Chapter 82 [The Past]
Erin and Erica are twins, but their personalities are very different.
Erin, the older sister, is gentle and easygoing, while Erica, the younger sister, is incredibly stubborn and often argues with her own mother.
Even as soon as she came of age, Erika couldn't wait to move out, only occasionally returning to have dinner with her family to reassure them that she was alive and well and nothing had happened to her.
Therefore, no one expected that when Eileen decided to leave, she would be even harder to persuade than Erica.
Why do you want to leave?
Erica lay on the bed, turned to her side, and chatted with Erin, just like they had when they were children.
"Well... because I want to see the outside world."
Eileen smiled and gently brushed away the stray hairs that had fallen in front of Erica's eyes.
“I’m not as obsessed with being a witch as you are, spending my days studying spells and brewing new potions from the notes of my predecessors. I’d rather be an ordinary person and see the people and things outside the village. I imagine that would be very fresh and interesting.”
"Since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you."
Erica could tell from Erin's shining eyes that she really wanted to leave.
"Remember to come back and visit your aunt's family often," Eileen added.
"Okay, I know." Erica turned back impatiently, closed her eyes, and indicated that she was going to sleep.
Eileen smiled slightly, turned over, and fell asleep with her back to Erica.
The next day at daybreak, Eileen left.
After that, Erica learned intermittently from Erin's letters where she had gone, what interesting people she had met, and what new and interesting things she had encountered, until one day, Erin told her in a letter:
Dear Erica, I've met someone I like and I don't plan to leave anymore. If you miss me, you can come find us here.
Erica glanced at the address Erin had left at the end of the letter, pursed her lips, and made no intention of going to visit Erin.
Unlike Eileen, even though she was raised by her aunt's family, who were ordinary people, she didn't yearn for an ordinary life, let alone find a man to live a peaceful life with.
That's not a witch at all.
Therefore, when Erica arrived at Erin's place two years later, she was so angry that she wanted to point her finger at Erin and give her a good scolding.
In fact, when Eileen explained why she had hurriedly called Erica over, Erica couldn't help but scold her:
"Are you crazy? Why would I use astrology to change the fate of a man I've never even met? He's dead, so what? You can just find someone you like."
Eileen gave a wry smile. "Erica, love isn't as simple as you think. I will only ever love Raod in my life."
“Besides,” Eileen touched her already protruding belly, “my little Yuri is due in a month. For her sake, please help her father, okay?”
"What a load of rubbish!" Erika was so angry at Erin's words that she wanted to pry open Erin's head to see what was inside.
Eileen was able to abandon her sister without hesitation, so why couldn't she abandon this man named Laod? Is love more important than the bond between the sisters?
"Erika... Sister, please... If it weren't for my inability to do this, I wouldn't have specifically called you here," Eileen pleaded earnestly.
With Eileen's rudimentary level of astrology, she could only see that Laod would encounter a life-threatening accident on his trip, but she couldn't help him avoid this disaster.
"Since you knew he would die if he went out, why didn't you stop him in the first place? You could have just kept him from going out altogether," Erica said coldly.
Eileen's eyes dimmed, and she gently shook her head. "I've tried to persuade Laod many times to stay and watch the baby be born."
"But he said that he had to go because our child was about to be born. He needed to know who the biological father was who had abandoned him and his mother in Glorious Town all these years. He didn't want our child to continue to bear the stigma of being a 'bastard'."
“Laod is a very good person, but because he was born without a father, the people in town look down on him and his mother, and the children like to bully him. Under these circumstances, he finally got news about his biological father, so how could I bear to continue to stop him?”
As Eileen spoke, her eyes were already brimming with tears.
Her appearance made Erica turn her head away immediately.
She didn't know this guy named Laod, so she wouldn't feel sorry for the girl group for a stranger like her sister, who was blinded by love.
"So you'd rather trouble your own sister than not save that man?" Erica impatiently revealed the truth, even rolling her eyes.
However, Erin was, after all, her older sister who had grown up with her since childhood, and Erika softened her heart. "Alright, alright, I'll help you this time."
“However,” Erica said, “you must give me the child you give birth to to take back with you.”
This is also why Erica was willing to come to see Erin; she wanted to take Erin's child back to raise.
A witch's child will naturally be a witch, but Eileen obviously can only live an ordinary life with her child. How can that be? Even if Eileen's child plans to follow in her mother's footsteps and find an ordinary man to be with when he grows up, that's a matter for later.
Before that, Erica must take on the responsibility of the elder witch and raise the unborn little witch to adulthood.
“Okay, I understand. Once Yuriel is born, you can take her away.” Eileen touched her belly reluctantly, but she knew that this was a tradition among witches.
