“Although Ken Territory nominally belongs to the Holy Empire, it is not under direct imperial jurisdiction. The Ken Family is the master of this land, and the rulers were Terence Ken and his wife, Margaret.”
Her voice was a bit dry at first, but it gradually steadied as she spoke of these past events.
“Terence was neither a competent lord nor a decent husband. He had mistresses all over the territory and never cherished Margaret. She gave birth to a daughter early on, but the baby died before she was even a month old, and she never conceived again. Everyone in the territory knew that once Terence died, the Ken Family would have no legitimate heir.”
“Then Terence actually died. A sudden illness—only three days from onset to his final breath. Once he was gone, everyone began coveting the position of ruler. Everyone claimed to be the most legitimate heir, and everyone pressured Margaret to step down.”
“And then Margaret brought forward a child.” Her gaze fell upon Darian.
“She claimed it was Terence’s illegitimate child who had been lost to the world. On the day she verified the child's identity, she displayed a bloodline certificate in front of all the representatives of the branch families. That certificate bore the stamp of the Beacon Tower, so no one dared to question it.”
“That child was Darian.”
“Darian was born in St. Mary’s Tavern.” Her voice softened here, and her eyes swept over the surrounding women, a faint smile gracing her lips.
“Her mother, Mason, didn't know who the father was. She passed away shortly after giving birth to Darian. We spent all our savings to hire the best physician in town, but we still couldn't save her.”
She paused, as if suppressing some emotion, before continuing.
“Darian grew up in the tavern, and we raised her disguised as a boy. It wasn't that we intentionally wanted to change her gender, but a boy could run errands, carry cargo, and attend to guests in the lobby without being gossiped about. A boy simply had more paths in life.”
A round-faced woman sitting next to Agathe, Sweet, took over the conversation. She was in her early thirties, with a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. Her voice was raspy yet gentle.
“People like us come from poor backgrounds, earning a living by serving others, looked down upon our entire lives. But Darian was different. She was so smart, so clever—all of us felt she deserved a better future.”
Agathe nodded and continued, “When she was ten years old, a lady came here. She wore a noblewoman's gown and a veil, with four servants following behind her. When she walked into the tavern, we thought she was here to cause trouble.”
“But she said, ‘Darian is my husband's illegitimate child who was lost to the world. I am taking her back.’”
“We thought this would be better for Darian’s future. After all, the Ken Family was nobility. They could provide her with a life free of worries, let her go to school and learn to read, and spare her from being trapped in a place like this for the rest of her life.”
“So we all went along with it, and even helped forge the evidence. On the day Darian left, she wore the new clothes the lady had brought and stood at the tavern door to say goodbye to us. Those clothes looked so grand on her.”
Agathe raised a hand to wipe the corner of her eye, as if brushing away something that shouldn't be there.
“In the years that followed, Darian would return every once in a while. She said Margaret treated her very well, teaching her to read, write, and practice etiquette. She said Margaret was a very powerful person who suppressed the power-hungry relatives one by one and kept Ken Territory in perfect order. Her eyes shone brightly when she spoke of this, so I knew she must admire Lady Margaret deeply.”
“When she was fifteen, she returned for the last time and told us, ‘I’m going to learn magic! Once I succeed, I’ll come back and bring all of you to the manor, and no one will ever dare bully you again.’”
Agathe mimicked Darian’s tone, an unconscious smile appearing on her face.
“For the next six years, we never received any news from her. We only heard that a highly gifted mage on the Plains of Truth had been favored by a Sage and taken to the Holy City. We asked around, and we were all overjoyed when we learned it was Darian.”
Darian just sat there quietly, her eyes resting on the side of Agathe's face. She didn't make any deliberate expression, but a faint curl remained at the corner of her mouth.
Seeing Agathe turn to look at her, she took over the conversation, her tone turning light. “Most of what I told you about my time in the Mage Association is true. I didn't lie to you.”
She gave a smug grin. “Orphee took me from the Tower of Stars on the Plains of Truth simply because he didn't have any highly talented apprentices under him. He later found out I was a girl, but he didn't make a scene about it and even helped me cover it up. He thought he had grasped a useful blade, not realizing that fools shouldn't play with knives.”
“At the beginning, I wasn't willing to go to the Mage Association. I said I didn't want to go, I didn't want to leave St. Mary's Tavern, I didn't want to leave Ken Territory, and I didn't want to be some mage. I just wanted to stay here.”
Darian’s gaze drifted toward the oil lamp on the ceiling of the basement that was about to burn out, the orange-red flame dancing in her eyes.
“Margaret said, ‘Do you think this world gives women a second path? You either climb up, climb high enough that no one can touch you and those you want to protect, or you stay here and wait to be crushed. You can hide in St. Mary’s Tavern today, behind the city walls of Ken Territory, behind me and those women, but can you hide for a lifetime?’”
Darian fell silent for a moment, then spread her hands, giving a helpless smile.
“I was still young back then, so I was intimidated. She spoke so earnestly, and her expression was so serious, as if the world would end if I didn't go.”
She shrugged. “Thinking about it now, how high could I have climbed anyway? How many people could I actually protect?”
The flame in the oil lamp flickered slightly, casting shifting shadows across her face.
“I defected because I saw a secret letter.”
“Orphee had me look for something for him, and I accidentally... well, actually, it was intentional. I've been on guard against those bastards for a long time. I took the opportunity to find a secret letter hidden in a concealed compartment. It was stamped with the highest secrecy seal of the Beacon Tower, and it detailed unusual movements in the corrupted wasteland, stating that preparations were being made to suppress it.”
“The specific suppression plan wasn't clearly stated in the letter, but that idiot Orphee had me handle too many documents. By piecing everything together, I managed to reconstruct the general process.”
Darian’s voice turned a few degrees colder here.
“They plan to use a forbidden-spell-class ritual, sacrificing a massive number of lives to forcibly suppress the expansion of the corrupted wasteland.”
Wu Yao’s gaze fell upon Darian’s face.
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