Millicent had a dream, a very strange one.
Before, because of the Scarlet Rot, she would have dreams too, but they were nightmares.
But today's dream was no nightmare.
In her dream, she saw another person.
That person looked very much like her, yet was also different.
Her hair hung long, and although it was the same red, this was definitely not Millicent.
Millicent couldn't tell what kind of person this was.
She only knew that this person seemed to be in great pain.
Millicent had fallen into a deep sleep, but her consciousness was exceptionally clear.
Unfortunately, despite her clear mind, she could do nothing.Important fragments of that person's life appeared before Millicent's eyes, one by one.
She had no choice but to passively witness a life that was not her own.
But besides seeing the images, she also seemed to feel the emotions that person had felt at the time.
—
At the moment of her birth, a brilliant golden light shone upon the newborn infant.
But this infant, who should have been sacred, could not see this gentle, dazzling radiance.
What came before warmth was an excruciating pain.
Blind in both eyes, limbs incomplete.
She thrashed her limbs in pain, but only her left arm and half of her right leg were hers to command.
Millicent realized she seemed to be watching everything from a strange perspective.
She could confirm that the owner of the memory was the newborn infant, yet she could see her from an outsider's point of view.
Perhaps this wasn't a true memory, but merely the memory owner's imagination of the scene.
After all, she was blind and could not see. Even if she later learned a way to perceive things, it shouldn't have been from this angle.
Beside her, two equally blurry figures were caring for her.
From the indistinct image, one could vaguely make out a tall man with red hair, while the other was a figure with waist-length golden hair, their gender impossible to discern.
That golden-haired person did not seem tall, standing next to the red-haired man and only reaching his waist.
Yet, that golden-haired figure radiated a uniquely brilliant light within this memory.
It was a special light, dyed with a distinct color by the memory's owner.
It was a gentle color, a pure golden hue.
Millicent felt the memory owner's reliance on him.
The next moment, the scene before Millicent's eyes changed instantly.
—
By this time, the owner of the memory had grown from a newborn infant into a child.
In this memory, the golden figure was holding three small prosthetic limbs made of gold, attempting to fit them onto her.
All her missing limbs were replaced by prosthetics made of gold.
From then on, for the first time, she possessed the ability to move freely in the world.
Afterward, an emissary came to their door, claiming to be a messenger of the Two Fingers.
The owner of the memory was chosen by the Two Fingers and became an Empyrean.
—
In the next scene, the golden figure was followed by an immense number of followers.
They left the bustling golden city, trekking through the endless snow.
At the end of their journey, the golden figure planted a sapling and then watered it with his own blood.
"O, little sapling, little sapling, return to the embrace of the earth."
"But you must always remember that you belong to me."
"Come, receive it."
"Receive my bounty, receive my dew, to quench your thirst and fill your form."
"May you grow ever larger, ever taller."
"And then one day, dream with me—"
"of a beautiful law, a gentle dream."
She witnessed with her own eyes that sapling transform into a miracle.
In a short time, the sapling sprouted sacred buds and then grew into a colossal tree that reached the heavens.
The golden figure held her intact left hand and said to her:
"This will be our new home from now on."
"This is a paradise that belongs only to us, where everything, beautiful or ugly, can grow and thrive as it is."
"Everyone will find happiness here."
"This is our 'Haligtree,' Elphael..."
Millicent could now be certain that the scenes she was watching all came from Malenia.
And that golden figure was, without a doubt, Malenia's brother, Miquella.
—
As time went by, Millicent saw that Malenia had grown a lot.
Her height had far surpassed Miquella's.
To match her growing body, the golden prosthetics she wore had been replaced many times.
But Miquella had barely changed at all, neither in height nor appearance.
On this day, the Scarlet Rot that was her constant companion erupted uncontrollably.
The flower of Scarlet Rot bloomed in the Haligtree, polluting it.
Strange creatures, drawn by the scent of Scarlet Rot, arrived at the Haligtree, hoping to coexist with them.
Miquella readily agreed, allowing them to stay in the Haligtree.
What followed, however, was a rebellion by the knights.
Those who gathered for faith would eventually leave when that faith collapsed.
Upon discovering that all the beauty of the Haligtree was merely an illusory facade, their faith began to crumble.
They had come to realize:
Miquella was not a god; he could not fulfill the promises he had made to them.
"A Haligtree nourished by blood, yet what grows is an ugly tree that can never become an Erdtree."
"The beautiful Haligtree... is nothing but a sweet dream."
The knights vented their fury at being deceived, and were ultimately killed by Miquella's knights.
Malenia felt guilty for her own existence. If it were not for this innate curse, their Haligtree would not have been tainted by rot.
But Miquella did not blame her for anything.
After that, in Malenia's memory, Miquella seemed to have changed somehow... and yet seemed not to have changed at all.
He became more gentle, and the Haligtree grew more harmonious, with no further disputes ever arising.
Even that rebellion was never mentioned again by anyone, as if it had been completely forgotten.
—
This time, the background of the scene returned to that brilliant and dazzling golden city.
Malenia was brought back to Leyndell by Miquella.
Malenia didn't know why, nor did she care. In any case, almost all the demigods had gathered together.
She felt no affection for these siblings in name and was quite distant from them.
But Miquella got along well with them and was beloved by all.
Malenia saw Miquella approach a tall, powerful man with red hair, the same color as their father's.
They talked cheerfully, and even after returning to the Haligtree, Miquella seemed exceptionally happy.
"Malenia, I have found my Promised Consort."
"Once I can become a god, he will fulfill our promise and become my lord."
"Once I can become a god..."
—
On a boundless snowy plain, Malenia met an elderly swordsman in blue attire. From then on, she began to follow her master, learning the Flowing Sword Arts to resist the Scarlet Rot.
