‘Chalang.’
Liarte opened her eyes to the sound of water splashing.
‘The sound of water?’
Liarte looked to find where the water sounds were coming from. But she couldn’t see any water anywhere. Instead, a low space came into view.
It was a small room.
The old faded gray wallpaper was still a sight to behold. There was no furniture in the space except for the bed. People might be surprised at the sight of Duke Elheim’s daughter living in such a condition.
‘Am I still alive?’
This was the place where Liarte spent most of her life.
As soon as it was confirmed that she was unconscious, Elheim’s arbitrary relatives pushed Liarte into this room.
If you know your sins, as the shame of your family, at least stay out of sight.
‘Strange. This room should have been burnt down.’
My entire body, which I unconsciously raised, was in pain. But it was nothing compared to the pain at the time of death.
Yes.
Liarte stopped breathing.
As Liarte slowly fumbled for her memory, She remembered the memory of her death.
”That man… “
The moment she spoke, her throat was sore.
At the time of her execution, Elheim’s Awakeners, who only fixed their gaze on the water magic circle, would not have seen it, but Liarte clearly saw a blue man.
As always, the Spirit Stone was lying around her twin younger brother, Lianrius. The only difference was the light from the Spirit Stone.
A faint light leaked from the surface of the stone, which fluttered like water.
Liarte couldn’t take her gaze away from the light and looked at it as if she were possessed.
As the execution progressed, the light grew more and more intense.
A blue man appeared when a dazzling light burst out. Water gathered among the broken fragments of the spirit stone to form a human shape. The blue man, completed by spirit stone, desperately reached for Liarte.
[No!]
The enormous energy in the spirit stone was pushed into Liarte’s body.
The energy of water spread throughout her body as if it had found its owner.
The rain, assimilated with Liarte’s feelings, poured down from the sky. At that moment, Liarte realized she had awakened.
‘Finally.’
The ability of water, which she gave up thinking she could not use it for the rest of her life, surged through her body.
Rainwater flowed down like tears over her expressionless face.
Liarte thought, looking at Lianrius sitting on the throne,
‘It was my ability, not yours.’
As she thought about it, darkness arrived, and that was Liarte’s last memory.
‘Chalang.‘
Water gathered at the feet of Liarte, who had risen from her seat.
At that moment, Liarte’s eyes widened.
No matter the times her family rejected her, the scene of her dealing with the water’s ability has been watched with great interest.
When she followed the movements of Lianrius when he used his power and the water enveloped around his fingertips, and it was a sophisticated ability that would be admired if other water awakeners saw it.
Half-Elheim. The first un-awakener to appeared in Elheim for the first time.
This mentality, which followed her for an entire lifetime, was wrong.
Liarte was an Awakener of the Spirit Stone.
She just awakened the ability at the moment of death.
Someone knocked on the door lightly.
Then naturally opened the door without listening to the answer.
Soon a young man walked in.
“Liarte.”
It wasn’t very difficult to recognize who it was, although shade fell on the face because the place where he stood was against the light.
The boy whom everyone loves.
Liarte whispered,
“Lianrius.”
However, Liarte’s face no longer displayed any hint of affection.
***
The Duke of Elheim snapped at the maid who stood in front of Liarte’s door.
“Is she still having no sign of waking up?”
“The poison has been cured for sure, and she will soon regain consciousness. Young Master Lianrius has just entered.”
The maid, who had grasped the Duke’s mood, answered quickly.
The Duke of Elheim softened his anger a little when the name of his youngest son, Lianrius, was revealed.
“Lianrius will take care of her.” He did not want an answer, he just said it to himself.
The duke looked back at the closed iron gate.
Two weeks ago, there was an accident in Elheim.
An assassin came in during a banquet in which the Duke invited the imperial family and aristocrats.
“How dare you enter Elheim?!”
There was a subtle rumor that the skill of the awakeners was not the same as before.
The duke’s water power was quietly circulating, so the awakeners of Elheim evacuated the distinguished guests and confirmed that the water power was in good shape.
I thought it was perfect so far, but Liarte was the problem.
“A stupid and useless thing.”
The Duke murmured with a cold face.
The assassin’s target was Lianrius. It was already late when he realized that the disturbance itself was a trap aimed at Lianrius.
