章 1836: Resolution

He was startled by that question. It had come out of nowhere, completely crushing his expectations of what she wanted to talk about... both the best and the worst of them.

Sunny remained silent until the pain of the Flaw made it difficult, and then nodded slowly, choosing not to say anything else. The more he said, the higher were the chances of her asking him something that he was unable to answer.

Nephis sighed, then explained calmly: 

"I started to suspect it after meeting the Lord of Shadows for the first time. He… you… were too strong to have come out of nowhere. A Saint as powerful as that simply had to have left a mark on the world. And when I asked who had taught you my family's swordsmanship, you answered that... that nobody had. I did not note it initially, but later, something seemed to click in my mind."

She paused for a few moments, took a deep breath, and then spoke: