“I’m not joking, and my mind is perfectly sound. It’s just like I said that day — the night after I married your mother, I was summoned back to the world I originally came from. After only one or two days had passed, I returned here… but sixteen years had already gone by.”
‘Is this actually wine? But why can’t I taste it? Does alcohol lose its flavor the higher the proof gets?’
Milin picked up the bottle that had previously been used to pour her water. She took a direct swig of what remained and furrowed her brow, carefully trying to discern the taste.
“Milin… listen to me…!”
“Don’t you dare call my name! You servant!”
The girl’s scream cut off Lian’s sobbing plea. She hurled the water bottle and the glass onto the floor with all her might. Water soaked deep into the handmade red wool carpet, and shards of glass scattered everywhere.
“Is it because I’ve been too kind to you…? Because I was merciful enough to call you ‘Sister’ that you’ve forgotten your place?! From the time I was small until now, no one has ever dared to play such a disgusting joke on me! Who do you think you are?!”
Fortunately, Lian wasn’t hit by the glass shards this time. Even in her state of explosive rage, Milin had subconsciously thrown the items far away.
“…I am Lian En Klauscher… the person who left you and your mother sixteen years ago. I don’t know why I’ve become like this, or why I’ve turned into a girl… Sephy is helping me investigate. But I truly wanted to see you and your mother… that’s why I entered the Duke’s Household.”
Even if the words were destined to pierce their hearts like sharp swords, Lian had to say them himself.
“That day in the Pavilion, I wanted to tell your mother. But I saw how angry you were… so I didn’t dare say it. But even if it’s only for a moment longer… I wanted to stay by your side… just like I told you the night you came to find me.”
Milin stared in shock at the girl who was nearly on the verge of tears, then looked down at the glass shards on the ground.
“Milin…?”
She fell silent. She reached down, picked up a shard, and without a hint of hesitation, drove it into the palm of her hand.
“What… what are you doing!”
Blood splattered in an instant, and Lian’s face turned deathly pale. She tried to rush forward to help remove the shard, but Milin’s gaze, sharp as a blade, forced her back.
“What am I doing? I’m doing exactly what you’re doing to me. Why are you worried about me? Look.”
Milin closed her eyes, and the glow of Magic Power began to emanate from her body.
Beneath this radiance, which burned like a crimson flame, the wound on her palm began to heal rapidly… even the shard was pushed out by the regenerating flesh, falling back onto the floor.
“When I was a child, I often ran outside the Farm to play. If Uncle Edmund, who looked after the northern Pine Forest Territory, happened to be around, he would lift me onto his large gray horse and take me into the pine forest to hunt, bringing along jars of seasoning.”
“There was so much prey to be found in the forest, you know? Squirrels, deer, snakes, wild boars, and bears. After he caught something, he would cook a feast for me right there using the wild game. Once, he shot a deer, left me on the horse, and walked over to dress it.”
“Right then, a bear appeared. The horse must have been spooked. I was only 9 years old at the time, so it threw me off in an instant. I slammed into the ground, and just as I managed to crawl up, the bear grabbed me and tossed me away.”
“I flew through the air and snapped a tree. Then I saw Uncle Edmund’s face… ah, it turned just like yours is now. He fired several arrows in a row to drive the bear off and then ran over to kneel before me. Even though I was in agonizing pain, I was grateful to him for saving me.”
“Then he started crying — crying so hard. So I quickly wiped the blood off my face, stood up, and smiled at him.”
“He looked completely shocked when he saw me stand up. For an ordinary person, those were indeed fatal injuries.”
“I wanted to help wipe away his tears, but he only cried harder. He knelt on the ground and wailed, saying things like, ‘It’s a miracle you’re alright,’ ‘Thank the Hero for his protection,’ and ‘It’s the Hero, it’s his power… as the one who inherited his bloodline, you must have inherited his power.’ I remember it clearly even today.”
“Isn’t it strange? He was the one who drove off the bear and saved me. If he hadn’t been there, the bear would have surely killed me while I couldn’t stand — yet he knelt on the ground to thank someone who never showed up. He thanked the power I inherited from someone who was never there… it’s hilarious, isn’t it?”