"Is her name Yuriel?"
Seeing that Eileen had agreed, Erica's expression softened slightly, and she even had the mood to reach out and touch Eileen's stomach to feel the weight of the child beneath the skin.
“That’s right, this is the name I gave her after discussing it with Laod. Yuriel means hope,” Eileen said with a smile, her crescent-shaped eyes overflowing with maternal love.
Erica, however, didn't like the name. "It's just another church-related thing."
Hope and dawn are names the church loves to use.
But since neither the child's father nor mother had any objections, Erica, as the aunt, could only grumble and express her opinion.
Eileen smiled but didn't say anything.
They were all waiting for night to fall.
Only with stars can one use astrology to glimpse the fate of others.
A powerful witch like Erika can even influence the direction of stars, alter fate, and save those destined to die.
After doing all this, Erica stayed in Erin's house for a while until a month later, when Yuriel was born, she left without looking back, holding the child.
“Every day since then, I’ve been so glad I took you away. Otherwise, you would have ended up like your mother, imprisoned and tortured in the church’s dungeon by that beast in human form,” Erica said calmly.
This is the one thing she has done most without regret in all these years.
What she regretted most was not taking Eileen away with her, but instead letting her continue to be with Laod.
So when Erica received another message from Irene six months later, her eyes were filled with burning rage.
She entrusted Yuriel to the care of her friend, who was also a witch, thinking that if she didn't return alive from the trip to the royal city, at least Yuriel wouldn't be left without anyone to teach her in the future.
"It's not entirely accurate to say that the message came from Eileen, because the person who told me that Eileen was imprisoned in the church dungeon was actually Elia," Erica continued, calmly dropping another bombshell.
However, it also successfully answered the question that had been lingering in Mela's mind. So that's how it is. No wonder Erica was willing to work for Elia, and even to be driven by her to kill Fernanki, who was far away in Furhorst.
"So when you went to the capital, your mother was still alive, right?" Yuriel asked, stunned.
Erica was surprised that Yuriel would notice this, and she was also stunned for a moment before saying, "That's right. When I sneaked into the church dungeon, Eileen was already on the verge of death from torture, but she had her last breath to tell me to make sure you were well hidden with her."
"After escaping death, Laod learned about the existence of witches from Eileen, and also learned that powerful witches could change other people's fates—he wanted to find me, and he also wanted to find you, to help him become the new pope directly."
At this point, Erica sneered, "At this time, he was just one of the old pope's many illegitimate sons, and his mother's background was so ordinary. For him to want to become pope was nothing short of a pipe dream."
But the existence of Erika and Yuriel undoubtedly became a desperate hope in Laod's eyes.
"Hope," Erica thought, looking at Yuriel with a complicated expression. She hadn't expected that Yuriel would actually become the hope her father spoke of.
"Did Mother... say anything else at the end?" Yuriel asked, unwilling to give up.
Of course there was, but Erika didn't intend to tell Yuriel; it was a private conversation between the sisters.
It was Eileen who apologized to her, knowing full well the danger, but still hoping she would risk coming to see her one last time.
Eileen regretted being the older sister and causing her younger sister so much trouble.
Eileen said that love is not wrong, but she just happened to love the wrong person.
As the memories became clearer, Erika slowly closed her eyes to prevent tears from welling up.
Yuriel also fell silent.
"So how did you get injured back then?" The only person who could remain calm at this moment was Mela.
She remembered the severe wound on Erika's abdomen when they first met.
“Oh, that’s because I tried to kill Laod to avenge Eileen, which alerted the entire church and the guards of the royal city. I barely escaped,” Erica said casually.
In fact, if it weren't for her injury and fear of dying on the way, Erica wouldn't have taken the detour to Fister Territory, thinking that there seemed to be a herb near White Pine Town that she had only seen in her journal.
Even if she were to die, she wanted to see this herb, to end her regrets before she died.
As a result, he accidentally ran into Mela and fell for her trick.
"Tsk."
Thinking of this, Erica clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, and the sadness in her heart immediately receded like a tide, leaving only the displeasure of having her talent surpassed by Mela.
Erica has always believed herself to be the most powerful witch of all time.
But Mela made her realize that she wasn't.
Even Erica couldn't possibly have mastered the Sleeping Charm after hearing it only once, let alone successfully used it.
Not to mention that Meera wasn't a real witch at the time.
In response, Mela proudly raised her chin, and even had time to comfort Yuriel, "Look, even your aunt can't compare to me, it's normal that your talent is not as good as mine, so don't be jealous of me anymore."
Upon hearing this, Yuriel instantly cast aside her sadness and grief, feeling only an urge to clench her fists.
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