Chapter 41: Alive

Lu Mo stared blankly at Cecilia, her eyes trembling slightly.

The act of sucking the blood from her wound.

That golden cowlick that simply wouldn’t stay down.

And… her identity as a Saintess.

Somehow, the image of the Saintess who had suddenly appeared before her at Cangyu Academy began to overlap with the girl in front of her.

‘Could it be?’

‘Could it be?’

‘Did the system get lazy for the second Simulated Reincarnation and just create the girl named Cecilia based on the image of that Saintess?’

‘As I thought, the Simulated Reincarnation is just a virtual world created by the system using my memory fragments, emotional fluctuations, and contact with others, combined with parts of the world’s history.’

Lu Mo became even more certain of her previous theory.

Elia was one thing.

But was it really okay for the system to generate Cecilia based on the Saintess who had helped her in the real world?

If she ever truly confused reality with the virtual world and accidentally pushed the real Saintess down, wouldn’t she be finished?

‘I should keep some distance from the Saintess in the real world.’

‘Otherwise, if I do something out of line, I’ll be sent to the stake by The Holy Sanctuary.’

Lu Mo reminded herself.

“Miss Lu Mo?” Cecilia, who was still sitting on her, spoke up timidly.

“Hmm?” Lu Mo looked at Cecilia.

“Just now… did I hurt you…?”

Cecilia spoke with worry, her cowlick spinning restlessly in the air. “And… did it hurt when I was sucking on the wound…?”

Seeing Lu Mo suddenly stop talking, she thought she had done something wrong.

“No,” Lu Mo shook her head and replied with a smile.

“But…”

“I was the one who pulled you onto the wall without permission, which caused you to fall. So, it was only natural for me to hold onto you and make sure you didn’t get hurt, right?”

Lu Mo continued, “In fact, I should be the one thanking you, Cecilia, for treating my wound.”

“Re… Really?” Cecilia was startled at first, but then a hint of surprise and joy entered her voice.

She had always been called a dummy by Lu Mo. She never expected that there would be a day when she would actually be thanked.

“Really,” Lu Mo said seriously.

This was the first time Cecilia had received recognition.

At that moment, Lu Mo saw a faint blush spread across Cecilia’s cheeks. Her golden cowlick began to bounce around happily.

“He… hehe…”

For the first time ever, Cecilia couldn’t help but let out a genuine giggle.

Before this, the smiles she showed others were always standard and polite.

They might have been ladylike, but they always lacked a sense of reality and a sense of self.

“You can laugh all you want, but can you get off me first?”

“Oh, right…”

Cecilia hurriedly moved off Lu Mo.

However, she didn’t stand up immediately.

Instead, she followed Lu Mo’s example and lay down in the grass.

The two of them lay side by side.

They quietly looked up at the sky above.

It was the same sky, separated only by a wall, and it looked no different from the sky inside the manor.

Yet, Cecilia couldn’t help but want to laugh.

“He… hehehe…”

What was she laughing at?

Was she laughing at her clumsy appearance just now?

Was she laughing because she had finally crossed that low wall?

Or was she laughing because she had finally entered Lu Mo’s world?

Perhaps even Cecilia herself didn’t know why she was laughing.

She just felt that today was very special.

It was as if some invisible thread had been pulled by Lu Mo, and after being stretched to its limit, it had suddenly snapped.

After an immense amount of tension and hesitation, she felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation.

She just wanted to laugh.

A laugh from the heart, from the soul.

“What’s wrong? Why are you laughing so happily?” Lu Mo asked, looking at the silly, joyful Cecilia.

“No, it’s nothing… hehehe…” Cecilia replied, still unable to stop laughing.

Lu Mo didn’t understand why Cecilia was so happy.

“A dummy is a dummy, after all. Even your laugh is a bit silly.” In the end, she gave a doting smile and whispered, “Dummy.”

Cecilia wasn’t angry; she just kept smiling.

She looked at the incredibly blue sky.

She felt the hot sunlight and the wind.

She listened to the long, seemingly endless chirping of the cicadas.

In that moment, she became aware of her own existence.

She was truly, honestly alive.

And right now, she was very happy.

***

That day, even when she left Kalis Manor, a smile completely different from her usual ones hung on Cecilia’s lips.

Lu Mo carried her over the wall and gently set her down.

“See you tomorrow, dummy Cecilia.”

“See you tomorrow, Miss Lu Mo.”

Before Cecilia could finish her sentence, Lu Mo’s figure had already vanished outside the wall.

In the corner of the manor, Cecilia was once again alone.

It was dusk, and the setting sun was pulling the shadow of the wall longer and longer.

But this time, Cecilia didn’t shrink back. Instead, she stepped forward and touched the bricks of the wall.

