Susia huddled close to Enya and hugged her arm.
As if sensing that Enya had a fleeting thought of sending her away, she held on quite tightly.
“Sister Enya, can you tell me what’s going on with that child named Rosily? What exactly is your relationship?”
“A mother-daughter relationship.”
Enya exhaled softly and answered quite bluntly, without a single shred of hesitation.
At the same time, she placed her hand over Susia’s and pried her fingers away.
However, as soon as Susia’s hand was moved, she grabbed onto another spot.
She simply had no intention of letting go of Enya.
After all, Enya had always avoided her in the past, never giving her a chance to get close.
Seeing how she was stuck to her like glue, Enya couldn’t help but roll her eyes and command her to let go.
“I don’t want to~”
Susia pouted, looking as if Enya’s words had truly wounded her heart.
Enya’s lips couldn’t stop twitching at the sight.
Enya turned around and glanced at the cluster of tents on the distant grassland.
“Fine, let go. I won’t chase you away.”
“Ugh…”
Susia hesitated for a moment. Although she was very reluctant, she finally let go.
If she didn’t let go now, Enya would truly get angry.
Even if she did get angry, she wouldn’t really do anything to her.
Actually, Susia wished Enya would do something to her; at least that would mean Enya was willing to acknowledge her.
Once her arm was free, Enya walked slowly toward the chair placed on the backyard porch.
She would often sit here during her leisure time to enjoy the breeze and the sun, savoring her quiet retirement.
Susia remained where she was, her eyes fixed on Enya the entire time.
She watched the slender figure in the long dress slowly sit down, those azure eyes gazing at the distant horizon.
The orange-red sunset had already settled on the hills.
In a little while, the world of day would fade, and the world of night would arrive, where silence and darkness reigned.
Susia slowly walked to Enya’s side. With her eyelids lowered, she crouched down and leaned against Enya’s lap.
She tilted her head up and asked Enya.
“How did Rosily… come to be? You still haven’t told me.”
“Does it have anything to do with you?”
Enya was a bit annoyed, but she started laughing instead.
Susia wore a look of deep resentment.
“Yes, it does! I’m your sister-in-law. I want to know who you had that child with. Is there something wrong with that?”
“……”
“She definitely isn’t yours and my sister’s. You two couldn’t produce that hair color. Besides, don’t you already have Estelle?”
“I didn’t know about Estelle at first.”
Enya turned her head toward the junction where the stone steps of the porch met the dirt ground.
There were some small, lush green plants there, and her gaze fell upon a golden flower.
Seeing that Enya didn’t want to answer, Susia’s expression darkened a bit.
After a while, she opened her mouth and then closed it again.
It seemed she had something she wanted to say, but in the end, she didn’t speak.
She swallowed the words back down into her heart.
She had an extremely rebellious idea: she wanted Enya to have one with her too.
It wasn’t like it would be the first time, anyway.
‘Is this idea too bold?’
‘If I say it out loud, I feel like Enya will give me a harsh beating before my sister even gets the chance.’
‘But getting a beating actually sounds pretty good.’
Susia blinked her eyes. At that moment, she felt she was truly brilliant.
She would just treat it as a joke to lighten the atmosphere.
‘What if Sister Enya agrees…’
‘Hehehe~’
Images were already playing out in Susia’s mind.
She buried her face in Enya’s lap and began rubbing her head back and forth.
Enya looked down at her, her brows furrowing.
She knew that Susia had been a bit abnormal since she was a child.
‘Why is she rubbing my leg?’
Once this thought arose, Enya reached out and lightly tapped Susia on the head.
She put a stop to her frantic behavior.
Susia looked up, her face already flushed.
She looked like she hadn’t quite recovered, appearing very much like she was in a daze.
Enya’s lips curled as she teased her.
“Susia, can you try to be a bit more normal?”
“Sister Enya~”
“I’m going to tell your sister.”
“Fine.”
If Vivienne heard she had run here alone to find Enya and was even acting clingy…
Susia would definitely not have a good time when she went back.
The Princess immediately stood up and smoothed out her slightly messy hair.
She took a deep breath and spoke to Enya.
“I’m fine now.”
“What do you mean you’re fine… By the way, when are you going back?”
Enya didn’t really want to spend time with her sister-in-law.
After all, she had to take care of Rosily and Estelle; she didn’t want to handle a third child.
Hearing that Enya was already trying to kick her out, Susia immediately put on a pitiful, tearful expression.
She lunged toward Enya again.
But this time, she somehow missed and fell onto the backyard ground.
Susia stood up, looking somewhat disheveled.
Enya got up from the lounge chair and spoke to Susia, who was dusting off her dress.
“Eat dinner today before you leave.”
