Karime Kim was a girl with black hair and black eyes. She could not be considered stunningly beautiful, but she was the kind that seemed more attractive the longer you spend time with her.

We could be considered childhood friends. We knew each other since we were children, and together with Ley and some other boys and girls of our age, we formed a group of friends.

And in that group, my relationship with Karime was the closest by far.

Due to that, nobody found it strange when we became lovers.

Karime was the one that confessed, but I had also a crush on her, so our relationship was very nice. She was my first love, and I have nice memories of her.

Unfortunately, our relationship started to become strained a while ago.

The reason was my inability to Awaken.

It was almost unnoticeable at the start, but eventually, the amount of time we spend together decreased considerably.

Finally, two days ago after I failed my second Awakening procedure, she broke up with me.

She told me that if I could not Awaken, then it was better if we stopped being lovers.

That was a few hours before I was swallowed by the dungeon.

… Actually, although my break up with her pained me a lot, I understood her choice. After all, Awakened and non-awakened live in two completely different worlds. Even the place where we were going to continue our studies was destined to be different.

Plus, Karime was very respectful when she broke up with me, so we parted on rather good terms.

I don’t hate or resent her. I mean, it’s just a relationship. First loves rarely last. I’m not that immature to hate a nice girl just because she broke up with me.

However, Ley is different.

Even before Karime broke up with me, Ley already disliked her slightly. And that dislike seemed to have become downright resentment after the breakup.

Moreover, the reason why I was on that bus when the dungeon appeared was that I had been depressed about my breakup with Karime.

To Ley, it seemed as though it was Karime’s fault that I almost died.

“… My little sister sure is overprotective, huh.” I muttered to myself while looking at Ley who was glaring at Karime fiercely.

“Hurry up and say whatever you want to say, and then leave,” Ley growled. “You are not welcome here.”

“Ley, please.”

“Brother, are you going to defend her again!? It’s her fault that you ended in that dungeon!”

“It’s not her fault, Ley. It was just an accident.”

“But, Brother–”

“Ley, please.” I stared at my little sister firmly, making her snort in displeasure and look away.

Once I took care of that, I looked towards my ex-girlfriend.

“Sorry, Karime. Don’t pay attention to Ley’s words. You already know how she is.”

“Yeah.” Karime nodded awkwardly and bit her lips. “Jane, are you alright?”

“I’m alright, don’t worry. In fact, I’m better than always.”

“Is it so?” Karime nodded and put on a hesitant expression. “Hey, about what happened that day…”

“Stop. You don’t need to blame yourself. As I told Ley, it was just an accident. Nobody could have known that something like that was going to happen.”

“But… No, you are right.” Karime showed a bitter smile. “Right, I heard that you awakened. Congratulations.”

“Yeah, but that has nothing to do with you. You are not my brother’s girlfriend anymore.” Ley interrupted hostilely.

I smiled wryly. “Ley.”

“What? I’m telling the truth.”

I did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

Girl… Can you be less hostile?

“Even if we are no longer lovers, we have been friends for many years. It’s normal that she is interested after learning that I awakened.”

“Jane is right.” Karime nodded, but her expression was a bit awkward. It was clear she was feeling uncomfortable with Ley’s hostility. “I think I should leave… I need to do something later, so...”

Just at that moment, a familiar voice came from outside the room.

“Mm? Is this Jane’s room?”

The next second, a beautiful girl with bluish-white hair entered the room, holding a bouquet of roses in her hands.

“Hey! Long time no see you! Did you miss me?” The girl smiled mischievously.

I was dumbfounded. What was she doing here?

“Sylvia?”

“Hello!” Sylvia grinned. But then, she noticed that the atmosphere in the room was a bit strange.

“Mm? You are Jane’s little sister, right?” She smiled to Ley before looking at Karime and narrowing her eyes.

“Could it be…” She muttered to herself and narrowed her eyes. Then, her eyes lit up.

At that moment, I could swear that I saw a trace of mischief in her eyes.

“So you are the ex-girlfriend, huh.” Sylvia grinned.

Karime froze. For an instant, she did not know how to react.

But in the next instant, she saw Sylvia walk towards me with a sweet smile.

“Honey, I brought you roses. Do you like them?”

“H-Hey…?”

“I’ll put them here.” Sylvia smiled and put the roses on the bed before extending her hand and touching my cheek gently. “How are you feeling? Are you feeling better already?”

I opened and closed my mouth in a daze. I was so surprised that I did not know how to react.

As for Ley and Karime, they were completely stiff.

Just then, Sylvia brought her face close to me as though she was going to kiss me.

In fact, to the two girls behind her, it seemed like she was kissing me.

Before touching my lips, though, Sylvia stopped and murmured something with a mischievous grin.

“You owe me one.”

Then, she moved away with a smile.

“Are you hungry, honey? I’ll get you something to eat. I’ll be back.”

“Aa…” I murmured dazedly.

“Excuse me.” Sylvia then smiled at Ley and Karime and left the room, leaving the three of us completely frozen.

Eventually, Karime snapped out of her daze and looked at me flustered.

“W-Well, n-now that I know you are alright, I should leave.”

“Y-Yeah,” I replied, still dazed.

“S-See you later!” Karime shouted and ran off as though escaping.

Seeing that, I could not help but smile wryly. That Sylvia… What is she thinking?

Right then, I realized that my little sister was glaring at me with a chilling gaze.

“… Brother… To think that you would get a new girl just two days after breaking up with Karime…”

“W-Wait, Ley. It’s a misunderstan-”

“Scum!”

Snorting angrily, she turned around and left.

I was left alone in the room with a speechless look.

Hey, I’m innocent!