Inside a bedroom of Roswaal Mansion, faint light shimmered from the Oni girl's forehead.
Looking at the horn above Rem's brow, Shiro placed his index finger against it.
Then he injected magic.
"Mm..."
The mana in the room resonated with the magic Shiro released around Rem's horn, forming a small vortex that was drawn into her body through her [Gate].
Bathed in that mana vortex, Rem unconsciously let out a soft moan.
To prevent her from absorbing too much mana at once and becoming mana-drunk, Shiro did not pour his enormous reserves into her all at once.
Instead, it was like inserting a straw into a swimming pool.
He slowly transmitted magic through his fingertip while examining the structure of Rem's horn.
At the same time, Shiro asked—
"If you were so worried Ram would be angry about what happened with Meili, why did you still ask her to spare the girl?"
"When Rem looked at that child... it felt like Rem was seeing her past self."
Rem gripped the blanket.
After hesitating briefly, she answered honestly.
"When Rem was young, people also placed expectations on Rem without asking, then became disappointed in Rem on their own."
"If Sister hadn't been there, Rem might have ended up even worse than that child."
"Because you only had one horn?"
Ordinary Oni were supposed to possess two horns.
The single horns of Rem and Ram were unusual even among their own race.
"Among the Oni, twins are considered taboo."
"When an Oni gives birth, the child is normally born with two horns."
"But if twins are born, one of them takes away a horn that should have belonged to the other."
"In other words, the younger twin is considered someone who should never have existed."
Because an Oni's horns were organs used to absorb mana, a one-horned Oni was far weaker than an ordinary Oni.
And among the strength-worshiping Oni, such a child was regarded as a disgrace.
"To protect the Oni's honor, if twins are born, the village chief normally kills both children at birth."
While continuing to transfer magic, Shiro devoted half his attention to Rem's story.
He was also curious how Ram had lost her horn, and where that faint inferiority complex he kept sensing from Rem had come from.
"Sister was different from useless Rem."
"Even with only one horn, Sister displayed strength surpassing every other Oni from the moment she was born."
"Fortunately, the Oni worship strength."
"After seeing how powerful Sister was, they abandoned the plan to kill us and instead decided to raise us as the next hope of the Oni."
But Rem did not possess the same talent as her sister.
Even with the entire Oni village doing everything they could to train them, Rem could never reach Ram's level.
"The things Rem heard most as a child were—"
"'If Ram can already do this much with only one horn, imagine how strong she would have been with two.'"
"And—"
"'Rem needs to work hard and learn from her sister too.'"
Rem's voice gradually lowered.
"But no matter how hard Rem tried, even when Rem secretly went out to train alone in the middle of the night, Rem still couldn't catch up with Sister."
"A spell that took Rem a month to learn only took Sister one afternoon."
"A wall Rem crossed after endless sweat was something Sister could casually jump over as though she were playing."
"After years of that... Rem finally couldn't bear everyone treating her as another version of Sister."
"So one day, Rem ran away."
Rem had never envied her sister.
Nor had she hated her parents.
She understood that their parents loved not only Ram, but Rem as well.
Even the other Oni never shunned the less talented Rem.
If anything, they placed even greater expectations on her.
Because she was Ram's sister, Rem should be equally powerful.
Because she was Ram's sister, Rem should learn everything just as easily.
Because she was Ram's sister, Rem should stand beside Ram and shoulder the future of the Oni.
Rem had heard words like that countless times.
So many that she nearly forgot her own name was Rem—Not "Ram's younger sister."
The hopes of the entire village rested on her shoulders.
Yet no matter what she did, she could never catch her sister.
She possessed no extraordinary talent.
Her mana capacity was ordinary.
Even her abilities as an Oni were merely average for someone with a single horn.
Unlike Ram, Rem possessed no confidence whatsoever.
She always hid behind her sister, shrinking into herself and imitating Ram's every movement like a shadow.
That was how the young Rem survived.
It was also how she protected herself.
Gradually, Rem's inability to display exceptional talent made the villagers increasingly anxious.
The Oni were a race that revered strength.
They desperately wanted Rem to become stronger as quickly as possible.
Even if she could not reach Ram's level, they would have been satisfied if she became several times stronger than an ordinary Oni.
Of course, Rem did not want to remain weak either.
She wanted to catch up with the sister she adored.
She wanted her parents to praise her more.
And precisely because she had worked so hard—She understood better than anyone that an uncrossable chasm separated her from Ram.
