Kexi and Carlotta?
"System, why do I have to deliver these letters myself? Weren't you supposed to send them all at once?"
Kexi held several finished letters and complained to the air, his face full of annoyance.
[The targets are too close to the host. Please handle the matter yourself.]
"Too close? How close could they be? They're just in Ragunna." Kexi looked down at the names on the envelopes, his brow furrowing deeply. "Fine, you win. I'll deliver them myself."
He tucked the letters inside his clothes and was about to head out when a voice suddenly rang out, scaring him out of his wits.
"Kexi! Where are you hiding?!"
Kexi shuddered all over, nearly shaking every letter out of his clothes and onto the floor.
Damn Carlotta was here to torment him again. Ever since they returned from Porto-Vino Castle, his second sister had been like a woman possessed, dragging him out of bed before dawn every day to train. Running, physical conditioning, resonance perception, combat simulations-she pushed him to the limit in every one. His physical fitness had risen from "good-for-nothing" to "barely passable," but the price was that every muscle in his body was screaming.
Today, he had finally managed to sneak in some time to finish the letters while Carlotta was handling official business. He was about to slip out and deliver them-if she caught him and dragged him off to train again, he'd end up sore and dead tired all over again today.
He decided to hide.
He looked around the room and finally chose a spot-behind the door. Even he wanted to laugh at how stupid a hiding place it was, but time was short, and he couldn't think of anything better.
But before he could press himself against the wall, the door was kicked open.
"Bang!"
Carlotta stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, glaring up at the giant behind the door. He was hunched over with his neck scrunched down, looking utterly ridiculous. Her gaze slowly moved down from his guilty face to the stack of letters in his arms that he hadn't had time to hide.
"There you are." Her voice was cold. "Who are you writing love letters to this time? There are so many."
Kexi gave an awkward smile and tucked the letters behind his back. "Well, second sister, the weather's nice today."
"Yes, it is." Carlotta rolled her wrist. "Perfect weather for a workout."
"Well, I have something to do." Kexi tried to slip sideways past her and out the door while she wasn't paying attention. With his size advantage, if he could just get out, there was no way Carlotta's stubby little legs could catch him.
But he had forgotten one thing.
Carlotta's legs might have been short, but she had a gun in her hand.
With a click, the cold muzzle pressed up against his chin.
Kexi froze, raising both hands high, his voice trembling. "Second sister, careful! Don't let it go off!"
"So you do know fear?!" Carlotta stood on tiptoe and jabbed the muzzle harder into his chin. "If you're scared, why aren't you hurrying up and getting stronger? Are you waiting for Cantarella to eat you?"
At the mention of Cantarella, Kexi's expression grew even uglier. The day of his next visit to Porto-Vino Castle was drawing closer, and he could still hear what that woman had said last time about "collecting interest." If he didn't improve his strength soon, next time he really might walk in upright and be carried out sideways.
"Getting stronger is easy," Kexi said, steeling himself.
"Oh?" Carlotta raised an eyebrow, the muzzle not budging an inch.
An idea flashed through Kexi's mind-or rather, the damned system's notification exploded in his head. He looked at Carlotta, his gaze suddenly turning eager.
"Second sister."
"Hmm?"
"Let me kiss you."
The air froze for a full three seconds.
Carlotta's face went from white to red, from red to purple, and from purple to black. She slowly withdrew her gun, then swung the butt at his head with lightning speed.
"Pervert!"
"Bang!"
"Pervert!"
"Bang!"
"You pervert!"
"Bang!"
Every cry of "pervert" came with a heavy blow. Kexi scurried around with his arms over his head, the 2.14-meter giant chased all over the room by a young woman less than 1.5 meters tall. It was a spectacular and ridiculous sight.
"I'm your sister!" Carlotta chased after him in a rage, jumping up to smash the gun butt into his knee again.
"So what?! We're not related by blood!"
"You're still saying it!"
"Ow! Ow! That hurts!" Kexi dodged as he tried to explain. "You've got it wrong, second sister. I meant kissing your-"
"You're still saying it!"
"You're still saying it!"
"You pervert!"
