"H-hey...!!!"
Yes, how could I forget? Jane and Emilia never got along well in my past life.
I didn't know exactly why, but it probably had something to do with me—as well as a conflict of interest.
They both wanted me to dedicate an unlimited amount of time to them—Emilia was my lover, and Jane was my best friend at the time.
I cherished them both, and found the time spent with both of them rewarding, in their respective ways
But, unlike me, they didn't seem to like the idea of sharing—causing bad blood between them.
"You still think she was purely a saint, don't you? But, she was nothing like that in reality. You didn't notice that because you're not a woman. I know these things, you know? I was the oldest among everyone back then..."
Lemi seemed lost in our conversation—how we were talking about her mother so brazenly.
I thought she would have protested when Jane called her mother a bitch, but Lemi didn't. It was probably due to the fact that she was simply confused about what we were saying.
"W-what's going on...?" She murmured.
'The advantage of using Fast Speech is tremendous.' I smiled.
"Okay, that's enough of that." Jane snapped at the young girl with her business-looking expression.
"I'll play with you later, Lemi. Go hang out with your other friends."
The Half-Elf began looking dejected the moment Jane spoke those words. Her sulking face looked at both of us.
"T-they're not my friends..." She also murmured.
"Yeah. Yeah. Now go. We'll catch up later, don't worry."
As a result, Lemi dragged herself out of the room.
>SLAM<
"Weren't you a bit hard on her?" I asked, watching how Jane didn't even soften her face when the girl gave one final glance behind before leaving.
"Na. She's old enough to handle toughness. Besides, that child needs to begin acknowledging people as friends. She won't properly develop that way."
'Look who's talking.' I nearly rolled my eyes as I simply smiled at the words.
"H-hey, you just thought about something very rude, didn't you?"
"Why don't you check for yourself? Oh, wait, your connection has weakened. Pfft."
"Y-you..." The Fairy gritted her teeth, causing me to laugh even more.
Still, I was very pleased with how she handled Lemi.
'Emilia and Aurora spoiled that child, but it seemed Jane is giving her tough love. I guess she's also sort of a good influence.'
In any case, I could already tell how close Jane and Lemi were. She was a mother figure, and also a close friend to my child.
"It appears I have yet another thing to be grateful to you for."
"Pssh. Do you suddenly realize that?" She tilted her round glasses, balancing them properly.
Seeing someone no taller than my fist doing that simply made me snicker slightly.
"You... at this point, I have nothing to say. Your daughter is a handful, but it's the least I could do for you." She shrugged, floating from her chair.
"Besides, with you out of the picture, Emilia and I sort of got along a bit. I suppose I felt bad that you jilted her so hard. We girls have to stick together since rogues like you exist." Jane shot me a disgusted look.
For a moment, I felt worse than dirt.
"H-hey! Isn't that simply too much? This is our first time meeting in centuries, you know?"
"And? I'm simply stating the truth. You haven't become allergic to that, have you?"
"N-no..." I murmured.
"Yeah. So, you should hear it. You were a jerk who abandoned that woman who loved you with everything. I mean, we didn't have the best relationship, but I know she loved you dearly. The sort of love you guys had was exceptional. For a while, I too felt... never mind." Jane sighed, drawing closer to me.
With every distance she covered, I felt even more aware of my guilty past. I truly made that grave mistake, didn't I?
"Bottom line is, you messed up. I had to handle your mess. Your child is brilliant—so I consider her as a keepsake from you too. I have dibs, so you're too late to claim her back now."
"H-hey, hold on... what?"
Was that the bottom line? This was the point she wanted to make? Why did she make me feel like shit, then?
"Yep. I have dibs on Lemi. Of course, if you convince me... we could share..." The Fairy smiled naughtily.
"You little—!" I growled, reaching out for her swiftly.
"Hehe. Too slow." She fluidly glided away from my reach.
"Tch. You... just how and why have you not changed?"
"Hahaha! What can I say? But really, you think I haven't changed at all?"
I sighed, staring at her intensely. Her mannerisms and naughty smile suggested she wanted me to notice something about her.
'Hmm. Her breasts are a bit larger, but Plas-gic Surgery is a trend here. I can't trust that...' My eyes narrowed a bit more.
That was when I finally noticed.
"Your wings. They're a shade duller than before. The colors aren't as sharp. They're also smaller."
"Bingo! Hehe!" She giggled, twisting in the air to show them off.
"How is that something to be proud of? It just shows how immature you are. Hold on... what the...?"
Jane let out a massive grin, staring at me with pride and secrecy.
"So, you've finally started thinking, uh?"
I noticed the same thing with Lu, but these guys had more immature wings than what I knew them for in the past.
Age was progressive, so how were they having Wings that should have belonged to a younger version of themselves?
I was able to give an excuse that Lu could have simply been a descendant of the one I knew—but judging from how he interacted with Jane, it was really him.
And then, even Jane had the same bizarre set of wings.
What the heck happened?
"Oh, my sweet Lewis! There's so much you don't know."
In the five hundred years that I wasn't present, just what had Jane been up to?
'What in blazes did she do?'
