Chapter 107: Engagement Ceremony (2)
JMAJvKAfter everything was done at Findias, Korin and his group returned to the Arden Family. Although Korin quickly got better thanks to his regeneration ability, Alicia and Lunia required some time to recover their health.Q10
394dH0“By the way, you are really terrible at cutting apples.”UUwrvmi
7sSEkpD“Hmm… I’m trying my best.”aiIL
Z5eWsoAThree days after returning to the headquarters of the household, Alicia was looking after Lunia. There was supposed to be someone else looking after her but Alicia volunteered for the task, saying she wanted to do it herself.GCk
63C6“Sister… How are you feeling?”98f
GHo0z0“I can handle it thanks to the elixir. Where exactly did you get something so precious? Even we only have a few in our household.”0EZ
IA1H“Uhh… I think it’s better for you to not know that.”07FKF
WPadKShe couldn’t tell her that it was made by refining the blood of the girl with water-colored hair who was staying behind in the guest room. Occasionally, Alicia had to taste-test a few things that were made from her blood, and was thus aware of the true identity of the elixir.tFiD
vgU“More importantly, I saw you have had quite the improvement.”OBQZwPL
RQeNsxa“R, really? Hehe…”TwFmG
Z8r06Alicia felt good after hearing a compliment from none other than her sister.LzB7
rpkSCkM“You were inexperienced in many aspects during the festival but it looks like your foundations are getting more and more solid. Keep it up.”rODt
sz5ps“Thank… Huh? Festival?”DMy8
Nhm8“…”k9tC6FD
FNAOO“Sister. Were you there at the festiva…”fIsG
HJ5kXRN“The apple’s very salty.”X7rj9
BJ2“Sorry?”shx3F
81pJ“Cut them again.”OQK
TLeUy“O, okay… By the way, Sister, did you come to the fes…”QNGDO
AXQNz“Hurry up and cut them. What are you doing?”QVvcn
CNAQ7oBAs if she wasn’t keen on replying to her question, Lunia kept changing the topic. Seeing that resolute attitude of hers and a slight flush in her ears, Alicia gave her a calm smile for the first time in a long time.DY60pBH
ed1eAY“Umm… Sister. Thank you.”jFp5Bii
RCYJd“…”Vog6v
AIQO“Thanks for saving me, and blocking the attack…”6v0x
84RgShe carefully showed her gratitude to her sister, which she hadn’t been able to do until now.Bpg4Z
kBuVAUT“So that is what you were talking about.”YGx0zI
0s3JHowever, what she got in return was a cold response. Alicia was about to shrink from her cold attitude as usual but…976boN4
kH5“You do not need a reason for an older sister to save their sister.”rdUV3kX
qTd“What?”n5QpDg6
sPc3XO“What is your last name.”DF8on
7WwKSa“A, Arden.”evZYR
SuJdH“Right. And what is mine?”aNNI
vrM“Arden…”1kX2ZKo
tZ0fQi“What is our relationship?”Gaxn
mtx2mn“…Sisters?”zcRI
qnx5Ln“Do not cower when telling the truth. Make your back straight and open your shoulders out wide. You are saying the obvious, so what is there to not be confident about?”QRYE
slgm“But…”RvAi8hR
4h4nIkAlicia had been a sinner from birth.0AIL
GFbXShe was the proof of adultery. She was the nuisance of the family and an illegitimate child threatening the position of the rightful heir.zaD
DdQBy what right could she talk about them being sisters?UGh
3ghKrsAlicia thought that everything had changed when she first cut a person and was named as one of the successor candidates by Garrand Arden.WyT1KuL
vHUoLR“I am your older sister, and you are my younger sibling. That is an unchanging fact that will stay true no matter what happens.”8zWORA
fS9BdxZ“Ah…”UpGrh
I1JvU4c『No, it won’t. The bond between you and Lunia won’t be severed even if you die.』JC3
xYGq8Hearing that from Lunia reminded her of something Korin had said in the past.GYkG
5sVAlthough they weren’t true blood-related siblings, and even though they were competitors trying to steal something from one another, Lunia was telling her that their relationship would never change, and that she would stay as her sister no matter what.nf3NXZ
XchCG3C“Are you… alright, though? I might steal from you, Sister.”kMXex
92YXNP“Huhu… Huhahaha…!”Lm9sbhc
D5fInstead of the serious reply that she was expecting, Lunia returned a hearty laughter which was rare considering how level-headed she usually was.nNX7Q
4Ky7Y“S, Sister?”7RjaEf
