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Outside the door stood an unfamiliar girl. Rakshasa was certain she had never seen this girl before. Yet this complete stranger had opened the door to her home and then…

“I’m back.”

…walked in as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Terrifying. Not just ordinary terrifying. If she had been able to speak, Rakshasa would probably have been screaming for help already. She clenched her hands tightly. Her body trembled slightly as cold sweat formed on her forehead.

Why did this girl have a key to the house? What exactly was she trying to do? Rakshasa forced herself to calm down and think.

‘A burglar? But where did she get the key? I’ve never lost mine… Wait, the property manager has a spare key. Could she be the new property manager…? No, that doesn’t make sense. She just said, “I’m back.” Don’t tell me she’s at the wrong apartment!?’

Watching the beautiful young woman in a dark gray business suit pull a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and casually sit down to change into them, Rakshasa hurriedly glanced around the room.

After confirming that this was indeed her own home, her mind became a complete mess, unable to make sense of the situation.

‘Sh-Should I call the police!?’ Taking a deep breath, she reached for the phone in her pocket, only to remember that she couldn’t speak. Calling the police would be pointless.

After changing into the slippers, the girl stood and walked over. She was beautiful, with a well-proportioned figure, and about the same height as Rakshasa. Looking closely, one would even notice that the two shared some resemblance.

At that moment, Rakshasa was so nervous that she instinctively took half a step back. In her current situation, she truly had nowhere to turn for help.

“I’m your older sister, Tiffany Li. Starting today, I’ll be living here as well.” Perhaps realizing that she had been a little abrupt, Tiffany stopped walking and stated it in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. As though she were merely mentioning something trivial.

To Rakshasa, however, the words landed like a bolt of heavenly thunder. She had never even heard of having a sister before and had always believed herself to be an only child. Yet after taking a closer look, she really did notice that the other woman resembled her.

If Tiffany dyed her blonde hair black and wore colored contacts, they would probably look at least sixty percent alike.

“This is proof.” Without offering any further explanation, Tiffany pulled a somewhat aged photograph from her pocket and held it out toward Rakshasa.

The picture showed a family of three. The man was unmistakably her father, though much younger. She didn’t recognize the woman. As for the little girl, she looked remarkably similar to Rakshasa herself, except she had black hair and black eyes.

“If you still don’t believe me, you can message that guy and verify it yourself.” Tiffany said. When she referred to him as *that guy*, her voice turned noticeably colder.

Rakshasa hesitated for a moment before realizing who Tiffany meant. That only left her even more confused. It was obvious that *that guy* referred to her father, but why would Tiffany address him like that?

And why had she suddenly gained an older sister? Had her father had an affair… No, that couldn’t be right. How could the child from an affair be older than her? Wait… don’t tell me Mom was the other woman!?

The thought sent a chill racing down her spine.

“Ah, sorry.” Suddenly, Tiffany smacked her forehead. “I forgot you can’t hear.”

She immediately pulled out her phone and began typing rapidly. Before long, the phone in Rakshasa’s pocket vibrated. Taking it out, she saw that it was a message from an unfamiliar number. The contents were more or less the same as what Tiffany had just said.

‘That’s strange. Judging from her reactions just now, why did it seem like she could hear what I was saying?’ Tiffany stared at Rakshasa’s face, puzzled. Then again, deaf-mute people often knew how to read lips, so understanding what she was saying wasn’t particularly difficult.

Pretending she had just finished reading the message, Rakshasa suppressed the fear in her heart and sent a text to her father. For now, she hadn’t sensed any ill intent from this woman who claimed to be her older sister. Even so, she was still afraid.

A reply soon arrived. Normally, it would take her father ten to twenty minutes to respond. This time, he had replied in barely a dozen seconds. Rakshasa found it extremely unsettling.

The moment she opened the message, her pupils nearly shrank to pinpoints. It was confirmed. The young woman standing before her in a business suit really was her half-sister from the same father.

‘So Mom really was the other woman!’ What shocked her even more was just how much of a scumbag her father was. The goodwill she had accumulated toward him over the years instantly dropped by more than half.

Seeing the complicated expression on Rakshasa’s face, Tiffany’s expression became equally complex. She had once hated this younger sister. Hated her deeply. Because Rakshasa and her mother had taken away her father. Because her own mother had cried herself to sleep night after night. Because she had grown up without a father’s love.

But that hatred gradually faded after Rakshasa fell ill and became deaf and mute, and as Tiffany grew older. Children were innocent. Little by little, she realized she had hated the wrong person. Yes, that hatred had long since been redirected toward that man. Only that man was truly unforgivable.

“From today onward, this home will be occupied by *only* the two of us sisters.” Tiffany spoke with deliberate emphasis on the word ‘only.’ At this point, that man no longer had the face to return. Rather, if he actually dared to come back, Tiffany would personally throw him off the building.

“You are very important to the family. I will do everything in my power to protect you.” Walking over, Tiffany gently patted Rakshasa’s shoulder.

The latter was stunned. Even now, she still couldn’t fully process all the information that had been dumped on her.

“I know you don’t know anything about the family, but that’s fine. Your big sister will patiently explain everything… to you…” Tiffany nearly added, ‘until you’ve heard it all,’ but caught herself in time and quickly changed her wording.

Rakshasa looked at her, her emotions in complete turmoil. She had suddenly discovered that she had an older sister, that her mother had been the third party, and that her father was a complete scumbag. How could her feelings possibly not be complicated?

‘What kind of ridiculous soap-opera plot is this!?’ At that moment, all Rakshasa wanted to do was log into the game and pretend none of this had happened.

***

At the same time, within the City of Chaos. Yae-hime and Lili finally finished discussing the important matters at hand.

The details of the upcoming battle had now been fully arranged. Once Alicia arrived at Aoma Village and helped fine-tune the battle plan, everything would be more or less ready.

“Alicia thinks we should strike while the iron is hot and launch the operation at midnight tonight.” As soon as Lili received a message from a liaison officer, she turned toward Yae-hime and spoke with a serious expression.

“That soon?” Yae-hime asked, her delicate brows knitting together slightly.

“Lingering only invites trouble.” Lili nodded. “Besides, our morale is soaring right now. Naturally, we should press the advantage and charge straight at them.”

“That’s true. Morale is definitely something we have to consider.” Yae-hime nodded. Although she felt that more thorough preparations would be safer, momentum and morale were things that couldn’t be maintained forever.

Now that Alicia had returned to the Legend rank, their morale and momentum were at their peak. The longer they delayed, the more disadvantageous it would become for them.

“There’s also the fact that Jade City has been keeping its barrier active this entire time. Every second it stays up consumes an enormous amount of resources from the national treasury. If we drag this out for several more days, even if we defeat Richard, the Empire will still suffer severe losses.” Lili explained.

“Then let’s flatten Richard tonight!” The moment she heard that the barrier was draining the treasury’s resources at an alarming rate, Yae-hime felt as though her heart were bleeding. She wished she could crush Richard to death immediately. After all, in her eyes, those were practically her resources being burned away!