Gardenia’s Heart

“Daddy!”

Lily screamed the moment she woke up, sitting upright in bed and stretching her arm forward, desperately reaching for something unattainable.

She had been so close. If she had just a little more strength, she could have freed her father from those men. If she’d had the courage to climb out of the hole a bit earlier, maybe she could have found a way for both of them to escape.

The failure brought with it a deep sense of powerlessness, which left a bitter taste in her mouth, confirming that she had failed.

“Ah... Ah...”

Her breathing was heavy, and her fingers trembled. It was as if a sharp headache suddenly struck her.

It wasn’t like when she had plummeted hundreds of meters into the labyrinth or when her entire body had frozen to death. This was something different, something that had always been there. Like an old wound finally making itself known, bringing its long-ignored pain to the forefront.

“Lily! Are you okay?”

It was only then that she noticed the purple-haired girl sitting on her lap.

“N-Nia?!”

Lowering her hands from her face, Lily looked at her wife, whose eyes were brimming with deep tears. Her distressed expression revealed the depth of her worry.

“You’re awake! I-I was... I was so scared!”

Not even a second later, Nia wrapped her arms around Lily’s waist, burying her head against Lily’s chest, tears streaming down her face.

“What happened? How long have I been... How long have you been out here?”

Still disoriented, Lily couldn’t tell how much time Nia had spent sitting on her lap.

“When the two women went to grab breakfast, I took on my human form to stay by your side.” Nia’s beautiful voice trembled, and her slender arms clung tightly to Lily, as if desperate to keep her close. “Lily started trembling a lot in her sleep. I tried to wake you up so many times, but I couldn’t. Even when I regulated your pores, you wouldn’t stop sweating cold. You looked like you were in so much pain, and I didn’t know what else to do!”

Unable to bear seeing Nia in such a state, Lily’s agitated body finally began to calm.

“It’s okay. I just had a nightmare. I’m fine now, especially because you’re here with me, Nia.”

Lily ran her hands through Nia’s purple hair, trying to soothe her worried wife. The warmth of their bodies mingled, and after a few moments, Lily placed a gentle kiss on Nia’s forehead before rising from the bed.

Carefully, with Nia still clinging tightly to her waist, Lily walked to the wooden table, picked up the water jug, and poured some into a glass. Taking a large sip, she let the cool liquid slide down her throat as she began to reflect on her dream.

This was the first time she had remembered those days with such clarity, as if the events of that time—once shrouded in fog—had suddenly become vivid and unmistakable.

The invasion, the sounds, the blood, the bodies—every excruciating detail of what she had witnessed now tore at the depths of her mind.

Why was she remembering all of it now?

“Are you really okay, Lily?”

Two red eyes gazed at her with worry. Nia’s voice carried her lingering fear about Lily’s condition.

With a big, energetic smile, Lily replied, “I’m sorry for worrying you. I’m fine, really. You don’t need to worry.”

Lily lied.

She wasn’t okay—it was impossible for her to be okay.

It felt as though a storm was raging inside her head. The anguished voices of those she once knew echoed in her ears like whispers, and even now, the metallic stench of blood seemed to linger in the air, clogging her nostrils.

Calculating her every move with perfect precision to ensure that not even Nia noticed anything was amiss, Lily pulled her wife into another embrace. She silently thanked the heavens that Nia refrained from asking about her dream. Moments later, the sound of footsteps approached, heralding the arrival of two others. As expected, Nia, who had been monitoring them closely, quickly returned to Lily’s body. A few moments later, Abelia and Cleomel stepped into the room.

“Lady Lily, good morning. I apologize for our sudden absence. Since we woke up quite early, we thought it would be best to get breakfast before the line got too long,” Abelia said as Cleomel opened the door for her.

“It’s fine. We should still have some time before any of the men make their move, so let’s eat,” Lily replied.

Masterfully controlling her expression, Lily joined the women for breakfast. What she ate or how it tasted—she couldn’t have said if asked. Instead, she relied on Nia’s cheerful remarks as a soothing distraction and kept her composure throughout the meal.

Once they finished, Lily moved a chair closer to the window. Abelia and Cleomel sat on the bed behind her, awaiting further instructions.

“Has the shopkeeper done anything suspicious, Nia?”

