Chapter 232
Chapter 232: Panicked
Leah's eyes were tightly shut, her body as though submerged in a vast nothingness.
Beneath the boundless starlit darkness, her body was curled tightly in on itself.
Her arms pressed close against her sides, as though cradled in a warm embrace.
"Mmm....."
Leah slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. The sky of that space came into focus.
At last, the surrounding space gradually took on new form.
Her mouth fell open, but her words were like a stone lodged in her throat—not a single one could come out.
Leah cautiously stretched out her arms. 2 pale, chubby limbs—soft as lotus root—lifted away from the warmth of her chest and reached through the void.
She looked at her own arms and froze.
Then her body let out a cry. It was the inexplicable weeping of an infant.
That was her voice. Leah was certain of it.
Before long, the crying drew the attention of a boy.
The boy trotted over, and with his left hand braced, carefully lifted her from the arms of an adult.
"Don't cry. Don't cry."
The boy had a head of jet-black hair. He slowly raised his face.
A pair of extraordinarily beautiful eyes—clear and lively, with dark pupils like deep crystalline stones, yet bright as stars.
A mature adult voice sounded from behind the boy:
"Don't startle her, Viktor."
Viktor...?
Leah's tear-blurred eyes looked at the boy before her, vision still slightly hazy.
She reached out her hand and instinctively grabbed at the boy's face.
She managed it—the boy's cheek turned bright red where she had grabbed it, and it looked painful, yet the smile on his face did not change in the slightest.
Still that same expression of delighted surprise. Those obsidian pupils looked down tenderly at the infant in his arms.
"She's so beautiful."
"Is she really my little sister?"
The adult voice sounded again:
"That's right. She's your sister."
"Leah Clavena—that will be her name from now on."
"You must protect her well, Viktor."
The boy nodded, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
"I definitely will."
That's wrong...
Age 5—
November 6th.
Outside the Manor, goose-feather snow had begun to fall, signaling that Blairstone had entered winter.
Leah raised her soft left hand and caught a falling snowflake in her palm. It melted in an instant.
She breathed a puff of warm air onto her little hand and rubbed it.
But then, from within the Manor, a voice of astonishment rang out:
"Remarkable!"
"Viscount, your child possesses an extraordinary talent for Magic!"
The adults inside laughed warmly:
"Is that so? That's quite wonderful."
"Viktor, you must study Magic diligently from now on and become an outstanding Mage."
Then the boy's young, light laughter drifted out from inside.
"For Leah, I definitely will."
That's wrong...
December 21st.
Leah was dressed in a thick pink cotton coat, the long sleeves swallowing her small hands whole. A slender woolen scarf wound several times around her collar.
Her cheeks were rosy and flushed. A pink cotton hat had slid down and was covering Leah's small, bright eyes.
She looked on eagerly as Helnersen finished packing the snow for a snowman, her mood light and joyful, an innocent smile on her face.
The next instant, a fireball came hurtling toward her, grazing past right in front of her and melting the large snowball that had been meant for the snowman's body.
Leah turned to look.
The boy had his left hand raised, a wisp of white steam curling from his fingertips:
"Sorry, Leah."
"I just learned this Magic, and I'm still not very steady with it."
His face carried a look of remorse as he apologized to her.
That's wrong...
December 22nd.
Leah accidentally knocked the vase off the table.
It shattered against the floor, and the damp soil inside spilled over onto a book filled with strange engravings.
Leah quickly swept the dirt aside, but the pages had already been stained—the marks wouldn't come out.
The strange engravings were obscured, now broken and uneven.
It was expensive. Leah knew she had done something terrible.
It was Viktor's most precious Spellbook.
The boy walked over and took only a single glance at the soiled book.
He was already 10 years old—much taller than Leah. He turned to face her and crouched down in front of her.
Those bright black eyes regarded her with gentle warmth.
"You were frightened, weren't you, Leah."
"You can cry as loud as you like. There's nothing to be afraid of."
The boy reached out his left hand and placed it softly on top of Leah's head, stroking it gently.
Leah felt her eyes grow wet. Tears spilled free.
She couldn't hold it in. She burst into loud, open sobs.
The boy pulled her into his arms and held her tightly in the warmth of his embrace.
His left hand moved gently, slowly, stroking across Leah's back.
"I'll protect you for the rest of my life."
"I definitely will."
Still wrong...
Age 8.
Leah watched the visitor who had come to the Family.
His name was Angus Delin—a comrade of her father's.
He was a powerful Knight who lived in the north and had long kept the northern front stable.
Behind him followed a little girl with the same silver-white hair.
About the same age as Leah, and very beautiful.
She hid timidly behind Uncle Angus, her left hand clutching the leg of his trousers, peeking out shyly.
Leah felt sure that she and Uncle Angus must be very close.
Amid the adults' conversation, she learned the girl's name.
Gwen Delin.
Leah had a feeling. They would become the very best of friends.
Not right at all...
Age 10.
The Delin Family and the Clavena Family formalized a Marriage Engagement—Viktor Clavena would marry Gwen Delin.
