The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character Chapter 220 220: Hero-Professor Showdown! [2]

Rachel Evans stood frozen for a mont, caught off guard by Professor Lena's sudden appearance—and her completely baseless accusations.

She blinked, processing the words that had just been flung at her like knives.

Sure, she wasn't going to win any awards for "Best Older Sister of the Year."

She knew that.

She'd made mistakes—many of them. She had kept her distance, buried herself in work, and avoided facing the ss between them. After losing soone so important, everything had felt like it was slipping away, and the last thing she knew how to do was connect.

Especially with her little brother, who had turned from warm to cold, from soft-spoken to sharp-tongued. She hadn't known how to handle him. So she didn't.

But that didn't an she didn't care.

She thought of him constantly, even in the middle of missions, surrounded by danger. Her brother had never left her mind, not even once. The guilt gnawed at her—because while she had watched from afar, he had been slipping further away.

She regretted it.

All of it.

She hated how far they had grown apart. She hated how he wouldn't accept anything from her, how every gesture was batted away, every conversation turned into a landmine.

So yes, she'd gotten impatient. She'd been angry. And no—she hadn't apologized properly. Not yet.

But things were slowly getting better.

He was finally starting to listen again. He wasn't yelling anymore, or shutting her out completely. For the first ti in so long, he didn't look at her like she was a stranger.

That… ant sothing.

So for this woman—this outsider—to walk in and act like she knew more? Like she cared more?

Rachel's lips curled into sothing cold.

She took a step forward.

"You don't know anything," she said, her voice low but cutting.

Professor Lena narrowed her eyes.

Rachel continued, her tone sharpening like steel.

"You don't know what he's been through. You don't know how he cried when no one was looking, or how he shut down so completely that I couldn't even reach him. So don't stand there and act like you care more than I do."

Lena opened her mouth to argue, but Rachel wasn't finished.

"I'm not perfect. I'll admit that. But I've always been his sister—and I'll always be his sister. So if you think you can waltz in here and replace that, you're dead wrong."

There was a pause.

Then Rachel took a breath and delivered the final blow, calm and unwavering.

"Don't speak so carelessly when you don't know anything. It's pathetic."

The restaurant fell silent.

Because in that mont, there was no doubting it:

No matter how flawed, how stubborn, or how wounded—Rachel Evans was her brother's sister.

And she wasn't about to let anyone forget it.

---

Rin Evans POV

"Don't speak so carelessly when you don't know anything. It's pathetic."

Lena narrowed her eyes further, and from the look's of it I know that showdown was just few minutes away

"You really don't understand anything."

"Like you understand better. You are nothing more then anything outsider and I am his sister. So, shut up will you?"

Is this fight over being who is my sister?

Things are really getting out of the hand now.

Things were escalating—and fast.

Lena's expression turned sharper, her eyes flashing like a warning bell right before a spell goes off.

anwhile, Rachel was standing tall, arms folded, as if daring anyone to challenge her claim. The tension between them was thick enough to slice with a butter knife.

And ?

I was just sitting there, a spoon still in my hand, frozen halfway to my mouth like so side character watching drama unfold on a stage I didn't sign up for.

"Uh…" I cleared my throat. "So... Should I just pretend I'm not here or…?"

Neither of them looked at .

Rachel's voice dropped an octave. "He doesn't need you playing fake family. I'm here now. That's enough."

Lena's jaw clenched. "Maybe if you'd been 'here' sooner, he wouldn't be the way he is now."

Oof.

That one landed. I saw the flicker in Rachel's eyes.

But before she could snap back, I stood up, scraping the chair back a little louder than I intended. "Okay. That's enough."

Both of them turned to like I'd just thrown a fireball between them.

"I'm not so prize for either of you to win, alright? This isn't so custody battle, and I sure as hell don't need two powerful won fighting over who gets to 'care' about more."

Lena opened her mouth, but I raised a hand.

