Chapter 159: VOL 2 - 104: I’m a terrible person.
Eleonora's words caused Liliana to look at her master with eyes completely wide, brimming with a complicated tangle of love, hope, surprise, happiness, and countless other emotions. Tears began to flow like a waterfall, to the point where she had to press her hands against her chest, trying to calm the furious storm raging inside her.
"M-Master... did I make you proud...?" Liliana asked in a sobbing, trembling voice, laden with insecurity, to which Eleonora responded with a warm smile and an almost maternal tone.
"But of course. In the tournament, you proved yourself more than worthy of being my disciple. You did far more than I expected. You, Liliana, are undoubtedly a disciple I'm proud to have raised."
Eleonora's words were a critical blow to Liliana's fragile heart. She threw herself at her beautiful master and hugged her slender waist tightly, tears continuing to stream down her face. She felt so many things, but most of all, she felt an overwhelming happiness and relief. These were the words she had wanted to hear her entire life, and finally hearing them brought her a joy like no other.
Meanwhile, Eleonora smiled affectionately upon seeing her young disciple and then placed one of her hands on Liliana's back, gently caressing her brown hair. She comforted her disciple with warmth and care until Liliana gradually stopped crying and fell silent, shifting slightly with nervousness, as if she hesitated to do something.
Without pressuring her young disciple, Eleonora continued to gently stroke her soft hair, waiting for Liliana to clear her mind. After a while, Liliana, having thought long and hard, mustered her resolve and got up from her master's lap, then sat on the sofa. She looked at her master with a tear-stained face and red-rimmed eyes.
"Master... I... I'm not a good older sister... I don't deserve for you to be proud of me. I'm a terrible person..."
Liliana began to speak, but as she continued, her voice began to break and grow softer. At the same time, the tears that had finally stopped began flowing again, yet the beautiful girl bit her lips firmly and continued talking while Eleonora listened in silence.
"I hated Erik. I saw him as useless, arrogant, pretentious—one of the worst cowards—and I wished with all my might for him to fail and for you to abandon him. Just seeing him disgusted me, and I fantasized daily about leaving him on some remote planet where no one could find him, so he would disappear from my life forever. I cursed the day Master Eldurdóttir found him."
The more she spoke, the more tears filled Liliana's face, and her heart was overtaken by fear and despair. Mentally preparing herself for her master to reject her for being such a terrible person and for thinking those things about the person her master loved.
But she could no longer remain silent; her conscience wouldn't allow it. She couldn't happily accept her master's praise and congratulations while harboring those thoughts about her younger brother—especially now that she knew how special Erik was to her master.