The Reincarnated Girl Will Live Quietly

 

While waiting for Auberon, Sable and Bel had discussed their options and eventually decided to brew the Winter’s Tear into a potion for her mother. It was within their expertise as alchemists, and they could avoid involving more people than necessary. 

 

The less people who knew about the Winter’s Tear, the better. 

 

As such, one of the greenhouses was cleared for her private use, and a handful of the Grand Duke’s most trusted knights were instructed to guard the area around the greenhouse. With such a rare plant in her hands, it would certainly paint a bigger target on Sable’s back if it were to be publicly known. 

 

That was why the only people who showed up to the meeting with Auberon were Sable, Isadora, and the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. Everyone else was instructed to remain silent about the matter. 

 

After gathering the necessary reagents and with Bel’s careful instruction, Sable cautiously began the brewing process to turn the Winter’s Tear into a potion. 

 

Although neither of them addressed it, there was a tense silence between the two girls. Sable glanced at Bel who was floating beside her. 

 

After observing her interaction with Auberon, Sable felt a growing sense of doubt with Bel. Truth be told, Sable didn’t want to doubt Bel. After all, if she doubted her, she would be doubting herself, and that was something that Sable didn’t want to deal with. 

 

But due to recent events, Sable was forced to reevaluate her blind faith in Bel. 

 

As she carefully adjusted the heat, she spoke to Bel without looking back. 

 

“Bel.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“We need to talk.” 

 

There was a brief pause. 

 

“...About what?”

 

“You’re deflecting.” Sable commented. She took a careful glance at Bel’s expression. 

 

First Auberon, now it was Bel’s turn to be questioned. Bel’s attention was on the potion, but Sable had noticed her finger twitch slightly. 

 

“You’re not just here to help me, are you?” 

 

Another pause. 

 

“What made you come to that conclusion?” Bel finally redirected her gaze. Now the two girls were analyzing each other. 

 

“When the assassins attacked, why didn’t you help me then?” Sable answered her question with a question. 

 

Bel was silent. After a beat of silence, Sable elaborated on her previous statement.  

 

“Thinking back, you could have easily floated ahead and told me where the assassins were, but you didn’t.” Sable voiced her doubts. “And then, today, you deliberately provoked Auberon to see his reaction. Like Isadora said, what if something happened to me?” 

 

“That girl has had quite the influence on you.” Bel commented wryly. 

 

“Answer the question!” Sable snapped her head around and glared at her. 

 

Bel met her glare head-on.

 

The two girls were locked in a stalemate until Bel crossed her arms and looked away. There was a brief flash of guilt on her face before it returned to her usual cold expression. 

 

“...Trust me when I say, I do want to help you.” Bel breathed out slowly. 

 

Sensing that she wasn’t finished speaking, Sable didn’t reply. 

 

“However.” Bel made eye contact with Sable. 

 

Her eyes flashed with dark emotions, something that reminded Sable of their first meeting. Anger, pain, and regret. The emotions that swirled in her blue eyes seemed to make them a shade darker. 

 

“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice.” When she spoke, her words dripped with venom. “You and I both know I’m not a good person, Sable. I have no intention of letting anyone who hurt us - who hurt me - go. All those years of hard work only to have everything crumble right in front of me, and I’m supposed to just forgive them?” 

 

“Holy War? I don’t give a damn about some holy war.” Her lips curled into a sneer. “I’m not some hero sent back to save the world. As far as I’m concerned, if the Archangel wants to use me, then she won’t mind if I use her, right? I’ll use whoever and whatever I need to in order to achieve my revenge.” 

 

“...Even you, Sable.” 

 

Sable was speechless as she stared at Bel. 

 

“Now, as for not helping you before, I only made those decisions after calculating the risks in my head. If that assassin knew anything, I needed to know it as well so why would I lead you away from him?” 

 

Bel paused. 

 

“As for Auberon, I will admit that I didn’t expect him to react so strongly. I only intended to gauge his reaction, not provoke him to the point where he would want to get rid of me. That was an oversight on my part, and for that, I apologize.” 

 

When she finished talking, her eyes regained their calm and watched Sable. 

 

On the other hand, Sable was anything but calm. Her confusion could clearly be seen in her eyes. Inwardly, she questioned whether or not she could continue to trust her older counterpart. If Bel was so hellbent on taking revenge, then sooner or later, Sable, or someone she cared about, would be caught in the crossfire. 

 

There was no way that Sable was letting that happen. 

 

“But…” 

 

Sable knew herself best. She took a deep breath and began to look at it from Bel’s perspective. 

 

“What if she had never inherited Bel’s memories? What if she had continued to live under her father’s thumb? Would she have ended up the same way as Bel?” 

 

For Sable, these were hypotheticals, but for Bel, that was the reality that she had lived through. 

 

Could she really blame her for wanting to take revenge? 

 

While Sable was still lost in thought, Bel quietly spoke up. 

 

“...What do you plan to do now, Sable?” There was a moment of hesitation. “Now that you know.” 

 

Sable looked at her for a moment. Then she sighed. 

 

“...I’ll help you.” 

 

Bel blinked dumbly. 

 

“Y-You will?” It was a rare appearance of Bel being flustered. 

 

“Don’t get me wrong. Your methods are unpleasant, but I can also understand why you’re doing it. In fact, I’m probably the only person who can understand you.” Sable explained with a light glare. “Just… the least that you could do is give me a warning. Especially if you’re going to involve other people.” 

 

Bel examined Sable before she chuckled, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly. 

 

 “Very well.” She conceded. 

