Before long, the two stood a short distance apart, facing each other.
Two weeks ago, on the day they met for the first time in six years, Meteor had almost failed to recognize Crescent. But now, he had grown accustomed to the changes in her appearance.
Her once unfamiliar features no longer felt strange.
Crescent suddenly exclaimed with a bright voice as if she had just realized something.
“Oh, I get it now. You came out here because you’re excited about your engagement!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Meteor reflexively frowned, his face darkening.
Of all the things he had ever heard, this was by far the most absurd.
Crescent burst into laughter.
“Pfft! Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
“Who said anything about being embarrassed...”
“Ahem. Fine, I’ll pretend you’re neither excited nor embarrassed. Happy now?”
“...Hah.”
Meteor sighed softly, covering his face with one hand for a moment.
It was clear Crescent was teasing him, but he wasn’t in the mood to play along—especially when it came to the engagement.
Sensing his seriousness, Crescent’s teasing demeanor faded, and she spoke in a more thoughtful tone.
“You must’ve been really surprised about the engagement, huh? I was shocked too. I knew Mother was looking for a fiancée for you, but I didn’t think she’d introduce her so suddenly.”
“You knew?”
“Of course. She’s been searching for your match since last year. She stopped talking about it for a while, so even I forgot.”
“I see...”
Crescent had already known.
That was news to him.
But why did it feel like his chest ached at the thought?
It was as if his heart had grown cold, heavy, and restless.
He had felt this way before, not long ago.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Meteor. Like I said earlier, it’s a big step. You’re really becoming an adult now. Sienna is so beautiful—she even made me swoon a little. And after talking to her, she seems like a genuinely good person.”
Meteor didn’t know.
He hadn’t even taken the time to truly look at Sienna.
There simply hadn’t been a moment for it.
Crescent, however, smiled with a faint blush on her cheeks.
“She seems like the perfect match for you, Brother. And for me, it feels like I’m getting a sweet, lovely sister. I’m so excited.”
Why did she seem so thrilled about it?
Meteor couldn’t understand.
Just then, Crescent let out a long yawn.
“Haaah... Suddenly, I’m really sleepy. Brother, make sure to head in soon and get some rest. I’ll head back first.”
“...Alright. Sleep well.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Crescent flashed him a bright smile before turning and walking away. Slowly, she passed him, leaving him alone in the quiet night.
Meteor remained where he was, unmoving.
He had come outside to clear his head, but his thoughts only grew more tangled.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Meteor.”
Crescent’s voice from earlier echoed in his mind.
He wasn’t sure it was something to be congratulated for. The fact that it was Crescent offering her congratulations made his chest feel even tighter.
“She seems like the perfect match for you, Brother.”
Was that all there was to it?
First, she had become his adopted sister, and now they would each have their own spouse.
There wasn’t a single part of it that he had chosen.
Everyone else seemed to accept it naturally, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Hah...”
Meteor took a deep breath of the cold night air, letting it fill his lungs.
Even out here, there were no answers.
After standing still for a while, he finally turned and began walking toward the prayer hall within the ducal estate.
If nowhere else could bring him peace, perhaps the presence of Ammas would.
He should have come here from the start.
The prayer hall was the most opulent part of the Pluto Ducal House, surpassing even the grandest rooms.
At its center, Meteor knelt, his gaze rising to the symbolic presence of Ammas floating in the air like a painting.
The symbol, called Amates, was composed of two crossed swords, enormous in size and almost otherworldly in appearance.
Meteor looked up at the symbol of the divine, believing that Ammas resided beyond it.
“Ammas, I never thought I’d invoke your name like this.”
His heart was burning.
Never before had he felt like this—as though his very soul were aflame.
Fortunately, Meteor knew how to resolve his turmoil.
The solution was to surrender everything before the divine.
Most believed that by being honest with Ammas, their troubles could be resolved. But doing so required courage—facing one’s own soul as if holding up a mirror.
Meteor decided to summon that courage.
“Fifteen years as your child... For the first time, I ask you to hear my voice. Ammas, I find myself unable to understand my own heart. Every issue I face seems to revolve around one person. Since meeting Crescent again, I can think of nothing else but her.”
He thought back to her debutante ball, a memory that still struck him deeply.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
It wasn’t just the shock of her becoming his sister.
“Is that really you, Meteor? The marchioness said you wouldn’t be able to make it today.”
“...Crescent, is that you?”
“Of course it is! Meteor, you’ve grown so much!”
“You’re one to talk. I almost didn’t recognize you—with your hair and that dress.”
“Well, it’s my debutante ball, after all. Anyway, how did you manage to come?”
Seeing Crescent again had left him profoundly moved.
She was so stunning that, for a moment, he thought she might be a demon tempting him.
That moment had etched itself into his heart, as unforgettable as a scar. Yet, in the same breath, she had become his sister.
That had been just two weeks ago.
It was a feeling he desperately wanted to deny.
But now, standing before Ammas, he admitted to the overwhelming emotions he’d felt that day.
When Crescent had disappeared in Duke Winterly’s frozen domain, his world had felt as if it had come to a halt.
The emptiness and despair he experienced then were unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Even as a child, when Crescent had gone missing briefly, the emotions had been nothing compared to this.
He hadn’t wanted to feel this way.
He didn’t want Crescent’s actions to affect him so deeply.
But his heart reacted in ways his mind couldn’t control.
The same way it did when he discovered Adrian’s persistent courtship of Crescent.
Or when he learned of his engagement and immediately thought of Crescent.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Meteor.”
“She seems like the perfect match for you, Brother.”
Was there any blessing more painful to hear?
Everything had become clear now.
His feelings were straying down a forbidden path.
If he didn’t turn back now, he feared he might reach a point of no return.
Meteor raised his gaze higher to the symbol of Ammas.
“Ammas, she is my sister. Though we share no blood, my mother cherishes her as her daughter. She is already a part of our family. I do not wish to become a sinner. Please, grant me a way to prevent myself from falling.”
He needed the peace of mind to see Crescent as nothing more than his sister—like any other sibling bond.
He wouldn’t stray. He wouldn’t tread a path that led to darkness.
Letting his feelings for her consume him would be no different from becoming a demon himself.
Even if the entire world fell to corruption, Meteor vowed he would not.
He gazed at the symbol of Ammas for a long time, fervently seeking guidance.
When the divine voice finally reached his heart, it felt like a decree.
“Focus on your doubts.”