The 15-year-old boy already carried himself like an elegant little gentleman.
He accepted the arrangement made by the Family.
Zzzzt—
A sound like a crackling electric current seemed to ring beside her ear, then vanished as quickly as it came.
Leah paid it no mind.
Age 14.
By this year, Leah had already begun taking over the Family's business affairs.
Her father had said she must do everything in her power to support her elder brother.
And also, since her brother now had a Fiancée...
Leah could no longer act the way she once had—throwing herself at him without a care, demanding affection as she pleased.
Having taken charge of the Family's business, Leah began to grow up.
But she had not forgotten her duty to support her brother.
Just as he had once said.
"I definitely will."
......
Age 15.
Father died.
His title passed to Viktor Clavena.
At 20 years old, he became the youngest Viscount in the Empire.
His genius was known far and wide—a 3rd-Tier Mage at only 20 years of age.
So even with their father gone, the Clavena Family's influence did not diminish.
More and more people came to call, all seeking to make the acquaintance of this youngest Viscount.
The amiable Viktor received them one by one.
In the evenings, he was alone. He dragged his exhausted body to the open pavilion beneath the moon and sat there, brooding in solitude.
Leah watched his silhouette.
As though sensing something, the man turned around.
He raised his left hand and beckoned to her:
"Come here, Leah."
Her body moved before she even thought to—she walked forward.
The man reached out his left hand and pulled her into his arms.
Just as he had when she was small, he held her tight.
But this time, she could feel the exhaustion in the man's body.
His chin rested on Leah's shoulder, and there was something frail in it.
"Leah, I'm so tired."
"With Father gone... you're the only one I have to lean on."
Her brother—could lean on her too?
Of course.
Leah reached out her arms and wrapped them around the man's broad, firm back.
That's wrong... isn't it?
Age 20.
Gwen Delin became the youngest Grand Knight Commander of the Royal Knight Company in the Empire. Many were proud of her.
On that day, at a celebratory family banquet, Viktor proposed to her.
In a daze, Leah found herself standing in a church.
She stood on a stretch of green grass, above her a clear blue sky with white clouds drifting leisurely past.
All around her sat guests with smiles on their faces, seated on white chairs—equally white was the priest's pulpit.
White doves and a Crow crossed paths in the sky at the same moment. Countless guests waited in eager anticipation for the wedding to begin.
Leah stood below the altar, watching the scene before her.
Gwen wore a pristine white wedding gown, her makeup delicate and refined—beautiful as a goddess stepped from a painting, graceful and noble.
Viktor wore a black formal suit. He stood not far away and extended his left hand toward Gwen like a true gentleman.
Gwen looped her right arm through Viktor's, and the 2 walked side by side into the wedding hall.
All around them, countless flowers bloomed and gathered. The noble guests' bright laughter and thunderous applause swelled to fill the air.
Leah watched helplessly as the 2 walked toward the hall of happiness.
The priest stood at the pulpit, a thick tome in hand. He looked to Gwen on his left and asked:
"Miss Gwen, whether in poverty or in wealth, do you wish to walk through life with Viktor Clavena?"
Gwen wore a smile. She looked at the man before her and nodded.
"I do."
That's wrong. That's wrong...
The priest turned his head to look at Viktor:
"Will you protect Gwen Delin and keep her safe for the rest of her life?"
Viktor raised his head, his bright obsidian eyes meeting Gwen's gaze.
"I will."
That's wrong!
"I definitely will."
"That's wrong!!"
Leah could no longer endure it. She cried out.
But not a single person around her paid her any heed.
The nobility remained unmoved, still offering their heartfelt congratulations and laughter to the newlywed couple on the altar.
Leah's eyes went wide as she watched Viktor and Gwen exchange wedding rings.
"It's just... wrong."
"But isn't this everything you ever hoped for, Leah Clavena?"
A deep voice sounded nearby.
A voice that only Leah herself could hear.
The scene around her continued playing out with perfect clarity.
But in that moment, Leah already understood.
The instant Gwen slipped on that wedding ring, Leah lowered her head.
"Everything I ever hoped for? Ha."
She simply raised her right hand.
6 gem stones shimmering with light flickered in and out of visibility atop her glove.
The next instant, all 6 luminous gem stones blazed to life simultaneously.
6 layers of Magic Formations flared across Leah's glove, beginning to rotate, their intricate patterns weaving and coiling around each other.
A terrifying surge of Magic Power poured forth from all 6 Formations at once, the chaotic Magic Power collapsing into a blinding white light that gathered before her.
A tremendous force of impact swallowed everything around her in a single instant, the colossal shockwave cleaving the earth apart.
The surroundings fell into a silence like death. Even sound was slowly torn apart and blurred into nothing.
The scorching white light seemed as though it would obliterate this entire world.
Like a painting being ripped apart and set ablaze, it burned and burned, and the black void bled through in countless pinpoints.
Watching the wedding hall before her erupt into roaring flame, Leah raised her head.
A cool, clear voice left her lips—indifferent and unhurried.
"And just what gives you the right to think that?"