I Became The Academy Necromancer
Chapter 382: Side Story - Deia

What did Deia just say?

As I unconsciously stared at her, Deia smiled brightly and nudged my side with her elbow.

That simple action felt like she was pouting at me as if asking what I was looking at.

Sorry, but this wasn’t something I could stay silent about—it could turn into a big problem if I did.

“What are you talking about? Marriage?”

Darius’ eyebrow twitched as I firmly tried to state that I had no such intentions.

“That’s what I want to ask. Didn’t you two already talk this over?”

He let out a displeased cough.

Deia came to me and said that Darius had given his permission, but it seems that was a lie as well.

The atmosphere around Darius right now was nothing like his usual carefree demeanor—he was the Margrave of the Northern Frontier, the Giant of Norseweden, and lastly, the eldest son of the Verdi Household.

It was a bit flustering, but this was still a situation that could be resolved through conversation.

“I never said anything like that. Marriage with Deia…?”

It was an absurd idea.

Deia had been making excessive advances lately, but I had rejected them all.

I had no intention of being dragged into such nonsense.

“Deia? I think you need to explain yourself.”

Darius’ gaze shifted to Deia. She responded indifferently as if she had already anticipated this situation.

“I meant exactly what I said.”

Her shameless attitude, as if there was nothing more to add, left me even more bewildered.

“I like him—not as a brother, but as a man. So I want to marry him. You guys were the ones nagging me to get married, weren’t you?”

Deia’s brazenness almost seemed like she was venting her frustrations toward me and Darius.

Rather than a sincere confession, her actions felt more like a protest against us.

“Sigh!”

However, Darius, failing to catch on, pressed his forehead as if a headache was forming and glanced at me as if asking, what are you going to do about this?

“Why are you looking at me?”

I shrugged and tried to step away, but Darius spoke up in all seriousness.

“Do you think this is something we can just brush off?! Hey! Your sister—Deia Verdi—has feelings for you, Kim Shinwoo!”

“Hey, watch how you say that. He’s not my brother.”

Deia, snickering beside me, added her remark, making me want to give her a good flick on the forehead.

One was playing a mischievous prank, while the other was taking it completely seriously.

This was chaos—utter chaos.

“Deus Verdi is an important younger brother to me! But that doesn’t mean I can allow a repeat of what he did!”

In the end, he acknowledged Deus was his brother and apologized for not being able to support him, but that didn’t mean he could accept his actions.

Suggesting a relationship with his own sister was completely insane.

Thud!

Darius slammed his fist onto his desk, clearly too worked up, and strode toward me with firm steps.

His nostrils flared as if he was entirely serious about this.

“You are not connected to us by blood.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He was right. In the end, not being related by blood seemed to create a sort of unspoken divide between us, even though we were family.

That thought made me feel a little—no, very—disheartened.

“That’s right! You didn’t share memories with us from birth! Not that they were pleasant ones, anyway.”

“I never wanted to share any of that.”

“Deia! Stay still! The adults are talking here!”

Darius’ voice was so loud it felt like my eardrums would burst. He was strangely overexcited, even spitting as he shouted.

“It was absolutely not a good time! But because of those hard times, we can cherish each other now!”

He was being a bit dramatic, but he wasn’t wrong.

Darius, Deia, and even I—we all had wounds from our past regarding family. But precisely because of that, we understood how precious family truly was.

“We don’t share blood, and our shared memories are brief. Yes, from an outsider’s perspective, we might not be considered family! But I’ll make it clear! Kim Shinwoo! You are our family, got it?!”

Thud!

The heavy hands of a warrior landed firmly on my shoulders. The burning determination in Darius’ eyes was unmistakable.

Ah.

Just as I had worried about whether the Verdi Household would accept me, Darius had also been concerned that, now that I was no longer Deus, I might no longer be considered a Verdi. Only now did I realize it.

“Yeah, I’m a Verdi.”

A genuine smile spread across my face

In the end, we were family.

“I know! Trust in me! I’m the eldest son! Understood?!”

“Got it.”

“Good! Love Deia! Love the woman who will be your wife! Understood?!”

“Unders… What?”

I had almost nodded instinctively, caught up in the warmth of being part of a family. But that cozy feeling instantly turned cold.

“What did you just say?”

As I stared at Darius, his expression stiffened awkwardly, and he subtly turned his head away.

When I looked toward Deia, she, too, had lowered her eyes, staring at the ground.

“Ugh, such an idiot.”

She muttered a quiet curse before kicking Darius in the shin.

“Now that I think about it, when I made you act back then, I just told you to get mad.”

At that time, we had to deceive the bishops, so I set up a fake conflict with Darius.

However, since he was terrible at acting, I had simply told him to explode with anger and take charge of the conversation.

Just like now.

“You…”

Tap.

I brushed Darius’ hand off my shoulder. I wasn’t even using mana, but maybe because I used mental body.

A chilling aura spread outward from me, slowly taking control of his office.

“What exactly is happening here?”

The moment I muttered those words—

“Ugh, you idiot! You forgot your lines and messed up the final cue! A damn ape like you is no longer my family, you bastard!”

Deia immediately disowned Darius and bolted out of the room.

