It was three o’clock in the afternoon by the time they arrived at the Yotsuba headquarters.

The servants who received them led Yuuka away to the guesthouse the Tsukuba family always used, while Minami had been directed to stay in the four-person room she’d lived in before moving to Tokyo. Here at headquarters, she would be treated not as a guest but as staff, and even now she had probably changed into a domestic maid uniform and was pitching in to help with the household preparations for the coming day.

Tatsuya and Miyuki, meanwhile, were led to guest quarters in the main house—two connected Japanese-style rooms. Unlike Minami, Tatsuya was being treated as Miyuki’s elder brother; he got the sense that the household staff were treating him differently than they normally would, but he allowed himself to be led along rather than stopping somebody and demanding to know the reason for the change.

“Pardon the intrusion.”

The room’s wooden door slid open—it was Minami, wearing a long-sleeved black dress with a white apron tied over it. She looked exactly as she had when Tatsuya and Miyuki had first met her.

Minami knelt and bowed so completely that her forehead touched the room’s tatami mats. “Tatsuya, sir. Miyuki, miss,” she went on, addressing them with stiff formality—and putting Tatsuya’s name first.

“Minami, don’t you think it would be better not to address us that way here?”

Tatsuya of course wasn’t suggesting that she talk to them the way she always did—but if someone else happened to overhear her addressing him first and foremost, and with equal rank as his sister, he was concerned that Minami could end up incurring the suspicion of the senior housekeeper.

“No, I am bringing a message from Mrs. Shirakawa.”

Mrs. Shirakawa presided over all housekeeping staff at the Yotsuba main house—put simply, she was the chief maid. Her husband was the sixth-ranking butler for the Yotsuba clan, and he assisted Hayama, the head butler who presided over the entire family staff.

“Sir, miss—you are both asked to come to the inner dining room at seven o’clock. Her Ladyship will receive you there,” Minami finished, her diction smooth and perfect. “That is the message.”

In other words, the sir/miss wording and order of address were from Mrs. Shirakawa, and Minami was merely repeating them as stated.

Tatsuya and Miyuki shared a look. So far as either of them could remember, Mrs. Shirakawa had never used sir to address Tatsuya.

Something was definitely up here at the headquarters of the Yotsuba family. And it involved Tatsuya, somehow.

He had the impression that it wasn’t necessarily a bad development for him and Miyuki as siblings, but he still felt a vague unease over it.

But Miyuki was worried about something else, and in this environment, Miyuki’s instincts were more perceptive. “The inner dining room? And my aunt will be waiting? She really said that?”

“Yes.”

“…I wonder if there’s something she wants to talk to us about before the celebration.” Tatsuya hurriedly tried to guess at Maya’s motivation.

The inner dining room was used for Maya’s personal dinners. It wasn’t a private dining area where she ate alone but rather a place where she received particularly important guests or where she discussed especially sensitive topics over dinner.

Tatsuya knew that tomorrow’s gathering would be to announce the successor to the rest of the family. He’d deduced as much the moment he’d seen the invitation—or rather, the summons—and there was the evidence he got from Mitsugu Kuroba to consider as well.

He had to assume that the reason Miyuki was being summoned to the inner dining room had to have something to do with tomorrow’s event.

“Minami—Fumiya and Ayako have already arrived, right? Were Yuuka and Katsushige also invited to dinner?”

“Fumiya and Ayako have been here since yesterday, I believe. Regarding Yuuka and Katsushige, I do not know.”

“Huh.”

Evidently Maya’s dinner plans were not widely known to the mansion’s staff. Tatsuya concluded that only a limited number of them would be involved in serving the dinner.

“Brother, if she wants to talk to us ahead of time, perhaps it really is about tomorrow—?” Miyuki said, noticing that Tatsuya was trying to buy a few moments to think. It was less a question than a confirmation.

“Yes. I imagine she’s assembling all of the candidates to discuss what will happen tomorrow. I don’t think any of the candidates are the type to make a scene if they’re not chosen, but maybe Aunt Maya feels that she needs to deliver some instructions as a formality.”

“Yuuka said she would decline, but doesn’t Katsushige want the position?”

He had personally accepted involvement in the plot against Miyuki. Could it be that by preventing her from being named heir, he hoped to plant the seed for his own ascension? Miyuki seemed to think so.

Tatsuya disagreed. “No, I don’t think that’s it. If he wanted the position for himself, he wouldn’t have dirtied his hands the way he did.” He suspected that Katsushige had only resorted to force because he’d already given up on the position.

“That said, we won’t know how things will shake out until the time comes. Ah, and, Minami,” Tatsuya said, realizing there was something he needed to make certain of. “Was I invited to this dinner as well?”

The message from Mrs. Shirakawa had specified that Tatsuya and Miyuki were to come to the inner dining room.

Tatsuya had never eaten with anyone other than his sister at this mansion. He had never been invited to any group meals.

“Yes. Both you and Miyuki have been asked to attend, sir.”

“Understood.”

Minami bowed deeply again. “If you have need, please use that bell. I will attend you immediately.” She gestured to a small handbell on a low table. She then stood, her duties concluded.

But Tatsuya stopped her short. “Minami.”

“Yes?” She knelt down on the tatami floor again, facing him.

Tatsuya’s request was simple. “I’d like you to see if Kuroba is available. If he is, please tell him that I’d like to meet with him as soon as possible. Just the two of us.”

“Very well, sir,” Minami agreed, then finally made good her exit.

Miyuki watched her go, then looked curiously to her brother. “Tatsuya, what do you want to talk to Uncle Kuroba for?”

“It’s nothing major. There’s just something I want to ask him.”

“Would that have something to do the obstruction we encountered trying to get here?”

“Most likely. That’s one of the things I’m going to try to confirm.”

There was hesitation in Miyuki’s eyes, and she looked away. When she spoke again, she did so without meeting Tatsuya’s gaze, and her voice was tinged with frustration. “Why do you want to see him alone?”

“I just get the feeling that I should.”

Tatsuya didn’t sound especially convinced, and there was uncertainty in his eyes, too.

“Might I not come with you…?”

“I worry that Kuroba won’t tell the truth if you do.”

“But he will if it’s just you?”

“I don’t mean to imply that he considers me trustworthy or anything of the sort. Rather, he detests me enough not to hold back any of the awful, scandalous things he might want to say.”

Miyuki opened her mouth as though to reply but then stopped short and nodded with lips pursed.

For a moment the two were silent. It was Miyuki who broke first.

“…I understand. I’ll leave the conversation with Uncle Kuroba to you. In exchange, I want you to tell me what he said, even if it’s just the parts that you think are all right for me to hear.”

“Understood. But only after the celebration tomorrow is over. I don’t want to burden your heart any more than it already has been.”

“…All right.”

It was just then that Minami returned.

“Tatsuya, sir, if I may?”

“Sure, c’mon in.”

“Yes, sir.” Minami slid the sliding door open as she had before and sat down beside the pair. “Mr. Kuroba says that he is available to meet you now, in his guesthouse.”

Tatsuya noticed the worried look Miyuki gave him and answered it with a reassuring nod. “Okay. I’ll take him up on that.”

“Very well. I’ll lead you there.” Minami stood.

Tatsuya followed suit, and as he trailed Minami out of the room, he looked over his shoulder one last time and smiled. “It’ll be fine.”

Mitsugu Kuroba was staying in one of the compound’s in-law suites—the one that happened to be his mother’s full-time residence. She was the elder sister of both the former Yotsuba family head, Eisaku, and the head before him, Genzou.

She was therefore Tatsuya’s grandfather’s sister, but Tatsuya had never interacted with her even once. Unsurprisingly, it was his first time inside this guesthouse.

Minami led him to the entrance of the house, then handed him off to its housekeeper, who led Tatsuya to a living room set up to receive company.

Tea-serving implements had already been set out. When the housekeeper held up the iron kettle to pour water from it, steam quickly started to rise. She filled a small teapot with hot water, then served Tatsuya. It was only medium-quality green tea, rather than fine matcha, but Tatsuya had no intention of making requests.

The housekeeper put the teapot away but left the iron kettle out, perhaps to let it heat and humidify the room a bit. The water in the induction kettle gave off a gentle waft of steam without actually boiling.

Tatsuya was about a third of the way through his cup of tea when Mitsugu Kuroba entered the room.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The housekeeper who entered ahead of him refreshed Tatsuya’s tea and placed a cup in front of Mitsugu.

“Not at all. I haven’t been waiting long,” Tatsuya said.

Mitsugu nodded and brought his tea to his lips.

He seemed considerably calmer than he had when he’d visited FLT a few days earlier. Either that, or with Miyuki’s arrival at the main house, he’d accepted defeat and was making a virtue of necessity.

“So I believe you wanted to speak with me. What about?”

Tatsuya made a show of deliberately widening his eyes. “I’ve come to collect on the promise you made.”

“Promise? Was there a promise?”

“There was.” Tatsuya paused and took stock of Mitsugu’s demeanor. Evidently, he wasn’t going to admit the facts of his own volition, so Tatsuya decided to do it for him. “Five days ago, when we spoke at FLT, you promised you would tell me your reasoning if we were able to arrive here by the deadline.”

