“I owe you an apology.”

Those were not the first words Phelan Sanreal Erz Novis said to me.

But they were the first to leave me speechless.

And for a long while afterwards, I simply didn’t know what to say….

– # –

Sanreal and his family had made my life – my existence – something of a living Hell.

However, facing him guns blazing seemed like the wrong approach.

I had to change my way of thinking – my modus operandi – and so I’d revisited the notion of making a good impression.

Naturally, that began with my appearance, however, it was a decision that made me feel conflicted and uncomfortable.

In class, when the girls treated me – I mean, Ronin – like one of them, they’d frequently included me in their discussions of fashion and makeup. I couldn’t say that it interested me. I was a guy that looked like a girl but that didn’t make me a girl. I didn’t think like them. Granted, not all girls are fashion oriented, but these girls were certainly preoccupied with it. Maybe it was because they were on the cusp of becoming high schoolers. Maybe they were trying to look older and more mature than their age reflected. Maybe it was simply because of their growing interest in boys.

I didn’t know if that was true.

Frankly, I didn’t care.

But there was something that I gradually came to understand.

Clothes do not make the man or the woman, but they can influence how people see us, and they can be used to our advantage. However, how we dress is also a reflection of how we see ourselves. Admittedly, our means can determine the quality of our attire, but given adequate resources, we can demonstrate whether we are comfortable with ourselves by dressing in a manner that exemplifies that.

Therefore, was I comfortable being Isabel or Mirai?

Short answer? No.

I was in Mirai’s body. I moved her. I controlled her – for the most part – but I wasn’t comfortable in her skin.

When I was Ronin Kassius, I may have looked like a girl, but I wasn’t a girl, and I didn’t want to be one. My feelings since then hadn’t changed, despite my appearance taking a dramatic turn, because Ronin’s mind – my mind – was still male even if Mirai was a girl through and through, and a very beautiful girl at that. Thus, my decision to face Sanreal while having Mirai look her best was fraught with convoluted contradictions.

I kept telling myself that this was the best approach.

In other words, by looking as though I’d accepted Mirai for what she was, perhaps it would make my meeting with Sanreal more amenable, and so I left myself in Fatina’s care.

For starters, I had to take a shower…with my eyes closed most of the time.

Apparently, I’d allowed my hair to remain wet for too long, and having improperly dried it, I had to wash it all over again, this time using a plethora of conditioners and shampoos that left my hair as fragrant as a rose garden in full bloom. Next was the matter of drying it, brushing it, untangling it, and so forth, until it hung silky smooth over my shoulders and down my back. I could have modelled for a shampoo commercial because Mirai’s raven black hair visibly shone with vibrancy.

It was like a brilliant, dark waterfall shimmering its way down my back.

I had to admit that Mirai had awesome hair.

I also had to confess that after all was said and done, I found myself tossing it about like I remembered those attractive hair models would do in holovid commercials.

And lastly, I conceded that I needed a lot more practice tossing my hair.

Fatina didn’t stop with just my hair.

She applied light makeup to Mirai’s face that brought out her grey eyes, fulsome lips, and baby smooth skin. The finishing touch was a couple of neat hairclips that kept Mirai’s bangs in check. When she was done, I had some difficulty looking away from the mirror.

Mirai and my goddess were so alike that I was captivated by her beauty.

Yet, I saw the differences between them, most notably in their eyes.

Mercy radiated an innocent warmth that she could direct at the camera to capture your heart.

On the other hand, Mirai had a lost and anxious look in her eyes. She seemed to be on edge, not quite jumping at shadows, but clearly wary of everything and everyone.

However, wasn’t that how I felt?

Thus, was it Mirai staring back at me with that expression, or was it me looking back at myself?

I didn’t have the opportunity to sit there and ponder the question.

With preparations complete, Fatina guided me to the villa’s inner courtyard.

Within its eighty-by-eighty meter square confines, the courtyard was large enough for a resplendent garden with various streams, bridges, ponds, islands, bushes and so forth without the need to cram them together. Its spacious layout made me forget that I was standing in a tiny section of an immense vessel sailing within a Category Six Hurricane roaring across one of Teloria’s oceans.

