“Hmm…”
Milin muttered discontentedly while looking at her side profile. She knew Lian was serious.
Whenever words like “language” and “oath” were mentioned, that usually spacey Sister Lian would become extremely serious.
It had been like that from the very first time they met… and it was the same when she invited her to drink on the festival float during the Flower Crown Parade.
“Alright. I ran away from home to do what I want, so I don’t really have any standing to interfere with what Sister Lian wants to do.”
Milin said this slowly, then ran back to the chair, hugged her knees, and turned her face away.
“Don’t say that.”
Lian gave a bitter smile upon seeing this.
“Senia… Her Majesty the Queen told me she has already begun searching for the Demon Race hidden in the city, and she also took me to find that relic to undo my Magic Seal. Once these matters are settled, we’ll go back together with Sister Iyue… okay?”
“…”
“…I still have to go find Feiyin.”
“Ah—of course I’ll go too. But when you go to find her, your teachers and I will all be by your side.”
“You… all of you want to go find her too?”
Milin raised her face and looked at Lian with some surprise.
“Why not? I know she’s very important to you… and I have countless questions I want to ask her.”
“Sister Lian…”
“We just don’t feel at ease letting you go find her alone. Why didn’t you tell us? Your mother, your teachers, and I—we would all understand you. So once all this is over, let’s go find her together.”
“Even if it takes a very long time… you’ll still search with me?”
“Mm. I will stay with you until you find her—no matter how long it takes.”
Lian smiled and rubbed her head.
“…”
‘Lian… you really…’
For a moment, Milin’s vision blurred. She saw the Lian in front of her transform into a young man—a young man with the same smile as Lian, but his features were the ones Milin hated most.
Because that was that person’s face… the face of the father she had never met, the face depicted in artistic portrayals on every street and alley.
And precisely because she hated it so much, she remembered it all the more clearly.
But strangely, looking at this him, she who should have hated him fiercely felt not a trace of disgust in her heart… and the hand that was on her head felt so warm and nostalgic.
‘…Nostalgic?’
‘I will stay with you until you find her—no matter how long it takes.’
She was certain she had heard this promise before. In some forgotten past… from this young man’s lips.
‘Heh… that was probably the only promise he never kept, wasn’t it?’
Deep in her heart, she heard someone chuckle softly.
‘…?’
She rubbed her eyes and found that the person before her had turned back into Lian.
“What’s wrong? Does your eye hurt?”
“…It’s nothing.”
*
After lunch in the palace, Milin said goodbye to Lian.
Seeing her come alone, the Guard Knights who received her wore extremely serious expressions, but they still took her to a residence in the Upper District outside the palace.
“…What’s going on?”
Prince Alvin, who had been full of anticipation, was waiting for her in the residence.
And his disappointed reaction was far more obvious than those knights who were as cold as statues.
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
Milin shrugged and flicked her hair with the hand disguised as a fake elf ear.
“You described the situation as quite serious. But everything I saw after entering the palace didn’t match your description.”
“Didn’t those knights stationed nearby explain the situation? Under normal circumstances, why would the royal bedchamber have so many guards…!”
Alvin almost slammed the table and stood up… but Milin still stared at him coldly.
“She is indeed under house arrest. But you concealed from me what she encountered in the palace and what kind of treatment she received—you knew perfectly well.”
“Th-that is…!”
“You tried to use me.”
“I apologize for hiding things from you. But please think, wasn’t my proposal beneficial to both of us?”
Alvin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists… while Milin, after removing those disguises, walked past him.
“When you conceived this entire plan, you probably didn’t consider how I would feel, how worried I would be about Sister Lian’s safety… so now, I likewise won’t consider you—I have absolutely no interest in your goals or your concerns.”
“But I still thank you for giving me the opportunity to confirm her actual situation. Let’s meet again at the audience ceremony.”
“Please wait—”
Alvin wanted to say more, but Milin had already left the residence. And in accordance with his orders, those guards did not stop him.
“Damn it…!”
He slapped his thigh and sat back down. Having such grand expectations dashed left him devastated… He sat in the room holding his head for a long time.
“You’ve done something unnecessary again.”
“…Nefi.”
The flood of loss and anxiety had even prevented him from noticing his fiancée’s arrival.
Only when she walked in front of him did he remember that a few seconds ago he had already acknowledged the attendant who announced her arrival by name.
“I can’t figure it out anymore… what should I do? Why does the situation always develop in the worst direction? I just want to free my sister the Queen from that curse…”
“I told you long ago. To remove that curse, you have to start from the root.”
“Nefi… what you are planning is too terrible, it’s a blasphemy…”
“But you agree with it, don’t you? Blasphemy or destruction… as long as we can obtain happiness. You and I, we didn’t choose this path for any noble purpose—we are very selfish.”
Nefi’s voice was still calm, but it carried an unshakable will. Drawn and shaken by that will… Alvin had no choice but to look up at her.
“I… then what should I do? How can I help you…?”
“As I said before, you don’t need to do anything.”
Nai Fei Tali said with a smile.
“You just need to wait for the audience ceremony to come. The path we hope for, Milin will open it for us.”
*
“I’d better go try to find Sister Iyue again and tell her about Sister Lian’s decision.”
After leaving the residence, Milin walked towards the city.
She had told Lian about her encounter at the dance party, and also told her some news she hadn’t been able to hear at the Great Tree Nair: Iyue was in the middle of a power struggle within the family—though she herself had no such intention at all.
“…That acting head of the family who accused me at the family council must be the one who orchestrated all this. To stand against Na Lisi, she plans to turn Sister Iyue into a symbol for her side.”
With the political acumen cultivated through years of being immersed in her mother and teachers’ influence, she easily discerned the specific shape of the struggle taking place within the Nair Family.
“Hey… look, that girl…”
“Hair as bright as fire… could it be that Miss New Hero?”
She herself actually didn’t want to get involved in this struggle.
But with her current fame, even walking on the streets of a foreign land, she would be quickly recognized—just like now.
“Oh no! How could I forget to put on my hood…”
Seeing the gazes of passersby gradually converging on her, she quickly put on her hood.
But people had already noticed her, and under the clamor of a few meddlers, the whole street became agitated.
“Make way… make way! You’ve got the wrong person!”
The crowd quickly gathered. Milin avoided the citizens closing in and quickly ran into a little-used alleyway—
“Ah…!”
“S-sorry…”
As a result, she collided with a girl who was in the alley.
Dizzy, she quickly apologized to the girl pinned beneath her, but the girl looked at her with a very terrified expression.
“It… It’s you!”
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