Until now, there were only two people I couldn’t use the power of Greed on.

The first was Gabe Jenade.

In Gabe’s case, when I encountered him, it was as if the connection with Greed was suddenly cut off, so I couldn’t use the power.

The second was Leon, who had already contracted with a sin.

With Leon, because he had made a ‘formal contract’ with Sloth, I couldn’t use the power on him as I was merely the owner of Greed without a contract, and I might have been caught using the power of sin.

Of these two possibilities, the one I’m leaning towards is…

‘A contractor with a sin?’

[That’s right. This woman is in a contract with another sin.]

Greed confirmed my suspicion.

I wanted to ask for more details about which sin she had contracted with, but Belissa was right in front of me.

I quickly composed myself and smiled weakly.

“I suddenly felt dizzy. I must have danced too much.”

Fortunately, I had a good excuse to gloss over it.

Belissa clasped her hands together and smiled brightly.

“I saw Lady Severes dancing with His Grace, Duke Perdia. You seemed to get along so well, I’m envious.”

It was just me being sacrificed to the power struggle between two fathers, but it looked like we got along well.

‘Oh, that’s even better.’

Anyway, the topic had moved away from the awkward atmosphere that had flowed between Gretel and me.

I looked at Belissa with a kind smile.

‘Get a grip, Elodie.’

Now that I knew Belissa had contracted with a sin, I couldn’t let my guard down even for a moment.

Despite such inner thoughts, the conversation continued pleasantly.

“My brother said that Lady Severes specifically asked us to come, is that true?”

“Belissa.”

Leon, who had been standing quietly, gave Belissa a look as if telling her not to say unnecessary things.

“But brother, you said so. Don’t tell me you lied to me?”

“It’s not something you should ask directly. You need to mind your manners.”

“I can ask if I want to. Brother, you’re too uptight, you know?”

The Kreundel siblings started bickering. It was somewhat fascinating to see Leon being nagged by his younger sister, a new side of him.

Then Belissa abruptly asked me.

“Lady Severes probably doesn’t like boring men like my brother either, right?”

“…Belissa, that’s enough.”

Leon tried to stop Belissa with an embarrassed expression, but his mischievous sister didn’t budge.

“What do you think of my brother?”

“Umm… I’ve never thought of His Grace as uptight or boring. Rather, I like that he’s cautious.”

“You like him?”

Belissa asked with wide eyes.

Oh no. I phrased that wrong.

“I mean, I respect him as a person…”

“Pfft.”

As I hurriedly added an explanation, Belissa covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter.

“Belissa Kreundel.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.”

I’m not sure what it was, but I could tell these two had a very good relationship.

Even though they’re siblings, they were separated when they were young and only met recently, how could they be so close without formalities?

Anyway, I answered the question Belissa had asked me at first.

“I asked His Grace, Duke Kreundel, to attend with Lady Kreundel. I wanted to become friends with Lady Kreundel.”

“With me?”

“Yes, if that’s alright with you.”

Even as I said I wanted to become friends, my conscience pricked me. It wasn’t with pure intentions that I was approaching her.

With Gretel too, at first, I helped her because I needed the power of clairvoyance…

Interrupting my continuing thoughts, Belissa smiled brightly.

“Then, would you two call me by my name? Let’s be friends!”

Thinking that this friendly Belissa might have another face made me feel somewhat uneasy.

***

It was late at night when the entire mansion was engulfed in darkness.

After tossing and turning in bed for a while, I finally got up.

Various thoughts kept coming to mind, and I just couldn’t fall asleep.

[Mmm… don’t eat my cookie…]

“Your sleep-talking is normal. You’re such a concept-obsessed being.”

After pulling the blanket over the soundly sleeping Greed, I put on just an outer garment and went outside.

The darkness of the night was too thick to be illuminated by just the magic lamp I was holding.

But this wasn’t Perdia where poison or magical beasts might jump out at any moment; this was Severes, safely protected by barriers, so I walked with ease.

The place where my steps stopped was the glass greenhouse of Severes.

The place where Dad had been sleeping.

I just ended up here while walking lost in thought.

Since I was already here, I opened the door intending to look around the greenhouse before leaving.

At that moment, magic devices planted in the floor that I didn’t even know existed lit up, creating a path.

“Wow…”

I strolled inside the greenhouse, following the light that illuminated the way with each step I took.

The greenhouse at night had a different atmosphere. It was quiet and lonely. Even though I was among plants, I felt alone in the world.

Sitting on a bench in the middle, I gazed at the flowers in the darkness and became lost in thought.

[It’s Lust.]

That was Greed’s answer when I asked what sin Belissa had contracted with.

Lust was the sin sealed by the Angellus family. I remembered Belissa hanging around with Dorothea Angellus after being rescued by Gabe.

‘Did she use Dorothea to contract with the sin?’

I had thought that Dorothea might be using Belissa, but now I wondered if it might be the other way around.

The ability of Lust is ‘brainwashing’.

It would be an incredibly dangerous power if someone obtained it. If you could brainwash others, you could control them at will.

[Ishtar’s children aren’t easily affected by such mental manipulation. It would take consistent, long-term exposure for them to be brainwashed.]

