Sealing Our Reconciliation with a Kiss
When I announced that I would say right now what I had promised to explain later, Kyle guided us to a small reception room.
Kyle walked at the front, while Everett trailed behind with a gloomy expression.
I watched Ivetta diligently following Kyle and deliberately fell back a few steps.
“Ed.”
I brushed Everett’s hand lightly, calling his name as I did.
Everett, who had shown no sign of noticing me until I drew near, finally turned his gaze in my direction.
“Lina.”
The Everett who was usually arrogantly self-assured now looked utterly deflated.
Is he still bothered about what happened earlier?
Except for the very beginning, this was the first time Everett had ever raised his voice at me. It’s fine, really. I had wondered why he was getting so involved in the Emperor’s affairs, yet seeing him look so downcast made my chest feel heavy.
Everett noticed me studying his mood and forced the corners of his mouth upward into a smile. Even under the fading moonlight, the smile looked heartbreakingly fragile.
My heart gave a painful twinge.
Mom always said it was fine as long as a man looked cool, but once he started looking cute it was dangerous, and if he looked pitiful, it was game over.
Right now, Everett looked both cute and pitiful to me. I wasn’t into men who held grudges after a minor disagreement, but Everett was exactly my type.
I admitted it cleanly to myself.
I’m done for.
I beamed at him and took his hand again.
“Ed.”
When I stopped and called his name, Everett halted as well. I made sure Kyle and Ivetta were far enough ahead, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
Chu.
It was still childishly innocent, closer to a peck than a real kiss, but it was our second one—our lips actually touched.
“Let’s make up.”
I watched life flood back into Everett’s marble-like face, my own cheeks burning, and tossed the words out casually.
“W-what are you…?”
Everett, who had finally caught up with the situation, stammered and covered his mouth with his hand. His face flushed bright red, as if it might explode.
“Why are you asking about something like that!”
I was just as embarrassed. I whispered the scolding into his ear, then strode ahead briskly, as if I had never slipped back at all. I cooled my face diligently in case Ivetta and Kyle looked behind them.
It was quite a while before I heard footsteps following me.
Once we arrived at the reception room and took our seats, Kyle looked at me and Everett in turn. His gaze lingered especially long on Everett—like the look he gave me whenever my mischievous twins got into trouble.
For a second I worried we had been caught, but since Kyle didn’t have eyes in the back of his head, he obviously couldn’t have seen. I decided to brazen it out and pretend I had only been imagining things.
“What I wanted to say was…”
The moment I brought up the main topic, Ivetta—who had already heard the outline from me—flinched and stiffened. She tried to shrink backward as if she wanted to run away, but since she was sitting on a soft sofa, her body simply sank deeper into the cushions.
Kyle observed her reaction with a careful, measuring look.
“What you wanted to say?”
He then focused on my words. Everett seemed to have left his soul back on that roadside earlier and wasn’t listening properly, but that was fine.
After all, Kyle is the one who will pass the message to His Majesty. He’s the only one who needs to hear this.
I glanced once at Ivetta and explained my plan again. As I expected, Kyle didn’t care at all that Ivetta was the illegitimate child of the Robertus family. He only considered the feasibility of my proposal.
In the original story, neither Kyle nor the Emperor ever paid attention to who Ivetta’s family was.
Since the Emperor’s other close aides had already accepted Beth’s existence, there probably wouldn’t be strong opposition this time either.
Becoming a simple ally and being welcomed as Empress are two different things, after all.
If the Emperor knew in advance that Ivetta was a Robertus by blood, there would be less resistance once they were together. From a long-term perspective, it wasn’t a bad stepping-stone strategy.
“Not bad at all, is it?”
Kyle examined the button I had handed him as if appraising a gem and gave his assessment.
“I will speak to His Majesty myself.”
Kyle spoke while looking at the painting behind Everett.
“He really ought to hear this properly.”
For the briefest moment, that same look from earlier—the one he used when my twins caused trouble—flickered in Kyle’s eyes. It vanished quickly.
Kyle, who had refocused on the conversation, opened his subspace. What he took out was the magical paternity tester.
I have no idea why he keeps that in there, but it’s perfect timing.
Kyle was, after all, a collateral member of the Robertus family.
It’s called a paternity tester, but it reacts to any blood relation.
Since Ivetta was also distantly related to Kyle—just like Beth—the tool would activate. It was far more efficient than waking Beth, who was probably sound asleep right now.
Kyle placed the magical tool on the reception table and then produced a silver needle.
It was needed to draw blood from the subjects to activate the device.
“It’s meant for testing whether something is poisoned, but this is a brand-new one that has never been used.”
Kyle repeated the exact same line he had used on the day I signed the Blue Hawk admission contract and handed a needle to Ivetta.
“Just prick your fingertip and let a few drops fall.”
He even added an explanation in case Ivetta didn’t know how to use it.
“Ah, yes.”
Ivetta squeezed her eyes shut tightly and pricked her fingertip with the needle. After a few drops of her blood fell onto the tool, Kyle added his own. Then he infused it with mana.
A pale blue light bloomed from the tool.
Reaction: Positive.
It was the response that appeared when a blood relation was confirmed.
When it reacts with Beth, the blue light will probably be much deeper.
“There are no missing relatives on my mother’s side, so this must be correct.”
Kyle spoke as he put the tool back into his subspace. His gaze flicked briefly toward the painting behind Everett before returning.
“Let’s just start processing the documents right away. We should finish everything today.”
“You don’t need to report to His Majesty?”
I asked to confirm because his attitude had changed from a moment ago.
“No, it seems unnecessary.”
Kyle answered as if it were no big deal. Then he called out to Everett.
“Lord Rohas.”
Everett was lost in thought and didn’t react to his own name.
“Lord Rohas!”
Kyle called again, raising his voice slightly this time. Only then did Everett realize he was being addressed.
“What?”
His voice was hoarse, so the end of the word came out clipped.
Kyle looked at him and smiled brightly.
“Could you bring Beth here?”
Everett, who had been somewhat dazed, furrowed his brow. He seemed to think he had misheard. But after a moment, once the words registered, his expression cleared. He stood up, saying he would return soon.
His footsteps as he headed out were heavier than usual. Like someone who was angry.
“So she’s my half-sister, right?”
Beth, who had been summoned shortly after, listened to Kyle’s explanation with a calm face that said she had been expecting this.
After confirming their blood relation with the magical paternity tester, Beth—still looking half-asleep—obediently signed the documents Kyle presented for “recognition” and the bestowal of a title.
Kyle took the papers from her and hurriedly left the reception room.
“Are you all right, Beth?”
She was so nonchalant that it actually worried me. Could she be shocked by the sudden appearance of a half-sister?
“Of course I’m fine. I’ve seen this kind of thing plenty of times.”
Still half-awake, Beth referred to Ivetta as “this kind of thing.”
Timid Ivetta seemed to think Beth hated her and shrank back.
“Beth’s way of speaking is just like that. She doesn’t dislike Ivetta.”
I defended Beth’s tone the same way the Blue Hawk members had done for me.
Beth, who apparently didn’t want to give Ivetta a bad impression, quickly corrected herself.
“No, what I meant was that there was another illegitimate child of Marquis Robertus. All the others are dead now, though. A younger sibling is a first for me.”
Only then did Ivetta’s shoulders relax a little.
Well done, Beth.
I praised her in my heart, then corrected one fact she had gotten wrong.
“Actually, Ivetta is the older sister.”
Even if the difference in their birth dates was only a few months.
“Why is she the older one? She’s so tiny!”
Beth cried out as if it were unfair.