As we crossed the threshold into the residential sector, we were met by the district gatekeeper, Renny, who was leaning casually against a stone pillar under the warm glow of a streetlamp. He looked up, his eyes brightening as he noticed our approach.
"Well, hello there, ladies, Evening, Lady Elicia… the divine goddess herself. Toll and status card, please." Renny said smoothly, stepping forward.
Just like Luscious at the main gates, Renny's gaze swept right past me without a single spark of recognition. To him, I was just a stunning, healthy young woman walking alongside the legendary Principal. He had no idea that the silent, masked, one-armed hunter he saw passing through here every week was standing right in front of him.
Elicia caught the sheer oblivion in his expression, her silver eyes glinting with an amused, mischievous warmth. She tilted her head toward me and said playfully,
"Hey, Renny, mind if you greet Eirene over here properly?"
Renny blinked, his head snapping toward me as his jaw dropped.
"Eirene?! What in the world happened to you? I didn't know you got healed! And your eyes... they're magnificent. I had absolutely no idea you were heterochromic! Wait... Lady Elicia, who exactly are you to her?"
Elicia smiled proudly, crossing her arms beneath her uniform cloak. "I'm her older sister."
"Oh, my bad! Both of you are Rynds, right? The resemblance makes total sense now,"
Renny stammered, rubbing the back of his neck in sheer disbelief. He stared at me, still trying to process the complete physical transformation.
"And yet... you're actually talking to me. You can talk to me every day now! You're not mute anymore!"
"Thanks, Renny," I said smoothly, letting a genuine, calm tone carry through my newly restored vocal cords.
Hearing my voice for the very first time, Renny completely softened, a flush of color hitting his cheeks as he gave a breathless, slightly dazed laugh.
"Wow... I have to say, hearing you speak for the first time... your voice is incredibly charming, Eirene. Welcome back."
We handed over the toll, and Renny quickly waved us through, still staring after us like he had just witnessed a divine miracle.
Elicia and I walked deep into the quiet, winding streets of the 3rd District, passing row after row of darkened townhouses. The peaceful atmosphere was a stark contrast to the chaotic underworld I usually navigated, but a sense of deep, long-awaited relief settled over me as we finally turned down a familiar, cobblestone alleyway.
I stopped right in front of a modest, sturdy stone townhouse nestled quietly between two larger properties. Mounted beside the heavy oak door was a polished brass plaque reflecting the midnight moonlight: House 132.
"We're here," I murmured, reaching under my cloak to pull out the key to my sanctuary.
I reached the heavy oak door of House 132 and gripped the handle, confirming it was firmly locked from the inside. A subtle, comforting presence of mana hummed through the wood… a signature I recognized instantly. Evelyn was inside.
I paused, my hand hovering over the iron latch as I turned to look at my older sister under the dim moonlight. The weight of the secret I had been carrying suddenly felt too heavy to keep to myself any longer.
"Big sister, before we go in... there's something you need to know. Our baby sister, Evelyn... she's alive. She is well, and she is inside this house right now, sleeping." I said softly, my voice dropping into a serious, deeply emotional octave.
Elicia froze completely, the casual, cheerful smile instantly vanishing from her elegant face. Her silver eyes widened in absolute, breathtaking shock. For years, our entire family… Elicia, Elias, and myself… had mourned the tragic catastrophe that we believed took both our mother, Linera, and the unborn baby sister Elicia had so desperately loved and anticipated. To hear that the baby she used to press her ear against our mother's belly to speak to was breathing, growing, and just a few feet away was almost too much to process.
A wave of intense, overwhelming emotion washed over Elicia's features, but looking into my clear, unblinking jade and crimson eyes, she saw the absolute truth. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, her lips trembling as she nodded, choosing to believe my word completely without a single shred of doubt.
"She's... she's really here?" Elicia whispered, her voice cracking with a decade's worth of buried grief turning into sudden, miraculous hope.
"Yes, But since it's the middle of the night, I'm certain she's fast asleep. We have to be quiet."
Luckily, I didn't need to risk waking her by pounding on the door. I knelt down, lifting the heavy woven doormat on the porch to reveal the spare iron key I always kept hidden for emergencies. I slotted it into the keyhole, turning it with a slow, deliberate click before pushing the heavy door inward.
