Case 79: Upon an impending tragedy.

*****

''You're here.''

''Mhm.''

As the door clicked open, an ominous figure entered the room. It was none other than Lyra de Orleans, the world's beloved heroine. Although that gloomy atmosphere still lingered around her emotionless face, and those void-like eyes still gave people chills from time to time, something was bound to change.

She got taller, her hair got longer, her facial features were more pronounced, and most of all, she grew even more cynical.

To Kiara and Penelope, who witnessed these changes over time, it seemed almost surreal. Somewhere, a sense of awkwardness remained. Even though Lyra de Orleans was someone they thought they were familiar with, and she was indeed their lover's little sister—someone to get along with... none of it helped.

To put it bluntly, neither of them felt as though they wanted to curry to this girl—no, they couldn't.

Nonetheless, this was a matter concerning Cecilia's health, and the two needed to work with this little sister for a long, long while. It was why they visited the Orleans mansion in the first place.

''Let's get to the point.''

Lyra coldly uttered, crossing her long legs on the couch. For Penelope, this image did little to please her. It reminded the magnate of her mortal enemy—the third imperial princess.

'If only she could be half as cute as her older sister.'

As Penelope snorted like that, the person sitting beside her seemed to have another view. Kiara, upon catching the whole silent exchange, thought the two looked almost like twins.

Same hair, eye color, same cold face, same sort of attitude.

'It's like magic...'

Well, perhaps a point of difference between the two was their magical prowess. While Penelope was chasing the zeniths of ice magic, Lyra mastered... everything. Befitting the title of a one-in-a-thousand-year talent, she excelled at every combat art there was, putting the kids who were supposed to be her 'peers' right under her feet.

It wasn't even close.

No one dared to forget the breathtaking sequence performed by Lyra de Orleans at the Syrus Academy last year. She was a last-minute addition—an exception, meant to fill in the numbers for a friendly competition. Although her opponents were only 'decent' or 'good' at best, the level of dominance she showed was unmatched.

In one way or another, recordings of that incident became a hot topic on the internet, and it propelled the girl into stardom almost overnight. The terrifying dragon, Amethyst, who nearly reduced the arena to rubbles, even became an inspiration for many literature pieces since.

The person herself didn't seem to care much, however. Those who were close to her would comfortably assert that the only reason Lyra's dragon now stayed perched on her shoulder instead of being embraced by her owner was because she got a little too big. It was to say that she didn't care about her image at all.

In a sense, she stayed the same little girl back then, just, much more clever.

But one thing was for certain: Lyra still loved her step-sister—no, she loved her even more than before. For the heroine, who had nothing to look forward to, Cecilia's presence in her life had given her a reason—a reason to love, to laugh, and to exist. With Cecilia, she could savor the days they spent together, the meals they had in each other's company, and the longing felt when they were separated.

To Lyra, her big sister was irreplaceable.

And that same big sister... was wilting away before her eyes. This was the only reason she even bothered to work with Cecilia's lovers in the first place. They had one goal in common—to nurse that feeble woman back into health.

''She's getting worse.''

At that sentence, Penelope and Kiara both frowned. It spoke volumes that the girl's words, which were often layered with hostility underneath, now sounded genuine.

An uncomfortable silence lingered.

Was it a blessing or a curse that they felt this strongly about Cecilia even if they had only known her for two years? Was it just for them to fear the worst so terribly that it weighed their mind constantly?

Whatever the answer might be, it remained a truth that Cecilia's condition didn't improve in the slightest. For someone already so frail, her health only declined as time went by.

If one only compared her looks, they might not find many differences. Yet, her stamina was noticeably worse, her senses seemed a bit dull, and more than anything, her coughing got more frequent. Cecilia couldn't be more sickly.

It had come to the point that her hands would start shaking if she held a heavy book or two for a bit, and Cecilia herself seemed to be aware of this. In fact, she would often try to laugh it off... and that was the problem.

While her health deterioration was nothing but alarming, Cecilia made no effort to worry about herself. It was as though her sense of self-preservation had been transferred to everybody else. As much as it saddened others, the feeble woman was just being nonchalant about it.

As if... she had given up altogether.

That didn't mean the devoted women by her side had, however. Tirelessly and almost desperately, they had been working together to somehow find a way to it.

Of course, the imperial princess had already cycled through the best doctors across the continent, but each and every one of them came back with the same result—Cecilia was unusually unwell. Like a curse had been placed upon her being.

The wording might change, but that was it. Nothing less, nothing more.

At this point, the cure to this 'curse' could only be something no one had found. Thankfully, ever since the demon queen was defeated, the other side of the continent became just a bit more explorable, and many new discoveries had been made.

''We're trying to establish the commissions for deeper dungeon dives, but it's hard.'' Kiara sighed. ''There's too much risk involved.''

''Things aren't going well on this side, either.'' Penelope clicked her tongue. ''The damned demons are stirring troubles near the borders. It's affecting the trades.''

''...''

Clenching her teeth, Lyra tried to hold it in.

'How did it become like this?'

Miserable. That was what she felt at the moment. Really, how did it become like this?

If there was a god, she would want to shoot a plasma beam at their irritating face. Wasn't it unfair that things only got worse when she had barely known herself, let alone realized her feelings for Cecilia?

These twisted, immoral feelings...

'I'm not letting you go, big sis... definitely not.'

*****

''Phew...''

Lightly stretching my limbs out, I took my time getting out of bed.

Or at least, I tried to.

''Ah, you don't need to...''

''No.''

''...''

Watching Lyra so adamantly hold me up as though I was a patient, I couldn't help but feel a sense of incongruity. I wanted to retaliate, no matter how childish that sounded.

''...Where do you think you're touching?'' I puffed out my mouth. ''Your big sister is a proper lady, too, you know?''

Truthfully, I was a bit bothered by how intimately she wrapped her arm around me. 'Bothered' might be too strong of a word, but I was definitely conscious of it.

Yet, all Lyra did was keep her embrace firm, even pulling me in a little further.

''Um... Lyra?''

''...It's nothing. Just... you don't look too well.''

''Mhm... you say that every time.''

I mean, I'm not too well, but it wasn't that bad, no? At this rate, I'd have to...

''Well? Let me show you how healthy I am, then!''

Not knowing how much of a disaster this would be, I proudly uttered those words.