"L-Liar..."
As Ismera stammered, Nierta shook her head.
"It's not a lie. It's the truth."
"That can't be... It's impossible..."
"Ismera."
"Why is everyone doing this..."
Ismera swatted away Nierta's hand as she tried to hold hers.
"Why are you doing this to me... Please stop, really... Why are you all so desperate to torment me..."
"That's not what I meant..."
"No!!"
Ismera ran out of the tent.
"Huh? Professor!"
"No, Sir Dian."
Nierta came out after me as I was about to chase after Ismera and stopped me.
"Don't follow her. Let Ismera be alone right now."
"Will she be alright?"
"She'll be fine. Right now, Ismera isn't acting this way because she doesn't believe your identity, but because she can't accept it."
"Is that so... It doesn't seem like there's anything to accept or not. It's just a fact."
"Not for Ismera. Because Ismera disliked you, Sir Dian."
"Well, that's true, but..."
"From Ismera's perspective, this must be maddening. The person she's been hating all this time turns out to be the one who saved her life."
"I see."
"Ismera is strict with herself, sensitive, and lacks flexibility in her personality."
Nierta smiled gently.
"She must be feeling regret and guilt about how she's treated you, self-loathing, and anger and confusion about this tangled situation."
"Hmm, yes..."
"Ismera has always been like that. Leave her be for now. Give her time to sort things out and understand her own feelings."
"I suppose so..."
Following Nierta's suggestion, I watched Ismera's retreating figure as she disappeared into the forest.
I wonder where she's going.
# # # # #
About ten years ago, that summer was exceptionally hot.
Outside the Great Forest, war was raging between demons and humans, and those patrolling the forest occasionally brought news of battles occurring on the outskirts.
However, the elves didn't feel particularly threatened by this.
The Great Forest was located within the vast Tiraelen Forest, and there was no reason for demons, humans, or any other intelligent species to come all the way here to start a battle.
This Great Forest of Tiraelen was a safe and cozy sanctuary from the rough and barbaric world outside.
So young Ismera, rather than feeling fear or terror about the war, only complained about the intense summer heat.
"It's so hot. I wonder if I might melt."
"Melt? Then I'll have to put you in a pretty bottle and keep you on a shelf."
When Ismera, who had her feet in the pond, grumbled, her friend Nierta laughed brightly.
This was a small pond in the forest, far from the Great Forest.
It was a secret place known only to Ismera and Nierta, where they often came to escape the nagging of the tribe's adults.
"I'm not joking. It's really hot. I don't want to do anything and I'm just irritated."
"But heat isn't necessarily bad, Ismera. When summer is hot, fruits become sweeter."
"It wasn't this hot last year, but the fruits were still sweet."
"Then this year they'll be even sweeter than last year."
Ismera couldn't help but smile at Nierta's endlessly positive attitude.
Unlike other strict and rigid elves, Nierta had an unusually gentle and kind personality.
She was an inseparable best friend to the sensitive Ismera.
"By the way, war in this weather. I really can't understand. Did they go crazy from the heat?"
"It was a war that had to break out eventually."
Nierta said, looking around the forest.
"The outside species don't enjoy abundance like we do. So they take from each other."
"Hmph. If they ate fruits and plants like us, everyone could be happy."
"That might work for us, but if other species ate like that, they'd probably lose strength and die. If you saw demons or orcs, you'd forget that thought immediately."
"Why? What are they like?"
"You've seen the ogres living in the forest, right? They're just a bit smaller than that."
"That's supposed to be an intelligent species? Isn't that almost a monster?! You're lying to me!"
"It's true! Look over there. They look just like..."
Nierta stopped mid-sentence as she pointed across the pond.
Huge silhouettes flashed between the trees.
With their keen elven eyesight, Ismera and Nierta quickly realized they were armed soldiers with goat-like horns on their heads.
"D-Demons..."
"Ismera. Get up. Quickly...!"
Nierta jumped up and roughly pulled Ismera to her feet.
Hot flames began to rise behind the elves as they fled toward the Great Forest.
