Chapter 2: The Misty Valley
Part 6 – Storm's Lesson
My legs barely remembered the path back to the manor. Linn's arm never left my shoulder, steadying me when the trembling grew too strong. My body ached with every step, though not a single wound marred my skin. The ache came from deeper—from the weight of rejection, of standing before something vast and untouchable and being cast aside like dust.
The manor's stables came into view first, their whitewashed wood and emerald tiles gleaming faintly through the mist. The workers bowed as we passed, murmuring greetings, but their eyes lingered on me longer than usual. I knew I must look pale, my hair disheveled, my steps faltering. Shame burned hotter in me than any wound.
Inside my chest, the spark still pulsed. That moment before Onii's fury, when he had paused—when his gaze had almost softened. I clung to it like a drowning child to driftwood, even as reality pressed its cruel truth: I had failed.
Linn closed the doors to my chamber behind us, the soft thud sealing me in a silence heavy as stone. She drew me toward the bed, urging me to sit, then busied herself with a kettle of warm tea, her movements brisk but her eyes clouded.
"You should rest, my lady," she murmured, setting the steaming cup before me. "Your body may not bear visible wounds, but his aura has bruised your spirit. It will linger."
I wrapped my fingers around the porcelain cup, letting its warmth seep into my trembling hands. My throat was too tight to answer at first. When I finally found words, they came hollow:
"Why… why did he reject me?"
Linn stiffened. She hesitated, then sat across from me, her expression solemn. "Because you asked the impossible."
Her voice was soft, but her words struck sharper than Onii's storm.
"What do you mean?" My voice cracked, caught between defiance and desperation.
"Onii is not merely a Wind Chasing Horse." She leaned closer, her eyes gleaming with urgency. "He is a beast who has awakened his intelligence—and more than that, he has stepped into the Platinum Star realm."
The name alone hummed with weight. My breath caught, memories flickering—Father's lessons, the hushed conversations of retainers, scraps of lore I'd overheard and tucked away.
"The Platinum Star realm…" I echoed, as if speaking it would make it less impossible.
Linn nodded gravely. "Six realms above Origin Chi. And you… you have not yet stepped into Origin Chi at all. Among humans, not even the greatest prodigies can hope to bridge such a gulf in this lifetime. Only in other races—beasts, spirits, and the ancient bloodlines—does power soar so high, so freely. Onii stands at a height most humans can only dream of. For him to even let you approach was mercy, my lady. To hope he would submit… it is like asking the heavens to kneel."
Her words twisted inside me, cruel in their truth. I lowered my gaze, shame prickling hot against my skin. So that was it. Not just my weakness—not just the hollow basket that swallowed resources—but the sheer divide of realms. My very existence was beneath him.
And yet…
I lifted my hand, staring at the faint tremor still lingering in my fingers. "Then why did it feel… different? For a moment, I swear he almost listened."
Linn's lips pressed into a thin line. She did not answer right away. At last, she sighed. "Perhaps he recognized something in you. Perhaps he merely hesitated, measuring whether you were threat or prey. Do not mistake his pause for kindness."
But I saw it—the flicker of doubt in her eyes. She had felt it too, hadn't she? That moment when the storm had quieted, when Onii's gaze had not been filled with fury, but something else.
I sipped the tea in silence, its bitter taste grounding me. Linn fussed with the fire, her movements sharp, betraying her unease. When she finally left me to rest, the room plunged into a quieter darkness, broken only by the whisper of the night wind against the shutters.
I lay on the bed, staring at the carved beams of the ceiling. My body longed for sleep, but my spirit churned restless. The image of Onii's eyes burned against the dark, those storm-forged flames seared into my soul.
He had seen me. I was certain of it.
Rejected me, yes. Cast me down like a child daring the sky. But in that instant before the storm broke, he had looked. Not through me, not past me—at me.
And for someone like me—someone hollow, someone unworthy—that alone was enough to set fire to my veins.
I rose quietly, slipping from the bed to the window. Mist curled beyond the glass, silvered by the moonlight. Somewhere out there, in the restless winds and endless fields, Onii roamed. Untamed. Unbound.
A Platinum Star realm beast. Six realms above me. Awakened intelligence, sharp as any blade. A storm that no human should dare to reach.
But I would.
Not today, not tomorrow. Perhaps not for years.
Yet the spark within me refused to fade. One day, the storm would not turn me away. One day, my hand would not be brushed aside.
And on that day… Onii would not be untamed. He would be mine—not by force, but by bond.
I pressed my palm against the cold glass, eyes burning with unshed tears and fierce resolve.
"Wait for me," I whispered into the mist. "I will catch the storm."
The night gave no answer. Only the soft, distant sigh of the valley winds—gentle, almost like laughter.
But in the depths of my heart, the spark glowed brighter.