Chapter 33

In the middle of the night, Kanis was caught by the old woman while trying to climb out of the kitchen window.

“I, uh, just wanted to get some fresh air—.”

“Is it true you were seen with strangers in the clearing yesterday?”

“…….”

“Surely, you didn’t tell them what you are?”

As Kanis hesitated, the old woman’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Do you have any idea what could happen if rumors start to spread?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Kanis! Honestly… You should try living a normal life by now.”

The old woman pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Or is it that you want to go back to your old life?”

“…….”

“How can you still not change your ways after all these years?”

“……You don’t really care.”

“What did you say?”

For the first time, Kanis met the old woman’s gaze directly and spoke.

“You’re not doing this because you’re really worried about me.”

“What are you saying?”

“You resent me.”

“…….”

“You think I’m the reason she died.”

“What nonsense.”

Before the old woman could say more, Kanis leaped out of the window and disappeared.

She didn’t even know who or what she was running for.

The old woman, regaining her senses too late, leaned out of the window and shouted.

“Don’t go too far, Kanis! Come back early!”

With a heavy sigh, the old woman returned to her chair and sank into it.

Kanna stood leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching the scene.

The old woman’s wrinkled hands rubbing her temples and her uneven breathing—these were things Kanna could not recall from her faded memories of over three hundred years ago.

Yet, here they were, vividly etched into the present.

Renoah approached Kanna, seemingly about to say something, but stopped upon seeing her expression.

The two were now standing on a hill at dawn, tinged with a faint blue light.

“She wouldn’t actually not show up, would she?”

“No way.”

A group of men was speaking in hushed tones.

Just then, Kanis emerged from the bushes behind them.

Startled, the men took a step back but relaxed upon recognizing her.

One of them caught the heavy sack Kanis tossed his way and asked, 

“Is it the right stuff?”

Without a word, Kanis drew a dagger from her waistband and stabbed it straight into the center of the sack he was holding.

“…….”

“If you ever show up in front of me again, I’ll find another way to deal with you.”

The man, his face slightly pale, forced a grin.

“We’ve got no more business in this village. It’s too dangerous.”

While others loaded the sack onto a horse, the man asked, 

“Honestly, I don’t get it. Why hide out in a backwater place like this?”

“…….”

“With your power, you could earn a fortune and live your life however you want.”

“If you’re done, get lost.”

Mounting his horse and taking the reins, the man added one last comment.

“Don’t fight it. No matter what, you’ll never live a normal life.”

“…….”

“As long as you have that power.”

The group rode off, leaving a trail of dust as they disappeared over the hill.

Kanis sighed and turned back.

It was her turn to return to the village now.

But what she hadn’t noticed earlier came into view.

‘We’ve got no more business in this village. It’s too dangerous.’

The man’s parting words echoed in her mind.

The village, which should have been dark, flickered with the light of torches in the distance.

Kanis broke into a sprint, and Renoah, chasing after her, glanced back.

Kanna stood in the distance, watching them.

***

The villagers were running in every direction, their faces filled with terror.

Some clutched crying children as they fled aimlessly from the village, while others gathered to fortify the barricades and arm themselves.

Kanis ran through the chaos, searching for the old woman.

“What’s happening?”

“Monsters destroyed the neighboring village and are heading this way! You should hurry and evacuate with the old woman!”

Kanis immediately headed home, but the house was empty.

“Kanna! The old woman… hasn’t returned yet?”

The response she got after pounding on the neighbor’s door was ominous.

Kanis’s heart pounded heavily.

“Where… where did she go?”

“She said it’s your birthday and wanted to get you something nice… She heard there was a big market in the neighboring village—.”

Kanis didn’t wait to hear the rest. She turned and ran.

Running against the flow of fleeing villagers, Kanis encountered a monster for the first time that day.

The ground shook, and with a chilling, clattering noise, the earth caved in as a massive black centipede emerged, shrouded in dark magic.

The centipede monster swallowed Kanis whole.

The villagers screamed and scattered in all directions.

The stone walls and wooden barricades set up for defense were breached as a swarm of spiders poured into the village.

Thousands of massive spiders, their black forms covering the ridgeline, advanced toward the village.

The centipede, which had seemingly swallowed Kanis, suddenly convulsed, its dozens of legs twisting unnaturally. It vomited green liquid and collapsed onto a roof.

Amid the shattered debris caused by the creature’s weight, the centipede’s belly bulged grotesquely before bursting like an overinflated balloon. Kanis emerged from the wreckage.

She staggered through the empty streets, where no living soul remained, and faced the ravenous spiders that left nothing in their wake.

“Move.”

The spiders’ crimson eyes rolled, focusing on Kanis.

Though she felt a rising terror, Kanis couldn’t bring herself to retreat.

For the first time, mana surged through her body without hesitation or guilt, roaring like a storm.

She had to find her grandmother.

And to do that, she had to get past them.

Kanis charged into the swarm.

As the dark magic enveloped her, her senses sharpened to an unprecedented degree.

Perhaps she had taken too long to arrive at this moment.

The next vision came after dawn.

The stench was unbearable, and the remains of the spider monsters lay scattered everywhere.

The village, half-destroyed, bore the scars of the horrific attack and the terror of that night.

But the sun had risen, and the monsters were gone.

People who had fled began to return one by one.

One of the villagers approached Kanis, who was sitting on the ground.

“This is all we could find.”

It was the old woman’s bag, often slung over her shoulder.

The middle was torn, rendering it useless.

The fruit inside had been crushed, staining the edges with dirty smears.

There was no blood, but…

Kanis stared blankly at the bag, clutching it to her chest, and buried her face in it.

The neighboring village had been completely wiped out by the monsters.

Even the injured who had fled to this village had all succumbed before dawn.

“Let’s go home, Kanis.”

“…….”

“We don’t know when the monsters might attack again….”

As she heard those words, Kanis slowly realized.

Ah, so this is how I’ll live for the rest of my life.

Despairing, hoping, and despairing again, endlessly.

Even despair has its limits.

As her tear-streaked face dried, Kanis accepted her fate.

She decided to stop struggling against despair.

‘The husband went into the Black Forest to kill the monster that took their child’s life, but he died there too.’

Her father died because of Kanis.

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

Her mother died because of Kanis.

‘She said it’s your birthday and wanted to get you something nice… She heard there was a big market in the neighboring village—.’

Her grandmother died because of Kanis.

‘……Yes, she died because of you—.’

Who would die next?

Kanis decided to leave the village.

The next vision began in a tent in an unfamiliar land.

Someone hurriedly entered, pulling back the tent flap.

“Your Highness, she’s here!”

“Hmm? Who?”

“The young mage from three years ago! She’s asking for you, Prince Felix!”

A man with black hair and grayish-brown eyes, who had been studying a map, looked up, surprised.

“She’s looking for me?”

The two left the tent together.

At the entrance to the temporary camp, surrounded by soldiers, stood a young woman dressed simply.

“I thought you said she was a child?”

In response to Felix’s muttered comment, the man replied, 

“She was back then. She’s probably sixteen by now.”

“Has it been that long?”

Sensing their presence, Kanis turned her vivid blue eyes, devoid of emotion or feeling, toward Felix as he approached.

“What brings you to me?”

Kanis, scanning the man who stopped in front of her, asked bluntly, 

“Are you Prince Felix?”