Instructing me to wait at the entrance to the garden, Fatina approached a tall man standing a hundred feet away on a path that was paved with large, flat stones. For a short while, she spoke to him in a voice too low even for Mirai’s uncanny hearing to catch. However, the conversation wasn’t animated and I wondered if I should take that as a good sign.

Having said whatever she needed to say, Fatina walked back to me. “Be good. Be patient. Keep an open mind. And an open heart. Listen and then ask questions.”

She bestowed a warm smile upon me, briefly touched my left shoulder, and then stepped past me.

I turned slightly to watch her walk out of the garden.

When she entered the house, and then vanished from sight, I felt abandoned.

I felt alone.

But wasn’t that par for the course for me?

I looked down at Mirai’s hands, then held them out before me.

To my disbelief – and relief – they were remarkably steady, and after a short while I lowered them down to my sides.

I spent a few moments pondering what to do next, though in all honesty, I already had my answer.

After all, it was just Sanreal and I in the verdant garden.

Everything that had happened to me since last Friday had led to this moment.

And so, I took a handful of deep breaths, squared my shoulders, and then steeled my heart and mind for this fated encounter.

Turning toward the center of the garden, I cautiously approached Phelan Sanreal Erz Novis.

He looked to be in his late forties, with lightly tanned skin that lacked much weathering. He had a full head of greying hair that he kept closely cropped and sported a neatly shaven beard. Standing perhaps a little over six-feet tall, he lacked the physique of a burly brawler. Instead, he appeared to have an athletic build. That said, it was difficult to tell because he wore dark-grey baggy slacks, a short sleeved white holiday shirt over a white t-shirt, and his feet were clad in a pair of beige sandals.

As I stopped a few feet away from him, I wondered what to make of the man.

This was the High Lord and Master of the Sanreal Family and House Novis?

Sanreal was watering the lush green ferns before him, but he glanced at me with grey-green eyes that slowly regarded me from head to toes. Seconds later, he released the trigger on his hose gun, placed it on the ground, then walked over to a nearby bench seat to collect a small towel lying on an armrest.

Using it to dry his hands, Sanreal returned to where he’d left the hose gun on the ground.

However, he didn’t pick it up.

Instead, he ran his gaze over me once more.

I was surprised to notice that his focus failed to linger on any one part of Mirai.

If I had to describe his attention in a word it would be…respectful.

And that sincerely surprised me.

It also made me feel uncertain.

I had subconscious, preconceived notions about what kind of man Phelan Sanreal was. But standing before him, I found it difficult to reconcile those notions with my first impressions of him. I also had to wonder if the same was true for Sanreal. Considering everything that had happened to me so far, and how much trouble I had caused – and not entirely my fault – he must have expected an unruly, tomboy Hell raiser. However, Fatina had worked her magic on Mirai who now looked as though she’d stepped out of the cover of a fashion magazine for teenage girls.

Was this a surprise to him?

He knew who I really was, and he undoubtedly knew a great deal about my mental state and my fears, so had my makeover left him unsure about me?

Staring at each other, the silence between us stretched uncomfortably but I had decided I wouldn’t be the first to break it. Rather, I watched Sanreal fold his towel with deliberate care, while I stood with my arms and hands relaxed at my sides. I didn’t know the man, so perhaps he was simply polite and fastidious. Yet, Mirai’s female intuition was telling me otherwise.

Is he nervous, I wondered, or is it an act?

To be honest, I found his behavior a little…disconcerting.

Clearing his throat, Sanreal made no effort to hide the deep breath that he took before speaking his first words to me.

“Are you well?”

I clenched my jaw, lest my mouth fall open in surprise.

However, trying to keep my face unreadable was a lost cause.

My eyes widened and my eyebrows arched in astonishment that was quickly tainted with bitterness.

After everything I’d been put through, this is the first thing he asked me?

