Chapter 74 : Dramatic exit

She’s her daughter? Just how old is she… No, wait. I just don’t know because I’ve never had a mother. Maybe that’s the average age range for

someone like her?

The godmother was clearly human, but if the man had been a beastkin, well, it wasn’t impossible. Even if only one parent is a beastkin, the

child automatically becomes one.

“Didn’t you make a promise?”

“I did.”

Is she really her biological daughter? Amiter’s voice carried respect and affection, but was it the kind of emotion you show to family? That

part was unclear.

I couldn’t even compare their appearances. I’ve never been good at recognizing human faces. If someone insisted strongly enough, I’d just

nod along.

‘If that’s true…’

Oh no. Did I declare Amie as my lover in front of her parents? That woman almost became my mother-in-law? Oh, no way. It has to be a lie.

I wanted to talk with her one-on-one for a while, but with blades pointed at us from every direction, even moving was risky. The godmother

reached out to her and said,

“Amie, come with me. Where you belong is with us.”

“Godmother, I… I’m sorry.”

When she didn’t take the offered hand, the godmother smiled bitterly and squeezed her own hand instead.

There were countless people inside the colosseum, but around us, it was so silent it could only be described as eerily quiet.

“You still refuse to call me your mother. Is it because of the memories you hold?”

“I do admire you, godmother… but I cannot bring myself to call you that. I’m sorry.”

The atmosphere turned even more unpleasant. I was glad she refused, but if I opened my mouth now, I felt like I’d be devoured by the cold

tension in the air.

As I swallowed nervously, the godmother’s mouth opened again.

“Well… I didn’t really expect this to end peacefully anyway.”

Clang! Hundreds, maybe thousands of blades were now aimed at us. The spectacle was awe-inspiring—except for the fact they were all

pointing at me.

My heart pounded—this was something I had never experienced in my entire life.

“Lady Trea, this is your last chance. Give her up and go back. It’s not like you’re her real fiancée, anyway.”

They found out. No, honestly, the strange thing would’ve been if they hadn’t figured it out. Looking convincing and actually being real are two

different things.

“And if I decide to stay here forever?”

“…Are you serious?”

“Of course not. How could a noble live in a dump like this?”

BOOM!

The front line of soldiers creeping toward us, weapons in hand, were all suddenly slammed to the ground. The godmother furrowed her brow,

clearly startled by the sudden event.

“So you were a mage. I suspected as much when you arrived without a single guard.”

Damn. Most of the cartel’s troops were beastkin, which made them a bad match for me. If they were ordinary soldiers, I could’ve handled

them easily.

Dealing with beastkin, who have extremely high magic resistance, was like trying to grab slippery soap with bare hands.

“Hey, you okay?”

“…Not really.”

I could escape alone anytime, but Amiter was here—completely exhausted.

Could I get us both out of here while surrounded by thousands? She was big, sure, but completely useless in this situation.

‘At times like this… you go for the queen!’

Impossible. Life isn’t a chess game with Lrue. As the cartel boss, the godmother’s outfit was layered with multiple magic-nullifying

enchantments.

Breaking them wasn’t the hard part—but doing it faster than a blade could reach me? That was the question. If this whole setup had been a

trap from the start, I’d applaud it.

“Just give up. You’re surrounded.”

“…Yeah. Seems like it.”

The godmother was already smiling as if victory was hers. My resistance had been stronger than she expected, but still—there’s a limit to one

person’s mana.

Escaping safely with Amiter from thousands of beastkin felt impossible even to me.

If only it weren’t for that thing in the sky.

“Godmother, doesn’t the moon look unusually dark tonight?”

“What?”

Well, people who live by streetlights wouldn’t even notice something like that.

I stopped striking down incoming enemies and launched a magic arrow into the sky. It flew high into the night before finally embedding into

something solid—not air.

The godmother watched it in stunned silence, her mouth slightly agape. High above even the skyscrapers of Lreenz, a massive landmass

floated in the sky.

“A flying island… Noble.”

“You think I came here without insurance?”

There’s a floating island on this continent. About the size of a village, it usually just drifts aimlessly. But legends say an angel can command it

freely. I didn’t think the ride they prepared would be this overkill.

“Amie, grab on. We’re heading up.”

“Grab on? Like this?”

“…Forget it. That tickles. I’ll handle it myself.”

From my opposite hand, a magic wire shot out and wrapped around both our bodies. The next moment, we began to lift off the ground like

being reeled in on a cable.

Escaping into the sky—now this was a dramatic exit.

Seeing us rise, the godmother frantically gestured to the beastkin archers behind her.

“Fire! Shoot them! I don’t care if you hit them a little—just cut that rope!”

Fast healers, huh? Up till now, they’d only threatened, but now arrows were actually flying at us.

Of course, such mundane weapons were useless. Arrows that couldn’t even pierce a shield fell weakly to the floor of the colosseum. The

remaining spectators still pointed and stared. Looks like I ruined their festival.

“Amiter! My daughter!”

In the end, the only thing that reached us was her sorrowful cry. Amiter lowered her head deeply.

“Thank you… truly, thank you for everything… Mother.”

After those words, nothing else was exchanged between them. Everything had gone well, yet somehow it felt like I’d become the villain

abducting a princess. Even though I was almost killed.

“If I get the chance… I’ll visit. Since we’re engaged, after all.”

I blurted out nonsense from embarrassment. Why would I ever come back here?

The idea of a formal family meeting suddenly popped into my head—but no, ridiculous. I shook my head, trying to push the thought away.

“Don’t you have something to say to me?”

Maybe because the floating island Noble was higher than expected, or maybe the magic cable was just slow—but we had to ascend slowly,

seeing the world shrink below us.

Like riding an elevator without walls.

“I do.”

“Then say it.”

“Your zipper’s down.”

I froze for a second before realizing she was joking, and gave her a kick. Even though we were tied together by the magic wire, it could’ve been

fatal, so I kept it light.

We were supposed to board the floating island at its docking point—but ended up hitching a ride halfway instead.

“She’s… your real daughter? Really?”

“Technically, I don’t know for sure. Probably. Maybe not. But that’s not the important part.”

“If that’s not important, what is? Was wandering the streets a lie too?”

“It wasn’t a lie. I really did—back in my previous life.”

Previous life? I frowned—not just because of her words, but because of the cold wind. It was freezing up here.

“What?”

“It’s not a big deal. I was a human girl, begging on the streets. Got caught by a noble and beaten to death before I became an adult. Then I

woke up as a baby. The end.”

Wait, wait. That was simple, but the story wasn’t simple at all.

Sure, she was unusually mature for her age—but reincarnation? Beaten to death?

“Y-you’re serious? Where did you live?”

“I don’t know. Not even sure it was this continent. Anyway, that’s why I couldn’t see the godmother as a real parent.”

Thinking back to our first meeting, she did hate ‘nobles’ and ‘men’ intensely. This was a shocking twist I never saw coming.

The magic cable had fully reeled us into Noble. It was a floating island usually used for tourism, so getting in wasn’t hard.

From her story, I realized something outrageous. Stroking my chin, I pointed at her.

“Then how old are you, exactly? You old hag.”

To be fair, I wasn’t one to talk—but I hadn’t been caught yet.

“…Call me ‘big sister.’”

“Yeah, right.”

Mental age and physical age had no correlation. I was living proof.