Chapter 78: A Wife Who Is Too Kind, A World That Is Too Harsh

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Elisa fell silent again, her eyes growing distant as she thought carefully about what she had remembered from those painful days.

"I remembered something about my sister... from back then," she sighed softly, her voice heavy with old regret. "I remembered that... that I was really dumb, and I always took all of our mom’s attention away from her."

"..."

"I remember seeing her look so sad all the time because mom would ignore her over me..." Elisa muttered, her fingers tightening slightly in her lap. "And... I never did anything about that. I never even noticed how much it must have hurt her."

Riven lowered his head for a moment, thinking deeply about everything he had just heard. The weight of her words settled heavily between them.

"Do you really think... my sister did that?" she asked quietly, turning slightly and pointing toward her back.

There was a deep, ugly scar running across her back, spreading outward in red vein-like burnt patterns that still looked painful even after all this time.

"She did."

Riven did not hesitate, and he did not lie to her.

"How do you know that?" Elisa asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I found out on my own. I made my own investigations."

"But..."

"I’m not lying to you, Elisa. I wish I was..."

"..."

Elisa did trust him completely, and deep down she believed every word he said.

Even so, it remained incredibly hard for her to accept that her own sister would have done something so cruel and awful to her.

At the same time, when she forced herself to remember those years more clearly, she could not help finding many painful reasons why her sister might have reached that breaking point.

"No wonder she did what she did," Elisa sighed with a forced, trembling smile while struggling to hold back her tears. "I was never really a good sister to her. I was always annoying her, nagging her, asking her for favors... and I always ended up taking all of our parents’ attention... no wonder she grew so sick of me. She was so much more than I ever was. She is so talented, so strong... but our parents still ignored her because of me."

Riven let out a long, quiet sigh. "You don’t have to blame yourself for that... Even if she felt jealous, a normal person would have talked to you about these problems. They would have tried to solve things through honest dialogue, not... not like this."

Elisa’s shoulders began to shake as she started crying in earnest. Riven felt his own heart break at the sight of her pain.

"Even then..." she sniffed, wiping at her eyes with trembling hands. "I still love my big sis... I... I don’t want you to hurt her... I don’t want to take revenge, Riven... I... just want to talk to her..."

"..."

Riven sighed deeply, shaking his head and slowly lowering his gaze to the floor.

Did she really not hold any hatred for the woman who had taken away everything she once was?

Elisa... despite the sharp way she sometimes acted, was simply too kind for this harsh world.

"You were raised well by your parents. A little too spoiled, maybe," he said softly while gently patting her head. "They raised... a very kind woman."

"..."

Riven sighed again, the weight of the conversation settling heavily on his shoulders. "Fine... once the time comes, once the opportunity arises in the future... we’ll do it your way, okay? Let’s try to talk things out first. Let’s confront her properly. But... what she did was still a crime, Elisa. She has to pay for it somehow. You cannot just let her do whatever she wants with your life. You have to love yourself a little more. What she did... she took your powers, your own future... are you really going to forgive her that easily? I wouldn’t be able to."

Elisa sighed quietly, fidgeting nervously with her fingers as she leaned closer to Riven and rested her head against his shoulder. Her voice came out soft and uncertain. "But... you don’t know her as much as I do... big sis was always there for me, and... I always relied on her... I-I... it’s just hard for me to believe it... that’s all."

Riven nodded slowly. It was only natural that she would not believe something so painful so easily. That was fine for now. Just like before, he planned to start the same careful investigation soon and begin gathering solid proof of everything her sister had done.

"It’s fine," he said gently. "I’m sorry that my words made you cry. I shouldn’t have spoken so bluntly out of nowhere. I will gather more evidence first, and then I’ll present it to you properly. The thing is... in this world, hunters — especially those as strong as your sister — do not face normal trials. They don’t go to ordinary prisons for their crimes... the only real way for a hunter who has become a criminal to be punished is through force, from another hunter who is willing to stand against them."

"..."

Elisa, who had lived a mostly sheltered life until now, simply did not know many of these harsh realities.

Unlike Riven, who had been bullied throughout much of his life and had barely been able to enjoy any peaceful moments with his own family, she had lived a relatively happy childhood until that terrible incident. Her parents had genuinely loved her, even if they had been coerced by her older sister into accepting the arranged marriage.

Of course, the Frostbane Family was still deeply corrupt. As the second biggest family, they had taken large pieces of land, privatized them for their own benefit, and helped the Claymore family seize control of the Gates as private property.

But still...

"I guess I lived such a sheltered life that I never really considered just how much our world has changed over the decades," she admitted quietly. "Sorry... I’m just acting so ignorantly right now... I must sound incredibly stupid."

Riven stayed silent for a moment, simply holding her a little closer. The soft weight of her head against his shoulder and the quiet tremor in her voice made his chest tighten. He could feel how much this conversation hurt her, yet he also knew that protecting her from the truth would only leave her more vulnerable in the long run.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and spoke more softly than before. "You’re not stupid, Elisa. You’re just someone who still wants to believe the best in the people she loves. There’s nothing wrong with that. Most people lose that kind of kindness after living through this world for too long. I just... don’t want anyone to take advantage of that kindness ever again. Especially not someone who already hurt you once."

"..."

Elisa’s fingers tightened slightly. She did not answer right away. Instead she simply stayed there, breathing slowly, as if trying to gather the strength to face a truth she was still not ready to fully accept.

Outside the window the sky had already begun to darken, and the quiet of the house felt heavier than usual. For a long while neither of them spoke, both lost in their own thoughts about family, justice, and the painful choices that still lay ahead.

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