“Am I well?” I mulled the question over, then gently shook my head as a ragged breath escaped me. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

Sanreal pressed his lips together, and nodded slowly, faintly, with a hint of uncertainty.

My mind and emotions were still see-sawing after his quietly delivered opening salvo, but his act was beginning to irritate me which was why I hardened my voice and darkened my tone. “If you want the truth, I don’t know how to answer that. But I can tell you I’ve had the absolute worst three days of my life.”

For a tiny fraction of a second, Sanreal grew still before again nodding weakly, though it seemed more to himself than to me.

My emotions were beginning to simmer when he delivered those next fateful words.

“I owe you an apology.”

When I realized what he’d said, my breath caught and this time I gaped dumbfounded at him.

A long while went by during which I was undeniably speechless, both inwardly and outwardly.

I weakly wondered if this was still part of his act, but when I studied his life force aura, I saw that it radiated in steady, rhythmic waves as though to the beat of his heart.

If I could deduce anything from it, it was that Sanreal appeared to be calm and sincere when he then said, “For what was done to you, and for the hardships you’ve experience, I am truly sorry.”

I don’t know if it was my subconscious or Mirai’s, but a dark, cynical side of me wondered if somewhere in the distance a single bell was tolling for me. Indeed, not a cheerful thought, and one that I had to forcefully push aside, yet I couldn’t shake the impression that a terrible flag had just been raised. By the gods, I hoped I was wrong, and to salvage my composure, I swallowed a couple of times and took several, deep breaths.

I was also worried and disappointed at being so effectively rattled by Sanreal’s simple apology, if indeed it was an apology. Yet his aura continued to radiate strongly and brightly, perhaps implying he was at peace with his admission, and that confused me further.

In short, I was uncertain of where I stood with him, and what to expect from the man who held my fate in his hands, thus at first, I had no idea how to respond.

Then bitterness welled up inside my chest.

A touch of anger too.

Frustration and resentment mixed in with it later.

I swallowed hard a few times to keep it down, and breathed in slowly, regularly, as I gradually pieced together a suitable reply.

I asked the question softly, yet my tone was dark and biting.

“Do you think…an apology…will make things right?”

Sanreal slowly shook his head. “No, it won’t.”

I exhaled softly. “Then why apologize?”

Sanreal was still for long, long while. Then his shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath that he then slowly released.

“Because you deserve it. And because the circumstances…and my conscience…demand it.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Your conscience?” A taunting smile spread along my lips. “Really? Where was your conscience when my mind was mapped into Mirai? Was it watching from a box seat, munching on popcorn?”

“No, it was boxed into a little corner. And it was yelling at me to let it out.”

“And why didn’t you?”

“Because we had no choice.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yes, really.”

I snorted softly and smiled bitterly. “Why is that?”

“Because Kateopia twisted our arms, and threated exile for House Novis from the Imperial Court. Do you know what that means?”

My smile hardened. “No….”

“It means House Novis, and the Sanreal Family, would have been stripped of its title, its assets, everything. We would have been thrown out of the Empire, and our possessions distributed amongst our rivals by Kateopia.”

I gaped then gasped at him. “That wasn’t what Clarisol said—”

“Clarisol doesn’t know the full extent of what we were facing. She believes that other Noble Houses would have come forth to our aid.” Sanreal curtly shook his head. “There was very little chance of that happening. Few if any want another war. The Empire would crumble, and we’d have a mass exodus from Val Halen. Some would have fled into deep space, while others would have crossed from my home universe into yours.”

“The Empire would break apart?”

“It would. Knowing this, the Noble Houses of the Inner Court were unlikely to challenge Kateopia’s decision. The undisputed truth is that these days House Novis enjoys very little support in the Imperial Court. Thereby, Kateopia gets to play with our fate at her leisure. And so, for the sake of our Noble House, and all the families within it, I accepted Kateopia’s terms. I bottled up my conscience, suspended my moral compass, ordered your sister and her people to imprint your mind into Mirai’s body, and then tossed all our eggs into one basket by throwing you both into the Gun Princess Royale.”

