Chapter 86
Stella accepted Nova’s apology afterwards. They agreed that he would treat her to a cake buffet, begging until his hands and feet went numb, but since he would go bankrupt if he bought it at a café, this was the better choice.
“No, that’s applying this formula.”
“Oh, I see.”
After that, Stella frequently visited Nova’s hospital room to help him study.
Even when he was sick, she insisted that studying was essential for the future and volunteered to tutor him.
Of course, Nova had no reason to refuse. In fact, he wanted her to help him.
‘This isn’t so bad in its own way.’
“What are you laughing about?”
“Oh, I just thought the handwriting was pretty.”
“What? Focus would ya?”
“But can you really skip the Academy this often? You only come back after the morning classes.”
“I have knight department lessons in the afternoon, so there’s no more to learn, and I got permission from the teacher.”
“Really?”
This was practically beyond the privileges a student should have.
Was there really a reason to go this far just to bring Stella into the Academy?
Feeling Nova’s gaze, Stella scratched her cheek and added an explanation.
“Actually… the Academy is like a social battleground. It’s a fight to see who can recruit the best talent into their faction.”
According to Stella, recently there were continuous recruitment proposals through students.
‘Well, having an archmage like Stella as an ally would definitely increase influence.’
“So eventually, you got caught up in the power struggles of the higher-ups.”
“Hmm… that sounds like a lot of trouble.”
“You sound like it’s someone else’s problem. You’ll be like that soon enough.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard quite a few higher-ups are paying attention to you because of your recent exploits.”
“Oh… who?”
“Um… well, among the professors, you’re pretty famous. And I’ve heard that the Swordmaster is interested in you.”
“The Swordmaster…”
At the mention of the Swordmaster, Nova’s eyes turned a shade red.
The color in his eyes indicated that emotions were surfacing.
‘The Swordmaster, who is called the strongest among the top ten powers of the Empire, is interested in me? I didn’t see that coming, but I should definitely try to connect with him.’
“Do you want to learn from him?”
“Huh? Uh, well, I guess? He is the Swordmaster after all.”
“Hmm~”
Stella, who had been looking at Nova intently, returned her eyes to the textbook and murmured softly.
“I could teach you better…”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“Nothing, nothing important. By the way, vacation’s coming up soon. What are you going to do?”
“Yeah… I should at least show my face at home, right?”
“Um, um?”
“…Do you want to meet my parents?”
“Uh, um? That… uh…”
At that, Stella suddenly started fumbling, but soon buried her head deep in thought.
“Let’s go together. Mom and Dad will want to see you too.”
“Do I… even have the right to go? You know I was in the Magic Tower…”
“Even if Dad ignores it, Mom will scold you, right? She was saying something last time about how you never contact us…”
“Ugh… I see…”
“But…”
“?”
“More than that, she said she wants to see your face.”
“…”
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s a letter. Mom asked me to pass it to you when I saw you at the Academy.”
Nova pulled a letter envelope from within his clothing and handed it to Stella.
As soon as Stella saw the envelope, her shoulders flinched slightly.
She had a hunch about who wrote the letter.
“It’s a letter from my parents. It says they want to invite their ‘lost daughter’ back.”
At Nova’s words, Stella let out a small sigh.
“They’ve been sending letters since they started hearing news about you, but there hasn’t been a reply, so this time, they really hope you’ll respond.”
Nova’s parents had sent letters to Stella several times before, but each time, they were returned under the pretext of prohibiting excessive contact with outsiders.
Still, if they wanted, there were ways to keep the letters instead of returning them.
Besides, it was said they had visited the Magic Tower several times.
Strangely enough, Stella had always been absent before they arrived.
The Magic Tower is a place where people live. They wouldn’t reject a family wanting to visit.
But every time, she said she was out on missions and couldn’t meet them. It was definitely intentional evasion.
“…….”
Stella silently accepted the letter envelope held by Nova.
“Now that you’ve got it, read it right away.”
“What?”
Nova said to her as she was about to put the letter away.
