Lena's parents were members of the Dawn Alliance.
They met through their activities, grew close, and eventually married.
Then Lena was born.
From the time she became aware of the world around her, she was immersed in the teachings of the Dawn Alliance.
As a result, it was only natural for her to believe that the Dawn Alliance was right.
She never once doubted its words.
Later, when she casually picked up a sword, Lena, despite being only a child, wielded it with remarkable ease.
Her parents were overjoyed when they saw that.
Their daughter had talent with the sword.
Surely, she would grow into an extraordinary swordswoman someday.
And...
With that power, she would be able to fulfill the mission of the Dawn Alliance.
At that age, Lena was still a child who couldn't truly understand what was right or wrong.
Her parents' words were absolute, and so was the will of the Dawn Alliance.
She simply began training with the sword because she was told to do so.
The truth was that Lena really did possess talent.
She improved at an astonishing rate.
If an ordinary person could learn one thing in a day, Lena could learn ten.
Before long, Xenoas, one of the executives of the Dawn Alliance, became her sword instructor.
She had been recognized as being worthy of that level of attention.
Her parents were even more delighted and urged her to keep working hard.
And Lena...
Wanting to live up to their expectations, she devoted herself even more to her sword training.
From the moment she became aware of the world, she had been steeped in the ideology of the Dawn Alliance.
And she came to think only about learning the sword.
...There was nothing else.
She had no friends.
She had never played like a normal child.
She didn't even know what parental affection was.
As a little girl, Lena moved almost like a doll.
She had no will of her own.
She had no right to make decisions.
She simply learned the sword as others instructed and expected of her.
Lena herself never questioned it, and there was no one around her who would correct it.
Had things continued that way, she would likely have grown into a cold-blooded killing machine.
...Then, one day.
For some reason, her parents invited her on a picnic.
Her mother prepared a lunchbox, her father carried a mountain of leisure equipment, and together they climbed a nearby mountain.
Why were they doing something so pointless?
Lena found it strange.
However, her parents' words were absolute.
So she accompanied them on the picnic without question.
The truth was...
That day was Lena's fifth birthday.
It had been her parents' idea to go on the picnic.
They thought she must be exhausted from her daily sword training and wanted her to rest for once.
And they wanted to reward her for all her hard work.
That was what they had been thinking.
Even though they had been consumed by the ideology of the Dawn Alliance and intended to guide their daughter toward a future of fighting...
They still loved Lena.
However, tragedy struck when they were caught in a landslide.
Lena resigned herself to death...
But she did not die.
Her parents protected her with their own bodies.
Her father and mother embraced her tightly, using themselves as shields against the torrent of earth and rock.
Thanks to them, Lena survived.
But...
Her parents never came back.
Until the rescuers arrived, Lena remained in her parents' embrace.
And she could feel their warmth slowly fading away.
Only then did Lena finally understand her parents' love.
She was able to realize that she had been loved.
But it was too late.
Her parents...
Were gone.
――――――――――
"That's why, no matter what, I'm not very good with other people's warmth. It reminds me of my mom and dad."
"You..."
After hearing about such a tragic past, Sofia found herself unable to think of any words to say.
Erin seemed the same, unable to speak.
Seeing the two of them like that, Lena gave a carefree smile.
"Don't make faces like that. It was sad back then, sure, but now I think it turned out okay in its own way."
"What do you mean?"
"If that incident hadn't happened, I never would have realized that Mom and Dad loved me. It's sad that they died, but... because I learned that I was loved, maybe that's okay in its own way."
She had grown up without knowing a parent's love.
Yet it was through her parents' deaths that she came to understand it.
What a cruel irony.
"Maybe that's why..."
Suddenly, Lena's expression turned serious.
"We of the Dawn Alliance have fought to avenge the grudges of our ancestors. But in doing so, we stopped caring about the means and ended up taking away people who were precious to others. Fate made me realize that... and that's why I decided it should end."
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