Evelyn pov
I had just celebrated my eleventh birthday a month ago, and tonight I finally reached the third stage. One step closer to my peak as the first hero. Compared to reaching the second stage—when I first awakened my own mana reserves—this felt almost easy. Marcus had already reached stage two three months ago, and Lina just a month before that. Stage four, though… that will be the real challenge. The mana in the atmosphere is thin here, even in this clearing near our home. At first, I thought the little abundance we did have came from Father, since he was already at stage four. But tonight, I learned how wrong I was.
The air trembled with power. A group of cloaked figures appeared, surrounding our house, and raised a barrier that sealed us off from the outside world. My first instinct was to attack, but then an old woman stepped forward. She greeted my parents with a familiarity that made me pause. And then—like a crashing wave—I felt it. The overwhelming pressure of a stage six mana user… coming from inside our house.
Mother.
The realization nearly knocked the wind from me. She had hidden it so well, never once letting her power slip into the atmosphere the way everyone else did. Later, I would learn the truth: she had been channeling her excess mana directly into the ground, masking her presence from the world.
Father and I were ushered outside as the old woman and others sealed the house tighter. My mother was going into labor.
I sat with Father in the night air, restless and awkward, my thoughts racing. Finally, I asked the question that burned in my chest.
"Was Mother always this strong?"
He didn't hesitate. "Yes."
I stared at him. "Then why… why live like this? Why stay hidden here, like common folk?"
Father sighed, his gaze turning distant, as if looking back at another life. "I was a young hunter then, already at the peak of stage three. That's when I met her—camping alone in the deep forest. She was different, even then. Strong, yes, but… lonely."
He smiled faintly. "We kept crossing paths, sometimes by chance, sometimes because we wanted to. We became friends, and later more than that. But there was always a weight on her shoulders. As a high member of the Magic Council, she was challenged constantly by other mages, all hungry for her position. That life wore her down."
His voice softened. "When she became pregnant with your brother, she resigned. She walked away from it all, chose me and this life instead. We settled here, where no one would come looking. She hid her strength for your sake… for all our sakes."
I sat quietly, letting his words sink in. My brother had always been the proud one, training as a knight, carrying Father's spirit. Now Mother was about to give me another sibling—Father said he believed it would be a girl, because Mother had never been wrong before.
I should have been excited, but instead I found myself thinking. Comparing. In my first life as the Hero, there was no childhood for me. I was born and bred to be a weapon, forged to slay the Vampire King. No friends. No family warmth. Only duty.
But here… I had parents who loved me. A brother chasing his dreams. Friends like Marcus and Lina by my side. A childhood I never thought I would have.
As I sat there, the muffled cries from inside turned into the first wails of a newborn. A sister. A new life.
And I realized, in this life, I was luckier than I ever allowed myself to be before.