“It was just a joke. You’re far too easy to tease, Miss Knight.”
Chengzhong Dino chuckled softly, paying no more mind to the stiffened Kaila.
She carefully supported the back of Sophie’s neck, laying her flat on the bed.
Then, she pulled a soft measuring tape made of an unknown material from her sleeve.
A few threads of mana guided the tape, causing it to dance quickly over the sleeping Sophie.
Shoulder width, bust, waist, arm length...
“Truly... what a sinful figure. Elder Brother finally couldn't resist laying hands on his own body, it seems.”
“With this body, his old clothes certainly won't fit anymore.”
While taking measurements, Chengzhong Dino gazed at Sophie’s body with intense focus.
If Kaila were to judge that look, the closest comparison would be the way Bennis looked at the New Moon Witch.
Fanatical. Obsessive.
It certainly wasn't the look of a normal sister.
“I’ll have to make several new sets of beautiful clothes for Elder Brother.”
Kaila watched all of this in silence.
“I am not jealous,” Kaila repeated.
“Right, right, of course,” Chengzhong Dino replied dismissively. “Think whatever you like, Miss Knight, as long as you don't forget your duties.”
Kaila frowned. “Why do you keep calling me... Miss Knight?”
It wasn't a Hero's title; it felt more like a term denoting a specific subordinate relationship.
In terms of attire, she was a nun. In terms of profession, she was a Hero.
Knights were retainers to the nobility, a title that didn't apply to Kaila in any sense.
Chengzhong Dino retracted the measuring tape into her sleeve and sat on the edge of the bed.
She extended her pale, slender fingers and smoothed the stray silver hairs on Sophie’s forehead.
“Because a Knight represents loyalty, protection, and proper guidance.” Dino’s gaze didn't leave Sophie’s sleeping face, but her words were directed at Kaila. “Elder Brother is the type of person who seems like he doesn't care about anything, but deep down, he has a temperament that's incredibly prone to trouble. If there isn't a rigid, law-abiding Knight by his side to watch over him, there's no telling what kind of chaos his erratic thinking might cause.”
Dino paused, seemingly lost in memory.
“There was an instance once.”
Chengzhong Dino, who had been as gentle as water all night, gritted her teeth for the first time.
“It was deep inside a certain dungeon. Elder Brother had defeated a High-tier Succubus Lord. To save her life, the Succubus begged him for mercy. Elder Brother told her, ‘I can let you go, but I’m giving you three choices right now.’”
Kaila listened silently. She had cleared many dungeons, but monsters were usually slain immediately.
Her Hero’s intuition told her that what came next would likely completely overturn her understanding of common sense.
“The first choice was to be turned into a potion by Elder Brother, or to be refined into a puppet by me,” Dino said, mimicking Hiso’s erratic tone from her memories. “Naturally, the Succubus was terrified. So Elder Brother gave the second choice: ‘Become my maid and serve me.’”
Kaila nodded slightly. For a defeated Succubus, this was a very reasonable and common form of enslavement.
Human masters who did this usually ended up sucked dry, but Kaila believed Sophie wasn't that foolish.
“And the third choice...” Chengzhong Dino’s breathing grew heavy. “Elder Brother told that Succubus: ‘I want you to be my mother. You have to wake up early every day to cook and clean for me; you have to go out and take commissions to earn money to support me; you have to bathe me and wash my clothes; you have to tell me stories to coax me to sleep at night; and if I’m ever mistreated or sad outside, you have to hold me in your arms and comfort me gently.’”
Kaila’s usually placid eyes widened instantly. Her Heroic Intelligence told her that right now was not the time to use it.
That was a Succubus.
“The Succubus was stunned. She thought she had encountered the most perverted vampire turned from the most perverted human in the world. Under the threat of Elder Brother’s three-second countdown, she shouted her choice of the second option without hesitation, swearing to be a loyal maid.”
Dino’s expression twisted into a cold sneer. “However, do you know what Elder Brother did?”
“He sighed with great disappointment and forced the Succubus to call him ‘Master.’ Once the Succubus had shouted it in humiliation, Elder Brother immediately replied happily, ‘Yes! Mom!’”
Kaila’s lips twitched slightly.
“The Succubus snapped right then and there, asking why he was calling her that when she chose the second option. Elder Brother replied with perfect confidence: ‘Even though you chose the second option to be a maid, I chose the third option for myself! From now on, you call me Master, and I’ll call you Mom. We’ll each follow our own rules!’”
A long, dead silence fell over the room.
Kaila looked down at the silver-haired girl who could say things like “You can only have one lover, but you can have many friends.”
It really was something she would do. Something completely irrational.
“And then what happened?” Kaila asked dryly.
Rate on N.U.
