Chapter 3 My New Identity

In the end, Forest and I left the restaurant with disappointed expressions.

"So we waited for nothing," Forest muttered, her lips forming a deep pout.

I let out a quiet sigh but said nothing.

After walking a short distance, Forest suddenly stopped.

"But what if he asks about your background?" she asked. "What if he has someone investigate you? What are you going to do then?"

Her question brought me to an abrupt halt.

She was right. I couldn't possibly tell him I was from Hulorya. 

The moment my true identity was discovered, suspicion would fall upon me. Worse, the people of Two Heart might drive us out, or hand us over to their authorities.

Sneaking into their territory had been difficult enough.

Forest and I had paid an outrageous sum to hire a ferryman willing to ferry us across the sacred waters in complete secrecy.

There was no turning back now.

If I wanted to get close to Evander...

I would need a new identity.

Lost in thought, I failed to notice the man running straight toward us.

He slammed into Forest, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Sorry!" he said over before disappearing into the crowd.

"Forest!" I caught her by the arm before she could fall. "Are you hurt?"

Instead of answering, she frantically searched her belt pouch.

"Oh no..." she gasped, panic filling her voice. "Yue... our money pouch is gone!"

"What?"

I immediately scanned the bustling street.

The man.

He had stolen it.

"That thief!" I hissed.

Without another thought, I bolted after him.

Forest was quick to follow. As she ran, she quietly summoned her spiritual power, concealing our remaining belongings to ensure nothing else could be stolen.

We finally caught up to the thief.

But by then, he had already fled deep into the forest.

He wasn't alone.

Several armed men had surrounded him, their swords drawn and their expressions murderous. Judging by the way they shouted accusations at him, it seemed he had stolen from them as well.

"Should we help him?" Forest asked quietly.

I didn't answer.

Instead, I stepped forward.

The moment the men noticed our presence, they turned their blades toward us.

Instinct urged me to draw my own sword.

But I couldn't.

My brother wielded that sword and the moment its blade saw the light, anyone familiar with the royal family of Hulorya would recognize it. We had come here in secret, I couldn't risk exposing our identities.

Before I could think further, one of the men lunged at me.

My eyes widened.

I twisted aside just as his blade sliced through the air where I had been standing only a heartbeat before.

Using the momentum of his attack, I struck his wrist with the edge of my hand. His sword slipped from his grasp.

I caught it before it touched the ground.

Not bad, It's a well-forged blade.

The remaining men charged at once.

One after another, I met them head-on.

Years of martial training under Lucas's guidance allowed me to evade every strike with ease. I disarmed them one by one, sending them crashing to the forest floor without taking a single life.

There was no need for bloodshed.

Raising my free hand, I summoned a thread of spiritual energy.

A pale light spread through the clearing, and within moments, every one of the attackers collapsed into a deep, enchanted slumber.

They would not awaken for several hours.

"Yue!"

Forest's panicked voice cut through the silence. I spun around at once.

My eyes widened when I saw the thief lying in a pool of blood. Without hesitation, I rushed to his side and tried to channel my spiritual power into his body.

But to my shock...

He had no spiritual veins.

His body couldn't receive my spiritual power.

I couldn't save him.

"M-My... sister..." he whispered anxiously, raising a trembling hand to point toward a small cottage not far from us.

When Forest shook her head, I knew there was nothing more we could do for him. With heavy hearts, we followed the direction he had pointed us toward.

A small cottage stood quietly in the middle of the forest.

Inside... We found his sister.

She had already passed away.

"Is... she the reason he kept stealing?" Forest murmured, sorrow filling her voice as she looked around the humble cottage.

My gaze fell upon a small notebook resting on the table. It wasn't a diary. It was a collection of unpaid medical bills. Beside it were empty medicine bottles and prescriptions.

He had stolen to buy medicine for his sister... and whatever little food they needed to survive.

"We were too late," I whispered.

Forest and I buried the siblings side by side beneath a towering tree. Since we never learned their names, their graves remained unmarked.

"Yuemie..." Forest called hesitantly.

"What is it?"

She lowered her gaze.

"I know this sounds heartless... but what if you take the girl's identity?"

My eyes widened.

"What?" I hissed. "No. That's far too cruel."

"But it would save us time," she replied softly.

I fell silent.

Time...

I had almost forgotten. Every moment I wasted brought my brother one step closer to death. If borrowing the name of someone who was already gone could save the life of someone who was still alive...

Could I really afford to refuse?

Without another word, we searched the cottage, hoping to uncover anything that might reveal the siblings' past. It didn't take long before we found the truth.

Their parents had been thieves as well. They had died at the hands of those they had robbed, leaving their children alone to fend for themselves. With no parents means of survival, the older brother had no choice but to follow in their footsteps, stealing to feed himself and buy medicine for his ailing sister.

Her name was Yuna.

"From this moment on," Forest said with a faint smile, "you are Yuna."

There was sadness hidden behind her expression.

"And her brother's name was Loki," I murmured, my eyes lingering on the faded family portrait resting against the wall.

"I doubt anyone knows what Yuna looks like," Forest said. "She was too sick to ever leave this cottage."

She reached into her pouch and handed me a small vial filled with pale violet liquid.

"Drink this." I stared at it.

"It won't kill you," Forest assured me. "It will only give you the same illness Yuna suffered from. We have enough gold to buy medicine and maintain the disease." Then she smiled gently.

"I won't let you die. I'll stay by your side." I looked down at the vial one last time.

For this mission to succeed, I had to become Yuna.

Without hesitation, I raised the vial to my lips and drank every last drop. If this sacrifice meant saving my brother...

Then it was a price I was willing to pay.