“……”
Susia stood still, looking at Enya who was standing on the porch, a head taller than her.
She spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“You are the Ordinary-blood Sword Saint, the first legendary figure to reach Nine Steps as a Mortalblood.”
“You even killed a dragon. Now, you are the legendary Saintess admired and spoken of by millions.”
In the Zephyr Empire, Enya wasn’t usually called by her name.
Instead, she was the Silver-haired Sword Maiden, the Ordinary-blood Sword Saint, and the Legendary Saintess.
Terms like Dragon Slayer were actually in the minority.
Most referred to her as the Legendary Saintess, simply because she was female.
Furthermore, a Saintess represented purity…
By the time she said this, Enya had already turned and walked toward the door.
She didn’t hesitate for a single step.
This made Susia feel like she was punching cotton; it was very frustrating.
Yet, she couldn’t think of any other way.
“Sister Enya… I really liked how confident you used to be.”
“Especially when you defeated Duke Frennard with a single sword, stepped into Nine Steps on the spot, and became a Sword Saint.”
“The Sister Enya back then was so cool. Even as a woman, I couldn’t help but fall for you. That’s what a friend of mine said.”
“But now you…”
As Susia spoke, her head drooped.
The resentment she had buried deep in her heart finally erupted at this moment.
Enya’s expression remained calm as she asked back.
“What about now? Do you think it’s disgraceful for me to be a single mother here, raising two daughters on my own?”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Susia’s face turned pale. She quickly lowered her head and gripped the hem of her dress.
She looked extremely restless and uneasy.
Enya couldn’t help but let out a long sigh as she watched her.
“Susia, you should let go of your idol complex regarding me. How should I put this?”
“I’m not as… holy as you think. I’ve known more women than you can count.”
Susia was on the verge of tears, and this time, they were real.
She knew Enya wasn’t a Saintess…
Yet she longed for Enya to be one, maintaining the purest body.
She wanted that graceful figure to be wrapped in radiance, revealing only a celestial beauty.
Enya was Susia’s idol, and combined with Enya’s relationship with Vivienne, the emotion had become somewhat twisted.
Susia kept her head down until a teardrop finally succumbed to gravity.
It fell from her eye and splashed onto the ground.
Suddenly, Susia felt herself being embraced.
She was momentary stunned. Smelling the fragrance of the hug, she buried her face in the soft warmth and wailed.
Enya held Susia, gently stroking her hair.
“Sigh…”
With a sigh, Enya felt a strange sensation in her heart.
She could have ignored Susia and let her be sad alone.
There were plenty of women who were heartbroken because of Enya.
How could she possibly comfort them all? Most of the time, she just ran away.
But Susia was Vivienne’s sister!
The relationship between Enya and Vivienne was ambiguous, but they hadn’t reached the point where Susia was officially her sister-in-law.
There was still a barrier that hadn’t been broken.
Therefore, after a moment of thought, she chose to comfort Susia.
Perhaps it was because she had become a mother, but Enya’s maternal instincts made her feel particularly skilled at comforting people.
“There, there… Susia, don’t cry. I may not be a Saintess, but I’m not a scandalous woman either. Don’t cry, okay?”
“Ugh…”
Susia felt like she was being treated like a child.
Even though there was only a six or seven-year age gap between her and Enya, their behavior was worlds apart.
Under Enya’s embrace and comfort, she finally managed to recover from her mental breakdown.
Yes, Susia had been broken.
Enya was her idol, yet her idol had not only become a mother, but the child’s height was almost catching up to her own.
And there were two children.
One was her sister’s, and the other was theorized to be from some “blonde-haired stranger.”
In such a situation, how could she not break?
Ever since Enya fought the Black Dragon of Destruction, Pandrake, everyone said she had perished along with the dragon for the sake of the world.
Even the Goddess Church posthumously titled her a Saintess.
They had even held a funeral for her. Everyone said Enya was dead.
Susia, however, didn’t believe it for a second.
This was because she saw that her sister wasn’t sad at all, only looked troubled.
If Enya were truly dead, Vivienne certainly wouldn’t be like that.
Susia had always believed Enya was alive.
She had even beaten up many people to defend Enya’s honor.
This made the name “Susia” famous throughout the imperial capital.
Whenever the people mentioned Enya, she would inevitably be brought up as well.
Susia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and glanced at Enya.
Then, she buried her face back into the fragrance of Enya’s chest.
Enya, feeling quite helpless, teased her.
“Though I don’t mind, the fish soup I’m cooking really needs me right now.”
“Sister Enya~”
Susia was reluctant to let go. She gave Enya one last rub.
She was met with a look of disgust from Enya because she had wiped all her tears onto Enya’s clothes.
Now, Enya would have an extra item to wash tomorrow.