CH 38.3

“I’m sorry, Leonora… it’s all my fault… . ” – Said Bianca, in an apologetic tone; her beautiful face was dirty with a mix of mud and tears.

She didn’t know how many times she had repeated those exact same words, or for how long they’ve been wandering inside this dark forest, but the answer to her apology was always the same.

“It’s okay, Neh-sama. I’m not angry, so you don’t, have to, apologize… . ”

The little girl’s left sleeve was torn off from the elbow down, however, she was the one who did that. She used that piece of cloth as bandage to treat Bianca’s injured hand * .

( *Tl/n: I’m guessing that she hurt her hand because of what she did at the end of Ch-38.1, since the author didn’t mention anything like that.)

Because of the princess’ interference, the teleportation spell threw them far away from the lake. To make things worse, they didn’t even know where they were. So Bianca tried to contact the spirits again… but the spirits weren’t answering her.

Bianca wasn’t that much of a sheltered lady. She also liked plants and vegetation. But being thrown deep inside a dark forest, without knowing where to go, was too much for her… so she started to panic.

There were insects crawling everywhere and, sometimes, she could also hear some animal sounds in the distance. This place was scary. Her usual confident attitude was nowhere to be seen. Bianca could only hold Leonora’s hand, in a pitiful display of cowardice, and hope that nothing bad happened to them.

Contrary to her though, Leonora was quite calm. The little girl was glancing around as if she was searching for something, but after landing her gaze on a nearby tree, she simply nodded and said–

“–Thanks…… it seems like, we’re near, the lake, Neh-sama. The tree spirits, said that, we have to, head east, to reach, our destination.”

“Wha-!? No way, the spirits were speaking with you!?” – Said Bianca, in surprised tone.

“Huh? Y-yes… why?”

Only powerful priests had the ability to hear the spirits, but for some reason, Bianca was able to hear them earlier. She didn’t think much of it at the time, since she was trying to protect her little sister, however, after witnessing Leonora speaking with a nearby tree, Bianca finally understood why she was able to hear them.

“I… see… . I sometimes forget that you’re a Child Loved by the Spirits… . ”

(So I was only able to hear them because she was near me, huh…?)

For a moment, Bianca thought she’d finally be able to help Leonora with something… but that wasn’t her ability. After realizing that, the princess couldn’t help but feel dejected.

However, she couldn’t be more wrong.

Leo could only hear the spirits because he was touching Bianca. The little princess wasn’t even aware that, contrary to her brother, she had enough spirit power to be considered a Child Loved by the Spirits. The reason why she couldn’t hear them, was because she wasn’t on her right state of mind right now.

(Khh…! If only I hadn’t lost my concentration during that spirit summoning class * , then maybe I would be able to help her a bit more…!) – Thought Bianca, as she squeezed her free hand’s fist in frustration. ( *Tl/n: Ch-25.2)

At the time, Bianca tried to contract a spirit of light, but because of Leonora’s beautiful prayer, she–no, everyone lost their concentration. If she hadn’t stopped her own prayer halfway through, then maybe a spirit would’ve appeared for her.

However, without knowing that he was the source of Bianca’s worries, Leo stared deeply into her eyes and said–

“–You’re wrong, Neh-sama. I’m sure, you’re the, Child Loved, by the Spirits. You can also, hear them, you just, have to, calm down, and listen… . ”

Leo was, albeit unknowingly, telling her the truth, but to Bianca, it was like Leonora was just trying to encourage her to not give up, which made the little princess feel even more useless. ( Tl/n: Is it just me, or this author likes to bully Bianca all the time?)

“I… guess you’re right… . ”

Bianca was still a bit dejected, however, Leo had more important things to worry about right now. He had find the Lady of the Lake, so, while still holding each-other’s hands, they started heading east.

But on their way there, Bianca was met with one disaster after another. She would often trip on some random vines and fall on mud puddles. When an insect got too close to her face, she would scream in fright and hit her head on a nearby tree branch. Even when she tried to use magic to escape from those nasty situations, her spells would suddenly weaken, or completely vanish without any previous indication.

It was like the forest itself was Bianca’s enemy.

