"Sister Alice, I missed you so much!"
Still wearing her maid outfit, Aisha threw herself into a tight hug. Nearly a year had passed since she last saw her sister, and her longing was written all over her face.
Alice gently ruffled Aisha's wig-covered head. Her warm smile radiated a gentle aura, as if she had the power to heal hearts.
"Yoshi yoshi, there there, good girl, good girl. Of course, I missed you too, Aisha. That's why I came to see you. Just hang in there a bit longer—once the term ends and we go home, we can spend all day playing together again."
Inside the Millennium Puzzle's Soul Room, Miles couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Alice.
"So that's Aisha's sister? She looks nothing like her."
As her biological older sister, Alice was only two years older than Aisha, so naturally they shared some resemblance.
Yet, unlike short-haired Aisha, Alice had long, silvery-white hair and exuded a composed, mature aura with every move.
Kind, beautiful, dignified, elegant—Miles could apply every word that described the perfect woman to Alice from the moment he saw her.
Most notably, Alice's figure was far more developed than Aisha's.
That was the part Miles couldn't wrap his head around.
Same mother and everything… how could there be such a huge difference?
Or perhaps Aisha had great potential and just hadn't bloomed yet?
However, Dark Aisha's behavior in the Soul Room was quite strange.
Sitting barefoot, knees hugged to her chest, she curled up in a corner, like she'd reverted to the state she was in when she first arrived there.
"What's wrong, Aisha?"
"Nothing."
She shook her head, yet pale toes nervously digging into the floor betrayed her words.
"Don't tell me you're just shy because it's been so long since you saw your sister?"
"I'm not shy..."
Dark Aisha slowly raised her head and pouted slightly.
"I just... don't really like Sister Alice."
"Huh?"
That response left Miles dumbfounded.
It didn't seem like a tsundere reaction, either.
The real Aisha Carlos clearly adored her sister since when they reunited, she'd clung to her and wouldn't let go.
Meanwhile, here was Dark Aisha saying the opposite.
"Why don't you like her, Aisha?"
Miles coaxed her like one would a child throwing a tantrum.
"Because she abandoned me."
"She abandoned you?"
"After I dropped out of Fusion Academy, she just threw me away. That's why I don't like her."
"So that's what this is about."
Those were the false memories of Dark Aisha.
In a nonexistent timeline, Aisha Carlos dropped out of Fusion Academy, was labeled a failure, and became the black sheep of her family. That led to the introverted, shadowed personality of her dark self.
But to Miles, that memory felt deeply inauthentic. Most of it was likely just inner darkness conjured up by the Millennium Key.
The real Alice he saw now was distinctly the sister Aisha loved most—kind and warmhearted.
In fact, Miles even saw a trace of his own sister in Alice.
Whether it was her personality, poise... or her unyielding optimism in the face of hardship, doing her best even without the Spirit Eyes.
"Kevin! What the hell are you wearing?!"
While the Carlos and Austin siblings enjoyed their touching reunions, another set of siblings—or rather, brothers—were having a far more chaotic encounter.
Somehow catching wind of Kevin's crossdressing, Kaima had rushed over at top speed.
"B-Brother?!"
Kevin, in full Dragonmaid cosplay, completely broke down the instant he saw Kaima appear. His expression easily made Miles's top 10 list of all-time facial contortions.
"Wearing that… do you have even a shred of Seth family pride left, you idiot otōto?!"
Kaima grabbed Kevin by the collar. Though just a girl herself, her forceful presence left Kevin too intimidated to resist.
"Please calm down, Kaima!"
Sensing trouble, Nia rushed over to intervene.
Kaima turned a frosty glare toward her. "You're the Club President, right? The one who made Kevin wear that."
"That's right. It was me!"
As Club President, Nia had a duty to protect her members. Even in front of Kaima Seth, she stood her ground.
"Don't you think that outfit suits Kevin perfectly? Can you deny how cute he is?!"
Miles said, "Whoa, President Nia, you're really just fanning the flames here. If you can't talk, don't talk!"
But contrary to Miles's expectations, Nia's words had a shocking effect.
"Hmph!"
Kaima didn't refute Nia. She just gave a heavy snort and let go of Kevin's maid uniform collar.
Only then did Miles recall something Irena had vaguely mentioned: that Kaima might be... a little brother-con?
'...No way, right?'
Her tone softening, Kaima looked Kevin in the eye. "Kevin, I'll say this one last time. Father is arriving soon. If you don't want to make him even angrier, you'd better change out of that outfit."
"Father's arriving soon? Got it, Brother!"
Kevin rushed back to the Club Room like he was facing a final boss, changing into his most formal outfit.
About ten minutes later, the noisy crowd suddenly fell silent. Everyone seemed to instinctively clear a path.
Emerging from the quiet was a towering, broad-shouldered man, his physique rivaling that of Professor Field, the former military instructor. With a full beard and an expression of icy severity, his mood looked absolutely dreadful.
"Father!"
The Seth brothers greeted him in unison.
The man was Kevin and Kaima's father—Duke Reigun Seth, the highest-ranking noble in Livorden, known as the "National Lion."
Thankfully, thanks to Kaima's warning, Kevin had just managed to change out of his Dragonmaid cosplay in time.
Otherwise, with Reigun's current mood, there might have been literal blood.
"Kevin."
"Yes, Father."
Kevin responded with absolute deference. Miles had never seen the elite Fusion Academy student show that kind of submission to anyone before.
"You disgraceful brat!"
Blood was spilled anyway. With a clenched fist, Reigun decked Kevin hard enough to send him flying two meters.
"Do you know how much shame you've brought upon the Seth family by losing to the bottom-ranked student of the Academy?! And you still have the nerve to call me Father?!"
Shocked stiff, Aisha's white ahoge stood straight up in alarm.
So that was the real reason behind Duke Reigun's explosive wrath… Kevin's defeat in their withdrawal duel half a year ago.
And as the so-called bottom-ranked student who defeated him, Aisha now had every reason to be terrified of getting caught in the crossfire.
...
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