I had trouble clearing my throat before asking, “What were her terms?”

“Kateopia pledged before the Noble Houses with the rank of Alus, that if House Novis’s champion was crowned Gun Empress by the end of the year, she would restore our title of Alus Novis, and pardon us for the crime committed against House Patraeon.”

My mouth fell open, then hung open for a very long time before I recovered a smidgeon of my voice.

“Oh gods…,” I whispered, but it sounded more like a whimper.

Sanreal took a deep, heavy breath. “It was either that or go down fighting.”

The ground swayed and I began rocking unsteadily on my feet as my vision swam. “I need…I need to sit down….”

With that, I staggered to the nearest garden bench seat.

Thankfully, it was only a few meters away.

I tried sitting down gingerly, but my legs turned rubbery and I landed heavily on my backside. Clutching at the armrest, I waited for the unsteadiness to pass but it took a while for the garden to stop swaying before my eyes.

Sanreal approached me cautiously, then sat down on the opposite end of the bench seat. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his lap, and then clasped his hands together.

He didn’t look at me.

Instead, his gaze was on the garden before us.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Quite clearly, this is a lot for you to take in.”

I felt like I was riding a heavy surf, struggling to keep my head above water as my emotions roiled in a chaotic mess. But something he said grabbed my attention and helped steer my thoughts through my muddled state of mind.

“You said…it was either that…or go down fighting.” I slowly turned to face him. “What did you mean by that?”

Sanreal waited a long moment before replying. “I told Kateopia that I wasn’t going to hand you over, no matter the cost. You belonged to House Novis—to the Sanreal Family—not to her. Thus, I made it clear that if we went down in flames, she would go down with us.”

I swallowed with some difficulty. “Then why agree to her terms? If you were willing go that far for Mirai? Why agree to putting Mirai in the Gun Princess Royale?”

“Because she backed off and offered us that compromise of sorts. And also, it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”

“But there’s no guarantee that I’ll win.”

For that matter, I was having serious second thoughts about competing – regardless of what I’d told Ghost back aboard the Sanreal Crest.

Sanreal looked at me sidelong. “Your sister believes you have everything you need to win.”

I felt he was putting too much faith in Erina, but I was still confused by his decision. “You faced off against Kateopia and met her threat to take everything way from you. Why would you even consider accepting a challenge?”

“Because things have grown complicated,” he replied, sounding both grim and weary. “Our confrontation with Kateopia has become knowledge to the other families.”

“The other noble families? You mean the other Noble Houses?”

Sanreal shook his head weakly. “No, the other noble families within House Novis.”

Remembering what Ghost had told me earlier in the bathroom, I now had inkling of what Sanreal was facing. “Are you afraid they’ll rebel against you?”

Sanreal sat back on the bench seat, and his gaze drifted over the garden beyond the path. “You have some knowledge of House Novis’s recent history, don’t you? Revenant has filled you in?”

I felt reluctant to admit the truth and so a sigh escaped me. “Yes, Ghost has told me a little.”

However, I chose not to mention that Clarisol had also educated me on House Novis’s dark history.

Facing me, Sanreal studied me in thoughtful silence that made my heart beat anxiously.

After a short while, he averted his gaze and he seemed to peer off into the distance.

Eventually, Sanreal spoke in a low, somber voice.

“When I made the decision to eradicate House Patraeon from existence, the other families within House Novis didn’t oppose me. They understood my anger, grief, and need for revenge—for justice. They counselled me against it, but they didn’t stop me from carrying out my retribution. I made it clear that the Sanreal Family would be solely responsible. We all knew Kateopia wouldn’t stand for it. We knew she would make us pay for what I had decided to do. But they accepted that there was no stopping me. They were also in a weak position. The war had taken its toll on House Novis. But despite all this, I know that they now regret having failed to take a stronger stance against me, especially after Kateopia demoted House Novis to the rank of Elsis.”

