IBP 100

The, ​the ​demon ​realm?

There's ​no need to ​survive ​and ​come ​back ​from all the way ​there...

Because ​my sister isn't ​going to the ​demon ​realm, ​nor ​to ​hell.

It ​was just after ​I ​had ​taken a walk ​with my sister, basking ​in the ​sunlight while ​looking at ​that sign.

Before ​I ​knew ​it, Ruth approached ​us, clutching ​a bunch of strange ​parchment bundles.

"Ruth! Hi!"

"You should ​call me Oppa. Anyway... ​Hey, Chloe."

"What."

"Wow, ​look ​at how your expression turns cold ​the moment you see ​me. ​What's ​with ​that ​sign, and why ​do you ​keep ​coddling Coco when ​she ​has feet to walk on?"

"Because ​I feel ​like ​it."

"Why did you ​suddenly ​become ​so ​sweet? ​You used ​to ​be a ​viper who always said, 'Yeah, get lost' ​or 'I don't ​need any of ​that.'"

My sister has always ​been nothing ​but sweet to ​me, ​so I tilted ​my head in ​confusion since ​there ​was nothing ​to ​be surprised ​about.

"Did ​I really ​do ​that ​to my baby?"

"Uuu..."

"Why ​would ​I have ​done ​that? ​I ​feel like my heart is truly breaking."

My sister wore an expression as if she had lost the entire world.

Ruth looked at her with a face of utter disbelief.

"Seriously, she needs to go to a hospital. They say when a person changes suddenly, their day of death isn't far off... After all that mistreatment."

"Forget about the me from back then. I feel like cutting that trashy version of myself out of my entire life."

My sister scooped me up with one hand and gave my cheek a loud kiss.

I giggled and rubbed my face against her chest.

"I know what 'mistreatment' means!"

"Hmm?"

"It means hating someone!"

"My baby. How can you be so smart?"

Ruth's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"She's really been out of her mind consistently for a while now..."

Muttering softly, Ruth raised his hand.

"Ah, for a second, I almost forgot why I came here..."

"Why did you come?"

"Father is throwing a fit. 'Who is this knight? An affair? Cheating? Who are these bastards?' He's asking if you didn't dump them."

"Ah, it seems the named article finally came out."

"Are you sure those bastards actually bullied you?"

"Don't swear. My baby is listening."

My sister answered nonchalantly, but I stood on my tiptoes to look at the newspaper.

<The Affair Scandal of the Century: Is it Lady Dahlia Melomande and Marquis Gillen Amadeus?>

'Hehe.'

Thanks to the letters Jjek-jjeki and I put in, those bad guys were slowly sinking into a quagmire!

"Dahlia has gone underground. I heard Gillen's side is trying to track down the source of the information. He says he'll respond through a lawyer for defamation."

"Ah... well, sure. Let him. Actually, that's better."

"What?"

"If it goes to trial, the rumors will spread further. People care about having something to gossip about and enjoy; they don't care much about whether it's true or not."

Wow, my sister is really tough...

The fluffy atmosphere shifted in an instant.

I bared my teeth, just like the drawing on the sign.

"Th-then, is there any way I can help?"

At those words, the gazes of my sister and Ruth landed on me simultaneously.

I pointed to my sturdy arms and shouted energetically, "I'm really strong! I can help!"

My sister and Ruth remained silent for a moment, then smiled and pinched my cheeks one by one.

"Now, let's go eat some sweet potatoes."

Gasp, sweet potatoes...!



* * *



Meanwhile, Dahlia's mansion had become a complete hornet's nest due to the affair scandal sweeping the empire.

Avoiding the direct and collateral relatives who swarmed like bees, claiming she had tarnished the family's honor, she arrived at the Marquis Amadeus estate.

"...Lord Gillen."

"Ah, Dahlia. You've come."

Inside the office of the Marquis Amadeus estate.

Gillen, who was handling his work calmly as usual, greeted Dahlia with a smile as bright as an angel's.

Surely he must know about all these scandals too.

Why is he smiling so composedly?

Seeing Gillen's smile, Dahlia felt a sudden chill.

When he smiled like that...

'When he tried to kill that stupid dog.'

...Yes, was it around then?

"You saw our letters published in the newspaper, right? Just how did you manage your letters, Dahlia?"

