CHAPTER 17……….
. The Woman of Haren
Until I was eight years old, I lived with my mother in Orlang village, notorious as the worst slum in the imperial capital of Haren.
It was a place where drunkards beat their wives and children all day, bottles flew through the air, and curses never ceased. In that hell, my mother, Yurahel, did any work she could find—mostly menial tasks for nobles.
But in a place like that, my mother’s beauty was more of a curse. Not only drunkards, but even dissolute young lords from noble families coveted her.
No matter how much sweet talk or how many gifts they used, my mother never yielded. So they grew violent. To protect herself, she always carried a sharp dagger.
When I was five, my mother once came home badly beaten.
A certain baron, who had no wife, tried to abduct her on her way home and force himself on her in an alley. My mother fought back with her dagger and cut off one of his fingers.
For injuring a noble, she was beaten mercilessly.
“Leah, I’m fine. Don’t cry.”
Even with her eyes swollen shut and lips torn, she comforted me as I sobbed myself into exhaustion.
That night, I was overcome with grief and rage I couldn’t contain. Suddenly, a scorching heat roared in my belly, and a surge of electricity burst from my right hand.
“Mother, my hand—my hand!!”
“Leah!!”
My hand moved on its own and pressed against her face. From my fingertips, a blinding light burst forth.
The heat in my belly surged up, flowed into my hand, and poured into her. Blood rushed up my throat—I coughed and collapsed unconscious.
“Leah, Leah! Can you hear me?”
“Mother…?”
When I awoke the next day, my mother was by my bedside, clutching my hand tightly.
All the bruises and wounds from her savage beating had vanished. Her skin was smooth and clear like glass.
I was relieved, but her violet eyes looked sorrowful.
“Your healing power has awakened. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you so the High Temple doesn’t find out.”
In my dazed state I didn’t understand what she meant. But knowing she would protect me put me at ease, and I fell asleep again.
For the next week, she made me drink a sweet, strange liquid every day.
“Ah~ it’s delicious.”
I licked the bowl clean.
“Mother, can I drink it again tomorrow?”
“No. You don’t need to anymore. It’s sealed now.”
Her words made no sense, but her eyes looked so sorrowful I couldn’t ask further.
That strange flow of energy I experienced never came again.
After my mother’s death, the Marquis of Uzkal took me in. Each year he searched for signs of change in me, but since nothing ever happened, I never needed to lie.
As I grew, I vaguely realized the truth: somehow, my mother had sealed away my power that day.
But now—at dawn, alone in the queen’s chamber—the mysterious power returned.
Heat churned in my belly, currents prickled my fingertips, refusing to let me rest. I sat up in agony. Light gathered at my fingertips.
My right hand moved on its own, pressing against my left. The light flowed from one to the other, carrying with it the heat inside me.
And then it was gone. The scar on my palm—from when I cut myself with a knife to make the bridal-mark—had vanished.
Even though Mick had licked the bleeding wound to stop it, a scar had remained. But now it was completely gone.
I stared at my hands until dawn broke.
*****
“Prince Mikloc, it’s done.”
William approached after finishing off the last remnants of the Maon tribe.
Drenched head to toe in demon blood, William looked so terrifying even his comrades shuddered.
Mikloc grinned.
“You know, I think people mistake you for me. That’s why they call me the ‘Blood Fiend.’”
William just shrugged, wiping blood from his face with one hand. The gesture only smeared it worse, making him look even more savage. He didn’t care.
Soon Ralph and Freddy returned from pursuing fleeing demons.
“Your Highness, it’s all done on that side as well.”
“No injuries?”
“Of course not. Beating drunken fools who’ve spent five days drinking? If anyone got hurt doing that, it would be a disgrace to our order!”
Freddy joked. Even Ralph, who usually contradicted him, nodded in agreement.
Their hundred knights regrouped, all splattered in blood—almost all of it the enemy’s. The ambush had succeeded without needless casualties.
Mikloc scanned his men, then asked William:
“You didn’t find him?”
