Lyra’s mouth immediately fell open upon hearing the accusation.
"A pervert?"
She pointed at herself in utter disbelief.
"I’m your innocent, adorable little sister!"
Kael looked at her for a long second before glancing toward the television where Kelvin flashed another dazzling smile at the camera.
He slowly looked back at Lyra.
"...Sure."
"I’ve seen enough evidence to reach the opposite conclusion."
"Oi!"
Lyra grabbed one of the couch cushions and threw it straight at him.
Kael casually caught it with one hand without even looking up from his dinner before placing it neatly beside him.
That effortless reaction only made Lyra puff her cheeks even more.
"Hmph."
"I was trying to have a serious conversation."
"You were trying to gossip."
"Same thing."
"It really isn’t."
Their bickering continued as another advertisement faded from the screen, and a few seconds later, the opening music of House of Seven began playing once again.
Lyra immediately gasped.
"Kelvin’s back!"
Without another word, she completely abandoned the conversation and turned all her attention back to the television.
Watching the speed of her betrayal, Kael could only shake his head before quietly returning to his dinner.
Hopeless.
She was absolutely hopeless.
He decided that it was pointless trying to save his hopeless little sister. She had already reached the stage where nothing except House of Seven existed in her eyes, and from the way she was staring at the television, even the apartment catching fire probably wouldn’t pull her attention away.
Choosing to leave her alone, he returned his attention to his dinner and quietly finished the rest of his meal.
A few minutes later, he carried the empty plate back into the kitchen, washed everything clean, and neatly returned the dishes to their proper place. Wiping the remaining water from his hands, he made his way toward his bedroom before stopping by the living room entrance.
"Alright, I’m heading to bed."
There wasn’t the slightest reaction.
Kael sighed.
"Good night. And don’t stay up all night watching that stupid show."
Only then did Lyra respond.
Without even taking her eyes off the television, she lazily raised one hand and gave him a thumbs-up.
That was it.
Kael stared at the side of her face for several seconds before nearly facepalming.
"...Hopeless."
Despite saying that, a faint smile unknowingly found its way onto his face.
It was a strange feeling.
Bittersweet.
The Lyra standing before him now was completely different from the one he remembered from more than a month ago.
Back then, she hardly knew how to smile.
Every single day revolved around work. She pushed herself relentlessly from morning until night, taking on every job she could find just to support both him and their mother. Entertainment didn’t exist in her life. Rest was a luxury she rarely allowed herself. Even when exhausted, she’d simply force herself to keep going because there were bills to pay and medicine to buy.
Seeing her now...
Watching her argue over television shows, laugh at stupid jokes, and become ridiculously obsessed with some handsome celebrity hunter... It honestly made him happy.
It meant she was finally living a little for herself.
Of course, he would have preferred if the source of that happiness wasn’t someone named Kelvin or that painfully scripted reality show.
But...
Baby steps.
Shaking those thoughts from his mind, Kael entered his room before quietly closing the door behind him.
The familiar silence immediately settled around him.
Walking over to his bed, he sat down before letting out a slow breath.
"Alright."
"Let’s see what we’ve got."
It was finally time to open all the reward boxes he had accumulated inside the Tower.
Without hesitation, Kael opened his inventory.
A faint ripple spread through the air as one reward box after another materialized before him.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
The six ordinary reward boxes lined themselves neatly across the floor, while the final one radiated a noticeably richer glow than the others.
The Boss Floor reward.
Kael’s gaze lingered on it briefly before shifting away.
"I’ll save the best for last."
Just as he reached toward the first reward box...
Buzz.
His phone suddenly vibrated on the bedside table.
Kael frowned.
Who could be calling this late?
He reached over, picked up the phone, and glanced at the caller ID.
The moment he saw the name, his eyes widened slightly.
"Shit."
He answered almost immediately.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice came from the other side.
"Hello, Kael."
"Hello, Zoey."
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable.
It was simply... awkward.
Eventually, Zoey was the first to break it.
"My grandfather was wondering when you’d come visit."
Kael blinked.
Then his expression stiffened.
Right.
He had completely forgotten.
"I... apologize."
"I honestly forgot."
"I’ve been so busy these past few weeks that it completely slipped my mind."
There was no excuse behind those words.
It was simply the truth.
Between everything that had happened recently, the promise had genuinely disappeared from the back of his mind.
Fortunately, Zoey didn’t seem upset.
"It’s okay."
Her voice remained gentle.
"So..."
"When are you free?"
Kael leaned back against the headboard as he thought for a moment.
Tomorrow...
He didn’t have anything particularly urgent planned.
"How about tomorrow?"
There was a brief pause.
Then the cheerful tone returned to Zoey’s voice almost instantly.
"Really?"
"That works."
"I’ll send you the location."
The slight heaviness that had lingered in her voice since the beginning of the call seemed to disappear completely.
Kael couldn’t help smiling.
"Sounds good."
The conversation didn’t end there.
Instead, the two naturally drifted into lighter topics.
They talked about Adam, a few amusing incidents within the Association, and several other random topics that neither of them could even remember how they’d started discussing.
Before either of them realized it, nearly twenty minutes had passed.
Finally, after saying goodbye, the call came to an end.
Kael placed the phone back on the bedside table before letting out a quiet breath.
Then his attention returned to the reward boxes waiting patiently before him.
His gaze settled on one of the ordinary reward boxes.
It was time to continue.