“Then why didn’t they? Why didn’t they stop you back then?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Perhaps because they were afraid of what we would do to them. They saw the Sanreal Family as dangerous to the future of House Novis, but they probably feared our resolve.” He shrugged again. “If so, they were right to fear us. Challenging the Sanreal Family would have destroyed us from the inside because I had no intention of relinquishing our rule over House Novis.”

“Would you have won?” I cautiously asked him.

“Undoubtedly. With Revenant and others on our side, we would have crushed them, though at great expense.” Sanreal hesitated before continuing. “But times have changed. Quiet opposition to our rule has grown steadily, and I know they’re simply biding their time as they gather their resources. And we’re not as strong as we once were. Hence, I took an awful risk when I faced down Kateopia and stood our ground over Project Mirai.”

“Why do it?”

Sanreal turned his head and faced me. “Because you are important. Please don’t ask me to go into details because almost everything about you is a closely guarded secret. What I can tell you is that I believe in your sister’s work, as do others, and I’m convinced that handing you over to Kateopia, or anyone else for that matter, would be a grave mistake.”

He held my gaze.

Unable to look away, I asked him, “Am I that important?”

Sanreal pressed his lips together, then gently but firmly nodded. “For now, that is all I can tell you. However, one day, I hope to tell you more. One day, I hope to tell you the truth behind Project Mirai.”

I was still confused, perhaps even more so, because of the contradiction I was hearing. “You won’t hand Mirai over to anyone because I’m so important, but you’re telling me the situation has changed. I don’t get it. It sounds like you are considering it.”

“No. What I’m considering are the consequences of turning down a challenge from House Cardinal. And I’m certain it will come. It’s inevitable.”

I gave Sanreal a perplexed look. “A challenge?”

“A challenge to be satisfied by combat between champions representing our respective Noble Houses.”

I inhaled slowly, giving myself a few moments to think before asking, “But didn’t Kateopia say that I wasn’t to be touched? Tabitha said that kidnapping me risked starting a war.”

“The challenge won’t be for you. It will be for your sister, Erina. For the knowledge she possesses. For her skills and talent. Even without Mirai, they hope that Erina can help them develop new Ultra-Grade Simulacra. In that respect, their goals or ambitions are rather shortsighted. They’re not seeing the bigger picture. That’s a very good thing for us because it implies they’re unaware of your full potential. They’re looking at a short-term gain, over a long term benefit because they don’t know that it’s there.”

I was surprised by what he was revealing to me. “Does this mean you’re not planning on giving Erina up?”

“I most certainly am not,” he affirmed with a slow, deliberate nod. “Even though there may be Hell to pay afterwards.”

“Why?” I just had to ask him. “Am I really that important to you? Is Erina that important to you?”

“Yes.”

I stared his aura and saw that it radiated rhythmically.

Was I placing unfounded faith in what Mirai’s eyes could see, or was it a sign that Sanreal was being sincere? And if he was telling me the truth, did this mean that Tabitha was wrong about the Sanreal Family’s intentions toward Erina?

Did she lie to me back in the apartment?

My heart beat anxiously as I pondered another possibility.

Or did House Cardinal get its information wrong?

Yet after considering what I’d learnt from Sanreal, Ghost, Erina, and Straus, I still found myself facing a contradiction that I couldn’t resolve.

“You told me that Kateopia backed down, yet you still accepted her terms—her demand to put Mirai and I together in the Gun Princess Royale. Was it really because you have faith in me? Or was it because you were afraid of what the other families within House Novis would do?”

Sanreal’s gaze met mine. “Both.”

I wasn’t entirely surprised by his reply. “And by having me compete in the Gun Princess Royale, you appease both Kateopia and the other families.”

“That’s correct.”

I swallowed down some of the resentment that welled up in my throat. “That’s not fair.”

Sanreal glanced away. “No, it isn’t. But if I hadn’t, I fear that Kateopia would have incited a rebellion within House Novis. That was something that I had to avoid, and so I made the choice to use you to keep the peace within House Novis, and to keep us in charge.”

Upon hearing that, I couldn’t sit next to him any longer.

