Chapter 24: Falling from the Sky
“Don’t be nervous.”
Luna smiled brightly as she sat behind Elrose, enjoying a bath together in the tub.
“I-I’m not nervous,” Elrose replied, hugging her knees and curling up.
“Not nervous, huh?” Luna smirked mischievously, then reached out to lightly poke Elrose’s back.
Elrose’s body twitched, as if jolted by some strong stimulus.
“What are you doing, Luna?” Elrose said with a hint of annoyance. “We’re just taking a bath, don’t mess around.”
“Alright, alright,” Luna replied with a sweet smile. Although her hand stopped moving, her gaze never left Elrose’s back.
Her slender waist had no excess flesh, and her exquisitely symmetrical butterfly bones looked stunning. The pale skin seemed especially delicate under the glow of the bath lights.
Truly perfect.
Luna smiled mysteriously. “Hey, I have to ask, Little Belle, how can someone like you be so beautiful?”
“I…” Elrose sighed lightly. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I’m missing some memories, and I can’t quite explain who I am.”
Beside them, Lilith was washing Stella’s hair with a showerhead. Hearing Elrose’s slightly forlorn voice, she quickly comforted her. “It’s okay, forgetting is fine. Maybe the past wasn’t great, so forgetting could be good—you could start anew.”
Forgetting everything and starting over…
A spark of insight flashed in Elrose’s mind as Lilith’s words inspired her. She looked at her small hands, lost in thought.
She had never considered it.
What if she could forget Zeke, forget Gideon, forget Joy, forget all the past things?
Start over as a girl who remembers nothing.
That… might not be so bad.
But at that moment.
“Lilith, stop using your ridiculous theories to confuse people,” Luna strongly opposed from behind Elrose. “A person is made up of their ‘past.’ Forgetting the past is like forgetting oneself.”
“No matter how painful or difficult the past is, we should face it head-on because that’s all we are,” Luna declared passionately.
Lilith’s expression turned helpless upon hearing this. “It seems like you haven’t let go, have you, Luna?”
“If you let go, you lose,” Luna replied stubbornly. “So I will never let go, never.”
Elrose was slightly taken aback.
Indeed, if she let go, she would lose.
How could she possibly let go?
Hero, Evil God, Apophis.
Those who stabbed him in the back, those who toyed with him, and the bizarre beings that harmed his loved ones.
Although she knew little about them now, one day she would uncover everything and make them pay.
“I know who the Angelic Onee-san is!” Stella abruptly ran over with her little bare feet after rinsing off the last bit of foam in her hair. “Angelic Onee-san, I know who you are.”
“You do?” Elrose asked with surprise.
“Uh-huh.” Stella nodded vigorously and said with confidence, “You are an angel, an angel who fell from the sky!”
“Uh… hahah, really?” Elrose was momentarily stunned. Though she knew Stella was talking nonsense, the sincerity in the child’s eyes made her chuckle helplessly.
You really can’t take what kids say seriously.
“I’m serious.” Seeing Elrose’s disbelief, Stella continued, “I saw it! Angelic Onee-san, you fell from the sky.”
“Fell from the sky?” Upon hearing this, Elrose instantly perked up. “Did you see me fall from the sky with your own eyes?”
“Yeah.” Stella nodded heavily.
At that moment, Lilith interrupted their conversation. “Stella, don’t make things up. You found Elrose next to a giant stone in the Julati Forest, how can you say you saw her fall from the sky?”
“Yes, I really found Angelic Onee-san next to the stone, but I also saw her fall from the sky,” Stella quickly explained.
“Stella, do you mean you just happened to witness me falling from the sky and then discovered me next to the giant stone?” Elrose asked.
“Um…” Stella shook her head immediately. “No, I found you next to the giant stone first and then saw you fall from the sky.”
Huh?
Elrose tilted her head, feeling a bit confused.
If you found me next to the giant stone, didn’t that mean I had already landed?
So why were you still able to see me fall from the sky?
Elrose then turned to Luna and Lilith. “So, what exactly does Stella mean?”
Luna leaned against the edge of the tub and softly said, “Oh, she’s just a little girl who likes to daydream. Don’t take it seriously.”
“Is that so?” Elrose asked. “So when she says I fell from the sky, that’s also not true?”
“That’s nonsense. What else could it be?” Luna replied. “I don’t know about other things, but I do know that when Stella found you, we were nearby. If you really fell from the sky, we definitely would have heard something.”
“But we heard nothing at all. If Stella hadn’t told us, we wouldn’t even have known there was a naked girl lying nearby.”
“What do you mean ‘naked girl’?” Elrose said, blushing a bit. “Couldn’t you phrase that a little more subtly?”
“Hehe, I have a limited vocabulary; don’t blame me,” Luna laughed.
“I’m not making things up!” Stella said indignantly. “I really saw Angelic Onee-san fall from the sky.”
“Oh, still arguing, huh?” Luna dismissed her. “Then tell me, how could your Angelic Onee-san fall from the sky without magic or Battle Qi and not turn into a pancake?”
“Well… I don’t know,” Stella pouted, frowning. “I don’t care, anyway, Angelic Onee-san fell from the sky.”
“Oh? Resorting to childish tricks when you can’t argue?” Luna said lightly.
Stella stood on her tiptoes, staring intently at Luna. “Stella isn’t being childish; Stella is telling the truth!”
“Whether you’re being childish or not, everyone knows.” Luna glanced away and muttered, “Did God drop down from the sky like Elrose is a Star of Ruin?”
Defeated in the argument, Stella’s face turned red. She waved her little hands, repeatedly patting the edge of the tub. “Stella isn’t lying! Stella isn’t being childish! Angelic Onee-san fell from the sky! Why don’t you believe me?”
Seeing the atmosphere turning tense, Elrose quickly hugged Stella and comforted her, saying, “Okay, okay, I believe you! I believe you! I really fell from the sky!”
“Really?” Stella asked, sounding a bit hesitant. “Angelic Onee-san, you really believe me?”
“Really.” Elrose gently nodded and said warmly, “I’m an angel! Where else could I have come from if not from the sky?”
“Hehe, you’re the best, Angelic Onee-san.” Stella hugged Elrose and smiled sweetly, then stuck her tongue out at Luna. “Sister Luna is a big silly.”
“Hmph.” Luna turned her head away, not planning to argue.
Then, Stella returned to Lilith and continued her bath, while Elrose squatted back in the tub, enjoying the warm water.
However, Elrose’s heart felt like it had a thorn in it, making her anxious.
That thorn wasn’t about Stella’s mention of falling from the sky, but rather a certain thing that Luna had casually mentioned—the Star of Ruin.
For some reason, even though it was the first time she had heard that term, when she heard it, her heart seemed to stop for a moment.
It felt as if she had heard that name a long time ago, but she just couldn’t recall it.
Finally, Elrose could no longer hold back. She suddenly turned to Luna and asked candidly, “Luna, can I ask you something? What exactly is the Star of Ruin that you just mentioned?”