Volume 5, Chapter 17 – A Seven-Year Journey

Nola bit her lip, her hands clenched tightly on her knees.

“…Claire, I didn’t mean to forget you. I wanted to hold you in my heart for my entire life. I was bewitched back then. I… I didn’t mean to break our promise… Can you forgive me?”

“Hmm…” Claire put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, hesitating for a moment before answering. “It would be a lie to say I didn’t resent or hate you, Nola. Although the curse was something that couldn’t be helped, a promise is a promise. However, the power of the curse isn’t something you could have resisted just by wanting to. In ten years, I’ve seen too many people forget me, so I no longer hold it to heart. If anyone is to be blamed, it should be whoever burdened me with this curse in the first place.”

“Th-then I still shouldn’t have insisted on making a promise with you when I knew about the curse, making you sad…”

Nola’s earnestness made Claire shake her head gently, her expression soft.

“Let the past be the past. I don’t blame you anymore. The curse is something beyond our control, and you didn’t want to forget me. Continue with your story. How did you become a Holy Son? You didn’t have that status when I saved you. As far as I know, a Holy Son should be born, not made.”

“A lot happened after that…”

Not having achieved self-forgiveness with just Claire’s words, Nola’s head drooped again.

She can’t forgive herself unless Claire punishes her, huh. Fia could roughly see through it. Some people could find release just by being forgiven by the victim, but those with deep-seated obsessions believed they had to make some kind of sacrifice—whether by accomplishing an extremely difficult task for the other person or by paying a physical price. Without experiencing these things, it couldn’t be considered compensation, and they couldn’t forgive their own actions. Nola belonged to the latter group.

As for what had happened to Nola, she spoke for a very long time. In short, after completing her revenge with the magic Claire had taught her, Nola rose through the ranks. In a very short time, she had reached a position equivalent to the Fire Cat Tribe’s warrior captain and had also become acquainted with the half-snake girl, Ying, who held the status of a military strategist. This process took less than two years.

Afterward, during a battle with adventurers from the Alfrieg Kingdom, Nola had accidentally entered the Weeping Mountains, located in the south between the Alfrieg and Cold Night Kingdoms. It was a dangerous labyrinth filled with clouds, mist, and high-tier monsters, a place that was difficult to exit once entered. Nola happened to be alone when she got lost. Even with her strength, she had fallen into a desperate situation in the Weeping Mountains, running out of food and supplies.

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However, just when she thought her life was over, she suddenly received divine guidance. Not only did she walk out of the mountains, but she also obtained a divine weapon—the Flame Greatsword Fia had seen earlier. Divine weapons possessed divinity, and so Nola began to repeatedly dream of her time with Claire, eventually realizing that Claire was not an imaginary person.

Then, having returned alive from the Weeping Mountains with a divine weapon, she naturally became the revered Holy Son of the Fire Cat Tribe. When the chieftain died six months ago, she was elected by the people to be the acting chieftain.

However, since she didn’t consider herself a clever person like Ying, she would entrust all complex matters to her. After Ying had laid out the pros and cons, she would then make a choice.

The dispute between the Holy Son Faction and the Royalist Faction was, on one hand, the will of her god, and on the other hand, it stemmed from her own belief that the Cold Night should not be in such a chaotic state. She wanted it to become like the Alfrieg Kingdom where she and Claire had once lived—strong and orderly, where the strong helped the weak, instead of the law of the jungle.

From the perspective of the people of the Cold Night, it was not surprising that Nola was hailed as the acting chieftain. However, from her own perspective as an elf, the rise of the Cold Night would be accompanied by a loss to Silvar’s interests. In their ultimate goals, she and Nola were simply considering their own people’s perspectives. There was no right or wrong—mainly because neither side had reached the execution stage. Since no actions had been taken, one couldn’t speak of justice or evil.

This girl is such a lucky person with a protagonist template, Fia couldn’t help but complain in her heart. Nola was like a hero from a story: her parents were killed in her childhood, she was sold as a slave, then she was guided by a master to take revenge. Afterward, she would meet a benefactor at every critical moment of her life, and was even favored by a god, eventually becoming a revered Holy Son. It would be strange if such a person wasn’t a protagonist. No one would question it if you called her the Child of the Plane. It’s just that her personality was a bit lacking and she hadn’t matured yet.

“…That’s about it.”

The long story left Nola’s mouth dry. She slowly picked up the juice in front of her and took a sip. Then, her fiery red cat ears and tail stood up at once, as if she had discovered something incredible.

She’s probably never had such delicious juice before. Fia already knew the answer. When Tilulu had drunk this juice made from the fruit of the Holy Tree earlier, she had also had an expression as if stars were twinkling in her eyes. As long as the Holy Tree had enough magic, it would bear fruit. It was just that in the past, its magic was insufficient, so it couldn’t even grow new shoots, let alone bear fruit.