“I-I’m going out for an exercise!”

And Darius jumped out the window.

***

“Huff.”

I let out a sigh and rested my chin on my hand.

By the way, the two who had run away were now caught by my magic and returned to Darius’ office.

I sat at the table and chairs, set aside for meetings and guests, feeling an unnecessary headache.

“Ah, calm down a bit.”

Deia, sitting next to me, was rubbing my shoulder, and though I was tempted to push her hand away, it felt too unaffectionated to do so, so I let it be.

“But honestly, it wasn’t wrong, right?”

Darius, who tried to escaped, explained with a sense of grievance.

“At first, I was a bit uncomfortable. After all, it’s strange for a brother and sister to marry. I had those feelings even when you were Deus, so I felt a sense of refusal.”

“And then?”

“But then, I thought, there’s really no problem if you and Deia love each other, right? You’ve had quite a few women, haven’t you?”

“…”

I didn’t expect there to be a point where I couldn’t argue back with Darius.

This was why it was important to be careful about one’s actions and attitudes when debating or arguing.

Even if someone says something correct, their previous actions may come back to bite them.

“Deia says there’s no real problem with it. Besides, you’re not the type to be too occupied with other women and ignore Deia after marrying her, right?”

But this was a slightly different situation.

Darius’ trust in me is just too high.

He trusted me so much that he was willing to entrust his own sister to me without hesitation.

“Kim Shinwoo. I hope everyone in this family is happy. Originally, I wanted to bring you into the Verdi Household, but it’s a bit tricky since there’s no real reason for it.”

While Kim Shinwoo’s status was created by King Orpheus, suddenly bringing him into the Verdi Household might look suspicious.

In that sense, a marriage with Deia was a rather suitable way for me to enter the Verdi Household.

I wanted to argue back, but I had no words to say.

The very fact that I lived with many women and formed relationships meant that I had no credibility when it came to my views on women.

“Well, that’s all I have to say.”

Darius suddenly stood up.

Grinning with his teeth showing, he gave a thumbs-up.

“But in the end, it’s up to both of you. I’ll support whatever decision you make, but I don’t think it’s ideal for one person to define the relationship unilaterally.”

Darius left after telling me to resolve it with Deia through conversation. Honestly, he seemed like a completely irresponsible eldest son.

A silence fell.

It was Darius’ office, but the situation was quite strange since the owner of the room had been kicked out. And in that situation, Deia was the first to speak.

“To be honest, that was just a joke earlier. Do you really think we expected you to get swept up and actually marry me? Of course not—I knew you wouldn’t.”

“…”

Her hand, which had been rubbing my shoulder, naturally slid down as she linked her arm with mine.

I didn’t have the heart to push it away.

Because though Deia’s actions were cautious and subtle, I could tell she was trembling.

She was afraid that I might reject her.

She was scared.

“I never knew liking a man felt like this. Haha, so I just went along with the mood.”

“…”

“I just wanted to say something like that.”

Deia waved her other hand in the air, trying to explain something.

“I’d do whatever you want. If you want me to stay as your sister, I’ll just stay as your sister. If you want me to step back for your sake, I will.”

When I glanced at Deia after hearing that, she was trying to hide her tearful eyes by gently resting her head on my shoulder.

“But this time, I can’t. Logically, I want to tell you not to feel burdened for my sake, but my heart just won’t allow it.”

“…”

“I won’t back down. This is my situation now.”

Squeeze.

With her arm linked through mine, Deia tightened her grip as if to say she wouldn’t let go.

“How about you?”

Her voice, which sounded tearful, penetrated my heart, which had told me this would be impossible.

“Can’t… you really accept me?”

Unlike her usual confident self, there was a tremor and a resonance in her voice.

That alone made me sure.

This girl was experiencing her first love right now.

“Deia.”

And so, I could only answer honestly.

“I never thought of you that way before. And even now… I can’t say that I do.”

That was the reality. First loves usually ended up as a tragedy. That was why they lingered in people’s hearts, bittersweet and unforgettable.

But—

“I’ll try.”

Deia’s first love wasn’t over yet.

If that was what she wanted—

“Give me time. I’ll try to see you differently, too.”

I figured I should at least try.

“Ah…”

“Well, that’s what I said, but have some confidence. You’re already an attractive woman.”

She probably didn’t want to hear that kind of answer, so I added a few words of encouragement.

After all, Deia really was a charming woman.

“So, from now on, you’ll try to see me as a woman? Not as a little sister?”

“Yeah. But if I try and it still doesn’t work… sorry, but you’ll have to give up. Honestly, it won’t be eas—”

Wham!

She was so close that I couldn’t react in time.

In an instant, Deia threw herself at me, grabbed my head with both hands, and pressed her lips against mine.

It was a little forceful, slightly painful even. But maybe that was what made it the perfect memory for a first kiss.

“…Huh?”

As she pulled away, I was caught off guard—I hadn’t expected her to be so bold.

“Phew.”

Like a predator satisfied after a successful hunt, Deia wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth with her finger and flashed a sly grin.

“Judging by your reaction…”

“…”

“This is gonna be way too easy.”

***

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