I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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239화

“……How do you know that name?”

I couldn’t hide my shock as my mouth fell open. I must have looked ridiculous if I looked in the mirror right now.

Leisha appeared calm at first glance, but her grip on the stone table revealed her agitation.

“Let me answer my question first. How do you know Anteia?”

Leisha’s long fingers tapped the table in a hysterical manner. As Leo turned to me with a confused look as if he didn’t understand how anyone could not know Anteia, I took a deep breath.

‘Calling someone by their first name indicates a close relationship.’

The guild leader of the Azure Raven Guild, Asha of ‘Blue Wings’, and Leisha, the silver wolf beastwoman and former nanny of King Atara, along with Chief Peysha.

How far did the connections to Anteia stretch? I could believe it if someone claiming to be a merchant from a desert kingdom suddenly showed up saying they were connected to her.

“Of course I know.”

Truthfully, it hadn’t been long since I learned her real name from her pseudonym ‘Audrey’, but it was still reasonable to know it. I let out a hollow laugh.

“Anteia Hellas is my mother’s name.”

The one who should have been shocked by that name was not Leisha, but me.

“……This is insane.”

Peysha pressed her forehead with her fingers. It was the first time I had seen the composed poker face she donned begin to crumble since we met.

As the murmurs among the elders around us grew uncontrollable, and Leo and I were at a loss as to what to do, someone grabbed my shoulder.

“I thought you looked like her right away, but it’s true.”

An elderly woman, who looked like she could be in her eighties by human standards, examined me from top to bottom. She was one of the elders who had stared at me without saying a word when she entered.

“That look and aura… Yes. You are definitely Anteia’s daughter.”

Her wrinkled face contorted slightly. The expression dealt there was veiled in sorrow.

I blinked in bewilderment.

‘I never expected to experience a cliché that protagonists often encounter.’

Isn’t this the kind of situation protagonists with amazing parents go through at least once? If it were from my father’s side, I could understand, but I never anticipated this kind of situation arising because of my mother.

Amidst the heated discussion among the elders concerning me, I felt like a bag of grain left in a field until Peysha organized the chaos.

“It seems you do not know the story between Anteia and us.”

A hint of complexity faded from her face. I swallowed hard.

Since Anteia was friends with Leisha and had even written a petition during her school years demanding better treatment for beastfolk, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume there was some connection.

But whether that connection was a positive one, I couldn’t be sure at this moment.

‘What if they screamed, ‘Daughter of our enemy! Die here,’ and charged at me?’

As I simulated various possibilities, Peysha finally spoke.

“Anteia is our benefactor.”

Peysha’s violet eyes deepened.

“Over twenty years ago, this place was not a pleasant environment. What we chose was a place best suited for hiding, not for living well. Just making this place livable took a long time.”

It was a well-known fact that this forest was desolate and barren before the silver wolf tribe arrived.

It was easy to imagine the effort they must have put in to make this place their home after deliberately hiding in such a location.

“The biggest issue was communication with the outside world. Everyone wanted to avoid going out, leaving us completely isolated. I had to personally go out to fetch necessary supplies, but that was far from enough.”

Recalling those times, a faint shadow crossed Peysha’s face. She raised her gaze to meet mine.

“Anteia was the one who opened the door to the outside for us.”

It seemed my mother had done more than I had imagined.

“I met her through Leisha. Initially, I had no thoughts of seeking human assistance, but she kept urging me. She told me that things could improve. If you see a crack, don’t just try to seal it; opening it and letting in light could be a solution.”

I recalled the petition she had written. A call for not just covering up the gaps caused by mistakes but facing them instead.

She was indeed a steadfast person.

“In the end, we accepted Anteia’s proposal and welcomed her here. And this place has developed to its current state. Half of the numerous protective magical runes scattered throughout our base were created by her. The current youths may not know Anteia, but all of us elders remember her kindness. She didn’t even want compensation. She just wished to help.”

How many layers of history and narrative were neatly stacked behind the simple sentence, ‘the female protagonist’s mother’? How many heroes do we forget in our lives?

‘I didn’t even know what kind of person you were, yet who other than these people would remember you?’

There was no way to control the strange feeling in my heart that felt as if someone was kneading it. I swallowed the bitter saliva pooling in my mouth.

“Anteia Hellas is our eternal benefactor. And the daughter of a benefactor is also a benefactor. No one can deny this.”

Peysha, with a serious expression, glanced around. The elders who had once cursed when we asked for their participation were now quiet. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Wolves never forget their grudges. But we equally do not forget our kindness.”

They had grievances against humans, yet there was gratitude towards my mother.

