Chapter 3: Dream

“Bailis… Bailis…”

A familiar voice sounded from beside her ear.

“Mm… let me sleep a little longer…”

The girl seemed to realize who it was. She buried her face in the soft pillow, her voice sounding muffled.

“Good girl, time to get up, or your daddy will get angry, you know?”

The woman’s gentle voice finally brought back a bit of clarity to the girl. 

She slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes, and her pretty hair—black mixed with a bit of silver—smoothly draped down, sliding gently from her shoulders.

Her consciousness gradually awakened from the haze. 

It took a good while for the girl to shake off that drowsy look and open her light gray eyes.

“Mm…”

Once she saw the woman’s face at the bedside clearly, a sly smile flashed across the girl’s delicate little face.

“Mommy—” The little girl reached out, acting spoiled. 

“Without Mommy’s hug, Bailis can’t get up, you know?”

“You child…” 

Although helpless, the woman still indulgently pulled the little girl into her arms.

“Mm… Mommy’s scent…” 

The little girl leaned against the woman’s shoulder, lowered her head slightly to sniff, her eyes unconsciously curving into two small crescents. “Smells so good.”

“All right, good girl.” 

The woman stroked the girl’s head in her arms. 

“Hurry and get up. Your daddy has been waiting for you downstairs for a long time.”

“What is Daddy waiting for Bailis for?” 

The little girl reluctantly moved her little head from the woman’s shoulder, tilting it to look at the woman with the gentle smile.

The woman set her back on the bedside, her finger lightly tapping the girl’s forehead. 

“It’s a secret.”

“How can that be—” The little girl unhappily puffed up her cheeks. 

“Hmph, Bailis will go see for herself!”

Under the woman’s quiet gaze, after a simple wash, the girl quickly changed out of her pajamas and put on her favorite white dress. 

Then she combed her somewhat messy long hair, pinned her hair clip, and finally twirled a little in front of the mirror.

“How’s that, Mommy!”

The girl playfully closed one eye, holding her skirt hem and giving a slight curtsy in front of the woman.

“Good girl, I remember Teacher Bill didn’t teach you to close one eye when curtsying.” 

The woman gently stroked the little girl’s head. 

“But since you like it, Mommy has no objection. Just don’t do it in front of your daddy—he’s a stodgy and stubborn man who can’t stand seeing you like that.”

“I hate Daddy…” The little girl muttered softly.

“All right—” 

The woman took the girl’s hand. 

“Let’s go. Don’t leave him waiting too long, or that guy will probably get anxious.”

The little girl pursed her lips and followed the woman step by step down the stairs.

Downstairs in the house, a stern-faced middle-aged man was sitting upright at the table. 

Hearing the mother and daughter’s unreserved evaluation of him from upstairs, the corner of his mouth twitched, but as the sound of their footsteps came from the stairwell, it was quickly hidden by the man.

“Norwit, I’ve brought the child over.” 

The woman greeted with a smile.

The man nodded.

“Come sit down. I… I have…” 

He got halfway through, but his voice suddenly stuck in his throat.

The woman sighed.

“You’re still so bad at talking to children, even though you always act so shrewd outside.”

“Mommy, what’s wrong with Daddy?” 

The little girl looked up puzzledly and asked.

“Nothing.” 

The woman tucked a strand of hair that had fallen in front of the little girl’s forehead behind her ear. 

“He… no, we just have some things to say to you. Come, good girl, sit across from Mommy.”

The little girl took her seat, looking at the two adults at a loss, not understanding where the seriousness on their faces came from.

“Daddy, Mommy?”

“Bailis.” The woman softly called her name.

“Bailis.” The man cleared his throat lightly, looking at her solemnly.

In that instant, the solemnity on their faces suddenly dissipated, melting into a more sincere warmth.

“Daddy/Mommy wishes you a happy ninth birthday!”

“Eh?”

The little girl blinked.

“Birthday…” She looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall. 

Her father often liked to stand in front of that thick calendar and mutter softly. 

Over time, the little girl wasn’t too willing to approach that wall, let alone remember what month and day it was today.

“Radiant Calendar 1247, August… fifteenth.” She softly read the numbers displayed on it.

The little girl’s eyes immediately reddened, and tears began to fall.

“Wah… wah…”

“Rolina…” 

The man looked helplessly at the woman beside him, his eyes carrying a plea for help.

