Late at night.
Warm yellow light spread across the bedroom floor of Roswaal Mansion, illuminating the exquisite murals and lavish decorations along the walls.
A large bed occupied the center of the room, its blankets soft and comfortable, carrying a faint pleasant fragrance.
Lying on that bed was a young blue-haired girl.
Half her body sank into the soft sheets, her short blue hair scattered across the pillow, with her bangs perfectly covering one eye.
Dressed in pale-blue pajamas, she looked like a delicate flower in bloom.
Yet at this moment, her eyes were tightly shut.
Her eyelashes trembled faintly, both hands gripped the blanket, and even her pink toes curled unconsciously, wrinkling the sheets as though she were searching for some sense of security.
"Ready?"
Shiro sat upright beside the bed and asked Rem seriously.
Rem's pretty face reddened slightly.
She gave a small nod.
Then, under Shiro's attentive gaze, she revealed something she would normally never show anyone.
Flash—
"I didn't get a good look last time because you left too quickly."
"Now that I can examine it up close, this so-called horn really is a crystallization of magic."
Shiro stared at the faintly glowing horn protruding from Rem's forehead and sighed in fascination.
Do not misunderstand.
Shiro was merely studying Rem's Oni horn.
"You're pretty nervous."
"Is it because of what happened with Meili earlier?"
To help Rem relax, Shiro casually brought up what had happened before she came to his room.
When Ram suggested killing Meili outright to eliminate any future danger, Rem had stopped her for reasons no one quite understood.
Ram originally intended to object.
But after staring deeply at the younger sister she doted on so much—She ultimately sighed and said nothing.
In other words, she reluctantly allowed Rem to have her way this time.
Still—Something did not simply stop carrying consequences just because the victim chose forgiveness.
Ram first questioned Meili about who had ordered her to assassinate everyone.
But the only answers they received were—
"I don't know who the client was."
And—
"Mother was the one who ultimately made me come here."
However, when they tried asking who this "Mother" actually was—
Meili could only answer—
"Mother is Mother."
Apparently, while educating Meili, the person she called [Mother] had never intended to reveal her real name.
According to Meili, even [Mother's] appearance constantly changed.
One day, she might be a beautiful blonde girl.
The next, she could become an ordinary-looking village woman.
And the day after that—A swarm of field mice might appear and claim that they were Meili's [Mother].
"Is there any magic that can change someone's appearance?"
Hearing this, Shiro turned toward Betty and asked.
His understanding of this world's magic was still limited to the basics.
For something like this, asking the far more knowledgeable Betty was obviously better.
"Changing one's appearance... Earth magic?"
Betty lowered her head and carefully searched her memory for any magic matching Meili's description.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, her eyes widened as though she had remembered something.
"Could it be... that?"
"What?"
"N-No, it's nothing."
"If it's simply altering one's own body, then Earth magic, which operates within living organisms, fits the description best."
"But... Betty has never heard of Earth magic that can turn someone into a field mouse."
After hesitating repeatedly, Betty ultimately chose not to tell Shiro about the possibility that had occurred to her.
From her perspective, things had already ended well enough.
Continuing to investigate might instead bring disaster upon them.
Sometimes—Knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing.
In the end, Shiro, Ram, and the others were still unable to identify whoever had ordered the assassination from Meili's fragmented information.
Only Emilia worriedly suggested that the culprit might have been targeting her.
After all, when competing for the throne, sending assassins after political rivals was hardly difficult to imagine.
Even blood-related brothers could turn on each other over a little profit.
And here—The prize was an entire kingdom.
Since their discussion produced no conclusion, they could only set the matter aside for now.
During the conversation, Emilia even specifically told Shiro and the others that if danger ever came, they could abandon her and escape.
Naturally—No one took those words seriously.
As for Meili—She would be temporarily confined within Roswaal Mansion as punishment for attempting to assassinate them.
If she behaved properly during her imprisonment, she might later be allowed to move around outside as an assistant maid under Ram and Rem.
As Ram put it—
"Don't think this means everything is forgiven."
"For Rem's sake, Ram will work you like an ox from now on."
"Prepare yourself to work until you drop."
Of course, while she was called an assistant maid, Ram and Rem would not actually let Meili touch food in the kitchen before they genuinely trusted her.
At most, she would be assigned chores such as folding blankets and cleaning rooms.
"Assistant maid" was more accurately the position Meili might earn in the future if she behaved well.
Meaning—Her status would be slightly above the Earth Dragons kept at Roswaal Mansion.
Under special circumstances—She might even rank below them.
Strangely enough, despite receiving treatment like this, Meili looked incredibly happy.
"Really?"
"Big Brother, you really won't turn Meili into hundreds of frogs as punishment whenever Meili messes something up like [Mother] did?"
Hope shone in her eyes as she clutched Shiro's sleeve.
The moment those words left her mouth—Even Ram, who had been dissatisfied with Rem's mercy, fell unusually silent.
She detected no trace of a lie in Meili's words.
Which meant—This little girl, who looked not even thirteen years old, had genuinely once been transformed alive into hundreds of frogs simply because she had made a mistake.
"No one here likes frogs."
Shiro pointed toward Roswaal.
"Although there is someone here who likes dressing like a clown."
"What about a lump of meat?"
"If Meili breaks something, you won't turn Meili into a lump of meat either?"
"Relax."
"Nobody here has hobbies that disgusting."
"Though quite a few people do want to kill you outright."
"How about it? Scared?"
"But even if you want to run back now, it's already too late."
"There's an angry pink-haired maid waiting to secretly kill you the instant you try escaping."
