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“Uh… what is this about?”

Contrary to my composed expression, my mind started racing.

“Ah, well…”

He, dressed in casual clothes, walked slowly toward me. I straightened up and swallowed. When Olgard stopped walking, my heart thudded.

Please don’t just say you can’t do it!

“I’m sorry!”

He bowed deeply.

“Huh?”

I was puzzled. I couldn’t make sense of the situation. But Olgard was serious.

“All this time I thought of you as nothing more or less than a stranger who entered my sister’s body. Honestly, I was closer to thinking of you as an outsider. I didn’t really consider how my siblings might be feeling.”

He suddenly began to confess.

“But watching you work so hard for Rio made me realize I was terribly mistaken. I finally understood why my siblings were so angry with me… I have no idea what happened between you while I was gone. Maybe you were so close that I was secretly jealous. I was genuinely angry when Marcella hit you, too.”

“Olgard…”

“But you went to the temple every day for Rio, holding her hand and giving her courage. Marcella and Juliana accepted that as normal, yet they were always worried about you—wondering if you were overexerting yourself. That means you’ve been doing this steadily for a long time. It’s not an easy thing, even for the priests.”

I listened silently to what he said. As Lemer had suggested, it seemed he had done a lot of thinking while leaving me alone.

“You’ve effectively been the eldest son. It couldn’t have been easy; I’m sorry and… thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“…”

“Even though you said you received an oracle and couldn’t contact them because you missed them, that excuse was wrong. You became a priest to cure Rio’s illness, and receiving an oracle shouldn’t have become a lower priority. Even if you had become Chancellor, you should have come to them immediately. Lemer said they’d be fine, but you didn’t know any of that… I was complacent, assuming they’d just understand.”

It was a time of self-reflection. Deep regret seeped from his voice.

“I’m truly sorry for my slip of the tongue the other day. I thought it was right to apologize to you before apologizing to my siblings.”

Even with time, it will be hard for him to truly see me as his real sister, since he knows everything and had been waiting for the original. Perhaps I feel the same. But at least we could become the kind of family that helps each other when needed. Seeing him genuinely remorseful, I no longer wanted to stay angry.

“If you think that way, I’m grateful. It’s not entirely wrong. I’m not the original, after all.”

He shook his head firmly.

“You’re not fake either. You are real, too.”

“Uh… I’m suddenly at a loss for words. Well, anyway, thank you for treating Rio. It could have been disastrous.”

I felt awkward and wanted to get out of the moment.

“…It’s the least I could do.”

Still, the fact he brought it up first showed he really was a mature eldest. After finishing his words, he looked much more relieved.

“I should go to my siblings now.”

“Y-yeah.”

He seemed to find it emotionally harder to face his siblings than me. Remembering Lemer’s words, I decided not to rush him.

Olgard, true to being the god’s messenger who had received an oracle, was a man of action. Like pulling a horn from the fire, there was a long buzz of voices and shouts before it quieted. Then he suddenly told me to come to their side. Seeing my brother and sisters’ faces, awkward but not hostile, the apology seemed to have been well received.

“I think we need time to explain what happened during that time.”

Olgard calmly told how he met me, what the oracle was, and how I became Possessed. It was necessary, but honestly I had been putting off explaining it because I hadn’t organized how to say it. Explaining about the original body’s owner, Cornelia, was particularly awkward, since even Olgard didn’t know that part. But now it was really time to tell the truth.

“Actually, while I was in Yuno, I met someone in my dreams…”

That the real Cornelia had fallen ill and died, and afterward I became Possessed. When I explained what wish she made and how Lemer granted it, Olgard and everyone else sniffled.

“Stupidly… she didn’t want to be sick, and yet she was…”

“Sister, I miss you…”

“Wahhh, noona…!”

Seeing that, I couldn’t help a bitter smile. Honestly, I think I was secretly scared. I feared that telling this would clearly draw the line that as the Possessed, I wasn’t family.

Still, this is right.

She was the sibling who wished even for the rest of the family out of concern—they had the right to know. And I had to tell them Cornelia wasn’t unhappy and that she’s doing well in the heavens now.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t say it sooner.”

Marcella sniffled and shook his head.

“You also must have been out of your mind. You went through so much in such a short time. Thank you for telling us, even now.”

“Thanks for understanding. Now you believe me, right?”

