Acheron, having returned to her usual self, noticed Sylvia's startled expression and quietly withdrew her hand.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing…"
Sylvia shook her head, quickly dismissing the question. She gathered Acheron's long hair again, deciding firmly not to mention what she'd glimpsed moments before.
Did Acheron already know? But she hadn't said anything that should've triggered it…
Sylvia fell into deep confusion.
Yet the one who had spoken earlier was clearly that "other Acheron." Asking about it now felt awkward.
Well, it's fine. No big deal. If Acheron isn't saying anything, then she doesn't know!
We've come this far—it's not like I can back out now.
Nervously psyching herself up, she focused on tying Acheron's hair.
As for kissing or the wedding night…
That was definitely out of the question. That kind of intimacy… there was just no way to explain it away.
Still, Sylvia worried whether the system would acknowledge such a slapdash ceremony.
Luckily, the moment she clumsily finished tying Acheron's hair, a system notification for the novice mission completion popped up:
--+--
[Target: Acheron]
[Relationship: Married]
[Novice Mission: Confess your love to Acheron—the more passionate, the more memorable. (Overachieved)]
['Tricking a clueless older sister into marrying you… doesn't your conscience hurt? You really are a natural-born playgirl!']
[Novice Mission Reward: One Purple Draw. Extra Reward: A Pair of Wedding Rings]
[Exploitative actions lower reward quality. Next reward will be downgraded to Green.]
--+--
Downgraded? Extra reward?
Sylvia paused. It seemed her corner-cutting had lowered the reward tier, but the system still considered the novice mission overachieved.
So it gave a pair of rings?
Setting the gacha aside for now, she checked the rings' description.
--+--
[Wedding Rings: A perfectly ordinary pair of wedding bands]
['Ordinary as they are, only love is eternal—time cannot fade it. But you, you scam-artist playgirl, just look and move along. This isn't for you.']
--+--
"…"
She was clenching her fists. Hard.
Who the hell wrote these sarcastic comments?
"Hah…"
Sylvia took a deep breath, forcing herself to ignore the description.
In front of her, Acheron felt Sylvia's hands leave her hair and turned to look.
"All done?"
"Mhm, it's done."
Sylvia nodded, pushing down her swirling thoughts as she pulled a pair of rings from her pocket.
They were silvery-white metal loops, beautifully engraved—elegant, not overly ornate.
"I had these on me before I fell here. They'll work. It's a ceremonial symbol, worn on the left ring finger. Do… you mind putting one on?"
As she spoke, Sylvia glanced down at Acheron's black-gloved left hand.
Then she watched as Acheron raised her hand, gently removed the glove, and offered her slender, jade-like fingers—so perfect they seemed sculpted by nature—to Sylvia.
"Shall we put them on for each other?"
The mission was already complete. In theory, they didn't need to go through a mutual exchange.
But Acheron's immediate action stirred something unexpected in Sylvia's heart.
She carefully took Acheron's hand. The skin was delicate, soft—not what you'd expect from a warrior who wielded an odachi.
Sylvia gazed at the ring pinched between her fingers, then at the hand resting so trustingly in her palm. A strange, fluttering feeling welled up inside.
"Y-yes…"
Sylvia swallowed. She didn't understand it—she'd been admiring Acheron's breathtaking beauty all this time, yet it was only after removing that glove and holding her hand that she felt so flustered.
She carefully slid the ring onto Acheron's ring finger. Its slightly loose fit automatically adjusted, snugly fitting Acheron's finger.
Then, before Sylvia could react, Acheron had already turned her grasp around, holding Sylvia's hand and flipping it so her knuckles faced up.
Picking up the other ring, she unhesitatingly slid it onto Sylvia's finger.
"Is the ceremony complete?"
Acheron's voice, still not releasing Sylvia's hand, snapped Sylvia out of her daze.
"Oh—ah, yes. It's done. Thank you, Acheron… for humoring my nonsense."
Sylvia nervously withdrew her hand, curling her fingers into a fist held close to her chest.
The shining silver wedding ring glinted, catching Acheron's eye.
As if in response, the ring on Acheron's finger also gleamed with a soft light.
For some reason, it felt like a clear, gentle moonlight had softly spilled into Acheron's heart.
Even her usually unshakable composure wavered for a brief moment.
"Acheron?"
Coming back to herself, Acheron met Sylvia's gaze and returned to her usual calm. She reached up and removed the red garment she was wearing.
"It's nothing. More importantly, have you gained power?"
"Should have. Let me check."
Only then did Sylvia remember her Purple Draw.
The system had clearly downgraded the reward. Based on earlier info, marriage should've granted a Gold-tier reward.
But her shortcut had clearly knocked it down to Purple.
Still, Purple was plenty satisfying—after all, she'd gotten it through sheer bluff.
Chances like this wouldn't come again.
Thinking that, Sylvia murmured inwardly:
Draw!
A deep purple light flashed before her eyes.
--+--
[Herrscher of Flamescion Core (High-Quality Toy Replica Edition)]
['Made in China—perfectly normal to fuse a few into one, right? Absolutely 1:1 replica. Well, the special effects, at least. As for power… that depends on what energy source you can supply.']
['I know what you're thinking. Those who know, know. Anyway, you're here now, so you'll have to make up for what's missing.']
--+--
Ugh…
Sylvia now seriously suspected this damn system had a few screws loose.
Since when was there a core like this in the original story? What kind of knockoff is this?
It really did have that abstract, jumbled-toy-section vibe.
From Acheron's perspective:
Sylvia slightly bowed her head, seemingly deep in thought for a few moments.
Then, flickering flames gradually spread around her. Acheron could sense a power rapidly enhancing Sylvia's body.
At the same time, Sylvia's dress, ill-suited for combat, was swiftly replaced.
Flames wreathed her form, blooming like red lotuses. Her burning attire transformed into white armor, and flickering embers trailed into a long, flowing cape.
Her loose white hair tied itself into a high ponytail, and a broad greatsword forged itself from the heart of the fire.
Four gemstones, lighting up one by one, embedded themselves into the greatsword, gleaming and translucent.
The entire spectacle was dazzling.
The pulsing flames radiated high heat and brilliant light, emanating a distinctly aggressive aura.
Acheron watched the transformation in surprise. She hadn't truly believed Sylvia's earlier claims.
Or rather, she hadn't imagined such a rudimentary ceremony could summon power of this caliber out of thin air.
There was no gaze of an Aeon, no detectable source of energy—this power seemed to have genuinely manifested from nothing.
Though her own memory was often full of holes, Acheron could still tell: a scene like this would rank among the most absurd phenomena in the entire galaxy.
Even someone as unflappable as Acheron couldn't help but feel a flicker of curiosity as she watched the girl within the flames.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.