However, that wasn’t the case for Leo. The Korwitz Forest was like a second home to him, so dodging those vines, mud puddles and tree branches was also relatively easy. In fact, Leo had so much leeway, that he even started calculating the price of the nearby plants. He didn’t even need magic to traverse the forest. However, without him knowing, that became a huge blow to Bianca’s pride, as Leonora’s big sister. Make no mistake though, the little princess was proud of her awesome little sister… but she couldn’t shake off the feeling of powerlessness that was assaulting her.

“I’m sorry, Leonora… I’m such a useless big sister… . ” – Said Bianca, in a dejected tone; her clothes were dirty with mud and she had small scratches all over he body.

“It’s okay, Neh-sama. You don’t have, to apologize, for something, like this—” – Said Leo, as he turned around with a smile.

Leo didn’t mind having to help Bianca every time one of those things happened, after all, he could hold her hand and listen to the voice of the spirits. Well, wanking hand in hand with someone like Bianca was indeed rather difficult, but just having her by his side was already saving him a lot of time, so she didn’t really have to apologize.

“—Besides, I’m really, glad that, you decided to, come with me, to the lake—”

“Leonora… . ”

Bianca was genuinely moved to tears by Leonora’s kindness—

(No wonder people call her the Altruistic Saintess…)

—However, Leo didn’t know that, so he panicked a bit when he saw the little princess crying.

“—S-so, please, cheer up…! Y-you don’t, have to cry…!”

Because of what Bianca did, now they were both stuck deep inside a dangerous forest. But, instead of blaming her for that, Leonora was actually glad that they were going to the lake together, so Bianca couldn’t help but let out a happy smile.

The little princess then wiped her tears and said, “Okay, I’ll stop crying,” before tightening her hold on Leonora’s hand.

Leo sighed in relief when he heard that. Even though he was like a big brother for the children back at the orphanage, truth be told, he wasn’t that good at dealing with crying kids, specially when they were girls, so, when Bianca started crying, Leo panicked a bit. Well, it was a good thing that she stopped crying as soon as he asked her to, otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to do.

(Anyway, this forest is as beautiful as I remember, huh?) – Thought Leo, as he calmly analyzed their surroundings.

The Korwitz forest was far from being a beautiful place, but to Leo, whose sole purpose in life was making money, this forest was like a gold mine. Nearly everything here could be sold for a hefty sum of money. The sap of the nearby trees could be used to make a sweet and expensive liquor, so they were highly demanded. The scarce flowers could be used as a decoration, and they were also highly demanded. Even the ordinary grass could be used as a substitute for medicinal herbs.

However, the Korwitz forest wasn’t always like this. It was actually thanks to the spirits living here, that the forest became as rich as it was today. And besides them, no one else owned this place, so those resources were free for everyone to pick. The only problem though, was that, if you took too many of them, you’d incur the wrath of the spirits.

In other words, as long as you didn’t take too many resources, this place was akin to an all-you-can-eat buffet for someone like Leo… and he wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this.

So, with the excuse that Bianca needed to take a break because there was a long way ahead of them, Leo went to gather some expensive resources that he could sell later. But first, he needed a place to store all the medicinal herbs, flowers and fruits that he was going to collect, so he made a simple basket with the nearby vines.

Leo also wanted to collect some sap of the nearby trees, but he soon gave up on that idea, after all, he didn’t have the necessary tools to do so. However, not too far from that place, he found a huge beehive, so, considering that it was already lunch time, he asked Bianca to light a tree branch on fire for him, then he used that to smoke the bees out of their home, before harvesting their honey.

After he finished gathering everything he wanted, Leo let out a content sigh.

(Today’s harvest was really good, huh? I can already smell all the money that I’m going to make by selling everything… but first–)

“–Here, Neh-sama… this plant, can be used, as medicine. It’s good for, healing wounds, so I’m sure, it’ll heal, your hand.”

The medicinal herbs that Leo had collected were worth a lot of money, but he didn’t mind sharing some of them with Bianca, after all, she was his only connection to the voice of the spirits.

However, that’s not how Bianca understood it–

“Leonora… you… . ”

–Even though that plant could be used as medicine, preparing it for that specific use wasn’t an easy task, so Bianca couldn’t help but stare at the little girl in front of her in admiration.

