Chapter 167: Meanwhile, the sisters talk...
In the second tower of the eastern tower where the second princess lived. The sound of chain mail and metal boots hitting the stone flooring echoed in the silent chamber. Princess Anne, hiding her face with a silver helmet, walked towards Liana's room.
"Leave." Her voice is empty of emotion, with her hand lifting and motioning the two female guards to leave; at first, they look at each other, confused.
Then she repeated herself with a low growl. This caused them to flee. "I order you to Leave!"
"Y-Yes, princess!"
"Forgive us!"
Now, although they shouldn't have followed her, being Liana's guards. It was normal for the sisters to ask for privacy when Anne came to her tower for conversations. The same was true with another family member, Velvet.
So they made a mistake and left.
'Such poor level of guards, did they not notice my atmosphere and the aggression in my voice? Tsk. This kingdom's best knights have all been slain by that monster, and Father forbids me from fighting against it!'
Anne showed a bitter look, her thoughts filled with irritation and resentment towards the kingdom as she scowled at the knights before walking into her little sister's room.
She made loud movements, attempting to make it obvious she was coming inside before slamming the door and dropping a silencing orb—a magical tool one can buy to create a zone voice of sound for more than two hours.
"Liana!" Anne called out with a fierce look in her eyes, moving with such force her light brown hair flung over her shoulder, settling on her shoulder.
"Hello, dear sister."
Liana didn't show any fear or the usual welcoming atmosphere as she slowly turned around on her black and golden chair, her azure eyes looking at Princess Anne with a sense of complication and sorrow.
"Oh, it's 'Dear Sister' now? You have some strong guts to call me that, Liana. How dare you fraternise with the demons!" Princess Anne's voice was tinged with anger, loss and frustration then she slammed her right hand down on a wooden table. Her metal gauntlets crushing the wood and creating a dampened sound due to the aura.
"Sister, why are you being so dramatic?" Liana's eyes narrowed, normally taking a weak stance when it came to her sister instead of her beloved sister and idol. She remained defensive and guarded while tapping the arm of her chair with her long red nails.
"Dramatic...?"
There was a moment of silence before Anna stepped forward and exploded with an immense aura that if seen by Ryuji. He would say her aura resembled Alan's. In shape, style and intensity while being vastly inferior in density.
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'She will stop being disobedient now... Eh?'
Princess Anne's eyes opened wide because Liana didn't show any sign of pulling back or fear. This method is how Anne used to make her sister stop misbehaving to listen to their father's orders and requests...
However, now Liana's body flickered with a black and red flame, the shape and intensity something far beyond what Anne could imagine her sister to have.
Then there were those four eerie arms with clawed hands extended from her back.
No longer mere shadows, now created of pure red flames like Liana's hair, with the black now having a complete form, like a gel or slime, allowing them to move or create humanoid actions at her sister's will.
'When did Liana grow to this extent?! Why does nobody realise how dark, and evil her power is?'
Despite being a witch, normally, their magic would seem natural.
Ruby and Lapis used water and fire. There wasn't any darkness in their element, and Velvet's magic could boost her physical body and allow her to mimic any other element, but only weaker than what she saw in person.
"My beloved, older sister. You seem to misunderstand something. When you come in here as a guest and my kind, protective sister, you are welcome. However, this version of you that fueled by anger, hatred and... most of all. That look!
As if you see me as garbage..."
"...Did you think I would sit down and let you treat me like a child, like normal?"
Liana stepped off her seat, although in the past she barely came to the chest of Anne.
Now, her height was above her chin. Not only that, but her hips, chest, and buttocks were completely different from how Anne remembered her, from a lovely little sister to a seductive and sexy witch.
The transformation because of her acceptance of Ryuji is the most dramatic because, unlike the others, she always uses it and never treats it like a form.
Inside her eyes, the black, ink-like substance constantly flowed across her sclera, forming a mystical yet dark atmosphere, the only part she would hide.
To stop her father from worrying.
"I am the second princess of Grigor and the woman who loves the Blood Tyrant no matter how he might change or how the people shall view him!"
Princess Anne, for the first time in her life, felt pressured by her lovely sister. She didn't truly want to clash here, but what could she do?!
'Liana... you're no longer suffering? Is it truly because of that man? He could be the very enemy our kingdom needs to slay. Yet you tell me your love for him with such pure, and unfettered eyes... How can I face you when my very soul tells me I must slay him!'
"Liana, do not be stupid. You must know what HE is, and there is no way that such a creature could be worthy of you!"
"Creature, Creature, Creature... A creature that let me live as a normal woman? A creature that made me feel that my thoughts, and feelings were correct and that I didn't have to live as your copy?