Mitsugu clicked his tongue in irritation. He seemed to be regretting his carelessness, but Tatsuya was not going to let him renege on their agreement just because the man was suddenly uncomfortable.

“You’ll regret hearing this, boy.”

“Better that than regretting not hearing it.”

Mitsugu pursed his lips in consternation, but after a few moments, he began to speak, albeit reluctantly. “Fine, then. But no questions. I wouldn’t be able to answer them anyway,” he said firmly, then looked away.

No—he was still looking in Tatsuya’s direction, but his eyes were focused elsewhere, on some place—or some time—far in the distance.

And then Mitsugu’s long recollection began.

It was eighteen years ago.

We of the Yotsuba clan had received news we had been desperately wanting to hear:

Miya was pregnant. We all immediately gathered here at the main house, our family’s home, to await the delivery of her child.

At the time, the tragedy of 2062 was still fresh in our minds—the loathsome memory of Maya being kidnapped by Dahan and used as a subject in their experiments. The memory of the wrenching cost of our revenge: thirty core members of the family, dead.

But a new generation was coming. That alone was cause for joy. We wanted to be considerate toward Maya, who had lost the ability to bear children, but Maya celebrated her sister’s news more than anyone else. Could it be that the bond between them, which had been broken by the incident, would be repaired by the birth of a son—a nephew—related to both by blood? Even if things didn’t go back to the way they had been, perhaps we would once again see the twins getting along the way they once had. Or so we hoped.

At any rate, the knowledge that new life was growing within Miya had us all overjoyed.

In addition to the superior genes that came from her spouse, who had been chosen after painstaking calculation, Miya was the most talented mental interference magician in the world. It was expected that any offspring of hers would naturally be a superior magician—nobody doubted this.

But our hopes and ambitions went much further than that.

Miya’s specialty was a magic only she could perform: mental structure interference. The ability to alter the state of the mind itself.

The older the target of mental structure interference, the worse the possible side effects. However, with a child whose sense of self was yet undeveloped, the side effects of mental structure interference were lessened.

So given a fetus whose sense of self wasn’t only undeveloped but nonexistent, it stood to reason that there was no limit to how much its mind could be altered or how much power it could be granted. Such fantasies seemed to arise spontaneously in our minds.

The atrocity we had suffered made us obsessed. We were obsessed with creating a guardian for the family who would possess absolute, overwhelming power. The clan would birth a transcendent figure, a magician to best all other magicians, who would never allow tragedy to again befall us.

Be our enemy another nation, or the entire world itself, we of the Yotsuba would be protected from any oppression. We would possess absolute power. This magician’s power would keep the whole world at bay. And it would be the magic technology of the Yotsuba that would bring about such a being. This was our dream.

The entire family was consumed by this ambition. It wasn’t that each of us individually hoped to see this being created but that the obsession lurked in the collective heart of the family as a whole.

Mitsugu’s cup was empty. Irritated, he rang the service bell with a certain vehemence. When the housekeeper hurried over, he ordered her to refill his tea and to bring a pitcher of water as well. While the housekeeper was away fetching his request, he sat in stony-faced silence.

Only after they were alone again did Mitsugu continue.

We visited Miya constantly under the pretenses of wishing her well, and we prayed for the child within her.

We prayed that the child would grow strong. Strong enough to turn back all the villainy and prejudice of the world.

And we prayed that that power would be used to protect our own children. That the child would be an infallible guardian, able to forestall any misfortune and protect against any tragedy.

This selfish wish we not only held in our hearts but also sometimes spoke aloud.

Miya would smile as she listened to our selfish hopes. She would smile and say, “I hope to bear you such a child.”

Miya’s mental structure interference would enable her to make the child in her womb into such a person. Our prayers, we thought, were meant to help her do so.

Maya also frequently came to visit Miya. She didn’t fall to her knees and pray the way we did, but as she conversed with her twin, I remember her gaze sometimes falling lovingly upon her sister’s growing belly.

Mitsugu paused his reminiscence.

He poured water from the pitcher into a glass.

His hand was faintly trembling.

After draining the glass, he remained silent for a time. Tatsuya noticed him start to open his mouth several times, but his trembling lips seemed to be having trouble forming words.

Eventually, though, after Mitsugu emptied a second glass of water in a single long drink, he managed to collect himself and continue.

But despite what she said, that was not Miya’s true aim. We learned as much about nine months later.

Miya’s true wish was to avenge herself. Her dearest desire was for someone with the power to take that revenge. She wanted to give birth to someone who could stand in judgment of the world that had wounded her and Maya so deeply.

Even as she appeared to hope for a child who would protect the entire family, in her heart of hearts she nurtured a child of vengeance, who would be able to annihilate any and all who stood against her.

Not a single one of us realized this truth. Not a single one of us saw the way she had split her heart into two, nor understood the depths of her suffering.

Mitsugu focused his gaze on Tatsuya’s face, then spoke. “And then you were born. You, with the power she gave you—the power to bring ruin to the world.”

His breathing was ragged, and he was obviously disturbed. “How could anyone judge a newborn child? you might well ask. But we knew. Even then, we knew.”

Tatsuya was about to suggest a break on the man’s behalf, but Mitsugu continued, a man possessed. Once again, his attention returned to the past.

My uncle, the late Eisaku Yotsuba, the former head of the family, had the ability to analyze another person’s magic-calculation region and measure their latent potential for magic. The techniques the Yotsuba family uses to analyze magic-calculation regions are largely derived from his work.

Eisaku performed such an analysis on Miya’s newborn son. We were all breathless with anticipation to hear his estimation of the infant’s capacity.

I remember his words to this very day.

This is what my uncle said:

“This child has the power to destroy the world.”

He had the power to break down all material or information bodies, as well as the power to restore any material or information body as long as it was within twenty-four hours. As long as he didn’t die, he even had the power to recover, and to revive, others.

This was not what we had all hoped for, but it was not incompatible, either.

The power to destroy anything: We had wished for the power to protect an individual from the prejudice of the world. This was the power to annihilate that prejudice.

The power to restore anything: This was the power to nullify the wounds of anyone he’d failed to protect.

Finally, the power to never fall. This was an essential ability for any who would make an enemy of the whole world and face it alone. The child could face endless replenished armies, but with this power, he would never need reinforcements.

Hearing Eisaku’s pronouncement, we finally understood what it was that we had so dearly wished for and what this single life had been twisted into.

It was a demon who possessed the power to end the world. That was what the Yotsuba clan’s twisted prayers had brought into being. It was the embodiment of our deeply held conviction that as long as the Yotsuba clan was safe, the rest of the world could burn.

The newborn had committed no sin. In fact, it was a victim. But we were terribly conflicted over whether the infant our sin had created should be allowed to live.

The child had the power to destroy the world. Magic can run wild when its user experiences extreme emotions—even if they never had any intent to do so, it was possible that the child might one day actually do something irreparable.

The heads of all the branch families and their heirs assembled to discuss the matter at length. I don’t remember for how many days and nights we talked. It’s hard to tell whether it lasted three days or a month. But as the heir to the Kuroba family, I was there.

And in the end, we came to the conclusion that the child had to die. No—had to be killed.

All of us from the meeting came to Eisaku and delivered our conclusion. “We must kill the child immediately.”

Mitsugu’s gaze had been downcast, but then he paused and looked Tatsuya in the eye. He wore an exhausted smile on his face.

“It was my father, Juuzou Kuroba, who represented the Kuroba family when the branch families went to deliver their pronouncement that the infant—you—should be killed. I was not opposed.”

Tatsuya said nothing, because he had been told at the start that his questions would not be answered. He merely waited quietly for the story to continue.

Mitsugu interpreted this silence as shock. “I suppose this is enough to shock even you, eh?” He chuckled, thinking it a display of humanity. “You weren’t killed, though, because Eisaku rejected our proposal.”

Mitsugu sank, his head lolling down as though his neck had lost the strength to keep it steady. It was a strangely doll-like motion.

Eisaku told us to think rationally, rather than wallow in our shame.

He explained that however accidentally, we had gained the power to destroy the world. It was a trump card for the Yotsuba family, he said.

Eisaku’s determination was that it would be an awful waste to throw away this power over our self-indulgent feelings of guilt—and to add infanticide to the list of our crimes in the process.

“Tatsuya” would be raised to be the finest combat magician possible. Because of his simultaneous capacity for dismantling and regeneration, he would be unable to use other magic. In order to protect himself in battle without the use of magic and increase his survivability no matter what circumstances he found himself in, he would be drilled in the most advanced combat techniques. And to make sure his emotions always stayed in check, his capacity to feel them at all would be deeply restricted. This was Eisaku’s decision as the head of the family.

“Since birth, you have been given everything possible to mold you into a warrior. As soon as you could stand, you began rigorous physical training. Eisaku was serious. He wanted you to be useful. He was the one who saved you from death, after all.”

Mitsugu murmured the words, his head still hanging limply. Tatsuya could tell that he was no longer speaking about the past but rather addressing him, Tatsuya, directly. Mitsugu had unwittingly turned Eisaku Yotsuba’s decision into his and the rest of the family’s absolution.

Satisfied with this clarification, Mitsugu again sank into himself.