The poisoned blade headed for Lianrius. Then, Liarte jumped in front of the blade as if she were defending Lianrius, and then she lost her consciousness.
‘I can’t believe you’re holding Lianrius back from using his ability.’ Lianrius can’t use the water’s power if he is separated from Liarte.
The only thing the duke cared about was the fact that Lianrius’s agenda was delayed.
No one went to Liarte for a week until they read the angry Duke’s countenance.
The Duke, who thought they have treated her, was belatedly informed of the fact. Did they say she suffered from poison for a week?
‘But with her life spared, it’s enough.’
The Duke did not care about Liarte’s wounds.
‘She’ll obey again, anyway.’
As always, she’ll beg for affection, and that’s the pathetic daughter the Duke sees.
The Duke did not think that Liarte could abandon them, and the awakener’s unique watery energy was felt.
“Father.”
“Aynias?”
A young man with silver-gray hair appeared. Aynias was the first son who was always cold and rational.
“Did you find out who’s behind the assassin?”
“You don’t have to think deeply. It’s Birce anyway.”
There were two awakening families in the empire who had not lost their ability.
Duke Elheim of Water and the Duke Birce of Death. But the relationship between the two families was not good.
“The only person in this empire who dared to attack Elheim is Carmen Birce. “
The thought of the sly Duke of Birce made his blood pressure rise.
The Duke, who erased his thoughts, put his hand on Aynias’s shoulder.
“By the way, I don’t know what happened so far.”
Among the blood and flesh, Aynias was the one who despised Liarte the most. Aynias lowered his voice.
“This is not the time, Father. Just a moment ago, an abnormality occurred in the spirit stone.”
A quick whisper came to cut the Duke’s words.
“The spirit stone has started to shine.”
There was still a maid in front of Liarte’s door. Although he refined his expression, the Duke’s eyes were wide.
“Really?”
Despite the will of the first family member, it was the spirit stone that had been dormant.
After all, the day the Spirit Stone shined, the owner was born.
The Duke was naturally thinking of Lianrius.
“Aynias, summon the Awakeners of Elheim.”
The long-awaited owner of Elheim might be born.
***
Lianrius’s hand penetrated between Liarte’s fingers. The act of holding hands.
Dry contact was only a means to use the water ability.
His other hand was holding Liarte, and she with her dark long hair was observing Lianrius, who looked much younger than before she died.
‘That’s weird.’
Unlike the last memory, when he looked closer to a man than a boy, right now, doesn’t he look like a boy in his mid-teens?
At first, she thought that all of this was a dream after my death.
However, the sense of breathing and the feeling of being alive was so vivid. A dream couldn’t be so vivid.
‘What the hell is with this room and Lianrius?’
Liarte’s room was burnt down on the morning of her execution.
It was the Duke’s order to remove all the traces of the disgrace of Elheim. It was as if she had come back to a few years ago.
Before coming of age, Lianrius often came to her room because he couldn’t use his abilities without Liarte.
How many years ago was it?
Lianrius’s hand slid from the middle to the end of her hair. “You know better, Liarte.”
Liarte remembered this conversation.
A long time ago, when she woke up after being poisoned, Lianrius said this. At that time, she shed tears, saying that she was sorry for the delay of his schedule as she couldn’t wake up sooner; but it was when still she loved her family unconditionally.
‘How foolish it was.’
Words that she couldn’t say before came out easily.
“Do you believe such a thing?”
Liarte asked in a dry tone.
“That I jumped in front of the assassin to save you?”
At first, she thought it was a dream after death, but it was not a dream.
“Or maybe you were told that I was poisoned, but no one in my family was coming and that I was dying?”
She was sick like a few years ago when she got poisoned. Every time she spoke, her breathing became rough.
Liarte had already experienced this situation and this conversation once.
‘What if I really came back?’
She remembered the shattered spirit stone and the enormous energy flowing into her body.
What if she somehow went back in time?
The possibility could not be ruled out.
“Don’t worry Young Master Elheim.”
Liarte’s hand, which was cool without warmth, removed Lianrius’s hand, and pushed it away.
“I’m not going to waste time on such useless things again.”
It wasn’t like the usual Liarte, and there was a subtle crack in Lianrius’s indifferent face.