YG20e“So you have finally reached a point where you think you might steal from me, huh. What an incredible improvement.”yodVzB
4MOCaQHearing that made Alicia realize something. Alicia had never been confident in herself. Even after being named as a future successor candidate alongside Lunia, she didn’t dare assume that she could one day become the head of the family.mMMjO
NdRIt was because Lunia, her sister, was like a heavenly being far out of reach. That was what everyone told her and that’s what she had believed in as well.jIXZgN
ax4E“Of course, I have no plans of simply watching mine get snatched away. But what if I do get mine stolen? That just means I was not good enough.”LhL
fkNmXBLike the heroic person she was evaluated to be, Lunia did not hide her competitiveness. The fact that she was able to see such a side of her sister was surprising but at the same time, it made her happy.zwINPm
uJwIt made her think to herself that she had grown to a point where her older sister was considering her a worthy foe.aZh2cml
M6635“However, I will not be losing to any immature kids. After all, it looked like he was fond of mature women.”mIUi1
hXPp“Huh? Who’s he?”aOXHV
N4DvIjDWhat was she talking about?5nch
cjjJTXBAlicia wondered for a bit, but after quickly realizing who she was talking about, her cheeks started to turn deep red.yzTgU
WHySkd6“N, no! That’s not what I meant!”0VodMT
ZKLH8uL“Well, good luck. Just letting you know, the ceremony will be in a week’s time.”kYYAy1Z
CMjd“I’m not joking! That’s seriously not what I was trying to say!”Z7PBcnY
pqYyThe older sister leisurely ignored the frantic denials of her younger sister.hmjtZxL
wiGXbtI****0Zld0F
M1HdIt was in the middle of a meal with Marie and Hua Ran, while enjoying the great reception of the Arden Family.yptah
4Jn“Oh right. I’m getting engaged by the way.”cByxp
BeADCI said that during the meal after realizing that I should probably tell them that.mV3ZUeQ
L0eNOs“W, what… What did you just say, Korin?”dgPZ
ckRv“Engaged…?”yyW
3VXL8One of them dropped the boiled potato in their hands while the other crunched the fish bones in their mouth.ze5
b9zfn“I’m going to get engaged with Miss Lunia. In about a week’s time, I believe.”L8Hr
XKb“W, wait. Korin? You’re getting engaged? With Miss Lunia?”fw4Pv2
FVQk“This person that’s getting engaged with oppa… Miss Alicia’s older sister, right?”T8ciP9f
Bv4Vmu“Yeah. We were all busy so I don’t think we had a chance to introduce ourselves. Well, now’s the chance.”FlDv4Cw
zfyasyThe door creaked open to the side, as a beautiful lady wearing a martial art uniform walked into the room.HYa4
5IHQio“Lunia Arden.”aAj
lb1r“…”XpINe
YIQ“…”RZ2R
C4HrBU2The two of them blankly gazed at Lunia. They all… looked awestruck but that was nothing strange, because Miss Lunia was quite a cool-looking person after all!Z5q
aJnCe9ODespite her injuries, Lunia walked in a straight posture before gently sitting down next to me.EEp
qNN“I heard you are the peers of my partner.”zNLbJ6
I6R“P, partner…?”l8XQx
utbM“…”RJXoZT9
0DllMLunia deeply gazed at them before letting out a grin and pulling me closer towards her.NhXAG
Ph72tow“…Ah.”DdG
V9WvsBhMarie dumbfoundedly looked at me as if genuinely hoping for an explanation.H37gZN
8OLo5NX“Umm. You see…”Cxdi
emU4“After a week, there will be an engagement ceremony between my fiance and I. If the oldest daughter of the Dunareff Family and a sister of the Grand Chapel of Zeon are willing to serve as the bridesmaid or the best man, the Arden Family will gladly welcome your attendance.”H2Dq
lvBmr6l“…”U2v
Ji6f“…”r3k
FBvCfThere was a deathly silence filling the room.SOnZly
9omSTkrWhat was going on?4dXe
7jSI didn’t even do anything wrong but I had a feeling that I had to get up and apologize for something. However, I also got a gut feeling that doing that would only make things worse…LjahcQ5
YAa7“S, since when…”yR1J
qyri7s“As for that, I can explain.”Qauc4
rKDKYI then started talking about the story that Lunia and I had settled with. On the outside, we were known to have fallen in love at first sight and in the middle of a heated relationship.TbHj
lSGrWNOf course, I had to tell them the truth later on but a little joke couldn’t hurt. I was looking forward to their dumbfounded expressions.wZet3
