When it came to reading the room, Nefi Tari had been gifted since childhood.
She had once heard that in the distant past, the Holy Nation had a saint who possessed the “Miracle” of Mind Reading.
Legend had it that this miracle was so powerful that at just sixteen years old, she had won first place in the Selection of Saints Ceremony, where candidates for the Pope were chosen… But Nefi felt that merely being able to read another’s mind could hardly be called a “miracle.”
Because the servants who tried every way to flatter her, their faces plastered with fake smiles, and the warriors and elders who were always stiff and serious, caring only about glory and bloodline… everyone she had ever met wore their hearts on their faces.
The wrinkles on their foreheads, the changes in their muscles, the unnatural shifts in their gaze when they made those expressions—all of it spoke of their true feelings.
Whenever Nefi glimpsed another’s heart through these details, she found that their true intentions hardly ever deviated from what she had already imagined.
Thus, she thought humans were very boring… except for those whose expressions were extremely complicated, or those who were especially good at disguising themselves.
Nefi believed her mother belonged to the former.
When looking at her, her mother’s expression was always twisted by all sorts of tangled, mixed emotions.
As for her grandmother… that old woman belonged to the latter.
Every expression, every word, even the body she inhabited was fake—Nefi could only ever infer her intentions from her actions.
But the half-sister crying before her right now was the only “boring person” who had ever sparked her interest.
When they first met, she had been so intensely cold and resistant… From that utterly unguarded expression, Nefi knew she held no goodwill toward her, the one born from the family that had taken her mother away.
“Nefi, Nefi… I’m really sorry… I’m so sorry…”
But now, she was desperately suppressing her voice, pouring out the love and longing that swelled together with her regret, all of it through tears without reservation.
“Ah, Sister, you are so clumsy, so pitiful. If you feel regret, then why did you drive me away back then? Now everything is beyond repair.”
Nefi did not try to touch her. Because she knew all of this was just an illusion of the past.
“I will not sympathize with you, Sister. I also cannot forgive you.”
…
…
…
Thus, in the forest, time flowed slowly in the eyes of the girl that no one could see.
The Fairy Ranger did not respond to the young hero’s invitation, but the young hero did not leave. He set up a tent outside the cabin, tirelessly pestering her from behind.
Since the girl had left, the Fairy Ranger had returned to her monotonous three-point routine… but added one more activity—after finishing archery practice and bathing, she would sit in the tree that had once been her mother, playing a sorrowful melody on a leaf flute.
She did not chase away the young hero, but she never responded to his attempts at communication. Just as she had once silently resisted the younger half-sister brought back by her mother, who had left hundreds of years ago, along with the man who was not her father, she remained silent now, repeating her dull, monotonous life day after day.
A week passed, and the young hero still could not get a single word out of her. Though he was growing anxious, he was unwilling to simply give up.
So at the start of the new week, he carved a crude longbow from the forest trees and ran to the Fairy Ranger’s archery training ground to practice arrows alongside her.
The watching girl let out a sneer that no one could hear. He didn’t know what had happened in the past, so his current action was likely just a desperate, last-ditch move… But how could a trick someone had already used once still work on her?
“Your grip on the bow… is wrong.”
But what actually happened was beyond the girl’s expectations. When that young man shot an arrow with a clumsy stance almost identical to her own years ago, the Fairy Ranger, who hadn’t met his eyes all week, spoke those words.
The Fairy Ranger’s eyes were on the young man… but the watching girl knew that she was actually looking at someone else.
The Fairy Ranger did not teach the young hero archery. In the following week, she did not speak another word to him.
Normally, by this point, one would give up. But perhaps those words from the Fairy Ranger had given the young hero hope, so he stubbornly remained on the clearing in front of the cabin.
One day, a heavy rain fell in the forest. The young hero’s crude tent, built from branches and leaves, was instantly scattered by the downpour. Forced to take shelter under the cabin’s eaves, he shivered in his cloak… And that day, the door he had been knocking on for two weeks without any response suddenly opened.
“Come in.”
This time, it was the young hero who froze. In the eyes of the ghost-like girl who wouldn’t get wet, he stared at the Fairy Ranger before him, but saw someone else.
The rain lasted all day. But the Fairy Ranger’s archery training never wavered. Her arrows still struck the distant bullseye accurately even in the storm. The watching young man was full of admiration and praise… He became even more determined to invite the Fairy Ranger to join him.
That night, the sound of rain continued to patter. Beside the fireplace where the firewood crackled, the two sat opposite each other in silence. And the girl who prided herself on seeing clearly into people’s hearts could not read his thoughts through his expression at that moment.
It was a very calm expression… He was slightly closing both eyes, neither smiling nor angry, neither happy nor sad. But in the quiet air, the girl felt a torrent of emotions surging wildly.
“You can stay here for the night. Use that room over there.”
The Fairy Ranger pointed to the room where her father had once lived. After leaving those words, she returned to her own room and closed the door.
Unexpectedly, the next day, the young man did not mention inviting her to join. After the rain stopped, he left the cabin and gathered the scattered sticks, preparing to set up the tent again.
“You won’t be able to build a sturdy tent like that.”
The Fairy Ranger reminded him again. And this time, she personally walked over to the young hero and, with her extensive experience, taught him how to build a tent that was much sturdier than before.
“I don’t mind if you want to live in the tent. But if you want, you can still stay in the cabin like yesterday.”
“But it’s not raining…”
“It might.”
What happened after this exchange left the watching girl quite confused. The young hero moved into the cabin, but he never again brought up inviting the Fairy Ranger to join. Two strangers ate, lived, went out to train, and then returned together under the same roof.
Nothing blush-worthy happened during that time, nor was there any passionate moment that the girl had imagined, one that could rekindle hope in a despairing person. They simply silently accompanied each other… yet it was as if they were accompanying someone who wasn’t there.
“I have to go now.”
This strange life ended one morning a month later. Over breakfast, the young hero said this to the Fairy Ranger, with whom he had lived for over a month.
“I see.”
The Fairy Ranger only looked up at him once, then continued eating.
“I’ve actually exceeded the promised return time by far… The allied forces and my companions must be looking for me everywhere.”
“Since you’ve already broken your promise, you might as well let it go completely. You can stay here.”
“No.”
“Why not? Instead of taking the initiative to walk toward a death trap, defying an inescapable fate only to end up drenched in a downpour that washes everything away without a trace… Isn’t this peaceful life better? If you don’t pursue anything, naturally you won’t lose anything. I thought, after staying here so long, you would understand.”
“…That’s not it. I have a reason I must go.”
“What reason?”
“I have people I must see, and promises I must keep.”
“…”
The Fairy Ranger stopped the spoon in her hand.
“You can’t win.”
After a long moment, she said softly.
“I don’t understand.”
“You clearly do understand. Not only do you understand, but you’ve also felt it firsthand—you can’t win.”
“But I still want to try again. Because…”
The young man—no, not yet a hero—gave the Fairy Ranger a sad but firm smile.
“I don’t want to regret it anymore.”