Temptation
Have you ever touched a cold metal that sticks to your skin and won't let go? A pitch-black blade so razor-sharp it feels like it'll slice you just by looking at it? Even brushing it once seemed like it would burn like fire. Just bringing your finger near it felt like crimson blood droplets would trickle out, sizzle.
Inside that cold, sharp edge, a fury like boiling lava must be crouching low, waiting for its prey. No matter how tightly it's hidden, I can see it all.
My big sister is truly amazing. Yes, yes, she tried so hard.
The hunting tournament had begun.
Anna appeared in the tournament hall under everyone's gaze, looking utterly serene and composed. The sharp, irritable overreactions from before, the wandering attention that kept drifting off, the harsh words—all those odd behaviors seemed completely cured. She was the ideal princess everyone had hoped for.
The crowd erupted in cheers at the sight of her. The star of the day had arrived. I clapped inwardly too.
Anna, who had entered the hall slowly, soon offered a polite greeting. She admitted she'd been struggling a lot lately but had overcome it thanks to everyone's help. She ended by promising to work hard so it wouldn't happen again. Amid the thunderous applause, she stepped down from the platform.
Normal. Yes, normal suited her better than anything.
Those watching Anna sighed in relief, busy praising her gentle nature. And watching that scene—
"Phew... At least that's a relief. That wild big sis of ours."
"Heehee... Now we can all play together, right?"
"...Yeah, probably. But I'm never forgiving her for making Aris cry!"
Remi still harbored some lingering resentment, but she gazed at Anna with a small smile. She'd been angry, but deep down, she'd worried about her too. Living with that anxiety, only for Anna to show up looking perfectly fine—it was enough to ease her mind. Yes, relax, Remi. Everything's—
fine.
It'll all end with everyone smiling. Happily.
After her speech and greeting, Anna walked straight toward us. A confident stride. A faint trace of unease lingered in her eyes, but her clear gaze—sharper than before—seemed to prove her mind was whole again. Such pure eyes.
The things that had strangled her had crumbled to dust and blown far away. Love, affection, morality, ethics, lingering attachment, pity. Freed from the chains that bound her body, she looked unburdened.
Only one emotion remained there, untainted by the rest.
In the end, it devoured her.
By the time Anna was close enough, I left Remi behind and ran to her. Poof—she enveloped me gently in her arms. Hard to believe this was the same person who'd shoved me away with cold eyes before.
Heehee.
"Anna sis—!! I missed you!!"
"...Yeah, Aris. I've put you through a lot, haven't I?"
"Uh-huh, it's okay! I'm just happy to see you, Anna sis!"
Remi came charging from behind, wailing about me abandoning her. She shook me back and forth, demanding how our bond could be so flimsy, how I could do this to her.
"Eeeek—stooop shaaaking meee—hey, I'd never abandon you, sis~ Really! I'll stick by Aris from now on—fovever! ...Marriage might be a bit much though... Eeeeek!! N-nooo!!"
Remi hugged me—still in Anna's arms—and finally, after so long apart, the three of us were together again. Thump-thump, I could hear Anna's and Remi's heartbeats. In their warm embrace, I closed my eyes and savored the sound.
Soft, familiar hands stroked my hair. Smiling, I looked up. Anna was gently petting my head, her face lit with a smile. Her hands were so cold. Her eyes on me—cold too. Incredibly cold.
A chill that would cling instantly if touched. A grasp that would tear flesh away, impossible to remove without carving out skin. And that—
was touching me now.
Ahh, so cold.
"I'll do better from now on. I'm really sorry about before. I've been reflecting."
"Hmph! Doesn't mean I'll let you off with me and Aris! Right, Aris?!"
"—I like Anna sis! I'm fine with it!"
"Ariiiiis!!!"
Remi looked utterly betrayed. Sobbing, she bellowed promises to treat me better, ready to rip out her heart and liver for me.
I glanced at Anna, then spoke to Remi in a sweet voice.
"Let's forgive Anna sis, okayyy~? Remi siiis... Just for today, exactly 'today'!"
"Ugh... Really just today? Promise!?"
"Yup—!! Just 'one day'!!"
With my soothing, Remi softened right away. Soon we were all laughing, the three of us clinging together in genuine bliss after so long.
I didn't lie. After all, everything ends today.
From afar, our parents watched and let out sighs of relief. The sisters who'd seemed inseparable, on the verge of death without each other, had started drifting apart one day. As the ones closest, Mom and Dad must have been heartbroken.
Couples fight like cutting water with a knife; sisters fight like cutting a knife with water. They'd agonized over mending our bond, and now that we'd reconciled, they probably thought hosting this tournament was the right call. Everything would return to normal, they firmly believed.
Fools.
Remi, Dad, Mom, knights, nobles, teachers—all idiots. Cretins seeing only what they want. What's that if not blind?
People can break overnight, sure. But a broken person snapping back to sanity in a day? That's fairy-tale nonsense. Princes' kisses waking princesses, heroes slaying witches with princesses' aid. Wishing fiercely for something means it's missing from life. Craving happiness means you're unhappy now. Such tales flood the world because reality lacks that beauty.
How could sis, without even a prince's kiss—? You all know it, deep down. That lingering unease, not fully dispelled. Face it, probe it! That doubt.
But you'll turn away from your own hearts. Seeing us three hugging happily, you think no need to worry? Even if afraid, you should've dug deeper. Laziness, arrogance, ignorance.
You'll pay for it.
A typhoon brings torrents of rain and wind, yet at its eye—calm skies, no clouds, no breeze. If the eye shifts and you're cast out—back into the storm.
Kwaaa—scattered like pollen, shattered to pieces, then you'll realize. What went wrong.
"Aris—want to go hunting together?"
"Uh... yeah?"
Anna gazed at me softly.
"I want to apologize personally too... I'm sorry."
"...Huh?"
"Leave Remi with the fathers... Just the two of us..."
The eye of the storm smiled at me. So I smiled back.
Beam.
"—Would that be okay? Aris."
Those eyes, meant for vast landscapes, reflected only me. Remi hugging me, the grass underfoot, distant graceful trees, drifting clouds in the blue sky—all absent from Anna's gaze. In her pitch-black pupils, only my silhouette floated against a void.
Ahh, in the end, she couldn't escape herself. She fled others' shadows, all that tormented her—but her own shadow? Impossible.
Shadows follow. Even in death.
Forever.
"Heeheehee."
I laughed delightedly. Clouds parted; sun emerged behind Anna's head. In the blinding backlight, her face from my view shadowed dark.
Couldn't see her expression. What face was she making? Well, smiling, like me.
Fearing her shadow, trying to flee—she chose to become it. No more trembling if she was the shadow.
But there's a price. Shadows can't exist alone.
That price—a dagger—would return to Anna.
But I love family, my sister, more than anything—so—
"Sure! Let's go hunting, just us!!"
"—Thank you, Aris."
I'll be that price.
Ah, yes. I'm too kind.
And so, the temptation was complete.