As soon as he could walk, his combat training began. No matter how much he wailed and cried, the boy’s desires were ignored. Isolated from the very family he should have been able to rely upon, he soon abandoned any resistance. Or perhaps he merely buried any feelings of defiance deep within himself. And his training continued at a pace far from normal.

Beginning with learning to dispatch wild animals without the use of ranged weapons, his training partners changed from military dogs to enhanced tactical animals—and finally to living soldiers.

“After Eisaku passed away, Maya became the new head of the family. Shortly thereafter, Maya and Miya made you the subject of an artificial magician experiment. It, and you, were deemed a grand success, and you were appointed Miyuki’s Guardian.”

Mitsugu finally looked up and began conversing normally. “But even after that, your combat training continued—until your formative years came and it was determined that the excessive training would adversely affect your development.”

“That much I remember.”

In fact, Tatsuya had clear memories going back before the artificial magician experiment, but they didn’t feel real to him. Memories before the experiment felt like watching a movie.

“I suppose you would. You were six by then.”

Mitsugu’s voice was hoarse. He seemed to suddenly remember the pitcher of water and refilled his glass, then drained half of it. “After Eisaku died, your training continued. Miya didn’t do anything to intervene. And why would she? She needed you alive in order to eventually carry out her vengeance.”

He drank the remaining water in the glass.

“You are the embodiment of Miya’s enmity toward the world and the symbol of the Yotsuba family’s great sin: our simpleminded wish for a superman to do our bidding and our failure to understand the rage and sorrow of one woman.”

Mitsugu’s grief seemed to almost sing—an awful song, a curse on both Tatsuya and himself.

“Knowing what you were, we could not allow you to remain at the center of the family. You couldn’t be allowed to inherit the Yotsuba family influence, and you had to be kept away from the National Defense Forces. We did not want to compound our sins.”

With that, Mitsugu seemed disinclined to say anything further. Tatsuya inferred that his story had ended.

“I understand, then.”

“If that is indeed so, then you should immediately resign as Miyuki’s Guardian. You must know that she will accept whatever you say.”

Tatsuya smiled coldly and shook his head. “What I understand is that the motivation behind your seemingly inexplicable actions is mere self-indulgent guilt.”

“What?!” Mitsugu slammed his fist into the arm of the chair he sat in.

A variety of methods by which he might kill Mitsugu flashed through Tatsuya’s mind.

“You told me what I wanted to know, as you promised you would. I’d like to excuse myself, now. Will that be all?”

“…Go, then. I have no more business with you.” Mitsugu rang the handbell.

The same housekeeper who had led Tatsuya in appeared. Mitsugu ordered her to show him to the door and out of the house.

At 6:50 PM, Tatsuya and Miyuki were led to the inner dining room by Minami. During the dinner itself, Minami stood at their side to wait on them.

Fumiya, Ayako, and Yuuka were already seated by the time Tatsuya and Miyuki arrived in the dining room. Miyuki was seated at the far end of the table, across from Fumiya, and Tatsuya next to her, across from Ayako. Next to Miyuki, at the end of the table, was Maya’s place. Miyuki had clearly been seated in the position of the highest honor, second only to Maya.

One minute before 7:00 PM, Katsushige Shibata arrived in the dining hall. Just as Tatsuya had suspected, this meant that all the candidates for succession were present—but he still didn’t understand why he himself was there. Ayako was Fumiya’s assistant, not his bodyguard, so it made sense that she was next to him. But as far as the Yotsuba family was concerned, Tatsuya was merely Miyuki’s Guardian and nothing more.

Katsushige came unescorted to the table. Not even Kotona, who was always at his side, was with him, to say nothing of Kanata.

But Tatsuya seemed to be the only one who found his presence at the table odd. Miyuki, of course, did not. But strangely neither Fumiya, Ayako, Yuuka, nor even Katsushige seemed to harbor any curiosity about finding themselves around the same table as their black sheep relative.

But he was underestimating his own importance, and he was underestimating the other magicians at the table, too.

The five other people present all regarded him as a magician who possessed equivalent or greater strength than they did. It was obvious to them that he would sit at the same table as they did. But Tatsuya nevertheless felt distinctly uncomfortable, as he had no idea that they were so broad-minded.

The clock struck seven.

The doors at the far end of the dining room opened, revealing the entrance that was for the exclusive use of the head of the Yotsuba family.

Escorted by the head butler, Hayama, Maya emerged through the portal wearing a long dress whose dark red color was near black.

Everybody stood. Tatsuya pushed back his own chair, but servants behind the five others pulled out their high-backed chairs for them. Minami, of course, took care of Miyuki’s chair.

“In spite of the rather sudden invitation, I bid you all welcome. Please, sit,” said Maya, gracefully seating herself in the chair that Hayama had pulled out for her.

Once Maya was seated and settled, the six other attendees all took their seats.

“First, let us have dinner. Katsushige, Yuuka—if you would like, I can have some wine brought out for you.”

Yuuka and Katsushige exchanged a quick glance.

It was Yuuka who answered first. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to abstain. I’m not much of a drinker.”

“Come to think of it, Yuuka, you don’t have much tolerance for alcohol, do you?” said Maya with a generous smile.

“No, as embarrassing as that is to admit,” Yuuka replied smartly.

Maya turned her gaze to Katsushige. “What about you? You look like you’d have quite the constitution.”

“I’m afraid looks are deceptive in this case… I tend to have terrible hangovers. So with apologies, given that I’ll need to save my strength for tomorrow’s event, I’ll have to refrain tonight.”

“You don’t need to be quite so formal, you know. Forcing people to drink isn’t one of my vices.” Maya smiled pleasantly, then raised her hand, giving Hayama, behind her, a signal.

At a glance from Hayama, the servers all retreated, then immediately returned with hors d’oeuvres.

“As tomorrow’s celebration will feature traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes, I chose Western-style courses for tonight’s dinner. I hope you’ll enjoy them.” Maya slid her knife through the terrine appetizer in front of her and brought a bite to her ruby-red lips.

All present picked up their knives and forks, and the meal began.

The cuisine was generally French, although not rigorously so. Maya seemed not to feel any need to hew to formality—one example was the duck that was brought out instead of the seafood that more a traditional setting might have suggested.

When she finished the sherbet that came after that course, Maya adjusted her position in her seat, causing everyone else, Tatsuya included, to straighten in their chairs attentively.

“Now then, I suppose we ought to get to business.” She looked over the assembled six and smiled serenely. “Katsushige, Yuuka, Miyuki, Fumiya.” She addressed the four succession candidates in descending order of age. “You are the four remaining candidates being considered for the position of Yotsuba family head. At tomorrow’s New Year’s celebration, I will announce my successor.”

All six of the gathered—not just the four candidates—watched Maya carefully. Somewhere along the line, all of the servants had left the room, save Hayama.

“However, suddenly hearing the pronouncement in front of everyone hardly leaves any time for you to process your emotions. Given that, I have decided to inform those at this table ahead of time.”

It was Miyuki who was most obviously nervous at this. Katsushige and Yuuka, as well as Fumiya and Ayako for some reason, all seemed quite calm.

Surprisingly, it was Fumiya who interrupted Maya as she was about to deliver her decision. “If I might, ma’am, there’s something I’d like to say.”

“My goodness, Fumiya. Do go on.”

“With your permission, then,” he said, standing. He gave a nervous bow, then continued. “I, Fumiya Kuroba of the Kuroba family, formally withdraw my candidacy for succession and recommend Miyuki Shiba to be named successor.”

Fumiya bowed again to Maya, then took his seat.

“Hmm. How very interesting.”

For Fumiya to formally withdraw his candidacy after Maya had stated that her decision was already final was, by a certain definition, a kind of defiance.

But Maya made no move to remonstrate him. Instead, she regarded Fumiya’s decision to choose this moment, of all times, to withdraw with great interest.

“Ma’am, if you would, I would also like to speak.”

“Yuuka. Don’t tell me, you too?” Maya asked with a smile.

“Yes.” Yuuka stood and made a show of bowing. “The Tsukuba family also recommends that Miyuki Shiba be named successor.”

She bowed again and sat, as Maya looked on with an amused smile.

“Did someone put the idea into your heads that you couldn’t just let the main family decide the successor all on its own?” she said, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief as she looked back and forth between Fumiya and Yuuka.

“No, nothing of the sort—”

Hearing Fumiya speak, Ayako smoothly cut in and explained their position. “Please forgive me butting in, ma’am, but it is entirely Fumiya’s and my own determination that Miyuki is the most suitable to succeed you. Our father fully respects Fumiya’s feelings and agrees with his decision to withdraw his candidacy. It is not at all our intention to raise any objection to your decision.”

“I see… So in other words, without any connection to the New Year’s celebration or the events in the days leading up to it, the Kuroba family has decided to support Miyuki as the next successor. Do I have that right?”

It was Fumiya who answered the question Maya put to them. “Yes. That is entirely correct.”

Maya chuckled. “Such filial piety, Fumiya.”

Fumiya’s design—and therefore, Mitsugu’s, as the figure pushing him—was transparent to Maya. The branch families’ attempt to delay Miyuki’s appointment by preventing her from attending the celebrations had failed. Even if the Kuroba family hadn’t been directly involved, they had obviously been part of the obstructionist faction.