The woman glared at him reproachfully, quickly getting up to go around the table and pull the little girl into her arms.

“There, there, our Bailis is a strong child. We don’t cry, okay?”

“Mommy… I just, just…” 

The little girl sniffled, sobbing for a good while before holding back her tears.

“Okay, okay, Mommy knows what you mean.” 

The woman gently patted her back. 

Under her comfort, the little girl finally calmed down gradually, a shy blush appearing on her face instead.

The man seemed to relax, his tense body loosening a bit.

“Good girl.” The woman pinched the little girl’s flushed cheek, her brows and eyes curving. 

“Even when crying, our Bailis is still so cute.”

“Mommy!” 

The girl shyly tried to pry off the ‘demon claws’ on her face, but they successfully escaped before she could touch them.

When she turned her head, she found the woman had somehow sat back in her original position, smiling and waving at her, her other hand doing something under the table.

The man’s face suddenly twitched.

“Listen, Bailis…” 

He took a breath and spoke slowly. 

“We, your mommy and I, have something to give you as a gift to celebrate your ninth birthday.”

“Eh, Daddy and Mommy are giving Bailis a gift?” The little girl suddenly got a bit excited.

The woman gave the man beside her a rare appreciative look.

“That’s right.” 

She nodded. “Does Bailis want to guess what it is?”

“Mm…” The little girl tapped her lip with her finger. “Mommy might be a new dress, Daddy’s words…”

She hesitated and glanced at the man.

“Maybe a new teacher?”

Silence fell.

Pfft.

The woman finally couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Norwit, you… as a daddy…” She patted the man’s leg beside her, laughing breathlessly. 

“You’re really a failure.”

“Rolina…” 

The embarrassment on the man’s face was almost unmasked. 

“In front of the child, leave me some dignity…”

The little girl tilted her head watching her parents’ interaction. 

Seeing that her father’s cold, hard face occasionally showed expressions other than seriousness, she couldn’t help but laugh along with the woman.

Unexpectedly, it was fun.

She thought to herself.

Under the man’s lifeless gaze, the woman finally stopped laughing slowly.

“Ahem.” 

She closed her eyes, imitating the man’s usual light cough. 

“Listen well, Bailis. What Mommy is giving you isn’t a dress, but—”

The woman smiled broadly as she pulled out a silver-gleaming necklace from under the table. “Ta-da! A pretty necklace!”

“Wow—” The girl looked at the silver necklace the woman handed over, her gray eyes seeming to shine.

She happily took it, sweetly saying “Thank you, Mommy.” 

The woman immediately cupped her cheeks with a face full of bliss.

She didn’t forget to poke the silent man beside her with her arm.

“Norwit, Norwit! Listen, our daughter is praising me.”

“Rolina, just spare me.” 

The man squeezed out a few words through his teeth in an extremely low voice, pleading.

He turned his head, looking at his daughter across the table with a face full of expectation. 

Finally making up his mind, he pulled out a sheathed short sword from under the table.

“Bailis, the gift I’m giving you is this short sword.” He said as gently as possible.

“Norwit!” 

The woman suddenly frowned. 

“How can you give her something so dangerous? This isn’t what we agreed on!”

“Rolina, don’t rush.” 

The man said deeply. 

“Wait for my explanation.”

He looked at his daughter across from him, who was holding the short sword with a curious face. 

The lines on his face seemed to soften in an instant.

“Bailis, one day, you will leave Daddy and Mommy—”

The woman forcefully twisted the flesh on the man’s leg.

But the man continued without changing his expression.

“At that time, I hope you can truly grow up, able to survive in this world full of chaos, disorder, and conflict with your own abilities.”

“Giving you this sword is also hoping that when danger comes, you can use the weapon in your hand to protect yourself. It could be this short sword, or a staff, or even a book…”

The man took a deep breath. 

“In short, Daddy hopes that even without us, you can protect yourself from the surrounding hostility. Only by surviving is there a future.”

“Why suddenly make it so heavy…” 

The woman complained, but withdrew her hand from the man’s leg.

The man was silent for a moment.

“I just want her to understand this truth early. This world is too dangerous for a kind child like her.”

The woman snorted lightly, saying nothing more.

“Daddy! I understand!” The little girl suddenly shouted.

She solemnly put away the sword. 

