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This sound was sharper, like the crack of a whip. It was followed by a clear *kinn*—the sound of the frozen cup shattering once again, unable to withstand the sudden change in temperature.

NOOO I KNEW IIITTTTT!!!!
It’s even colder than before! Onii-sama, please calm down!

…Wait, Onii-sama, what is that sparkling stuff around you…?
It can’t possibly be diamond dust, and yet—what is this mysterious phenomenon?
Don’t tell me it’s some kind of visual effect that means you’ve evolved into the Ice Demon King? My Onii-sama evolved?! What do I do, do I have to evolve too?!

No, stop it. Calm down, me. This is something I read about in a book on magical power control. When an enormous amount of magic manifests and the will to suppress it is evenly matched, the magic becomes visible… an extremely, extremely rare phenomenon, supposedly.
To think that being such an extreme siscon could trigger a phenomenon like this—Onii-sama, you’re amazing as always.
And this is *with* him holding back? If he didn’t, this room would have turned into an ice cavern…

With cold yet beautiful magical power glittering around him, Aleksei spoke, a fearsome smile playing at the corner of his lips.

“Dragon or not, it is still nothing more than a magical beast. A mere animal daring to ask you to be its companion…? You said it rivaled the might of a nation’s army, did you? That’s fine. Even if I must pile mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, I will devote all of Jurnova to ensuring your safety.”

Nooo! Onii-sama, that is absolutely not okay! I specifically emphasized how strong the Demon Dragon King was so he *wouldn’t* say things like that!0
Onii-sama, your rich vocabulary is the worst right now! “Mountains of corpses and rivers of blood” is way too Ice Demon King—please refrain from statements like that!

“O-Onii-sama, please calm your feelings. He did say such a thing once, but since I am still a child, he withdrew his words. Please do not treat this as a serious matter.”
“Ekaterina, you are too pure to understand, but when a man says ‘you’re still a child,’ it means he is waiting for you to become an adult.”

He stated it definitively! With a Demon King smile!
Please stop. If I think about that too deeply, I feel like I’m going to freeze again, so I’d like to just ignore it!

Mina—! Yvan—! Help—!

Ekaterina looked around desperately for help, but was startled to find Mina standing right beside her. She wore her usual expressionless face, but the atmosphere around her felt ominous.

“I’ll follow and serve you wherever you go, my lady, no matter who you marry—but if *that* is the man, I don’t know if I can follow you. Please don’t choose him.”

That’s the issue?!

“Besides, he abducted you right in front of me. I will never forgive him. And I will never forgive myself either. Letting you be taken—never again.”

Her words trailed off, and Mina clenched her teeth.

“M-Mina, at that time, I was the one who ordered you to wait. You’re not at fault at all. You stood your ground and fulfilled your duty as my guard without retreating even a step against such a powerful dragon—you were splendid.”

To push back against the Demon Dragon King that far really is incredible.
Ahhh, I was so caught up in worrying about how to report this to Onii-sama that I neglected to properly thank Mina for everything she did—I just realized that now! As an employer, how could I be so careless! I’m still so immature!

…And now that I think about it, why is Yvan nodding so emphatically next to Mina…?

“You should stay with His Grace forever, my lady. I’ll protect you too.”

It was his usual friendly smile, but Yvan somehow seemed scary as well…

“My beloved Ekaterina.”

Aleksei reached out and touched Ekaterina’s cheek. His hand was cool to the touch, and without thinking, she placed her own hand over his, trying to warm it.

“Forgive me. I should never have let you go in my stead. Your radiance seems to draw even gods and demons alike. I should have understood that better than anyone.”

It’s just that my soul is from another world and therefore rare…
You’re a siscon, Onii-sama. The original tsundere model—dere only for one specific person.
But I can’t say that!

No—Mina and Yvan aren’t stopping Onii-sama at all!

O-Okay! If it comes down to it… if it really comes down to it…
I’ll cry. I’ll cry my way out of it.

.

With that pathetic resolve in her heart, Ekaterina gently wrapped both hands around her brother’s hand resting on her cheek.

“Onii-sama… I am truly happy. To be loved so deeply by the very person who means more to me than anyone else in the world.”

It’s a little overwhelming right now, to be honest.
But I mustn’t forget. I am very happy. In this life, where Mina and Yvan and everyone else treat me so kindly—I am happy. And more than anyone, it’s because of Onii-sama, who will love me absolutely and endlessly, that I am happy.

That’s why I want to be of use to you, Onii-sama.
I want to love you just as much as you love me.

Seeing his eyes soften, Ekaterina felt relieved. Come to think of it, the Demon King effect—or rather, the visible magic phenomenon—also seemed to have subsided.

“I told him this, Onii-sama. That I wish to remain with you for much, much longer. When I think about it, it hasn’t even been half a year since you and I became able to speak like this. I also told him that you and I are each other’s only family, just the two of us. He understood. He said that if I left him for another man I loved, that would be one thing—but since I’m leaving him for my dear brother, there is nothing to be done.”
“…I see.”

Aleksei nodded.

“I also told him that my marriage is something to be decided by you, as the head of the family. Oh yes—and I told him that if he spoke to me frivolously, there was a possibility that you would challenge him to a duel. And in that case, I said I would absolutely come to your aid.”

When Ekaterina smiled brightly at him, Aleksei let out a soft smile—
and then laughed aloud.

“You would come to my aid?”
“Of course. Though I may be of little help.”
“Thank you, kind child. …I wonder how it feels, to be told that by the very person you were courting.”

Looking thoroughly amused, Aleksei smiled at Ekaterina. The hand she held between both of hers felt warm now, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“To think it’s been less than half a year since we could speak like this… I can hardly believe it. How did I live through the years when you were not by my side? Even the few days after you departed on your journey were unbearable. I dreamed of you.”
“Oh my, Onii-sama—I dreamed of you as well. You were searching for a friend in the imperial castle. When I ran up to you, you embraced me.”

At Ekaterina’s words, Aleksei’s eyes widened.

“Now that you mention it… in the dream, you said it was an old god who allowed us to meet. That your offering had pleased their will… even though I knew nothing of the journey you were taking.”

This time, it was Ekaterina who widened her eyes.

Wow. So we really did meet in our dreams.
Come to think of it, in Greek mythology from my previous life, Death and Sleep were brothers, and Dreams were the sons of Sleep. The god of death governs death and souls—there were stories of wandering souls meeting in dreams, weren’t there? Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi… was it that? Our souls were allowed to meet?
Not that it matters. Thank you, gods!

“I’m sure that even while we were apart, my soul was always by your side. Please allow my soul to remain by your side forevermore. Because there is no place I wish to be other than by your side, Onii-sama.”

As his sister spoke happily, Aleksei narrowed his eyes gently and said,

“If that is what you desire.”