No amount of sweat could erase the difference in their talent.
They had the same height.
The same face.
Yet when it came to talent, Rem and Ram were worlds apart.
So Rem ran away.
'If Rem can't compete with Sister in the strength of an Oni, then Rem can simply do something else.'
"With that thought, Rem ran away from the Oni training by herself."
"At that time, Rem never considered Sister's feelings."
"Rem selfishly dumped every expectation the adults had placed on her onto Sister instead."
"Then Rem began learning housework from Mother."
"Back then, Rem even thought—"
"'If life could stay like this forever, that would be enough.'"
"'Sister could bring glory to the Oni, and Rem could stay home and take care of Sister.'"
"But—!"
Rem bit down hard on her lower lip.
Her hands clenched the blanket so tightly that Shiro could faintly see blue veins beneath her pale skin.
Perhaps because her horn was exposed, her Oni instincts had also been stimulated.
An overwhelming killing intent appeared within Rem's blue eye.
Simply standing beside her made Shiro's skin faintly sting.
This was already the second time he had seen Rem like this.
"The Witch Cult!"
Rem spat out the organization's name through clenched teeth.
So that was why she had reacted so violently before.
Shiro had mentioned the Witch of Envy—
A name inseparably connected to the Witch Cult.
"One night, Rem woke up because it was unbearably hot."
"Sister, who should have been sleeping beside Rem, was suddenly gone."
"Back then, Rem only knew how to follow Sister."
"Even if Sister left over something trivial, Rem felt she had to follow behind her."
"That thought had controlled Rem since childhood."
"But before Rem could even find Sister, Rem smelled something burning."
"The room had somehow caught fire."
"When Rem used her enhanced body to break down the door, the village outside had already become something completely different."
Burning homes.
Crying children.
Adults drenched in blood.
That was the hellish scene greeting Rem when she rushed out through the flames.
Men dressed in black had set fire to the houses.
The blaze spread from one end of the village to the other, turning everything into a sea of flames.
The air was filled with adults roaring in rage—And the wet sound of blades entering flesh.
The familiar village became a crimson hell.
Charred bodies were piled high in the center.
"Only later did Rem learn that the people who invaded our village were members of the infamous Witch Cult."
"They killed every villager they encountered, regardless of age."
"By the time Rem realized what was happening, the Witch Cultists had already surrounded her."
"Sister fought her way in from outside and rescued Rem."
"But even though Sister was strong..."
"Strong enough that Rem could never catch her no matter how hard she tried..."
"There were simply too many Witch Cultists."
Enough that they could surround Ram while still sending people after Rem.
Enough that Ram had to keep watching Rem while fighting.
"So that's how Ram lost her horn."
"You feel guilty because she was protecting you?"
After listening to Rem's childhood story, Shiro finally understood the truth behind Ram losing her horn.
It had happened while she was protecting Rem, who had still been weak at the time.
The Witch Cult had managed to sever Ram's horn.
After that, Roswaal had presumably appeared, saved the sisters, and brought them back to his mansion as maids.
"No..."
Rem shook her head, her expression darkening.
"Sister losing her horn made Rem sad."
"But back then... more than sadness, Rem felt relieved."
"'Ah... it finally broke.'"
"That was what Rem thought when she saw Sister's horn fall."
"If Sister knew Rem thought something like that, she would definitely hate Rem."
Living beneath Ram's shadow for years—Following behind her like a shadow—Had placed immense pressure on Rem without her realizing it.
It was like someone carrying hundreds of pounds finally being allowed to drop the weight from their back.
When Ram's horn broke, Rem's first emotion was not sorrow.
It was joy.
For the first time, she would no longer have to live beneath Ram's shadow.
The moment she realized that, Rem was overwhelmed by disgust toward herself.
Because of her—Ram, once praised as a [Prodigy], now needed Rem's help even with small everyday things.
Rem could not forgive herself for that.
So afterward, she approached everything using one standard—
'What would Sister have done back then?'
That was how Rem gradually became the nearly perfect maid Shiro knew now.
But blindly imitating Ram caused Rem to forget the road she herself had originally wanted to walk.
The girl lying before Shiro now was less "Rem"—And more a degraded imitation of Ram.
Looking at her, Shiro carefully organized his thoughts before asking—
"Have you ever told Ram any of this?"
"..."
"So because of your guilt, you wanted to shoulder Ram's responsibilities too."
"But at the same time, you're afraid she'll hate you if she learns what you thought back then."
