Cecilia Is My Boss

"Of course." Ansu had almost forgotten to introduce his guest to his younger sister.

He glanced at Cecilia and cleared his throat, his tone solemn. "This is Miss Cecilia, the employer I told you about. She's my boss now."

Cecilia didn't much care about the excuse Ansu had made up. In a way, she really was his "boss."

"Oh! So you're the one..." Vera nodded in understanding and looked Cecilia over again.

This time, though, her gaze was full of scrutiny.

Her brother's employer looked to be around eighteen or nineteen, about the same age as him. She was dressed appropriately and was almost unbelievably beautiful. She didn't seem much like a boss; she seemed more like a young lady from a wealthy family.

That only made Vera more suspicious...

Would an ordinary employer pay a new employee that much? The more she thought about her brother's "new job," the less right it seemed...

"Thank you for looking after my brother these past few days, Miss Cecilia. But since he's working for you now..." Vera asked tentatively, "what kind of business does your company handle? Or, well, what do you usually do?"

"Um... about that." Cecilia hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Since when had she become someone people interrogated?

She shot Ansu an annoyed look. He was across from her, blinking at her repeatedly.

Cecilia sighed inwardly. She had no choice but to help him keep up the lie.

"It's about..."

"It's about investigating the population!" Ansu lied without batting an eye. He explained to his bewildered sister, "Miss Cecilia works for a special government department that investigates dangerous people hiding among the public, like black mages and demi-human rebel groups. Since the department deals with dangerous supernatural forces, hardly anyone knows about it. Vera, you absolutely can't tell anyone about this, or we might both get arrested!"

After Ansu finished speaking in a mysterious tone, Vera's little face immediately tensed up.

"So it's such dangerous work!" Vera exclaimed in shock. "Black mages, demi-humans? Brother, do you have to deal with people like that every day? Shouldn't the Church be responsible for this? What if you're in danger?"

"It's fine, it's fine!" Ansu waved a hand. "Your brother just does some support work. He won't have to deal with those people directly, so don't worry!"

"No wonder you've been studying that forbidden book of dark rituals these past few days. It's for work..." Vera murmured in sudden realization.

Ansu thought silently, The power of the imagination is incredible...

Cecilia could barely hold back a laugh.

She gave Ansu a knowing look. His story was pretty convincing, except that this "investigation" was actually the other way around.

"But, but..."

Vera still couldn't stop worrying. What good was a high salary if something happened to her brother?

Vera couldn't imagine life without him.

"Brother, why don't you resign from Miss Cecilia's company? We can talk things over with the people in charge..."

Vera came over, took Ansu by the arm, and gave it a gentle tug, pleading softly.

"We're just ordinary people. Why get involved in something so dangerous? Besides, have you forgotten how Father died? Those demi-humans are monsters with long ears and claws, just like beasts! A few days ago, I even heard that demi-human mercenaries had rebelled near the border..."

Hearing her call demi-humans "monsters," Ansu quickly stopped her, then instinctively glanced at Cecilia to see how she'd react.

Cecilia didn't seem bothered. She simply picked up her teacup and watched the siblings whisper to each other with interest.

A moment later, she spoke.

"Don't worry. Your brother will be fine. With me around, no one will be able to bully him."

Cecilia smiled as she looked at Ansu.

Because I'm the only one allowed to bully him.

Vera blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected her brother's employer... to care so much about him.

Ansu didn't want the conversation to continue. He refilled Cecilia's tea and asked quietly, "Did you come all this way for something?"

"I did." Cecilia didn't want to keep sitting around at his place, either. "Come with me to look around your school today."

"Look around the school?" Ansu paused.

"What? You don't want to?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I do." Ansu was just a little puzzled. What urgent matter would make her risk going to the Royal Academy herself?

Cecilia said no more and got up, heading for the door.

Ansu looked at Vera apologetically. "I'll take you shopping next week. I have something to do today, so I need to go out."

"Mm..."

Since she couldn't talk Ansu out of it, Vera had no choice but to accept his new job. She sighed and nodded.

"Brother, come back early."

"Okay." Ansu smiled and gently patted Vera's soft hair.

Vera watched them leave.

Outside the door.

Watching the two of them walk side by side in perfect sync, exchanging glances from time to time, Vera couldn't help frowning.

Although Miss Cecilia was her brother's superior,

for some reason, ever since Cecilia had walked through the door, Vera had felt that the way the two of them acted around each other...

was a little strange...

"You and your sister are really close," Cecilia teased with a smile as they walked out of the alley. "I'm a little jealous of a family atmosphere like that."

"Mm." Ansu nodded. "We've depended on each other since we were very young."

"But why do I feel like your sister's hostile toward me?" Cecilia's smile faded a little.

"From the moment I walked in until I left, I lost count of how many times she looked at me. If her gaze could turn into knives, I might already be dead."

"Huh? I don't think so." Ansu certainly didn't want Cecilia to get the wrong idea about Vera. Cecilia really was the kind of person who'd nip a threat in the bud.

"I hope not!" Cecilia snorted. "The only reason I put up with that girl for so long was because of you."

"I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. My sister's a kind person..." Ansu tried to change the subject. "Lady Witch, what are you going to my school for? Is it still about that task of finding the Chosen One?"

"No." Cecilia shook her head slightly. "My teacher cares about the Chosen One. I don't really mind either way. So what if someone has the gods' favor? Once they show themselves, I'll just kill them. Today, I only need you to take me to your school library so I can look up some ancient texts."

So that was it. Ansu breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, he'd made almost no progress on his investigation this week, and he'd been worried about how he'd answer if Cecilia asked.

The matter of the "Chosen One" and the "Fated Death" eight days from now had been hanging over Ansu. The two things had to be closely connected.

Ansu's plan now was to gather as much information as he could that wasn't covered in the original storyline. These secrets were extremely important.

"Lady Witch," Ansu asked tentatively, "if we don't find this supposed Chosen One, the Order won't do anything drastic, will it? Something like a large-scale black magic ritual or a sacrifice that wipes out all the students?"

Cecilia stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking a little surprised.

"How could that happen? You're being far too extreme."

Ansu hadn't expected to hear her call him "extreme" one day.

Then again, cultists weren't idiots. Making such a huge spectacle would do them no good at all.

This wasn't the turbulent timeline at the beginning of the game. Holding a cult sacrifice involving countless innocents right under the Empire's nose would be suicide.

It seemed this whole matter was far more complicated than he'd thought...