The crushing suffocating weight she had been carrying for six solid months lifted off her chest in one single afternoon because of the man standing right in front of her and she felt the absence of it so strongly her legs nearly went out from under her.
’He didn’t just save Kai,’ she thought with something burning warm and total moving through her chest as her eyes stayed on Sylus. ’He saved my entire world. Without anything benefit for him...’
Rina gathered herself and bowed deeply toward the Priestess and Kai followed right beside her. "Thank you for everything High Priestess."
"You are most welcome," Luna replied graciously. "May the holy light watch over you both."
Sylus caught Luna’s eye as they turned to leave and flashed her a slow sly lingering smirk.
"We’ll definitely be visiting again soon, Priestess."
Luna’s sweet smile stiffened for exactly one fraction of one second and behind those serene purple eyes something was absolutely screaming.
’You shameless perverted devil-boy. Stay far away from my cathedral.’
Out in the bright afternoon sun beyond the church gates Kai stopped and turned to face both of them with his hands clasped politely.
"Sir, you’ve already done far too much for someone like me," he said and bowed his head. "I can easily walk back home to the lower district from here. Please don’t waste any more of your valuable time on my account."
Rina looked at her brother and the immediate reluctant sadness moved through her eyes without her being able to stop it.
"Kai..."
Kai gave her a brave smile that was trying very hard to be convincing. "It’s okay Sis. I know you have important work at the noble mansion. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m healthy now so I can look after myself and find work in the market!"
Rina clenched her skirt tight in both fists.
Now that Kai was cured her duties as a servant meant she had to live at the Astria estate and her little brother would be going back to an empty house in the slums to fend for himself at eleven years old and the painful reality of that sat on both of them like a stone neither of them had figured out how to move.
Sylus looked at the pink-haired boy for a moment with a thoughtful expression and then unfolded his arms. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
"Hey kiddo. How old are you?" he asked casually.
Kai pointed at himself and blinked. "Me Sir? I’m eleven years old."
"And what are you good at?"
Kai tilted his head in genuine confusion. "I... I’m sorry Sir? What do you mean?"
"Around the house. Is there anything you’re actually decent at doing?"
"Ah!" Kai scratched his cheek and smiled sheepishly. "Well since Sis had to live at the estate I had to learn to manage by myself. I can do basic chores but what I’m really good at is cooking! I know how to make really good stews and hearty meals on a tiny budget!"
The clever light that came into Sylus’s crimson eyes was immediate and very specific.
"Is that so," he said and threw one arm around the boy’s shoulder with a wide grin. "Then why don’t you pack your things and come live at the Astria estate with us? We’re currently looking for a talented new assistant chef for the mansion kitchen."
Kai and Rina both froze on the spot with their eyes going wide as the words actually sank in.
"W-What?!" Kai’s jaw dropped and he shook his head fast and looked up with eyes that couldn’t decide whether to believe what they were hearing. "D-Do you really mean that Sir? You’re not just joking with me right?"
Sylus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms with a theatrical huff. "Hey what kind of man do you take me for? You think I’d dangle a job offer in front of a kid just for a laugh?"
"No Sir! It’s just... I can’t believe it..." Kai choked out and a fresh wave of tears sprang to his eyes and he wiped them away frantically with his sleeve before they could fall. "You’re too kind Sir. You gave me a home and a job and saved my life all in one afternoon... Thank you so much!"
Sylus rolled his eyes and turned his head away and crossed his arms harder. "Whoa hold your horses there kid. Don’t go throwing the word kind around like that. All I’m doing is hiring an extra pair of hands for the estate kitchen so you can earn your keep and a roof over your head. It’s a business arrangement not charity. Get that straight."
Beside them Rina watched the whole thing and felt her chest swell with something so warm and overwhelming it was almost painful.
’He’s lying so smoothly just to downplay it,’ she thought and a soft helpless smile spread across her face before she could stop it. ’He didn’t have to invite Kai to live at the mansion at all. He deliberately structured this whole thing so my brother wouldn’t be left alone in the slums and so we’d be under the same roof together. He did all of that on purpose and is now standing there pretending it was a staffing decision.’
She paused mid-thought.
’Wait.’
The realization hit her like something large and fast moving with no brakes.
’What is this feeling in my chest right now?’
A deep blazing flush detonated across her cheeks and she quickly shook her head.
’I’m done fighting it. I don’t care about Madame Helena or Corvus or the smuggling plots or any of it anymore.’
She gazed up at him with absolutely zero attempt to hide what was sitting in her emerald eyes.
Just as Sylus turned back to motion them toward the waiting carriage a sharp metallic chime echoed directly inside his mind.
[Ding!]
He stopped mid-step and blinked.
A translucent blue holographic notification window flashed across his vision.
He mentally tapped it open and found a stack of ten unread system alerts piled up.
’Wait a second.’ Sylus stared at the screen and a sudden wave of realization washed over him. ’I completely forgot this stupid system actually exists. With everything happening with Valessia and Corvus and Rina and Luna I totally blanked on the fact that I have my own cheat mechanics just sitting here doing their thing while I was out being a functional human being.’
He mentally tapped the notification bell and pulled up the full list.