Seated in the chair, Lily whispered, taking care to ensure her words went unnoticed by the women. Her heterochromatic eyes scanned the clothing store at the end of the street through the gaps in the curtains.

(Approximately two hours after you fell asleep, the shopkeeper left the store and headed in the opposite direction of the inns. Unfortunately, maintaining mana- location for such a large area within the fog is exhausting, so I couldn’t track where he went.)

Lily nodded slightly, signaling for Nia to continue.

(He returned exactly an hour ago, alone, and no one else has entered the shop since. I’ve been monitoring the people passing by on the street, but I don’t know how to determine if any of them are suspicious.)

Hearing the sadness creeping into Nia’s voice, Lily gently stroked the tentacle resting on her clothes.

Although Nia could observe people’s actions, she struggled to judge character unless someone displayed overtly suspicious behavior, like carrying a weapon or shouting obscenities. Even narrowing her focus to magic users, the sheer number of demi-humans and magically gifted individuals in Caligo made it impossible to draw accurate conclusions.

“Don’t worry, Nia. That’s what I’m here for~”

Whispering again, Lily ignored the throbbing pain in her head and began surveying the street in search of the supposed “professor from the Academy of Mages.”

Her dark mana enhanced eyes scrutinized the street with intensity. Every person, shadow, and alleyway—nothing escaped her vigilance.

“Lady Lily, wouldn’t it be better to just stick to the plan you made with the shopkeeper and go there?” Abelia asked, her growing anxiety finally breaking through as the minutes stretched into hours.

“No, we need to make him nervous,” Lily replied without turning around.

“Nervous…?”

Abelia’s tone made it clear she didn’t understand Lily’s intent. Realizing that her brief explanation wasn’t enough, Lily turned her head just enough for her azure eye to meet the women’s gaze before speaking.

”The accomplice isn’t in the shop, which means he’ll be waiting outside for some kind of signal to act.”

“But are we absolutely certain he’ll come today?” Abelia countered, her fingers interlocked and posture rigid.

“He will.” Formulating the explanation was taxing—Lily’s head felt like it was on fire. Yet, she maintained her composure and continued. “White hair, blue eyes, and a body as voluptuous as his lust could conjure. A treasure trove of gold that easy to obtain won’t be ignored. At the very least, one of the accomplices will come to check.”

Using herself as bait left a bitter taste in her mouth. Even Cleomel and Abelia’s gazes faltered slightly, a reminder of the risk Lily was taking by placing herself in such a position.

“To the shopkeeper, his prize is already in his hands: a foolish woman, easily swayed, who believed everything he said. A grand prize that fell into his lap without him lifting a finger. Such a perfect acquisition that he called his accomplice without even verifying if his scheme would pan out—because the opportunity was too good to let slip.”

“Are you suggesting he might think his charm didn’t work? That he made a mistake during the conversation and his victim realized it later, escaping?” Abelia asked.

“The shopkeeper isn’t the endgame,” Lily replied indifferently. “He’s just the middleman. If the promised pot of gold doesn’t show up the way he claimed, he’ll be in trouble. That might push him into making mistakes he otherwise wouldn’t.”

Lily refused to play by their rules like some helpless victim. Since destroying the dress she received from the shopkeeper, she’d already decided not to visit the shop. She was confident she could identify the accomplice the moment she saw him.

All she needed was to confront him, deceive him into leading her to where the captives were held, and end this once and for all.

(This mana... I’ve felt it somewhere before...)

But just as her confidence peaked, Nia’s confused voice cut through her thoughts.

Lily didn’t even need to ask what Nia had noticed; her eyes locked onto the entrance of one of the shops.

There, leaning against the wall, was a man of medium height dressed in formal attire—black wool trousers and a matching jacket. His red hair, tied back in a ponytail, framed sharp eyes. Scars along his arms and wrists peeked out despite the long sleeves.

Lily didn’t need any further evidence to find him suspicious. The way he repeatedly tugged at his tie, clearly uncomfortable in such clothes, made it obvious he wasn’t accustomed to them.

But that wasn’t what caused both Lily and Nia’s faces to twist in shock.

They had seen this man before.

“He’s the one who was selling luxury goods in the village the week the bandits’ caravan stopped there.”

