Episode 3. Lanael Was Happy
Lanael had always been a hardworking child. Because she and her family were always running from the Irbeths, every time she grew attached to a place, they had to move again. Her family didn’t have much money, so she could never buy the pretty hairpin with the little flower she wanted. But none of that made her childhood unhappy.
Her father was gentle, and her mother was kind. Her younger sister, Erna, was mischievous but adorable. They never had enough to eat, but the cookies her father sometimes brought home were sweet. Lanael was happy.
When she was ten, her father left for spirit work in the Monster Forest and never returned. She, her mother, and Erna waited in the last village they moved to for four years, unable to leave.
But Lanael found her smile again quickly. Whenever she missed her father, she would look up at the sky. Seeing a bird fly by made her think of him and smile. She was still happy.
When she turned sixteen, her mother also passed away, leaving only Lanael and little Erna behind. Lanael cried her eyes out, but she soon wiped her tears.
“Lanael, we can still be happy. Happiness is something you choose.”
Her mother’s warm voice stayed in her heart.
“I am happy,” Lanael would whisper, almost like a spell. And just like magic, she really did feel happy—no matter what the situation was.
More days came when they were hungry. Lanael and Erna were still too young to do much, but villagers gave them small chores like laundry or cleaning and paid them a few coins.
It was a poor village where everyone struggled to survive, but they couldn’t ignore the poor orphan sisters.
“Lanael, share this with Erna.”
When kind Aunt Bella from next door handed her bread, Lanael hugged it to her chest and ran down the hill to share it with Erna. They ate every last crumb, licking the bits from their lips, and afterward, Lanael still felt happy.
Cold days were many. Their wooden hut let snow blow in through the cracks. When winter winds shook the house, the girls’ noses turned red inside. They piled all their clothes on the bed and curled up under them.
“Big sis… it’s too cold to sleep.”
“Come here. Let’s sleep hugging each other.”
Little Erna burrowed into her arms. Their shared warmth was precious. Ah… this is happiness, Lanael thought, always falling asleep with a smile.
Bang! Bang!!
The loud shaking of the little hut pulled Lanael out of a sweet dream. Someone was pounding on their door like they meant to break it down.
Four years had passed since her mother died. Lanael, now freshly twenty, was happy. She had been working as a spirit user and earning a decent amount. Not a fortune, but enough to buy Erna a pretty hairpin and soft bread.
Lanael quickly pushed her messy hair back and checked her nightgown before throwing on a shawl. She couldn’t think of anyone who would visit this early in the morning.
“Who is it?”
The noise at the door didn’t stop. It wasn’t one person. Several footsteps. Lanael froze halfway to the door.
She looked back at Erna, still sleeping. A terrible feeling crawled up her spine. She clutched her shawl tightly at her chest without realizing it.
Crash!
The small hut door broke easily. Cold morning air rushed inside along with the uninvited intruders.
“We found them.”
“So you were hiding here, you filthy rats.”
Huge men, tall enough that their heads nearly touched the ceiling, pushed in roughly.
“Who are you?! What’s going on?!”
Lanael screamed, her voice sharp with fear.
“Sis!”
Erna woke up crying and shaking.
There were five intruders. They kicked the table aside and walked toward Lanael threateningly. She whispered softly under her breath.
“Nahar, help me. But don’t show yourself.”
The moment she finished speaking, water poured down from above onto the man closest to her.
“Argh! Damn it, we got the right one. She’s a spirit user.”
More water came crashing down on all of them, forming a heavy torrent that pushed them toward the doorway. Lanael and Erna watched as the men were swept helplessly out the only door.
“Erna, go! Run!”
While the men were still disoriented, the sisters ran toward the door—but a rough hand punched through the falling water and yanked Lanael by her hair. One man had been clinging to the doorframe and grabbed her.
“Let go of me!”
Lanael had never fought using spirit power before. As a spirit user, she had only ever purified dirty water or watered dry fields. Peaceful work. Ordinary work that suited her simple life.
And spirit users had a strict rule:
The First Law, made when the first spirit users signed their contracts with the Spirit Kings:
Do not take a human life with spirit power.
Not that Lanael could ever kill anyone anyway. She couldn’t even cut off a fish head without shutting her eyes.
“Aaah! Big sis!!”
The man with a long scar beside his eye twisted Lanael’s arm and slammed her head into the dirt floor. Meanwhile, the others—now recovered—caught Erna easily.
“Erna!”
Erna struggled like a tiny bird hit by an arrow. Lanael reached toward her desperately as her consciousness faded.
When she came to, she was lying on cold stone.
“Erna? Erna!”
She groped blindly in the dark, calling her sister’s name. Her fingers touched hair. As her eyes adjusted, she saw Erna lying on the ground.
“Erna! Are you okay?”
She shook her gently. Erna opened her eyes with difficulty.
“Sis?”
“Yes, Erna. I’m here.”
Relief made Lanael exhale shakily. She couldn’t lose the last family she had left. She finally looked around. They were inside a metal cage.
No sunlight. Only a faint torch glowed in the hallway far away. The damp, moldy smell pricked her nose, but complaining was impossible in this situation.
No guard was in sight. Only drops of water falling and the two sisters’ breathing filled the silence.
“Nahar! Nahar! Help us!”
Lanael called desperately for her oldest friend, the spirit Nahar—but he didn’t answer. Not once in her life had he ignored her. Fear crawled down her spine.
“Nahar! Where are you?! Save us!”
No response.
“Aaaah! Sister!!”
As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Erna suddenly screamed and buried herself in Lanael’s arms.
“Sis, over there… bones… human bones…”
Erna clung to Lanael with shaking hands. At the corner of the cage, leaning against the wall, was a skeleton—long dead.
Lanael felt tears sting her eyes, but Erna was already gagging and crying. Lanael forced herself to be strong.
“I-It’s okay. It’s okay. Big sis is here. Don’t cry.”
Her own hands trembled as she patted Erna’s back. She already knew where they were.
Irbeth Duke’s estate.
Her mother had warned her on her deathbed:
“Never get caught. Don’t let them know you are Nahar’s contractor. Don’t let them know you are Seran’s daughter. If you ever meet anyone from Irbeth… run.”
But there had been no chance to run.
Lanael tried to think of a way out. Her head throbbed. Her forehead had been cut when she was slammed into the ground; dried blood stuck to her golden hair.
Then she heard it—the squeak of a door opening down the hall. Footsteps approached. Erna stopped crying and curled up. Fear filled the air.
“You’re awake.”
Two people appeared. The blond man with blue eyes looked frighteningly similar to their father, Seran. At a glance, he could be mistaken for him. Lanael recognized him instantly.
The Duke of Irbeth.
She hugged Erna tighter. The person her mother told her to fear most was right in front of her. There was nowhere to run.
His eyes were sharp and cold, the corners lifted slightly. His blue eyes slithered over the two crouched sisters like a snake ready to swallow them.
“The older one looks like Seran. The younger one looks like that maid. I knew that bastard was rotten, but this is new. Even after all that torture, he kept insisting he had no children—and yet he made two.”
His cold voice echoed through the dark hallway. Standing beside him was the man who had broken their hut door and smashed Lanael’s head into the ground. She recognized him by the scar near his eye.
“Duke, that blond girl is definitely a spirit user. I didn’t see any spirit form, but she used water.”
He had been vicious while capturing them, but now he stood politely at the Duke’s side. Lanael couldn’t say a single word. She could only gasp for breath.
