The guards both wanted to rebuke, but for some reason, they did not manage to inspire the courage to do so; an unknown fear was slowly creeping up their spines. They could only surrender to that growing fear at the back of their minds, so one of them went out while the other remained and watched her like a hawk.
But from time to time, the guard’s expression became strange; he would lose focus and start thinking about different kinds of thoughts, completely contradictory to the current situation in which he was supposed to be watching the suspicious women with the utmost caution.
She did not have to wait long, as her brother soon arrived. At first, he was wary of her, considering her whole figure and face were suspiciously covered up in its entirety. Sophia spoke this time, her authentic voice filled with a trace of her genuine emotion escaping her lips unconsciously, "Hello, brother."
"It’s been so long, hasn’t it?" she stated again after a pause.
And the moment her authentic voice escaped her mouth, the guards were stunned by the evident charm it carried. Still, her brother, who was now much older, had tears gathering in his eyes; he was not the least bit affected by the slight charm carried by her voice, because he was looking at his own little sister, whom he loved dearly.
His only real family, perhaps, that remained in the whole world. Sophia’s throat went dry; no matter how much she tried, in every single one of her lives, there would always be that one person she became attached to, a brother, a sister, a mother, or a father. Or maybe a friend, a relative, or a child.
At least, she was grateful that she had never had to form a romantic relationship with any man. That was one instinct of hers that she never once lost, even though she lost her memories again and again and again. Even if she became an entirely different person in different reincarnations, it was that one aspect of her existence that remained the same.
"Sophia, is...is that really you?" asked Samir in a trembling voice.
Sophia’s attention shifted back to her brother, and that intense emotion of familial love and gratitude welled up within her again.
She nodded, "Yes, it’s me."
Her voice was barely that of a whisper, but it resounded in the mind of her brother, like an announcement. He dropped to his knees, tears forming in his eyes, and falling like raindrops; he stated in a choked voice, "I’m... so glad... you’re okay, little sister." Discover more novels at NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"I’m so so glad," he kept muttering in a broken voice.
Sophia walked closer and helped her brother get up from the ground. Samir held her hand tightly, grateful for the fact that she had returned. Yes, she had changed; she had changed too much, perhaps. But he instinctively knew it; it was her. That was his own tiny sister, who had grown up, it was Sophia. But the two guards who witnessed all of this had a terrified look on their faces.
They exchanged a silent look; there were obviously tales of Sophia that the villagers of that time had left behind, and the rumors about her weren’t pleasant to hear. One of the guards went inside the village again, without asking for permission from the village chief, Sophia’s brother Samir. Sophia herself noticed this small action, knowing what was going on, but it didn’t matter anyway. After calming her brother down, Samir finally took her inside, the guard being more tense than ever. In contrast, the other guard obviously went to inform the other key individuals within the village.
The brother and sister continued to chat happily, exchanging information about each other over the years. Sophia listened attentively, her slight smile visible behind her mask, as her brother spoke about how he had become the village chief, his tone filled with evident pride. Compared to that, Sophia’s story was quite dry; at least the made-up story she decided to tell her brother for now. As Sophia reached right in front of her brother’s new house, a moderately beautiful silver-haired woman came out, holding the hand of a small child, a little boy who looked quite identical to her own brother.
As she looked back and forth between the women, it was the miracle worker women. She had become even more beautiful by now, at least by usual standards. Her brother revealed with another prideful smile, "Punk, remember what you said back then? That I couldn’t even impress her, no matter what. But here she is, the mother to my children."
Sophia’s eyes blinked in a flicker of surprise, more so in sadness. Of course, she only expressed congratulations to her brother. While the miracle worker woman seemed to feel an extreme amount of fear, deep within her eyes, she maintained a magnificent façade, ensuring Samir did not catch wind of it, no matter what. On the way, many other villagers also saw Sophia, but as she was with Samir, who was now the village chief, no one questioned it openly. But she could already see fear spreading through everyone within the village.
Especially with the slaughter that has been ongoing in the outside world, it’s a wonder this village remained utterly unaffected by wars going on outside, since this was so deep into the mountain-filled lands. Most of the world was unaware of its existence, and she knew how difficult it was to travel here from the central parts of the kingdom, the more developed areas of society.
Sophia sat inside and chatted with her brother’s wife, trying to ease her tension as much as possible. But the child did not come closer to her, no matter what. The little boy would start crying. This again cemented the fear within the miracle worker about the once little girl whose mind was overtaken by some evil spirit, who killed more than 50 grown men with her hands, as if she was cutting vegetables, not humans.
Samir left the house to get some good food to serve his little sister. He wanted to treat his sister to the best food he could; he was so happy and relieved that his only family had come back after so long that he couldn’t contain the smile within him. It took him about 30 minutes to gather the best ingredients of food within the village, and many of the villagers were asking if his sister was indeed back.
Samir could see the apparent fear in their eyes, but he did his best to reassure them. On one hand, it utterly infuriated him that the villagers still thought of his little sister as a kind of monster. But he was also the village chief; for that reason, he couldn’t become angry at any of them; it would be unbecoming of him.
There was one particular dish Sophia used to love; he would ask his wife to make that, just the way she liked it. Additionally, he would need to have a conversation with his sister about why she was covering her face and whole body in that manner.
It was pretty easy for him to see that she was actively trying to avoid showing her skin to anyone. Was she suffering from some disease? He became instantly worried just thinking about that. Maybe that’s why she came here. Maybe his wife could help her; his eyes became determined. No matter what she needed, as her older brother, he would help her with anything she needed. No matter what it was.
As he entered his own house, he called out to his wife immediately. He called her a few times, but there was no answer. As he entered the room where he had seated his little sister, with a trace of annoyance against his wife for not answering his calls, he abruptly halted in his tracks. Unable to believe his very own eyes for the impossibility it was showing, his brain failed to register the contents ahead.