Nyra had a smirk on her face, and she lifted her eyebrows the moment Meira came inside the room. "There, she delivered herself to your door." She yawned. Laziel pursed his lips, desperately trying to calm himself down. Panic slowly emerged from his chest when he saw the look of hurt in Meira’s eyes. "I... it’s not like that..." he really didn’t know what to say. He had to lose either of them! He gave a begging look for help to Zerra, who was sitting on a chair near the door. However, the girl merely smiled at him, waving her little paw and pretending to be oblivious. She ignored him after that, focusing on fiddling with whatever toy in her hand. He swallowed. His youngest sister was unreliable, while the other two women were sending him a sarcastic look and heartbroken face, respectively. Women are really scary! "Can we solve this peacefully?" He was almost begging at this time. The choice was really hard for him. Nyra rolled her eyes. She lay down on her bed and wrapped herself in a blanket, not interested in talking. Zerra stood up, sending Nyra a concerned look. She cleared her throat and stared at the troublesome couple. "Elder sister needs a rest. She is a patient, you two should go out." "Zee..." before Laziel could continue, she had already bolted out of the room, leaving Laziel speechless. What was with these two? His sisters do not get along that much usually, right? If they worked together, even he was helpless against them. Of course, if Nyra were to hear what was on his mind, she would scoff at him. Even one of them was enough to deal with him! "Let’s talk outside." Laziel finally relented. Meira still had an unreconciled look on her face, yet she had no choice but to follow him. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. If the previous incident wasn’t enough to make Nyra turn into a zombie, then... Laziel led his girlfriend toward the front yard of the house, putting down the candle he carried in his hand on the floor. They sat down. He contemplated it before finally making a decision. "Meira... My sister is still not feeling well right now, so her mind can be a little unstable. She has been stressed because she is not allowed to go out and fight." Laziel explained slowly. It was indeed Nyra’s favorite activity — exterminating zombies and digging crystal cores. Meira still had an unhappy look on her face. He racked his brain and continued, "Unfortunately, she doesn’t want to receive much treatment. In order for her to be willing to get treated..." he tried to search for the best words to convey his intention. "She wants you to break up with me," Meira commented. Under the dim light from the candle on the floor, her eyes were gloomy. Laziel stiffened for a bit before he let out a breath. "Yes." He nodded. So, Meira would understand, right? He was trying to find a solution that would be the best of both worlds. "C-can you help me just this once? We can pretend to have a fight or we have broken up... after she gets better, we can be together again." He gritted his teeth when he said this. Meira was silent for a long time. Seconds morphed into minutes. Laziel grew a little anxious. The light flickered from the candle, elongating their shadows. It needed a few days of the mutated animals’ extermination until they calmed down. For five days straight, they hadn’t appeared at night. That was why he dared to bring Meira outside, where no one would come and interrupt them. "Of course." Meira finally said, her tone a little sorrowful. "I will wait for you, Azi. Please take care of your sister. I know she doesn’t like me, but I wish the best for her." She fiddled with her own fingers, and her eyes lowered. Laziel couldn’t see her expressions clearly, but her voice sounded soothing to him. At least she agreed. She was indeed the most understanding of him. "But... you won’t leave me, right, Azi?" Meira’s voice trembled. It tickled Laziel’s heart, and his eyes softened further. He took her hands, caressing them slowly. "Why would I do that? You are so pretty. I just wish you wouldn’t leave me. Please wait for me. I am sorry for making you go through this..." Not long after, the light from the candle went out, forcing them to go back inside. In the darkness, Laziel didn’t see Meira’s eyes. She wasn’t sorrowful at all. Instead... wasn’t this the best situation for her? Darren would know that she was already single the moment Laziel told his sister. Laziel had promised he would stay and wait for her, so she could still enjoy the benefits he gave her. She could approach Darren more openly too. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI(F)ire.net The same night, Laziel went to find Nyra to announce his new single dog status. It took him a long time to convince Nyra, and she even needed to confirm it herself with Meira, who echoed Laziel’s words with a humiliated face. She went to cry in another room. Laziel felt sorry for her, but he didn’t dare to go out and console her. He had called Zerra earlier, and she entered the room a few minutes later. She looked oblivious to the faint tension in the room. "Elder sister, you have no appetite, so I will cook for you tomorrow. Mr. Adler has suggested a good diet plan for you." Zerra said. Nyra just nodded. Then, she let Zerra treat her with her wood ability. Of course, she did that with the room’s door closed. "Lieutenant Colonel Dalton said that the number of mutated animals has lessened greatly compared to last time today." Zerra opened the conversation. "The last time was two days ago," Laziel muttered. "Yeah, he said he is currently discussing a plan with Darren. They had analyzed which kind of mutated animals breed faster. They should be our top priority to be exterminated." The lively chatting between the siblings had nothing to do with Meira outside. She squeezed her eyes shut, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips as she listened to the voices floating from Nyra’s room. "Don’t forget to burn all the corpses after. Dead zombie corpses can still have viruses on them," Nyra warned. "Especially the blood if they entered the digestive system." "Oh, I remember there are still some corpses in the backyard. We should get a fire ability user to burn them tomorrow," Zerra muttered. "Older brother, you must remind me." "Between the two of you, it’s him who is most likely to forget things," Nyra’s voice floated over once again. "He won’t be able to remind you." "Don’t look down on my memory! I will surely remind you tomorrow, Munchkin!" "Meira, where are you? You should stay in the house..." Laziel’s words were caught in his throat. "What have you done to my elder sister’s food?" He looked at Meira in disbelief. In her hand was a mutated rat’s corpse. Its blood dripped onto the bowl on the counter, into Nyra’s broth that Zerra just cooked for her. She had told him to fetch the broth for Nyra before he left, yet he didn’t expect that... Color drained from Meira’s face. She stuttered, "It’s n-not like what you think."