The interior of the house was pitch-black, swallowed by the quiet stillness of the midnight hour. I stepped inside the front parlor, keeping my movements completely silent, while Elicia followed right behind me, her chest heaving with anticipation as she prepared to finally lay eyes on the sister we all thought we had lost forever.
The flickering match caught, and a warm, amber glow slowly bloomed from the glass lantern as the kerosene caught the flame. I set it down on the entryway table, casting long, dancing shadows across the wooden floorboards.
Elicia stepped into the warmth, her silver eyes looking around the space with a soft, appreciative hum.
"It's cozy, Ren. You've really managed to build a proper home for yourself here."
"I earned it through blood," I muttered, a dry, bitter edge to my voice.
It was deeply ironic… the very currency that bought this peaceful sanctuary was harvested from the violent contracts, assassinations, and underground dealings I had survived in the capital.
As I walked further into the house, the lantern light illuminated the true, chaotic reality of my lifestyle.
The front layout started with the iconic living room, centered around a modest but comfortable light blue sofa. But just past the threshold, the domestic facade completely fell apart. The kitchen had been entirely converted into a makeshift meth lab and chemical workshop. It was crammed to the brim with complex glass lab equipment… distillation tubes, beakers, and burners that I had been using to illegally manufacture military-grade tear gas for my underworld operations.
The adjacent dining room wasn't any better; a heavy canvas tarp covered half of the bulkier lab equipment, but the table itself was lined with rows of freshly brewed tear gas, sealed tightly inside reinforced spherical glass bottles.
Elicia stared at the chemical apparatus, her jaw dropping slightly as she took in the sight of a drug and weapon lab sitting right where a family should be eating dinner. She looked back at me, a mixture of utter bewilderment and amusement on her face.
"My goodness, Ren... you're like a mad scientist or something. What in the world are you brewing in here?"
"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied expressionless, completely unfazed by the insult. In my line of work, being called a mad scientist just meant my equipment was functioning properly.
I gestured toward the back of the ground floor.
"There is the bathroom over there. And upstairs, there are two bedrooms. One is mine, and the other one belongs to Evelyn."
I turned back to the light blue couch, testing the cushion with my hand before looking up at my older sister.
"Big sister, you take my bedroom upstairs for the night. You've had a long journey. I'll just sleep down here on the sofa."
Elicia frowned, stepping forward and catching my shoulder before I could lay down.
"Wait a minute, little Ren. This is your own home. Sleeping on the couch while I take your bed? You flew for two straight hours carrying my weight across the kingdom… you deserve a comfortable mattress tonight."
I offered her a calm, completely stubborn look.
"I'm getting used to it, big sister. Even in my own house, I have to stay completely aware of my surroundings. That eighteen gold bounty is still highly active, and the local guilds are ruthless. If anyone breaches the perimeter, I need to be right here by the front door."
Elicia stared at me for a long moment, a wave of deep sympathy softening her silver eyes as she realized the sheer exhaustion and constant state of alert I lived in. She let out a soft sigh, realizing she wouldn't win this argument.
"You really have become a stubborn hunter, haven't you? Fine. But promise me you'll actually rest."
She turned and quietly made her way up the wooden staircase, heading into my bedroom to turn in for the night.
The moment she was upstairs, my survival instincts took over. I moved systematically through the ground floor, drawing every single heavy curtain across the windows. I couldn't risk a single stray ray of the morning sun hitting my skin while I slept; my vampire biology would violently burn me to a crisp, and since Elicia would be fast asleep, her high-tier healing magic wouldn't be active to automatically save my skin.
Next, I walked over to the front door, throwing the heavy iron deadbolts and locking the entrance down completely. I checked the window Latches, ensuring no overzealous Luminous Knights or greedy bounty hunters could easily barge into my chemical lab in the middle of the night.
With the house completely secure, I reached up and unbuttoned my dark vanguard cloak, letting it drape over the back of the sofa. Free from the fabric, I stretched my massive, crimson-feathered wings, letting them relax slightly in the safety of my living room.
Exhaustion finally catching up to my monstrous demonic core, I sat down on the familiar light blue cushions. I pulled a spare blanket over my torso, rested my head against the armrest, and closed my eyes, letting the heavy darkness of a deeply needed sleep finally take over.