And now they were trying to preemptively draw attention away from their mutinous stance. But since Maya was not particularly inclined to condemn the families involved with the interdiction operation—because she knew it would end in failure—this little intrigue was meaningless.

“I wonder why the Tsukuba family chose this particular timing to announce their withdrawal from consideration?” Maya mused with a piercing gaze.

Yuuka met her eyes with a flash of irritation. “Well, ma’am, if we didn’t speak up now, we wouldn’t have another chance, would we?”

“You mean you wouldn’t have another chance to make sure Miyuki owed you a favor?”

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but no. The Tsukuba family wants to have established a record of having immediately supported the successor. To be frank, our family has fallen behind the Kuroba and Shibata families, in terms of power.”

Even Maya couldn’t help but smile awkwardly at this exceedingly blunt statement.

“Personally, I don’t think that a family’s power is determined solely by its direct combat ability…but I do understand the Tsukuba family’s perspective. Miyuki, it looks like Yuuka is hoping to gain your favor.”

Miyuki looked momentarily surprised to be suddenly addressed but was certainly not some easily flustered little girl. “Well, at the moment, I am merely another candidate for succession…but I share my aunt’s view that combat ability is not the sole measure of a magician’s worth.”

Maya gave Miyuki a nod as though to say well done.

She then turned her attention to Katsushige. “Now then, Katsushige. Before I announce my decision, since we seem to be in a democratic sort of mood… What are your thoughts?”

Without standing, Katsushige straightened his posture and shifted in his chair to face Maya. “Ma’am. If the Kuroba and Tsukuba families are firm in their resolution to back Miyuki, then the Shibata family has no objection. I have received confirmation of this from our family head, Osamu.”

“I see. So you’re willing to abide by the majority.”

“Yes.” Katsushige nodded, without betraying the slightest acknowledgment that he himself had directly interfered with Miyuki’s arrival. He was so dignified that even if Maya had decided to interrogate him here, face-to-face, he would have been able to protest his ignorance with perfect composure.

“However, should we withdraw our candidacy for succession, there is something we would ask of you.”

“A quid pro quo, you mean?” Maya’s eyes narrowed. Her expression didn’t go as far as seeming openly suspicious, but it certainly wasn’t a pleased one, either. Or perhaps she was simply irritated at Katsushige’s insistence on saying nothing about his family’s obstruction.

“Not at all.” Katsushige responded decisively. “Merely a request.”

Maya’s expression shifted. “Oh?”

“As I have nothing to offer the new family head, there is nothing to be exchanged.”

“How straightforward and honest of you. Very well then, let’s hear it. What is it that you would ask of me?”

“I would ask that you give your blessing for a marriage between me, Katsushige Shibata, and Kotona Tsutsumi.”

Yuuka choked mid-sip of water.

Fumiya’s face faintly flushed, the excitement still a bit too much for him.

“Kotona…your Guardian, correct?”

“Yes.”

Maya looked thoughtful. “One of the second-generation Bard series, as I recall. The Bard series are still a bit genetically unstable, so I’m not sure she would be the best choice for the wife of a branch family head.”

“That is what my father said, as well.”

“You wouldn’t be satisfied with her as your mistress?”

Maya’s words had a far greater effect on Fumiya, who was trapped between her and Katsushige, than they did on Katsushige himself. He turned bright red and looked straight down. Beside him, Ayako seemed entirely unflustered, so his reaction was either thanks to the difference in age, gender, or disposition.

“You’re already in a common-law relationship, aren’t you?”

“You’re well-informed,” Katsushige offered, his composure unruffled.

“The thing is… Guardians are supposed to be the protectors of the clan’s most important magical assets, which is part of why we normally assign women as Guardians. But I wonder if your Guardian is merely an excuse for you to keep Kotona Tsutsumi at your side?”

“That is not the only reason,” he replied, trying to argue for the utility of Kotona’s magical abilities, but after a look from Maya, he quickly corrected himself. “No, you’re right.” Given that his primary goal here was to keep Kotona by his side, there was no advantage in muddying the waters.

“Hmm…” Maya placed a hand to her cheek and struck a contemplative pose. It was a fair impression of a person deep in thought, but nobody else at the table believed for a minute that she was actually agonizing over her decision.

“I hardly want to tear a pair of lovers apart,” she said, then for some reason looked to Miyuki. “And just because she’s an engineered magician doesn’t mean she’ll necessarily die young.” Maya returned her gaze to Katsushige.

Miyuki noticed Maya’s look but had no idea what it meant. It occurred to her that Maya might be referring to Honami or Minami, but that didn’t quite make sense. She was frustrated at the lack of clarity, but she couldn’t very well demand Maya explain the meaning of a single fleeting glance.

Whether or not Maya noticed Miyuki’s frustration, she was watching Katsushige closely. As he nervously waited for her answer, she finally broke into a pleasant smile.

“Very well. If you’d become the main family head, your personal desires wouldn’t be the only factor in your marriage.”

Miyuki flinched. Tatsuya gave her a worried look, but Miyuki’s gaze was frozen as she stared down at her hands.

Maya merely glanced briefly at Miyuki before returning to her conversation with Katsushige. “However, with branch family heads, there’s less need to be so calculating. If you will step down from being considered for succession, I will speak to Osamu.”

“Thank you.” Katsushige stood and lowered his head in a deep bow. When he looked up, Maya gestured for him to sit back down.

She then exhaled a sigh. “Goodness, it rather feels like I don’t need to say this, now, but…” Her relaxed expression stiffened. “Miyuki, I am naming you the next family head.”

Miyuki answered stiffly, “…I understand.”

“Fortunately, everyone here seems to have endorsed you, so take heart, and know that you have no need to be self-conscious about it.”

“Yes, Aunt Maya. I will do my very best.”

Miyuki stood and directed a formal bow first to Maya and then to the table. The fact that she was seated opposite Katsushige, and therefore appeared to be bowing to him, was only a perverse coincidence.

“Now then, shall we return to our meal?” Maya asked, whereupon Hayama clapped twice.

The main course meat dish—though incorrect according to a strict interpretation of fine dining norms—was brought out, and thereafter, the table was filled with idle, friendly chatter.

But once the dinner was over, Maya directed Tatsuya and Miyuki to remain.

When everyone else had left, the table setting was cleared. A cup of black tea was set in front of Maya. Tatsuya received black coffee; his sister, coffee with milk.

The servants, Hayama included, retreated.

Maya took a sip of her tea, then addressed the pair in a pleasant tone.

“Miyuki, first of all, congratulations. And, Tatsuya, I know you went through quite a bit of trouble, too.”

“Thank you very much, Aunt Maya.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Tatsuya and Miyuki both bowed from their seats. Neither of them had touched their cups.

“Now, I asked you to stay because I have something very important to discuss with you.”

Tatsuya could feel Miyuki stiffen next to him.

“As I said before, when you become family head, the choice of whom you marry is no longer yours alone.”

“—I understand.” Miyuki’s hands gripped her thighs.

“But before we get into that… Tatsuya.”

Tatsuya had not expected to be addressed here, but he let none of the confusion he felt creep into his response. “Yes?”

“You may have trouble believing what I’m about to tell you, but…Miyuki is not your biological sister.”

Miyuki gave a sharp gasp—a cry, really, that stayed unvoiced. She covered her hand with her mouth, and wide-eyed, she froze, looking almost like a marble statue.

But frozen was not the most appropriate term to describe her in that moment. It was true that she was not moving, but her wide eyes seemed to swirl with flames of complicated emotion.

Compared with Miyuki, Tatsuya appeared to be less disturbed, but that was merely because his emotions had exceeded his ability to process them. He took the shock he couldn’t process, detached it from himself, transfigured it into an objective, disinterested thought, and spat it back out at Maya.

“As expected, I don’t believe you. There is, after all, overwhelming evidence that Miyuki and I are biological siblings.”

Maya smiled an unworried smile at the suddenly emotionless Tatsuya. “And yet, it’s true. You see, Tatsuya—

“—You are my son.”

The shocking statement was enough to stun even Tatsuya into silence.

“Tatsuya, you are my son, born from an egg I cryogenically preserved before the incident, artificially fertilized, and carried to term by a surrogate—my sister. Your father, of course, is not Tatsuro. This makes Miyuki your cousin.”

It’s impossible.

Those were the words that first shot through Tatsuya’s mind when he regained the ability to think.

It’s impossible for Miyuki to be my cousin.

It’s impossible for Miyuki to be anything other than my sister.

As doubt crept in, shame came on its heels, but Tatsuya let none of these emotions show on his face.

“…I would like to hear more details later, if that’s all right.”

Maya responded to Tatsuya’s request with her usual airiness. “Certainly. I can see how it would be difficult to accept right away. We’ll have a nice mother-son chat after this, just the two of us.” She gave a satisfied nod, then turned to Miyuki. “Now, about what I mentioned before. As the head of the Yotsuba family, you unfortunately aren’t free to pursue just any romantic relationship.”

“I understand.” Miyuki’s expression was still stiff, but there was a sliver of hope that crept into her tone. Her hands shook in her lap, not out of sadness but out of delight at the premonition of something so perfect she barely dared to hope for it.

