And so it was the sixteenth year since Lian En had been gone.
A girl who looked very much like him appeared in the Flower Court of the Honglian Palace.
She was about the same age as Milin, with the same arrogant tone and unrestrained attitude as his, and that soul of blazing crimson magic power—so familiar to Vera it was almost painful.
The mystery was finally revealed.
All these years, the result she’d believed in and waited for turned out to be nothing more than this.
“Hate him, curse him, scold him.”
That cold voice had never been so clear. It told Vera: Only by doing this will you feel relieved, only by doing this can you be freed.
If you don’t hate him, then the dried-up tears of Meliya, the irreplaceable regrets in Milin’s growth, the long, fruitless searching of Iyue, Sephy, and the others… as well as your own years of blind faith—wouldn’t all of it become a joke?
“But… I just don’t feel like he’s a liar.”
So you’d rather hate yourself for believing in him, than hate him… What a fool, the most naïve, idiotic person in the world.
That voice mercilessly mocked her, casting the sobbing girl in her heart into a frozen purgatory.
…
……
…………
Today was the second day of the Crown Festival.
Lian was peeling an apple with a small knife.
“We’d only just left Yilansiya… and he started writing letters back almost immediately. He said, ‘How could someone like Meliya not have suitors? To prevent her from falling for someone else, I have to make sure she remembers me from time to time’… Can you believe it? That such a hopeless man would later become the Hero who saved the entire continent… Little Lian, are you listening?”
“I’m listening, I’m listening. Yeah… Truly hopeless. I’ve completely changed my view of the Hero…”
Vera, reclining on the bed, was excitedly sharing memories of her time with the Hero to Lian, who sat beside her in a chair.
She wasn’t shying away from anything that could be called a black history, spilling everything as freely as beans from a bamboo tube.
This was torture.
“Eat up!”
Lian almost sliced her own hand.
She hurriedly finished peeling the apple, then handed it to Vera’s mouth.
She had to stuff this woman’s mouth with food!
“Eh… but I’m used to eating those sliced fruit platters…” Vera looked somewhat troubled as she stared at the whole apple.
“Yes, my Royal Princess…!”
Swallowing her anger, Lian carefully divided the apple into slices, then handed it over again.
“I don’t like apple cores. Could you cut them out for me?”
With a clang, the small knife in Lian’s hand fell to the floor.
She gazed blankly up at the ceiling—
Ah, why am I here?
On a splendid festival morning like this, I should be at the opening ceremony of the Invention Expo, standing among the neatly lined Maid Squad, watching Meliya’s majestic figure.
How did I end up in the Governor’s Residence, serving as this woman’s nanny?
“Ahem. I know you’re about to blame me again. But this really wasn’t my idea. It was Her Highness Vera who called you by name.”
While Lian was waiting with her colleagues from Xilong Court for the Steambus to head to the Expo, Feiyin had suddenly appeared. Then she drove over in that noisy car from Youlin Courtyard and delivered Lian straight to the Residence.
“Chomp… Also, when he drinks, he gets absolutely terrible…”
“Could you please swallow before you speak…”
Watching Vera eat apple and chatter away endlessly, Lian felt a mix of emotions.
In her memory, Vera wasn’t the type who couldn’t shut up once she started talking.
Even someone as slow as Lian could tell what Vera’s aim was—if only a little, she wanted to learn more about Lian En from her.
She wasn’t asking directly, but was hoping to exchange memories to gather the information she sought… this cautious, roundabout way was indeed very Vera.
“I’ve been talking non-stop… Little Lian, are you tired of listening? If there’s anything you want to say, I’ll listen too.”
…Can you not call me Little Lian?
The longing expectation in her softening voice kept Lian from ever saying those words out loud.
She sighed and looked at Vera on the bed:
“Your Highness Vera, what do you want to know? If it’s something I can answer, I’ll tell you.”
She’d used this same line while talking with Meliya.
Her real intention was to use evasiveness to prevent any further questioning—after all, once you told one lie, more would be needed to cover it.
But after yesterday, her thoughts had changed—she could lie, she should lie.
If lying would keep that detestable Hero, who had hurt them so much, from ever being found by them again, she would choose to do it.
Now she even hoped: that Sephy would take as long as possible, or maybe never find a way to turn her back… so she could keep on living as Lian.
Only as Lian could her heart avoid being crushed by guilt and remorse; only as Lian did she feel worthy to stand before them.
“Where did you come from?”
“I used to live in a village… near an Autonomous City in the south of the Holy Nation. Later, a flood destroyed the village, so I set out to search for the Hero. After that, Lady Sephy’s avatar found me.”
This was the backstory she’d prepared after speaking with Sephy and Vera that day.
Lian lowered her head, not wanting Vera to notice how red her face was from lying.
“I see. Sephy did say she picked you up… That man… didn’t Lian En stay with you all along?”
“He stayed in the village for five years. During that time, he taught me a lot, and gave me that sword… but he didn’t stay forever. That’s why I wanted to look for him.”
“When he left, didn’t he tell you what he was going to do?”
“…No.”
“I see. Mm… That’s Lian En, that’s just like him. Having to deal with such an irresponsible guy, you must’ve had it tough.”
“N-not at all. I… I really didn’t find it tough at all.”
She smiled again. That smile felt like a sharp knife, carving into Lian’s heart inch by inch.
She didn’t dare look Vera in the eye, afraid she’d burst into tears at any moment.
It’s you and Meliya who really suffered, isn’t it? What you want to know is just where that faithless man is now, isn’t it?
“It’s alright. From now on, just treat Honglian Palace as your own home… I think Meliya feels the same way.”
Vera didn’t miss the way Lian held back her tears.
She reached out, gently stroking Lian’s hair in comfort.
She was too gentle.
Gentler than the Vera she remembered… She’d only been like this before that child left her.
So… you really believed it, huh? As long as it’s about Lian En, you’ll believe anything I say, won’t you? You foolish woman…
“Damn it… If it wasn’t for this body, I would never cry… Never in front of you…”
Lian could no longer hold back her tears.
She suppressed her voice, trying to keep the last shred of her dignity as the Hero… but Vera held her head close and gently patted her back—
“It’s alright, it’s alright. I’ll always be by your side, Little Lian.”
“Ugh… uaaaahhhhhh!”
He really should tell her.