“Your experiences are much richer than mine,” Claire said with a wry smile. “I’ve just been staying in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, helping people with their illnesses. Now that you can’t get help from Tilulu, are you going to look for other royals? As long as you honestly explain your intentions, there should be some royals who just want to live a rich life and not get involved in politics.”

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Claire’s question hit a nerve. Feeling lost about the future, Nola’s brows knitted together, her face filled with worry.

“It would be fine if Tilulu didn’t want to be queen, but the problem is, she wants to be queen herself. To be honest, I don’t think she has the qualifications. As a queen, one should be confident and have sufficient means and strength. At the very least, one should have talented people around to make up for one’s shortcomings. Right now, she has none of that. She can’t be the queen of the Cold Night. Even if she did, it would only be a disaster for the kingdom and wouldn’t bring any change.”

“However, with that half-dragonoid obstructing, the path with Tilulu is no longer viable. I can only go back and make other plans. Damn it, I could have tried to win the right to be king by defeating Chazo one-on-one in the Heroic Spirit Ritual, but he just had to keep making excuses, and now he’s using the declaration of war as an excuse to postpone it. And we can’t stop him.”

“Chazo? Who’s that?”

“The leader of the Royalist faction, and the current king of the Cold Night. It was his older brother who overthrew the Tiger-kin royal family.”

As her words fell, the room fell silent. As if wanting to say something but finding it difficult, Nola’s fiery cat ears twitched, and her eyes stared blankly at the juice. After a long time, she finally stammered.

“I’m the acting chieftain of the Fire Cat Tribe now. I can’t just go wherever I want. Although… Although I’ve made a lot of wrong choices, and I was too reckless just now, I didn’t handle it well and made you angry, Claire, but… but I still want to ask you to come and visit me…”

“Just a visit is fine, of course,” Claire shrugged, her tone light as she reminded her, “But I have to say, the person you really need to apologize to is Fia.”

Nola’s brow furrowed imperceptibly, but in order for Claire to visit her and repay her debt, she followed Claire’s words. She first swallowed with difficulty, then stood up, placed her hands on the table, and bowed deeply to Fia.

“I’m sorry. My rudeness has caused you trouble. If you weren’t stronger than me, the situation would have become irreversible. Although the emotion my tribe has the most difficulty controlling is our anger, that cannot be the reason for me to lay hands on you in front of Claire. At my tier, I should be able to control it perfectly. Wrong is wrong, and I am deeply sorry. If you need to punish me before you can forgive my mistake, I am at your disposal. I only ask that you don’t leave me with a disability. I still have to be responsible for my people.”

To think she could go this far.

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Fia’s image of Nola changed somewhat. She had thought Nola was the arrogant type who didn’t know her own limits.

However, Nola’s next words made Fia think, “as expected.”

“However, I cannot apologize for you mistreating Ying, nor will I accept you and Claire being together just like that. One thing at a time. My apology is only for the unrestrained punch I threw at you just now.”

At the end, Nola’s purple cat eyes stared firmly at Fia’s face, her puffed-up cheeks looking as if she were competing with her.

“Next time, I will take Claire back from you in an open and honorable way.”

Although Nola was saying she would steal Claire away, Fia, unlike before, was surprisingly not angry.

It’s probably because the outcome was decided from the start, so she has no intention of bickering with her. Just as an adult wouldn’t get angry at a baby who touched his face, taking the touch as a slap.

Fia waved her hand magnanimously, unconcerned.

“Then you can try. As for the punishment, it will be twenty lashes, carried out by Anastasia. Both you and Ying won’t escape. Out of consideration for you being Claire’s friend, I can have the execution held in a private dungeon where only I, Claire, and Anastasia can see.”

“Twenty lashes?!”

As if in fear, Nola’s fiery red cat ears and tail trembled.

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Fia tilted her head up.

“What, are you scared? Don’t worry, I’ll heal you with healing magic. I guarantee there will be no scars.”

“You—! Hmph! A mere twenty lashes!” After saying this bravely, Nola lowered her voice a little, a hint of a plea in her tone. “Give me half of Ying’s share. She can’t take that many in her condition.”

“Thirty lashes? Aren’t you afraid? An ordinary person would be dead after that many.”

“It’s just some physical pain. I won’t back down from a little pain.”

“Hoh, your courage is commendable. Then there’s no time to lose. We’ll start when your friend wakes up.” Fia stood up. Nola’s actions had somewhat changed her opinion of her. She decided not to disturb their reunion any longer and walked towards the door. “You two continue. But don’t think about escaping. Don’t make me look down on you. Without my approval, you can’t escape this castle.”

“That’s just what you think. I will not break my promise.”

Saying this, Nola didn’t forget to drain the juice from her cup in one gulp.

“I hope so.”

Without lingering any longer, Fia left the room.