“Tomorrow, when I announce the successor, I will also be announcing your fiancé. Who will be—”

Miyuki gasped faintly—and it was only faint because she was already holding her breath.

“—Tatsuya.”

Miyuki clapped both her hands over her mouth, where they stayed, trembling.

Once she had stifled her cry, she brought her hands down to her chest.

There she pressed them to her heart, squeezing her eyes closed and hunching over as though she were bearing some terrible pain.

She was experiencing firsthand the meaning of phrase feeling like your heart might burst.

But not from sadness—from joy. A joy so strong it felt like its own sort of pain.

Miyuki was happy, so happy, and her heart soared so high she thought she might go crazy, but with great effort, she calmed herself and brought her face back up.

Both her eyes welled up, and she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Maya did not scold her niece for her outburst. “Tatsuya, I’ll need you to attend tomorrow’s celebration, since I will be presenting you as Miyuki’s fiancé. And that’s everything I had to say.”

Miyuki looked slowly down. Teardrops fell from her eyes to land on her hands, which rested on her knees.

“Miyuki, tomorrow will be your engagement party. It’s a big moment for you, so take the rest of today to make sure you’re ready to look your best.”

“Thank you… Oh, thank you…” Miyuki answered, doing her best to hold back her sobs, her head still lowered.

Maya regarded her with a gaze that could only be called maternal, though there was a flash of something cold in her eyes. “Hayama.”

Hayama quickly appeared at the sound. “Yes, madam.”

As he did so, Tatsuya was helping Miyuki to her feet and drying her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Please call for Minami. And have some servants prepare Miyuki’s bath.”

“Very well, madam.”

Minami soon arrived, and Maya briskly delivered her instructions. “Minami, take Miyuki to her room. You’ll be contacted once her bath is drawn, and once it is, escort her there.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Minami led Miyuki to the guest rooms.

Maya turned to face Tatsuya. “Let’s change our venue as well, shall we?”

“Of course.”

Maya stood.

Hayama opened the door.

Tatsuya followed Maya.

As Tatsuya passed by, Hayama gave him a deep, respectful bow. It was the biggest change in his reception here that Tatsuya had yet seen.

Maya led Tatsuya to her study. It was his first time in the room. In fact, since Maya’s ascension to head of the family, the only people to enter the room aside from Maya and Hayama had been HAR maintenance engineers and furniture delivery workers. It was more accurate to say that he was only the second person she’d ever invited into the room with her.

The study had a large, sturdy desk with a high-backed chair, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a vintage couch and coffee table set.

Hayama gestured for Tatsuya to sit on the sofa, which he did. Maya sat on its opposite end, and as Tatsuya scanned the room, she spoke to him in a warm, familiar tone.

“What are you looking at, Tatsuya?”

“Ah, pardon me. I was just realizing that when you call Miyuki on the phone, you’re not calling from your study.”

“You notice the most curious things.” Maya chuckled.

“So this is an entirely off-line environment, then?”

“Yes.”

Maya’s answer was not accurate. There was one machine in the room with a single network connection. But it was not a total lie, either, as that one line was completely independent, and the only data coming out of this room were search keys that ran through one particular device, so it was a half-truth.

“Do you take your coffee black, sir?”

Tatsuya felt deeply uncomfortable at being called sir by Hayama, but he knew that wasn’t what he needed to be thinking about.

“Yes, black, please,” he said in as natural a voice as he could manage.

Coffee was placed in front of Tatsuya, while Maya received herbal tea.

Tatsuya was concerned that the scent of his coffee would overpower the scent of the herbal tea, but he decided that wasn’t his problem to solve and so said nothing. He waited for Maya to bring her cup to her lips first, then took a sip of the coffee in turn.

To his immense chagrin, he had to admit that it was better than the coffee Miyuki made.

“This is delicious. You’ll pardon me for saying so, Hayama, but you’ve outdone yourself.”

“I’m honored that you would say so, sir. Truth be told, I cheated a bit.”

“You cheated?”

“Yes. I’m embarrassed to admit I borrowed the help of a bit of magic.”

“I’m no match for Hayama when it comes to subtle little uses of magic like that,” added Maya amusedly, seeing Tatsuya’s openly surprised expression. “The magic of magic really is in how you use it.”

“You flatter me too much. I am merely using what abilities I have in the service of my chosen profession.”

Hayama’s simple statement invited deep contemplation, but Tatsuya resisted the temptation and instead turned to face Maya.

Maya seemed to have been waiting for this signal to speak about the matter at hand. She returned her cup to its saucer and met Tatsuya’s gaze.

“Well, then… Where shall we begin?”

“First, may I say something?” Tatsuya seized the opportunity.

Maya seemed to have been expecting this. “Goodness, what could it be?” She put a hand to her mouth and widened her eyes in a show of mock surprise, but the curl at the corners of her mouth—a smile that she deliberately revealed—made it clear that she wasn’t seriously trying to fake a reaction.

“Why would you tell such a lie?” His eyes narrowed, not in irritation at her childish display but rather in simple suspicion.

“What lie?” Her tone was openly brazen.

Tatsuya didn’t let his anger or frustration show. “The lie that Miyuki is not my sister,” he said in a tone that could only be described as pleasant. A tone that was simply speaking the truth, without need for emphasis or volume.

Yet Maya disputed that truth. “Why, it’s not a lie,” she said, in a tone every bit as light as Tatsuya’s.

Tatsuya stared at his aunt’s face, not understanding what she was so confidently self-satisfied about.

Maya took a leisurely sip of her herbal tea. “You said there was overwhelming evidence that you and she are biological siblings, but what really constitutes proof?” she asked with deliberate patience, setting her cup down and looking Tatsuya in the eyes almost reproachfully.

There was no laughter in her voice, but her expression was quite amused, and there was a savage gleam that flickered in her eyes.

“Family registries? We can manipulate those however we like. DNA tests? The results are just documents that the hospital sends. You didn’t conduct the test yourself, did you, Tatsuya?” Maya’s lips curled into a crescent. “The family only knows about what happened after my sister’s pregnancy. They don’t know a thing about what might have happened before.”

“Aunt Maya.” Tatsuya’s voice was unmoved. Like a vast, inexorable ingot of red-hot iron, it erased the condescending expression from the woman’s face. “Just who do you think I am?”

Now it was Maya’s turn to be stunned into silence.

“I can recognize the composition and configuration of matter, and I have the ability to break it down into arbitrary previous states. Being able to recognize the compositional elements of matter means that I can also recognize what they arose from.”

“I believe your informational retroaction is limited to twenty-four hours, though.”

“The compositional information is contained in the matter as it currently exists. There’s no need to look back in time.”

Maya’s and Hayama’s expressions were united in betraying how unforeseen this revelation was for them, but their underlying emotions were different. Maya’s face had a flustered Oops…! quality to it, whereas Hayama was simply astonished.

“So I know. I can tell that my body and Miyuki’s body share the same physical origins. My body and Miyuki’s body were created with sperm from the same man and eggs from the same woman.”

When she spoke, Maya’s murmuring voice was tinged with surrender. “You really aren’t like other humans, are you?”

“It’s very kind of you to say so.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

Maya smiled a baffled sort of smile, her eyes drifting down to her teacup. In the end she didn’t reach for it and simply looked back up to Tatsuya.

“Fine, then. I acknowledge it.

“What I said earlier was a lie.

“You were not conceived with my egg, and you are indeed my sister’s child.”

Maya delivered her confession unapologetically, and after hearing it, Tatsuya sighed. “Then why the lie?”

“It’s also not entirely a lie to say that you and Miyuki are not biological siblings.”

Maya’s response was not an answer to his question, but it contained something Tatsuya wanted to hear the end of, so he waited for her to continue.

“You see, Miyuki was engineered.”

Tatsuya’s eyes widened. His breath caught, and for a moment, he couldn’t speak. “…Do you mean to tell me that she was genetically manipulated? But—she hasn’t had any symptoms of—”

“And yet, it’s the truth. The reason Miyuki hasn’t shown any instability or defects is because she is a fully engineered magician—a gem without flaws. The masterpiece of the Yotsuba family.”

“Why—?”

“Why was she made? Why, she was made for you, Tatsuya.”

Tatsuya was dumbfounded. His consciousness was bleached blank by the sheer impossibility of the idea.

“Your power is something that could never be allowed to slip out of your control. It’s something that needs a way to be stopped at any cost. My sister probably could have done it. Her mental structure interference magic had the ability to temporarily close a gate in the subconscious mind of a target. But you would obviously outlive her, so a magician was created who would always be by your side and always be able to stop you—Miyuki.”

Maya’s gaze as she looked into Tatsuya’s eyes was so serious it was almost frightening.

“Miyuki is an engineered magician created with one purpose: to stop you.”

“Miyuki is…for me? Not me, for her?” Tatsuya murmured in shock. He didn’t even notice the logical error hiding in his words.

“That’s right. Miyuki is a girl who was born just for you.” Maya’s expression and tone both softened. “I mean, do you really think a girl so beautiful could ever have been born naturally? No such perfect complexion, such exquisite symmetry, could ever come to be incidentally.”

