Siblings
“Lien? Who's Lien?”
As I blinked a few times, a girl tilting her head came into view. Emerald eyes sparkling between strands of black hair.
“Sleep-talking? It's already broad daylight...”
Sera was staring at me with her eyes wide open.
“You... that hair...”
I stared at her in a daze. Just last night, her hair had been a blazing red, but now it was as black as pitch.
Sera brushed back her hair, which shimmered like obsidian in the sunlight.
“Oh, this?” She replied lightly, as if it were nothing. “Red hair stands out too much. I couldn't just shave it all off, so I went out early this morning and dyed it.”
Sera paused for a moment, then glanced at me cautiously and added, “...What do you think?”
I rubbed my dry face and asked in a hoarse voice, “Where'd you get the money?”
Sera hesitated, then pointed to the desk drawer.
“...I took a little from in there.”
I stared at her without a word. The longer my gaze lingered, the more her shoulders shrank.
Sera averted her eyes and muttered, “...Sorry. I'll pay it back soon.”
I wasn't really angry. Since we'd be living together anyway, I had no intention of letting that eye-catching red hair stay as it was. But still, of all things.
I let out a small sigh and sat up.
“...And what's this?”
The room had been spotlessly cleaned sometime while I slept. The empty bottles scattered on the floor were neatly gathered in one corner. The coat and clothes I'd tossed haphazardly were now hung on a clothesline by the window, and the layers of dust that had built up on the sill were wiped clean. The air, freshly aired out, carried a strangely refreshing scent instead of the stale dust.
“The room was so dirty, so I just tidied up a bit...”
Sera answered cautiously, watching my face.
I turned my gaze to the desk. The piles of papers that had accumulated for years were gone. I'd never said it was okay to touch someone else's things.
“...What about the letters?”
At my low voice, Sera's eyes wavered. She hurriedly opened the cupboard.
“I organized them here... I didn't read any of them. Really.”
Sera made excuses in a shrinking voice. Inside the cupboard, letters bound with string were neatly stacked. There were no signs they'd been opened secretly, but it still didn't sit right with me.
I gripped my throbbing knee and got out of bed. Seeing my expression, Sera clamped her mouth shut and bowed her head.
“...Hah.”
I looked down at her. But every time her slightly trembling black hair entered my vision, the words rising in my throat caught.
She didn't mean any harm...
I sighed inwardly. Then I brushed past her and changed clothes.
“I'm heading out.”
“...Where to?”
Sera's question stabbed into my back, but I didn't answer.
That evening, when I pushed open the door to my usual tavern intending to knock back a few drinks, I couldn't believe my eyes.
“Welcome...”
There stood Sera, tray in hand, her welcoming smile frozen solid. She looked like a thief caught red-handed.
A moment of silence passed. I clutched my stiffening nape and said, “...What are you doing here?”
“W-Well.”
Sera looked flustered for a second, then puffed out her chest and declared proudly, “R-Rent! I need to make money to pay the rent, right?”
“...”
I gaped at her in disbelief.
“No, I mean. Wait. Ugh...”
It was absurd. Didn't this girl have any sense of danger? It had only been a day since she'd barely escaped the thugs chasing her.
She'd talked about rent and food costs, sure, but I hadn't meant she had to cough up cash right away. What could a seventeen-year-old girl do in a shady alley like this anyway? I'd assumed she'd stay holed up in the room until I got back.
“I already talked to the owner. I'm starting work here today.”
I eyed Sera, who was trying to play it cool. Her black hair still looked a bit frizzy, falling naturally to her waist, framing her youthful but distinct features. Whether it was the boss's taste or not, the short skirt barely covering her thighs revealed pale skin still marked with faint bruises.
She was the perfect target for lecherous bastards driven mad by lust.
Damn old pervert.
I sighed for the umpteenth time that day and scanned the tavern. It was packed with mercenaries, thugs, and drunks. To them, a waitress in a place like this was no different from a whore. Plenty of perverts who liked 'em young lurked among them too. What the hell was she thinking, coming to work here...?
Indeed, a few were already giving her sticky looks.
Shouldn't have brought up money.
I pondered briefly, then shook my head. Our funds were tight for two people, and we did need new income.
But not in a place like this...
But now that it was done, there was nothing more I could do. I unconsciously touched the stigma on my cheek, then gave a reluctant nod.
“...Do what you want.”
“Okay, don't worry! I'm pretty quick on the uptake, you know.”
Only then did Sera's face relax into relief, and she began weaving nimbly between the men scattered around the tavern.
I sat in the darkest corner without taking my eyes off her back.
Worry? Who's worrying about who?
“...This is driving me insane.”
