Chapter 70: I Was Winning an Argument With My Sister Until Fate Cheated Again.

"What are you thinking so hard about, you bastard?"

A pair of pale hands tapped my shoulder, accompanied by that familiar annoyed but strangely warm voice.

Looking up, I found my elder sister standing there with her usual glare.

Amyra.

Her white hair was tied neatly into a bun while her bright blue eyes somehow seemed even more vibrant than my own.

A wide smile spread across my face.

"When did you get back to the academy?"

I asked as she walked over before taking the seat opposite me without so much as asking as if it had been reserved for her from the start.

"When do you think I got back, you bastard?" She crossed her arms. "It’s been two whole days and you didn’t even try to find me once. Just how cold-hearted can you be?"

"My bad." I shrugged, lowering my head slightly. "I didn’t realize my dear elder sister, the disciple of the eternal Raidance, now needed her little brother to come looking for her instead of reaching out herself."

I knew exactly how to shut down her little act and sure enough, her expression immediately faltered.

"I-I didn’t mean it like that." She hurriedly tried to explain. "And you know it."

"Sure, sure." I waved a hand dismissively. "You are an important person now. I get it. At this point, I would probably need to book an appointment just to meet—"

Bang!

Before I could finish, she slammed both hands onto the table, tears already beginning to gather at the corners of her eyes.

"I said I didn’t mean it like that!"

Her voice came out louder than she had intended, drawing the attention of the students who had gradually begun filling the banquet hall.

The smile on my face only grew wider.

Honestly, getting a reaction out of her never got old.

"Alright, alright, I get it." I raised both hands in surrender. "No need to get so violent. You know you are way too easy to provoke, Sis. Maybe you should meditate more, who knows, it might help with your temper."

"Tch." She clicked her tongue before glaring at me. "You really are too annoying sometimes."

"Isn’t it every good little brother’s job to annoy his elder sister?" I replied without missing a beat.

Honestly, that was something I had once read back on Earth in my very first life. Back then, I never understood why people said that since I was an orphan but now, watching her get so worked up over a few harmless words, I had to admit.

It was surprisingly fun.

***

As time passed, she continued telling me about her training with that short baldy, Solaris. She even mentioned that, despite being his disciple, he treated her almost like his own daughter.

I simply listened, occasionally nodding or asking a question whenever I didn’t understand something but watching her smile so genuinely, made me feel a little lighter.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I had seen her smile that much in my previous life, the only smile I remembered was the one she wore when my sword pierced her heart.

Even then, she had looked at me with that same warm smile and told me that everything was alright.

Now, every time she smiled, that blood-soaked image from my previous life overlapped with the one before my eyes.

I had done everything I could to change her fate this time. I had made sure the Ruinbringers would never marry her off to that incompetent prince, I had made sure she had the opportunity to grow stronger on her own and I even made sure that bastard of a father sincerely apologized to her.

And yet, I still couldn’t stop worrying.

The memory of ending up in Ruan’s hellish extra class despite trying so hard to avoid it surfaced in my mind once again.

I knew it was only a minor incident and it was hardly enough to draw any meaningful conclusions but combined with what [[Eye of Usurper]] had revealed about Roles in when I first unlocked it, was enough for me to understand that even those who possessed no Role at all were still bound by fate.

And that was enough to plant a seed of doubt in my heart about a possibility I didn’t even want to imagine.

What if her fate couldn’t be changed either?

Would I be the one to kill her again?

The very thought made me repulsed as my fists clenched instinctively.

No.

I wouldn’t let that happen in this life.

I was the Demon King, someone who was never meant to walk a predetermined path, so why the hell was I acting as if fate could decide my future?

I slowly calmed my mind once more after taking a deep breath.

I didn’t know what would happen in the future... but I wasn’t going to let Fate ruin my second life in any condition even if it meant going to war against it and for now all that mattered was Amyra was still alive.

"Zen? Are you even listening to me?"

Amyra’s annoyed voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I immediately put on my best innocent smile.

"Yeah, I was listening. So... did His Radiance really make you carry those giant logs up the mountain?"

Amyra pouted.

"Yeah, you know, at first, I couldn’t even lift one but he kept saying it wasn’t about strength and apparently, if I couldn’t balance the weight properly, I would only end up wasting more energy."

"Did it work?"

"Eventually." She smiled proudly. "Now I can carry three."

"Just three?"

I teased again as she responded by lightly punching my arm.

"You know carrying three is already a decent amount for a mage." She puffed her cheek.

"Sure, sure~"

Yeah, there was no point worrying about a future that hadn’t even arrived yet.

It seemed Ruan’s traumatic extra class had messed with my head more than I had realized. I was starting to weave pointless scenarios out of every little coincidence.

But just as I was about to dismiss the whole thing, a figure appeared behind Amyra. He had bright orange hair and blue eyes, as his hand reached toward her shoulder.

My body moved before my mind could even react as I caught his wrist before he could touch her because I recognized that bastard immediately.

He was the twenty-first son of the Holy Emperor and the second son of the Twelfth Queen.

Ruvian Divus Auremont.

The man Amyra had been forced to marry in my previous life and the very same man because of whom...

I had to kill my own sister.

A concentrated wave of bloodlust burst from my body as my fingers tightened around his wrist.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?"