A Monday of Many Meanings
September 1st, a Monday, was a date laden with meaning. The beginning of the week, the beginning of a new month, and the beginning of a new season. Clink. Sizzle. Though the calendar declared autumn had arrived, the summer heat showed no sign of retreating, clinging stubbornly from the very morning. Even so, whether it was just a feeling or not, the autumn morning carried a faint hint of coolness.
As always, the sound of pots and pans clattering in the kitchen from early morning carried a warm, familiar note. Today's breakfast menu was a refreshing beef seaweed soup paired with a fried egg cooked to Kain's preference—soft and runny in the center. Ever since the trip to Vivaldi, the portion of rice had doubled, piled high like a mountain in the bowl before being set on the table.
"Mm." Arina tasted a small spoonful of the broth from a side dish. It was perfectly seasoned for herself, but a touch bland for her uncle. Satisfied, she nodded and ladled more soup into the bowl. Switching from soy sauce to salt for the final adjustment, she poured the remaining broth into a basin two or three times larger than the bowl she had just filled. Finally, she took out three packs of seasoned seaweed, placing one on her side and two on the opposite side, then removed her apron and hung it on the chair.
"Uncle! Breakfast is ready!"
After her call, roughly three seconds of silence passed before the sound of a door opening echoed from afar. Had he just woken up? Kain walked in half-asleep, his eyes barely open. His glasses had slid down to the tip of his nose, dangling precariously as if they might fall at any moment.
"Haaah." He yawned widely without covering his mouth and naturally took his seat at the table.
"You're up?"
"Yeah."
As usual, he gave a half-hearted reply to Arina before staring blankly at the table. Spread before him was a lavish spread, the portions having grown noticeably larger since their trip to Vivaldi.
'At first I thought she just misjudged the amount, but…'
Seeing it happen every day, she realized it was no accident. It was clearly deliberate. The portions were even increasing little by little with each passing day.
'Is this what they call food torture?'
Arina was obviously testing how much he could eat. Her behavior reminded him of the time he had spent with Gluttony long ago. The one saving grace was that, unlike Gluttony, she wouldn't attack him with murderous intent just because he left food behind. Well, given Kain's personality, he had never actually left any food uneaten anyway.
"Eat a lot, Kain."
Right after their parents had passed away, when his older sister took responsibility for the household, Kain had never once gone hungry despite the meager side dishes. And he had never complained about those meager meals. He knew how hard she had worked, carving out time from her own schedule to prepare even that simple table. How much effort she had poured in, even if it meant going hungry herself for his sake. That was why he always finished everything placed before him, no matter what it was. Those were some of the few moments that brought a smile to his sister's face each day.
'I guess this is a kind of trauma too.'
Jinxes, routines, or what some called inner demons. Just as Binghu could never escape the guilt toward the people of the nation he had destroyed, Kain still hadn't broken free from the remnants of his deceased sister.
'I really have no right to lecture others.'
He had no grounds to criticize Binghu. As always, his older sister Kayen was truly a damned woman. Even in life, and even after death, she was the only one who could bind him like this.
'They say forgetfulness is a blessing the gods bestowed upon humans.'
It was a famous quote from an ancient philosopher. Kain could relate. If not for his unnecessarily sharp mind, he would have forgotten about her long ago.
"Let's eat."
With that thought, Kain adjusted his slipping glasses and looked ahead. The child who, despite sharing no blood, always reminded him of his sister. Watching her greet him energetically while cutely munching on grains of rice, Kain eventually picked up his spoon.
'Seeing her already in her school uniform, today's the opening ceremony, huh?'
As mentioned earlier, September 1st carried many meanings. The start of a new weekday, the start of a new month, and the start of a new season. In line with all these new beginnings, a new day was about to unfold before Arina as well.
＊ ＊ ＊
Just as there is darkness where there is light, and just as a coin has both heads and tails, when one person enjoys a pleasant morning, someone else is bound to face the worst morning imaginable.
'Damn it.'
In that sense, Jealousy's morning today was the complete opposite of Arina's—it was the worst. Ever since their chance encounter in Vivaldi Territory, Layla Ruby had been sending him annoying texts every single day. Asking if he was okay, if he was hurt. The concern itself wasn't the problem. The real issue was that she kept attaching that tacky name "Hans" to every single message. No matter how many times he told her to stop, she would stubbornly reply, "If I don't do this, you won't answer," until he finally blocked her number in frustration. Yet this morning, a text arrived from a number he had never seen before.
—Hans! You blocked my number, didn't you?!
There was no need to investigate who the culprit was. There was only one person in the world who called him Hans.
'Did she get a new number? Or borrow someone else's?'
His intuition told him it was likely the former. Since he had blocked the device itself rather than just the number, the fact that she could still contact him meant she had probably bought an entirely new phone. Buying a whole new smartphone just because he blocked her… This woman was seriously out of her mind.
'Should I block this one too?'
The temptation crossed his mind for a moment, but before he could act, another text arrived first.
—Don't block me this time! I'll tell Arina everything!
