Chapter 78 : Void And Hader

It has been two months since my older sisters enrolled in the academy.

During that time, the headmaster, whenever he had nothing to do, would come to the palace, touch my cheeks for no reason, and then casually leave.

The head maid, as if this wasn’t the first time, pressed her forehead in frustration.

“…Head maid, is the headmaster always like this?”

“Sigh… Before Your Highness was born, he would come every single day…”

“…What?”

Seriously, this kingdom approaches royalty way too casually.

“…And the last time he came, his reasoning was absolutely ridiculous.”

“…What do you mean?”

When I asked with a tense expression, the head maid smirked slightly and answered.

“He came to rescue a student who had been kidnapped, confined, and impregnated by a school bully.”

“…What?”

“Sigh… He even visited when Her Majesty the Queen was in the early stages of pregnancy.”

“F-For real?”

“Yes, though he did offer his congratulations.”

“Well… at least that’s good to hear…”

Does that man really deserve to be called an apostle of knowledge?

No, maybe the god of knowledge is actually an idiot?

Why would they choose someone like him as an apostle…?

“I’m so embarrassed that he’s my mentor…”

“Huh? The head maid studied under the headmaster too?”

“…I was even trained by him… since I was kidnapped…”

“…What?!”

The head maid blushed deeply, her tone softening as if she truly felt embarrassed.

“No wonder she’s still single.”

“Where did that come from?!”

“She says she doesn’t want a dragon. It’s not even like half-bloods are discriminated against anymore these days.”

For some reason, it felt like the headmaster had left out some crucial information from the head maid.

It wasn’t that the headmaster was worried about how his child would be treated—

He was rejecting dragons because he thought his first time would be painful.

‘Hmm, that’s an entirely different issue, though.’

‘I’ll just live as a single forever!’

Dating a guy just isn’t for me!

Anyway, the castle has been really quiet lately.

“Uwaaaah…”

Even when I run around screaming, there’s now one less person to scold me.

“This is actually kind of fun…”

Before, whenever I found something interesting, there would always be someone quietly coming up beside me, their eyes sparkling like a puppy.

“Itadakimasu!”

“Minho, try some of this too.”

“…Okay.”

“Our youngest, why do you look so down?”

My parents were smiling and laughing.

But there were supposed to be two more people sitting here.

“…Letters.”

On the desk in my room, two letters that arrived two weeks ago remained unopened.

I don’t even know how many times I’ve read them already.

The absence of those two was too overwhelming.

I flopped onto my bed.

That’s when I saw my mother sleeping peacefully.

For the first month, even my parents struggled.

My mother would absentmindedly look for Emilia, even though she wasn’t here.

My father would tell the head maid to buy more apples because Yuli liked them, even though she was gone.

That happened a few times, but they eventually adjusted and went back to normal.

…How can they do that…?

Now, there’s no Bell in the castle either.

At least a month ago, Bell and Lan would still play with me, which made things bearable.

But with the reconstruction of the beastmen’s country, they left our castle as well.

As it turns out, Bell’s family was somewhat special among the beastmen.

Well, I had suspected it—her sky-blue hair shimmered so beautifully.

She was a blue wolf beastman, said to be a descendant of the god of the sky.

The Empire really has some guts, daring to mess with a blue wolf beastman, who is revered in the beastmen’s faith.

Anyway, with the return of the apostle of the sun to the beastmen’s land, the blue wolf beastmen united and began rebuilding their home.

Not long ago, a letter arrived, written in Bell’s wobbly handwriting.

I read it with the help of a translator since it wasn’t written in Dragon language but in Beastman language.

Celeste had passed by and destroyed everything.

Mom and Dad wrote me a letter saying they were struggling because of it.

It was only three lines, but just knowing that I could still receive messages from them made me happy.

Yet, the emptiness remained.

“…Ramir is gone too…”

Ramir was gone.

That mischievous elf who would jump up in outrage whenever teased had also enrolled.

Leaving my sleeping mother alone, I jumped off the bed and dashed out of the room.

That’s how I ended up in the lilac field.

Yuri unnie’s favorite flower.

Apparently, in her past life, a person named Kim Seungho had given her many of these flowers.

“…He was a kind person.”

I hope he forgets about my sister and finds happiness.

Though, considering I still miss Gaeul, maybe that’s easier said than done.

“…Still, stay strong!”

Muttering to myself like that made it obvious how lonely I was.

And right beside me was my first friend in this world.

“Minhooo, what are you dooing?”

“Huh?”

“How could you! Why haven’t you visited unnie lately?!”

Void unnie appeared.

