The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 130

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 130

“You…”

Ethan stared at her blankly as if seeing something unfamiliar. Hanna gave him her attention.

“Ethan, you also took the young lady as your master according to the oath, right? Was it ever difficult to obey the young lady? Did she ever give unreasonable orders?”

“…There weren’t any, not once.”

“Then you’ll understand.”

Hanna smiled. Her freckled nose bridge wrinkled slightly.

“I will stake my life for the young lady.”

“…”

“So teach me. How I should do it. What I need to learn, everything.”

Ethan fell into a long silence.

The being he had barely paid attention to, viewing only with slight guilt and great awkwardness, appeared different for the first time.

She boldly stepped into the narrow circle of his human relationships and became clearly recognized. She became a ‘person’ that he knew.

Countless civilians, generally desperate to survive and acting only on instinct, superficial humans – by Ethan Pascal’s standards, such people were one indistinguishable mass with no reason to differentiate.

They could become beasts at any time.

Even if they pretended to be good for now, they would immediately turn evil when their own situation became urgent. They would throw even the children they had been caring for to demons if their own lives were in danger. They would cry in gratitude for being saved, then turn around and steal food.

When caught, they would scream that they had no choice, that you would do the same in their situation.

To Ethan, ordinary people seemed fundamentally no different from those who had chosen to eat human flesh but lacked confidence in their judgment, forcing pieces of flesh into his mouth saying let’s eat together.

Those who could only feel at ease when everyone was at their level, who thought it wasn’t wrong if done together, who thought it was okay because everyone would be just like them, who absolutely never blamed themselves.

Those who would change their ideology and bend their will depending on circumstances and environment, who would make choices but didn’t want to take responsibility, who were only busy satisfying their instincts and desires without any consistent beliefs.

Humans were all beasts once you peeled back just one layer. At least that’s how it looked to Ethan.

However, there were also ‘people’ in the world who chose the direction of their lives with clear will and principles and took responsibility for it.

If he hadn’t met such people, Ethan would never have interacted with humans. He might have lived considering all humans as beasts and killing them without hesitation.

At this moment, the being called Hanna separated from that mass called humanity and rose to the same level as the few ‘people’ Ethan truly treated with sincerity. It was the first time since his Beacon colleagues.

Ethan didn’t properly recognize the change in his perception.

He just vaguely felt it. That he would never be able to forget or ignore the woman called ‘Hanna’ now.

He barely managed to speak.

“The training will be hard.”

“I’m prepared.”

“It’ll be even more intense because it’s short-term, and it’ll be more terrible because you don’t even have the basics. Even with that training, you’ll barely be able to function as a basic Oathbinder, you won’t become strong overnight.”

“I know.”

“I absolutely won’t go easy on you. Once we start, it won’t matter if you whine that you can’t do it.”

“I said I know. Ethan, do you really not trust me that much? To you it might look like some clueless kid recklessly acting up, but in my own way, I really thought hard and mustered great courage to—”

“Fuck, I know, I get it. That your determination is fucking real.”

Ethan cut off her words and roughly rubbed his face. Hanna mumbled then said quietly.

“Th, that, Ethan.”

“What.”

“Um… could you tone down the swearing a bit? At least when talking to me…”

“What?”

“It’s a little, a little scary… I’m timid like that. When you were disguised, you only used gentle words. So affectionately and kindly… you can talk like that too.”

She couldn’t look at him directly and continued speaking with her head deeply bowed, fidgeting with her fingers.

“Of course I know now that back then you… mistook me for the young lady.”

The sound of Ethan roughly inhaling could be heard. Still, Hanna didn’t raise her head.

“The things you said… about being mistaken, about me making you misunderstand, about not recognizing the real one right in front of you… those words, I finally understand what they meant.”

Hanna’s shoulders shook greatly.

When Lillieta introduced Ethan. When she learned they had known each other for a long time. When she realized they had recently reunited after being separated for some reason.

When she figured out that reunion was probably the moment Ethan suddenly changed and took her job to enter the reception room. When she noticed from peeking inside that Ethan’s gaze and expression when looking at Lillieta were different.

Since she knew Lillieta hadn’t gone missing in her original body but only her soul had gone elsewhere, since she had to know she was the one who put young Lillieta in the coffin in the lake.

Hanna combined all of that with the words Ethan had left behind to guess what had happened. Ironically, only after her lingering feelings for Ethan disappeared could she see the connection clearly.

“The body the young lady used for the past 10 years… resembled me, right? That’s why you mistook me for the young lady… you were kind to me thinking I was the young lady. So, I’m not asking you to treat me as specially as back then, just tone down the swearing a little…”

“…You fu-, no, damn, anyway don’t ever say stuff about being short-sighted again.”

