bestfiction Chapter 497 - 497: DSMW [497]
Chapter 497 - 497: DSMW [497]
"Calm down, calm down, Alice. Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe they really are just ordinary friends?"Completely ignoring the teacup crushed in her hand, warm liquid flowing down her arm, Alice hid beside the window and observed Aisha's group.
"There's another person too."
Just as Miles had expected, Irena's presence did indeed help divert some of the fire that should have been focused on him alone.
However, there was one thing Miles hadn't anticipated… he had underestimated just how deeply Alice's sister-complex was hidden.
Not the loud, openly flaunted type like the three brothers of the Austin family.
On the surface, she simply fulfilled her role as a well-read, sensible older sister—sometimes strict, sometimes gentle. But behind the scenes, she doted on her little sister more than anyone else.
And it was often this kind of deeply hidden, repressed sister-complex that became even more terrifying once its psychological defenses were breached.
It could be said that Irena had saved Miles.
"That's great. It's a girl."
Upon seeing the beautiful girl, Irena, the tension in Alice's heart finally eased a little.
If her sister had brought back two men at once, Alice probably would have passed out on the spot and let Elra in the Millennium Ring take over her body.
Elra: "So you're relieved already? How naïve, Alice. Maybe that other girl is just a smokescreen your sister released to cover things up."
Fanning the flames with practiced ease, Elra's words made the heart Alice had just barely settled start racing again.
Elra had a point. Now was not the time to relax—there was a need to go and properly confirm things.
"Ta-dah, we're here, Mr. Miles, Senpai Irena~"
Pointing proudly at the Carlos family manor behind her, Aisha introduced it.
"There's no need to formally introduce it to me, Aisha."
Although this was the first time Miles' body had come to the Carlos family's manor—which could hardly be called luxurious—in reality, his soul had already spent an entire vacation here.
"Hehe, it's about the sense of ceremony. And besides, Senpai Irena is here for the first time."
"Let's go in," Irena said eagerly. "I'm more interested in seeing Aisha's room."
"Mhm, at this hour, my sister should be home."
Pushing the door open directly, the unlocked door clearly meant it was known in advance that Aisha would be returning today.
"I'm back, sis~"
Just like every other time she returned home, Alice put down her work and slowly walked out of the study, smiling as she welcomed her long-absent sister.
Only this time, Alice's smile looked slightly stiff.
"Y-you're back, Aisha."
And her voice sounded a little shaky, too.
"Sis?" Even Aisha noticed something was off. "Did you catch a cold? You don't look too well."
"No, no. It's probably just that I've been a bit tired from work lately."
Not feeling well… Wasn't it because you brought a man home?
From the moment they entered, Alice had been secretly observing Miles in front of her.
He looked proper and serious enough, and his appearance wasn't bad either.
At least he didn't look like the kind of flashy delinquent who would lure away an innocent, naïve girl.
Most importantly, what she hadn't noticed from afar became clear up close:
He was younger than Aisha.
[Threat level decreased ↓]
Alice assessed him silently in her mind.
"So this is Aisha's sister? She's really a great beauty!"
Upon seeing Alice, Irena became even more excited, wearing an expression that made it clear the trip had been worth it.
"Hehe." Alice covered her mouth as she laughed. "Not only are you cute, your mouth is sweet too."
"Sis, this is Irena-senpai, a third-year."
"I remember seeing your duel during last year's academy festival. As Aisha's senpai, thank you very much for taking care of my younger sister in everyday matters."
"Oh, not at all, hehe. You're too polite, Sis." Irena scratched her head shyly.
As the face of the Carlos family, Alice's bearing and etiquette were impeccable. Even meeting for the first time, interacting with her felt very comfortable.
"Then Aisha, the other one is?"
After using Irena to circle around the topic, Alice finally asked the question she cared about most.
"This is—Miles is…"
"I'm Aisha's junior."
Interrupting Aisha, Miles was afraid that letting her introduce him would lead to unnecessary trouble.
Especially since her habitual suffix was already about to come out—something that definitely didn't match how one addressed a junior.
"A first-year at Fusion Academy, Miles. Nice to meet you, Sister Alice."
"Oh, right, right." After being interrupted by Miles, Aisha also realized she should change how she addressed him. "0v0 It's Miles. Miles is my junior, a first-year who just enrolled."
