Chapter 291
Chapter 291: How to Quickly Deal with Your Sister-in-Law
At some point, a light rain had begun to fall from the sky.
Dark clouds gathered like a haze, blanketing the sky above everyone's heads.
This kind of weather put people in a foul mood.
Kavra was one of them.
She sat on a bench outside, letting the fine drizzle patter against her hair without a care.
One hand propped under her chin, she stared blankly ahead.
On the surface of the puddles, droplet after droplet fell, sending ripples dancing outward.
"It's raining again."
The Royal Capital had already seen rain for several days running before this.
She had thought it would clear up after the last shower, but one rain followed another.
And yet, what weighed on Kavra's heart was not the rain.
It was...
Gwen, who had awakened beneath that great downpour.
Kavra still remembered it clearly—the moment that torrential rain crashed down over the Royal Capital.
The Natural Sparrow in the sky had projected that breathtaking scene across the entire Royal Capital for all to witness.
Kavra had watched it with her own eyes: Viktor's battle.
A battle so monumental it would be written into the annals of history—truly the stuff of epics.
To be perfectly honest, after a fight like that, the Emperor was absolutely going to summon Viktor.
That battle had been far too staggering, sending Viktor's name resounding across the world once more—to the point of becoming a household name beyond the Empire's borders.
The last person from the Kingdom of Carencia to have shaken the entire world was the Emperor himself.
Sol VIII—Aubrey.
And so, their Delin Family had been swept up in the commotion as well, suddenly drawing inexplicable attention from all sides.
Quite a number of people had come calling, if only to catch a glimpse of Viktor's legendary fiancée, Gwen.
Yet without exception, every single one of them was turned away.
After the rain that followed the battle's end, Gwen had finally awakened from her long slumber.
From the moment she woke, she refused to see anyone who came to visit.
Because the instant she opened her eyes, she had caught the tail end of that scene.
In it, Viktor held the Duke's daughter in his arms as he unleashed world-shaking magic.
And then—what Kavra had feared most came to pass.
Gwen became like a different person entirely, stripped of all emotion, falling into absolute silence.
She no longer even offered her own sister so much as a polite greeting, treating everyone around her as though they were invisible.
Day and night, without rest, she trained with relentless, tireless devotion.
Over these past few days, Kavra could clearly sense that Gwen's skills had advanced yet again.
As her older sister, Kavra should have been glad.
And yet...
Sigh.
Now, it seemed, Gwen had heard from Viktor's little sister that he had returned—and had gone off to find him again.
Kavra tilted her head back and looked up at the sky.
The rain seemed to be coming down a little harder, droplet after droplet tapping against her face without pause.
In the rain, her murmuring voice rose softly.
"Brother-in-law."
"If you have even a shred of sense left in you, find a way to get Gwen back to normal."
***
"First, you need to understand the consequences this situation will have going forward."
In the drizzling rain, Viktor and Gwen sat facing each other.
Beneath each of them sat a chair woven from wooden vines.
The sky was overcast and heavy with clouds, and rain fell in a fine mist.
Yet it seemed to affect neither of them in the slightest.
The moment rainwater was about to land on either of them, it was deflected by a thin, transparent film.
Not a drop so much as grazed them.
Gwen's face was expressionless—her cool, detached features wore that same utterly emotionless look as always.
As though she had discarded every last feeling within her.
She looked at Viktor across from her, her gaze steady, as if it contained the entirety of him.
"The person you attacked was the Duke's daughter, and the Emperor's daughter."
"I know."
"...First of all, you are Auréliane's teacher."
"I know."
"...Then why did you still do it?"
Gwen looked at Viktor, her voice cool and clear:
"Because I am your fiancée."
"..."
Viktor pressed a hand to his forehead, looking faintly exasperated.
Just as he had anticipated.
Gwen in this state—once she had made up her mind about something, she would never change it.
No one, no matter who they were, could talk her out of it.
"...Can you see what's going on?"
In the end, Viktor could only turn to Weija—that utterly useless crow—and ask.
"I thought you already knew everything."
Weija stood on Viktor's shoulder and pecked at its feathers.
Then it lifted its proud head, its single deep black eye fixing itself intently on Gwen.
In that instant, Gwen's gaze met Weija's solitary eye directly.
A moment later, Weija withdrew its gaze and folded its feathers back in again, becoming once more the image of an ordinary crow.
A voice that only Viktor could hear sounded beside his ear.
"If you're wondering whether she's been possessed by something, there's no need to worry."
"It's just that I hadn't expected this."
It gave a mischievous, tittering laugh, as though it had seen something rather amusing.
"Humans all carry something they believe in—it simply differs from person to person."
The faith Weija spoke of was not faith in some deity in the conventional sense.
Rather, it was...
"Just as what you believe in—things like 'winning through skill,' 'leaving nothing to chance'—others likewise hold their own different kinds of faith."
At that, Weija's deep gaze gradually brightened.
It looked at Gwen—who appeared to have lost all emotion, her face utterly blank—and continued to speak to Viktor in a voice only he could hear:
"The Gwen from before believed in justice."
"But now, what she believes in has become..."
"You."
As a divine being, Weija could peer into the flame of another's soul.
And upon the flame of Gwen's soul clung a faint, hazy shadow.
It recognized it at a glance—it was Viktor's silhouette.
This meant that Viktor's existence had left too deep an impression on Gwen.
Gwen was gradually becoming unable to be without him.
Hearing this, Viktor fell silent for a moment.