Maya smiled wryly, realizing she’d allowed a note of envy to slip into her voice. “Of course, I don’t imagine that following the same procedure again would produce a girl like Miyuki. In a way, her beauty is a miracle, numinous, surpassing anything humans or nature could hope to recreate.”

“…Does she know about this?” Tatsuya asked.

Maya shook her head slowly. “No. Miyuki has never been told this, nor have any of the branch family heads. The only people who ever knew were the late family head Eisaku, my late sister, myself, Hayama, Kurebayashi, who manages the engineering facility, and Kurebayashi’s former boss, who managed the engineering facility at the time.”

She paused, then continued in a gentle voice. “Tatsuya…the bond between you and Miyuki is stronger than a parent and child, but from a genetic standpoint, you are much more closely related to me than you are to her.” Her voice sounded almost pleading. “And when I said you were my son, that wasn’t a complete lie, either.”

“But—”

Maya cut off Tatsuya’s objection with a honeyed, sticky-sweet voice. “It’s true that genetically we are nephew and aunt. But psychologically, Tatsuya, you are my son.”

“Psychologically?”

“When my uncles and Mitsugu and the rest of them first learned about your power, they despaired, then they were terrified. But I was happy. I wanted to dance with joy. It was hard to keep myself from shouting, I was so delighted. After all, your magic could make my fondest wish come true.”

As she recalled the memory, Maya almost trembled, her expression rapturous. “Your magic could turn the Earth into a planet of death. It could destroy civilization. It could wreak vengeance upon this world—this cruel world, that in its cruelty stole from me both past and future, that tore my one sliver of happiness as a woman from me.”

Maya’s curse from the grudge she bore against the world mingled with her sweet tone.

“It’s not a lie that I’m your mother. It wasn’t my sister who wished for your birth. It was my hope that you be brought into the world. That was Mitsugu and his faction’s great misunderstanding. It was my wish, my prayer that you destroy the world, and it was you who were born in answer to my heart’s desire. It was my sister in whose womb you grew, but it was I who created your magic to be as it is. As a magician, you are very much my son.”

“But, Aunt Maya,” Tatsuya managed hoarsely, “I thought you weren’t able to use mental interference magic?”

That didn’t slow Maya down at all. “You’re right. That’s why it was a miracle. My desire overturned even the rules of magic and made something impossible happen. Perhaps it’s because we were twins, my sister and I. We were twins, so my will was able to work through my sister’s magic. Perhaps the prayers I offered you were stronger even than my sister’s bond with her own child, twisting the power of my sister’s magic to making my hopes a reality.”

Maya’s voice was feverish—because she herself was caught up in a fever.

“And my sister knew this. She knew that somehow I, her younger sister, had seized control of her womb. She stole from me my very self, and I stole from her, her son. Awful sisters, weren’t we?”

Even in self-reproach, her voice was excited and sweet.

“And still my sister tried her best to love you. In the end, she couldn’t do it, but please know that she did try.”

Though she was telling Tatsuya to understand his mother, Maya’s voice was filled with undisguised contempt for her.

“The artificial magician experiments were carried out to prevent you from becoming emotionally unstable and allowing your magic to explode, so all of the subjects besides you were very literally experimental materials—mere disposable samples. My sister was reluctant to participate right up to the very end, but finally, to avoid you becoming the world’s destroyer, the genocide of humanity, evil incarnate, she set her hand to you. By incredible force of will, she was able to steal away only your strongest emotions. It would have been simpler to wipe out your emotions entirely, and the toll it took on her was considerable. But knowing full well it would shorten her lifespan, she tampered with your mind. A mind that my influence had already twisted, she tried to repair, to stave off disaster.”

Maya stopped speaking only when she ran out of breath. She didn’t even take a sip of tea before continuing.

“In order to keep Miyuki from stopping you, my sister tried to inculcate her with total indifference to you. If Miyuki were indifferent to you, she wouldn’t hate you. She would never lose her temper with you. Her emotions would never be the trigger for the sudden detonation of Cocytus, and she would not, in the end, stop you.”

It was hard to believe that his mother’s cold demeanor had had such deep reasoning behind it. Most likely, anyone other than Tatsuya wouldn’t have believed it.

“For the same reason, Miyuki was educated to be a perfect lady, to avoid her becoming emotional and her magic running wild. She was raised to be ever modest and reserved, never becoming hysterical or letting her feelings show too openly. And while it’s hard to say we succeeded completely, I don’t know that such a perfect lady could ever exist…”

“…Miyuki is a perfect lady. Her magic has only ever become uncontrolled because of Oath.”

“Oh my,” Maya chuckled. “You two really are fond of each other, aren’t you? I think you’ll get along just fine as fiancés.”

“Psychology aside, physically we are still undeniably biological siblings. Ordering us to marry is still unreasonable.”

“Why is that?”

“I mean…” The problem was so obvious, he had trouble collecting his thoughts.

“If you’re worried about genetic defects in the children you might have after marrying her, you needn’t. As I said, Miyuki is a fully engineered magician, the epitome of the technological prowess of the Yotsuba. Not only was her body genetically engineered, but her spirit was crafted with the most exquisite mental interference arts. She is the Yotsuba family’s greatest achievement, a triumph over every flaw an engineered magician might have, something made by humans but greater than human. There will be no misbegotten children conceived by you and Miyuki. On the honor of the Yotsuba name, I promise that much. There is no factor in her genetic code that could lead to any abnormality.”

“But…”

“I doubt she would be upset to learn that she was engineered. She might even be pleased, if she knew the changes meant that, genetically, you and she are too far separated to be considered siblings, since it would mean that there is no barrier whatsoever to her becoming physically intimate with you.”

Maya’s argument might well have been sound. At the very least, there weren’t any obvious flaws in it that Tatsuya could point out. And in fact, he’d begun to suspect something similar.

Miyuki’s body had unmistakably been conceived from germ cells provided by the same parents as Tatsuya.

But there were elements of her that that explanation alone could not account for.

So far as he could perceive, they didn’t cause her body any harmful effects, so he’d assumed they were brought about by natural-occurring variation. But now that he was considering them as deliberate alterations, it was a much more logical explanation for the significant difference in compositional elements between he and Miyuki. However reluctantly, he had to admit it.

“Tatsuya, you should tell Miyuki the truth. You should tell her that she was engineered for you, and that at least physically, there are no barriers to your marriage whatsoever.”

Tatsuya looked evenly at Maya’s face. She returned his gaze but said nothing.

“…All right.” Tatsuya finally nodded after a considerable pause. “It’s true, this isn’t something I should keep silent about.”

“It isn’t. Keeping her in the dark would wound her terribly.”

Maya spoke jokingly, but Tatsuya couldn’t deny the truth of what she said.

“Make sure you cherish her,” his aunt said, her tone suddenly serious. “If you were ever to lose Miyuki, it would break you. That is how your heart was designed. And broken, you would burn the world to the ground.” She spoke like a fortune-teller—or even a prophet. “So keep her close and protect her as long as you live.

“Although, to be honest,” Maya suddenly added, “I don’t care either way.” Her eyes shone more brightly than they had all evening. They blazed with a passionate flame. “If you ever do destroy the world, my heart’s thirst for vengeance will be slaked. But if you manage to protect Miyuki from the world’s malice, you’ll have satisfied my vengeance in a different way. The world that takes such pleasure in trampling on women’s lives will have been forced to surrender to a single man.”

The flame’s name was madness.

“If I could laugh in the face of a pathetic, humbled world just once, I think I would be able to forget what that world did to me.” Consumed in a flare of lunacy, Maya smiled an innocent smile. “How lovely, how wonderful that would be. How splendid my son is. You will be the instrument of my vengeance. You will exact the price for little Maya Yotsuba, who died when she was twelve years old.”

“Aunt Maya, you are not well.”

Tatsuya’s words seemed not to reach Maya. Though her ears heard them, her mind did not recognize them. “That is why, Tatsuya, you must take Miyuki as your bride. I will not brook any argument over this.”

Hayama came to Maya’s side and replaced the now quite cool herbal tea with a fresh, hot cup.

Maya’s expression shifted, as if the spirit possessing her had suddenly left her body, and she looked at Tatsuya with eyes unclouded by madness. “Would you like another cup of coffee?”

“No, that’s quite all right.”

“Really? Oh, goodness, look at the time.”

The dinner had ended shortly after nine o’clock, and the clock’s hour hand now indicated it was well past ten. Tatsuya himself hadn’t noticed, but evidently the thinking he’d done during the conversation’s pauses had taken up more time than he’d realized.

“Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, so let’s call it a night. Is there anything else you wanted to ask, Tatsuya?”

Tatsuya was wary of rekindling the woman’s madness, but there was something he wanted to know, and he wasn’t sure if he would get another chance to ask. “As long as you’re offering, there is one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“Why tomorrow? Is there some reason why you chose tomorrow to announce that I am your son and that Miyuki and I are engaged?”

It was true that the New Year’s celebration was the occasion of the largest gathering of all the members of the family. It was well suited for Miyuki’s debut as successor. But it occurred to Tatsuya that that alone was a weak reason to choose this moment for the rest of the announcement.

“It wasn’t absolutely necessary to do it tomorrow, but yes, I do have a reason.” Maya was calm in response to his caution, but she seemed somehow amused, too. “The truth is, I wanted to reveal you as my son this past New Year’s Day—but then you had to go and use that magic of yours in such a conspicuous way.”