"Junior…"
A first-year who had just enrolled—then he shouldn't have known Aisha for very long.
[Threat level decreased ↓]
No, wait!
If they hadn't known each other for long, then why did Aisha bring him back?
Something's fishy.
It wasn't time to fully relax yet.
"Nice to meet you as well. Please take good care of yourself here, Miles~"
"Sis, your voice is still trembling. Do you want to go rest for a bit?"
Of all people, you're the one with sharp ears.
"I'm fine. You're the ones who rode the magitek train for so long—before dinner, go rest for a while."
"Then what about you, Sis?"
"I, of course…"
Alice rolled up her sleeves, revealing slender, snow-white arms.
"…will be preparing dinner for you all. Do look forward to it~"
Alice's plan—some things were easier to ask over the dinner table than to grill someone nonstop upon first meeting.
"Hoo☆Raaay☆yay, getting to taste Sister Alice's cooking on my very first visit."
This Irena was all in sightseeing mode, having entirely forgotten the most important objective.
The scummy witch might forget, but Miles and Aisha would not.
Since they had obtained valuable free time before dinner, under Aisha's lead, the group could freely move in and out of the entire Carlos family manor.
Including the study that most likely contained records about ancestor Yuna—the study of successive Carlos family heads.
Which was also the study Alice was currently using.
"Um, is it really okay to just go in like this?"
Even with mental preparation beforehand, at the critical moment, Irena still felt a little uneasy about prying into someone's privacy.
"Relax. Even though Sis has been using it lately, this was originally Dad's study anyway. I used to play in there all the time when I was little."
"Huh, the door's not locked?" Miles was the first to push the door open. "Well then, don't blame me. As a 'guest,' I'll just treat an open room like this as fair game for sightseeing."
The interior was filled with a classical decorative style.
On the solid wood desk at the center lay documents Alice had only partially finished handling, while several bookshelves were neatly lined with all sorts of books, slightly dusted with age.
It was clear that although Alice worked in the study, she rarely touched the books on the shelves.
Judging from the thin layer of dust, it seemed she only cleaned them occasionally—not very frequently.
Aisha brushed her hand along the shelf, then looked at the dust on her fingertips. "Since we're already here, let's clean up a bit."
Irena said in surprise, "Didn't expect you to be this diligent at home, Aisha."
From Aisha's neatly kept dorm room, it wasn't hard to tell that she had a mild cleanliness obsession.
But whether she was actually diligent was another matter.
Spirit Eyes flickered, and Aisha drew a card and summoned it in a flash.
"I choose you—Ret-time Reviver Emit-ter."
Could using a Duel Spirit to help with cleaning really be called being diligent?
"(￣ー￣) It's my mental energy being consumed anyway, so what does it matter?"
Ahead, the garment fairy holding a broom moved with light, graceful steps as it cleaned the shelves.
Behind it, Miles and the others selected books from the newly cleaned shelves that might be related to records of the Carlos family's ancestors.
Miles scanned the book titles along the side, over and over.
"Postpartum Care for Duel Spirits"
"On the Legality of Hundred-Year-Old Elf Lolis"
"Complete Criminal Code"
"The Carlos family heads really studied a wide range of knowledge," Miles couldn't help but comment.
"(?Д?)ノ Stop fooling around, Mr. Miles, look seriously."
"I want to, but these books make it impossible to stay serious!"
"I found something!" Irena exclaimed.
"Irena, did you discover something?"
It really hadn't been a waste bringing her along. It seemed Irena's claimed sensitivity to book records wasn't just empty boasting.
"It's a 'Family Photo Album'! There might be pictures of little Aisha in here~"
Who brought this dead weight along?
"Aren't you interested, Miles? Tiny Aisha—Ahhhh, so cute! And Sister Alice was cute when she was little too~"
"Senpai, please be serious too!"
"I am being very serious." Irena continued flipping through the album. "You know, a 'Family Photo Album' might contain photos from a very long time ago."
"Hm?" At that moment, Miles felt she actually had a point and leaned in as well.
Inside the album, aside from miniature versions of Aisha and Alice from their childhood, there were also photos of their parents—people Miles had never seen before.
It seemed the white hair of both Aisha and Alice was entirely inherited from their mother.