 

Humming in approval, Sable turned her attention back to the alchemy stand when a thought suddenly occurred to her. 

 

“One more thing, Bel.”  

 

“Hm?” 

 

“Do you always get that strange feeling when you’re flying around like that?” Sable asked curiously. 

 

As her back was turned to Bel, she could not see the other girl’s expression. 

 

“...Strange feeling?” 

 

“Yes.” Sable closed her eyes to recall the feeling. “If I had to describe it, it’s similar to the feeling you get at the moment right before you fall asleep.” 

 

“I… can’t say that I have.” 

 

“Really? How odd.” Sable furrowed her brows but didn’t pursue the issue. 

 

With a shrug, she shifted her attention to the potion brewing in front of her and pushed the feeling to the back of her mind. 

 

Unbeknownst to her, Bel had a conflicted expression on her face. After some contemplation, she opened her mouth to call out to Sable but immediately stopped herself. Closing her eyes, she quickly shook her head. 

 

With her jaw clenched, she mentally berated herself. 

 

“She doesn’t need to know.” 

 

Bel looked down at her hands. For a very brief moment, her spiritual form flickered unsteadily and started to fade before she regained her normal appearance. 

 

Careful not to let her inner turmoil show, Bel lingered behind Sable. Once she had calmed down, Bel floated into view and continued to carefully assist Sable as if the previous event had never occurred. 

 

~~~ 

 

Although Sable knew that it would take a while, brewing the Winter’s Tear into a potion still took longer than expected. The sun had already set past the horizon, but Sable lit the lantern beside her and continued to work. She would not be able to rest until after she finished the potion. 

 

The only time she took a break was to eat the food brought to her by Isadora, who also took the opportunity to check on her. Thankfully, Bel could keep an eye on the potion. 

 

Other than making sure that Sable had eaten, Isadora was careful not to interrupt Sable. She knew how important this was to Sable so rather than stop her, Isadora simply stood aside, ready to assist Sable at any time. She quietly gave some orders to the knight standing guard outside and grabbed a nearby chair to watch over Sable. 

 

After some time, Sable had activated her ability. With her enhanced senses, she could quickly detect any adverse reactions in the brewing process and adjust whatever she needed to. Bel was also working alongside her, overseeing the process and advising her when necessary. 

 

Eventually, they were able to finish brewing the potion. 

 

Staring at the finished product, Sable had a look of disbelief on her face. The potion emitted a faint glow, and its quality was far better than anything she had brewed before. 

 

All of her hard work had paid off. 

 

“...Bel, we did it.” She whispered breathlessly. 

 

“We did it!” This time, she shouted out in joy. 

 

Isadora, who had started to drift off, was startled awake from Sable’s shout. Too caught up in her emotions and with the potion in hand, Sable ran over and embraced her. 

 

“I did it, Isadora!” A beaming smile stretched across her face. “I can save my mother!” 

 

Isadora responded with a hug of her own. 

 

“Thank you, Isadora.” Sable mumbled into her shoulder. “For everything.” 

 

“Hey, I didn’t do everything.” Isadora playfully protested. “You’re quite the excellent alchemist, Sable.” 

 

“Mhm.” Sable made a small murmur of acknowledgement as she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. 

 

“I’ll just close my eyes for a moment…” She dazedly thought to herself as she snuggled closer to Isadora. 

 

Hearing the smaller girl’s breathing grow steadier, Isadora looked down to see that Sable had fallen asleep tightly clutching the potion to her chest. 

 

With a slightly exasperated sigh, she gently stroked Sable’s head. 

 

“You silly girl.” Isadora subconsciously lowered her volume. Removing her coat, Isadora wrapped it around the girl before she carefully picked her up. Thanks to her daily sword training and Sable’s light body, Isadora had no issue carrying Sable in her arms. 

 

At this time, Grand Duke Lione and Grand Duchess Adelaide had come over to check on Sable’s progress when they saw their daughter carrying her outside. Both of them gave their daughter odd looks until they noticed that Sable was fast asleep. 

 

“How is she?” Adelaide asked quietly as she placed a hand on Sable’s forehead. 

 

“Exhausted.” Isadora replied. “But she managed to finish the potion.”

 

Seeing it tightly grasped in her hands, Grand Duke Lione and Grand Duchess Adelaide both shared looks of admiration. They didn’t doubt Sable’s abilities, but it was no easy feat to be able to create a potion with very little impurities. 

 

However, their admiration was soon replaced with concern when they noticed that Sable’s nose turned red. As if on cue, Sable murmured something under her breath and moved closer to the nearest source of warmth which happened to be Isadora. 

 

“Let’s get her inside, it’s getting quite cold out here.” Adelaide spun on her heel and started leading them back to the castle. 

 

After Sable was tucked into bed, Adelaide gestured for Isadora to follow her outside the room in order to not disturb Sable’s rest. 

 

Isadora quietly shut the door behind her before turning to her parents. 

 

“Was there something else, Mother?” Isadora looked at them curiously. 

 

“I was hoping that Sable would be awake for this, but…” Adelaide nodded towards her husband. 

 

In response, Grand Duke Lione pulled out a letter from his coat pocket. Although the seal was broken, Isadora recognized the emblem of the royal family. 

 

“We’ve received a response from the Capital.” Grand Duke Lione’s eyes gleamed. “They’ve approved our request to investigate the Marquis.” 

 

Isadora’s eyes widened. Then her face broke out into a wide smile. 

 

Under the dim lighting, the faces of the three members of the Lione family mirrored one another. 

 

It was time to go hunting.