Rising to my feet, I walked across the stone path to a gap in the flower garden beside a gently flowing stream. Staring down at the water, I noticed small, silvery fish carried along by the current, and I was reminded of the tiny glittering particles in the medical ampules. That memory influenced me to look down at my hands and wrists, and I pictured those glittering particles swimming within Mirai’s bloodstream.

Ghost had said there was a block of ICE protecting information regarding Mirai, so whatever big secret Sanreal couldn’t reveal had to be behind that protective barrier. What I didn’t know was whether Ghost was quietly trying to chip away at it. But if Sanreal was willing to stare down Kateopia in order to keep Mirai and her secrets safe, maybe I should warn Ghost not to try breaking through the ICE barrier.

Perhaps it would be like opening Pandora’s box if he did so.

I need to have a talk with him.

Hearing soft footsteps behind me, I turned my head slightly in their direction. In the corner of my eye, I saw Sanreal standing in the middle of the path, hands in his trouser pockets, looking at me with a guarded look on his face.

Swallowing past the anxiety clogging up my throat and tightening up my chest, I tried to calmly, rationally consider my position.

Despite what he’d told me, Sanreal had nonetheless sacrificed both Mirai and I so as to stay in power.

Kateopia must have known he would do this.

She’d backed him up against a wall, then tossed him a bone and he’d chased after it.

But the situation wasn’t so simple.

Sanreal had been willing go down in flames with Kateopia, yet he’d picked up the bone because he believed that Mirai could win, thereby forcing Kateopia to uphold her promise of restoring House Novis’s position in the Imperial Court. This would give the other families inside House Novis second thoughts about rebelling against the Sanreal Family. But at the end of the day, there was no guarantee that regaining the rank of Alus would quell the voices of discontent and the stirrings of rebellion. Rather, there was a chance that one of the other families would attempt to usurp the Sanreals in a bid to attain control over a restored and reinvigorated House Novis.

Nonetheless, there was one inescapable conclusion.

Sanreal needed Mirai to win the Gun Princess Royale.

More importantly, he needed Mirai to stay alive because he and Erina had a reason for creating Mirai – one that he claimed he couldn’t reveal to me yet.

So where did that leave me?

Was I in a position to bargain with him?

I shook my head inwardly.

No, I didn’t believe that for a heartbeat.

I was at the mercy of House Novis, or rather, the Sanreal Family.

Maybe that would change on the remote possibility that Mirai and I won the Gun Princess Royale. But for now – and only the gods knew for how long – I was squarely in the palm of Phelan Sanreal’s hand. And knowing this, my blood simmered while conversely my emotions cooled and gained a frosty edge.

It was time to play the part they expected of me, and so I turned around and faced Sanreal with a worried, anxious look on my face.

“What happens to me now?” I asked him. “If I’m so important—if you’re willing to face an Empress for the sake of keeping me in your grasp—why not put me away behind a glass cage for safe keeping? Why not just box me?”

Sanreal’s shoulders rose and then fell as he breathed in deeply and released it slowly.

“Isabel, I have no intention of boxing you. None whatsoever.”

I couldn’t hide all the surprise I felt. “Why?”

“Because I made a promise to my daughter.”

“A promise?”

Sanreal slowly nodded. “I promised Clarisol that I would welcome you to the Sanreal Family with open arms as though you were a true daughter of mine. As though you were my flesh and blood.”

I couldn’t help but gawk at him as all my thoughts fell to the floor, and a long while went by before some of them picked themselves up. But it was a while longer before I regained my voice that had seemingly retreated into a crevice at the back of my throat.

“Why…why make that promise to Clarisol?”

“It’s what she asked of me,” Sanreal replied, breaking into a faint, wistful smile. “And I don’t wish to disappoint my daughter.”

Royally flummoxed, I had trouble speaking. “Clarisol asked you to do that?”

He nodded.

“Why?” I asked.

Sanreal took a heavy, rather labored breath that he released slowly and ponderously. “Because my daughter is not a fan of what was done to you. And she holds me responsible. I told her that I would make things right. She told me I could start by treating you like a daughter—like the younger sister she never had.”

