When Felia noticed the bloodstain on her sister Maria's calf, something churned within her chest, making her want to cry out her true feelings.
But just as her rosy lips parted-
A flash like lightning split through her mind, the cruel and decisive execution carried out by Maria flashing before her eyes. It was utterly unlike the gentle, kind sister she knew. Something within her had completely changed. Whenever she thought of this unfamiliar Maria, Felia's instincts recoiled in fear and revulsion.
She wanted to vomit. She wanted to scream.
This wasn't the sister she knew...
Her body reacted before her thoughts could. After a brief moment of shock, Felia shoved Maria away with all her strength. Her legs still trembled as she clutched her mouth, staring at the figure of her sister, shrouded in the darkness of the shadows.
"Don't touch me!"
"..." Maria said nothing. Her crimson eyes glimmered in the dark with a strange brilliance, like the finest rubies that could seduce one into obsession.
"I really can't do it… every time I see you now, I remember that terrifying scene. I'm so scared, I feel like I'll throw up. You… you are Maria, aren't you? I'm not… mistaking you for someone else, am I?" Felia forced herself to hold back her revulsion, her teary eyes fixed on her sister.
Are you still my sister?
That was the fear that gnawed at her most. In her fractured life, Maria was the only one who existed in both her past and present. Yet the Maria of the past, and the Maria standing before her now, felt so completely different.
"Of course. No matter what, I will always be your sister, Felia." Facing her sister's unease, Maria smiled serenely and reached out her hand.
A child's intuition was especially keen.
After awakening her bloodline and becoming a noble Cainhurst bloodline descendant, Maria's cold cruelty, inherited from the Pureblood Sovereigns, had manifested with the stir of her blood. Even if her kind and gentle nature softened that noble pressure, the might of true Cainhurst blood ran in her veins, it was not something so easily erased.
From one perspective, it was that very bloodborne inheritance that gave Maria her innate grace and dignity.
Even without any training in noble etiquette, her bearing embodied nobility itself more perfectly than any aristocrat.
"Felia, no matter what you think, you only need to know this, I will always protect you. That's enough. I will never, ever harm you. So trust me… let me take care of you. I truly cannot lose you again."
Her desire to protect her family had never changed. Yet Maria's pale, smiling face seemed as though it were silently weeping. Felia's heart convulsed violently; hesitating, she slowly reached out her small hand and placed it into Maria's warm, delicate palm.
"Are we leaving now?" She lowered her head, letting herself be led. Strangely, much of her unease began to fade.
"Yes."
"Will we ever come back? Even though everyone is gone, the town might be rebuilt one day…" Felia understood that leaving this time might mean never returning. The Seth Town she remembered, where life was leisurely and peaceful, the sky was clear with clouds like tufts of wool, and joyful laughter drifted in the air, it would never come back.
"We'll definitely come back. We'll even build a new church then!" Maria humored her sister's fantasy, though she already knew that when the church was rebuilt, the two people who once waited there for them would not be.
The tall, slender figure led the small one through the woods. Sunlight trickled between the trees, scattering patches of golden light across their bodies, rippling like water.
…
"Well, well! The little brat throwing tantrums finally calmed down, eh?"
Gehrman, chewing on a blade of grass, caught sight of the girl behind Maria and immediately showed his mischievous side.
"You-!"
Stung by his teasing, Felia-still raw with emotions, flared up at once.
Like a little lion cub provoked into anger, her bright blue eyes blazed as though she were ready to pounce and claw that insolent smirk right off Gehrman's face.
"What's this, you gonna attack me? I'm your savior, you know. Without me, you'd already be dead back there." Gehrman leaned down with a grin, daring her to try.
His words made Felia freeze mid-motion, her claws half-raised.
He was right.
Without him, her fate would've been no different from the Chaos-Corrupted townsfolk. She didn't have the extraordinary constitution of Maria or Gehrman, she couldn't resist the infection of the toxic plague.
"Once I repay my debt to you, I'll beat you black and blue!" Felia huffed, crossing her arms and turning away in defiance.
"Oh…?" Gehrman tipped his round hat low, his voice sounds sarcastic. "How about introducing me to your sister? Then we'll call it even. After that, you can do whatever you like to me."
"Ahem, Gehrman." Maria coughed lightly. She wasn't deaf. In the future, she would be his student, nothing more.
"Go to hell, bastard!" Felia was more direct. She swung her tiny fists at him, chasing him around in a fury. Gehrman, laughing heartily, dodged with ease, teasing her all the while. His mocking laughter only made her burn hotter with anger.
Still-
Maria's crimson eyes watched quietly. She didn't stop Gehrman from provoking Felia. Perhaps it was for the best. This way, Felia could keep her spirit and avoid sinking into despair. Maria's own temperament leaned toward calm and composed, teasing Felia like that would've been harder for her than killing someone.
And so, amid Felia's furious pursuit and Gehrman's unrestrained laughter, the little party set out toward the Luminous Cathedral in Torrent City.
Farewell, my hometown of Seth.
Farewell, land that once nurtured me.
Farewell, everyone now resting eternally beneath the ruins.
As Maria gazed silently back, for a fleeting moment under the sunlight, the ruins of Seth seemed to return to the peaceful town it had once been. And the townsfolk, who had perished in the flames, raised their hands to bid farewell to the pastor's daughters as they departed.
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