Ch. 75 Parting

I stayed up too late yesterday, so I’m not in good shape today…

*Whimper.*

Wrote four thousand words until two in the morning.

I’ll definitely update earlier tomorrow.

—

Mia felt someone shaking her.

So, she opened her eyes.

The young girl lay on her back on a sleeping mat, covered with a blanket, and Melina’s face appeared in a corner of her vision.

“Lady Mia, wake up.”

Melina didn’t know that the eyes beneath the blindfold had already opened and that the girl was awake; she continued to shake her relentlessly.

“Mmm?” Mia let out a groggy sound.

Her head hurt a little.

Her eyes were awake, but her brain hadn’t caught up yet.

She remained in a daze, caught in a state between dreaming and being awake.

“Mr. Kalé and Mr. Wilden have almost finished packing the luggage.”

Melina sat on her heels beside Mia and whispered a gentle reminder.

“Mm…” Mia frowned and sat up.

Memories of being drunk last night gradually began to resurface…

She got drunk?

Drunk for the first time in her life?!

Not only was she drunk, but she had also…

The girl’s cheeks instantly flushed bright red.

“Me-me-me-me—Melina.”

“Hmm?” Melina tilted her head.

“Yesterday, last night…” Mia stammered, unable to speak clearly.

Although she was drunk last night, she hadn’t reached the point of blacking out.

Of course she remembered what she had done.

As the saying goes, truth comes out in wine, and one’s character shows in how they drink…

She recalled the scene from last night: hugging Melina in front of others, acting spoiled, and taking advantage of her unilaterally.

She had originally thought that things like hand-feeding were already intimate enough.

But pouncing on Melina, being carried bridal-style, and wrapping her arms around her neck while whispering in her ear…

Those were actions Mia, single for twenty years, had only ever done in her fantasies!

She hadn’t even behaved like that with her parents since she was old enough to remember!

Let alone being seen by others.

Aaaaaah! She felt a sense of shame as if her underwear had been hung on a flagpole for all to see!

Her true nature was completely exposed… No!

It was clearly the alcohol distorting her mind, making her commit such embarrassing acts!

And now, while Mia was stammering, not knowing what to do…

Melina’s deadpan expression, as if nothing had happened yesterday, made Mia’s shame reach its peak.

“A-a-a-a… Anyway!” Mia stood up abruptly. “Let’s just head out!”

Quick, quickly forget about last night.

Under Melina’s puzzled gaze.

Mia held her breath and left the basement like a robot.

When Mia vanished from sight.

A ripple of emotion appeared on Melina’s face, which rarely showed much expression.

She put on an expression of deep thought, lightly pursing her lower lip and furrowing her brows.

Not being well-versed in emotions, she didn’t understand at all why Mia was reacting this way.

However, this sort of thing was far from enough to leave her feeling unsettled.

The Kindling Maiden faded from view.

On the surface, aside from the shelters and furniture that couldn’t be moved, Kalé and Wilden had mostly finished packing everything up.

“Good morning,” Kalé looked up and greeted Mia.

“Morning…” Mia looked at the group guiltily.

Kalé was piling luggage onto Amia.

Having not carried any weight for over a month, the little donkey, now accustomed to a life of freedom, seemed to have a touch of human-like sorrow in her dark, round eyes as Kalé busied himself with her.

Wilden remained his usual stoic, tough-guy self, helping Kalé lift the heavy bags.

As for Patches, naturally, he was being his usual shiftless self, watching the others work.

If someone were to suddenly bring up what happened yesterday right now…

She would surely disintegrate from shame right then and there.

Well, before disintegrating herself, she would disintegrate whoever brought it up as well.

Fortunately, no one was looking for trouble at that moment.

She hurried to the well to finish washing up.

Mia returned to the camp, and Kalé called out to her while dragging a large bundle.

“Mia!”

“What is it?”

“You have magic that can store items, right? Take this with you.”

Although Mia had never directly explained her storage space, everyone had grown accustomed to her ability to pull items out of thin air.

“Is there enough room?” Kalé asked.

“No problem!”

Mia reached out and grabbed the knot of the bundle; in an instant, the heavy package vanished.

“Give me the other things you don’t need to use often as well.”

Even Mia didn’t know how large that storage space was; let alone one bundle, even ninety-nine would fit inside.

“That’s not necessary,” Kalé smiled gratefully.

Mia nodded and said to the group who were about to set off, “Then just wait for me a moment.”

She went back down to the basement.

It seemed only her sleeping mat was left down there.

As she tucked it into her storage space, she looked at the door with a hole in it.

She pursed her lips and walked over.

“Master Sellen?”

She peeked inside through the hole.

The door opened.

“My apprentice, have you come to say goodbye?”

Sellen asked gently.

“Yes,” Mia nodded.

Sellen said, “I have something I want to give you.”

Mia looked inside curiously.

“Come here,” Sellen beckoned her.

Mia walked over obediently.

Sellen closed the pages of the book before her, held it in both hands, and solemnly handed it to Mia.

“This is?”

Mia examined the heavy, untitled tome in her hands.

“Before you found me, I never thought about what it would be like if I one day had an apprentice,” Sellen began.

“But after you took me as your master, I thought: if one day I had an outstanding apprentice, what gift could I give her?”

“So, I began writing this book. At first, I didn’t think you would necessarily be able to receive this gift from me. But now, I feel that you are the most suitable recipient for it.”

Mia listened intently to Sellen’s words.

“This book contains all my life’s work on the origin of Glintstone Magic. I hope you will accept it.”

Mia swallowed hard.

She was already a glintstone sorcerer, so naturally, she knew just how precious the lifelong research of a Primeval Sorcerer was.

“This book contains both the origin as understood by my teacher, Archmage Azur, and the origin as I understand it. For us sorcerers, lineage is a very important thing.”

“My apprentice, I hope that on your path to becoming Elden Lord, while I cannot accompany you, it may take my place and continue to help you explore the origin of the stars.”

Mia held the book tightly and bowed deeply to Sellen.

“Alright,” Sellen said with a smile, waving her hand. “I know you have a journey ahead and your companions are waiting. Go on.”

“Yes,” Mia responded softly. “Please take care of yourself.”

“Mm.”

Mia walked out of Sellen’s study, then suddenly remembered something.

“Wait!” She suddenly turned around, startling Sellen.

“What is it?”

“It’s just… about the stars, there’s something I want to tell you.” Mia had made up her mind. “It’s knowledge I learned as a Tarnished from outside The Lands Between. I don’t know if it will be of any help to you.”

“Oh?” Sellen’s interest was piqued. “Does my student also have something to teach me?”

She was clearly looking forward to it.

Mia nodded solemnly.

She said, “Actually, the stars in the sky are suns. They are the faint light reaching us from suns shining on other worlds in the far, far distance.”

Sellen leaned forward. “All suns?”

Mia nodded.