In a certain sense, this was precisely what Viktor had set out to achieve from the very beginning.
"Look on the bright side, Viktor. You've succeeded."
Gwen had forgotten the justice in her heart—or perhaps she hadn't forgotten it at all.
She had simply reordered her priorities, placing Viktor above it.
Viktor first. Justice—the thing she had pursued and believed in—came after.
Instinct.
This was the state Gwen currently found herself in.
She had discarded every emotion, because no matter what feeling arose in her, it only drew Gwen into inner conflict.
Gwen would become confused because of Viktor's presence.
Because she refused to believe that the person who had come to matter most to her—without her even realizing it—had become Viktor.
And so, to escape that conflict, she fell into confusion.
Gwen needed this instinct to correct her own understanding.
And within that instinct, Viktor occupied almost the entirety of Gwen's inner world.
Weija chattered and laughed with wicked amusement.
"You really are something else, Viktor."
"Did you know—perhaps you're more suited to being the Evil God than I am."
Indeed, in Weija's eyes, what Viktor had done was far worse.
He had succeeded. He had done everything.
He had used every means at his disposal to bring Gwen from despising him, to acknowledging him, to gradually accepting him.
Until, at last, she could no longer be without him.
And yet everything Viktor had done was purely for himself.
For his own fate—a fate that was never meant to end so soon.
Viktor had successfully averted it.
Instinct was the Devotees' last resort.
The fanatical, obsessive Devotees believed that the Goddess of Justice embodied the purest and most impartial form of justice—a justice that carried no personal sentiment whatsoever.
In their understanding, the Goddess ought to be exactly that way.
And so, from the time she was small, Gwen was never loved by those close to her.
Her father and elder brother ignored her. The household servants feared her.
Growing up in such an environment had left her emotionally stunted.
She was not good with words. She was not good at expressing her feelings, because she had never needed to make room for such feelings.
And so the Devotees had used precisely that—and succeeded in leaving instinct embedded within Gwen.
Once Gwen let herself feel any unnecessary emotion, the power hidden within her would awaken, reshaping Gwen into the image of instinct.
Instinct would strip away every emotion that served no purpose, leaving her focused solely on the one thing she held to in her heart.
That being "justice."
Had Viktor never done so much for Gwen—had Viktor never carved out a place in Gwen's heart—
Then, with this instinct taking hold,
Gwen would likely have truly become the embodiment of justice.
She would have thought of nothing else but upholding the justice within her heart.
And so...
"You succeeded, Viktor."
The moment the justice in Gwen's heart was replaced by Viktor—
What would Gwen do while in the grip of instinct?
The answer was already plain to see.
Viktor was quiet for a moment. He looked at Gwen, who sat tilting her head slightly to one side, her gaze fixed on his, and turned back to Weija.
"How can she return to normal?"
Weija's beak tilted to the side, and a contemptuous, mocking voice rang out:
"Don't ask me. I'm the Evil God."
"Evil Gods don't have nearly that many ways of saving people."
Viktor looked at Gwen.
A thought rose in his mind.
***
Outside again, it had inexplicably started raining.
Though autumn had already arrived and autumn rains were nothing unusual, after several consecutive days of rainfall, seeing rain fall once more still managed to drain the spirit.
Leah leaned against the window of the study, staring through the glass at the fine drizzle falling outside.
She watched the drops land one after another on the bluestone of their courtyard.
Suddenly, her gaze drifted a little farther ahead.
At the entrance of the Clavena Manor, a carriage slowly came to a stop.
What was strange about it, though, was that no horse was hitched to it.
Even its wheels were driven by magic.
The carriage door opened, and Viktor stepped out.
Right behind him, Gwen climbed down onto the ground.
Seeing both of them appear together, Leah was a little dumbfounded.
Still, she quickly gathered herself and hurried down the stairs, her footsteps rapid and flustered.
In one breath, she was standing at the front entrance of the manor.
As she neared the door, Leah seemed to grow somewhat nervous.
Her pace gradually slowed. She smoothed out her clothes, straightened her back, and folded her hands across her chest.
She let her brows and eyes droop slightly, doing her best to appear indifferent.
Once she felt her posture was satisfactory enough, Leah gave a small nod to herself.
Right. Should be fine.
Leah pushed open the front door and leaned against the doorframe.
As if she had timed it perfectly, she found Viktor and Gwen standing right at the entrance.
She kept her face cool, and a detached voice rose slowly:
"So you finally decided to come back?"
Viktor gave a nod, stepped around Leah, and walked into the manor.
He left behind only a single sentence:
"Prepare a room for Gwen."
"For the next few days, Gwen will be staying with us temporarily."
Leah blinked, the whole string of things she had mentally prepared to say completely forgotten.
She turned around, watching Viktor disappear further inside, and couldn't help calling after him:
"Couldn't Gwen just share a room with me?"
But Viktor had already gone upstairs long ago and had absolutely no intention of responding.
Leah puffed out her cheeks in irritation until her face rounded like a steamed bun.
Just then, Gwen came walking slowly up to the entrance.
Leah turned back around—and felt a sudden chill settle in her heart.
The Gwen before her seemed to have been drained of all emotion, her expression utterly cold and detached.
Were it not for her face and bearing, which remained essentially the same as Gwen's,
Leah genuinely wasn't sure she would have recognized who was standing in front of her.
At that moment, Gwen's gaze landed on Leah, and she spoke in an unhurried voice:
"No need."
"I can share a room with Viktor."