Threatening to tattle to a twelve-year-old girl. It was so childish and petty that it was hard to believe it came from an adult, yet the threat was remarkably effective against Jealousy. If she whined to the young lady like a spoiled child, everything would eventually reach the Master. And then the scolding would come. Something along the lines of "Don't bother the kid for no reason."
'She wasn't like this before.'
A few months ago, the woman had at least respected boundaries. Now she crossed them constantly, like a zookeeper who had confirmed the lion in the cage was harmless. She had realized that no matter how close she got, Jealousy couldn't lash out harshly. And it was true—he couldn't treat her recklessly because she wielded the young lady as a shield.
'She's completely got me by the weak spot.'
The mindset of an entertainer who would rather receive hate comments than be ignored was truly terrifying. Perhaps it was because this was the first time someone had clung to him so desperately just to get his attention that it proved quite effective against Jealousy. Though his heart was filled with negativity, at least he knew he would never forget this woman for the rest of his life.
'Is this what they call hating someone so much it turns into affection?'
He hated her enough to want to kill her, yet the fact that he couldn't was all the more frustrating. In the past, the moment she approached him, he would have peeled the skin off her face without the slightest hesitation. Clicking his tongue, Jealousy twisted Clara's signature pink hair and switched his smartphone to silent mode before slipping it into his pocket.
Anyway, that was the first reason Jealousy's morning was miserable. And where there was a first, there was naturally a second.
"……"
The second reason was the presence of Professor Vivaldi, who had come to the health room early in the morning and was now staring at him in silence. His eyes resembled those of a woman who had just broken up with a lover of over ten years—filled with an inexplicable, deep sorrow. Those eyes, carrying countless stories, conveyed so much to Jealousy without the man needing to speak a single word. And if all those stories could be summed up in one sentence, it would be this:
'Why didn't you come to the concert?'
You promised you would. I even gave you tickets. It wasn't just one person missing—both of you didn't show. Not having anyone come was really too much.
His eyes looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment. Unlike Layla Ruby, who bombarded him with texts daily, Professor Vivaldi had never called or texted even once until today, the day of the opening ceremony, when he simply showed up and sat there in silence. That alone spoke volumes about the depth of his sadness.
"Ahaha, this is bad. He's really sulking."
Professor Karlsen, who had come with Professor Vivaldi and taken the seat beside him, whispered quietly into Jealousy's ear.
"Yeah~ He sure is~"
So what? What did that have to do with him? Jealousy responded half-heartedly, but his inner thoughts were utterly indifferent.
"Even when I explained that we went out because Officer Julia Evergreen requested help, it didn't help at all."
In contrast to Jealousy, Professor Karlsen's expression was deadly serious, as if Professor Vivaldi's anger was a genuine crisis.
"I heard today's school lunch is stir-fried sausage and vegetables. If things keep going like this, Professor Vivaldi might not give you any sausage."
Ah, so that was it. So Professor Vivaldi's value in this man's heart was only that much. No wonder he always clung to Professor Vivaldi like a leech whenever it was time to eat. It seemed his scheme was to mooch side dishes from Professor Vivaldi, who avoided processed meats for health reasons.
'There's someone even worse than me.'
Had the whisper reached Professor Vivaldi as well? Judging by his shocked expression as he stared at Professor Karlsen, he seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Jealousy.
"Haaah."
After a moment, Professor Vivaldi finally broke the long silence with a sigh.
"Yes, I know. There was a big commotion outside during the concert. The news was full of it, so I couldn't not know."
"A few days before that, Professor Karlsen had become acquainted with Officer Julia Evergreen, and after seeing his skills, she asked him for help. I understand all of that."
Some of it was true, some of it wasn't. It was true that he had met Julia Evergreen, but she had never asked Karlsen for help.
"I know full well that blaming the two of you for rushing to help so many people would be my own greed and stubbornness."
No, they hadn't particularly gone there to save people. Jealousy had been deeply involved in the incident, practically a lead actor on a theatrical stage, so he couldn't avoid it. Karlsen had only gotten involved to impress the Death King.
"But I was disappointed."
It felt like inviting all his classmates to his birthday party only for none of them to show up. Professor Karlsen might be used to such things and not care, but for Professor Vivaldi, it was an emotion he had never felt before in his life.
"So for a while, I hated the two of you. I'm truly sorry."
The ones at fault were clearly them. Yet Professor Vivaldi was the one offering an apology first. It was an upright and steadfast attitude, exactly like Professor Vivaldi. At his words, Professors Karlsen and Clara simultaneously looked at each other and blinked.
"Yeah, well. I'll forgive you. Don't worry about it too much."
Then Professor Karlsen smiled brightly and responded. It was clearly one of the things one shouldn't say in this situation.
"Thank you."
Yet Professor Vivaldi thanked him instead. So this was a world where victim and perpetrator had switched places. Watching the two exchange a handshake of reconciliation from a third-party perspective, Jealousy quietly thought to himself.
'If you're done making up, could you please get out of the health room now?'
It was the first day of the new school term. Most students would have arrived by now. Thanks to a barrage of troublesome events hitting him all at once, Jealousy's morning was truly the worst.