"Gasp?!"
Ismera woke with a start, twisting her body and opening her eyes quickly.
After catching her breath and looking around hastily, she leaned back against the tree with a sigh of relief.
She was now at a small pond on the outskirts, away from the Great Forest.
It was the secret pond where she and Nierta used to hide from the nagging of the Great Forest elders when they were young.
After leaving the tent, she had run mindlessly and unconsciously ended up here.
The pond, which had completely dried up during the Demon King's army's attack ten years ago, was fortunately filled with water again.
Of course, it wasn't as beautiful as it had been then, sparkling like a hidden gem amidst the thick undergrowth.
This was a place she always visited to soak her feet when she needed peace of mind.
That's why Ismera had sat down by the pond, leaned against a tree to catch her breath, and carelessly fallen asleep.
It had been around noon when she left the tent, but now it was already late evening with dusk settling in.
Considering it was late summer, quite a lot of time must have passed.
I should head back now...
But Ismera couldn't bring herself to get up.
The thought of returning and facing Dian again made her inner self churn like a stormy sea.
Dian was the one who saved me back then...
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Dian had already told her the truth several times, both directly and indirectly.
And during the competition, Professor Dian and the mage Kaiden had conversed comfortably as if they had known each other for a very long time.
But at that time, Ismera was too shocked by her job reassignment to have the capacity to question it.
Plus, there was Nierta's testimony. And if needed, Lord Linus's verification as well.
Ismera might be proud and not particularly sociable, but she wasn't stubborn enough to ignore what was clearly in front of her.
Rather, being more rational than emotional, by this point Ismera was already starting to believe that Dian's words weren't just fabrications.
However, the reason she ran away instead of thanking Dian was simply because it was Dian.
Ismera disliked Dian.
From his first appointment, Dian had upset Ismera with his various eccentricities, and the fact that all those eccentricities brought good results made her even more frustrated.
To Ismera, a rigid elf, Dian was an unruly human who used the Imperial Castle and Security Office as backing to take shortcuts through everything with cunning.
She had complaints about his every action, and his very existence made her uncomfortable.
How could she not dislike someone like that suddenly appearing and standing in her way?
But now to learn that he was the person to whom she owed her life—this was a paradox she simply couldn't accept.
If only she hadn't known, or if she could have continued hating him without ever learning this truth, it would have been better, she thought fleetingly.
Ismera's thoughts scattered in all directions, unable to settle in one place, and her emotions became hopelessly entangled.
Everything she had believed in, and all her feelings of hatred toward Dian, had shattered in an instant.
She felt suffocated by the guilt rising from deep within her.
She tried to shake off the confused thoughts, but the more she tried, the more questions and self-reproach flooded in.
Ismera felt as if all the words and actions she had directed at Dian were coming back like a boomerang to pierce her.
All the anger and contempt she had poured on him had now transformed into self-accusation, lodging deep in her heart.
Ismera felt she could no longer bear this situation.
All her past actions now seemed to interrogate her, and that pressure was choking her.
What should I do now?
Obviously, I should go apologize to Dian for my past behavior and ask for forgiveness.
But Ismera couldn't do that.
She felt that the moment she bowed her head to Dian, the heavy karma would crush and burst her.
She felt she couldn't handle the consequences of all she had done to Dian.
Maybe I should just... run away...
She hadn't planned to stay in the Great Forest permanently anyway.
She had come just for a brief rest before transferring elsewhere, so it wouldn't be a great loss to leave for another city right away.
But still, I should go back to Dian...
Ismera had always hoped to find the person who saved her that day ten years ago.
She had thought that if she ever met them again, she would definitely repay them for saving her life.
And today, she had met that person.
So she should go back...
"I believe it was around here."
Just then, a voice was heard.
"This is where Dian rescued the unconscious professor from the flames."
Looking up, she saw a blond man standing there.
Ismera knew who this man was.
There wasn't a citizen in the Empire who didn't recognize his face.
"Lord Linus...?"
Linus was looking up at the star-filled night sky with his hands behind his back.