Chapter 10
Jia held out her hand, summoning her power. It was different from what she’d seen before, fainter and smaller.
…Is it connected to my emotional state?
Considering the difference in its size when she was relaxed versus now, it seemed a reasonable assumption.
“You can summon a familiar.”
Ethan, who had been silently observing, spoke. A familiar?
“A familiar is manifested through your power, usually taking the form of an animal the wielder cherishes. It acts as a guardian.”
“H-how… how do I do that?”
“It usually appears when you manifest your power, but sometimes it doesn’t. Try focusing your power while visualizing something you cherish.”
Something I cherish. A familiar.
The first image that came to mind was her sister’s face. Jia! Her sister’s bright smile as she called her name.
Something materialized before her. A snow-white rabbit with crimson eyes, identical to the one they’d kept as children.
“Sister…”
The word slipped out unbidden. She’d thought of her sister, and this had appeared. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her sister had come back to her as a familiar, her beloved sister had returned to comfort her. The thought unleashed a torrent of tears.
“S-sister… sister. Why now?”
She clutched the rabbit to her chest, sobbing. Its soft fur brushed against her cheek. The rabbit remained silent.
As Jia wept, Ethan finally spoke.
“Call me if you need anything.”
The door closed with a click. Jia stroked the familiar in her arms.
The small, furry creature brought her a measure of solace. She clung to the belief that it was her sister, a necessary delusion to endure this hellish existence.
“Sister, you know… it’s been so hard.”
She poured out her heart to the familiar, as if speaking to her sister.
“No, it still is. I… I almost died… and then I was brought here, a slave, for three years…”
The memory of her first day was a nightmare. She’d been dragged by her hair to the mines and given a pickaxe, with no instruction. Her clumsy attempts were met with lashes of a whip. The overseer, perplexed by her unblemished skin, had struck her repeatedly. The pain was excruciating, but the wounds vanished as quickly as they appeared.
From that day on, she was branded as the black-haired witch. The subsequent humiliation and abuse were unbearable. Three years had eroded her personality, her self-worth, her very sense of self.
“The Emperor… he seems invulnerable, like me. I thought… maybe he was like me…”
Tears filled Jia’s eyes. If she’d known, she would never have come. She would have done anything to avoid this place.
“It just… hurts…”
Even the fleeting moments of pain were agonizing. But what was truly horrifying…
“I… the bird…”
The bird, its neck broken, spewing blood. She had killed it. I, with my own hands…
She was on the verge of another panic attack. The familiar’s body glowed with a soft, white light, radiating warmth that enveloped Jia.
‘It’s okay.’
A voice echoed in her mind. Startled, Jia pulled the rabbit away. The light, and the warmth, vanished. The rabbit’s crimson eyes gazed calmly at her.
“Wh-what…?”
The voice was gone. She tried hugging the rabbit again, hoping to hear it once more, but to no avail. The rabbit, as if acknowledging its role in the comforting warmth, simply looked up at Jia’s bewildered face.
“…Did you… comfort me?”
The familiar nestled into her arms, offering a silent answer. Jia broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Curled up in the bedsheets, Jia refused all meals. She didn’t need to eat, or bathe. She was an outsider.
Both Tristan and Ethan responded with silent bows. Jia remained in her room, waiting for the inevitable summons from the Emperor.
She sat in the darkness, staring at the faint glow of her familiar, lost in thought. A knock broke the silence, followed by the opening of the door.
“His Majesty summons you.”
Again…
Jia’s gaze lingered on the sliver of light filtering into the room before she slid off the bed. Her bare feet touched the cold marble, sending a shiver up her spine. She curled her toes and slipped on her leather slippers.
Unlike the heavy tread of the knights, Jia’s footsteps were light and silent, barely disturbing the stillness of the hall.
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