As for Aisha's father, he was a properly handsome aristocratic man, with a fairly ordinary hairstyle.
Anyhow, since neither of the elders were Duelists, there was no need to worry about the whole 'strong people hairstyle' issue.
Continuing to flip through the album, the photos showed people even Aisha had never seen—previous heads of the Carlos family from generations past, Aisha's grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on.
Photographs etched with Carlos' family history traced further and further back.
Although the photos weren't labeled with clear names or dates, the increasingly luxurious clothing made it easy to see that the Carlos family, as an old noble house, had indeed experienced a glorious era.
Aisha said with difficulty, "Mm, I can't tell who's who at all. Just flipping like this, there's no way to confirm who Yuna is, right?"
It would've been easier if the album had names written beside the photos. But most of these old photographs were badly faded from age, and the fact that they'd been preserved at all was already impressive.
"Looking doesn't hurt. Maybe we can find clues from the photos themselves… This is!"
Before he could even finish speaking, the 'clue' that utterly shocked Miles had already appeared.
After flipping forward through who knew how many photos, of some great-great-great-grandmother from who knows how many generations ago—
In an old, blurry photograph, there was only one thing that stood out with startling clarity: the strange ornament worn by a young girl.
"This is… the Millennium Puzzle?!" the three of them exclaimed in unison.
Within the blurry photograph, the inverted triangular golden pyramid was strikingly eye-catching, its presence overwhelmingly strong.
Miles said in surprise, "So the Carlos family had a holder of the Millennium Puzzle long, long ago?"
Aisha said, "Then is this person ancestor Yuna?"
Irena said, "The photo's too unclear…"
Because the photograph was far too old, combined with yellowing creases from improper preservation, the faded areas happened to obscure the girl's face… making the entire image look somewhat eerie.
"I don't feel very good." Aisha's complexion suddenly turned uncomfortable. "Mr. Miles, Senpai Irena… maybe we shouldn't keep staring at this photo?"
Perhaps the eerie image of the faceless girl frightened Aisha. Irena timely closed the album.
In any case, even if they could see the girl's appearance clearly, they still wouldn't be able to confirm whether she was ancestor Yuna.
Regardless, at least they'd obtained a major discovery from the album—the Carlos family had been connected to the Millennium Puzzle long ago.
However, aside from this single clue, further searching in the study yielded no other useful info.
"Aren't things like a family genealogy kept in the study?"
Miles checked several times but found nothing of the sort.
Aisha said, "Then we'll have to ask Sis. Maybe she knows where the family genealogy is."
"Sniff sniff!" Irena's delicate little nose twitched a few times. "Do you smell that? There's been such a good aroma of food for a while now."
"Looks like Sis's cooking should be finished."
Aisha glanced at the clock on the wall and figured it was about time for dinner.
Grrr~!
Right on cue, a stomach growled. The two girls, lured by the aroma of food, exchanged smiles.
"They say you can't fight on an empty stomach. Let's eat first, Aisha, Miles."
"I agree too, Senpai~"
Reaching instant consensus, the two of them bolted out of the study, dashing toward the dining room downstairs.
As for Miles, although this body's efficient use of energy meant he rarely felt hunger, now that he had finally regained a body capable of eating, he was more than willing to replenish energy while also enjoying some delicious food.
Being the last to leave the study, as Miles passed by the solid wood desk at the center, he inadvertently caught sight of two documents Alice was handling, placed on the desktop.
Ordinarily, documents like these—essentially family privacy—were something Miles shouldn't read, either emotionally or logically.
However, one of them seemed to be related to 'Aisha Carlos,' forcing Miles to pick it up.
The first document was titled "Investigation Report on the Covert Movements of the Karl Family."
The Karl family was the one currently competing with the Carlos family for the title of Marquise.
The report mentioned that with the Karl family's hopes of ascending to the rank of Marquise growing increasingly slim, they seemed to have allied with other families previously dissatisfied with the rise of the Carlos family, hiring powerful Shadow Duelists from the black market to carry out retaliatory actions in the near future.
The second document… was more like an invitation than a report.
"An Invitation from the Holy Varian Empire. The Carlos Family and the Honorable Royal Knight of Livorden, Aisha Yuna Carlos, are cordially invited to attend His Imperial Majesty's birthday banquet."
The date was precisely next week.
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