Chapter 24. Lucy’s “Past”

  'It's truly delicious. Considering how much my granddaughter loves sweets, it's no wonder she was won over by this catgirl so quickly. To be honest, they do look rather good together... And Rina seems genuinely happy... But is it really possible for their relationship to last? Even though I may be able to influence my husband to some extent to accept their relationship, the conflict with the tigerkins cannot be avoided. Yes, maybe Rina is trying to appear indifferent, but I know how much she cares about this village...', Rina's grandmother thought as she started to take smaller spoonfuls of her almost finished piece of cake, wanting to savor it more.

  "Eat without a worry, grandma. If you like it, you can have another slice of cake. Look at Nalani; she's already on her third portion..." Lucy said, having just offered Nalani another slice of cake and returned to Rina's embrace.

  "Thank you. It was truly the best dessert I've ever had, but I've had enough for today. Perhaps another time...", Rina's grandmother said. She decided to sacrifice herself to restore some of the lionkins' honor, which had largely been lost due to the way her granddaughters behaved, as if until then they had eaten nothing but dry bread in their entire lives. "But please, tell me," she continued, "where did you learn such recipes? When I was younger, I visited many catkin settlements, and I've never seen a dish like this..."

  'Well, though I managed to buy some time with the cake, eventually, I couldn't avoid giving some explanations about myself...', Lucy thought, realizing that Rina's grandmother's purpose wasn't to talk about her culinary experiences but to find out more about her origins.

  "I didn't grow up in a catkin settlement, so I'm not sure if they know the recipes that I learned from my sensei..." Lucy replied, who had already prepared an emotional story about her origins, a story worthy of becoming the subject of a book.

  "Huh, 'senzei'? What's that?" Nalani asked with her mouth full of cake, tilting her head to the side in an incredibly adorable way.

  "Not 'senzei', sensei. It means my teacher who initiated me into the ninja arts.", Lucy replied, struggling to resist the urge to go to Nalani and start petting her head.

  "Ninja arts... I've never heard of such a thing." Rina's grandmother said, starting to scrutinize Lucy closely, not wanting to miss any sign that could indicate that she was not sincere.

  Since Lucy didn't know precisely how someone in this world acquired their class and skills, she decided to focus on the philosophical aspect of the term 'ninja', so she began to explain to the three lionkin women present what a ninja's life entailed, the beliefs of a person who hides in the shadows, and many other things she remembered from movies and anime.

  Hearing Lucy's explanations, the three lionkin women were left astonished, each for a different reason. Rina, who knew Lucy somewhat better, was shocked because she couldn't imagine how someone like Lucy, who liked to stand out, could claim to adhere to these beliefs she spoke of with such passion. Nalani, on the other hand, was truly impressed by what Lucy said and was starting to become a fan of the ninja way of life. Rina's grandmother, however, was experiencing something entirely new in her life as she found herself in front of a person about whom she couldn't discern how honest she really was.

  "The things you're saying are truly unusual. Your teacher must be a very special person...", Rina's grandmother said after Lucy had finished her speech.

  "Well, she was. She passed away a year ago..." Lucy said, her voice trembling slightly as she uttered the last sentence.

  "I'm sorry to hear that. You must have been very close..."

  'Let the show begin...', Lucy said to herself in her mind, seeing that the conversation was heading in the direction she wanted.

  "Yes, she was like a second mother to me because she raised me since I was four, from the day she saved me from my burning village. She taught me everything I know, how to fight, how to sneak, how to prepare all kinds of potions and poisons, and many other things she considered useful to seamlessly integrate into any community, like cooking and massage techniques. Honestly, I always thought I'd be with her for the rest of my life, and I believed she wanted the same. That was until one day when she confessed that she had been part of the group that attacked the village I was born in and that the only reason she spared me was to turn me into a loyal subordinate, someone who would obey her every order without question, but because I wasn't talented enough and didn't meet her expectations, she decided to abandon that plan. Upon hearing this news, I lost my mind completely and attacked her with everything I had, but she defeated me easily, leaving me in a pool of blood. I still don't know how I managed to survive. Probably, it was only the desire for revenge that got me through those moments... I felt betrayed, not only because she was one of those responsible for my parents' deaths, but also because she chose to abandon me. Yes, I couldn't let things stand like that! So, after I managed to heal, I dedicated half a year to rigorous training, my goal being that when I met her again, I would prove to her that I wasn't just a disappointment and make her pay for my parents' deaths. But all my efforts were in vain because after searching for her for a month, going through all the hiding spots I knew she had, I finally found her in one of them, lying on the floor with a sword through her heart, her body already showing signs of decay. You might think that at that moment, I was relieved, but things didn't turn out that way... I sat there for days and cried beside her corpse... I didn't care about anything anymore, not even the fact that she was one of my parents' killers. Yes, I would have given anything to bring her back, even my own life. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done, so I had no choice but to bury her in one of her favorite places, by a lake full of water lilies. After some time, when I managed to calm down and started carefully analyzing all the memories I had with my teacher, it wasn't hard for me to realize that, regardless of her initial motives, she did care about me for real, which led her to do everything in her power to push me away when she learned her life was in danger, even hurting me physically and emotionally. Honestly, I still have no idea how much she was involved in my parents' deaths, whether she killed them with her own hands or if some of her allies did it, but I think that if at the moment she confessed, she hadn't abandoned me but instead had apologized and promised to spend her entire life trying to make amends, I believe that, although I would have been angry for a while, I would have eventually forgiven her. Anyway, after I finished mourning, I spent nearly two months looking for clues about who killed her, but I think my teacher expected something like that from me, so she had already destroyed all her documents and most of her personal belongings by the time of her death. The only thing I found of hers was a painting she had likely made a few days before her death, illustrating a bird flying towards the sky. Considering all of this, I think what she wanted was for me to be free, not to be consumed by the desire for revenge, and to start over somewhere else. This is what led me to abandon everything and cross almost half the continent to get here, where I hoped there might be a catkin settlement where I could integrate. Anyway, from what I've learned, I may have arrived much too late..."

  After hearing Lucy's heartbreaking story about her past, the three lionkin women were truly moved, with Nalani even having tears in her eyes.

  "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But from now on, you won't be alone. I'll always be by your side...", Rina said after she saw that Lucy didn't intend to say more. She then hugged Lucy tightly, as if she wished to absorb all the painful memories that still haunted Lucy.

  'Let's hope you keep your word after I tell you my true past...' Lucy thought, regretting that she had to lie to Rina. However, she intended to tell Rina what her true origins are in the moment they would be alone again because she didn't want their relationship to be based on a lie. Plus, she needed someone she could trust to teach her the things known to all the inhabitants of that world.