The farce ended, and Lucia led Merlin away from the classroom in front of everyone.
“Let’s go.”
Lucia said softly.
Merlin instinctively looked back toward her alchemy classmates who had been worried for her, lightly waving her other hand and mouthing that she was “okay.”
Merlin felt that Lucia actually wasn’t that scary and that nothing would happen.
Since Lucia didn’t believe the rumors and chose to trust her, she should also trust Lucia.
Well… even though she just beat someone up.
The image of a pure human girl with silver hair and gray eyes gently pulling a blue-gradient elf girl was like a painting, drawing the eyes of the students.
Students in the corridor glanced over one after another, their whispers converging into a faint hum.
Lucia noticed Merlin’s hesitation and her disorganized steps. She changed her grip on Merlin’s hand to interlaced fingers and deliberately slowed her pace, thoughtfully matching Merlin’s rhythm.
Furthermore, since they were the first two to escape the conflict in the classroom, they naturally attracted even more attention from the students.
It wasn’t until they walked out of the teaching area that the oppressive gazes gradually faded. Lucia let go of the interlaced grip but still held Merlin’s hand. She took a light breath and turned her face.
“You.”
“What is it?”
Lucia ignored the students’ gazes and brought Merlin back to the dormitory.
Since Merlin moved dorms, both of them lived on the top floor with the best treatment. Merlin often met Lucia when she was returning from morning practice.
However, they weren’t going to Merlin’s dorm now, but Lucia’s. This was the first time Merlin had come to Lucia’s room.
Lucia opened her door with a key. This was Merlin’s first time stepping into Lucia’s private space.
Walking inside, a faint scent mixed with wood wafted over.
The room was tidied to be spotless and organized with a sense of order, which was very much Lucia’s style.
Emerald green leaves emitted a soft glow in the light filtering through the sheer curtains.
“Sit down.”
Lucia had already casually sat on the edge of her large bed, her legs clad in white over-the-knee socks swinging in the air. She patted the mattress covered with a velvet bedspread next to her, signaling Merlin to sit beside her. As if remembering something, Merlin took out bottles of candy, incense, and jars of green liquid from her magic pocket.
“Wait a moment. I should take this chance to give these things to you.”
Merlin first placed the candy and incense until Lucia’s desk was full.
Lucia just stared at Merlin’s busy figure. She sighed, drew the curtains, and cast a soundproofing spell on the room.
Returning to the bedside once more, she lit a dim candle.
“This is the new batch.”
Lucia nodded.
“I’ll have Mary give you the payment.”
Merlin clearly hadn’t recovered from the conflict earlier and only responded in a small voice.
“Okay.”
Lucia looked at Merlin, who was fussing with the jars and bottles.
She just sat on the bed, quietly staring at Merlin’s busy back.
Merlin’s blue hair hung down slightly, obscuring the expression on the side of her face. The more she acted like nothing was wrong, the more Lucia’s heart sank.
Lucia sighed.
She felt like a fool for standing up for her just now, as Merlin seemed to be busy with her own things as if she didn’t care.
“Aren’t you hit hard by this?”
Merlin’s fingers, which were arranging the jars, froze.
She gripped a jar tightly, looking at her blurred and distorted face in the glass bottle in the darkness. She smiled with a sense of relief and let out a soft breath, making a cute sound in the room where only the two of them were.
“Maybe I’m used to it. I’ve been unable to use magic since birth, and even after turning back into an elf, I still can’t.”
“You are not allowed to say things like that.”
Lucia’s tone wasn’t as explosive as it had been in the classroom, but it was serious and firm.
Her gray eyes seemed to ignite with a cluster of silver flames in the dim candlelight as she stared fixedly at Merlin.
“Merlinlia, remember this. If you deceive yourself by saying you can’t feel the pain, you will reach your limit one day. Pain is pain. No one likes being hurt. If you are attacked, strike back.”
Merlin was intimidated by her sudden burst of aura. She lowered her eyelids and answered in a small voice, sounding as if she were comforting herself.
“I will work hard.”
“Not work hard—you must do it.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Merlin’s slumped head and slightly curled shoulders, the softest part of Lucia’s heart was touched.
The fire in her eyes gradually went out, replaced by a sense of helplessness.
Because she was too familiar with this posture.
Although Lucia was a princess, she also had a childhood where she had to deceive herself.
Even now, the pain brought by her mana still tortured Lucia so much she couldn’t sleep day or night, let alone when she was a child.
Ever since she could remember, the pain of mana had tortured Lucia.
People without magic complained about her, saying she was blessed to have such massive mana and didn’t realize how lucky she was.
People with magic were jealous of her, mocking her powerful and uncontrollable strength behind her back, saying she was showing off.
Those around her, including the maids, looked down on her and bullied her both openly and secretly.
Lucia felt that the current Merlin was much the same, only her circumstances were slightly better, while their personalities were largely similar.
Even though the Emperor tried many methods to alleviate Lucia’s pain, they all proved futile.
Her mother, the former Saintess, still had many people who needed her even after stepping down from her position, so she couldn’t stay by Lucia’s side all the time.
Furthermore, even though Lucia’s mother, Helena, was a Saintess who had saved countless lives, she couldn’t even alleviate her own child’s pain. It could even be said that she was the root cause of the child’s suffering.
The fact that she couldn’t save her own child caused Helena to gradually lose the courage to face her daughter.
She began to look for more work, using the salvation of the world to numb herself and to reduce the time spent meeting Lucia.
However, in the eyes of the young Lucia who needed maternal love the most, all of this was interpreted as—
Being hated.
Her mother hated this sickly version of her who only brought trouble and pain.
So, she could only be like the current Merlin, curling up in a cold blanket during countless nights tortured by severe pain, gritting her teeth and deceiving herself.
Telling herself she was used to it. Telling herself she didn’t feel pain.
Then, one day, that string stretched to the limit finally—
Snapped.
Since then, Lucia understood that she didn’t need to endure at all.
While she was gifted with pain, she was also given power.
As a member of the imperial family with such power, why should she care about what others thought?
So, it turned into this, right?