To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 3.05

Part 5

The tribe the girl was born into was one of the highest-status groups among all therianthropes: the Golden Leopard clan. Allegedly, even the therianthrope king showed deference to them.

The Golden Leopard clan had conquered countless smaller clans, and the girl was the firstborn daughter of the family that ruled over them all. She was given the name Lilim.

Lilim’s immense talent was obvious from a young age, and her family raised her with pride, realizing that it would be more valuable to keep her rather than to marry her off. Her father, the clan patriarch, imported books so he could give her the best education possible. Even for the comparatively intellectual Golden Leopards, doing so was all but unheard-of.

The girl took to those books like a fish to water, and she waited with bated breath for the day she could use their knowledge for the benefit of her clan.

Lilim was loved by her entire clan, and she grew up in the blink of an eye.

When she turned twelve, disaster struck.

That was when the black bruises started showing up on her belly. They were small at first, so she didn’t pay them a second thought, but when they started spreading, Lilim got worried and went to her mother for advice.

Her mother went pale.

Then, without saying a word, she called for Lilim’s father. When he showed up, he went pale as well.

That was the point where Lilim realized that something serious was going on.

Her father took another look at her belly.

“…It’s the possession,” he said, barely able to get out the words.

The possession. Lilim turned the term over in her head. On an intellectual level, she knew what it was. After how many books she’d read, she was confident that she was the most learned of anyone in her clan.

No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn’t reconcile the knowledge in her head with the black bruises on her belly.

The possession.

She pondered it over and over and over again, and before she knew it, she was crying.

Lilim was a clever girl, and once she came to grips with what was going on, she knew exactly what would happen to her. The possessed were unclean, and that filth needed to be purged before it had a chance to spread. That was the clan’s rule.

It was a big problem to have such a stain born into the patriarch’s bloodline, especially for a clan as esteemed as the Golden Leopards. This didn’t affect just her; the situation could bring down her entire family.

Lilim wiped away her tears. “Father, you have to burn me to death.”

“But…”

“The bruises aren’t that big yet. The impurity is still small. If you burn me now, you save the family. Surely, that will satisfy the clan.”

“But—!”

“Please, Father. For our family. For my little brother.”

Lilim glanced down at the baby her mother was cradling. He had been born only half a year prior, but someday, he was going to be the head of the family.

She bowed her head as she pleaded. “Please… You have to. You have to!”

“…I won’t.”

“Father!”

“I will not! It said it in that elf book—it said there’s a way to cure the possession.”

“There’s no proof it’s true!”

“It said there was a panacea that could cure it.”

Her father began eagerly searching for the book in question. He normally seemed so large to Lilim, but in that moment, something about him felt terribly small.

“What’s come over you, Father? Pull yourself together. This isn’t worth putting your faith in. Mother, talk some sense into him.”

However, her mother just hung her head and said nothing.

“Here, look. It’s written right here.”

“Father, get ahold of—”

Lilim stopped halfway through her sentence.

There were teardrops falling on the cover of the book her father handed her. It was the first time she ever saw him cry.

“Father…”

“I’ll find it, I swear. Please, just trust in me and wait.”

“Father, I…”

Lilim felt her father’s warm arms wrap around her, and her mother joined in.

“Father… Mother…”

Lilim had been fighting back the tears, but at that point, they began falling freely.

The next day, her father set out on a journey.

“He said he will return within a month,” Lilim’s mother explained as she wrapped a bandage around Lilim’s belly. “You’ll have to hide your wound until then. Don’t leave the house, no matter what.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Don’t you worry. It’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure our family stays safe.”

Her mother offered her a gentle smile.

Lily touched the bandage her mother wrapped and smiled as well. Something told her that everything was going to be okay.