2kgR8p2Hehe. I guess you can say this is a type of prank!sPX
mAapdsw“That was when it all began. Miss Lunia and I fell in burning love.”4oQR
INNMrC“Seeing his upright personality in spite of his young age, I could not help but fall in love.”3i6d74
p9eACkAfter seemingly seeing through my intention, Miss Lunia helped out with my prank. She really did have a slightly mischievous side to her, didn’t she?OuzkI
J9G2F“…”UZVZfRX
FzyOE00Marie and Hua Ran were turning more and more stiff.Fyp
HolDAhh. My acting skills were something to be feared. Maybe I had the talent of a prank youtuber. If only I realized my potential back on Earth!17ycm
aTfqJX2“And on that night of full moon, we confirmed our feelings for each—”jDQpP
GSbm“I’m leaving.”XBYZr
lKbbTThat was when Marie suddenly stood up from her seat. It was strange, considering how she was usually always polite and relaxed.rA6KYNc
c2H“Huhh? Senior, where are you going?”Ku2pzp
fHX“…”sP3o
73KCw5She turned around with a chilly gaze. It was when I was standing there, slightly bewildered from seeing such a cold look in her eyes for the first time.6oog
q2ILIM“…100 years.”i2l
DXYyffAfter saying something that was difficult to understand, Marie walked out of the room.PORy
oyYB1“What?”1v8sR
lYnWhat in the hell was the problem in our conversation just then? I was going to continue the prank for just about 5 minutes before saying, ‘Tada! That was a joke!’ but the actress suddenly left the filming site!x6VX
Yk1YI wasn’t sure what was going on but I had to undo the misunderstanding at least. I had to tell her it was all a joke and that it was because of an engagement contract to help Lunia—7k8SbR
lNuL3Tj“Uhk… Huhuk…!”uDt
ASG356“R, Ran?”Ws13
EV8l3Oh no.MK0A
Rp4XnTRan had a look on her face that was on the verge of breaking out into tears while forcing herself to congratulate me.MvuTj
zObRofq“C, congr… Oppa… Umm… Congrat… Why… I hope you… Huuk…”SJPiq
C79QgslIn the end, she couldn’t continue her words properly and her words ended up being squashed down to pieces.XYcSfdy
Jz1“W… why…”ZRNr
pPSSeeing the drops of tears flowing down her cheeks, I suddenly realized what I had done.P44X34
tzlJIt was very inconsiderate of me to do that. Ran was a girl who had been telling me that she liked me, and that she sincerely wanted to marry me.GjmkgEz
LWmnqANBecause of her childish impression, I thought it would just be a passing memory of first love, but talking about engagement right in front of her eyes was still way too inconsiderate of me!!jVn
tzRuMKNo no no! It was a prank – a prank! Sorry, it’s my bad!JcjIp2P
jpNzpwx“Ran. That was just a—”XQX2wn
U4qR6She vanished from the place without leaving anything behind. Because of the physical capabilities of a Heavenly Yaksha, I didn’t even have the time to chase after her.QF7q
kndM“—Prank… I was joking…”BCg
FtFUOty“What a sinful man my fiance is.”8ox3vm
UHQBsg9“Ahh… How do I fix this?”GSINO
CaVl4“Who knows.”KIj6
wa8LqBwLunia returned nothing but a mischievous smile.CqQPv8
XE1d****IEQBMai
9KpwD4In the end, I couldn’t find both Marie and Hua Ran until nighttime. I was going to undo the misunderstanding immediately after coming across them, but the problem was that I had no idea where they were.cIrcpK7
VUFzL6t“Haa… I’m going to do a ‘dogeza[mfn] Dogeza: Getting down on one’s knees and driving one’s head into the ground in a show of apology.[/mfn]’ first thing when I see them.”rW9
W2dGMAThey probably weren’t going to stay outside forever, so I had to wait until I saw them tomorrow during mealtime and talk it out.QF5
AYaFaOFor the time being… I put that aside and opened my system window with limited access.xcr
q2KSH『Divinity of the Sun – Korin Lork Airgetlam.』
– You have acquired the Light of the Sun.ItgqD3
qBXll4H– The Sun will protect you while it is up.EYW
3lwThe Sun, Claiomh Solais.W1lFw
5zJIt was the weapon that Eochaid Bres, one of the King’s subjects, had been using in the last iteration.pUoQFk
w6sKing of Beauty, Eochaid Bres.18JPJd
Ia57It had been a very drawn-out battle last time.qFWXdu
lirrfjA battle against Claiomh Solais was one of the climaxes even back in ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱.D4Mw