"So you've never dared to tell her."
"And after acting selfishly over Meili today, now you're even more afraid to bring it up. Right?"
"..."
A long silence followed.
Clearly—Even now, Rem had never truly sat down and talked with Ram.
She only knew how to imitate what Ram would normally do.
She had completely forgotten why Ram behaved that way in the first place.
Shiro sighed quietly.
Then the finger resting against Rem's horn gently rubbed it.
"Eek!"
A cute cry escaped Rem.
Apparently, Ram had not been exaggerating when she said an Oni's horn was their most sensitive area.
Shiro looked at Rem, who immediately raised both hands to protect the horn on her forehead.
"Are you an idiot?"
"The reason you agreed to let me study your horn isn't because I ran around trying to save you."
"It's because you didn't want Ram to feel troubled, right?"
"As long as the objective is achieved, does the reason really matter?"
"Or is Shiro-sama the kind of pervert who likes watching girls voluntarily let him examine their important parts?"
"Pervert..."
"Forget it."
"First, there's one thing I need to correct."
"You don't have to force yourself to do everything perfectly."
"Even the old Ram couldn't possibly handle every single thing flawlessly."
"That's only because Shiro-sama never saw Sister when she still had her horn."
"Rem is incompetent and talentless."
"Rem was only a burden among the Oni."
"No matter how hard Rem tries, Rem can never reach Sister's level."
"Since Rem walks slower, the only way to catch Sister is to run faster."
"And even then, Rem is still far behind her."
Rem fired back without pause.
And with every sentence—She continued putting herself down.
Seeing this, Shiro simply chose an example she could not argue against.
"Then let's use what we're doing right now."
"Your sister cannot help me study an Oni horn through mana like this."
"That's only Rem's fault."
"If Sister still had her horn—"
"She still couldn't."
Shiro cut her off.
"Even if Ram had her horn right now, she still wouldn't be able to do this."
"Pay attention to your current physical condition."
Rem froze.
Then she quickly examined her body.
Aside from being filled with mana—And her stomach feeling strangely full, almost like she had overeaten—Nothing seemed wrong.
"You can feel that fullness, right?"
"That's your body warning you that it has reached its limit."
"There is a limit to how much mana a person can endure."
"If you keep absorbing mana after reaching that limit, there are generally only two possible outcomes."
Shiro withdrew his hand from Rem's horn.
He had already gained a general understanding of how Oni horns worked.
And Rem's body had reached its current limit.
"Either you release the excess mana through some special method..."
"Or your body fails to adapt to the additional mana and mutates."
"Of course, most of the time, that 'mutation' simply means your body bursts apart."
"Only a small number of people might temporarily evolve and survive."
A human body was like a bottle filled with water.
Once full, adding more required increasing the bottle's capacity.
If nothing changed and someone simply sealed the opening, inserted a tube, and continued forcing water inside—
The pressure would eventually shatter the bottle.
"Ram is extremely powerful."
"With her horn, she could probably trade a few blows with Reinhard."
"But that strength would actually become a disadvantage here."
"If Ram still had her horn, simply exposing it and replenishing mana would already push her body close to its limit."
"She wouldn't be able to cooperate with my research."
"And other Oni almost certainly can't withstand as much mana as you can."
"So the only person capable of helping me with this is the supposedly 'incompetent and talentless' Rem."
"To me—"
"Rem is actually the special one."
"Me...?"
"Special...?"
Rem murmured as though she could not understand the words.
Seeing her stunned expression, Shiro pressed his advantage.
"And you're not only special to me."
"To Ram, you're unquestionably the most important person in the world."
"To put it simply, your entire problem is that you've never properly talked to Ram."
"You're always afraid that if she discovers the darker thoughts inside you, she'll distance herself."
"But when you're afraid, have you ever considered something?"
"If you were strangers, maybe Ram really would choose to keep her distance."
"But don't forget—"
"You and Ram are twin sisters connected by blood."
"What older sister who adores her little sister would genuinely start hating her over something like this?"
Shiro suddenly seemed to sense something.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"If the situation were reversed, you wouldn't cut ties with Ram just because she felt relieved when you lost your horn, would you?"
"The same applies to Ram."
"If she learns what happened, she might get angry."
"She might even be upset with you for a while."
"But in the end, she'll definitely forgive you."
"Because you're the little sister she loves more than anyone."
Then Shiro abruptly raised his voice.
"Isn't that right, Ram?!"
…