A Sleepless Night for All
Meanwhile, Kiene had arrived at the Valentine estate.
“What brings you here… Kiene?”
The head of the Valentine family, Karian Valentine—Kiene’s father—greeted her in a frail voice. His face was etched with such deep worry that he looked a full ten years older than his actual age.
“What about Kien…?”
When Kiene asked after her younger brother, Karian’s expression revealed an anguish he couldn’t hide.
“No change… If anything, he seems even worse.”
Karian’s body trembled with the crushing helplessness of a father who could do nothing for his own child.
If Logue was truly right…
Kiene clutched the Maria’s Holy Relic Sane had given her and made her way to her brother Kien’s room.
Kien lay gaunt and hollow on his bed. A priest summoned from the temple sat beside him, but the man’s grim face suggested there had been no improvement. Sacred light poured from the priest’s hands, wrapping around Kien—only to vanish as if devoured by darkness.
“I have tried every means at my disposal… but it appears my power is insufficient.”
The priest’s voice was heavy with grief. Kien’s mother, listening nearby, fell even deeper into despair. Kien himself remained deathly pale, eyes closed. He looked like a corpse, yet the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he still clung to life.
…But that breath would likely cease before long.
Just as everyone had begun to accept that Kien’s death was imminent, a girl with pink hair—Kiene—stepped into the room. She drew out an elegant mirror that gleamed with a soft luster and turned its surface toward her brother.
“Kiene… what is that?”
Her mother’s puzzled question had barely left her lips when radiant light burst from the mirror and enveloped Kien. The glow flowed like gentle waves across a sunlit sea.
The brilliant light surged like rippling waves, driving away the darkness that had consumed him.
Kien’s shallow, fading breaths grew stronger, steadier, full of life once more. Color returned to his once-pallid cheeks, and his eyes regained their former sparkle.
“…Sister Kiene…? What about the Academy… why are you here…?”
At last Kien called his sister’s name in a trembling voice.
I was definitely… dying, wasn’t I?
Everyone present—including Kiene, who had performed the miracle herself—stared in disbelief.
“……Kien!”
Overcome with emotion, Kiene threw her arms around him. Startled at first, Kien soon wrapped his own arms tightly around his sobbing sister, holding her close.
“Thank you… Sister.”
After his condition improved, Kien recovered his old vigor as if he had never been ill. In fact, his already exceptional holy power seemed even stronger than before. Born the second son of a count, Kien had displayed such prodigious holy power from birth that the family head personally requested the temple take him in for training. The mysterious plague that struck him had begun after he joined an expedition of adventurers the temple had dispatched on a mission.
“Don’t worry. Your brother will be fine.”
So Logue really was right…
Kiene recalled what Logue had told her. The way he had stroked her hair while she cried and confidently declared that her brother would be all right. Her heart gave a sudden, inexplicable flutter.
…?
That night, the strange pounding in her chest kept her awake for a long time.
“Brother! Come back to the mansion! If Father learns about your condition, he’ll definitely allow you to return!”
Lidia clutched desperately at Logue’s collar, eyes pleading.
Unable to meet that gaze directly, Logue deliberately looked away.
“I’m sorry. But after reading the letter that was in my room, it seems I’ve already been disowned by the family. Besides, I have things I must do at the Academy.”
What Logue meant by “things to do” was preventing the catastrophes that would soon strike the Academy. The Homunculus incident was imminent. If left unchecked, countless people would die just as they had in the original story. He had no time to return home and rest.
“What could possibly be so important… when your body is like this…?”
“…I’m sorry, Lidia.”
Seeing his resolute expression, Lidia lowered her head with a sad nod.
Good, she seems to understand…
“The truth is, my memories are slowly coming back. It probably won’t be long before I remember everything about you too, Lidia. I’m sorry that all I can ask is for you to wait a little longer.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Lidia buried herself in Logue’s arms.
“No… Brother… Even after losing your memories, you’re still so kind… You really are the brother I know…”
Sane shot Logue a look that clearly said she found the whole act ridiculous.
