Chapter 76: I want to save you

The distant cries of crows echo faintly.

The sky is painted ash-gray, shrouded by heavy clouds, and everything is submerged in an endless veil of gray.

During the day, the sharp clangs of metal and the shouts of crowds fill the surroundings, while at night, a melancholic silence resonates throughout. This is the eastern outskirts of the continent, governed by the Solar Tis Empire.

It was the frontline, facing off against the Kingdom of Kaladwen, a fierce opponent of the empire.

Step, step—

A woman with jet-black hair walked through the military camp, smoking a cigarette.

Each step she took on the ashen ground was accompanied by a faint, crunching sound, as if she were walking on snow. Her violet eyes were sharp, yet within them lay an indescribable solitude and regret.

Eventually, her steps halted before a solitary tent standing silently.

She flicked her cigarette a few times and tossed it to the ground, before opening the tent and peeking inside.

“Saintess, do you have a moment?”

Where her violet gaze fell, another woman sat. In stark contrast to the somber atmosphere, she had bright pink hair.

“Oh, it’s fine. But what brings the Lady here…”

The woman called the lady glanced briefly at the book she was holding.

It was a thick tome filled with writings about demons.

‘…Is she interested in demons?’

Curiosity flickered within her, but she quickly set it aside and got to the point.

“There’s an officer who’s sustained a fatal wound. I’ve administered emergency treatment, but if you’re available, could you attend to him first?”

“Of course, I’ll go right away.”

“Then I’ll show you the way.”

The woman called the saintess, Lillian, rose with a gentle smile.

As she exited the tent, the scent of iron and a faint hint of blood wafted to her, enveloping her senses.

Under the dark sky, the smell of the battlefield was oppressively heavy.

Yet, Lillian found this place far more comfortable than high society.

In the social circle, she was always the outcast, an unworthy saintess.

At times, she was deemed foolish for her commoner origins, and at worst, she was scorned as a harlot, enduring everyone’s contemptuous stares.

Cold eyes always looked down on her, and no one ever extended a helping hand.

Not even the friend she once trusted.

But things were different on the battlefield.

Here, everyone welcomed Lillian and needed her.

Their trust allowed her to once again feel the warmth of human connection.

Of course, since the betrayal of a friend she once believed in and relied upon, she still struggled to fully trust anyone.

“Are you uncomfortable with anything?”

As they walked side by side across the ashen ground, the black-haired woman asked quietly.

Lillian, without losing her smile, nodded in response.

“No, thanks to you, Lady Viviana, I’ve been very comfortable.”

The black-haired woman, Viviana, smirked slightly.

“To be honest, it was unexpected. I thought you’d run off in less than a month.”

Lillian laughed lightly along with Viviana.

“Oh my, I’m a bit hurt that you thought that.”

Viviana looked at her with a calm expression and nodded.

“But seeing you hold out this long, you must be stronger than I thought.”

“Is that so?”

Viviana took out a cigarette and placed it between her lips.

With a flicker, the end of the cigarette glowed and slowly burned as she exhaled a puff of smoke that blended into the air of the battlefield.

“When I heard that the saintess, who should be in the temple praying, was coming to the frontline, I was quite surprised.”

Lillian replied with a soft laugh.

“Really? His Majesty the Emperor seemed very pleased.”

“It’s probably not in a good way.”

“Probably not. I’ve already realized I’m a disposable existence, so there’s no need to worry.”

Viviana raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lillian once more.

Contrary to the rumors of her being an innocent and pure saintess, she was closer to a pragmatic person.

“May I ask why the saintess herself came to this battlefield?”

Viviana asked quietly.

Lillian hesitated for a moment, but her smile remained unwavering.

“The soldiers are fighting, laying down their lives for us. How could I rest comfortably in the empire?”

A warm and gentle voice lingered.

Her answer was compassionate and kind, yet Viviana’s eyes, in contrast, were coldly calm.

“Sacred Lady, I detest lies.”

“…….”

Lillian’s smile faltered for a moment.

“There’s only one person on this continent who would dare lie shamelessly in front of me. Keep that in mind.”

At Viviana’s cold words, Lillian let out a hollow smile.

“Haha, indeed, I cannot deceive you, Lady.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Lillian walked in silence for a while, glancing briefly at the ashen ground before speaking.

“The truth is, I’ve come to strengthen my powers as a saint.”

Viviana looked at Lillian with a puzzled expression and asked again.

“Power?”

“Yes, people who need healing arise here without end. It’s the perfect place to hone my abilities as a saint.”

Lillian’s gaze settled on a soldier wrapped in bandages in the distance.

Her pink eyes soon filled with sorrow and compassion.

“Of course, my desire to help those who fight for us is sincere.”

Lillian closed her eyes with a melancholic expression.

“The fact that their sacrifices allow us to live peacefully in the empire is also genuinely felt.”

Viviana watched her for a moment before quietly asking.

“…Is there another reason why you seek to grow your power?”

Lillian nodded softly.

“Yes. I want to save one person.”

Viviana frowned, mulling over Lillian’s words.

“Save?”

Lillian gazed into the distance, a faint smile crossing her lips.

“Yes, perhaps I became a saint to save that person, haha.”

Viviana didn’t respond to her words.

Under the gray sky, the two women walked on in silence for a while.

Viviana glanced at Lillian.

At a glance, she seemed to be wearing a light smile with cheerful eyes, but the emotions buried within were strikingly clear.

Burning within those dim eyes was something unmistakable.

It was resentment.

A feeling only possessed by those consumed by vengeance.

‘To speak of salvation with such eyes…’

Viviana let out a small smirk inwardly, exhaling cigarette smoke slowly.