Tatsuya didn’t have to ask what the conspicuous magic Maya was talking about was—his annihilation of the Great Asian Alliance’s naval fleet using Material Burst.

“But at the time the USNA’s Stars were moving, so to hide you from their surveillance I’d told you to be on your best behavior—but you wouldn’t have it.”

“Sorry about that.” Tatsuya smiled wryly in spite of himself. It didn’t occur to him to believe that that had been her reason for the restriction order, though. It seemed to him an obviously retroactive excuse.

“The past is the past,” Maya said with an easy nod. Even with her madness lurking in the shadows, her easy familiarity with Tatsuya hadn’t changed.

“Still…after the Stars tentatively pulled out of Japan, there was still Kudou-sensei’s mental degeneration, and the covert Chinese immortalist, so there was just a bit too much going on.”

The mention of General Kudou’s mental degeneration had to refer to the Parasidoll incident. The Chinese immortalist was Gongjin Zhou. Considering it all, Tatsuya had to admit it had been an eventful year. Maya’s situation notwithstanding, he hadn’t really had time to deal with the Yotsubas’ internecine conflict.

“So in the end, your debut had to be put off until tomorrow’s party.”

“I see,” said Tatsuya, performing an acceptance of the explanation. He decided that knowing there was no particular necessity behind the choice of tomorrow as the day to announce the lie that he was Maya’s son was a gain in and of itself—though the fact was a meaningless one.

“So that really is the end of my explanations.” Maya smiled, clearly satisfied with their conversation. She had, after all, managed to convince Tatsuya of what she’d set out to. “Can you find your way back to your room?”

“Yes, Aunt Maya,” Tatsuya said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Oh?” she replied, seeming not to notice. “Well, in that case, can I ask you to manage without an escort? I’ll have your bath prepared and send someone to call on you in your room when it’s ready.”

“Understood.” Tatsuya took this to mean that the conversation was definitively over. “Thank you for the coffee,” he said to Hayama with a bow, then left the study.

After Tatsuya left, Maya remained on the sofa.

“Excellent work, madam,” Hayama said from behind her.

“It got a bit more emotional than I’d expected,” she replied ruefully. The scene that had just ended had been more exhausting than she’d planned for.

“Given the subject matter, I’m not sure that could have been helped,” Hayama offered in an effort to hearten her, but it seemed to only intensify her embarrassment, and she turned her face away in an uncharacteristic pout.

Hayama found this rather amusing, but he was not so unprofessional as to let a smile slip at such a moment. “So this was the plan you’d had at hand all along. I must confess that I’m deeply impressed.”

In December of the previous year, immediately after the Yokohama incident, when Maya had called the Shiba siblings to the mansion, she’d told Hayama that she was going to name Miyuki the next Yotsuba family head in order to keep Tatsuya from becoming estranged and that she was considering a plan to make sure Miyuki would accept the role. With tomorrow’s New Year’s celebration in mind, she’d let Hayama in on her secret, delegating a variety of preparations to him.

“There were a few more complications than I’d expected, but that helped keep things lively. Now the only question is how cooperative Miyuki will be.”

“I believe all will be well.”

It was an uncharacteristically bold statement for him to make. On the sofa, Maya twisted around to look back at him curiously.

“Ms. Miyuki is far steadier and more able to face her own feelings than Master Tatsuya is. Master Tatsuya may be invincible in battle, but he is still no match for Ms. Miyuki’s straightforward honesty.”

“They say whoever loves more is the weaker, though.”

Even Maya’s cynicism was no match for the twinkle of Hayama’s smile. “I believe in this case, madam, sincerity will carry the day.”

When Tatsuya returned to their room, it was unoccupied. He supposed that Miyuki was somewhere else in the mansion getting some kind of spa treatment in preparation for tomorrow.

Just as Maya had said, notice that his bath was ready soon arrived. He rarely stayed the night at the mansion, and this was the first time he’d been given the Japanese-style guest room, so the bathing routine was unfamiliar to him. Going to and from the bath, he made sure to be dressed appropriately so that he wouldn’t embarrass himself or anyone else. His bath wasn’t especially long, nor did he rush. By the time he returned to his room, a glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly eleven, although his sister had yet to return.

Instead, the futon had been laid out.

A single futon set, for the single room. With two pillows.

And then, with the worst possible timing, Miyuki returned. “I’m sorry I’m late, Brother—Oh! They…!”

With the sliding door open, it was easy to see into the room. As soon as Miyuki entered, their eyes met.

“Miyuki, I didn’t do—”

—This. But Tatsuya was unable to finish his apology. He took in the sight of Miyuki, in her simple single-layer kimono—which was nearly the same thing as seeing her in her underwear—having been polished to a shine by who knew how many servants. Having herself just emerged from the steamy bath, she didn’t look the slightest bit cold, despite the midwinter chill. If anything, her face and neck appeared warm and flushed, though that was clearly not because of the room’s temperature.

It wasn’t seeing her in a thin kimono that had made Tatsuya fall silent. It was the uncharacteristically captivating allure that the kimono-clad girl was radiating that struck him.

Her beauty was always radiant, but in this moment, it seemed to be actually radiating.

She always had a certain pleasant, almost inorganic scent about her, but now the faintly floral fragrance that swirled about Miyuki seemed to draw him in, as though he were a bee to a flower.

If she were to walk around Tokyo like this, she would unquestionably cause disasters wherever she went, he thought.

But Miyuki was also flustered, and after freezing in her tracks at seeing the single futon laid out, she was the first one to speak. “Tatsuya, is this…?”

“I swear, I didn’t lay it out like this. It was like this when I came back from the bath.”

“I—I see…”

If they just stood there, they’d never clear the air, Tatsuya thought. He sat down in front of the room’s low table and gestured for Miyuki to sit on a cushion. The idea of closing the sliding door that connected to the next room made him somehow uncomfortable, so he left it open.

Across from him, Miyuki, still agitated, fidgeted with her hair and collar. She seemed unusually conscious of his gaze on her.

There wasn’t much he could do about that. It had only been three hours since the shock of their engagement—to say nothing of the bombshell that they weren’t biological siblings. It would’ve been unfair to ask her not to be self-conscious.

“Um—T-Tatsuya…” Miyuki’s voice was uncertain.

Tatsuya furrowed his brows in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, um, it’s just…can I still call you Brother? Or should I call you T…Ta…”

Miyuki couldn’t get the rest of it out. Tatsuya smiled and threw her a line: “You can keep calling me what you always have.”

Miyuki smiled in relief, but his answer hadn’t just been for her. Tatsuya had no intention of internalizing the lie that she wasn’t his sister.

“So then, Brother…did you and Aunt Maya finish your conversation?”

“Why else would I—” —be here, Tatsuya was about to answer, since it seemed obvious to him, but then he realized that the true meaning of Miyuki’s question was something else. “Er, yes, we finished. She told me everything I needed to know about what’s going on.”

“I see. So then, um…” Miyuki fumbled for her words, but not out of uncertainty. She simply couldn’t summon the nerve to ask the question. But eventually she wrung enough courage out of her heart to say it out loud. “Brother, about you and I not being biological siblings, is that—?”

—Is that true?

But no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get the last words out.

“It’s a lie,” Tatsuya stated simply.

And with those words, Miyuki’s heart split in two.

One half was happy and relieved to be able to remain his sister, and the other half knew that as his sister, they could not marry.

“Why…? Why would Aunt Maya tell such a lie?”

“The explanation was hard to understand, but apparently she did it in order to allow us to marry.”

It was true enough that Maya’s explanation had been difficult to understand, but Tatsuya now had a grasp on the broader circumstances. But how much of that should he reveal to her? He still hadn’t decided.

“Even though…we’re siblings?”

“Evidently they’re going to work something out with the DNA tests and family registers.”

“I suppose…that the Yotsuba family does have enough influence to do that…”

“She also said that we don’t have to worry about our children having any genetic abnormalities.”

“How…could that be?” Miyuki had been looking down with a dark expression, but her eyes now came up to meet Tatsuya’s. The collar of her clothing was slightly open and exposed a patch of enticingly pale skin, from which Tatsuya hastily averted his eyes. But such thoughts, he realized, played right into Maya’s hand, so he strengthened his resolve.

His composure recovered, he looked again into Miyuki’s eyes. Those eyes seemed ready to receive any truth he might speak.

Maya’s decision to make Tatsuya Miyuki’s companion in life was weighty enough to make Miyuki resolve to accept whatever came next.

Tatsuya saw that resolve in her eyes and solidified his determination to tell her what he knew he must.

“She said you have absolutely no genetic factors that could cause abnormality in your children.

“Because you were engineered.”

Miyuki’s eyes went wide, and she clasped her hands over her mouth.

Her long hair shook.

Her frightened face made her look her age. Even as he felt a bit relieved to see it, Tatsuya knew this was not the time for such thoughts.

“I’m…engineered…?”

“A fully engineered magician, created using the very best of the Yotsubas’ science and magic, using a fertilized egg that came from our mother and father. A triumph over every flaw an engineered magician could have, something made by humans but greater than human. The greatest masterpiece of the Yotsuba family.”