My request for their help as both a human and Anteia’s daughter was undoubtedly contradictory for them.

“……I’ll step outside for a moment. I need time to deliberate. Treat her as a guest.”

Peysha ordered, her hands clasped and eyes tightly shut.

“You mean to say that my mother, your mother, and Leisha were all friends? What a peculiar connection.”

Leo, sitting on a stump with his back against a tree, let out a hollow laugh while I was revealing all the things I knew to him while waiting for the meeting results.

“Is your forehead okay?”

I raised my hand to brush his bangs aside. His white hair slid back, revealing the bruised mark on his forehead.

It was my fault.

Just as I was about to speak, weighed down by guilt, he opened his mouth before I could.

“You were going to say you’re sorry, right? Don’t. Just don’t.”

Leo’s expression was gentle. The cool night breeze ruffled his hair.

“If things had escalated back then, we wouldn’t have gotten the same result as we did now. You were right to stop me. Thank you for doing so.”

Although his voice was plain, it didn’t mean he was being disingenuous. I bit my lip and gently brushed the wound on his forehead. Leo flinched slightly.

“Does it hurt?”

“Well, it seems a bit painful.”

He grinned mischievously, leaning towards me.

“I think I’ll feel better if you blow on it…”

“You’re fine. Just wash your leg and go to sleep.”

“Oh.”

His nonchalant demeanor irked me as he playfully groaned and stepped back.

I leaned against the tree, tilting my head back to gaze at the sky. The vast expanse of the night sky was beautiful.

“I never thought my mother would be a help in my life.”

I muttered as if to myself.

I had thought of her as a terrible person who abandoned me and Aria. In my childhood, when I had no outlet for my pain, I resented her for being a breathing hole.

“Somehow, it seems like things turned out well thanks to her.”

But the more I understood, the more I felt that I, who hated her, was the bad one, leaving me in a complex state.

“I actually hated my mother for a long time. I guess I shouldn’t have.”

With a bitter smile, I looked back at Leo. He was staring at me with heavy eyes before letting out a hollow laugh.

“Why shouldn’t you? She seems like a good person, but she wasn’t a good parent to you. It seems you’re always trying to categorize people into good and evil.”

Each of Leo’s sharp words pierced my heart. His discontented expression was now replaced with earnestness as he continued.

“She could be a villain to everyone but a saint to you, or a saint to all but a villain to you. I’m called a trashy brat in this world, but as long as you don’t hate me, I don’t care. And you don’t hate me, right?”

His green eyes shimmered brightly in the dim light.

“Humans can’t perfectly define good and evil. Between the two lies misunderstandings, self-interest, and emotions. In your world, you’re always right, Shushu. Follow your own judgment.”

‘I’m right.’

A small reassurance after all the ceaseless contemplation. A subtle spark.

Though it wasn’t a heavy weight and seemed like a lightly tossed statement, I found resonance in it.

“If you still hate her, then hate her. There’s no need to forgive and embrace everything.”

I wanted to become a perfect person, yet it felt like he was comforting me, allowing me to remain an imperfect person.

“I don’t actually… hate her…”

“Ah.”

“However, I don’t feel love for her either. I still feel a distance. No matter how much I hear about her, I remember almost nothing of her.”

“I see.”

Leo quietly listened to my jumble of unrefined emotions. His large hand stroked my hair.

“Not everything can be clear. Allow it to be complicated if it is.”

I stared vacantly at the tangled threads of emotions and closed my eyes.

Perhaps I had been waiting for those words.

“Have you been waiting long?”

Had I been resting my body against that hand? Suddenly, Peysha stepped out from the cave, with the elders following behind her.

I rose from my seat.

“I’m fine.”

“We have decided on our participation.”

My hands were slick with sweat. It seemed we had been discussing for longer than I expected.

Taking a breath, Peysha continued.

“We still do not like humans. That is unanimous. We do not wish to help those humans who sought our extinction at the cost of our lives. We can’t be sure how many would step forward if we say we are going.”

It was a list of negative remarks. Perhaps I had been silently agreeing, as Peysha met my gaze.

“But we do not forget kindness. Anteia, that girl has a debt to our tribe, so we swore that we would step forward anytime if help was needed. Moreover, your words that the war cannot miss us are utterly true. We know this place can never be safe forever.”

There was no wavering in her determined eyes. Like an old tree that had grown strong in the same spot for many years, they were sturdy and upright.

She announced.

“So, only those who wish to participate will engage.”

Her face, illuminated by the moonlight, was both ethereal yet distinct.

“I will participate.”

The moment I received the promise of alliance from Peysha, the greatest leader in the history of the silver wolf beastfolk.