Dual Will
In life, people pick fights with you all the time.
I have no idea why. The world is just full of lunatics like that, and dealing with every petty little thing one by one is exhausting.
Which is exactly why sometimes you need to beat someone like a dog.
Once the other party starts feeling grateful just to be alive, conversation tends to flow a lot more smoothly after that.
"Starting today, one plus one equals three. Agree or disagree."
{"……."}
"Agree or disagree!"
{"Maybe I should just live and die according to fate."}
"Who said you get to leave? I'll thrash you so hard. Keep those eyes nice and obedient from now on."
Earthbound spirits are stubborn by nature. Once they dig in somewhere, driving them out is no easy task.
In the end, Residue had no choice but to tearfully agree to the condition that we wouldn't insult each other.
I was muttering to myself when Kang Jiye opened the door and came in.
"Our good girl— are you up?"
"……?"
Her voice was different from usual, and I flinched. I'd just thrown a complete tantrum in front of little Yena, so I'd steeled myself for a scolding. What was this all of a sudden?
Kang Jiye pulled me into a tight hug and gently stroked the back of my head.
"Our precious little one. You're not alone, you know that?"
"Huh?"
"You've got me, and Yena, and Eldrisa. Aww, our Pecia is so lucky—."
"……."
I wanted to ask what on earth she was talking about, but something told me I absolutely shouldn't.
I just went with the flow and hugged Kang Jiye back. Then Yena came barreling in and started singing.
"Sister was born to be loved~"
What is this now?
Yena was not the kind of kid who put on a cute act unless someone made her. Sure, she danced and sang with the Party Bears sometimes, but that was pure play. She almost never did this for someone else's sake.
When Yena's song ended, a beautiful soprano voice drifted in from somewhere.
Amazing Grace?
Eldrisa entered, her silk-smooth golden hair swaying. The completely random hymn nearly made me burst out laughing, but her expression was so deadly serious that I just sat there and listened.
"Come on. Breakfast."
Before I knew it, the whole production was over. Kang Jiye led my thoroughly bewildered self to the dining table.
"Wait……."
What kind of plot development was this?
Was she planning to kick out a problem child like me, saying she didn't need me anymore? One last feast before declaring the relationship over?
I was about to grab anyone and ask when Residue stopped me.
{"Just take it. Don't look flustered."}
{"Sad face. Put on a sad face."}
{"Remember this. The more fragile and wounded a girl looks, the more love she gets."}
I'd never even asked for love. What was it talking about? I really should just ask—
{"If Kang Jiye finds out the truth, she won't die peacefully. You fine with that?"}
"……."
I quietly ate my food and tried to figure out what was going on.
Getting the full picture wasn't hard. Kang Jiye was deliberately not bringing up yesterday's self-harm incident. She was being careful—like someone trying not to poke at a stray dog's wounds.
I closed my eyes in silence.
So that's what this is. Well, if someone starts screaming and hurting themselves, of course you'd worry about their mental state.
"Here, eat this too. Our Pecia's favorite meat dish~!"
I happily accepted the spare ribs Kang Jiye fed me. The melt-in-your-mouth texture nearly made a smile slip out.
This is peak luxury.
Kang Jiye was carefully pulling the meat off the bone for me so my hands wouldn't get dirty. It was a complete contrast to her usual big-sister lectures about not being a picky eater.
…Throw a complete fit on a whim, then enjoy a feast the next morning.
Was this the life of a delicate, beautiful girl?
Come to think of it, she had a point.
I'd been around monsters like Kim Seojun so often that I hadn't noticed, but I actually had quite a few qualities that made people want to dote on me.
If I started scamming people with this trait going forward, life would get a whole lot easier.
"Damn it. If it weren't for those magical beasts."
"Hmm?"
I set down my spoon and looked at Kang Jiye.
"Mom, I have something to say."
"Something to say?"
No matter how convenient a path looks, if it goes against what's right, you have to correct it fast.
This wasn't just about feelings. Abuse something like this long enough, and it always comes back around eventually.
{"What the hell are you doing, you lunatic!"}
I ignored Residue's frantic screaming and spoke.
"I'm… not actually mentally unwell or anything."
"……You're not?"
"No. I can't go into detail, but what happened yesterday was something I did for a specific purpose. It wasn't because I was depressed."
I bowed my head and apologized for causing such a pointless scene. I apologized not just to Kang Jiye, but to Yena and Eldrisa as well.
No matter what, I couldn't make the people I lived with uncomfortable just for my own convenience. This wasn't a joke or anything cute—it was pure malice, plain and simple.
I wasn't going to create any karma.
"Research shows that depression patients often hide their condition."
But then Eldrisa muttered some completely useless medical trivia, and Kang Jiye nodded with a worried look.
"I know."
Kang Jiye gently hugged me.
"Aww, my girl—! It's okay, it's okay. Whether you have depression or not, the love I give my little one isn't going to change."
"No……."
"It's fine. You don't have to say anything."
"That's not what I—"
"Come on— today you don't have to do a single thing. I won't even tell you to eat. Our little one can play when she wants and eat when she wants."
I stared at Kang Jiye for a moment, then answered on the spot.
"Should I?"
Kang Jiye smiled like an angel.
"Want me to carry our little one all the way to bed?"
"Yes!"