She meant to ask if they now believed she was Possessed. The answer was unexpected.

“Actually, I believed it long ago.”

“What?”

“Of course at first I denied it, but you’re so different from the original Coco. No matter how much of a memory loss, someone who couldn’t do the work suddenly becoming a rapid fast-promoted person doesn’t make sense.”

Wait, so you were pretending not to believe on purpose?!

When I made a face full of betrayal, Marcella ruffled my hair roughly.

“Ouch, get your hands off me!”

“That’s why we did it. The three of us had already agreed. Whoever you are, you’ll be family who will stay with us. Would you have followed even to the capital if you hadn’t thought that?”

Julie and Rio suddenly hugged me from both sides.

“I’m so happy sister decided to stay! Coco noona, and this Coco noona are both our noona!”

“I like it too!”

This time I couldn’t help but give an awkward smile like Olgard’s.

“So stop overthinking and live like you always have. We’re truly all together now.”

I was really glad that Cornelia, who thought of family to the end, could remain in their hearts as a good memory.

“By the way, what on earth happened with the Duke in Yuno?”

“…Do you really have to know that?”

And so our conversation didn’t end even as the night grew late.

“It’s a relief that he came to his senses, even if belatedly.”

Ren, who had been listening to the sibling showdown with Olgard, offered his impression.

“Did you have to put it that way?”

“Isn’t it true? He abandoned his family even knowing, so he deserves this.”

It was an unflinchingly cold response. But knowing he was speaking out of concern for me, I laughed it off and moved on to the topic of scouting the temple. As we shared what each had researched, the story of meeting Lemer came up naturally.

“It would have been better if you’d come out before all this happened.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

But what good is gossiping like this? I quickly shared the information I had gotten from Lemer.

“Fortunately, Lemer knew the location and appearance of the relic.”

“That’s at least helpful.”

Spending time with me seems to have rubbed off on Ren; he’s slowly becoming an atheist too. I just hope he only picks up the good parts… I pulled myself together and recalled the events.

“I’m sorry, but it seems a trial will soon befall you.”

Lemer’s eyebrows drooped.

“I know. I know what awaits me.”

She looked at me with an oddly sympathetic gaze and quietly kissed my forehead. Strangely, a warm feeling flowed through my entire body.

“I hope this helps, at least. The truth is I don’t interfere directly in human affairs. I only issue oracles on rare occasions. Power used with good intentions doesn’t always yield positive results—the butterfly effect is terrifying. But you, who should have lived according to fate, came here because of me. Since you’ve been drawn into something big, you must bear this much.”

Still, she was a deity with a conscience.

“The relic used on your sibling was the ‘Ring of Protection.’ And it’s hidden in the very deep underground relic vault of this temple. In the past it was used to delay the corruption of bodies tainted by evil energy, but I didn’t expect it to be encountered like this. Humans learn the negative things so quickly without being taught, I swear.”

Even when learning a foreign language, humans are the kind of creatures who pick up curses first.

“Then, take care of your body.”

Lemer left a brief farewell and vanished in a flash of bright light.

“She could’ve blessed you enough without kissing you.”

Ren said gruffly, as if displeased.

“Focus on the conversation. Are you jealous of a god right now?”

“I’m refraining because she’s a deity.”

Now it seems he no longer even tries to hide it after the engagement announcement.

“Anyway, I’m coming on the temple infiltration. You saw it, right? Lemer even bestowed a blessing. This clearly means I should go.”

He put on a face that showed he truly didn’t like it and clamped his mouth shut.

“I won’t be a nuisance.”

Hearing that, Ren immediately relaxed his expression.

“That’s not why. It’s because I’m afraid Ria might be in danger.”

“Ren will protect her, won’t he?”

“Of course. But I hate the idea of being put in that situation at all.”

“But you know we have to do it, right? Since we know the relic’s location, let’s make a plan when Priest Nora arrives.”

His worry was clear, but there was nothing to be done.

But the news Priest Nora brought halted the planning machine in my head.

“What does that mean?”

“Exactly as I said. I thought there was a Deputy Director behind this. It would be difficult without that level of power. But it seems there is one more.”

“Who would that be?”

Ren furrowed his brow. Priest Nora swallowed once and spoke.

“The Commander of the Holy Knights.”

Not an intelligence play, but a physical one?