Chapter 410

“Actually…”

Once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back.

I clenched my lips tightly, like a shell.

I unconsciously rubbed my mouth and cautiously observed Saetbyeol’s reaction.

“What do you mean, actually?”

Saetbyeol tilted her head.

The grip on the blanket tightened in my hands.

‘Why did I bring this up…’

Was it because I wanted Adella to know about my past life?

Revealing my past life had only ever left me with wounds.

[So you were a man in your past life? Hahaha, then you must know how to satisfy a man!]

[You might be under dark magic right now. Quickly go to the holy kingdom for purification…]

Whether my counterpart acknowledged or denied my past life, I could not see a better future than now.

For that fleeting relief of confessing a secret, I was about to destroy the relationship I had carefully built until now.

How foolish I was.

A few moments passed as I blinked.

I had hoped Professor Cheon would burst through the door, but sadly, he was absent.

While I was lost in thought, Saetbyeol approached and sat beside me.

“Sister, are you trying to dodge the question like before…?”

Her curious gaze, with vertically elongated pupils, fixated on me.

I placed my hand on her flushed cheek.

It was hot. I could feel the warm blood flowing beneath her skin through my palm.

A person. A living person. Saetbyeol was a person who thinks, dreams, and has emotions.

She impulsively confessed her first love and was still unable to shake off her embarrassment.

She’s going to kick the blanket tonight.

In a personal sense, that would be a loss.

Yet, I wondered why she confided in me.

It was simply because we were close. That was all.

When I had sealed away my jealousy, I had once arrogantly asked Hiasen.

[Hiasen, but I’m curious. Why have you never been jealous of me? I am better at swordsmanship, use magic well, and lack nothing.]

His answer was simple and clear.

[Because you’re mine.]

[Huh?]

[… Right, because we’re family. We’re in the same fence. What’s there to be jealous about?]

Only now did I realize the meaning of that.

What does it matter to weigh benefits and losses among family?

The boy who had been mature since childhood was indeed commendable when I looked back now.

I smiled gently and said.

“Actually, that’s me.”

“Uh? What do you mean by that… Fable?”

“Saetbyeol, it’s your freedom to believe or not, but I remember my past life differently from others. I don’t even know why I do. But I just want you to know that the woman who brought you out of the game was definitely not fake.”

Adella blinked, seemingly perplexed, her eyelashes curling upwards.

Unable to describe this tickling sensation on my nape,

I impulsively pressed my lips against Adella’s forehead.

It was a rough and awkward kiss, so coarse that it made my philtrum tingle.

“I’ll pass it on for that person. Thank you for liking me.”

* * *

3rd period, Korean class.

Saetbyeol lay on her school desk, staring blankly at the bare branches and the blue sky peeking through.

The literature class unfolding in Class 2 of Guryong High School did not register in her ears.

[Actually, that’s me.]

No Name, whose cold symptoms had worsened, sank back down again.

In fact, something thrilling had happened in the meantime, but Saetbyeol tried hard to pretend everything was fine.

‘A past life? Did such a thing really exist?’

This was merely a trivial matter compared to the fact that NaeMe was a reincarnator.

The use of 7th-circle magic that doesn’t exist on Earth, the abnormal understanding and knowledge for a child—everything pointed to that.

The human known as No Name was more mysterious than Adella’s existence.

During the remaining class time, Saetbyeol recalled the tone and attitude NaeMe had shown her so far.

All the scenes felt dissonant.

[Have you ever been wrong by listening to your sister? I will save you and this world. Just believe me no matter what happens.]

[I told you to keep calling me sister. What sister would leave her sibling behind?]

[You need to be thankful to me for the rest of your life.]

[If you jokingly say that, I might just kill you. Got it?]

It wasn’t a matter of intelligence or anything.

Saetbyeol imagined the voice and silhouette of the blonde woman overlapping.

‘For some reason, it fits well.’

She perfectly matched the image of a kind, headstrong, and responsible woman.

The story was becoming increasingly complicated.

Before long, it was lunchtime.

Saetbyeol was swept into the cafeteria among the kids like a zombie.

One of her classmates asked about her strangely malfunctioning demeanor that day.

“Saetbyeol, do you have a problem? You look like a cat angry because its owner forgot to feed it.”

Saetbyeol stirred her spoon in the murky soup and said.

“Yeah. What’s a good way to distinguish between adults and minors?”

“W-what? Why?”

“There’s a reason. It’s a serious problem.”

“Could it be… a guy…?”

Her friend’s timid question was drowned out by the chaotic noise of the cafeteria.

When Saetbyeol didn’t answer, her friend covered her mouth with a serious expression.

“Oh no! It seems like Saetbyeol has a boyfriend!”

Instantly, the attention of students in the cafeteria focused on her.

“What? Saetbyeol?”

“How dare that punk have the audacity! I could kill him!”

“What! Who confessed? Please don’t say it was you, right, Wonder News Star? I would cry!”

“What nonsense are you talking about! I’m a girl! She’s just an acquaintance, and I’m not sure how old she is…!”

While the girls were getting disappointed, the boys behind them secretly sighed in relief.

