The Child Who Abandoned Love
Before a hero ever appeared in the empire.
This is the story of a child who abandoned the emotion called love.
A deep crimson sunset poured its warmth across the fields. The ripened golden stalks of rice bowed their heads as if begging to be cut at once.
Together with her father, she moved through the abundant paddies, harvesting the grain, and returned home.
"You've worked hard, darling. You too, Ana."
A mature, beautiful woman gathered her into her arms. A handsome man with brown hair and amber eyes looked at his wife and spoke.
"Honey. I think our Ana might be a genius. The way she swings that sickle is no joke, you know? She cuts rice better than I do."
"Pfft. There you go again. Are you trying to make our daughter a swordswoman?"
"Haha. If Ana wants it, I don't think it'd be so bad."
"Absolutely not."
When the woman answered with firm finality, the man merely shrugged once and took his seat at the table.
And so the three of them shared a simple evening meal filled with warm affection.
For some reason her father seemed especially cheerful that day, and he began drinking with her mother. Under the influence of the liquor, he started speaking of regrets he had long kept buried.
He said that as a child he had possessed a talent for magic. But without the means to afford an education, he had missed the critical window when his mana should have grown, and in the end he had set aside his dream of becoming a mage.
If only he had somehow scraped together the money and learned magic back then, their family might have lived more comfortably than they did now — that was the regret he voiced. Her mother comforted him, telling him that she was already more than happy enough.
Ana, too, hated seeing her father look so sad, so she smiled and told him that she was perfectly happy as things were.
Her soft-hearted father began to tear up.
Yes.
She was happy.
They could not call themselves wealthy, but they had the means to make a living. She had parents — a handsome man and a beautiful woman — who loved her. She did not live the kind of abundant life others envied, yet she could proudly declare to the heavens that she was happy.
And she believed that happiness would last forever.
Until, a few years later, the day her father had an affair.
Slap—
Her mother screamed. She struck her father with tears of blood streaming down her face, and he simply bowed his head like a criminal and took every blow. He said he was sorry, over and over. Even so, his decision did not change.
He was leaving them.
Her father, handsome enough that anyone could see it, had one day caught the eye of a countess from a marquisate. The noblewoman had offered him money if he would come live in her mansion. At first he refused. But her father had always harbored a quiet hunger for success and wealth, and little by little his heart began to turn. In the end, on the condition that a considerable sum would be left for Ana and her mother, he decided to go to the countess of the marquisate.
Her mother, who had not stopped hitting him, finally ran out of strength. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed as if her heart would break. Then her father turned to Ana with a face full of guilt.
"...I'm sorry for becoming such a terrible father, Ana. But I'm sure that someday you'll understand."
When he took her hand, she nearly cried without meaning to. She forced the tears back down and looked at him with the blankest expression she could manage.
"With this money, you won't have to farm anymore. You can start doing whatever you want. I hope you never have to give up on a dream because of money the way I did."
Don't make me laugh.
In the end you're just abandoning us for your own satisfaction.
"Well then... take care, Ana."
The moment he turned and began walking out of the house, her body gave a violent shudder. She wanted to grab him and beg him not to go. If he truly loved her mother and her, she wanted to cling to him and plead for him to stay.
But whether it was pride, or simply that she lacked the courage to hold him back — she let him leave without so much as catching his sleeve.
And so he left them.
Slowly, but without fail, time continued to pass.
Perhaps time really was the great healer. Her mother, who for a long while had done nothing but cry, eventually recovered her strength and smiled for Ana again. She said that now there was only the two of them. That she would raise Ana well no matter what, and take revenge on that bastard who had abandoned them.
Even though her father was gone, it was not as if only misfortune remained. She still had a mother who loved her.
With the enormous sum that had come from the marquisate, the two of them were able to buy a small house in the empire, and there they began to live a reasonably comfortable life.
Her mother, fretting over Ana's future, wondered whether she might have inherited a talent for magic like her father, and so the two of them walked together to the Magic Tower.
Was it fortune or misfortune that she had inherited that man's blood?
She had a talent for magic.
And not just any talent — the talent of an archmage.
