Whoosh!
The moment those words fell, the entire courtroom exploded into an uproar.
Reporters' eyes went wide as they scrambled to pull out their cameras, frantically recording what was clearly a historic moment. Some went even further—dumping their backpacks on the spot and spilling out more than a dozen completely different prepared articles. They snatched one up, thrust it backward, and urged urgently:
"Hurry! This one's the closest to the final outcome. Read it through, tweak it from the back end—we have to grab the headline!"
The cameraman behind them nodded at once, swiftly scanning the draft into a laptop. His eyes raced across the text, instantly spotting discrepancies and revising them at breakneck speed. After adding a few photos sent over by the reporter, he uploaded the piece directly.
Thousands of kilometers away, the editorial department hit Enter and approved it at light speed.
The entire process took less than three minutes. Phones across the room chimed one after another—the headline was out.
Reporters from other media outlets were left staring, completely stunned.
On the other side, the people who truly cared about Phaga finally let out a long breath of relief.
Two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years.
That was basically no sentence at all!
Seated in the Sons of Calydon section, Corin wiped her tears away and immediately scooped Lucy up in a tight hug, beaming.
"That's great! Mr. Phaga is fine!"
"I know, I know! Corin, put me down! Stop hugging me!"
Lucy's face flushed bright red as everyone nearby turned to stare at her being hoisted up, suddenly a head taller than the rest.
Burnice, meanwhile, was grinning ear to ear, completely unbothered.
Beside them, Mrs. Meilin slipped her phone back into her bag and exhaled deeply, saying to the secretary at her side, "Seems my thin slice of goodwill still counts for something."
"Of course, Clan Elder," the secretary replied with a nod, though her expression soon grew concerned. "But what about Miss Ellen—"
"No need to worry," Mrs. Meilin said calmly, shaking her head. "Just keep watching."
Sure enough, the judge slammed the gavel down again, his voice thunderous.
"Order! Order! Any further disturbance, and I will have you expelled from the Tribunal for contempt of court!"
Perhaps deterred by the charge of contempt, even the rowdiest reporters reined themselves in and fell silent.
Once the hall finally quieted, the judge continued.
"However…"
Just those two words sent everyone's hearts straight back into their throats.
Corin froze, her grip faltering. Lucy slipped right out of her arms and hit the floor with a thud.
"Ah!"
Lucy cried out, scrambling back up by grabbing Corin's shoulders. She said nothing, but her brows were tightly knit.
"However," the judge went on, "during the suspension period, the defendant Phaga's range of activities will be restricted. After consultation with the vampire clans, it has been unanimously decided that the vampire clans bear responsibility for overseeing this matter."
"All of Phaga's social activities must be reported to the vampire clans."
"That concludes the ruling."
Huh?
Corin blinked, stunned.
Then, as the meaning finally sank in, she jumped up on the spot.
"Yes!"
Nearby, Lycaon and Rina both relaxed at once. When their eyes met, the relief on each other's faces was unmistakable.
"Ever since Misha came back, this face of mine has become more and more useful," Mrs. Meilin murmured with a soft sigh, her gaze fixed on Phaga.
Phaga seemed to sense it and turned to look back.
Mrs. Meilin gave him a small nod, then turned and walked away.
"Let's go. Phaga will be coming over—prepare a room for him."
...
Time flowed on like water. The future was unknowable, and the past impossible to reclaim.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed.
Today was the day Phaga would leave the vampire clans.
So he went to Mrs. Meilin's office to bid her farewell.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Come in."
Phaga turned the handle and stepped inside.
The moment he did, his vision went dark.
[Guess who I am?]
"Misha, stop messing around."
Phaga reached up and pulled the girl's hands away without hesitation, walking straight past her toward Mrs. Meilin, who sat there smiling.
That completely infuriated Misha.
She'd finally worked up the courage to act cute toward her brother—and it was like throwing herself at a brick wall.
No, worse. If she'd done this to a blind man, at least he wouldn't know.
Doing it to Phaga just earned her a flat, indifferent rejection.
This rotten brother was even more hateful than a blind man!
[Ugh, this is so infuriating!]
Misha stamped her foot in embarrassment and anger, then zipped past Phaga like a gust of wind and plopped into the chair opposite Mrs. Meilin, sulking.
[Stupid Phaga, rotten Phaga! I should've listened to Black and just clung to the household register forever…]
"Misha."
Before she could finish, Mrs. Meilin looked over.
She was smiling, but for some reason the pressure made Misha instantly swallow the rest of her words. She turned away and muttered softly:
[Tsc, fine, I won't say it! Why are you glaring at me?]
