Volume 1, Chapter 49 – The Beginning

The first light of dawn had just begun to whiten the window when Claire, her silver hair strewn across the pillow, opened her eyes and pushed herself up from the bed with her hands.

Claire wasn’t waking this early because she was naturally a morning person—she had simply been unable to sleep all night, no matter how hard she tried.

“Haaah…”

Letting out a long exhale, Claire furrowed her brows and pressed her right hand against her forehead.

The consequences of a sleepless night were immediate: her head felt heavy and throbbed faintly with pain. Though she could easily dispel the fatigue with a quick Invigorate spell or a stamina-restoring potion, her mind was too preoccupied to even consider such solutions.

Just as Fia had been left flustered by that kiss, Claire was no different.

Clad only in a white nightgown, she sat on the edge of the bed, her fingertips unconsciously brushing against her lips. Soon after, her normally elegant face flushed crimson, her breath catching in her throat.

I actually did something like that…

How shameless of me.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Fia hadn’t slapped her or stormed off in anger. The fact that Claire wasn’t a man—no, precisely because she wasn’t a man—made it all the more unsettling. Fia might even think she had some strange fetish and start avoiding her.

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While elves, due to the existence of mana surges, could reproduce even among same-sex pairs and thus had no aversion to same-sex relationships, Fia didn’t seem like the type to have such inclinations. Moreover, by elf standards, Fia wasn’t even an adult yet—she was practically still in her infancy. If Anastasia found out, she’d undoubtedly come to settle the score immediately.

“…I must’ve been possessed.”

Muttering these words blankly, Claire recalled the stunned look in Fia’s eyes yesterday, how the girl had seemed completely dazed. The memory only deepened the unease in her heart.

At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it. She had simply believed that a gentler approach was better than letting Fia stain her hands with blood. The thought had barely formed before her body moved on its own. It wasn’t until afterward that she realized just how inappropriate her actions had been.

Because Fia is too kind and innocent, I couldn’t help myself—that was nothing but an excuse. Evading the paladins’ search was only the superficial reason. The truth was, she had finally met someone unaffected by her curse, a destined person to whom she could entrust her emotions. Combined with Fia’s words—”Stop using your curse as a means to an end”—all these emotions had mingled together, making her lose control of her actions in that moment.

To put it simply, it was like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert suddenly spotting an oasis. Their first instinct would be to seize that lifeline, to keep it from slipping away. To Claire, Fia was that lifeline—a lighthouse in the darkness, appearing just as she was about to give up on finding a solution. Fia treated her as if the curse didn’t exist, as if she were just a normal person, offering her hope.

Anyone in her place would have done the same—they would have wanted to keep Fia close, to prevent her from leaving. Because of the innate fondness she felt, Claire had acted without thinking, doing something she would never have imagined herself capable of.

But even if anyone would have done the same, there was still a line between right and wrong. Clearly, kissing Fia without her consent was wrong.

As if suddenly remembering something, Claire quickly stood and began dressing. The fact that Anastasia hadn’t come for her meant Fia hadn’t told her about the incident yet. If she apologized now, there might still be time to make amends. If Fia or Anastasia got angry and left the clinic for good, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

To Fia, Claire was just one among countless humans. But to Claire, Fia was the only one in the world.

After swiftly smoothing out her clothes and hair, Claire snapped her fingers. A blue orb of Cleanse magic enveloped her body, wiping away any impurities. Then, she opened her door—

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—only to find, at almost the exact same moment, the door to Fia’s room across the hall opening as well.

The two of them locked eyes.

Absurdly, both of them had dark circles under their eyes. Upon seeing each other, they instinctively averted their gazes and withdrew slightly, only to immediately step forward again, realizing how rude it would be to retreat.

Fia had been waiting for dawn so she could go downstairs to the living room and calm her nerves. Claire, meanwhile, had been planning to apologize.

Claire was the first to speak.

“About yesterday—”

Click.

Before she could finish, another door handle turned. Anastasia, dressed in a practical short dress with a golden ribbon tied around her waist, stepped out.

Notably, she, too, had obvious dark circles under her eyes.

The already comical scene became even more ridiculous.

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Anastasia hadn’t expected Claire and Fia to be standing in the hallway. For a moment, she froze—especially her right hand, which reflexively hid behind her back. Fortunately, as a professionally trained captain of the royal guard, she quickly suppressed her embarrassment and asked with a perfectly straight face:

“Your Highness, Miss Claire… What are you…? You both look exhausted. Did you not sleep well last night?”

“I remembered I forgot to prepare some herbs yesterday, so I got up at dawn,” Claire replied smoothly, her smile flawless. “Anastasia, you look tired as well. Didn’t you return early yesterday? Was the bed not to your liking?”

Hey, you can’t just ask that!

Fia screamed internally.

As expected, the question made Anastasia stiffen for a fraction of a second. But thanks to her ironclad composure, she managed to avoid any obvious tells.

“I was just reminiscing about my homeland and stayed up too late. But standing here talking isn’t ideal. Your Highness, have you washed up yet? If not, I can—”

“N-No need! I can handle it myself.”

Fia quickly waved her off with an awkward smile.

No way. Not after what I saw last night.

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There was no way she could let Anastasia help her get dressed now, pretending as if nothing had happened. Only someone with nerves of steel could pull that off without flinching.

Of course, Fia wasn’t avoiding or rejecting Anastasia—she just needed time to process what she’d witnessed. At the very least, she needed a buffer period to recover from the shock.

In truth, after seeing that, Fia herself had been left in a daze, her heart in turmoil.

“Then I’ll go prepare breakfast. Fia, Anastasia, why don’t you two freshen up first? There’s water in the well out back.”

Claire gestured toward the rear courtyard.

Though letting Fia and Anastasia go together risked exposing the truth, she couldn’t think of a good excuse to separate them now. More importantly, she was the one at fault here—any further scheming would only make her look worse.

“Mm… okay.”

“Then I’ll report yesterday’s findings over breakfast. But Your Highness, you really do look exhausted. Would you like to rest a little longer? The sun hasn’t fully risen yet. Delaying the plan to destroy the Unsinkable Moon by a bit won’t hurt—there’s no need to push yourself too hard.”

“…Huh?”

Fia blinked, a string of question marks practically floating above her head at Anastasia’s utterly serious suggestion.