Chapter 41: I Didn’t Do It, So I Didn’t Do It

Click.

Via opened the dorm door.

Sophie was standing right outside, waiting for her little sister the whole time.

“Come in…” Via spoke first.

Though she felt a little embarrassed, she still welcomed Sophie inside.

There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I didn’t actually do anything—just pretended.

I didn’t do it, so I didn’t do it.

“Are you… finished?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, but… don’t go into that room yet. I haven’t cleaned it.”

Via’s cheeks were still flushed.

Though it made her seem even weirder, with that excuse Sophie would have no reason to enter.

“Oh, okay.”

Sophie stepped into her sister’s dorm once more and sat down on the sofa.

“…”

Via stood by the door, looking inside, her gaze falling on the red-haired girl.

Ever since their encounter in the underground black market last time, Via had been thinking about one thing.

Her relationship with this human.

She was the merciless Demon King. Superfluous emotions could never sway her.

Today she would prove it.

“Via, you didn’t run into any trouble leaving the underground black market last time, did you?”

Sophie tactfully avoided the topic that would make things awkward.

“Nothing much…”

Via wanted to say something, but hesitated when she saw Sophie’s eyes.

“Via?” Sophie felt her sister was acting strangely.

“…I’m fine now, Sophie,” Via replied.

“?”

Sophie’s expression froze.

She wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her.

Wait—what had her little sister just called her?

“Um… what’s wrong…?”

Via’s voice grew nervous.

She could feel Sophie’s expression change.

“Via, what did you just call me?”

“Sophie.”

“Oh?”

Sophie narrowed her eyes, staring at her sister.

Via guiltily turned her head away, no longer daring to meet the red-haired girl’s gaze.

“The way Via addresses me has changed.”

Sophie murmured softly.

In her memory, her little sister had always been a clingy tag-along. Whenever she had time, Via would stick to her and call her “Sis.”

Not long ago she had even said she wanted to be with her forever.

Yet now, suddenly a different form of address?

“I-I just… wanted to try a different way of calling you. Is that not okay?”

Sweat beaded on Via’s forehead; even her voice lacked confidence.

“It’s not that it’s not okay.”

Sophie couldn’t understand why her sister’s attitude toward her had shifted.

Could it be…

She had hit her rebellious phase?

At Via’s age, entering a rebellious phase was perfectly normal. Once it started, a girl became especially prone to defiance.

“Via, you’ve changed.”

“Ah?” Via felt an invisible pressure.

“You never used to be like this. You wouldn’t speak in that tone—as if…” Sophie paused, “you’d become a completely different person.”

“Um…”

More sweat poured down Via’s forehead.

This was bad. Had Sophie noticed something off about her?

They had grown up together, after all—Sophie knew her too well.

“I’ve grown up, that’s all.”

“Via.”

Sophie suddenly stood, spread her arms, and smiled.

“Want to hug me like always?”

“…”

Via fell silent.

The corner of her eye twitched. Sophie was clearly smiling, so why did the pressure feel heavier and heavier?

At the same time, a trace of guilt rose in her heart.

Using that tone with the twin sister she had grown up with—wasn’t it a little too cold?

She had always liked Sis the most—

No, no!

I am the Demon King, the merciless Demon King. How could I acknowledge these feeble humans as my family?

In this second life, she absolutely could not let such trivial things obstruct the path of the King!

“Via?” Sophie’s voice sounded almost like an urging.

“I…”

Via closed her eyes.

Memories of her previous life surfaced—her deadly battle with her archenemy, both perishing together.

Damn human.

If not for the Silver Sword Princess Selina, she might have achieved her ambition and made the traitorous humans pay.

She, who despised humanity, could never—

“Sis.”

Via opened her eyes and found herself already throwing herself into Sophie’s arms, the title reverting on its own.

W-what… am I doing?!

Where was the aura of the Demon King feared by all humankind now?

“Mm, that’s more like my Via.”

Sophie kept smiling, gently stroking her sister’s head.

That strange pressure vanished.

In her sister’s embrace, Via felt both body and mind soothed. Leaning against Sophie brought her incredible peace.

Oh well.

To survive temporarily in human society, sometimes a little compromise was necessary.

A small compromise didn’t mean changing her true nature.

This was simply reading the situation.

“Via, I heard you got an Excellent in the academy assessment earlier,” Sophie asked curiously. “How did you manage that?”

“That was… just good luck. I picked up a lot of cores other teams left behind and avoided many dangerous beasts.”

Of course Via couldn’t tell the truth, so she stuck to her previous excuse.

No one had proof anyway—she could say whatever she wanted.

“Via really worked hard.”

Sophie gently pinched Via’s cheek.

Was this… a reward?

At least Via felt happy inside. Right now she didn’t mind this kind of intimate contact at all.

“I want to get closer to Sis. I can’t keep dragging you down forever.”

“It’s fine. Even if Via doesn’t try hard, I’ll always take care of you. Once I become the official Saintess, I’ll have real authority—no one will find it easy to bully you anymore.”

“That kind of consolation from Sis—”

“It’s not consolation. I mean it.”

Sophie cut her off, looking utterly serious.

“Via, everyone else hates you, dislikes you—only I’m different. I’m your sister. I’m the only one for you in this world.”

“…”

“You don’t have to force yourself for other people’s opinions. It’s okay to give up trying—I won’t care whether you’re useful or not.”

Sophie gently stroked Via’s head, letting her sister rest on her shoulder.

“Via, always remember—only I will forever let you rely on me. You need me.”