The Anna before her felt unfamiliar to Ophelia.
At least, she had never seen that relaxed posture—sitting in the armchair with one leg casually crossed over the other.
She seemed like the ruler of this place, this dim little room her kingdom.
And Ophelia was the accidental stranger who had wandered in.
The candlelight flickered in the breeze slipping through the cracked window.
“What do you want to ask?”
“I have questions for Anna.”
Their voices spoke simultaneously, and Ophelia unconsciously clenched the edge of her skirt.
“Anna goes first.” “Ophelia goes first.”
Once again, they spoke in unison.
“Alright, Ophelia, you speak first then.”
Anna smiled lightly, calm and collected, like a lord showing a guest around their manor.
Ophelia felt a little annoyed; she was getting confused.
Which Anna… was the real one?
The Anna at the academy who obeyed her every command, who held her hand, who kissed her, who said she would “never go anywhere”…
Or the silent, relaxed, composed Anna before her now—the Anna everyone trusted and admired.
Which one should she believe… Which words were the truth?
“Ophelia, I swear everything I say is true. If you don’t believe me, you can bind me with a slave mark.”
Seeing Ophelia’s troubled expression, Anna propped her hands on the table and leaned close to meet Ophelia’s eyes.
The candlelight flickered across her face.
Ophelia examined those eyes—pure, clear, untainted.
“No need to trouble yourself. Anna doesn’t like me forcing you with a slave mark, right?”
Ophelia leaned forward, their noses barely touching. “Let’s use a promise you prefer instead, Anna.”
“Yes, yes, my Lady.”
Anna turned her face, planting a kiss on the corner of Ophelia’s lips like a vow.
“Is that enough? Can Ophelia believe what I say now?”
“Mm, thank you, Anna.”
“You’re welcome.”
Anna settled back into the armchair.
She curled her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest, quietly waiting for Ophelia to speak.
“Why are all the residents here disabled?”
“Huh? Ophelia, you don’t know? This is a veterans’ village.”
“Veterans’ village?”
Ophelia had no idea what a “veterans’ village” was.
“I really don’t know what to say… Ophelia, you’re too far away from here.”
“A veterans’ village is a community formed by a group of war-disabled old soldiers who are abandoned and forgotten, banding together for survival.”
Those people were wounded veterans.
Since they trusted Anna so much, they must be soldiers from the Far Expeditionary Army sent by the kingdom three years ago, accompanying the hero.
If so… how did things end up like this?
With so many nobles and officers in the kingdom, had no one ever cared for them?
They had risked their lives for the kingdom, for humanity, for the world, to participate in the expedition.
How could such a thing happen?
“Surprised? Ophelia, as I said, you’re too far away from here.”
“Tell me more… about this place, about them.”
Ophelia didn’t know what expression she wore.
It must have been an ugly one—who wouldn’t feel bad hearing such things?
“You really like meddling, don’t you, Ophelia.”
Anna had somehow moved behind Ophelia.
Her arms slipped around Ophelia’s waist and clasped at her chest, pulling her into an embrace.
“See, that beggar on the bridge is from the Northland. He was once a knight, and through military merits, he once owned a manor granted by your father.
He lost his leg in the war, but when he returned to the Northland, his manor, his fields, even his wife and children—all were reduced to ashes.
The local lord coveted his land and burned everything down.
But what could he do?
He lost his leg, was no longer a knight, and didn’t even have the chance to see your father.
So he begged his way here.
But even here, they didn’t accept him, because he was a knight—he was different from the others.”
Each word from Anna felt like a sharp needle piercing Ophelia’s heart.
She had never heard of such a thing in the Northland; the lords under her father’s command were always kind and respectful.
She couldn’t imagine those always-smiling uncles were the culprits behind this tragedy that turned a hero into a beggar.
Perhaps, as Anna said, she was the sun above the clouds—too far from the dirt.
“Want to hear about others? That one-armed gardener is from the Northeast; he was once the finest swordsman of the Cavalry Corps. The blind old man from the Southland’s Island was once a famous sharpshooter. And that mute at the village entrance—his name is still on the honor roll of the Royal Capital’s Magic Academy graduates, yet he can no longer speak.”
“Ophelia, you should know better than I do how it feels to be a mage who cannot cast magic.”
“Of course, and then there’s the sword hero beside you with the broken blade, and the coward in the bakery who lost his shield. Ophelia, this is my past. I want to show all of this to you. I hope… that after seeing these, you would still ‘want’ me like you said.”