I was scooped up like a princess and carried back to the bedroom.
A delicious meal, plus that soft, fluffy feeling wrapping around my whole body—sleep came pouring in almost immediately.
At some point Yena had settled by my pillow and started singing a lullaby.
"Sleep tight, my little one—."
Feeling her tiny hand stroke my hair…… my consciousness sank into deep darkness.
"Wow. I really am an idiot."
A full day had passed.
I still had to deal with the Seventh Order, I still had to make more Party Bears—I had a mountain of things to do! And I'd crumbled under a temptation this pathetic.
Watching me clutch my head, Residue cackled.
{"Did you really think affection was something you could just refuse? You should've recognized what kind of body you're in right now."}
A body that was meant to be cherished.
A body that had inherited the Demon God's laziness.
"Pecia," by her very nature, had a trait that turned the people around her into slaves. Because she was supposed to create a world where she didn't have to do a single thing herself.
For example, refusing one of Pecia's requests was several times harder than refusing anyone else's—and even without her asking, ordinary people felt an urge to figure out what she wanted and give it to her.
That was the true identity of the "Seduction" skill that had appeared before.
"……So you're saying the reason I've been overprotecting you like this might be because of some kind of skill?"
"Yes."
Kang Jiye crossed her arms and chewed over my words.
Anyone could see the current situation was forced. If someone was depressed, you got them professional treatment. Just putting them to sleep indefinitely was not a good choice.
"Then what you said yesterday was true too? That you weren't actually depressed."
"Th-that's right. I'm sorry."
"……."
Kang Jiye spoke with a serious look.
"I see. So, our little one—are you getting enough sleep? Want me to put you to bed?"
"Oh, come on! Have you been listening to anything I said?!"
I cried out in frustration, and Kang Jiye suddenly burst out laughing.
"I'm kidding, kidding. Anyway, I get it. Our little one was perfectly normal all along."
"Hah……."
I let out a sigh of relief. At least she hadn't been completely consumed by the Seduction skill.
I asked,
"So how much am I getting punished?"
"Punish you? Why would I punish you. You're already having a hard enough time."
"Huh?"
"In the end, you've been suffering because of a skill you can't control, right? You could've hidden it, but you told me honestly—so if anything, you deserve a reward. I've done a lot of reflecting myself, you know?"
Kang Jiye cupped my cheeks as she spoke.
"From now on, if anything like this happens, come talk to me right away. I swore I'd raise you as a person, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to ignore what you were born as. Got it?"
"……Yes. Actually, I sold Mom's underwear at a secondhand market."
"I said I'd take it into consideration. I didn't say I wouldn't correct you. Want a taste of the switch?"
And just like that, after a brief stretch of chaos, our household returned to normal under Kang Jiye's firm direction.
At one point Eldrisa looked at me with pure pity in her eyes, but……
Smack!
"Ow!"
"Is that how you look at your little sister?"
Kang Jiye flicked her forehead with a spoon and shut it down.
Eldrisa, scolded at the dinner table for the first time in her life, froze as if time itself had stopped. Looking at her face, I couldn't help grinning.
Clutching her forehead, Eldrisa asked,
"……What exactly is this supposed to be?"
"You've been living here long enough. You should know how to read the room by now."
Eldrisa shot back, incredulous.
"Does that make any sense? Fine, everything else—but why is Her Majesty my little sister?"
Kang Jiye frowned.
"Then with that build, you think she should be the oldest?"
"That's not what I—"
Eldrisa looked my way like she was begging for backup, but I just blinked. Honestly, she was older than me.
Kang Jiye crossed her arms.
"Whether you go by mental age or appearance, you're the big sister. At the Gate it might be different, but at home, you're the oldest. No further objections will be accepted."
"……."
Apparently our speechlessness was hilarious, because Yena burst out laughing.
"This family tree is a total mess!"
"Where did this kid learn to say things like that!"
Smack!
Only after Yena got a forehead flick of her own did the dinner table finally settle down.
That night, I woke up in the middle of sleep.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and said,
"Barging into a lady's room uninvited. Don't you think that's a bit much?"
A shadow in the corner of the room rippled and resolved into the shape of an adult man. Our protagonist had arrived.
"……I just couldn't leave it alone. The Queen of Siphonside staging a self-harm incident?"
Kim Seojun, wrapped head to toe in pitch-black clothes, walked toward me.
"For someone who supposedly hurt herself, you look fine."
I pouted.
"There was just a little misunderstanding. No weird conspiracy or anything."
"I already confirmed that. What I want to know is why you suddenly pulled a stunt that filthy. You—the one who hates even a single bug landing on your body."
"……."
I looked up at Kim Seojun steadily. His eyes were twice as sharp as the first time I'd seen him, and dark circles had formed underneath.
A guy running himself ragged to stop the end of the world wouldn't have come all the way here out of boredom. That meant my outburst had bothered him that much.
He's suspicious of me, sure…… but maybe the one who really wants to cry is him.
A life where he had to keep moving without rest, plagued by nightmares every time he slept. In practice, he was carrying the heaviest burden in the world all by himself.
I thought for a moment, then tossed the words out.
"Dual will."
Kim Seojun's brow furrowed.
"Dual will?"
"The me of right now is split in two. That should clear up a lot of the things you've been wondering about me."
"……!"