I could feel somewhat relieved by Greed’s words that the descendants of heroes with powers aren’t easily affected.

One question came to mind.

‘Is Belissa really Leon’s sister?’

There was a way to confirm it.

If Belissa was truly Leon’s sister, she should be able to use the Kreundel family’s power.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

“Those two, they seemed to get along so well…”

Leon endured the pain of his entire body being consumed by darkness just to find Belissa.

If I hadn’t purified him and left him as he was, he might have died.

There was no way I could tell Leon, who had made finding his sister his sole purpose in life, that Belissa had a contract with a sin.

Nor could I tell him that the sister he had finally found might not even be his sister.

The situation where I might have to turn Leon’s sister into an enemy was equally daunting.

For now, I planned to get close to Belissa and figure out what she was up to.

I was about to get up from my seat to return to my bedroom.

Thud.

“Elodie. What are you doing here?”

The intentional sound of footsteps approached along with Dad. He was wearing lighter indoor clothes than usual, as if he had also come out for a walk.

I could guess why Dad had come here in the middle of the night.

‘He must be thinking about Mom, I suppose?’

It seems he has many memories with Mom in this place.

Pretending not to know the reason, I smiled brightly.

“I couldn’t sleep. I ended up here while taking a walk.”

“You shouldn’t come out dressed so thinly, Elodie. You’ll catch a cold.”

Dad took off the coat he was wearing casually and put it on me.

When I put both arms through, it became almost as long as a dress. The sleeves were even too long, fluttering at the ends.

“The clothes are too big.”

“It’s better than catching a cold.”

Dad firmly dismissed my complaint and looked down at me.

“Shall we walk for a bit?”

“Mm, sure.”

Since we rarely have time alone together except for occasional meals, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to take a walk like this.

We had casual conversations as we walked through the still dreamlike greenhouse.

“You know you only danced with Duke Perdia in the end, right?”

“Next time, I’ll dance with you, Dad. Promise!”

While linking pinkies with me, Dad added one serious comment.

“Severes does not break promises.”

“I got it…”

It seems he was quite upset that I only danced with Duke Perdia.

Such childish fathers.

After that, we talked about vassals and acquaintances until we were suddenly in front of my bedroom.

Standing in front of the door, Dad stroked my head and said in a low voice.

“Elodie. You can tell me if you have any worries.”

“Ah.”

“Because we’re family.”

I had been pretending to be cheerful, but he had noticed everything. That I was troubled.

I’m so used to keeping things to myself that I hadn’t even thought about being able to confide in someone.

‘But now it’s okay to do so.’

No matter what kind of person I am, Dad will always be on my side.

I had that strong belief.

I can’t tell him everything, but it should be fine to share some things.

“I don’t know what’s true and what’s false. I don’t know what I should believe.”

It wasn’t just about Belissa.

It was difficult to discern what was true from the ‘original’ memories that might have been fabricated to an unknown extent.

Dad, who had been quietly looking at me, opened his mouth, stumbling a bit.

“I can’t give you the answer to that… but I’ll always be by Elodie’s side.”

It was a somewhat clumsy consolation, but it was enough.

I smiled brightly and made a resolution.

“Thank you, Dad. I’ll really try my best.”

Let’s do this.

For this world where Dad and my family are, the world I’ll live in.

***

The best thing about revealing my real surname was that I no longer had to carry around the unnecessary sword I used to.

Now I could create a shadow sword with Vietan’s power without being conscious of others’ eyes.

Thud.

With the last one that just fell, no more magical beasts came out of the cracks.

The expedition leader approached Raeyan, who was looking at those countless cracks.

“We should be able to return tomorrow.”

The expedition leader now recognized Raeyan as his superior. The other members of the expedition team felt the same.

After all, they were able to complete this subjugation without any casualties thanks to Raeyan’s powerful ability and prowess.

Raeyan nodded but didn’t take his eyes off the cracks.

‘It’s strange, as I thought.’

Cracks that don’t disappear even though no magical beasts are coming out.

The cracks he had encountered so far usually disappeared on the spot after defeating a certain number of magical beasts.

‘Elodie’s purification power might be able to make them disappear.’

But he had no intention of calling her to such a dangerous place.

“Hahaha! Since we’re returning tomorrow, we’re planning to drink a bit and relax among the soldiers tonight.”

“……”

“O-Of course, drinking while on duty is unacceptable… but just a little should be fine, right?”

“……”

“Lord Raeyan?”

The expedition leader called out to Raeyan several times while watching his reaction, but there was no answer. He was seriously staring at something in front of him.

Curious about what he was looking at, the expedition leader turned his head in the same direction, and his eyes widened.

“T-The cracks…!”

The cracks were merging.

At a very rapid speed.

At that moment, Raeyan opened his mouth.

“Dodge.”

“Pardon?”

“I said dodge…!”

Raeyan shouted as he used his power to throw the expedition leader to the opposite side.

Flash!

Simultaneously, a storm of cracks erupted, engulfing the surroundings like an explosion. Raeyan was also included in that range.

“When you come back, you have to tell me what happened.”

Of all times, Elodie’s voice came to mind just as his vision was being dyed black.

Raeyan closed his eyes.

I promised to tell you.

I need to keep that promise.