“This time, it’s my turn. Why do you keep fighting on the front lines, Lady?”

It was Lillian who broke the silence first.

“It’s family business.”

“Oh, is that all? That’s so plain.”

Viviana paused for a moment, taking a deep drag from her cigarette.

There was no need to explain, but there was no reason to hide it either.

Oddly, Viviana felt an inexplicable sense of kinship with the saint.

“There’s a debt I must repay.”

“A debt? You, Lady?”

“Yes, a sin that cannot be undone.”

“But what does that sin have to do with standing on the battlefield?”

Lillian’s curious question suddenly made Viviana recall a letter she had received several months prior.

A single envelope, bearing the precious seal of her family.

The message within was brief and concise, but all the heavier for it.

“If you defeat the allied forces of the enemy nations and bring peace to the empire, I promise to absolve you of your sins.”

“Oh my…”

Lillian’s gaze wavered.

After a momentary look of contemplation, she turned to Viviana with a thoughtful expression.

“To me, it sounds like you’re simply being used, my lady.”

Viviana took a heavy drag on her last cigarette. As the smoke dispersed, her voice grew more resolute than before.

“Perhaps. But it doesn’t matter.”

Sensing that pressing further would be unwise, Lillian offered a gentle smile and looked ahead again.

“Hehe, in the end, we’re both here fighting for someone dear to us.”

“Perhaps so.”

“Since this is fate, how about showing each other our precious ones someday?”

Viviana frowned slightly as she replied.

“…That sounds like a pointless act.”

“Hehe, I see.”

Lillian brushed it off with a quiet laugh.

Viviana, no longer interested in Lillian, turned forward and resumed her steps.

This was the tragic first meeting between two protagonists, entwined by guilt for one and vengeance for the other.

It wasn’t as grand as any other mansion, but it was the one place on this continent where I could truly rest.

The mansion of House Blanc.

“I can do this… I can.”

I took a deep breath in front of the study door.

Even outside the door, the faint, fragrant scent of my mother tickled my nose.

It felt strange, almost perverse, to recognize her scent from so far away, but I couldn’t help it.

That’s how much I adored her.

Even if everyone here were nothing but fabricated game characters, my mother alone was someone incomparable and irreplaceable.

I wished, even a bit more, that she would love me passionately.

A bit more, to the point that she couldn’t live without me.

That’s why I was doing things like this.

“Uh… I hope she likes it…”

I stole a glance at my reflection in the window.

A slight blush had spread across my face, and atop it, my cat ears twitched.

It was me, wearing the cat headband I had received at a recent gathering.

Seeing how the other ladies reacted so fervently, I couldn’t help but hope that Mother might like it too.

If it weren’t for that hope, I wouldn’t have dared put on such a strange item again.

After a final short breath, I knocked on the study door.

“Mother… May I come in?”

The answer didn’t take long.

“Yes, come in, Tina.”

Her voice, warm enough to melt my heart, echoed, and I slowly opened the study door.

As usual, Mother was engrossed in her work, seated at her desk.

It seemed her eyesight had weakened slightly; she was wearing glasses with glimmering golden frames.

Watching her absorbed in her work made my heart start to race bit by bit.

“Just sit tight for a moment. I’ll be done shortly.”

With that, Mother resumed her work.

The sound of her pen scratching filled the study, and I smiled bashfully, watching her.

As I waited, a mischievous idea crossed my mind.

I gave the cat ears on my head a gentle push, then slowly approached her.

So absorbed was she in her papers that she didn’t notice as I got close.

Silently, I knelt down and began crawling on all fours.

Thanks to the desk’s structure, which had an open middle section, I managed to sneak beneath her desk unnoticed.

Before I knew it, my mother’s pure white thighs were in front of me, and I slowly pressed my face between them.

Then, gently, I leaned my cheek against her thigh.

Width-

“Ew?!”

My mother’s short scream of surprise echoed through the house.

She quickly ducked her head and made eye contact with me, who was casually hiding under her desk.

“Hehe… Are you surprised, Mother?”

I rubbed my cheek against her fluffy thigh and looked up at her with wide eyes.

“Go, what are you doing all of a sudden…! Uh…?”

My mother raised her voice as if to reprimand me, but only for a moment.

As soon as she saw the cat ears on top of my head, she stopped dead in her tracks, as if she’d been struck by lightning.

“Those, those ears…”

“They’re new,” I said, ”and the youngsters thought they were cute, so… I wanted to show them to you.”

My mother didn’t say anything in response.

She just stared at me with wide-open eyes.

A natural silence began to envelope us.

In the silence, my face grew hotter and hotter.

I knew you wouldn’t overreact like the other noble ladies, but I didn’t expect you to say absolutely nothing like this.

Could it be that you don’t like it…?

“Um… what do you think…?”

My mother’s silence was unbearably uncomfortable.

Unable to bear the awkwardness, I shyly took her hand and guided it to stroke my head.

Normally, she would have showered me with gentle strokes, but now her hand remained cold and still, frozen in place.

Looking up at her with tear-brimmed eyes, I asked in a trembling voice,

“Do… do you not like it…?”

“……”

Only the same chilling silence returned.

Yet, within that silence, I sensed something ominous was about to happen.

And soon, it did.

My mother was staring at me, unblinking.

In her blue eyes, a vacant look gradually overtook her sanity.

And then.

Drip—

A thin line of red blood trickled down from her nose.

“M-mother?!”

“A…angel…”

A faint gasp escaped her lips.

Her unfocused eyes rolled back, and she collapsed on the spot.

“Mother?!?!”