Lidia cried in his embrace for a long while before finally giving up on dragging him back to the mansion.
“Brother… I’ll come visit again soon…!”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay going alone? Want your sister to walk you back?”
Sane offered to escort her, but Lidia insisted she didn’t want to cause any more trouble and returned to the mansion by herself. She was probably worried her family would be anxious since she had left without saying anything.
“To think someone that sweet shares the same blood as you… Are you sure she’s your real sister?”
Thwack.
Logue delivered swift retribution for Sane’s nonsense.
“Ow!! I’m sorry!! I was joking, joking!!”
“But why did you lie? You didn’t actually lose your memories, did you?”
Sane asked, several new lumps now sprouting on her head. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
…Well, it’s technically true that I don’t remember anything.
Didn’t people who got possessed by novels usually regain the original owner’s memories? Logue found himself resenting whoever had dragged him into this world.
If they’d at least given me the damn backstory…
Having only seen Logue’s behavior from the original story, he had no idea how to handle situations like this. When he first met Serein, all he knew was that the original Logue had threatened and hurled abuse at her—he didn’t know the exact details.
Maybe it’s better to just keep pretending I have memory loss…?
If he stuck with the “fragmented memories” setting, it would be easier to explain why his personality had suddenly changed. There were plenty of stories where someone lost their memories and became an entirely different person. It was a stretch, but if he sold it well, it could make for a decent excuse.
Deciding to run with that story for now, Logue answered Sane’s question.
“…I really did lose my memories. But bits and pieces are starting to come back.”
“Huh?”
“I remember things about the Submission Spell and the brand, but I can’t recall how I obtained that information… Would you believe something like that?”
“……It’s a little hard to believe.”
Sane stared at him with clear skepticism. Even Logue had to admit it was a sloppy excuse. Still, it should buy him some time to keep covering his tracks.
…Though there would be no covering for events that hadn’t happened yet.
“Believe it or not, that’s up to you. But I can at least swear I never made a contract with the demon race like you suspect.”
“…I wasn’t suspecting you, you know…”
Sane whistled innocently, clearly caught red-handed. Logue briefly considered adding one more lump to her head, but decided to let it slide since she had helped him.
…I hope Kiene managed it okay.
Since he hadn’t used the relic on her brother himself, he felt a twinge of anxiety. If she had been too late…
“You definitely delivered that mirror-like relic, right?”
“Are you doubting me…? I ran into your little sister when I gave it to her!”
“…Sorry.”
“I was just teasing, but if you react like that… Anyway, I handed it over properly, so stop worrying. She took it and ran straight off.”
It seemed handing it over had gone smoothly. All that remained was to hope Kiene hadn’t been too late.
Outside the window, the sun was slowly sinking. Logue tried to stand up so he could leave Sane’s room, but a wave of excruciating pain slammed through his entire body and he collapsed back down.
“…Just sleep here. I’ll sleep outside.”
His body was in no condition to argue. The side effects of the Transcendence Potion seemed to grow worse the more violently he moved after using it. Even after a full day had passed, the pain was still this intense. It looked like he would have to impose on Sane’s home for the night.
“At least let me be the one to sleep ou—”
“Tsk.”
Sane cut him off and walked out of the room. She really seemed determined to sleep outside.
Sorry… Now that I think about it, this is my first time sleeping in a girl’s room.
Until now he had been too sick to notice, but including his previous life before possession, this was the first time he had ever slept in a woman’s room.
The blanket that presumably belonged to Sane carried a pleasant scent. His heart strangely fluttered.
Pervert… Getting worked up over something like this.
Reproaching himself, Logue closed his eyes. It didn’t feel like sleep would come easily tonight.
. . .
Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve let a man sleep in my room…
It wasn’t just a man—this was the first time she had ever let anyone into her house at all. …Including cooking for someone.
Logue was currently sleeping in the very room she had used until yesterday. Just acknowledging that fact made her heart pound for some reason.
…I hope it doesn’t smell weird or anything?