77. The Aftermath

Thyra plunged the shovel into the ground and sat down on the mud mixed with snow. Looking at the sun going down behind the distant hills, Thyra felt she was really tired today.

Digging a grave wasn't much of an exercise to make her tired. Still, she felt that her body was heavy. Not just physically but also mentally.

Now that she is in this world, Thyra has no problem accepting the fact she has dirtied her hand quite a few times. And after coming to this world, she had done that more indiscriminately.

She believed she was already over the point of caring about a few deaths. But today, she realised she was wrong.

Thyra wasn't sure what had pushed her over the edge, whether it was the death of the unborn child of Hure or seeing Hure lying in the pool of blood.

"I still might have a little bit of humanity left in me," Thyra mumbled with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"I think so too." Thyra turned back to find Nisa standing behind her. She had never realised when Nisa came so close. She was holding a white flower.

She bends down and keeps the white flower on the mound. Then she stood there, bowing to the mound. Thyra felt some movement of mana, but it quickly returns to normal.

'Did I mistake it?' Thyra wasn't sure. In the end, she just accepted the fact that she was too tired.

"I thought you were only good at forcing women and moving your hips."

Thyra looked at her, only to realise that she wasn't even looking at her. Nisa, too, was looking at the setting sun, continuing, "Now I understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why didn't they mind being with you?"

"Don't kid yourself. I am just protecting them because they have something I want. It is just an equivalent exchange. Unlike certain someone…" Thyra looked at Nisa, asking, "Why are you talking too much? Aren't you afraid of me anymore?"

"Because today I understood that you and I are the same."

"Same?"

Nisa looked at Thyra for a moment, adding, "Okay, yours are the worst. My family didn't try to kill me."

Thyra looked at her, smiling, not understanding what she was talking about. Thyra couldn't help asking, "Are we having a bonding moment here?"

Thyra stood up, repeating the question, "Why are you talking so much? Aren't you supposed to hate me for something? Are you trying to be my wife or something?"

"No, no. Absolutely not." Nisa shook her head and said, "I know that being a wife for you means laying down under you and doing indecent things."

Looking at her, Thyra chuckled. Thyra shook her head, took the shovel, and walked away. Nisa, too, walked at a distance.

"Why are you following me?"

"We are just going in the same direction."

"If you want to say something, do it now."

Thyra didn't stop and kept walking as she spoke, but she understood that Nisa wanted to say something. Even if Thyra was younger than her, her life experience was much richer than hers. But Nisa didn't say anything, and she just kept following silently.

"There was nothing you could do about it. It was his fate. And you can't change it."

"His fate?" Thyra frowned, not understanding what she meant by that. But she kept walking.

"He wasn't supposed to be born."

"That child?" Thyra smiled, adding, "Maybe."

"I know because I have seen it."

"Seen it? What are you? A Soothsayer?" Thyra asked jokingly but felt the person behind her stop walking. As soon as she realised, it wasn't her old world, where being a soothsayer was a scam, but a world of magic.

As soon as she looked back, their eyes met, and Nisa looked away. Thyra quickly grabbed her shoulder, shaking, "You can see the future? Why didn't you tell me then?"

"You can't change the future just because you know."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I know because I tried." Nisa screamed and looked away, "You can change the future, but you have to pay. Believe me when I say that the pay won't be worth it."

"That's mine to decide. Why didn't you tell me about it before?"

"Because if you had known, then it wouldn't be the child who had died, but…" Nisa paused before adding, "Hure would have died."

"But…" She wanted to say something but couldn't. Thyra looked right into her eyes and felt she wasn't lying. Thyra wasn't sure if it was because of the memory of the owner of the body or if it was herself, but some part of her was still attached to Hure.

Thyra kept holding her shoulder as she looked toward the sky. The sky was grey. Even if she kept taking deep breaths, the sky didn't shine.

Thyra wasn't sure why Nisa suddenly decided to hug her, but she, too, hugged her back. She wasn't sure how long they stood like that, but she only let her go when someone came looking for her.

"My lady, my lady." Sleda was out of breath. "She had woken up."

Thyra started running without waiting a single moment.

"Let me go." Only when Nisa cried did Thyra realise she was still holding her hand. Thyra stopped, carried her, and ran. With her speed, it didn't take long for her to reach there.

When she stopped in front of the manor, it blew away the snow around the entrance. Soon she was standing in front of Hure's door. She took a deep breath before entering.

"My lady," Hure smiled at Thyra, asking, "You didn't kill the Jenkins, right?"

"Huh!" Thyra looked at Hure, not believing what she was hearing was right.

"Even if you are the daughter of a noble, you can't just kill another noble in broad daylight." Hure calmly explained.

"That is the first thing you wanted to ask?" Thyra couldn't help herself from smiling, "Can't you have some faith in me?"

"I do, my lady," Hure said with a weak smile.

"Didn't I tell you to be safe? How can you let this happen?"

Hure smiled but didn't answer. Thyra knew, in this world, the child mortality rate was high, and the parents didn't care much about their children. But she could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Thyra came closer, held her hand, and said, "Don't worry, Jenkins will join the army, but he won't be coming back from this war."

"My lady, that is not the time for it." Hure said before asking, "I heard that you are a royal knight. Is that true?"

"It is just the begi…" Thyra glared at her, realising that Hure was leading her, "It's not the time to worry about that."

Hure shook her head, adding, "But there are many more things to do. We have to train the extra soldiers and…"

"Shut up, and take some rest." Thyra put her finger on her lips. "You are not leaving the room till I say so."

Hure wanted to say something, but looking into Thyra's eyes, she simply nodded with a smile on her face. Yet, Thyra couldn't smile back at her.

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