Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 69

[Translated By Divinity]

“Oracis Shelbyr was a half-spirit, you said? Oracis was neither human nor spirit. To put it simply, he was closer to a human who could wield the power of spirits, or perhaps a spirit disguised in a human shell.”

Damian nodded, indicating he was listening, and Lilliana continued.

“Originally, we were supposed to be like that too. Half-spirit, half-human. But strangely, maybe because we’re twins… something went wrong when we were dividing the spirit energy in our mother’s womb. My brother absorbed most of the spirit energy, and I only got a little. So he was closer to being a spirit in a human body, and I’m closer to being a human with the power of a spirit.”

Lilliana created a small flame at her fingertips. Damian, unlike before, watched it calmly without surprise.

“So this fire-making trick is one of the few spirit powers I can use. It’s really nothing special.”

“Why did that happen?”

Damian, struggling to keep up with the conversation due to his lack of background knowledge, asked slowly, pondering her words. Lilliana sighed softly and shook her head.

“I don’t know. Neither my mother nor the other spirits know the cause. They can only guess that something went wrong when we twins received the energy in the womb.”

She seemed to want to know the reason herself if there was a specific one.

“But here’s where the problem arose. Maybe because he was born closer to a spirit, my brother developed a physiology closer to that of a spirit.”

“Like what?”

“For one, he’ll probably live longer than humans. They say Oracis lived for over 200 years. My brother is closer to a spirit, so he’ll live even longer. He’ll probably have a lifespan close to that of spirits.”

Lilliana shrugged.

“But that’s just a minor thing. The real problem was something else. Newborn spirits develop very slowly compared to humans. They live long lives, so they mature over a long period. It takes them a long time to develop intellect and even longer to feel emotions. It takes hundreds of years for them to become similar to humans.”

“So Casey is like that too?”

“That’s right. And that’s exactly what caused an incident between my brother and me. The incident where he almost killed me.”

Lilliana’s face slowly hardened.

“Being in that ambiguous state of neither human nor spirit, my brother wanted to live the life of a spirit. To do that, he needed to replenish his lacking spirit energy, and that energy was within me. So he tried to take it.”

“Couldn’t you have just given it to him?”

Damian asked, thinking simply, but Lilliana’s expression remained grim.

“I thought the same thing at first. So I really tried to give him my power. But there was a problem. When my brother tried to take the spirit energy from me, my heart stopped. Yes, that wasn’t the first time my heart stopped. And the reason no one anticipated it was because no spirit or human had ever done such a thing before.”

Damian’s face darkened at her words.

Lilliana shrugged and continued,

“Luckily, it was after my mom had passed away, so my aunt and dad were able to perform emergency procedures, and I was fine… But the problem was that my brother didn’t give up on taking my power easily. And it wasn’t out of malice. When a person slaughters a sheep to satisfy their hunger, do they feel guilty about each and every sheep? No, they don’t. It’s just the natural order of things. My brother was similar. He didn’t hate me or think he was more special than me. He just… naturally tried to take my power because it was within me. Whether I lived or died wasn’t his concern.”

Damian listened to Lilliana’s explanation in a low voice, unsure if he was fully understanding her.

“This happened because my brother was closer to a spirit and his development was different from that of a human. He didn’t know how to consider others and acted solely on instinct. That’s why he treated me like an object, not a sister. But it’s not that he has no emotions at all. He just hadn’t developed them yet at that time.”

After hearing Lilliana’s explanation, Damian asked,

“Then what happened to Casey afterward? If he didn’t give up easily, there must have been some preventive measures to stop it from happening again.”

“Ah, about that, he went on a trip with Dad. At least, that’s how it was until my last memory. But it seems like that’s not the case anymore.”

“If he’s not there, then where…?”

“My aunt said he’s missing.”

Lilliana gave a bitter smile and scratched her head.

“I heard that my dad passed away and my brother disappeared during the two years I can’t remember. I don’t know anything more than that.”

Damian pondered for a moment, then spoke.

“Lilliana, before that, I need to clarify something. If your mother was a spirit, does that mean Ms. Pascal is a spirit too?”

“Ah, I didn’t tell you! Yes, she’s from the Gnome bloodline, an earth spirit. Although she’s not blood-related to my mom, they became sworn sisters after living together in the same village for a long time.”

“I see.”

“You’re not surprised.”

“Well, it would be stranger if your aunt wasn’t a spirit, considering your mother was one.”

“That’s true.”

While Lilliana nodded, Damian continued his questions.

“Then can Ms. Pascal also use spirit powers?”

“Of course. But the power of earth spirits isn’t visible. I mean, I use fire spirit powers, so it’s flashy and noticeable when I create flames, but earth is just… there. But they’re wealthy. All the expensive minerals are underground.”

Lilliana said, sounding a bit proud. Damian finally understood how Pascal and Lilliana could spend money so freely. As long as the value of gems and gold didn’t plummet, there was probably no one wealthier than Pascal among humans.

“And the reason I wanted to see the Oracis statue in front of Lomeltos Palace…”

Lilliana puffed out her chest and said,

“One of the spirits there is my aunt!”

“…What?”

Damian hadn’t paid much attention to the statue, so he hadn’t properly looked at the faces of the spirits surrounding Oracis. But one of them was Pascal?

“Well, anyway.”

Lilliana brushed off the topic and returned to the original subject.

“But the thing is, earth spirits are bound to the land they govern. They have a characteristic of being tied to the earth and unable to move to other regions. In my aunt’s case, her territory covers the area around Noster Province, where Kelta is located…”

At that point, Lilliana clicked her tongue and frowned.

“When my aunt comes to Nichio, she’s in a defenseless state, having lost all her powers. That’s why she can’t stay here for long.”

“Okay, but… didn’t Ms. Pascal explain what happened during the two years you lost your memory?”

“Well… she did explain, but there are too many holes in her story. There are many things she hasn’t told me, and many parts don’t add up. So I’m confused too. I don’t know what Casey’s up to or what happened to me.”

“Why is that? Is there a reason she’s not telling you?”

“It’s a characteristic of spirits.”

“A characteristic of spirits?”

“Spirits can’t lie. So they have a bad habit of just shutting up when a topic they don’t want to talk about comes up.”

Lilliana’s words made Damian frown and mutter,

“There must be a reason why Ms. Pascal doesn’t want to talk about it. She’s hiding something from you.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it is, though.”

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