"That... I honestly have no idea why..."

"This is why I keep seeing your incompetence. Thanks to you, it seems even my honor is about to hit rock bottom."

It takes two to tango, and though they had clearly done everything together, he shifted all the blame onto Dahlia.

"How do you plan to handle this? I don't expect much, but I hope you come up with a decent method soon."

He rose elegantly from his seat.

His tone suggested that spending any more time on Dahlia was a waste.

Dahlia, who had intended to put their heads together to find a way to deal with the scandal, wore a hollow expression.

"Gi-Gillen. Where are you going?"

"Do I need to tell you?"

"...I am your fiancée. I have the right to know."

"Ah... right, you were the fiancée."

But his tone implied that she wasn't anymore.

Dahlia looked at Gillen with trembling eyes.

Then, he whispered elegantly, as if delivering a death sentence.

"I'm going to see Chloe. She is beautiful and exceptionally capable now, isn't she?"

The moment she heard his brazen words, Dahlia collapsed to the floor.

Watching the crumbling Dahlia, he smiled thinly.

"Ah, I've written a new love letter. It seems Chloe is quite upset."



* * *



Chloe looked at the letter from Gillen with a face of utter absurdity.

[Chloe, my dear.

There were two rooms in my heart.

But after enduring all sorts of hardships, I realized.

I thought that perhaps you, Chloe, might be the most fitting partner for me.]

"What a crazy bastard."

How could she have maintained an engagement with such a person?

Once, she had been sad thinking that he didn't like her.

But now, his irritating attitude only made her want to vomit.

'Anyway, it might be troublesome if he clings to me using our past engagement.'

She picked up the letter with two fingers as if discarding filthy trash and placed it on the table.

Given Gillen's personality, he wouldn't be satisfied with just sending a letter.

He would likely try to visit her.

'He's such a psycho that it's hard to predict what he'll do.'

She walked leisurely into the powder room.

She intended to change into a new outfit, as if dressing for revenge.

And...

Chloe's gaze landed on a pure white dress she had worn a very long time ago.

Because she had always worn similar black dresses, the pure white dress had always been tucked away in a corner.

'If I wear that dress, I'll look great with our Coco.'

Come to think of it, had she always worn black dresses?

She reached out toward the white dress.

Following her usual habit, she changed quickly without a maid.

Then, Chloe stood before the full-length mirror in the powder room.

In the mirror, there was a woman wearing a dazzlingly white dress, smiling brightly while welcoming the sunlight.

It was the smile of someone who had reclaimed the thing she loved most in the world.

And...

"Sissy! I came because they said you were here!"

...The voice of the little girl who was her everything, and would be her everything in the future, echoed.

Perhaps because she had told her in advance that Coco could run and play anywhere in the mansion, she had found her and entered the powder room in no time.

"Coco, you're here."

Chloe turned her head with a gentle smile.

Seeing her, Coco's eyes widened.

"Sissy, your dress is white!"

"Yes. Is it strange?"

Coco shook her head vigorously and said, "No! You're the prettiest in the whole world!"



* * *



On the way out of the powder room, holding my sister's hand.

I kept glancing at my sister's white dress.

When I saw my sister in the dog star, she always wore black dresses...

"Why does Lady Chloe always wear black dresses lately?"

"You didn't know? Those black dresses... they mean the same thing as wearing mourning clothes."

"Wow... Lady Chloe is really something."

Actually, I thought about it every day in the dog star.

I thought it would be nice if my sister wore colorful clothes instead of black, and also white clothes...

Because my sister is like sunlight to me, I thought white clothes would suit her best.

Seeing my sister wearing such a pure white dress makes it feel like a dream.

I whispered the words I had wanted to tell her all along.

"Sissy, you know... you're just like the sunlight that comes in the morning!"

At that, my sister hugged me tightly with a tender face.

"Our Coco is the sunlight that illuminates the world."

"But I'm a puppy!"

My sister laughed softly as if I were hopeless and ruffled my hair.

"Our Coco is going to live with her sister for a long, long time. Right?"

"Yup!"

I spread my palm wide and gave my sister a big, toothy grin.

"We'll live together this much!"

One, two, three, four, five fingers.

'This is a really long time!'

It's almost a lifetime.

It means I can live with my sister for a very, very long time!

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