"No. Just stop. Both of you."

Silence.

I took a breath. "Look, Rachel. You're my sister. I know that now. And Lena… you've helped since I got here. You're my professor and—fine, maybe a bit more than that."

Lena blinked. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

I imdiately regretted the wording.

Moving on.

"What I'm saying is… you both matter to . But this, right now? This isn't how I want things to go. You're both important in your own way, and I just want to eat my damn lunch without feeling like a war is about to break out."

The silence that followed was heavy—but not hostile.

Rachel looked away first, running a hand through her hair with a small sigh.

"You're right," she said quietly.

Whoa. She actually admitted it.

She glanced over at Lena, then back at . "I let things get to . I'm… not good at this. But I'm trying."

Lena crossed her arms but gave a small nod. "Sa here. I'm sorry too."

I let out a breath I didn't even know I'd been holding.

Things were okay. For now.

Finally—peace. I just wanted one day without drama.

But apparently, the world had other plans.

Because that was the exact mont Zhao Yuren's voice rang through my head like an unwanted notification.

—Are both of them your sisters?

What kind of dumb question was that? Hadn't he been watching this whole ss unfold?

—I was asleep, okay? Missed most of the action. So, to the point—are they both your sisters or what?

I wanted to ignore him. I really did. But I knew better. He'd just keep poking until I snapped.

'It's… complicated.'

Psychologically, I felt closer to Professor Lena—she was the first adult to treat like an actual person here. But Rachel Evans… she was the one with the real familial tie. She was my older sister now, wasn't she?

—Well, technically, I don't think either of them is your blood relative. But this world has things like sworn siblings and spiritual pacts and whatnot, doesn't it?

"…Huh?"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, Rin?"

"Ah—no, nothing. I'm fine."

Damn it. I said that out loud, didn't I?

'What do you an not blood-related?' I asked him ntally, heart skipping a beat.

—Hmm… I can feel a bond between you and that woman, sure. But it's not from blood. In short, She is your sister but not by blood.

My skin prickled.

Just what kind of life did the original Rin Evans live before I transmigrated into him?

Why did everything about this body co with a hidden layer of mystery?

The restaurant air felt heavier now.

Rachel had returned to eating like nothing had happened, as if she hadn't just thrown verbal knives and nearly declared war.

Lena sipped her tea in silence, her expression calm, though I could feel she was still annoyed beneath it all.

? I was trying to pretend my entire existence wasn't starting to feel like a layered cake made of trauma, secrets, and identity crises.

And then, just when the silence had beco bearable—Rachel looked up and smiled. A soft, rare kind of smile.

"You know," she said, poking at the leftover food on her plate, "I took down a Lesser Chira nest last week. A few of the young cadets were struggling in the field near Albaris. Got called in to clean it up."

I blinked. That was… casual. Surprisingly casual.

"Chira nest?" I asked. "A real one?"

Rachel chuckled. "Oh yeah. Not the worst thing I've handled, though. That would probably be the Black Rot outbreak in the eastern marshes last month. That thing was eating magic itself. Nasty business."

I stayed quiet. It wasn't that I didn't want to respond—it's just… I didn't know how.

This was one of the first tis she'd voluntarily talked to like this. No awkward scolding. No heavy-handed attempts at being protective. Just… conversation.

So I let her talk.

She ntioned escorting a group of rchant guilders through contested territory. She told how she caught a corrupted high mage in the process of making a deal with a criminal syndicate.

I listened.

Not out of obligation—but curiosity.

"…How many people did you save?" I asked quietly.

Rachel paused, then shrugged. "I don't really keep count."

I did.

Every ti she said sothing like 'we arrived just in ti' or 'the spell almost went off,' I imagined the lives that might've been lost if she hadn't shown up.

She made it sound like another day at work, but it was clear—she was doing things that mattered. Life-saving, world-shaping things.

I opened my mouth again.

"Then why co back here?"