We had both been so busy that we hadn’t found time to meet.

It felt like it had been a really long time since I last saw her.

“Unnie, you’ve been busy.”

As I plopped down onto the ground, Void unnie sat down beside me.

“Sorry~”

“…Hmph, you could’ve come to see me.”

“Unnie has been too busy with work.”

She gave me a sweet smile and hugged me.

It was comforting in its own way.

“Minho, do you come here often? I’ve never seen you here before.”

I shook my head at Void unnie’s question.

“…Well, it’s just… Yuri unnie likes these flowers, so I thought of her and came…”

“Oh, that lab rat…! Gasp!”

Lab rat?

Void unnie quickly waved her hands in panic, trying to explain herself.

“Uh, I mean…! Um… you know, it’s… c-cute? Like… a lab rat…?”

“…Unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“You realize that’s a stretch, right?”

“…Sorry.”

She admitted it without resistance, realizing how weak her excuse was.

I flicked her forehead.

Since my stats weren’t exactly low, a small bump immediately formed on her forehead.

“…Ouch.”

I felt a little bad, but it was her punishment for badmouthing my family.

She’d have to accept it.

“Why did you come here, unnie?”

Still rubbing her forehead, Void unnie answered.

“…I just come here when I feel unsettled. The smell of lilacs calms me down.”

“Why do you feel unsettled?”

“…Because of Hader.”

The sparkly old man?

“Why, what happened with him?”

A bad feeling crept into my mind.

‘No way.’

‘It can’t be, right?’

Void unnie’s cheeks started turning red.

Void unnie’s flushed cheeks seemed to answer my question for her.

“…Unnie, don’t tell me…”

“…Isn’t Hader kinda… cool?”

For a moment, it felt like the world was crumbling around me.

…That scoundrel? Cool?

As I stared at her in disbelief, Void unnie pulled me into a tight embrace with a sentimental expression.

“You remember when we saved the beastmen, right?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“That time… he used up too much mana and came back to the dorm sweating…”

Wait, they were sharing a room?!

“Y-You two share a room…?”

“Oh, no, not like that…! There’s a door connecting our rooms, that’s all.”

“…Why?”

“Well… since he ends up handling most of the paperwork anyway…”

“What?”

“Hader doesn’t even work, though.”

She knows that, yet she still likes a guy like that?

“A-Anyway, he got confused and ended up walking into my room by mistake.”

“…And that was just so sexy.”

…?

What kind of logic is that?

“I think I had a little crush on him before, but…”

“…Yeah, I kinda thought so.”

“But that moment made me really realize my feelings…”

Void unnie, still hugging me, now looked like she was about to cry.

“What do I do now!?”

“Uh… I don’t think I’m the best person to ask…”

Asking a one-year-old for dating advice?

Even if I’m a genius, this is way out of my expertise.

“…I need to apologize to Hader…”

“But Hader doesn’t even see me as a woman!”

…Well, obviously.

She stole his name and even kidnapped his granddaughter.

Of course, he wouldn’t like her.

“But… if he really hated me, would he have taken me in and looked after me?!”

It seemed like Void unnie’s mind was all over the place.

Love does that to people.

It drives them insane.

“…Unnie, fighting!”

“…T-Thanks…”

On the verge of tears, Void unnie hugged me again.

She really needed professional love advice.

“Unnie, instead of asking me, how about asking Destiny unnie?”

“…She’s too busy these days. She’s totally focused on Celeste—no idea when she’ll show up…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she’s working on some kind of Demon Realm unification project… Besides, she’s never even been in a relationship.”

Well, a Demon King falling in love does sound unlikely.

Still, she’s up to something weird again.

Not that I need to worry—Destiny is literally the Demon King of Fate.

She’s just doing whatever fate tells her to.

But anyway…

There was only one person fit to give dating advice here.

A man who harassed someone relentlessly and still managed to get married in the end.

I know that man very well.

‘…Because he’s my dad!!’

I grabbed Void unnie’s hand.

“Unnie, I’ll introduce you to someone who was in a similar situation and still managed to get married. It’ll help for sure!”

“R-Really?!”

“Of course!”

As I gave her a thumbs-up, Void unnie looked deeply moved and eagerly followed me.

And so, we arrived at the king’s office.

“…M-Minho?”

“…What is this?”

“Y-Your Majesty, it’s not what it looks like! M-Minho brought me here—”

“Minho did?”

“Y-Yeah, right, Minho?!”

Leaving the flustered Void unnie behind, I quickly stepped out of the office.

“…Adidadi Doritos…”

Mission complete.