“Don’t leave me behind… Ophelia. You’re the one who pulled me out of here. I have no home anymore, Ophelia… I don’t know how to meet your expectations. When you say you ‘want’ me, do you only want a good sword? But my sword is broken. How am I supposed to be a good sword?”
Water droplets slid down Ophelia’s hair, and outside the window, a gentle rain began to fall.
She didn’t know if it was the roof leaking or if Anna was crying.
“Anna…”
A thousand words seemed to be trapped inside Ophelia’s chest.
They wanted to burst out from her mouth all at once, but they were stuck, each refusing to yield, until no words could be spoken.
Anna was like a doll, chest pried open for inspection.
Through the tangled, complex lines, inside was a heart full of scars, almost shattered to dust.
Was what Ophelia wanted really just a good sword?
Of course not… at least, not now.
What she wanted was a partner to replace the person in her memories, someone to accompany her.
Slave marks or swords—it didn’t matter.
Those were just the chains she used to bind Anna, an outer shell.
In the end, she was too weak.
Without these chains solidified into something tangible, she didn’t know how to properly keep Anna by her side.
She could only keep strengthening the hardness of these chains.
She was terrified that without them, Anna would slip away.
Don’t leave… Anna.
But she had never stopped to wonder… what did Anna think?
“Anna… I…”
“Say it clearly! How am I supposed to understand if you don’t speak clearly? Ophelia, if you want me by your side, why don’t you just say it?”
“I… also want to know what Ophelia thinks!”
A rumble of thunder, the rain suddenly pouring down harder.
“I… want Anna. But I’m afraid, so I can only say I want a good sword… Anna, my mother was once a sword hero too. That’s why I sought you out in the first place.”
“But, but…”
“But what? Ophelia, say it clearly.”
“But now… I just want you by my side. I want you, I want you… Anna, I…”
For the first time, Ophelia felt how clumsy her tongue was.
The surging emotions on the verge of spilling over from her heart, but she didn’t know how to say it clearly to Anna.
“Then!”
Anna took a deep breath and slammed her hand down on the table, the sound crashing in Ophelia’s heart like thunder.
“Then tell me yourself—say, ‘I want you by my side,’ say you can’t live without me!”
“I’ve done so many terrible things to you…”
“You’ve done them already, what good does saying it now do? What is this—taking everything of mine without permission, pulling me out of here without permission, doing things you think protect me without permission, crying for me without permission, telling me you want me by your side without permission… What is this? Do you think I’m a toy? Ophelia! Answer me!”
Ophelia just wanted to escape now, to run away from Anna’s kingdom.
“No running away!”
Ophelia tried to stand, but Anna forcefully held her down.
The knuckles gripping her shoulders turned pale from the strength.
Ophelia suddenly looked up and saw Anna’s face streaming with tears.
Tears fell on Ophelia’s face—warm at first, then quickly cooling.
One drop, two drops.
A drizzle, then a downpour, until it became a torrential rain.
“Ophelia, you’ve never asked me what I think, never told me your true feelings. I’m scared too. I wonder if I mean nothing to you. I wonder if you only see me as a sword worth repairing, a sword to sharpen again.”
“Ophelia, I’m not a god. I can’t read minds. If you don’t make things clear, I don’t know anything.”
“I…”
A pebble heavy with unknown feelings dropped into the lake of Ophelia’s heart.
How could she explain the tangled feelings inside her to Anna?
“I just… right now, I want you by my side… don’t leave me, don’t be afraid of me. Without you, Anna… I can’t.”
Ophelia’s bottled-up feelings shattered into tears.
“Is that so…”
Anna lowered herself, her cheek brushing Ophelia’s jaw.
She reached out, gently wiping the tears from Ophelia’s eyes.
“I thought after hearing all this, Miss Ophelia would be more honest. Seems I was wrong.”
“I told you, I won’t leave, Ophelia.”
“Why…?”
“You know why, don’t you? Ophelia.”
“Anna said it. If you don’t say it clearly, I won’t understand.”
“What is this…”
Anna sighed as if helpless toward Ophelia, then placed a light kiss on the corner of her lips.
She cupped Ophelia’s face, her gaze sincere and burning.
“I guess… I’ve fallen for you, Ophelia. So, I won’t leave.”
The girl’s tears and blush spoke louder than a thousand words.