Chapter 31

“……It would have been better to just take a hundred thousand gold and return the crying child to her mother!”

“How could she, damn it, know that? We raised her all this time, planning to use her as a hostage and make some money. If we just keep quiet, no one will ever know…….”

The wooden floor creaked.

The two turned around and froze as if they had seen a ghost.

Kanis’s face was gradually losing all expression.

A monster……

The long years Kanis had struggled to be loved, to become part of a family, had only left her wounded.

Kanis was unsure what to hate more: the fact that her ‘parents’ had abandoned her or the fact that they weren’t truly her parents at all. Or perhaps……

“Did, did you hear?”

“What we just said, um, that is.”

That day, at that moment, only one question dominated Kanis’s mind.

“Where are my real mom and dad?

“We, we don’t know.”

Every window shattered in the gust of wind.

Miscellaneous objects were swept up by the wind, breaking into pieces and scratching the walls.

The two clung to the floor, screaming.

Amid the chaos, Kanis alone remained calm.

Mana screamed on Kanis’s behalf.

“Where should I go to find them?”

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you, so please don’t kill us!”

The ones who had always looked down on Kanis, controlling her as they pleased, were now groveling at her feet, trembling in fear.

In the end, they were no different.

They feared Kanis, loathed her, distrusted her, and needed her. That was all there was to it.

Why did I possess such power? Why did I look like this?

She had asked herself hundreds of times but still didn’t know the answer.

Her last memory of feeling warmth was faint.

Kanis was falling apart.

“Yes, yes, we know where your grave is!”

“We’ll draw a map! So……”

“If you go there, you might be able to ask around.”

“Right, your name! Your name was……. What was it?”

“Um, Kanis.”

“Your name is Kanis.”

“That’s all we know.”

The two clung to each other and looked up at Kanis.

Kanis.

Only then did Kanis learn her name.

A name she had never been called, one she had never needed.

A moment later, Kanis staggered as she turned away, clutching a map in her hand.

Truly, just a fragment of warmth was all she desperately wanted.

The scene changed again.

It was a clear dawn with not a cloud in the sky.

With the sound of chirping birds behind her, Kanis climbed a hill.

Renoah, following behind her, let out a low gasp.

The communal graveyard she had first seen upon waking appeared before her once more.

Kanis awkwardly stopped in front of each gravestone, haltingly reading the inscriptions.

“Do you think the gravestone will still be there…….”

Renoah murmured worriedly.

Among the old, weathered gravestones, there were many that looked new.

Renoah quietly gauged the hardships of the era.

Eventually, Kanis stopped in front of a grave and didn’t move.

「Kanis Riventi

383.5.11 ~ 389.6.3

To our precious angel,

May only peace be with you.

We will meet again.

Mom and Dad.」

Kanis picked up the withered bouquet lying in front of her gravestone.

It had long since lost its fragrance and color, crumbling at the slightest touch. Still, Kanis carefully brought it to her nose.

She had once heard, in passing, that some people come back to life after dying.

Now she knew that she was one of them.

Would it be okay to let them know I was alive?

“……Kanis Riventi.”

For the first time that day, Kanis fully spoke her name.

It felt unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

As Kanis descended the hill toward the village below, Renoah wiped his eyes.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard anyone call the Master of the Mage Tower by name.”

“Does it matter that much?”

Renoah, unaware, briefly showed a look of disdain but quickly replaced it with a gentle expression, remembering that Kanna was just a child.

“Of course. The Master of the Mage Tower gave you the wonderful name Kanna, didn’t she?”

Kanna shrugged in response.

“I think I’m starting to understand why the Master of the Mage Tower sealed the dungeon instead of destroying the monster.”

“…….”

“I’ve been thinking about it. It’s not just His Highness Michael here, is it?”

With his hands in his cloak pockets, Renoah still looked as though he might say something trivial.

“To completely destroy the monster, the Master of the Mage Tower had to come here.”

Kanna froze, locking eyes with Renoah for a few seconds.

What?

“……Perhaps, three hundred years ago, it was too painful for her to face this again.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about why the Master of the Mage Tower couldn’t destroy this place.”

Kanna was uncertain but knew that asking further would be akin to a confession.

“It wasn’t really because of this memory. Though, of course, this must have been embarrassing too.”

“…….”

“So, my mother…… Kanis Riventi.”

Kanna cleared her throat and looked away.

How could a mage who had never met Kanis in person recognize her when even the Emperor, Princess Nadia, Jehel, and even Michael hadn’t?

The mages had investigated the incident at the banquet hall when the child had gone berserk, but they had found nothing.

Kanis admitted that she had been slightly careless.

But how could anyone associate this tiny, insignificant, round creature with the Master of the Mage Tower just by looking at her?

Renoah’s meaningful gaze lingered on Kanna’s cheek, but the surroundings quickly shifted to the next vision.

At dusk, Kanis wandered alone through a deserted village.

She eventually found a house bearing the Riventi family crest.

She shook the door, but it seemed to be an abandoned house.

It had clearly been left vacant for quite a while, as the gate’s iron bars were covered in dust.

“Child, what brings you here? No one lives in that house anymore.”

Startled, Kanis turned to see a woman from the neighboring house looking over at her.

While Kanis hesitated to answer, the woman, examining the child’s appearance, asked to confirm.

“You’re not from this village, are you?”

“……What happened to the people who lived here?”

“The Riventi family line ended. The husband went into the Black Forest to kill the monster that took their child’s life, but he died there too.”

“…….”

Kanis clenched the hem of her trousers tightly.

‘To avenge their dead child…….’

“What about the wife…….”

“She lost her child and her husband, then fell ill. Her condition worsened, and she moved back to her parents’ home about a year ago.”

“How can I get there?”

“Well…… Why are you asking? Who are you, and where are you from?”

As Kanna slowly approached the neighboring house, the woman raised her lantern toward her.

When the light illuminated Kanis’s face entirely, the woman visibly faltered.

“Olivia?”

Though it was the first time Kanis had heard the name, her throat tightened just hearing it.

“I, my name is.”

“…….”

“Kanis……. Kanis Riventi.”

The woman dropped her lantern.

“You……. You’re alive?”

It was now a rainy afternoon. The sun hadn’t set, but the dark clouds made the surroundings gloomy.

A wagon stopped at the village entrance.

Kanis, crouched in the wagon’s cargo hold, quickly jumped out.

“The rain must have made the road rough. Were you uncomfortable anywhere?”

The coachman extended his hand, but Kanis stepped back and shook her head.

“Will you be okay on your own?”

Kanis silently nodded twice, and the coachman smiled.

“Alright…… I hope you find your mother.”

The coachman adjusted the reins and soon departed.

Kanis, watching him leave, bowed her head slightly.

The coachman didn’t notice and quickly disappeared.

Dodging splashing rainwater, Kanis turned her attention to the map the neighbor had drawn and looked around.

“Oh dear, it’s not that alley…….”

Renoah repeatedly whispered directions—left, not right, right, not left—into Kanis’s ear, though his words couldn’t be heard.

“If only it weren’t raining, there would’ve been people on the streets, and it would’ve been easier to find the way.”

Soaked to the bone, Kanis finally found the house drawn on the map.

But the house was silent. It seemed someone lived there, though.

She pushed the gate, and it opened without resistance.

Kanis hesitated before stepping inside.

Suddenly, a thin, long wail came from somewhere.

Kanis turned toward the room with light seeping through the door.

Almost as if pushed, Kanis approached the door.

The atmosphere inside the room was unsettling.