Chapter 15 – I’ll be your first friend

Rachel Hustler had a twelve-year-old sister.

Their mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to the younger girl, and the two sisters were taken into an orphanage run under the name of the Church. Later, when Rachel’s exceptional talent was discovered, they decided to train her as a shadow guard to serve the Royal House.

Every trace of her former identity was erased. No one remembered the name Rachel Hustler anymore, not even her sister, seven years her junior.

“Sophia doesn’t even remember our surname; she only knows me as ‘sister.’ How on earth did you come across that name?”

I replied, half-joking, “Goddess Halunar told me in a dream.”

“…They wiped my existence from this world, yet they still insist on holding Sophia hostage. I suppose the people at the top can’t stand it if they don’t have every little thing held firmly in their grasp.”

I asked, “Was the plan to steal the Hero candidate title Claire’s idea, or someone else’s?”

“It was Claire. She was the first to discover I bore the Holy Mark, all because of that damn light…” Rachel cursed under her breath. “She took the idea to the King and Queen. They agreed that letting the Hero title go to a low-born nobody like me was a waste, so they gave her the silent permission to do as she pleased.”

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“A few of the Princess’s inner circle. But they are loyal and tight-lipped. Or perhaps, like me, they are being kept in line by their own weaknesses.”

“Your sister, Sophia, is she still at the orphanage?”

“No. They were afraid I’d sneak in and rescue her, so they’ve hidden her away. I haven’t been able to find her.”

“Have you tried asking anyone else to help with the search?”

Rachel turned to me with a look that suggested I had just said something both incredibly stupid and deeply insulting.

“I don’t know anyone else. I have no family, and I have no friends.”

I scratched my head apologetically.

“Then… I’ll be your first friend. It might take some time, but I will help you find where they’re keeping Sophia.”

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For a fleeting moment, I saw Rachel offer a very gentle smile. But the words that followed were enough to make my skin crawl:

“I’ll be watching you, Asher Griffin. If you breathe a word of what I just told you to anyone else, you’ll be my first friend to take a trip to hell.”