From that day on, her life changed completely. Born with a gift that appeared maybe once in a thousand years, she drew the intense interest of everyone from the emperor himself to the great sages. Receiving their support, she achieved staggering growth. At last, at the youngest age of twelve, she reached the rank of 6-Circle and became a celebrated figure throughout the empire.
And that was not the end of it.
By chance, while sparring with a swordsman as practical combat training, she discovered that she also possessed a talent for the blade. After that, she began training in swordsmanship as well.
And so, at fourteen, having reached the upper ranks of Expert, she earned the title of the empire's prodigy.
Everyone looked up to her. They always treated her with consideration full of goodwill and never spared their praise. But to her, those gazes were nothing but a burden. The expectations everyone placed on her only made her shoulders heavier.
She wanted to go home quickly. She hurried her steps and went to find her mother.
"Ana! Welcome home. You must be tired."
Her mother greeted her with a warm smile. Her expression was far brighter than before. As Ana received more and more support from the empire, her mother's life naturally grew more comfortable as well. When Ana was away from home, her mother began spending time alone — wearing the clothes she had always wanted to wear, buying the things she had always wanted to buy.
Ana had always felt guilty about leaving her mother alone so often because of training and missions. Knowing that her mother seemed to have found hobbies of her own put her at ease.
She ate the warm meal her mother had prepared and talked with her. Her mother's face was full of anticipation. From what she said, she had a gathering the next day with noble ladies of the empire, and she thought it would be lovely if she met some good people.
So she really has been lonely on her own.
A pang of pity rose in Ana's chest, but she did not let it show. She simply smiled and told her mother that she was sure to make wonderful friends.
And so, finishing that warm meal, she hoped with all her heart that her mother would meet good people.
But it seemed her wish was not to be granted.
The next day, her mother's expression was terribly dark. When Ana asked what had happened, her mother only shook her head and said it was nothing. But the fury trembling in her eyes and the shaking of her body said otherwise.
Had something gone wrong at the gathering of noble ladies?
Ana quietly asked the imperial palace to look into it. According to what she heard, nothing untoward had occurred at the tea party itself. But when she saw the list of attendees, she found her answer.
The countess of the marquisate — the woman who had taken the man who had once been her father. A name still burned vividly into Ana's mind was written on that list.
The reason her mother was so furious was surely because of that woman.
Wanting to comfort her, Ana returned home. But for some reason, her mother was not there. According to the neighbors, she had gone to a high-end dress shop.
Ana waited at home, and at last her mother came through the door with her arms full of clothes and jewels. Looking at her with a puzzled expression, Ana asked what the clothes were for. Her mother said she was meeting someone the next day, and that she absolutely had to make a good impression, so she had spent more than she should have.
It was not hard to guess who that someone was. The woman who had stolen the man who had once been her mother's love.
Her mother apologized over and over for spending money so recklessly. Ana shook her head and told her it was fine. She, too, hoped her mother would not be cowed by that woman. She wanted her mother to show that she was living a happier life than anyone. Hoping that her mother could stand proud before that woman, Ana told her not to worry about her and to spend as freely as she liked.
Her mother wept and thanked her, and Ana smiled.
And so another day passed.
When Ana came home from training, her mother greeted her with a delighted expression. Had she successfully landed a blow on that woman? Relieved, Ana let herself relax.
From then on, her mother developed a new hobby. She began buying every rare jewel and every lavish dress she could find. There was no denying a certain excess to the spending, but wishing only for her mother's happiness, Ana never interfered.
Then one day, the emperor summoned her.
"How would you like to start earning some real merit?"
She listened carefully to his words. He proposed that she go to the front lines where battles against the demonkin were raging and deal with them. With her power, he said, it would be more than possible — and if she returned victorious, he would grant her a noble title and land.
Someone hungry for power would have accepted without a second thought. Ana refused on the spot.
If she went to the front and fought, it would take at least a month. A month of bloody combat against demonkin did not bother her in the slightest. But being separated from her mother for that long was something she could not allow. Lately she had already been leaving her mother alone more often than she liked. If she were gone for a full month, her mother would surely be sad. And Ana herself had no desire to be apart from her mother for so long.
And so she rejected the emperor's proposal.
But her mother's thoughts were different from hers.
"Mom wants you to go, Ana."