[Besides, I'm not wrong. For the past two years I've asked him over and over for Miyabi's contact info, and he still wouldn't give it to me!]
Misha sulked, clearly irritated about not getting Miyabi's contact details.
Phaga shrugged helplessly.
"First, I already gave it to you once."
"Second, if I remember right, Miyabi has politely turned you down plenty of times. Why are you still so hung up on it?"
[What do you mean 'politely turned down'? That was the cute Yabi testing me!]
Misha slammed the table and stood up, face red and neck flushed as she spouted nonsense:
[Yabi doesn't answer my calls because she's shy and doesn't know what to say!]
[Yabi pretends to be asleep because she's worried I won't rest properly!]
[Yabi changed her number just to test my persistence!]
[Yabi—]
"Alright, alright, enough. Go sit somewhere else and obsess over Miyabi's photos on your own."
Misha's nonstop rambling gave Phaga a headache.
He quickly messaged Yanagi for a private photo of Miyabi, then stuffed the phone into Misha's hands and waved her off.
[Hehe, Yabi's photo! So pretty! Miss Ya~~ Hehehe, Miss Ya!!]
With the photo in hand, Misha happily scurried off to one side.
Phaga finally relaxed, now able to talk properly with Mrs. Meilin.
But the moment he looked up, she spoke first.
"Heading back?"
"Yeah. It's been almost half a year since I last saw Ellen, and I kind of…"
Phaga stopped midway, his cheeks tinged red.
After he treated Ellen's mild Ether corrosion, she soon returned to handling Victoria Housekeeping commissions. Busy as she was, it turned out they hadn't seen each other in a full six months—and the thought left his heart restless.
Mrs. Meilin couldn't help covering her mouth as she laughed softly.
The boy who had dared storm Hollow Zero and release Nineveh—yet he still grew shy over matters of the heart.
After smiling for a moment, Mrs. Meilin shook her head and asked gently, "Have you seen Black?"
"I have. I went to Hollow Zero a few hours ago," Phaga replied with a nod.
Truth be told, Hollow Zero had developed quite well over the past two years.
With Nineveh acting as an insider—a high-powered traitor on the inside—the outer regions of Hollow Zero were, for present-day New Eridu, little different from a private backyard.
Come and go as you please.
Thanks to the Ether resources within Hollow Zero, New Eridu's pace of development had become astonishingly fast. It was hard to imagine this was the same New Eridu that had once endured internal strife—its momentum was now even stronger than before.
"That's good. I'll drive you," Mrs. Meilin said.
As she spoke, she nodded, grabbed the car keys from the table, and moved to pull Phaga along with her.
"Misha, come see your brother off."
[Hehe, Yabi, my Yabi… huh? Oh—coming!]
Phaga hesitated for a moment, but since Mrs. Meilin had already stepped outside, he had no choice but to follow.
Once they reached the edge of the clan grounds, Phaga stepped in front of her.
"Clan Elder, this is far enough. I can handle the rest on my own."
Mrs. Meilin merely shrugged, brushed past him, opened the driver's door, and sat down.
"You're already here. What's a few more steps? Get in."
She tilted her chin toward him, signaling him to hop in.
"Uh—"
[Oh, just get in already. Why so much nonsense?]
While Phaga was still wavering, Misha yanked open the door and shoved him straight into the car.
Phaga could only smile bitterly.
Since he was already pinned to the seat by Misha, there was nothing left to argue. He settled in.
Vroom!
As Mrs. Meilin turned the key, the engine roared to life. Clutch, gear shift, handbrake—everything flowed smoothly in one motion as the red compact car sped off.
Phaga looked out the window. Traffic surged past, towering buildings played massive advertisements, pedestrians streamed across skybridges. Music from roadside shops mixed with the hum of engines, echoing against distant construction cranes. The city pulsed with life.
After a while, as they waited at a red light, Phaga caught sight of a snow-white sedan in the rearview mirror. Red "double happiness" characters were pasted on its windows, and fresh flowers adorned its hood.
"Is someone getting married today?"
He rolled the window down and leaned out while they waited.
Looking back—
Whoa.
An extravagant procession. Cars marked with red characters stretched into a long line, so long the end wasn't even visible.
"That's some spectacle. With a convoy this long, the cars behind must be stuck for ages."
"Who's getting married today, blocking up half the road like this?"
Phaga pulled his head back in and asked the other two.
[No idea.]
Misha replied casually, then twisted around to rummage through the trunk.
After digging around for a bit, she finally pulled out two small boxes. She handed one to Phaga.
[Here. Change into the suit inside. You'll need it for your wedding later.]
