I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life… So Why Do Heroes Worship Me?

Lynna returned two days later.

She didn't knock this time.

She just stood at the edge of the sanctuary boundary with a bag over her shoulder, pretending very hard not to be waiting for someone to notice her.

Rei noticed her ten minutes before she arrived, of course. Fluff had hopped down from the roof with a very specific sneeze—his usual signal for "the storm is back."

He made no move to greet her.

Instead, he calmly poured a second cup of tea and waited until Ellyn sighed and said, "She's pacing. That's either guilt, pride, or a concussion."

"Combination," Rei said softly.

Auron finally waved from the garden and called out, "You can come in, you know."

Lynna blinked as if startled. "I wasn't going to," she said far too quickly, then added, "I was just... scouting the area."

"Sure," Ellyn murmured. "Scouting the same patch of gravel for twenty minutes."

Lynna stomped in with unnecessary purpose. Her bag clanked.

"I'm only staying one night."

No one responded.

"I'm not here to learn anything."

Still no one responded.

"I just need a place to rest my beast. He likes it here, apparently."

From around the garden shed, the beast she had brought—the part-specter stormling—padded into view. Its fur was smoother, and the smoke around its eyes no longer sparked.

It nosed Auron's sleeve and rumbled softly.

Rei noticed the way Auron smiled when it did that. Quiet, proud. Like something had chosen him.

"He's been calmer," Auron said.

"You named him yet?" Rei asked.

Auron glanced at the beast, then back at Rei.

"Zephyr," he said.

The creature flicked its tails, seemingly in approval.

"That's ridiculous," Lynna muttered. "You're naming it after wind?"

"It is made of wind," Auron pointed out.

"It deserves something cooler. Like Shadowstorm."

"Not everything needs to sound like a gladiator," Ellyn chimed from the herb shelf.

Lynna turned red. "I never said—!"

"You did," Rei said gently. "Twice."

Fluff let out a purring wheeze that might have been laughter.

Lynna crossed her arms and dropped her bag with a dramatic sigh. "Fine. But I'm not training with anyone."

"Of course," Rei said.

"And I'm not asking for help."

"Understood."

"But if someone offers—like, seriously offers—I might consider not rejecting it immediately."

Kreg leaned into the kitchen window and muttered, "We're gonna need more tea."

Despite her thorns, Lynna stayed.

She grumbled through breakfast. Frowned through meditation. Flat-out refused to touch any of Ellyn's calming flower brews. But she did watch.

She watched Auron run ward drills in the dirt and failed not to look impressed when one lit up without a chant.

She watched Zephyr curl around the plum tree and hum in rhythm with the sanctuary's ambient magic.

She watched Rei move through the day like a ripple on a still pond—never rushed, never loud, yet always exactly where he needed to be.

That afternoon, Rei found her awkwardly poking through the west greenhouse.

"You're not lost," he said calmly.

"No," she said. "Just... checking the structural integrity of the moss walls."

Rei raised a brow.

Lynna folded her arms again. "Fine. I was bored."

He handed her a cup. "Tea?"

She took it with suspicion, sipped, and frowned. "Why does this taste like roasted pears?"

"Because it's roasted pears."

"Oh."

Silence.

Then, unprompted, she said, "Back home, they said you were a fraud."

"Most do."

"They said you were just using ancient suppression magic to fake taming. That it was all trickery and charm."

Rei didn't respond.

She glanced at Zephyr, who was now asleep in the corner, his three tails twitching slightly in dream.

"I said that, too," she admitted. "When I first heard of you. But... he hasn't snarled at me once since I brought him here."

"That's because no one's trying to make him prove anything."

Lynna looked down at her cup.

"I think I do that to people," she said. "Push them to prove themselves. All the time."

Rei nodded. "I noticed."

She snorted.

"You don't say much, but when you do, it's always exactly the thing I don't want to hear."

"Then you're listening."

She blinked.

And for the first time since arriving, she smiled.

It didn't last long.

But it was there.

That evening, while Rei refilled the lanterns, Lynna quietly joined Auron near the boundary lines. She didn't comment on his technique. She didn't insult his choice of ink. She just watched, then picked up a brush.

By nightfall, she had drawn three anchor marks with flawless symmetry.

And when Rei passed by, she didn't look at him.

But she said, "It's not awful. Being here."

That was all.

And that was enough.