The Sin System: My Wife is Envy

I stood there for few seconds, hand still on the door, before it occurred to me that closing it from her side hadn’t actually ended anything.

I opened it again.

She was exactly where she’d left herself, like she’d known I would.

"You’re not going to invite me in," she said, already walking past me before I could answer either way.

She crossed the room without a word. Her gaze wandered over the mess before catching on the broken hand mirror.

"You fixed it wrong," she said, of the mirror, not of me. "You glue from the back. You glued from the front."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

That got me a quick look, assessing, gone before I could read much into it. Whatever she’d expected me to say, it apparently wasn’t that.

"You sound strange," she said.

"I just woke up."

"You always sound strange when you’ve just woken up. This is strange." She let the silence stretch just long enough to become uncomfortable, then moved on as though she’d decided to think about it later. "I’m leaving for the capital. Thursday."

My face did its best to do nothing in particular, which took more effort than it should have. Whatever Itsuki Amagi would have said to that, I could feel it pressing at the back of my mind, waiting to be spoken.

"The exam isn’t for four months," I said instead.

"Not the exam. The Chancellor sent for me directly. Apparently the entrance trial is beneath the discussion now." There wasn’t a trace of pride in her voice. "I’ll sit an evaluation in the capital instead. If it goes the way everyone already assumes it will, I’m admitted before the rest of you have even traveled there."

"Congratulations."

The word came out clean, no edge on it, and I watched it land somewhere she clearly hadn’t accounted for.

"You’re not going to say anything else."

"What else is there to say."

"Several things, historically." She watched me for another second. It was the same look she’d given the broken mirror, not disappointed. Just tired.

"You don’t have to pretend with me. I know exactly how this is supposed to go."

"Maybe I’m tired of the script."

No ready answer for that one, which seemed to bother her more than anything I could have said on purpose.

Something flickered at the edge of my vision, small and easy to miss if I hadn’t already learned to watch for it.

[Ink +1]

I didn’t look at it directly. Explaining that would require an explanation I didn’t have.

"Four months," Aria broke eye contact first and headed for the door. "Try not to disgrace the house further while I’m gone. It would be inconvenient to come back to less than I left."

"I’ll do my best."

She paused in the doorway, half turned, the grey morning light spilling over her silver hair.

"You should know," she said. "Thorne Hold gets very quiet once I’m not in it. People stop watching you quite so closely when there’s nothing left here worth watching."

It took a second to understand that wasn’t a threat. It was the closest thing to a warning she was willing to give for free.

Then she was gone. I stood there until even her footsteps disappeared. Four months. A different city. Maybe that would be enough.

If anyone in this house was going to notice I wasn’t Itsuki anymore, it was probably her.