"I don't want to go back!"
"If Mother finds out I failed the mission, I'll definitely end up like those assassins who failed before!"
"Meili doesn't want to become like that!"
With Meili herself displaying such an intense desire to remain—She was escorted away and locked inside Roswaal Mansion's dungeon.
Fortunately, Roswaal Mansion might lack many things—But money was certainly not one of them.
Even the dungeon attached to the mansion, aside from somewhat questionable privacy, was no worse than an ordinary room belonging to a common family in the royal capital.
Living in that environment—With meals regularly delivered every day—Forget prisoners.
Even an ordinary person might eagerly volunteer to replace Meili and enjoy such comfortable conditions.
"Alright. Back to the main issue."
"I have something important to discuss with the sisters."
"Could everyone else give us a little privacy?"
After Meili was taken away, Shiro addressed everyone except Ram and Rem.
It was not that he particularly cared whether Emilia and the others knew he was researching Oni horns.
But before he could freely control the phenomenon himself—It might become one of his weaknesses.
Shiro had no intention of revealing a potential weakness in front of Roswaal, who was clearly plotting something.
"Then I won't intruuude."
"I'll leave the three of you to slowly deeepen your relationship."
"Betty has no interest in your secrets."
"More importantly, when are all of you planning to get out of Betty's Forbidden Library?"
"I'll leave as well."
"I still haven't finished talking with the minor spirits tonight."
Betty expelled everyone, including Shiro, from the Forbidden Library in one go.
Roswaal and Emilia also tactfully left the three of them alone.
"Ram already explained everything to you, right?"
Once everyone else had dispersed, Shiro looked toward Rem.
"Mm."
"Sister already told Rem everything."
"Shiro-sama saved Rem's life at the critical moment."
Rem nodded before adding—
"And Shiro-sama also bought ownership of Rem and Sister from Lord Roswaal."
"Calling it 'bought' sounds a little..."
Shiro looked slightly guilty.
It was true that he had saved Rem.
But from another perspective—He had also become the culprit who destroyed the sisters' original way of life.
"But that is what happened."
"Shiro-sama used Rem's life as currency to purchase ownership of Rem and Sister from Lord Roswaal."
"Guh..."
Shiro had no response.
"However—"
A beautiful, flower-like smile suddenly blossomed across Rem's face.
"It is also true that Shiro-sama saved Rem."
"So please do not feel troubled by it."
"Both Sister and Rem are sincerely grateful that Shiro-sama helped us."
There was not the slightest trace of falsehood in Rem's smile.
Before this incident—An invisible barrier had always existed between Shiro and the sisters.
Even though they treated him respectfully on the surface, if anything strange happened, they probably would have suspected Shiro first.
Only now—Had that invisible wall finally disappeared.
Seeing this, Shiro chuckled and raised an eyebrow.
"Then I won't hold back when ordering you two around from now on."
"If Shiro-sama needs anything in the future, simply ask Sister."
"If there is dirty or exhausting work, leave it to Rem."
The sisters answered almost simultaneously.
"In that case, the first thing I want to ask of you is..."
Amid this atmosphere, Shiro raised one hand and pointed toward Rem's forehead.
"Let me study Rem's Oni horn."
Silence.
The entire room instantly became quiet.
Ram gave him a look that practically screamed—
'You idiot.'
Rem's face turned bright red.
Eventually, Ram could no longer hold back.
"Shiro-sama, what exactly do you think an Oni's horn is?"
"An organ used to absorb mana?"
Shiro recalled what Betty had taught him earlier and answered tentatively.
"From one perspective, that is correct."
"But has Shiro-sama ever wondered why Oni only reveal their horns during battle, while keeping them hidden normally?"
"Because while they grant Oni tremendous combat strength, they're also a weakness?"
"So they're hidden to prevent someone from breaking them through a surprise attack?"
"That is indeed part of the reason."
"But generally speaking, an Oni's horn is not something that breaks easily."
No one was more qualified than Ram to say that.
As an Oni who had lost her horn—No one understood better than her how much force was required to actually break one.
And even that estimate was conservative.
As one of an Oni's physical organs, the horn became harder as the Oni matured.
Ram had lost hers while still a child.
The horn of an adult Oni would normally be considerably tougher.
"Besides helping Oni blend into human society, there is only one other major benefit to hiding their horns..."
Ram's expression became complicated as she glanced toward Rem.
"An Oni's horn is, in a certain sense, the most sensitive part of their body."
"So the real reason it's normally hidden is to prevent someone from accidentally touching it..."
"..."
Awkward silence spread through the room.
Even Betty, who had explained Oni horns to Shiro, probably would never have imagined that this was another reason they kept them hidden.
Then again—What race would deliberately record their most sensitive body part in books?
If such information survived for generations, it would practically be eternal public humiliation.
Perhaps that counted as another form of leaving one's name in history?
Shiro's thoughts wandered as he looked toward the bright-red Rem.
Even with his thick skin—He suddenly had no idea how to ask her anymore.
For an Oni, the sentence—
"Let me study your horn."
Apparently sounded dangerously close to openly harassing someone.
Unfortunately—This research genuinely mattered to Shiro.
Hadn't one of his reasons for coming here been to explore the realm of Excessive Awakening?
Rem was undoubtedly an excellent example to study.
And so—Shiro fell into hesitation.
Fortunately—
"I-It's alright..."
Seeing Shiro's awkward predicament, Rem considerately spoke first.
"Shiro-sama and Sister were both running around trying to save Rem earlier."
"Rem couldn't help at all."
"So this time..."
"Please allow Rem to help Shiro-sama."
…