Milin laughed as if she truly found it ridiculous. She ignored Lian, who was kneeling on the ground in despair, and continued.
“But honestly, I didn’t find it that funny back then. On the contrary, I thought this power was amazing. I discovered that if I got serious, I could send a bear flying with one punch. If I ran with all my might, I could go even faster than Uncle Edmund’s horse.”
“So, after that, when he took me hunting, he stopped letting me ride his horse. But I really loved that big horse, and I loved the scent of pine from his gray beard when he sat behind me holding the reins.”
“So I told him I wanted to ride again, just like before. But no matter how much I pleaded, he wouldn’t let me. He said, ‘You don’t need an old man’s protection anymore. It’s safer if the Princess walks on her own — because you are the Hero’s daughter, after all.'”
“I felt a bit disappointed then. Because I was that man’s daughter, I didn’t need protection anymore? I didn’t understand the logic, but I didn’t blame him… because as long as I used this power, even severe wounds would heal instantly, and I could help him catch prey even faster. I was indeed strong… perhaps many times stronger than Uncle Edmund.”
“I still enjoyed going out to play with him after that. But hunting didn’t seem as fun as before. I felt like this power could surely do more than just be used for play.”
“So I told my Mother that I wanted to learn Swordsmanship and Spells. She was very happy and called Teacher Vera and Teacher Sephy to instruct me.”
“Teacher Sephy was fine… but Teacher Vera was truly strict. If she so much as frowned, I had to swing my sword 1,000 more times. So after practicing for a few weeks, I didn’t want to do it anymore.”
“Teacher Vera was displeased, but seeing that Mother didn’t say anything, she let it go. She seemed to think that since I had such incredible power and talent, I didn’t need to be restricted to a single style of Swordsmanship.”
“But one day, Mother injured her finger while working with the townspeople. Her fingernail was completely crushed… I watched her grimace in pain, and I immediately thought back to the time the bear threw me. I thought that since this power was so great, it could surely help me heal Mother, right?”
“I tried with all my confidence — but it was useless. This power that could send a bear flying with one punch, this power that let me run faster than a horse, this power that could instantly heal my broken bones and wounds — it was useless for Mother’s injury! It didn’t work at all! She even started bleeding more!”
Lian felt his mind go blank. He only stared blankly as the twisted smile on Milin’s face gradually crumbled into tears.
“Teacher Sephy said I needed to use Healing Magic. Pure, powerful Magic Power would only worsen the condition of someone like Mother, who has no magic adaptability. But that stuff is too hard to learn… I’ve studied for so long and still can’t do it.”
“That’s not right, is it? Shouldn’t I have learned it in an instant? Everyone envies my talent. My wounds heal quickly, I can lift city wall bricks with one hand, and I can run from the upper to the lower reaches of the Songlin River in a single day —”
“But I can’t even heal my Mother’s finger. I am the daughter of the world’s peerless Hero… yet I can’t even heal her finger! I’m supposed to be grateful for this power that man passed down to me, which kept me alive… but why wasn’t he the one who saved me that day? Why was it Uncle Edmund?!”
“So, do you understand now? You’re willing to tell such a disgusting lie, willing to insult and hurt yourself, and insult and hurt the person me and Mother have been defending. What exactly is the concept of ‘him’ to me? He is power. He is just this power flowing through my body. And if I could, I would rather not have it at all, if it meant trading it for someone who could have healed Mother’s hand the moment it was crushed!”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? If he’s so important to you, then he should appear before me right now, berate me for being a child who knows nothing, and protect you!”
Milin walked over to the silent Lian, grabbed her cravat, and stared at her with eyes that seemed to burn with fire.
But even as she was being looked at like that, Lian remained as still as death.
“You’re going to stick to that crazy talk, aren’t you? Madwoman. Fine… I’ll give you one chance to make me believe you.”
Lian’s blank eyes instantly shifted to her tearful, laughing face —
“Change back right here, right now. Change back into the man you claimed to be — the one who abandoned my mother and me.”