She hoped to help her brother, to clear all obstacles on his path to godhood.
Seeing some of the moves from the Flowing Sword Arts, Millicent had a sudden realization.
The sword techniques she had once used as if by instinct originated from the Flowing Sword Arts.
She turned her attention back to the scene.
Malenia mastered the Flowing Sword Arts, and with the special golden needle made by Miquella, the rot could no longer contend with her will.
From then on, she became the Blade of Miquella, and also the blade of the Haligtree.
Knights, filled with heroic will, gathered under her banner, accepting the fate of succumbing to the rot to fight by her side.
The prosthetic sword she raised high also became a wing, vanquishing all enemies, a symbol of her undefeated and heroic spirit.
—
The memories after that became increasingly blurry, and the fragments were extremely few.
Perhaps those events were not ones Malenia deemed worthy of remembering.
Or perhaps, she had already begun to abandon her own thoughts, existing only as the Blade of Miquella.
The Shattering war, the conspiracy of blood, and the final battle in Caelid...
Various scenes flashed before Millicent's eyes in rapid succession.
At the very end of it all, Millicent saw Malenia leap onto the red-haired figure she had seen before and then fiercely unleash the power of the Scarlet Rot.
From that moment on, Caelid was utterly transformed into a hell of Scarlet Rot.
Millicent saw Malenia's lips move, but she did not know what she said to Radahn.
Then, everything faded to black. The gentle golden light had long since vanished.
—
Millicent didn't know if these fragmented memories were because only these had left an impression on Malenia.
Or if it was because of the Scarlet Rot that she couldn't remember everything.
The fragments of Malenia's memory were quite vague; Millicent had to guess who the figures were herself.
Sometimes, scenes from the same period would appear consecutively, but at other times, it would leap forward an unknown number of years in an instant.
But the emotions contained within were incredibly strong.
Among those emotions was Malenia's revulsion for the Scarlet Rot, and also her tenacity in resisting it with human will.
But there was also a special emotion hidden within.
Although Malenia never expressed it, hiding it very well.
Millicent, possessing a part of her memory, could easily sense it. It was a sadness she had never shown to anyone else.
This was a sorrow she had never spoken of, not even to her closest and most trusted brother, Miquella.
After the battle in Caelid, the unconscious Malenia slept alone at the base of the Haligtree.
The gold had abandoned her, leaving only a whisper in the endless darkness:
"Don't forsake me..."
"Brother..."
—
Millicent had originally not been very curious about Malenia, a person she knew nothing about.
In fact, despite being born of Malenia, Millicent found the whole situation baffling.
Throughout her life, she had just been an ordinary person who wanted to live a quiet life.
Others approached her because of Malenia.
And every time Malenia was mentioned or remembered, memories that did not belong to her would surface.
This situation made her feel as if she were being imperceptibly changed.
However, after seeing these memory fragments, Millicent suddenly felt a desire to understand what kind of person Malenia really was.
She wanted to go and meet Malenia.
—
Millicent opened her eyes and found that her body was indeed free of pain, and the Scarlet Rot had stopped its restless crawl.
"The gold needle..."
She moved her left hand slightly and found that she could now act freely.
Looking around, she saw no one else in the cave.
Millicent decided not to rush to get dressed. Instead, she used the water flowing from the cave's rock walls to clean her body.
Since escaping the bud, she had been tormented by the rot.
High fever, pain, blood from her severed arm, and cold sweat had long since soiled her clothes.
Millicent herself couldn't stand it, let alone meeting someone soon.
Millicent pressed her clothes under her knees, and with her left hand, forcefully tore the right sleeve off her shirt.
She rinsed the sleeve in the flowing water.
Once the Scarlet Rot and blood were mostly washed away, she began to clean her bare upper body with the sleeve.
It was only then that Millicent discovered the Scarlet Rot had spread all the way from her right arm, infecting a large portion of her body.
"What an ugly body..."
Although the Scarlet Rot was suppressed, it was merely suppressed.
The wounds it had caused would never heal.
In truth, more than a cure for the Scarlet Rot, Millicent wished to be able to hold a sword again, so she could repay the kindness of others with her blade.
The golden prosthetic arm she had seen in the memory seemed quite good.
Speaking of which, the spot on her chest where the needle had been inserted showed no sign of a puncture. It was as smooth as ever, as if the golden needle had never been used. This surprised Millicent greatly.
While thinking, Millicent finished cleaning her body.
She also washed her hair with the flowing water, then wanted to tie it up with a cord.
But Millicent tried several times and still couldn't manage to tie her hair.
Having only her left hand was still a bit unfamiliar, and there were many things she couldn't do.
Millicent shook her head and put on her clothes.
There was no time to wash them now; she would have to endure it for the time being.
After she was dressed again, Millicent suddenly felt a little lost.
I wonder how Grandpa O'Neil is doing now?
What should I do from now on?
Though she wanted to leave Caelid and go to the Haligtree.
What was the world like outside of Caelid?
Having lived here all her life, she had no idea and had never been exposed to such information.
On careful reflection, her past life hadn't been as peaceful and beautiful as she remembered.
There were strange things in some places, things that didn't bear deep thought.
"Millicent?"
"Are you awake? Can I come in?"
Bai Shi's voice came from outside the cave, interrupting Millicent's thoughts.
"Yes, I'm awake."
"Please come in."
Only then did Bai Shi walk into the cave, noticing that Millicent was much cleaner than before.
Millicent stood up and bowed to Bai Shi.
"Thank you."
Grandpa O'Neil had once told her that a person named Bai Shi had first discovered traces of her escape from the flower bud, and had then entrusted him with the search.
Her focus had been scattered by pain earlier, but now she realized that the person before her was likely her benefactor.