“Mom said to make sure you read it yourself before leaving.”
“…….”
Stella squeezed her eyes shut at those words.
As if preparing herself, she took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
After repeating that a few times to steady herself, she took the letter out of the envelope with a determined look.
Stella’s eyes moved slowly left to right and top to bottom as she read the letter.
Her expression didn’t change at all while reading, but it was easy to see that tension had gripped her lips.
“What does it say?”
Nova quietly asked Stella, who was wiping her tears after finishing the letter.
“It says, ‘Come home and have a meal with us sometime…'”
“Is there nothing else?”
“Sniffle… nothing else.”
Stella said that and carefully folded the letter as if it were a precious item before putting it away in her pocket.
“So?”
Nova asked once more.
“Are you going to come over to my house? Stella.”
Stella stared quietly at Nova, who was smiling as he asked, and she smiled faintly in return.
“If I go after all this… I really would become a terrible person…”
*
“See you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah, I’ll be discharged soon, so you don’t need to come by anymore.”
Leaving Nova behind, while returning to the dormitory from the hospital, I suddenly thought about family.
It’s a natural enough thought, but I too had a family.
So, before coming to this world, in my first life, I had family.
Over a long time, through reincarnation and regression, I remembered and forgot many things.
The knowledge and experiences of studying to become a doctor were long forgotten.
The human brain has limits on what it can remember.
Yet, there are unforgettable memories that linger on.
Those are the memories of my deceased mother.
I don’t remember why the fire broke out that day or why I was the only one to survive.
What I do know for sure is that my mom saved me and died in the process.
I later learned that the weather that day was particularly bad.
It was reported that a lightning strike had caused the fire to break out at our home.
I hated that fact so much.
That my mother, who lived her life for others, lost hers so unjustly.
I couldn’t understand why something like that had to happen to her.
After that, I lived desperately after being sent to the orphanage.
To keep the promise I made with Mom and to show her what I couldn’t show before.
I wanted to show her that I was living happily and well, just like she did.
And then, in my second life as Stella, I gained a family again.
Nova’s parents treated me like their own child.
They cared for me, who was of uncertain origin and no one’s daughter.
Looking back on those times, I think of them as truly happy memories.
I was able to feel the affection between parent and child that I had long forgotten.
It’s clear I unconsciously filled that lack of affection there.
That’s why I was scared. The thought of never being able to meet them again.
That my existence might shatter that family too.
‘But… I won’t run away anymore.’
It’s different now; I’ve promised myself not to be afraid anymore.
Someone told me they liked me, and they promised to be with me.
So I won’t give in to despair anymore. I will move forward.
“To do that, I have to meet them.”
I decided to return to Nova’s, no, my home during this vacation to find my origin.
And even though it’s embarrassing to say, I have another purpose.
“…As a lover, I should meet the parents of my partner!”
*
The next day, I was heading to the Academy with Shia as usual.
On the way, I noticed that the people around us were unusually noisy.
“Something feels off; everyone seems…”
“Yeah… why do they keep staring at us?”
Everyone we passed was whispering, specifically about me.
“Maybe it’s because we’re so pretty?”
“No… that’s not it.”
Having lived numerous lives and seen many kinds of people, I could tell.
That was the gaze of humans, or rather, the gaze of contempt.
Something felt wrong. That uneasy feeling turned out to be true.
“Oh my… who would do this…”
My shoe rack was a complete mess.
It was stuffed with crumpled papers and food waste, so dirty that I couldn’t possibly fit a single shoe in it.
“…”
Even on the way to class, the same stares were directed at me.
“The mood feels really noisy today…”
And even when we reached the classroom, those glances followed.
Lucid stared at me with a look of disbelief.
“You… you can’t be serious, right?”
“What do you mean serious… about what?”
“Stella!”
Serena spotted me and immediately rushed over, grabbing my shoulders.
“Serena? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“Stella… no, it can’t be you…”
“What do you mean by that?”
Why is everyone acting like this today?
The next moment, Serena’s words made me frown.
“…What the heck is that supposed to mean?”
