Who You Are

~~~✨~~~

The princess ran without looking back.

"Leonoris!" she cried.

The directions given by the people of Luminas, who had seen her run, led him to the place where his adventure had begun. The forest of Kounaria: columns of trunks, the smell of damp bark, and the distant sounds of birds and insects.

Rei ran like that tragic night in Gorō’s workshop, feeling that here too he was about to lose something important. He tripped twice. Pricked himself with thorns. But kept going while the sky between the treetops turned violet with dusk.

He found her in a clearing beside a hollow where a trickle of water ran over the stones. Leonoris stood with her back to him. Rigid. Hands pressed against her hood like it was armor. Something in her reminded him of his own reflection in those first days.

"Leonoris…" he softened his voice. At the sound of his steps, she tensed even more, but did not flee.

Rei stopped just two steps away. His heart pounded against his throat. He wanted to speak, but his voice cracked.

"Leonoris…"

She did not answer. Nor did she move. Silence surrounded them, broken only by the stream.

Rei took half a step and sat down on a stone beside her, leveling with her. Their eyes met—hers red from so much crying, his on the verge of tears, both heavy with intent.

He raised a hand, then lowered it. Careful, he told himself. He lifted it again, gentler this time, as if about to touch a fragile relic that might break. His fingers brushed the edge of her hood.

"May I?" was all he managed to exhale.

Leonoris let out a trembling breath. She looked at him with glistening eyes, the only act she could manage against the fear that paralyzed her. She could have run if she wanted to, but she didn’t.

She barely nodded. Rei carefully pulled back the hood, which caught for a moment on something protruding.

"That’s it."

The sunset light traced the outline of Leonoris's majestic hair and revealed two small horns curved gently backward, same color as her hair. Strands lit by the sun framed them, while a pair of thin braids, hidden until then by the hood, fell to the sides of her face.

Rei's breath caught.

"A... demon," he said slowly. Like tasting the word for the first time.

Leonoris turned her gaze to the ground. Braced for the rejection she knew would come. A single tear slipped down her pale cheek.

Rei embraced her.

He realized too late what he had done. It had been pure impulse. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders and resting his cheek against her temple, right where one of the horns began. For a moment he feared hurting her. But her fragility was inside, not out.

"You can leave," Leonoris whispered, her voice broken.

Rei knew the common Japanese legends of his time: the oni of folklore, red or blue demons with horns, immense strength, and a ferocity that made them symbols of fear and superstition in festivals and temples. To see it embodied in someone real—worse, in someone so human and close as Leonoris—clashed with everything he had learned.

"I won’t leave. I’m sorry."

He felt her tremble. He didn’t let go.

A minute passed in silence by the water. Leonoris drew a deep breath and spoke with a voice hoarse from crying.

"Neither the King nor the Queen are my parents," she said. "Not by blood."

Rei didn’t move away. He just nodded softly, daring to brush the base of her horn.

"They found me as a child, abandoned… right here," she gestured with her chin toward the hollow. "The royal convoy was passing by. They said I was wrapped in cloth, asleep. When they lifted me, the cloth slipped, and they saw this." Trembling, she touched her right horn.

Rei tightened the embrace, urging her to continue.

"They had never seen a half-demon in this Kingdom." The word seemed to cut her tongue, but she forced it out. "They took it as a sign from Solaria. The King said it was like the light had shone on them in that very spot. They adopted me. Took me to the castle, and named me Leonoris. ‘The Wandering Lion,’ in the old tongue."

She tried to smile, but only managed a crooked, tender expression.

"She’s so endearing even in a moment like this."

"Then there really is a race of Demons," Rei said, more as a confirmation than a question.

Leonoris nodded. This time she did pull back a little, just enough to face him. The red in her eyes was beginning to fade.

"There is," she whispered. "Beyond the seas. Demons… do I really need to explain the races to you?" The line drew an unexpected chuckle from her nose. "Maybe you wouldn’t have frozen up so badly with that werewolf pirate."

Rei let out a breath that could have been a laugh. The knot in his chest loosened a little.

"Don’t remind me. I lost two good years of my life from that scare."

Leonoris lowered her voice.

"No one outside the castle knows," she said. "If the people found out, they’d think I was a curse, or a threat. A half-demon shouldn’t even exist. Much less a half-demon priestess. Maybe that’s where my curse comes from."

"Curse?" Rei asked with concern.

Her green eyes, like leaves against the light, searched his.

"Demons can… copy," she searched for the word. "We can imitate any kind of magic, though weaker, if we have the right crystals. That’s why I always carry several." She touched the belt at her waist, where small pouches of stones dangled.

"Ding. The crimson blast that saved me from the wolves. The water cushion when we fell onto the pirate ship. It was her."

"But… it has a price."

"Bad luck," Rei said softly.

Leonoris nodded. This time her smile was sad, but less ashamed.

"It’s this world’s way of telling me I shouldn’t exist—or that as a kounarian, I shouldn’t use my demon power. Jars flying, trees falling, ropes coming undone…" She looked at him with an apology he didn’t need. "I’m sorry for making you rescue me all the time."

"Don’t worry. It’s nothing compared to pirates raiding the city and kidnapping people."

"Even so," she went on, "the King and Queen raised me as their daughter. Taught me to pray, to read, to fight just enough, and to heal. They gave me a place. And I… I learned to hide. Because I didn’t want to hurt them, or the Kingdom."

The tears returned, though they didn’t overwhelm her this time. Her mouth trembled, just barely. Rei, with the delicacy of a watchmaker, placed his hand gently on her shoulder again.

"I’m sorry," she added. "If I didn’t exist, maybe you wouldn’t have been dragged here."

"That’s nonsense," Rei frowned. "Wasn’t there a prophecy that said this? That means you were part of it too, and truly a sign from Solaria. Either way, it’s not your fault, and I can stay here as long as you need." He smiled faintly. "I’m in no hurry. The world can wait."

Leonoris closed her eyes for a moment, as though relief were a warm breeze. Then, she dared to ask a small question, a curiosity she had been holding.

"You said… at your second dinner," she faltered. "That you’re adopted too. But you didn’t tell much."

"Gorō!"

The name seared through his chest like red-hot iron. The image of the blacksmith falling to his knees, blood spilling between his hands, hit him with the rawness of lightning. The smell of hot iron and smoke still stuck to his nose, mixed with the echo of the gunshot that never stopped ringing in his ears.

A knot formed in his throat. His fingers clenched on the damp stone he sat on. But he held back.

Rei breathed. Now, it was his turn to tell his story.