What was worth mentioning here was that barely an hour had passed in Ristia’s mind since she began her slumber. She was not yet over the rage from her spat with her Father, the most important issue in her eyes still being that she had no little sister.
However, that was exactly why she had to accept the facts. The decades she had planned around had turned into a millennium. Basically, if that much time had passed and she was still sister-less, then the chances of one being born during a potential second sleep were slim.
Hmm, maybe I should just make a little sister myself, then~? Okay, so my last plan was kind of a dud, but surely my next attempt will go much smoother. I’m sure I can find a girl who will be my little sister so long as I just keep the fact that I’m a True Blood a secret and grow close with her normally.
“Um, are you all right?” Nanami called over to Ristia as she was pondering her next course of action, snapping her back to her senses. Once Ristia was once again aware of her surroundings, she noticed that Nanami was looking up at her with concern.
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just fine. You asked me what I’d be doing from now on, right? I’m going to take a little trip to a village full of people.”
“A village full of people? And what might you do there... if I may ask?”
“Uh... Saving children in need?”
“Saving children in need, Ma’am?”
“Uh-huh. I want to search for a child in need and provide them help.”
“Um, and... Why, pray tell, would that be your goal?”
“Well, I... Um, you see...” Ristia struggled to find her words, smiling but obviously somewhat embarrassed—looking very much like an angel sent from the heavens above. “Because I want to save a child in need; that’s why.”
What that really meant was that she wanted to save a child—particularly a young girl—and eventually turn her into a kinswoman, as well as her new little sister. It was an underhanded scheme, but... based off of just her words and behavior alone, one would never be able to make out her true intentions.
“Like... some kind of angel.”
“E-Excuse me? I’m no angel; I’m a normal girl.” Ristia was rehashing the same back-and-forth that she shared with her father what felt like a few hours ago, but unlike that time, the person comparing her to an angel had a very different degree of sincerity to her words.
“I’ve misjudged you. Wishing to save children in need is incredibly, wonderfully fantastic! The True Bloods that appear in legends are described as devils, but you’re practically an angel, Lady Ristia!” It seemed that Nanami had gotten entirely the wrong idea, and in a spectacular fashion, at that. The same girl who was once terrified of Ristia was now being moved by Ristia’s angelic utterance. Ironically, this explanation was mostly created out of concern for the fear Nanami had shown earlier. Completely changing her tune, Nanami started to adore Ristia as if she had happened to meet a real-life angel. “Um, would you mind letting me guide you around? I mean, please let me guide you around! I beg of you!”
“Huh? You intend to show me the way?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will be your escort... although I doubt you need it. You’ll still need a guide nonetheless, right? I want to do this as a token of gratitude for saving my life. So... may I?”
“Hmm, let’s see~ If you insist, then maybe I should take you up on your offer?”
“Thank you ever so much, Lady Ristia!”
It seemed that instead of being fawned over as an older sister, Ristia was being worshipped like a divine entity. That was a tad unfortunate, but she found the feeling of being adored by someone not so bad, regardless. More importantly, Ristia had always been surrounded by her older family members ever since she was born, so while she couldn’t convince Nanami to become her little sister, she was starting to enjoy time spent with her anyway. Ristia decided that she would act together with Nanami for the time being.
“Okay, I’m going to get ready, so don’t go anywhere~” Ristia quickly scurried back to the other room. She cleaned up the Crystal Cage that lay shattered on the floor, loading the shards into her Item Box.
“Now, what else? Oh, I should change my clothes. Yup.” With a cute little grunt, she threw off her hole-ridden, bloody dress. With her clothing now reduced to only her matching light blue bra and panties, Ristia went fishing through the assortment of dresses she had personally designed and stowed away within her Item Box as her slim figure remained exposed to the cold dungeon air. Once she made her selection, what she pulled out was an adorable sundress with colors very reminiscent of spring, promptly wriggling herself into it. The last thing she did was check over her appearance in the full-length mirror she’d pulled out from the Box in a similar fashion. Letting down her tied back hair, she returned to the floor where Nanami awaited her.
“Okie dokie, sorry to keep you waiting~”
“It’s no problem at all. Welcome back, Lady Ristia. Oh my! You changed your outfit, I see!” Nanami’s eyes positively lit up once she saw the spring-style sundress.
“Mm-hmm. My old dress had a hole in it, and I figured this would work better if I’m going to be walking around. So? So? How is it? Does it look good on me?” Ristia showed off with a quick turn. She flipped her jet-black hair and the hem of her skirt, looking at Nanami from over her shoulder. Her glittering crimson eyes were extraordinarily captivating.