685 A Stubborn Girl
A few more days passed since the Memorial Complex incident.
The three of them continued to sleep together, though it was only sleeping.
Every morning, Varian woke up with delight. Even though their hair was messy, and their clothes wrinkled, it was a scene straight out of a painting.
Initially, it was a bit embarrassing but slowly, the awkwardness started to decrease.
"…I mean, it did happen sometimes when we were living together. No need to be too embarrassed." Sia consoled herself.
"This will happen sooner or later anyway." Sarah had her own reasoning.
Varian, well, he wholeheartedly welcomed the changes.
The vacation was going well. Even though the repulsion with Sia didn't get any better and stayed at the distance of 8 feet, the bond between them grew.
Mornings began with Sia teaching Sarah breakfast, which Sarah somehow messed up in comprehensible ways.
Thus, they had breakfast outside, toured the city, and returned home for lunch.
At the noon, the three played games or watched movies, or simply wasted away time.
Whole evenings passed laying on the soft grass. Nights were spent in endless chatting.
But Varian knew perfectly well that their giggles and his smile rested on fragile things.
The Xander topic was mostly cut off from Sia.
Evander's name wasn't brought up when Sarah was around.
'Mother' was forbidden in front of Varian.
It was like walking on thin ice but no one was certain if things would suddenly turn worse.
After all, just because they built good memories wouldn't mean their past would be buried.
It was a problem they had to encounter sooner or later.
Watching Sarah and Sia playing a VR game in the gaming room, Varian yawned and leaned back on the sofa.
The purple melody continued to play in the background and closing his eyes, Varian immersed himself in the happy memories of his father.
'…now I know why I'm so stubborn.'
His father was headstrong. He was also one of those people that didn't awaken until much late.
Everyone advised him to pick a non-combatant job. With his intelligence and hardworking nature, he'd excel and live a comfortable life.
But-
'I want to be on the battlefield! Fuck everything, I'll make it happen.'
He made it.
Despite all the odds, he reached his dream.
The music box was very cold but holding it, Varian felt like he was touching his father's hand.
'I really wish you were here. We'd have been listening to these old songs together…' Varian gripped the music box tightly and took a deep breath.
This was the closest thing he got related to his father.
He vowed to treasure it.
'I won't even let others tou—'
"Sia, blast him! Yes!"
"Haha! Sarah let's gang up on this team!"
"Fufu~ provoking us? Let them taste despair."
From the giggles they let out under their blue and black headgears from time to time, Sarah and Sia seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
They teamed up in a war game and reached the quarter-finals in a federation-wide tournament.
Varian stopped the music box and smiled at their antics.
'Should I prepare a gift if they win or what?' Before Varian could think more, his comm suddenly buzzed and a message flashed.
[Mr. Var, someone entered the outskirts of the estate.]
"Hm?" Varian's brows furrowed and opened his mouth. But noticing the giggling girls, he stopped the words at the tip of his tongue.
He slowly walked out of the room and reached the garage. Then, he boarded a hoverbike and headed to the boundary of the estate.
'If I teleport, Sia and Sarah will sense the space fluctuations and drop their game.'
They were trying really hard for this tournament, so he didn't want to disturb them.
In a few seconds, the smooth but tough black wall of the estate came into view.
This home cost a lot of money. So, it came with good security measures. For instance, if unidentified people tried to barge into the territory, a barrier would pop up and block them.
Of course, the barrier wasn't omnipotent, but it was very convenient.
The huge gates of the estate opened and Varian stepped out onto the red road outside the estate.
There were similar mansions a few dozen miles away. The land in between was only roads and gardens.
There wasn't a single soul in sight except…
"Huh?" Varian looked at the young lady standing near the gate with a frown.
The same girl from the complex.
"What are you doing here?" Varian asked with a not-so-friendly expression.
"I…" The girl clenched her fists at her sides and looked at him with tearful eyes. Then, her gaze was inevitably drawn to the white box hanging on his T-shirt.
"That—"
"Not for sale." Varian cut her off.
"N-Name a price, I'll pay you no matter what." She bit her lip to the point it bled as she gave him a pleading look.
"Not for sale." Varian shook his head again and looked around. The maid wasn't here.
The girl came here alone.
But…
"In the first place, how do you even know I live here?" Varian looked into the girl's eyes with a cold gaze.
The girl froze for a moment but answered him nonetheless. "T-This mansion and the others here, they were previously owned by my family. So…"
Varian asked Boo to check and after Boo replied positive, he nodded lightly.
"Then girl, don't bother me. As I said, I won't sell it at any cost. Now, leave before I have to have to force you to." Varian said and walked into the estate.
"W-Wai—" The girl's stretched hand froze as the gates closed up.
Looking at Varian's receding back, her shoulders drooped and she felt bitterness welling up inside her.
Sniffing back her tears, she sat on the pavement and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"I…I really need it." She muttered in a broken voice and buried her head between her knees.
In contrast to her sadness, a joyful atmosphere filled the mansion.
"We won!"
"Crushed everyone!"
"Heh~ gold players? Diamonds? Platinums? Tsk, weaklings~"
Listening to Sarah's cheers and Sia's braggings, Varian decided it's best not to disturb them lest they challenge him to a match.
He didn't want to play war games...they were addictive.
So, under the night sky, he took a leisure walk in the garden with glowing white flowers.
He stopped abruptly and turned his gaze in the direction of the gate.
"That girl…"
She was still there. In the darkness. Alone. Out in the cold.
'There are security measures in case anything happens to her, she'll go away soon anyway.' Varian shook his head and went back to the mansion.
"…Why is she still there?"
The girl was still there on the second day.
"Hey you, give up. It's futile." Varian told her coldly.
"I-I can't give up. I really, really, really need it." Even though her voice was trembling and her face was pale, she said those words with a determined expression.
She surprised him by staying for the third day.
"Please! Just rent it to me for a while."
The fourth day too.
"I just need it for a week."
The fifth day as well.
"A day! Just one day! I beg you."
On the seventh day, it was especially cold.
Varian stood outside his estate with a blank expression looking into the girl's eyes.
Her face was paler, her eyes sunk from the lack of proper sleep and her haggard expression said enough about her mental state.
But the thing that struck Varian the most were her eyes.
Those stubborn eyes.
"You," Varian said with a sigh. "Convince me."