Sanreal’s face had darkened with what I recognized as deep regret.

Whether it was unfeigned was another matter, and yet somehow, I believed it was real.

His lifeforce aura was simply too steady and strong for it to be a lie.

And it wasn’t just remorse clouding his face.

As he stood before me, Sanreal appeared uncomfortable though there was something fatherly about his countenance. Though my memories were vague and fuzzy, it was something I remembered seeing my own father express toward Erina – a kind of sheepish, awkwardness as he struggled to make a connection with her, or to reach a degree of understanding with his daughter.

Seeing Sanreal gaze at me the same way made my heart feel as though it was being firmly squeezed, but it also forced me to confront a stark truth.

I had wanted to be treated like a person and not a project, and here was someone who was reaching out to me as family – as a father.

It wasn’t entirely what I wanted.

I wasn’t being treated like a son.

Rather, I was being treated like a daughter.

I felt angry. Revolted. Frustrated.

A large part of me wanted to scream at him.

And yet I couldn’t.

I despised it, but by the same token I couldn’t bring myself to reject it, and suddenly I experienced a glimmer of what it may have been like for Erina to deal with our father, and how difficult it may have been for him, though the reasons were entirely different.

However, I now faced an uncomfortable truth that I could no longer contain within the dark recesses of my mind.

I envied Erina.

I had envied her all these years.

I had envied the love and affection my parents had bestowed upon her, and so I had boxed those memories away.

I had envied her intelligence and her achievements, and thus I was relieved when she distanced herself from me, but deep down, subconsciously, I had continued to envy her…and I still did.

“Isabel?”

I’d been silent for a long while during which Sanreal had grown visibly anxious.

Looking back at him, I struggled to clear my throat.

My heart continued to pound away in my chest, and my feelings were a complicated mess, but at least the pressure upon my heart had eased.

Fatina had said that I didn’t need to discard my past to find a way forward, because my past was the starting line for that first step. The moment I awoke as Mirai, I inherited the legacy of Ronin Kassius’s life. But it wasn’t just his memories that I carried. It was his mind, his personality, his grudges, his loneliness, and his pain. Ronin was incomplete, a fact he had squarely denied to himself, and for the most part succeeded in bottling away. But I couldn’t do the same. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a man anymore. Or rather, maybe it was because of Mirai’s female brain working differently and thereby having different needs. The consequence was that I couldn’t bottle away the emptiness he felt. I realized that I needed to find what I was missing, and now I began to understand what it was.

As Mirai, I wanted to be treated as a person and I wanted to be recognized for who I was.

As Ronin, I wanted achievements of my own.

As Isabel, I wanted to be part of something bigger – something that Ronin had been missing since his parents left both him and Erina behind.

With a fair amount of difficulty, I managed to push past the feelings constricting my throat.

With some effort, I reached out to the faint hope flickering before me.

“Will you truly accept me?”

Sanreal’s brow furrowed faintly as he studied me closely for a few seconds. Then he nodded slowly to me. “Yes, I will. And in return, I ask that you accept us and your life as Isabel within the Sanreal Family.”

“But you still need me to fight as Mirai in the Gun Princess Royale.”

Sanreal’s lips pursed together with evident regret. “Yes, I do….”

Mirai’s subconscious urge to bite my lower lip became a conscious one that I struggled to restrain. “And you’ll really treat me like family?”

Sanreal replied with a shallow yet firm nod.

I shuddered as I inhaled deeply. “I’m not ready to start calling you father.”

He snorted softly, then gently shrugged. “I understand….”

“I might be more trouble than I’m worth.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Then I’ll just have to treat you like a problematic daughter.”

“But you’re not going to box me?”

He shook his head again. “No, I’m not going to box you.”

My emotions swirled within my chest, too conflicted, confused, and complicated for me to make sense of…but for one.

Relief.

And one other – hope.

Breathing in until my lungs ached, I held my breath for a long while before expelling it in a rush.

“So what now?” I asked him.

Sanreal favored me with a steady, notably fatherly smile.

“Welcome to the family, Isabel.”