Volume 1 Chapter 460

Chapter 460: The Second Round of the Courage Trial Begins!

The figure of the girl in the picture was completely engulfed by deep blue flames.

Qiong, it literally means she is on fire!

The only thing in the room where she was, was that blue flame.

But Qiong just sat there, letting the flames blaze around her.

At the same time, it was as if someone had a grip on her throat, and her hands were tightly pressed against her neck.

But besides that, there was no resistance at all.

She sat quietly there.

It seemed as if her trials had come to an end.

Until more than ten minutes had passed.

The flames in the room slowly went out, and the flames on Qiong also faded away bit by bit.

Finally, after they completely faded, Qiong still kept her original pose.

After a few more seconds, she slowly released her hand.

"So, this is how you all felt back then."

She whispered, her tone a bit regretful.

Then, the sound of magic synthesis echoed in everyone’s ears.

"’Courage Trial,’ the first round of trials is over."

"While congratulating everyone for passing this round of trials, please get ready for the second round of the ‘Courage Trial.’"

"In the first round of trials, everyone faced the scenes of their deepest fears."

"But… those were all things that never happened, the scariest things in your imagination."

"Many people actually have a misunderstanding, thinking that the scary things they have experienced are not as intense as the ‘fears’ created by their own imagination."

"That is not true."

"Sometimes, it is precisely because you have experienced something that it feels extremely terrifying."

"Well, I believe you have already noticed…"

"In your rooms, there is a ‘door.’"

"Behind the door is the memory that hides your deepest fears."

"You must have already felt something from this environment."

"Whether to open the door and experience that fear again… the choice is yours."

"Well then…"

"The trial begins."

Before this round of the trial started, the voice responsible for the magic synthesis spoke more than ever before.

It seems the owner of this voice also felt quite touched by this.

After the long explanation, the first to react was Lalea.

She looked at the old wooden house around her and showed a sad smile.

"So it really is like this…"

"Only picking at the most tender wounds."

She looked at the broken wooden door that let in the cold air.

Behind the door, a faint cough could be heard.

Lalea walked up to the wooden door, her hand gently pressed against it.

Then…

She pushed open the wooden door.

Behind that door appeared…

A sight that is most common in a slum.

On a small and shabby wooden bed, a sick little girl lay covered with a thin blanket full of patches and dirt. Her face was flushed, and she coughed from time to time, with beads of sweat on her forehead.

By her bedside sat a woman dressed in very poor hemp clothes, looking dull and weary, leaning against her dying child. She held a rattan stick in her hand, as if she were weaving something.

The numb-eyed woman looked somewhat like Lalea.

The sick little girl on the bed resembled the woman, but her hair color was a rare indigo shade.

Without a doubt, this little girl was how Lalea looked when she was young.

Until now, this seemed like a scene showing the unfortunate lives of the lower class.

Although her childhood as a princess was quite poor and messy, it didn’t seem to frighten Lalea.

This girl, with her sharp tongue, didn’t seem like someone who would be scared of her humble past and childhood illness.

But Lalea knew…

The scene that would make her afraid was about to appear.

Soon, the little girl on the bed started to cough harshly again.

This time, she coughed so hard that her foot accidentally kicked the woman sitting at the end of the bed, who was her birth mother.

The woman, surprised by her child’s sudden kick, made a mistake with her hands, and the rattan stick broke in an instant.

An instrument that was almost completed was now completely destroyed.

On the woman’s face, which had been numb and troubled, a flash of anger suddenly appeared.

"Crack!"

She threw the woven stick to the ground and yelled at her daughter, who was still in pain on the bed.

"How many times have I said not to bother me!"

"Be quiet, Leia!"

However, the daughter who would usually fall silent when shouted at did not quiet down this time.

Instead, she responded with a stronger cough.

This undoubtedly angered the woman.

In her anger, she struck the girl’s lower abdomen with a powerful slap, making a loud "smack" sound.

"Cough—cough—haah—!"

The little girl, who had been coughing, was interrupted by the slap, and the pain made her curl up like a shrimp.

At the same time, the interrupting cough and sharp pain made it even harder for her to breathe, almost choking her.

Her throat and chest rose and fell, making more disturbing noises.

Even violence could not help, which made the woman feel even more restless.

"Stop making noise, you little wretch!"

She yelled wildly, turned around, and slapped her daughter hard twice.

On the bed, young Lalea let out a painful groan, even too weak to scream.

But this still did not satisfy the woman.

She grabbed Lalea and began to curse.

"You are a worthless child!"

"Why did I have to give birth to you!"

"It’s all because of you… that I ended up like this!"

"Nonsense!"

She cursed, and the little girl’s face turned red, as if she could be choked to death.

No…

At this rate, she would surely be choked to death by this crazy mother.

Meanwhile, Lalea watched the scene with a somewhat indifferent expression.

Clearly, her presence here suggests one thing…

That day, she was not choked to death by her mother.

But what happened next that day, Lalea was not sure.

This was indeed her most terrifying memory.

Although…

She no longer remembers what happened next.

That day she was very sick, and her mother seemed like she wanted to hurt her…

But what happened next?

When she could remember again, her illness had already healed.

The woman she could call "mother" was nowhere to be found.

Lalea never tried to look for her again.

Not long after, she was found begging on the street by the Shadow Guard of South Sotua and taken to the tall palace.

But every time she tried to recall this event, a strange feeling of "fear" would rise in Lalea’s heart.

It seemed to warn her not to remember what had happened.