Leonora was an amazing girl. Not only she knew which plants (fruits) to pick and how to harvest honey directly from the source, but she also knew how to navigate through the forest. It was like she was shining.

However, that only made the little princess feel even more useless.

Bianca was so worried about being more useful to Leonora, that she actually forgot that her little sister was the kind of girl who’d hurt herself for the sake of others.

(Leonora…! Oh no, her hands are much worse than mine! She probably got hurt while gathering those herbs for me…!)

Her small hands were covered in mud and scratches. There was even blood dripping from some places–

“B-but your condition is much worse…! You need those herbs more than I do!”

–However, Leonora didn’t seem to mind that at all.

“It’s okay, Neh-sama… I’m used to it.” – Said Leo, with a smile.

Leo was implying that it’d be a pain to find more of those herbs. In other words, he was being lazy. But to Bianca, it didn’t sound that way.

“You’re… already used to it…? W-what do you mean by that?”

“I used to, come here, very often, to gather some, medicinal herbs. That’s why, I got used, to it–” – Said Leo, as he showed his hands to Bianca with a playful grin.

Bianca could almost hear the sound of her own heart breaking when she heard that.

“……… . ”

There’s no way someone would allow a captive to go to a forest just collect some herbs, which meant that she went to there in secret… and Bianca probably knew the reason why: Those herbs were for Leonora herself. However, no amount of speculation could prepare Bianca for what the little girl was about to say.

“–They tried, to stop me, many times… but, I couldn’t, help it… it just, wasn’t enough. So, sometimes, I would, sneak out, of that place, just to pick, some herbs, and food. But, if I was, found out, I would, be scolded–”

Leo’s urge to make money wasn’t something that the other kids of the orphanage could contain. Even Hannah couldn’t find a way to deal with him, after all, he wasn’t just thinking about himself. He would deliberately spend his own money, that he got from selling the herbs he picked up, just to buy more food for the other kids.

However, Bianca didn’t know that.

To her, Leonora was probably feeling a lot of pain because of all the abuse that she had to endure. That’s why she couldn’t help but sneak out of the place that she was being held captive, just to go pick some medicinal herbs.

But, even though she had such a grim past, her eyes were still shining with the light of nostalgia.

“–That’s why, I’m grateful, to this forest… this place, gave me, many things. Mother nature is, always kind… I love, this place.”

(That’s why I love this forest! Even if you bring back a lot of herbs and fruits, no one will complain! This place is like a gold mine!)

Of course Leo was talking about all the money he got thanks to the forest… but there was no way for Bianca to know that.

(Leonora, she…! She’s always like this…! Even when faced with adversity, she always tries to see the bright side in everything…!)

A pure heart. That was the difference between the two of them. Contrary to Bianca, who grew up as a spoiled princess, Leonora had to work hard just to survive. But even though she was faced with adversity, she never gave up on her ideals.

Bianca wanted to comfort her little sister… but she couldn’t find the right words to do so.

So the little princess decided to do the only thing that she was capable of… and that was applying the medicine onto Leonora’s hand.

“Neh-sama!? Why—!?”

Her delicate hands were covered in mud and small scratches, but it still was a beautiful hand… as beautiful as it’s owner’s soul.

Bianca was once jealous of Leonora’s way of life. She wanted to be more like her. But at the time, she didn’t know what Leonora had gone through to be like that. So, even though she didn’t want to, the little princess was forced to understand their differences… and accept them—

“—I swear to you, Leonora—!”

—But she hadn’t given up yet.

“—Right now, I’m still not good enough to stand by your side! But one day, I’ll hold my head high and say with confidence that I’m your friend… and your sister—!”

Surely it was an arrogant wish. Somewhere, buried deep inside her heart, Bianca couldn’t stand the fact that Leonora was better than her. However, that was just her pride as a princess. She wanted to be more reliable than her little sister… but at what price. Bianca didn’t have the courage to go through the same things that Leonora had gone through. So she swore that she’d stand by her side as her friend and sister.

“—And I’ll uphold this promise!”

The moment she said that, Bianca felt her lack of confidence being blown away. In it’s place, came a resolution… a resolution as clear and calm as a lake.

But then, out of nowhere–

—What a beautiful soul.

–The beautiful voice of a woman resounded throughout the place.