“Bailis will definitely defeat all enemies! Just like… like the hero who slays the evil dragon in the stories!”

“That’s right, that’s the spirit—” 

The man smiled gratifiedly, then his face suddenly stiffened. 

“Wait, where did you hear such stories?”

The girl tilted her head. 

“Mommy bought them for me.”

“Rolina?”

“That’s why I say you’re stodgy.” 

The woman crossed her arms. 

“Children need to read all kinds of books to better understand the world. See, isn’t it useful now?”

“Fine.” 

The man helplessly touched his forehead. “But next time, remember not to buy overly extreme books.”

The woman glared at him. “I know that without you saying.”

Watching her parents start bickering again, the girl hugged the short sword and necklace in her arms tightly, laughing softly.

She immensely enjoyed the current peace and harmony. 

Even the sound of her parents’ quarrel was an indispensable part of this tranquility.

Although Daddy said they would separate sooner or later, but if… we could really be together forever, that would be great.

The little girl silently wished in her heart.

Suddenly, a noisy sound came from outside the house, like many people stepping together, and it was getting closer to the girl’s house.

She turned back puzzledly, but nothing could be seen through the glass covered in white mist. 

When she turned back, her parents, who had been bickering, had suddenly made up, looking at her with smiles.

“Bailis, we should go.” 

The woman still said with a gentle smile.

“Live well.” 

The smile at the corner of the man’s mouth was almost imperceptible. 

“You must live well.”

“Daddy? Mommy?” 

The girl was stunned, a sudden panic in her heart. 

“What are you saying? Are you going somewhere?”

The woman and man silently exchanged a glance.

“I’m sorry, Daddy and Mommy can’t accompany you to the end.” 

The woman’s voice was as gentle as always. 

“Even alone, Bailis must be a strong child.”

“You must live well.” 

The stodgy man just repeated.

The voices grew fainter, along with their figures, slowly fading from her vision.

“Daddy! Mommy!”

The girl instinctively propped herself on the table and stood up, but where were the two figures in front of her? 

She looked around in panic, only to see the surrounding environment gradually dissipating in an endless white light. 

The calendar hanging on the wall flipped wildly, as if years passed in an instant.

Until that door was roughly pushed open.

“Witch, die!”

The last time on the calendar froze at Radiant Calendar 1250, July thirtieth.

***

Bailis suddenly woke from her dream.

The first thing that entered her eyes was the short sword without its sheath on the table, and a broken silver necklace.

She stared at them dazedly for a while before slowly getting up from the table.

Her gaze unintentionally glanced over the calendar on the wall, which she had long forgotten where she picked up from.

Radiant Calendar 1254, September fifth.

It had been over four years since those armored people calling themselves knights burst into the house.

“Lugsen Evans…” 

The girl softly uttered that name.

That was the leader of those knights back then, the man who called himself a Holy Knight.

He was also the culprit who killed Daddy and Mommy.

It was said he had now fled to a country called “Mitia” to enjoy life.

Can’t get angry, can’t get angry.

She deeply inhaled, exhaled, repeating these two simple actions. 

It took a good while to calm that boiling killing intent.

A faint flame suddenly leaped from the girl’s hand, reflected in her crimson eyes, slowly flickering.

She slowly clenched her fist, extinguishing the flame in her hand.

Although she still loathed this power, right now, to kill him, she could only rely on it.

However, to kill that knight, power alone was far from enough—she couldn’t walk all the way to that country she didn’t know where on foot.

She needed enough money to hire those merchant caravans to take her along.

The girl silently flipped out a small bag from the cabinet. 

Opening it, inside were silver coins, some brand new, some old, mixed with countless copper coins.

She carefully counted them once. After waking up, a rare smile appeared on her face.

This money, besides the part she brought out when escaping from home, the rest was exchanged with others using stolen food.

“Ten silver and fifty-two copper… As long as I save a bit more, those merchant uncles shouldn’t refuse, right?”

Gurgle gurgle… Her stomach suddenly let out a stern protest.

Just eating apples really doesn’t hold up, huh?

The girl carefully put the bag of money back in place, rubbed her flat belly, and turned to look out the window.

It was clearly clear skies in the morning, but by afternoon, it had suddenly become much gloomier, looking very much like it was about to rain.

I hope this rain comes later. 

Otherwise, tonight she’ll probably go hungry.

You can’t take revenge on an empty stomach.