"…Huh?"
Phaga's mouth twitched.
So it's me, huh.
Mrs. Meilin couldn't help but sigh. "Misha, didn't we agree to keep it hidden until the very last moment?"
[Don't underestimate this jerk. He's sharp—there's no way he wouldn't figure it out.]
Misha shot back as she flipped the lid of the box open for him.
[Go on, change. And hey, it's cold out—you're wearing thermal pants, right? I don't want to see anything unclean—hey, hey, why are you opening the door? Don't, don't! Don't throw me out! I'm supposed to be your maid of honor!]
After quite a struggle, Misha finally escaped from Phaga's grasp.
It wasn't that Phaga had softened—he was just tired. He covered his face with one hand and muttered, "Have my social connections really narrowed to the point where I need my little sister as my maid of honor?"
[Cheer up. Plenty of people want me as their maid of honor—I just don't think much of them.]
Misha patted his shoulder and added consolingly, [Look on the bright side. At least it's not Black being your maid of honor. If it were him—]
"Stop. Don't say another word."
[Alright… ah, the red light's about to change. Bro, hurry up and change into the suit. I still need to get dressed too!]
Once the light turned green, Phaga changed into the suit.
At some point, the glow from the streets washed over his face. He assumed it was just another advertisement and didn't think much of it—yet for some reason, this time he instinctively turned his head.
And the moment he looked, he froze.
The towering buildings lining the street weren't playing advertisements at all. Every single screen displayed the same stretch of lush greenery.
At the far end of that green expanse stood a white arch.
Beneath it, a Shark Thiren girl in a pure white wedding dress stood stiffly, looking a little lost—clearly unfamiliar with doing something like this.
[H-Hello? Has it started already?]
[It started thirty seconds ago, Ellen, say something! (whispering)]
[Ruby, stop interrupting! I'm trying really hard to remember!]
Phaga burst out laughing.
This was the Ellen he knew—awkward whenever there were too many people, wishing she could dig a hole and hide.
But perhaps thanks to Ruby's interruption, Ellen's nerves eased a little. She continued.
[First… when we met for the first time… I don't really remember it clearly. It was probably pretty ordinary? We met at school. At first, he was really quiet, like a sealed jar—basically invisible.]
[Ellen, you're getting married. Say something nice!]
[You're the ones who wrote these questions. That's just how Phaga was back then.]
"Nonsense!"
Phaga crossed his arms and grumbled at the screen. "Back then I clearly had construction-site bricks and stray cats from Sixth Street as friends!"
Hearing that, Misha cast him a sympathetic look. After carefully choosing her words, she said,
[Bro… I kind of feel bad for you.]
"Shut up! You're the pitiful one!"
...
[Alright, that question's over. Next one… um, your first impression of Phaga?]
[No impression at all. Other than knowing he always ranked first and seemed impressive, he was basically a friendless loner.]
[Oh, and he liked hiding in the shadows. I thought he was some kind of flounder that buries itself in sand.]
[Eek—Ellen, if you answer like that, Phaga might actually cry.]
[Huh? Would he? Honestly, without Ruby and everyone else, I'd probably be about the same.]
[Um… anyway, thanks for the affirmation.]
"…Ha."
Phaga slumped lifelessly into his seat. "So that's how I looked to Ellen at the beginning?"
"Hehe… hehe…"
[Don't give up, bro! It's not over yet!]
Misha grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.
[Even if you sound miserable in Sister-in-law's description, the fact she fell for you means she must've opened her eyes later on!]
"…"
Phaga stared at her silently for a long moment before finally saying, "That's a weird way to put it… but thanks."
...
[Alright, next question… what made me choose to be with him?]
At that, Phaga jolted upright, startling Misha so badly she jumped aside, eyes wide.
[Whoa—our almost-dead patient just sat up!]
Phaga ignored her completely, listening as Ellen's voice came through the speakers outside.
[Um… how do I explain it? It just kind of… happened naturally. If I really have to give a reason…]
[…Because we're family.]
[Phaga!!! Get out of the car!!!]
[You said you'd put our names on the same household register!]
Those words struck Phaga like a bolt of lightning. He jerked his head up and looked out the window.
Somewhere along the way, the car had already left the asphalt road behind. In its place was a canopy of green, a long red carpet stretching across the ground.
At the end of the carpet stood a white arch.
Beneath it, Ellen—the Shark Thiren girl—stood in a flowing white gown, holding a bouquet of vivid flowers. She raised the microphone, mustering the greatest courage of her life.
[The shark's got its eyes on you. You don't get to back out for the rest of your life!]
...
The End