To2kThe three phases of Eochaid Bres’s boss fight went from Concentrated Sun to Materialized Sun and Compressed Sun. The power of the mighty Sun was essentially the greatest of all time.JF6cf
7heth1If not for Park Sihu, who monopolized all the hidden events and exceeded the limitations of a normal player, no one would be able to fight toe-to-toe against the Sun. However, even Claiomh Solais had a detrimental weak point and that was that it was way too powerful.iNyWfiB
L1gDkJust like what happened on the floating island, even the Concentrated Sun had been swallowing mana up like crazy.dvNZ
VEymAs expected from an item for boss fights, it was a challenge to use properly without connecting it to a specific leyline and having almost an infinite mana supply.1Go
vOVrJ‘Well, that’s fine. Claiomh Solais is powerful enough with just the passive blessing alone.’g5u4gKy
zhhITO『Blessing of the Sun』
– As long as you are under sunlight, no flames and heat of the world will be able to injure Airgetlam.xL2DXu
oLX– You accumulate Power of the Sun proportional to your mana capacity (Current Mana Capacity: Lower Medium 7,320)1VMa
VGxTAkThe key power of the Blessing of the Sun was the complete resistance to heat and flames. It wasn’t an overstatement to say that any fire attack would be meaningless as long as I had Claiomh Solais and I would never feel hot again either.UtF
sSG8zConsidering the amount of heat that was being emanated out of Claiomh Solais every second, it was a necessary blessing to have.kGWOfmH
DtfDHuThe key was to accumulate the Power of the Sun. I had long tested in the last iteration the potential of the Power of the Sun with a nigh-infinite amount of mana to play with.R4O
d6bOLi‘Compared to the last iteration, Valtazar has lost a great number of his minions.’7XK
6wL703pI had dealt with Fermack during the incident of King of Iron Mountain and although it was by pure coincidence, killing the Sword Fiend here was the best result I could have ever hoped for.USSSI
P7U9J1And finally, even the Sun that was supposed to belong to Eochaid Bres was now in my hands. Without the Sun in his possession, Eochaid Bres would become a much easier foe to defeat.KTCEGZ
bP95NBesides, even though we didn’t have the player, I now had incredibly reliable teammates by my side.Zhs
o8CRAlicia had become stronger much faster than in the original storyline. In fact, she became even stronger now and Marie, who was supposed to have disappeared from the annals of history, was also with me.fnS1p78
hU8yZOn top of that, there was even the boss character that was on the same level as the Sword Fiend—asZO6A
H5yTYD4– Knock knock!rlSef
AkqO“Who is it?”2gq
mxnb“It’s me, oppa.”e7YVu
w9ioHeavenly Yaksha, Hua Ran.8IChk
hXvcShe was also on my side, which made for an outstanding lineup.WUDpjSn
2FirnFirst, I had to clear up the misunderstanding though.bMg16T
atNIztD– Creak!5F384q8
46F7PThe door slid open and Ran walked inside while wearing Arden-styled pajamas.NniHD
3QMHua Ran always wore black nun clothes and they looked great on her but now that she was in her Ran-mode, she also looked nice in this type of white traditional pajamas.xqvv
rJOaL“So, what’s wrong?”lYRFq2O
Msee“…”eZg
9d2WWithout replying to my words, the blue-eyed girl quietly walked into my room before lying down on my bed.An0ycj
QtWUu“I’m sleeping here,” she said.PC9
gJwg95“…Are you the same as Hua now?”PLZ2YEV
beWI3QJust like what Hua did before, Ran did something as audacious as sleeping in the same room as a man, which went against Confucian teachings.IMOTSn4
Q9qYYvX“…Alright.”HTVVku
aiPtwI had to resolve the misunderstanding and coax the two girls so I tried to have a chat with them.70oeR
uBn8RH“Ran. I have something to…”zQp
dPdq22“I don’t want to speak with you, oppa.”zudaxZ
fKhivKt“Uhh…”bAViac
a1IVYI was momentarily struck speechless by her cold tone of voice but… that was natural considering how I bragged about my fiance in front of a girl that sang songs about marrying me…1LCP
I8vaES“Alright. Let’s lie down first.”YKGM
n2aPL9The coldness of the winter had yet to go away. After giving her a thick cotton blanket, I laid myself down on the bed.zvyw
