With Eve diving deeper and deeper into her memories, her hand that was rubbing my hair gradually stopped moving. In just a few moments, our position switched from her comforting me, to both of us equally supporting each other in a calming embrace.

"While I don't know what kind of magic did they use to break into the laboratory, it soon turned obvious that they were no match for the local cultivators. While our pursuers strenght didn't even come close to the abilities of my father, they were still in another league when compared to my saviours. With no other choice, we could only run while trying to cover our tracks. But as you can guess, with overwhelmingly higher cultivation, they didn't have any troubles following closely behind us."

Feeling how she tensed up while bringing this memory back, I could only grab her hand and give it a light encouraging squeeze. No matter what she went through, I wanted her to remember that now she was here with me, not back there with those people chasing after her.

After taking a few deep breaths, Eve rubbed herself slightly in my embrace, apparently trying to find a more comfortable spot in my arms. Ending up on my lap with her head resting on my shoulder, she continued speaking with a silent voice, right to my ear.

"When they caught up to us, they killed Stella's master's master first. From what I was told, later on, that great guy was the only threat to them, so they didn't give him any chance to retaliate. Jumping at him with seven people at once, he was quickly overwhelmed and killed on the spot. Even if my current master and her teacher weren't pushovers, they couldn't do anything against such powerful enemies. I could only watch as they ripped their clothes apart and started violating them!"

I couldn't even imagine how awful this experience had to be for her. After going through so much, as soon as the ray of hope appeared in her life, one of her saviours was killed on the spot, with the remaining duo going through such a hellish experience! As if losing the last string of hope wasn't enough!

And I thought that I went through hell back on earth. I guess that's how true human nature is. As long as the power remains supreme, those who have it are both ready and able to do even the worst things they want, with no one to stop them!

"When the powerlessness and despair overwhelmed me, something changed inside me. As if my father left me with a gift to defend myself, a great force erupted inside my veins, allowing me to kill those people in an instant. While I wanted to get rid of them, I wasn't able to control it properly… In the end, not only did I kill all of those that tried to rape my saviours, but even this one guy that was actively trying to stop them… I will never forget the pained expression on his dead face…"

With sudden spasm, Eve started to cry silently. One doesn't need to be an expert to understand that she didn't feel guilty about killing this one guy. In the end, from what she said, he was one of the people who killed her strongest saviour, forcing their entire party in a position where they could do nothing to defend themselves!

I guess that she was simply too emotionally fragile at that moment to just let this guy sudden death pass by. With all the fear, disgust, despair and other emotions of this kind overwhelming her mind, just this one act that resembled the kindness was contrasting with the rest of the reality to a point where Eve could only idolise his character. It didn't matter if he was really trying to help Stella and her master, nor did it matter if he was just eager to get his turn. With her young and fragile mind, she could only latch onto the last bit of positiveness in that situation, and when she was the one to blow this spark of kindness down, it was no wonder that she was unable to handle it!

"I don't really know what happened later. Soon after the energy within me dried up, I lost consciousness. As long as Stella didn't lie to me, I was sleeping for over two weeks. When I came to be, I was already in this sect, with both my current master and her teacher taking care of me."

With her story already moving past her worst memories, I could feel her body starting to relax slightly, only to tense up even harder just a moment later.

"In the end, the one thing that I'm sure about is that I'm a child of immortal. While my inborn cultivation spark is already extinguished, my potential is still hailed to be unreachable for others. That's what I believed in for most of my life in the sect until I met you."

Suddenly raising her head, she brought her hand to my chin, pushed my head down and pressed her lips lightly against mine.

This was one of those moments, that in difrent circumstances could be taken as an invitation, but right now it was nothing more than just a sign of complete trust and submission.

"That's why, when I finally met someone whose abilities and future I simply couldn't comprehend… For the first time since I left my father side, I stopped feeling all alone."

With her stare drilling deeply into my eyes, I could only wonder at the depths of her longing seeping out from her pupils. At the same time, I couldn't help but feel more guilty than even in my life.

While she presented herself to me with such deep feelings and affection, I always treated her as a cute little companion, who was for some reason sticking to me! Yes, her presence on my side made me extremely happy, but have I ever told her that I love her? Have I ever pondered over her emotions?

"Listen, while I would like to tell you something right here and now, I don't feel like I have the right to do so. What you might see, is not the real me, but merely an image that I had to create for myself to fit into my new surroundings. Are you ready to hear my story?"

While I can feel an overwhelming fear lodging in every last bit of my body and soul, I know that if I want to create a real relationship with her, she needs to know who I really am.

"I don't care about it."