The ice cavern was silent, so quiet that even a needle falling would have echoed.
Even after more than three years apart, Vieya had not forgotten the ti they once spent together during her Hero days.
Seeing Aurora kneeling before her like a duck resigned to slaughter, head drooping in defeat, softened her heart a little.
“I lost... I admit it. I killed people, I colluded with monsters, I admit all of it. I know you were once a companion of Heroes, a righteous ally. Even if you kill to answer for the nobles and officials I cut down, I’ll accept it. My skills weren’t enough—nothing to say about that.
But so long as you don’t let my sister know. You say you know her—then you should know her nature... My sister isn’t like . She’s just an ordinary country girl, a human who’s never killed anyone. This has nothing to do with her. Don’t let her know.” Aurora pressed her forehead lightly against the icy ground, a stark contrast to her arrogant self from before.
It showed just how high her sister ranked in her heart.
“Now you think of that? Where was that thought earlier?”
Vieya toyed with the white pearl in her hand, glancing sideways. “Wouldn’t it be better if you and your sister simply lived a good life together?”
“...Ha.” Aurora let out a bitter laugh and whispered, “I have my reasons. Maybe you’ve never heard the saying: In the rivers and lakes, one cannot act as they will; where people gather, there is the river and lake. I’m bound by that kind of reason.”
“Oh? And this ‘reason’ weighs more than your sister?” Vieya arched a brow.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Aurora closed her eyes and refused to answer further.
Vieya paused, then pressed on, “If you won’t say, I won’t force it. Let’s change the subject. What’s your target this ti? Why attack the Starbell Lily?”
“Attack? Hmhmm... so that’s what you think?” Aurora lifted her head, looking up at the white-haired girl standing above her, and suddenly smiled. “This isn’t an attack. It’s a hunt. Like lions stalking fawns. They will never let the Starbell Lily sail safely out of these waters.”
Vieya frowned—this was the second ti she’d heard that word they. The first had been from the Shenmo, but its dim intelligence hadn’t been able to explain.
How had the world shifted so drastically in just three years? It felt less like three than ten.
Steeling herself, Vieya pressed again:
“So—who are these they you keep speaking of?”
“Heh. So you don’t know everything after all.” Aurora chuckled. “They are those who wish to topple the Human Alliance as it stands... and monsters who dream of uniting the demon race once more.”
“The world is strange, isn’t it? Two lines that should never touch, yet at so mont they intersect. Just like my life. The first half I was just like you, a righteous lackey—kill every monster without hesitation. But now... I work with monsters, I even aid them.”
Vieya shook her head. “When you ambushed just now, I didn’t see you showing them any rcy.”
Aurora sneered, eyes mocking. # Nоvеlight # “Humans always repeat the sa mistake. They’ve never truly understood intelligent monsters—yet they insist on imagining them as if they were the sa as themselves.”
“Oh?” Vieya narrowed her eyes. “So you claim to understand monsters well, then?”
“You could say that.”
Out of nowhere, Aurora flared with fighting spirit again, her tone bitter and fierce. “Whether they’re born with wisdom or without, weak prey crushed by the strong, the trade of power, and worship of force—that’s carved into their very bones!”
User Comments
0 comments from readers