Lily would never forget the way his disgusting gaze judged her. On the caravan’s first day, when she went to buy bread to share with Nia, this man had been the one handling sales.

(He was also with the guard when he raided your house.)

Although the circumstances were different, Nia vividly remembered how he evaluated Lily’s worth in gold coins while ordering his men to search the river for her.

”Something’s not right,” Lily murmured, her voice tinged with unease.

Among all the troubling elements of this situation, the one that left Lily most baffled was the inconsistency in the man’s arrival in Caligo.

The three days she had spent at the Star Dust Spring didn’t matter. She had pushed herself to her limits, cutting weeks-long journeys into days. If this man had arrived in Caligo ahead of her, it could only mean he used a network of beacons far superior to the common maps she had access to.

”How does a group of bandits gain access to routes better than those used by major caravans or trade markets!?”

“Is something wrong, Lady Lily?”

She hadn’t realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud, and Abelia’s concerned voice jolted her back to the moment. Lily knew she couldn’t continue without an explanation, so she began formulating her response.

“Do you see that man? The one in the black suit with red hair?” Lily gestured toward him, signaling for both women to come closer. As their eyes landed on the irritated figure across the street, Lily continued, “I’m absolutely certain he’s one of the ones responsible for the kidnappings.”

Abelia’s gaze hardened, and Cleomel instinctively began gathering mana in her hands. After so many days of suffering, the sight of the man responsible ignited a flame of determination in both women.

“Lady Lily, you’re planning to confront him and convince him to lead you to where the others are being held, aren’t you?”

Abelia’s voice was cold, sending a shiver down Lily’s spine. The woman’s earlier anxiety had melted away, replaced by an overwhelming desire to act.

“I can’t. That’s the problem,” Lily admitted, her eyes still fixed on the man in the street. “He knows my face.”

“He knows you, Lady Lily?” Cleomel asked, raising an eyebrow at the revelation.

“I won’t go into details, but my village was also attacked by bandits. This man posed as a merchant to deceive us. During his time there, he saw my face and knows I escaped.”

Both Abelia and Cleomel widened their eyes in surprise as Lily casually revealed such an unbelievable event from her past.

”Is that why Lady Lily can recognize him immediately as one of the bandits?”

The girl nodded at Abelia’s question, her fingers gripping the edge of her dress tightly, squeezing it firmly.

What should she do now?

The question hammered through her throbbing head, creeping dangerously close to despair. Her carefully constructed plan had been unraveled by a variable she hadn’t accounted for.

Even if she tried to disguise herself, her left arm and heterochromatic eye were now different from when she lived in the village. But fooling him would still be nearly impossible.

Should they wait for him to leave on his own? No, that wasn’t an option. There was no guarantee he’d return to where the captives were being held. Losing this chance would only further endanger Abelia’s daughter.

Could they rely on the shopkeeper to make a mistake if they waited long enough? No, that was a gamble she couldn’t afford to take. If the accomplice didn’t expose himself, the shopkeeper might contact him to explain why Lily hadn’t shown up, but even that was uncertain.

What should she do?

The vertigo and pounding pain in her head intensified. She had already failed to protect her father, and now she feared history would repeat itself with Abelia’s daughter.

As her mind spiraled deeper into guilt and panic, a single, simple thought surfaced, cutting through the noise.

”I just need to kill them...” Lily murmured.

Why was she overthinking something so complicated?

Shouldn’t she just get rid of them?

They were bandits, the same kind of cruel, heartless humans who had invaded her village and taken everything from her so many times.

Lily was certain that the voices of pain and despair echoing in her mind would be satisfied if she did it. She was convinced—torturing them was enough. She didn’t need such elaborate plans. Now, she didn’t just have the shopkeeper but one of his accomplices too. If she pushed them beyond salvation, they would tell her everything she needed to know.

Her hand reached for the sword at her waist, and she could feel her mana burning within her.

But just as she was about to rise, a voice stopped her.

“Lady Lily, Miss Abelia.”

Turning fully around, both women looked at the brunette knight. Her short, chestnut hair was slicked back with her hand. Her toned physique, which could easily be mistaken for a man’s, tensed as her fiery orange eyes locked onto both women with unwavering determination.

“Seeing how Lady Lily acted yesterday gave me an idea. May I try something?”