"You've completely lost your mind!"
The more Carlotta hit him, the angrier she got, and the harder she struck. She really hadn't expected her little brother, who had never been serious since childhood, to be so brazen that he dared to make a pass at her!
"Stop hitting me! Stop!" Kexi scurried away with his arms over his head. Seeing another blow from the gun butt about to fall, he blurted out in desperation, "I meant your Tacet Mark!"
Carlotta paused, then brought the gun down even harder. "That's not allowed either! Not even my Tacet Mark! What goes on in that lecherous head of yours?!"
"If you keep hitting me, I'm going to fight back!"
"You dare fight back?!" Carlotta was so furious she laughed, putting even more force behind her blows.
How could Kexi swallow this humiliation? He was a man seven feet tall-no, he was the dignified 2.14-meter eldest young master of the Montelli family. How could he face anyone if word got out that a shorty who could only reach his knee by jumping had chased him around and beaten him?
"You asked for this."
Gritting his teeth, Kexi lunged at Carlotta through the barrage of blows from her gun butt, and the two of them grappled.
For a while, the scene was utter chaos.
Tables and chairs were knocked over, papers scattered across the floor, and half the curtain was torn down.
Kexi looked big and strong, but he had never trained growing up and fought entirely on instinct.
Carlotta, on the other hand, was small but genuinely well-trained. Her footing was surprisingly solid, and her hand techniques were even trickier.
After only a few exchanges, Carlotta swept Kexi's legs out from under him, sending him tumbling to the floor.
Before he could get up, a high heel planted itself on his chest, pinning him firmly to the floor.
Carlotta looked down at him. Though the difference in height wasn't actually all that great, given her stature, her imposing manner absolutely crushed his.
"You pervert," she said through gritted teeth, grinding her foot down several more times. "I still haven't disciplined you enough, if you're setting your sights on your own sister. Looks like I'll have to double your training."
"I didn't..." Kexi could barely breathe under her foot.
"You're still talking back?!" Carlotta pressed down harder.
Kexi lay on the floor, his chest aching under her foot, his ears filled with Carlotta's trash talk. She called him a pervert, the shame of the Montelli family, and said he deserved to be Cantarella's snack. Every word struck precisely where it hurt.
He finally couldn't take it anymore.
"You asked for this."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he shot out a hand and grabbed the ankle of the foot on his chest. Carlotta hadn't expected him to resist so suddenly. She lost her footing as he pulled her off balance, and the leg she was standing on involuntarily slid out from under her, leaving her in a full split.
In that brief moment when she lost her balance.
Kexi seized his chance.
With lightning speed, he bit down hard on the Tacet Mark exposed on Carlotta's lower back.
"You bastard, let go-!"
[Ding! Attachment successful. One second... three seconds... seven seconds...]
The system's notification calmly counted off the seconds in Kexi's head, as though all the chaos outside had nothing to do with it.
Kexi kept his teeth clamped down, refusing to let go.
[Ten seconds. Attachment complete.] [Resonance Synchronization-Carlotta.]
Kexi abruptly released his bite. He could feel Carlotta's resonance power flowing through his body, the sensation of that power clearer and stronger than when he had synchronized with Cantarella last time.
But before he could feel pleased with himself, someone knocked on the door.
"Second Miss, there's something you need to handle-"
Zani pushed the door open, a stack of documents in her arms. Halfway through her sentence, she froze in the doorway.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth fell open in an O, and the documents in her hands fluttered to the floor.
Before her was a sight that made her brain shut down:
The room was a mess. Half the curtain had been torn down, a chair lay overturned on the floor, and documents were scattered everywhere. Carlotta sat on the floor, her legs still in a rather indecent split, her skirt in disarray. A blush unlike any Zani had ever seen colored her face, her breathing was rapid, and there were even a few involuntary tears glistening in her eyes.
And Kexi was right beside her, a suspicious trace of moisture still at the corner of his mouth, guilt written all over his face.
"Oh my goodness!" Zani covered her mouth, but her professional instincts had already made her press the camera button on her terminal before she did. With a click, the flash went off, capturing this epic moment of social death forever.