“Someone you met in a game, but you don’t even know how old they are? Just ask her!”

“She says she’s older than me, but how can I believe that… What good questions should I ask? Someone quickly throw out ideas.”

And thus began the heated discussion.

“Hmm… How about a gesture of drinking?”

“If they’re also a high school student, not knowing might be normal. Not everyone drinks and smokes like you.”

“Come on. Do you know any high schoolers these days who don’t drink or smoke?”

“Ask what lipsticks or cushions they use. If it’s Etude House, they’re definitely a middle schooler.”

“Nope, my younger sibling is a jimin and already uses Dior, Chanel, and YSL.”

“Are you crazy?”

“If they laugh at dad jokes, they’re definitely not a kid, right?”

“Kim Young-ji is smitten with dad jokes.”

“Is it red or blue?”

“What are we doing, a quiz show or something?”

Saetbyeol let out a deep sigh at the utterly unhelpful friends.

Saetbyeol’s worries continued all day long.

* * *

“Why are you still so energetic?”

I said to Saetbyeol, who, despite catching my cold, was walking around just fine.

“Do you talk like that just because you want me to be sick?”

Is it because she based her body on my past life?

Her immunity was world-class.

She could face plague patients without any issue, so a rhinovirus must feel like a joke to her.

I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket and came out to the living room.

I sipped some warm black tea, moistening the tip of my lips.

“Hey, No Name.”

“My shoulders suddenly feel stiff.”

“Gee, sister.”

“Yeah?”

“Hey, sister. Have you ever drunk alcohol in your past life?”

Saetbyeol asked eagerly about my past life, her eyes sparkling.

I slowly placed the cup on the saucer and tucked my legs back into the blanket.

“Of course.”

“What was your drinking capacity?”

“Capacity… I’m not sure.”

“Hmm. Then what was your favorite alcohol? In your past life.”

“Wheat beer sold at the Black Bull Tavern.”

“Isn’t that just made up? It sounds suspicious.”

Saetbyeol shot me a look full of doubt.

It seemed my perfect memory was finally kicking in.

“Ask anything. I can answer everything, from one to ten.”

“All of it?”

“Yep, all of it.”

The memories of my first five years of life were a bit hazy, but everything after that was preserved perfectly.

“There must have been a country where you lived in your past life.”

“The Kaizen Empire.”

“Right. Was there any special culture there? Something that doesn’t exist in modern Earth.”

“There was a public execution ceremony at the Acropolis square once every full moon. In an era with little entertainment, commoners brought their families to watch.”

The empire used public executions as a means to quell popular outrage, like a show.

Since it actually took a considerable amount of time for a person to die by burning, prisoners were given narcotics and poisons before the ceremony.

So, the actual time the prisoners struggled lasted no more than thirty seconds at most.

Though herbs and such were burned alongside to neutralize the stench of roasting bodies, I had no idea if that worked.

From what I could tell, it smelled diversely disgusting.

Hearing the detailed and accurate description, Saetbyeol could barely contain her horror.

The remote control she was holding fell to the floor.

“No, not that! There must have been music or art or something like that! This is too barbaric, what’s wrong with it!”

“I did learn to dance from Lady Lavier, who taught etiquette. It was a ballet-like dance.”

“Can you show me that?”

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

I was already feeling terrible from a cold, yet she was asking for so much.

“Clap in 3/4 time. Like this: clap-clap-clap-clap.”

“You really want me to do this…?”

Saetbyeol started clapping with skepticism in her eyes.

I listened to the monotone rhythm and lightly lifted one leg.

I threw off the blanket, which was like a dress, and maximized the sensation in my toes.

In sync with the rhythm, my body flowed naturally like a stream.

I expressed my emotions through dance within the waves of the rhythm.

The parts of my body merged into a moving picture.

I harmonized curves like a swan’s wings and lines like a heron’s legs, filling the space.

In the end, I made a grand jump while splitting my legs wide and landing softly on the ground.

But ultimately, it was just a dance from the medieval period.

It wasn’t as refined as modern dance, nor did it have a completed aesthetic.

“This is how the dance is. Don’t look at it weirdly.”

Saetbyeol smiled warmly while crinkling her brow at the same time.

I had no idea what kind of emotion that was.

“Our NaeMe sister isn’t someone who would dance like this…”

“I really didn’t want to do it either.”

“Then for real, for real, the last one.”

“Ugh, what is it?”

Saetbyeol carefully moved behind me.

She gently tucked my hair behind my ear and brought her mouth close to my ear.

I heard the gulping sound of her swallowing once, then again, reaching my eardrum.

After hearing the question spoken in a flustered voice, I was taken aback.

“Have you ever had your period? What does it feel like?”

My heart sank.

‘How old am I now…?’

Thinking of the deadline just a few years away brought a wave of anxiety and tension, making my vision dizzy.

This one thing was genuine.

“I seriously want to rip out this damned uterus.”

Saetbyeol flopped down on the floor.

She quietly raised her thumb.

“Which nine-year-old talks like that! Sister, I totally relate!”

Does this mean I’ve completed adult verification…?