had a similar scene, come to think of it. The location had been the Citrine family's holy ground, and back then the two had only bared their hearts after fighting themselves into exhaustion and collapsing — but the result was the same. They were sisters, in the end. Blood is thicker than water; whatever grudges lingered, they made up in no time at all. It was, quite literally, like trying to cut water with a knife.

With the misunderstanding cleared away, they would forget the past and return to the easy closeness of their childhood. Good. This was good.

And it turns out I don't even need to step in.

My plan to reconcile the sisters was supposed to begin in earnest after Terre obtained the Connector and rose to head the family. But Yuri's intrusion — and the visions she'd shown them — had rendered the whole thing meaningless. In the good sense, of course. It saved me time, and for that I could only be grateful.

"The talk wrapped up faster than I expected."

{It certainly did.}

The Helper, watching from beside me with our vision shared, chimed in. This was the same entity who, every time he showed up, did nothing but spout off about sex while monologuing to himself — yet for this one moment, he watched the sisters' reconciliation without a word.

{How touching.}

"They're family. Sisters. Now that the misunderstanding's cleared, she's hardly going to start biting and clawing, screaming that she'll kill her after all."

{Even if one of them lived the other's life secondhand, patching a relationship back together is never easy.}

"Yupi never hated her sister once. And Terre finally understands now."

Terre had resented Yupi — and yet, all the while, she'd never quite let go of her doubts about the family. A sliver of hope that there'd been some justified reason her sister had to wipe out their bloodline. But she'd concluded that if that reason were anything honorable, there'd be no reason not to tell her — which only reignited the flames of her fury. What she could never have imagined was that the one sitting in the family head's seat was a piece of trash beyond all redemption, the kind who'd violated his own daughter and wrung the very life out of her.

"Anyway, with this, a happy ending where everyone gets to smile is in view. That's enough for me."

I'd brought about the sisters' reconciliation far earlier than the original story ever had. The gears were meshing, the plot clicking along exactly as I intended — it couldn't have been more perfect.

{And you're truly satisfied with just that?}

"Satisfied? What are you on about?"

{There are pieces missing, if you ask me. You can't really call it a happy ending. Like Yupi's little sister, for one.}

I knew what he was getting at. Tiss Citrine — the pitiful woman who'd had her Origin stolen by the family head and been killed for it.

"And how exactly am I supposed to save her? That's all ancient history."

It had happened in the distant past, before Solis was ever born. An unchangeable fate. Even if I returned to the very first moment I'd possessed this world, it could never be undone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— I'd given up on it long ago.

{And if I told you it could be done? What would you do then?}

But the man in the chat window hammered it home as flat fact. It was obviously absurd nonsense — and yet I couldn't help asking.

"What method?"

{Simple. Take the main characters of Academy Yuri Princess into your arms.}

He was chewing over his habitual command to go have sex again. But this time, unlike usual, he stitched new words on where the sentence should have ended.

{Then, in Eva's place, become the master of a Divine Artifact — and ascend to the seat of the new God King.}

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Calming her startled heart, Eva looked at the chat window that had appeared in the air before her.

"Th-this is Mister Solis's—"

"What? Solis?!"

"Eek!"

At the mere mention of his name, Marin instantly wriggled free of Arlan's lap and clung to Eva's back like a cicada.

"Where, where? Solis, where?"

"Um... well. That is..."

Eva wrestled with whether or not to tell her. She remembered the brief explanation Solis had once given her about the chat window.

— It'll only ever be visible to your eyes anyway, so feel free to use it in front of the others, no pressure.

That was all he'd said. He'd never once told her to keep it a secret, so she wavered for a moment — but in the end decided it was better left unsaid, and deflected with something vague.

"There was a text message. It looks like he's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finally letting us know how he's doing."

"What does it say? Tell me, quickly."

"Um... it's..."

At Marin's urging, Eva hastily pulled out her phone and held it up, pretending to read the screen while sneaking a glance toward the chat window. Then she relayed, word for word, the message Solis had left there.

"I-it says that because of the Terre family head business, it'll take longer than he expected — that he won't be back for at least a month—"

Thud!

"Haaah..."

Before she'd even finished speaking, Marin kicked off the ground and rose. Her footsteps thundered loud enough to make the floor ring as she bolted straight out of the café.

"Marin, where are you going!"

At Arlan's desperate cry, Marin turned her head and answered.

"Going to find Solis."

Her face was as expressionless as ever — but behind it, fury seethed like lava inside an active volcano.