“When will I be able to cross this wall on my own?”

Just like… Miss Lu Mo.

***

“Miss Lu Mo.”

Cecilia stood inside the wall and spoke softly.

Soon, Lu Mo’s figure descended from above.

“Want to go play on the other side of the wall?”

She asked Cecilia.

Cecilia nodded.

Then, Lu Mo pulled her up onto the wall and jumped down with her in her arms.

They repeated this many times.

Sometimes, while playing, Cecilia would suddenly lose track of time.

“Oh no, is it already this late?”

After Lu Mo sent her back to the other side, she sprinted toward the mansion.

“Miss Lu Mo, see you tomorrow—” she called out as she hurried away without looking back.

For the first time, she had forgotten to be punctual.

“Why are you only returning at this hour?”

Upon returning to the mansion, she couldn’t avoid being criticized by her father.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Father…” Cecilia lowered her head and replied with shame.

“Where have you been these past few days?” the man asked.

“I… I’ve been staying in the corner of the manor,” Cecilia answered.

She tried lying for the first time.

“Is that truly so?” the man asked again.

“I…” Cecilia immediately went silent.

“It is true.” At that moment, an old voice rang out, coming to her rescue.

The man looked up and saw an elderly man leaning on a cane, slowly walking toward them.

“I can testify that little Cecilia has been observing small animals these past few days. She lost track of time, which is why she returned late,” the elder continued. “Little Cecilia is a good child; she wouldn’t do anything else in secret.”

“Is that so?” the man said.

In truth, he had never doubted Cecilia. After all, his daughter was as pure as a blank sheet of paper and would never do anything forbidden.

He only asked to scare Cecilia a little, hoping to make her more obedient.

“Since the senior has spoken, I will not punish you today,” the man said before turning to leave.

“Yes, Father.” Cecilia kept her head down until the man was far away.

“Are you all right, little Cecilia?” the elder’s kind voice sounded.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Cecilia immediately smiled at the old man. “Thank you, Old Sir.”

She didn’t know the elder’s specific name.

However, she had heard others mention his identity. He had once been a Holy Dragon Knight and had achieved great military honors for The Holy Sanctuary and the family.

10 years ago, the old man was ambushed during a battle with the demon race and was severely injured.

Although he was eventually saved, he was left with chronic ailments, and his cultivation was almost entirely destroyed.

“The senior is truly a man of loyalty and righteousness…”

“I heard that senior once had an only daughter who was chosen to be a Saintess long ago. That Hero’s party also made many contributions to The Holy Sanctuary and the family.”

“Though, the Saintess ultimately sacrificed herself.”

“Keep your voice down. Don’t say such things in front of the senior.”

Cecilia had also heard others tell stories about the old man’s past.

She only thought that the senior and his daughter were both very great people.

She once thought the senior would be a stern and humorless old man.

But when they met one day, she discovered that the senior was completely different from what she had imagined.

He was a kind elder with no arrogance or temper, seemingly always facing life with optimism.

The old man didn’t usually go out much, only occasionally walking through the manor with his cane.

Cecilia’s meeting with the old man was purely accidental.

That day, the old man was resting by the fountain and accidentally dropped his cane.

As he was agonizing over how to pick it up, a petite figure reached it before him and handed it over.

“Old Sir, this is your cane, right?”

“Yes, thank you, little girl. Whose child are you?”

“My name is Cecilia. I’m going to become a Saintess in the future—”

From that day on, the elder and the young girl became acquainted.

However, the number of times they usually saw each other was still very few.

Perhaps only a few times a year.

“Morning, Old Sir.”

“Good morning, little Cecilia.”

Sometimes, Cecilia could feel that the old man seemed even kinder to her than to others.

The old man’s eyes were cloudy yet clear. When he looked at her, there was no malice, but there was a complexity she couldn’t understand.

Today, the old man hadn’t actually gone to the corner of the manor.

He had merely been passing by the mansion.

But he still used his reputation as a guarantee to lie for Cecilia.

“Did you make a friend?” the old man asked kindly.

“Yes!” Cecilia smiled and nodded.

At the thought of Lu Mo, Cecilia’s smile was instantly different from before.

Even the old man was slightly stunned at that moment.

“It seems like a very good friend,” he replied after a long silence.

“Yes, Old Sir! If there’s a chance next time, I’ll definitely introduce Sister Lu Mo to you!”

“There’s no need for that. As long as little Cecilia can truly feel happy, that’s enough.”

The old man smiled at Cecilia and slowly walked away, leaning on his cane.

“It’s good that she made a friend. It’s good that she made a friend…”

On his way back, he kept mumbling those words.

The old man walked alone into the night, a solitary and desolate figure, yet he was genuinely happy for Cecilia from the bottom of his heart.