tMrH“…”IPyXdi
XwA“…”Hlzh
eMbyZTPWe shared a moment of silence on the bed. In this dark room where the moonlight was the only source of light, we gazed deeply at each other, so much so that we could spot every twitch of our lips.mec2
XOICl2IThe first one to break our silence was Ran. After running her thin fingers through my hair and lifting them up, she heaved a deep sigh.W3zpCG
Ejb“You had a lot of injuries. Are you okay?”ODX
0ReLzj“I have regeneration. Look. I have the same skin as before, don’t I?”aPgHaUE
zcOMaqw“…No, it’s different. Completely different.”jlwfJ6
lgKoFCWith a sad smile on her face, she gently stroked my fringes.XphVpE
8QS“I told you to not get hurt.”T0WTNd
dsJSs“Huh? Y, yeah you did.”9LVWEAX
p1rYGg4“When you get hurt, oppa, it hurts both Hua and me. If you waited until we came…”UUIyvJ
DsRaQj“I didn’t have time. Sorry.”Mh6
iEVzd“No. It’s our fault for being late. If not for that illusion…”8SVpxKS
JShgP10“Illusion? Oh~ right. What did you see?”9Dc
ilH“It was an illusion of you marrying someone else, oppa.”ybRM5
knCuGl– Cough!rt8E
ZjVhuweWhat kind of illusion was that…?Mg8
a7QA“In there, you looked very happy, oppa. As if there was no room for me to do anything…”F4um
fZYxgP“That’s…”Xy1R
hm2TIpDespite being the Heavenly Yaksha and a jiangshi, in the end, Hua Ran was just a young girl in her puberty.lDyS
2up1There was no way seeing that inside the illusion would have been a great experience. And since she saw the person she liked marrying someone else in the illusion, the news of the fake engagement must have been all the more shocking.DkT
Qhpy“Oppa.”mHk6hba
i4ZSHZy“Nn?”4vC4FLD
0hlClosing the distance between us on top of the bed, Ran came dangerously close. She then wrapped her arms around my neck and locked her fingers behind my nape, before raising the corners of her lips.5PZou
tZVe“Do you know what I thought going through that illusion?”NhTB3Q
bYzWs“W, what kind of… things did you think about?”dfGVa
LTjFlexing her fingers, she brought her face closer. Her cheeks gazed past mine as she whispered into my ears.vzI
xPWcPdV“You are mine, oppa. I am not going to give you away to anyone.”b2k07
ICOcuKShe had a gentle tone of voice but that was one scary declaration, stating that she would never give up even if I were to date someone in the future.rkh
A5v2wC“Umm… I, is that so?”EkIlx
1rOiRan responded with a sensuous grin. Unlike the indifferent Hua, Ran was… really talented at jolting a male’s heart.jJFRGc
zunsI“So oppa.”deut
2mnZgAUnlocking her fingers behind my neck, she pulled her arms back and opened her palms. There was a slight flush on her cheeks and she seemed rather embarrassed.pLK0
O2zYKt“Can you… hold my hands?”ddlMQ
mIUagE“T, that much I can do.”rDvWrhN
YS6kZI pushed my palms into hers. When she locked her fingers, I could feel that the power of her grip was far stronger than mine even though my hands were double the size of hers.FexO
dioIIm“You allowed it, okay?”0fXvAY1
q7y“Huh?”VUt6n6A
RB6cY1Suddenly, she stood up from the bed and jumped on top of me. W, what was she doing?PM9
eJj“I’m not going to let your hands go the whole night.”hpjgy
6gV2Kk“Umm… okay?”DAJnC
3zGWon’t they get sweaty then?EkCuL
qX9Ea“It’s too late. Too late for you to say no…”2k9F
y7qONz“???”xum1DE0
H7nw“You brought this upon yourself, oppa.”GMU
yES“I’m sorry…?”kwlyuf
svYVcAfter tightly clasping her fingers into my hands, Ran buried her head into my chest, and because of that, I couldn’t really tell but it looked like she was also quite embarrassed judging from how her ears were colored in deep red.ix93IDe
8SmGkUnlike Hua, who was calm no matter what happened around her, it was quite normal for a girl from a refined household like Ran to be embarrassed by the act of sleeping on the same bed as a man.XTC
hUm80“It’s… all your fault, oppa.”JinvHOC
HN9“Okay okay. My bad. You do whatever you want.”Kgvh
wr4KLiHer eyes slowly came to a close. She had the resolute face of a warrior who had readied themselves for death so I couldn’t really say anything to her.cWq
kNjMI8CLike… I wasn’t sure why we had to hold our hands to sleep though.ma6QA
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