"Ah, sorry, Lady Rin…"
Hayasaka sighed deeply, turning her head away as if hurt by Rin's piercing gaze, wearing a tearful expression.
"It's all my fault. Please don't blame Lord Roy. I was just too greedy… Also, I'm really tired now, so I'll go rest first. I'll leave breakfast to you all."
Wrapping Roy's jacket around herself to keep warm and cover the marks, Hayasaka turned and headed for her room.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly she gasped sharply, furrowing her brows like she'd reopened a wound. She sighed in exhaustion, leaning against the wall and slowly making her way to her room.
"Wait a minute…!"
When she took all the blame on herself at once, Rin actually thought she was reflecting, but Hayasaka turned and ran off. Rin was stunned for a moment and hurried to stop her.
"Oh, right, right."
But then Hayasaka suddenly remembered something, stopped in her tracks, and flashed a bright smile at Rin.
"Actually, Lady Rin, you don't have to take it so seriously. I'm not the only one—Utaha and Ichika already served Lord Roy before me, and oh, Lady Touko too, she did so before all of us."
"Hayasaka-san?!"
From the kitchen, Nakano Ichika exclaimed.
Why would you betray me like that?
"Ichika?!"
Miku looked at her in shock.
"What?!"
Rin was momentarily dumbfounded.
Taking advantage of Rin's mental freeze, Hayasaka slipped out of the living room and headed for her room.
But she was a little confused.
How did Rin find out she snuck off?
She remembered changing clothes late at night and quietly sneaking into Roy's room without alerting anyone.
Yet Rin was already waiting in the living room early in the morning with a look like she'd caught her red-handed—clearly, Rin must have known about her sneaking off since midnight.
Why?
Where did she slip up?
Did Rin set some sort of magecraft in the yard too?
"Need a hand?"
On her way to the side room, Hayasaka bumped into Utaha.
The main bedroom and side rooms in the Aozaki residence were separate; the main bedroom and living room were in the main house, while the side rooms were in an annex with nothing to hold onto between.
Hayasaka quietly observed Utaha.
Her expression was calm—though not exactly happy, she showed no dissatisfaction, much calmer than Rin.
"Thanks."
Hayasaka thanked Utaha, who helped her toward her room.
"You knew?"
"Of course."
"Don't you think I'm awful?"
"Me too."
Utaha sighed, looking a bit depressed.
"After all, I came later, so I have no right to blame you."
That's true…
The one with the most legitimate position here was actually Touko's.
But since Touko didn't care, the rest rose to their positions. If Touko herself didn't mind, what standing did they have to?
Besides, Roy was chosen by the world itself; he was the only one of his kind. They were just refugees to begin with—without Roy, they might never have had magecraft or even a stable life.
Now, they could eat their fill every day and, with Roy's help, gain magecraft. They could become respected magi in the future. What reason did they have to complain?
To be honest, with Roy's rise in status and power, the benefits for them would only increase. That was obvious to the naked eye.
So, what was there to be dissatisfied about?
At least Hayasaka had no complaints.
"By the way, I still don't get it—how did you all know I went to Lord Roy's room last night?"
"That's because you were too loud."
"Huh?"
Hayasakav blinked in surprise.
Then a twitch formed at the corner of her eye.
That seemed… accurate. Whether in pain at first or pleasure later, she'd been quite loud.
***
Living Room
After escorting Hayasaka back to her room, Utaha entered the living room and saw Rin sitting at the table, looking utterly disbelieving.
In the kitchen, Ichika quietly comforted Miku.
"Utaha, you too?"
Rin looked up, glancing at her with a questioning look.
"Yes, I'm sorry, Lady Rin."
Utaha hesitated and nodded seriously.
"Rin, to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, I have to ask you something."
Illya sat at the table, sighing anxiously at the tense atmosphere.
"Do you know that Roy is cursed?"
"Cursed? Where did he get a curse?"
"Of course you don't know."
Seeing Rin's shocked expression as if hearing it for the first time, Illya nodded knowingly.
"To win the Holy Grail War, Roy touched the Greater Grail dozens of times over the past three years, modifying its settings with his Mystic Eyes. As a result, Angra Mainyu cursed his Mystic Eyes repeatedly, embedding the curse deeply into him. Frequent use of the Mystic Eyes triggers the curse."
"And sex was an important way to relieve the curse."
Illya explained the background to Rin.
Ultimately, Roy's obsessive desire to achieve his ideal caused this situation.
So not only now but in the future, the same thing might happen again.
"Also, there's another thing—you probably don't know about Roy's adaptive traits. He can help others adapt to our world's rules by doing this kind of thing. In magic theory, sex is a highly potent form of connection—you understand that, right?"
"Really?"
Rin sat down again, holding her forehead, stunned.
Now it made sense why things turned out this way.
"Hah…"
She buried her face in the table, utterly deflated and discouraged.
She hadn't expected the problem was not Hayasaka sneaking off, but that she herself had fallen far behind.
For a moment, she didn't know who to be angry at.
Illya smiled faintly as Rin sulked, sipping warm water with quiet pride.
As Roy's sister, she felt it necessary to solve the unstable situation behind him while he explored the new world.
Better to face the problem early and solve it, and Hayasaka probably thought the same—so she spilled everything about Utaha and the others all at once. Otherwise, it would be like a ticking time bomb ready to explode anytime.
She truly worried herself sick for her brother. A good sister indeed!
***
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