“Let’s forget the unpleasant past.” Sarah said the words Evander didn’t expect. “If I do something that makes you proud, say ‘I’m proud of you, Sarah’. If you feel like telling, say ‘I love you, daughter.’
And if you want to say something, say it. Don’t let your embarrassment stop you.”
Even though she said that, her ears were red. Saying those words, she was clearly embarrassed herself.
Evander was dumbfounded.
Was this really his daughter?
“D-Did Anna ask you to say this?” He wondered. But she wouldn’t go so far.
“N-No. It’s Varian.” Sarah admitted, her face blushing even more. “He said you’re a T-Tsundere and I should ask you to be honest or our relationship would be long enough to be a 5 year running drama.”
Crack!
Evander cracked the high-end tea table as his face twitched multiple times.
Tsundere? Me? Also what the fuck did he mean by drama?
He too watched those shows with Sarah when she was a kid. How could he not know the meaning?
“I’m gonna beat him up!” Evander stood up and raced to the door.
“W-Wait!” Sarah panicked. He looked like he was really gonna beat him up!
Evander didn’t stop and was about to open the door.
“Father! If you beat him, I won’t talk to you anymore.” Sarah threatened.
This too…she learned from Varian. Varian didn’t just send a message to Evander, he also sent one to Sarah.
‘If master wants to beat me, I’ll die. O beautiful, kind hearted, graceful, cheerful…I’m running out words, but anyway, I’m entrusting my life to you.
If he really wants to beat me, say things like [I’ll hate you if you do that], [I won’t talk to you anymore].
Improvisations are advised. Act with spontaneity.
Oh and put on a sad expression.
Yours truly, an innocent disciple.’
That was Varian’s masterplan to save his ass.
And it worked.
“S-Sarah…” Evander turned around and saw Sarah’s sad face. She looked at him with red eyes and she seemed to be hurt.
Evander clutched his heart again. This time, it was a KO.
‘Bastard! Now my daughter won’t even let me hit you. This is so unfair.’
“I was joking, joking.” Evander laughed nervously. He didn’t want to sadden her. Looking at her sad face only hurt him.
“Really, you won’t beat Varian?” Sarah asked with a pitiful face.
“Really.” Evander nodded.
“Yay!” Sarah’s pitiful expression disappeared and she smiled brightly.
“…Y-you were acting?” Evander felt like he was getting to know his daughter once again.
“Uh…no?” Sarah realized she slipped up and put on a sad expression once again.
Evander wasn’t buying it, but he couldn’t bear to see her sad face.
He sighed deeply. “Forget it. Forget it. I know it must be him. But I won’t beat him.”
Sarah looked at him apologetically. “Varian seems to be very afraid of you. If you beat him, I think he’ll be traumatized.”
‘What? That bastard?! After calling me Tsundere, aren’t I traumatized?’ Evander wanted to yell, but to protect his ‘Father’ image in front of Sarah, he simply nodded.
“Let’s not bring him up.” Evander said. ‘I doubted if a person can really cough out blood in anger, but one more word about him and I will.’
“Alright, I’ll be honest. I’m not a T-Tsundere.” He stood up and patted her head. “I’m proud of you and I love you. Don’t feel inferior because you’re a dual awakener.
Who knows, we might just find something in the ruins that will let a dual awakener advance to Sovereign state.
You have thirty to forty years to think about it anyway.”
“Hm.” Sarah felt like a weight on her chest vanished. She felt…relieved.
“And that stupid disciple of mine, he’ll reach Sovereign or I’ll whip him.” Evander grinned widely when said ‘whip’.
Sarah was silent. Unlike him, she knew that Varian also awakened in space path.
Even though he told her that Dual Awakeners could also reach Sovereign state, she never heard or saw anything to support that claim.
While she didn’t think he was lying to her, she had her doubts on his source of information.
Maybe someone lied to him?
“I felt bad for losing.” Sarah looked up at Evander.
Before Evander could console her, she smiled. “But not anymore. In fact, I’m glad I lost.”
Her smile deepened and she said in a sweet voice. “Varian…he really cares about me. T-Thank you.”
“Cough cough cough.” Evander coughed exaggeratedly.
That bastard! If he really cares about you, he should’ve given you the enlightenment potion too.
Evander wasn’t going to praise Varian.
Never.
“Isn’t he a good person, father?” Sarah flashed an innocent smile at Evander, catching him off guard.
“Y-Yes…I mean, he has several questionable qualities that make me wonder if I should lock him up somewhere but he’s really a good person.” He said.
“Un. I want him to meet Sia too. He reminds me of her…maybe that’s why I talked to him first, but now I realize they’re very different…in a good way.” Sarah muttered.
“Sia? Which Sia?” Evander arched his brow. “…You asked me to search for someone with that name last year, right?”
“Hm.” Sarah sighed lightly. She knew where this was going.
“Sarah, there is no one with the name of Sia registered last year or even the year before that.
I checked even the secret files. The psychics said your memory isn’t altered, but hallucinations are possible. I’m sorry…because of me, you had to face such things” He apologized.
“…” Sarah’s eyes dimmed.
This was the reason she didn’t bring up Sia.
It was treated as a mental illness. An illusion.
One day, Sia was with her and the next day, she vanished.
Everyone around her forgot her.
There were no traces of her.
It was like she never existed.
Sarah kept searching for her, but with no traces of her existence, it was futile.
The psychics even wanted to erase her memory of Sia, but she opposed them.
In the end, she occasionally went to the dungeons they both entered as team ‘Siarah.’
Virgin Dungeon was one of them.
She wanted to talk about this to Varian, but in the end she refrained.
‘Will he also think I’m mentally ill? But where is Sia? It’s because of her my talent improved…but I can’t talk reveal it or she’ll be in danger.’
In the end, she decided to leave it to fate.
“Now that I think about it, do you want me to find a Psychic to erase those memori—”
Cling!
Cling!
Suddenly, Evander’s and Sarah’s comm rang.
[Varian’s space shuttle was destroyed by Shadow Order. He is no more.]
“Whaaat?!”