“No. It seems he wasn’t here for the festival.” William bowed apologetically.
The Maon chieftain’s heir—the next tribal chief—remained unfound.
Before dying, the Maon chief cursed Pritan Kingdom, vowing his heir would take revenge.
“Has anyone ever seen him?”
The knights looked at each other uneasily. Ralph spoke quietly.
“No. The chieftain never brought him. He claimed the boy was too young, but there were rumors his talent was so great the chieftain feared him.”
“Even if alive, what can a child do alone? Pay it no mind.” Freddy laughed it off.
“Still… the best way is to eliminate every root. But what’s done is done. Burn their hideout. We march immediately for Tooul Valley.”
“Yes, sir!”
By noon, all traces of the Maon tribe had been erased.
The legend of Mikloc, the Blood Fiend King of Pritan, would spread further: a tyrant who annihilated not only his maternal relatives but also the Maon tribe.
Whispers spread: Cross him, and your kingdom or tribe will be erased from existence. Fear, swifter than the wind, would carry across northlands—among demons, monsters, and humans alike.
The knights withdrew swiftly from Maon territory, just as they had come.
*****
“Your Majesty, did you sleep well?”
Millie entered with wash water, then gasped when she saw me.
“Your face looks pale! Did you not sleep all night?”
She flung open the curtains, flooding the chamber with sunlight.
“Millie, look at my hand.”
“My lady?”
I held out my left hand. Millie examined it carefully, front and back.
“There’s nothing wrong.”
“Exactly. That’s the strange part.”
She looked puzzled.
“Yesterday, I had a cut on my hand. But at dawn, it disappeared.”
“How is that possible?”
“I think… I healed it.”
“What? Could it be—the healing power that vanished in your childhood—it’s returned?”
Millie, the only person in the world who knew my secret, understood at once.
“Quickly, fetch a knife.”
Though startled, she obeyed.
“What will you do with this?”
“To confirm if my power’s back, there’s no other way but to try again.”
If it truly returned, I could heal any wound immediately.
But before the blade touched my hand, Millie grabbed my wrist.
“I’ll do it instead!”
She pulled suddenly, and the knife cut into her wrist.
“Millie!!!”
Blood poured. I pressed the wound desperately.
“No, no, Millie! I’ll fetch a doctor!”
I tried to rise, but she clasped her free hand over mine.
“Your Majesty, if your healing power is back—heal me.”
“You… you believe me?”
“Of course. I do.”
Her trusting eyes brought tears to mine.
I focused on her wound. Heat swelled in my belly, light gathered at my fingertips. My right hand moved on its own to her wrist.
The energy flowed into her.
“By the heavens, Your Majesty!!!”
I swayed, breathless, as she cried out.
“The wound—it’s gone!”
Her voice grew distant as I collapsed.
*****
“Yaaahoooooo!!!”
The knights of Pritan, drenched in blood, plunged into the waters of Tooul Valley. Still wearing armor and clutching weapons, they dove into the current, leaving the water stained dark red.
Mikloc and William stood under the waterfall, letting the torrent wash the blood from their bodies.
“A battle before winter—this is convenient,” William said.
“Indeed. Soon everything will be frozen solid. Washing would be impossible then.”
Nearby, Ralph and Freddy scrubbed off together. Though they bickered constantly, they always ended up side by side.
After washing, Ralph pulled a white scarf from his chest and wiped his face. Freddy’s eyes widened, and he snatched it away.
“A scarf? You didn’t have that before! Did Mother give it to you alone?”
“Of course not.”
Ralph smirked and tugged it back.
“Then Amy? No—that can’t be. Our little angel wouldn’t play favorites!”
“Obviously. It’s not from family.”
“Then who?” Freddy glared.
Ralph grinned slyly.
“From the woman of Haren.”
“What??”
The furious shout didn’t come from Freddy—but from behind Ralph. And from not one, but two voices.
He turned to find Mikloc and William glaring at him under the waterfall, their eyes blazing.
