Luna could not believe what was happening, but the pain at her throat left no doubt that it was real.
She could not connect this crazed woman with the gentle mother she remembered.
"Mother… have you been controlled…?"
Luna's mother's hands strained with all their strength, veins bulging on her arms, she truly wanted to strangle Luna, but this degree of harm meant nothing to Luna.
If Luna chose to resist, she could easily break her mother's arm.
"You damned witch! You harmed Master Mentor, you harmed everyone!"
Luna's mother screamed hysterically, her booming voice drawing others over.
"A witch? There's a witch here!"
"Quick, come! The culprit's found! It's the witch who did this to us!"
This was the normal state of the world — after years of indoctrination, people's hatred toward witches had reached an absurd height.
Luna's identity as a witch had never been exposed before, so she had not felt this.
In this moment, Luna truly felt the world's malice toward witches. Having spent so much time by Loren's side, she had been too happy, so blissful she had forgotten what being a witch meant.
"Let her go."
Loren pried Luna's mother's hands off Luna's throat. Seeing Loren, Luna's mother's expression shifted to obsequiousness:
"Master Mentor… it's all her fault… the witch harmed you… will you personally execute her now?"
Each word from Luna's mother felt like a fresh wound to Luna's heart. She knew, painfully, that her mother wasn't wrong — it was indeed her fault that Loren had been harmed.
Lies do not wound; truth is the sharp knife.
Her mother's accusation was correct: if not for her, Loren would never have gone up against the Church.
She had barely managed to suppress such thoughts, but now they surged up again.
She wondered, if she died here and took all the blame, would Loren reconcile with the Church?
Others began to egg things on, emotions running high as they cheered for Loren; they wanted Loren to personally execute Luna — no one was more fitting for such a task.
Luna looked at each familiar-yet-strange face, then at Loren, and finally her gaze fell on the Requiem at Loren's waist.
While Loren was thinking how to handle the situation, Luna suddenly grabbed the Requiem's hilt, pulled it out, and pressed it to her own throat:
"I am a witch. My Arcane Ability is to control people's hearts. I controlled Master Mentor into doing all of this!"
"What are you doing!"
Loren grabbed the Requiem's blade, his body trembling; this was the first time Luna had seen Loren so unsteady.
Blood seeped from Loren's palm. The Requiem had a protective effect for its master; otherwise that motion would have cut off Loren's fingers along with Luna's throat.
"Master Mentor…"
Luna looked at the furious Loren, tears slipping uncontrollably.
Loren suddenly snatched the Requiem away, then slapped Luna with the bloodied hand.
The sharp slap erased Luna's thoughts in an instant and quieted the crowd; what followed was a roar of cheering.
"Shut up!"
Loren turned and shouted at the people around them, and silence returned.
Tears streamed from the corners of Luna's eyes uncontrollably. She stood there stunned; Loren's slap had woken something in her.
"Listen, Luna, even if this world spits on you, I will always love you. No matter what happens, we'll get through it together, okay?"
As he spoke, Loren cupped Luna's face. The wound on his hand had already fully healed, though the blood had not yet dried.
"Mm."
Luna responded, then hugged Loren tightly.
"Kill them all or just leave?"
Loren scanned the crowd. In that instant, they felt fear.
"Just leave."
"Alright."
Loren respected Luna's choice, holding her as they flew into the sky, leaving the puzzled onlookers below.
They were silent for a long while, and in the end concluded that Loren had been controlled by Luna.
…
All the way, Luna remained silent, burying her head in Loren's chest, her tears soaking his clothes.
"Your hand…"
After a long time, Luna finally mustered the courage to speak, saying only three words.
"It's fine, the Requiem's special effect won't trigger on me. Injuries like this heal in seconds."
They were nearly reunited with the others, so Loren descended early and showed Luna his hand.
Sure enough, although Loren's hand was covered in blood, there were no wounds.
Loren cast a water magic on the spot and cleaned his hand; this magic had been given to him by Melody.
"There, not a scratch."
Saying that, Loren showed Luna his hand. He also took out a handkerchief and wiped Luna's face, which still bore traces of his blood.
After cleaning the blood away, Loren led Luna back.
That made Luna draw some inferences, and at last she voiced her thought:
"Master Mentor, every time you returned safely before, was it like this — you would fix your wounds, then act as if you were unhurt…"
"You're overthinking. There aren't many things that can harm me. Just the High Tower card alone makes the vast majority of things in this world ineffective against me…"
Loren tapped Luna's head in response.
"This was an exception."
Loren's words only made Luna feel guiltier. In the past, no matter what powerful foe he faced, Loren never got hurt — this time he had been dragged down because of her…
She didn't voice those thoughts; she didn't want to burden Loren further.
Loren held Luna's hand and returned to the main group.
"Master Mentor!"
At the sight of Loren again, Anna rushed and hugged him.
Anna did not ask Loren why he hadn't brought back Luna's parents. Since they hadn't been brought back, it obviously meant the outcome was bad.
If she had continued to ask, it would only make Luna recall painful things.
"Let's rest here today. Out in the wild is safer than inside the town right now."
Loren ruffled Anna's hair and smiled:
"The damned Church crashed our Christmas dinner. You're hungry, right? Eat first."
"Okay…"
Anna smiled in reply. Wherever Loren was, that place was home. Whether in a villa or stranded in the wilderness.
As long as Loren remained, she would still be the happiest little girl in the world.
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