A creature that makes me heart tremble with joy, with just a smile, a laugh, a word, just a peek of his face?" Liana began to breathe heavily, taking almost no time to breathe during her outburst before she pointed all four flaming arms towards her sister.
"How dare you, how dare you, MY SISTER call the man I love a creature." Liana's body began to tremble, erupting in scarlet flames that danced around her body, fusing with her aura. It became clear to Anne that her sister wasn't weak...
No, maybe she had been strong all along, hiding her claws and pretending to be weak while throwing her sickly, weakening body into a hellish training regime in secret.
"He who devotes himself to our kingdom without complaint! Even when given nothing but one silver and our abuse. He takes the enemy's blades and claws! Allows his body to be carved, beaten and bloodied to help OUR knights and people grow stronger. ALL WITH A SMILE!"
"!!!"
'When did Liana become so strong, passionate and... wonderful?'
The hatred towards Ryuji in Anne's heart didn't change. However, it became different from the feeling of pure hatred to anger, fury and the desire to discover his truth.
'I have seen 'that' existence which broke my Uncle... Was I being unfair, pushing that monster's face onto his? Am I the one to blame, seeing my little sister like this? All thanks to him?'
"But he is still our enemy, Liana. A demon, no. He will become a Demon King within time, his emotions and feelings turning as black as the ink in that pot. Do you truly believe that man can remain the same once his blood starts to awaken and his thirst for destruction and domination runs rampant?!"
Princess Anne's cold voice changed as if affected by her sister's sincere feelings of love and affection.
Now, she spoke with a softer tone, with more emotion than cold malice.
Yet nothing could prepare her for the intense feelings of her sister.
Anne never experienced love. The closest feeling to her chest throbbing was towards Ryuji when seeing him fight and matching the image of her uncle to him and losing herself to the desire to fight him.
However, Liana had changed even before meeting Ryuji. His existence just boosted her growth like a nourishing pot of vitamins and minerals, as the tender care of a loving and management of a loving owner does to an orchid.
"Sister." Liana started speaking, her right foot stepping forward as the intense aura of Anne began to weigh heavily on the witch's shoulders, causing her skin to crack and minor cuts to form. Their difference was still a considerable margin.
Yet the moment she suffered, her eyes turned black, with a brilliant purple iris1 covered in demonic runes and those which were not.
"I have thought a lot while being alone while watching him from afar."
Her eyes looked like shimmering amethysts in the void.
"Should he seek to conquer, I will let him conquer me."
"Should he desire blood, I will bleed for him."
"Should he seek destruction, I will let him break me."
"When he awakens as a demon king. I will be there to accept him as his queen1!"
"I will not even give this role to Her, who sits at the pinnacle of his heart. This is MINE!"
The intensity of her words shook the sound barrier, her body began to change, with the same black skin covering her hands, slowly extending to her elbows with a beautiful and sleek shine, glossy and enchanting.
With each step, Liana looked more and more like a female Ryuji. Her aura, magic and the smile on her lips caused Anne's mind and heart to tremble.
She wanted to fight her little sister, but the feeling of repulsion didn't exist; instead, Anne realised that from a little sister.
Liana had become someone she wanted to compete with, to surpass, and it made her feel conflicted; the pride and joy to see her sickly and beloved sister now standing and enduring her aura was a hidden dream; she was always lonely watching her poor sister in the dark tower coughing and unable to walk far.
It started with a single tear.
The fluctuation in Anne's aura as the single tear made way for the stream that followed, and her emotions began to crack the solid wall that was her duty as the eldest princess and a knight of Grigor.
"I cannot do it, Liana; my heart can accept you and feels proud to see you right now standing tall for your beliefs and desires. However, for him, I cannot! This hatred, this feeling of anger, which that monster can never fulfil. Because I have accepted I can NEVER defeat her! It falls to him... and I cannot control it, forgive me."
Anne's eyes lowered, her aura diminished, while Liana gazed in silence. "Then fight him until you have no strength, no aura or desire to fight anymore. Throw it all at him, because I know the man I love will accept everything, no matter how you feel towards him, how you judge him or treat him. As long as you realise the truth after the battle, he will offer his hand to you with a smile.
Even if you beat him to near death."
"How... how can you believe in his so far?" Anne felt confused, her anger and emotions like a web of countless different spiders mixed and entangled as they vied for dominance.
"Because that idiot loves beautiful women and fighting the most..."
"W-What...?"
The two sisters stood in silence for several moments before their aura started to fade, and the only sound that came from the room was the bells of melodic and beautiful laughter of the two sisters as if they spoke of the most amusing topic...
A temporary truce, but the answer given to Anne was enough.
'Just fight him and I'll know...'