A few months passed like that.
The dingy, drab tavern Black Tail had become unrecognizably lively since Sera arrived. Her bold wit and diligent work ethic had quickly won over the customers.
And every day, I sat in that same corner, nursing my drink.
Not to watch over her or anything. At some point, Sera had gotten the boss on her side and strictly forbade me from buying booze by the bottle. Thanks to that, I could only drink a fixed amount each day under her watchful eye while sitting at the tavern.
“Stop drinking so much. It's bad for your health, and you smell like an old man.”
That was what Sera had said one day, snatching the bottle from my hand as we got home.
I gave a wry smile, watching her bustling figure.
Sera was sharp, just as she claimed. When a sleazy customer reached for her ass, she'd swat it away with her tray like a ghost and flash me a grin.
Sometimes the perverts went too far, but their screams were quietly swallowed by the darkness of the alley behind the tavern. By the time counting the bones I'd shattered grew tiresome, Sera had become a sort of mascot among the tavern's regulars.
In short, no one dared touch her anymore.
“Hey, you hear? The barrier at Graves completely collapsed.”
“There? That's a demon den. Everyone's probably wiped out.”
“Almost. But the Saintess was on patrol nearby. One swing of her hand, and the demons melted away. God really watches over us.”
“Knights just eat taxes and do nothing. Without the Saintess, they're useless.”
“Exactly. Us folks can only count on the Church.”
I quietly downed my drink, listening to the rowdy mercenaries.
For months now, ominous news had been pouring in from the empire's fronts. Barriers crumbling in some city, front lines breached and villages vanishing from the map.
“...Knights are useless, huh.”
The booze tasted especially bitter. Their words weren't wrong, which made it worse.
The empire's bulwark protecting the faithful from demons relied entirely on the Church's Holy Barrier Devices. One of the Saintess's main duties was to tour the borders periodically and infuse them with divine power. But...
Lien.
Her divine power was historically immense. Unlike past Saintesses, Lien never needed to leave the palace. From her seat, she could blanket the entire empire.
“Elijah, spacing out again. I said stop drinking.”
Sera snuck up and snatched my glass. She grumbled as she poured the remnants into an empty bottle. Her black hair swayed under the orange lamplight.
“Alright, time to clock out! Shop's closed, so get up. Let's go home.”
Sera sidled up naturally, linking her arm with mine. Her warmth against my arm magically pushed away the noise cluttering my head.
The night air in the alley had grown quite chilly. Sera slowed her pace to match my limp.
“Elijah, knee acting up again? From tomorrow, just one bottle. Deal? If you can't walk later, I'll have to carry you. I'm not strong, you know.”
“...Shut up.”
I grumbled, but Sera only hugged my arm tighter, pressing close. Her warmth revived the senses chilled by the night air.
Before I knew it, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with her home felt perfectly natural.
Back home, we lay side by side on the creaky bed. The tiny room couldn't fit two.
Not long after we started living together, I'd considered getting a small sofa out of concern for her background. But Sera flatly refused.
“Just sleep together. No money for a sofa anyway.”
She'd fled in fear on our first night, but sharing a bed with a man was fine? Yet Sera conked out the moment her head hit the pillow.
Watching her sleep with soft purrs reminded me of the warm days with Lien long ago.
Maybe that's why my nightmares had become less frequent. Lately, maybe once or twice a month—if that.
All thanks to this one, I guess.
Louder and tougher than Lien, but with her own kind of warmth. Now, I felt like I'd miss her if she weren't there.
As I rolled over with those thoughts and closed my eyes—
“...Elijah. You awake?”
Sera's quiet voice came from behind.
“Yeah.”
“...Tch. How's a sleeping person answer?”
Sera sometimes acted spoiled like this. I chuckled and turned to face her.
Looking down, her emerald eyes flickered like candle flames in the dark.
“Hey, Elijah.”
“Yeah.”
After a long silence, Sera looked up at me and said slowly, “...Can I call you oppa?”
I stared silently into her eyes. Faint moonlight from the window lit them up.
I hesitated, then murmured softly, “...Do what you want.”
No sooner had I spoken than Sera wriggled into my arms like she'd been waiting. Her sudden warmth stiffened my body, but I relaxed and roughly patted her head.
“Happy now? Go to sleep.”
“Heehee...”
Sera grinned sleepily, closing her eyes. Even then, she clutched my shirt tight.
Through it, I heard her steady heartbeat. With sleep thick in her voice, she whispered, “Oppa...”
“Yeah?”
“Next week... White Night Festival... come with me... okay...?”
I stroked her head wordlessly. Soon, only soft breathing filled my arms.