Tatsuya’s explanation offered no comfort in the face of the fact that she was an engineered magician. And yet, somehow, Miyuki visibly regained her composure.

Her dismay and fear had not come from the revelation that she had been artificially created. Miyuki thought of her body and her self as having been bestowed upon her by Tatsuya. In fact, it was more accurate to say she assumed this was true beyond a doubt, so strong was her conviction.

“So then, I…I won’t suddenly leave you and be cast into the abyss?”

What she had been afraid of was the unpredictable lifespan typical of engineered magicians. She was terrified that one day she would suddenly die and no longer be able to be with him.

“From the way Aunt Maya was talking, your capacity for continuous magic use is even higher than mine.”

“So…I’ll be able to have a life with you?”

“From the way Aunt Maya was talking, you’ll probably outlive me.”

Upon being told that she would live at least as long as her brother, Miyuki seemed not to care at all that she had been engineered. “So we’re siblings…but my genes are different from yours, right?”

This was verging onto dangerous territory.

It was true that Maya had said that Miyuki’s genetic code had been restructured, and she and Tatsuya were further apart, genetically, than Tatsuya and Maya—nephew and aunt—were. But Tatsuya hadn’t breathed a word of that to Miyuki.

And yet, Miyuki was talking just like Maya had.

Tatsuya felt that there was more to blood relationships than genetic similarity.

“In any case, most of the Yotsuba family carries at least a few of the genetic modifications that came out of Lab Four. Even if they’re not as complete as those done to engineered magicians, you and I are no different, inasmuch as we both carry genetic modifications.”

Tatsuya tried to emphasize the similarity between them. But given Miyuki’s flushed face, it didn’t seem to be working.

“So from here on out, I’m going to be considered your cousin?” she asked.

“In front of other people, it seems so.”

“And that’ll mean I can be your fiancée!” Miyuki’s voice rose with her emotions, but her excitement was not long-lived, because she then saw Tatsuya’s troubled expression.

“You…think it’s revolting, don’t you…?”

“What is?” Tatsuya understood neither Miyuki’s sudden dejection nor what she was saying in that sad, low tone.

“You still think of me as your little sister, don’t you, Brother?”

“Yeah. I mean, that is factually accurate.” Tatsuya was unwilling to budge on that point.

“And you think it’s abnormal for a girl to want to be her biological brother’s bride, don’t you?”

“Miyuki, wait, you’re not saying—” For a moment, Tatsuya thought he’d misheard. But thanks to his training, his five senses were far sharper than an ordinary person’s.

Miyuki had unmistakably said bride. And meant his.

In other words, Miyuki wanted to…

“Yes, I am! It’s not because Aunt Maya ordered it! When I heard that you were my betrothed, it made me so very happy!”

Miyuki’s hands gripped her kimono as she looked down. Teardrops fell onto her hands and darkened her clothes. “And my feelings haven’t changed. Even knowing that you are my real brother, I still want you to love me as a woman! I want to be your bride! I gave up on it once, so I can’t give it up again!”

While Miyuki’s voice was composed, her words were getting wound up.

But that phrasing. I can’t give it up again. That meant that she’d agonized over this issue before today, which left Tatsuya thunderstruck. It was true that Miyuki frequently showed him more affection than most would consider usual. But Tatsuya had ultimately just thought that was making up for lost time given their history.

But now—as Miyuki’s teardrops continued to fall—he was wondering if that was merely what he’d wanted to believe.

“But you’re normal, Brother… You have good morals…so you’d never have romantic feelings for your sister, would you? It disgusts you to have a sister like me, I bet…” Miyuki began to sob.

She wasn’t bawling or howling—it was the pitiful whimper of someone whose emotional dam had finally broken.

“Miyuki…” Tatsuya edged closer, reaching out to her shoulder.

Her hands came up to his.

Tatsuya was ready for her to brush his hand away. It would be no less than he deserved, he thought, for being so insensitive to her suffering and driving her to such wretched sobs.

But her hands closed over his and drew it to her chest.

“Hey—”

Tatsuya got halfway through saying “Hey, wait,” and stopping her, but then stopped himself. He couldn’t do anything that seemed in any way like he was pushing her away. No—he didn’t want to.

“Brother, I…I…” Holding tightly to his hand, Miyuki forced the words out. “I’m in l-love with you. I love you. Brother, I’m in love with you!”

Tatsuya had heard his sister express affection for him many times. But this was the first time he had heard anything like this.

It was such a simple thing, but the weight of it was different. For the first time, he understood that.

“I don’t even care if you hate your freak sister! I don’t care if you think I’m sick! But…but please, please, Brother…” Miyuki looked up with a tear-streaked face.

Tatsuya had never seen anyone look so sad, so desperate, and so terribly beautiful.

“Just…just…please, don’t send me away. Don’t leave me. I’m begging you, don’t ever leave me!”

Even while crying, Miyuki’s face did not distort. Her features remained impeccably composed as the tears rolled down them. That was one more thing Tatsuya had realized for the first time today.

Her crying face was terribly sad, he thought.

Leaving his right hand where Miyuki held it, Tatsuya wrapped his left arm around Miyuki’s back.

“Bro…ther…?”

“I will never leave you.”

“Ah…er…would you say it again, please…?” Miyuki asked tremulously, burying her face in his chest and still clinging to his hand. She wanted to hear it again.

“Miyuki. I will never, ever leave you.”

“Oh…” Miyuki sighed in an overwhelmed voice, and the strength seemed to go out of her body.

As Tatsuya lent Miyuki his body to lean against, he spoke the answer he had to speak.

“Until death parts us, I will always be by your side.

“But it may not be in the way you’re hoping for.

“Right now, I can still only see you as my little sister.

“You’re my dear little sister. I could never be disgusted by you.

“I don’t think you’re sick or a freak.

“I will never reject you. I will never push you away.

“But, Miyuki…that’s because I am your brother. And you’re my dear, sweet little sister.

“So…I’m sorry. But for now, anyway, I can only think of you as my sister.”

Miyuki listened to Tatsuya, very still in his arms. When he was finished, she released the right hand she’d clung to and straightened.

“That’s enough.”

Miyuki’s eyes were still moist. But no new tears were flowing.

“For now, that’s enough for me.” Miyuki softly put her arms around Tatsuya’s neck and hugged him. “After all, I still can’t bring myself to call you anything but Brother.”

She put her cheek against his and whispered softly into his ear.

“And you said ‘for now.’ That’s more than enough for me.”

Miyuki squeezed Tatsuya more tightly. “Brother, is it all right if I look forward to it, though? Not soon, but someday…you seeing me not as your little sister, but as Miyuki.”

“It might be a strange thing to say,” he whispered into her ear, “but I’ll try.”

Miyuki released their embrace. “Gosh, Brother,” she said with an exasperated chuckle.

Tatsuya smiled wryly. They’d finally regained their usual sibling mood. “Miyuki, it’s late. Tomorrow’s a big day, so we should sleep.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’ll get another futon—”

Miyuki started to stand, but Tatsuya caught her.

“Brother?”

“There’s no need. Aunt Maya went to all this trouble. We can sleep in the same futon tonight.”

“Wha—?!” came Miyuki’s shocked voice. Even when she’d been crying, she hadn’t seemed this agitated. “E-er, Brother, do you mean that—?”

“Ah, no.” Tatsuya flashed her a regretful smile. “I just mean sleeping side by side. There’s multiple sheets.”

“Oh…I see.” Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief, but there was something in her manner that seemed just a bit disappointed—although perhaps that was reading too much into it.

“I’m going to change into sleeping clothes. Go ahead and get into the futon,” said Tatsuya.

“No…I’ll wait. Let’s get in together.”

“Okay. I’ll be ready in a bit.”

Tatsuya had already checked to make sure the room had yukata meant for sleeping in, so he didn’t have to look around to find it. He quickly changed, leaving a pair of boxers on under the robe.

“Won’t you be cold?” Miyuki asked as she turned down the comforter to make it easier for Tatsuya to sleep in.

“No, honestly with this I’ll probably be too warm.” Tatsuya laid down on the futon and beckoned Miyuki closer.

After just a moment’s hesitation, she came close and laid her head on his arm.

“I wonder how long it’s been. A long time ago, when we were really young, I seem to remember just once, you let me sleep in your arms like this.”

“It wasn’t that long ago… It was the night after Mom’s funeral.”

“That’s…right. I can’t believe I forgot that.”

Miyuki snuggled closer.

Tatsuya wrapped his arms around her to draw her up against him.

“Brother…”

“What is it?”

“Did you not know at all?”

“Well…”

“How much I agonized over this?”

“Sorry.”

“Especially recently. Magicians are expected to marry young. Once my position as a magician was settled, I’d prepared myself to have to immediately choose a fiancé, at the very least.”

“I guess so.”

“Siblings can’t marry. So I thought it would have to be another man that I’d…”

“Miyuki.” Tatsuya’s hand stroked her hair soothingly. Miyuki flinched at first but soon relaxed, surrendering her body to Tatsuya. “Go to sleep.”

“Yes, Brother…”

Miyuki entrusted both her body and heart to Tatsuya and drifted off to sleep, listening to the faint sound of a distant bell ringing in the New Year.