“Huh?”

“No, you are a bit stupid though. Hey, do you think I don’t swear at all and only speak gently in front of Rita? Don’t be mistaken, I curse even more in front of her. What’s the point of putting on airs when we’ve seen each other’s rock bottom. Shi…”

Ethan, who had been speaking as thoughts came to him, barely swallowed the curse that slipped out and abruptly stood up.

“Tomorrow.”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll use the scales tomorrow then make the oath, so decide what kind of oath you’ll make by tomorrow.”

“Not doing it now?”

“Where did you hear that once you make an oath you can’t change it? Think carefully for at least a day about what to do it with. And, fu… no, damn… I’m sorry about before.”

Ethan tousled his hair and apologized as if throwing it away, then left the room in an instant. It was fast enough to mistake for fleeing.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like that?’

Left alone, Hanna sat there dazed then slowly got up from her seat.

‘Still, he’s trying to listen when I asked him not to swear.’

It was a bit unexpected. The sudden apology was unexpected too.

However, Ethan’s presence had long since faded within Hanna. She quickly pushed the handsome trash’s strange behavior out of her mind and became absorbed in other thoughts.

All sorts of thoughts floated through her head while she habitually moved her body and worked. The thought that stayed longest was about the content of the oath.

‘A vow to keep for life…’

Nothing particular came to mind. It would be more accurate to say she wasn’t confident she could properly keep it.

‘If you break it, it hurts terribly, and if you keep breaking it, the oath is nullified and you become a cripple. Scary.’

Something trivial, like never eating cherry jam again, seemed like something she could keep for life, but with such an oath she probably wouldn’t become a proper Oathbinder.

Even lying in bed after the day ended, her worries didn’t stop. Without anything that felt right, amid the confusion, one idea gradually became clearer. As a kind of example.

‘The oath Ethan made…’

If you could choose your master yourself, wouldn’t that oath be pretty good too? Since it’s a big constraint, the effect would probably be good too.

‘Besides, in my situation… wouldn’t making an oath be better than trusting some old magical tool called scales or whatever?’

If by any chance she got possessed again, wouldn’t an oath of loyalty protect both herself and the young lady much better than some magical tool?

‘Looking at Ethan, that oath doesn’t seem to be much of a constraint if you make Lillieta the master.’

Having such thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.

When she suddenly woke to a chilling sensation, her body was moving on its own.

‘Just like 10 years ago!’

Her body, which had gotten up from bed by itself, was trying to leave the room. Her body wouldn’t listen. Hanna was terrified.

‘Why tonight of all nights! Tomorrow will be different! I don’t want this!’

As she struggled with all her might and resisted, she felt as if whatever had settled inside her clicked its tongue in annoyance.

‘I really hate this, it’s horrible, not twice!’

In extreme terror, Hanna felt the intuition that this was her last chance before that thing pulled more tricks.

‘What I can do now…!’

An oath, she had to make an oath.

She struggled with all her strength and knocked over the water glass on the bedside table with her hand.

“Draw a pattern on your palm with your own blood, then place that hand on your neck and recite the oath incantation while making your vow, and the oath will be formed.”

“But honestly, this is a method developed separately by some bastards who wanted to mass-produce fucking Oathbinders for those with weak will… actually, if you have proper will, formalities don’t matter much. Originally, the early Oathbinders awakened just fine without patterns or incantations.”

The content Ethan had taught her about oaths came to mind. However, Hanna wasn’t confident her will was strong enough.

‘Somehow get blood and draw the oath pattern…!’

Just as she was about to grab a shard of the broken cup, something in her head bound her more strongly. Like when she was young, when that thing completely took over her when she couldn’t properly follow its words.

‘No, no!’

In the end, she couldn’t even get blood on herself and her consciousness became hazy.

‘Why do these things only happen to me? I just wanted to live an ordinary life…’

She seemed to cry a little from feeling wronged and sad.

Then she suddenly came to her senses. Because a dazzling golden light was flickering before her eyes.

Lillieta was looking at her with surprised eyes.

‘Miss!’

Even if it was unintentional, she was someone who had already betrayed her once. The result of that betrayal was 10 years of disappearance and countless sorrows.

She couldn’t betray her twice. She couldn’t harm that person again. She didn’t want to!

The fierce rejection created a momentary opening for her. Hanna bit down hard on her tongue with her regained body.

The taste of blood filled her mouth.

Hoping that this blood would help instead of the crest. Desperately wishing that even insignificant herself had proper will.

And so, she challenged the oath.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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