In Rena's mansion, Evan and Leisa sat, facing each other.
Evan took a sip of the tea Leisa personally brewed. However, the latter had been staring at him this whole time. Confused, he asked, "What do you want?"
Leisa didn't answer him and remembered her past.
A few years ago.
Leisa put on her school uniform. She was still a kid and wanted to experience the school for the first time.
Suddenly, Rena entered the room and looked at her with a worried smile. "Leisa."
"Mom!" Leisa leaped to her and hugged her legs while looking at her face.
Rena smiled and patted her head while asking, "Are you sure you want to go to the school?"
"Yes."
"You…" She let out a long sigh, bent her knees, and hugged her tightly. There was a series of emotions transmitted into Leisa, but the latter was oblivious to it. Leisa only knew her mother was worried about her.
Leisa smiled and said, "Mom, Leisa wants to do many things and knows many people."
"Mom understands. However, your physique is slightly different from other children, so mom is worried about you."
Poison was Rena's strength and became his greatest weapon that allowed her to be an S Rank Magician, but it was also her biggest curse. The fate of the one meddling with poison was tragic.
With her body containing so many poisons that had fused to her body since young, her husband's life was taken not long after she was pregnant.
Filled with sorrow, Rena still looked forward to the future while anticipating the baby inside her belly. Unfortunately for her, fate played another prank on her.
Leisa was born under a special body. Her body was contaminated by the poison in her body and forced to carry it in her blood.
No one dared to carry her when she was first born because the residual liquid that covered Leisa's body melted the towel and almost destroyed the nurse's hand.
It turned out, Leisa also released a special type of poison to the air subconsciously. If they had contact with her just for a short period, they wouldn't feel anything at all, but if they went into her life without any protection, they would start getting poisoned until they died miserably.
Knowing this, Rena started researching for a way to suppress the poisonous air she released naturally and managed to suppress it by forcing her to wear a necklace made of special flowers. Those flowers were specially chosen by Rena to purify the gas that naturally left her body.
Even so, this treatment succeeded for a few years and Leisa was old enough to finally climb the first step of her education.
She hugged her again and said, "No matter what, don't take off the necklace mom gave you, okay?"
Leisa nodded with a bright smile, saying, "Yes, Leisa understands!"
Seeing such a smile, Rena didn't have the heart to stop her anymore and personally drove her to school.
Leisa came out of the car and waved her hand to Rena while walking. "Mom, I love you."
Rena also waved her hand and prayed for Leisa's well-being. She had informed the teacher about Leisa's situation, so they should know what to do with her.
In school, Leisa found many new friends. Since she was always accompanied by her mother, her caretaker and a few bodyguards, she was happy to know people of her age.
She kept smiling and laughing. Everything went normal.
But there was another prank of fate… When she played with the other kids in the school garden, she suddenly fell to the ground and landed on her stomach.
"Ugh." Leisa wanted to cry, but she held herself back, not wanting to ruin this beautiful day. She endured the pain as the kids started gathering around her, trying to help her.
However, the moment she woke up, she saw her necklace was broken. At that time, she realized her body would be releasing the poison air again and endanger the others. Her mother had shown her the horror in her early days because Rena didn't want her to suffer because of her ignorance.
That was why when she saw the broken necklace, Leisa quickly rose from the ground and waved her hand to the side while shouting. "Don't come near me!"
The kids were confused and some even thought Leisa showed hostility and began to cry. Although it pained her heart, Leisa kept shouting while using her hand to push them away. "Don't come near me."
Some of the kids were still trying to help Leisa, while some tried to call the teachers. However, one of the girls suddenly grabbed her hand and refused to let her go.
Leisa turned around and saw a black-haired girl. This girl was her first friend and Leisa's body began to shake, wanting to push her away but unable to do so.
She could only keep saying, "No, no! Don't come near me. You will be sick."
The girl didn't listen to her and kept holding her hand while saying with a smile. "What do you mean? I won't be sick just by holding your hand."
"Please… Please… Let me go." Leisa started begging her to protect her first friend, but the latter still refused to let go.
"No! I am your friend. If you have trouble, I can help you solve the problem."
The teacher finally came out and found Leisa's broken necklace. She panicked and ran to them, quickly separating Leisa and the girl.
"Don't move. Don't touch her." The teacher quickly called Rena, who happened to stay nearby because of her worry.
Rena promised to come immediately, but the situation turned worse.
Due to the low immunity of the kid, red marks gradually appeared on her hands that held Leisa a moment ago.
"Wha—" The girl panicked and felt the itchiness from those red marks before it slowly spread to her body. "What is this? Teacher? I feel so hot. Teacher, what is happening to me."
The teacher gritted her teeth, picked Leisa's necklace and put it on her neck again while using her own hand to attach the broken part until Rena arrived.
But the girl started becoming terrified and looked around her, finding that all the kids were also frightened by her appearance, especially the red marks on her body.
They all stepped back and some even ran away. It was then the girl realized what kind of mon…human Leisa was.
She dropped to the ground and looked at Leisa, the daughter of the Poison Master, as if staring at a monster. "I am going to die. I am going to die."
The girl suddenly dropped to the ground, feeling that her body was too hot for her to handle. Leisa and the other kids were scared, but Rena finally arrived at the scene. She instantly understood what had happened and ran to Leisa and the unconscious kid.
A magic circle appeared on both of her hands. The first one was to temporarily seal Leisa's poisonous aura, while the other was to absorb the poison that entered the girl's body.
"I'm sorry, Teacher. I will bring Leisa away right now."
"Ye-yes. The girl seems to have gone back to normal too."
"I have healed her. There won't be any future problems with the kids." She nodded while looking at the rest of the kids.
Not wanting to scare the kids anymore, Rena quickly carried Leisa and left the school.
Leisa could only cry the whole time despite Rena's effort to calm her down.
Due to that incident, Leisa didn't go to school for two weeks. After numerous calls from the school, Leisa decided to return to the school in order to check on her friend and other kids.
Yet, the moment she entered the class, all the kids looked at her with terrified expressions. She tried to talk to her first friend, only to find her flinching and stepping back while looking at her in horror.
She was still small and subconsciously said what was in her mind. "You monster!"
Leisa's body was shaking and her face was distorted. Unable to endure the pain in her heart, she left the class while crying.
This time, there was a bodyguard that followed her and protected her, but the moment she reached home, she locked herself inside her bedroom and hid under her sheet.
She cried and cried while shouting, "Why?! Why?! Why?! Am I a monster?! Why am I a monster?!"
Rena wanted to enter and call her name, but Leisa kept shouting at her to go away until she eventually passed out because she was exhausted after too much crying.
A moment later, Leisa woke up and saw her mother taking care of her with the gentlest look she could offer.
"Mom…" Leisa started breaking again and cried. "Why am I—"
Before she finished, Rena had already teared up and hugged her. "Don't worry, Leisa. Even if nobody wants you, Mom will always stay beside you."
The two continued to cry. After some time, Leisa regained her calm and decided not to go to school anymore and locked herself inside the house where no one would need to suffer anymore.
She had locked her heart and decided to live with only her mother, who showed her unconditional love and support. She eventually learned about poison from her to control her power better.
It continued for several years.
Suddenly, the heart that had been frozen for years started to melt when Evan came to the mansion. His healing ability neutralized any poison from her body or the ones around her.
It was the first time she finally met another person that she could gradually open up to. When Evan was there, she offered the best smile of her life the whole time. When Evan wasn't there, she cried, feeling overjoyed. It was the first time in her life she finally met someone… Someone that wouldn't leave her alone anymore. In that instant, she fell in love, thinking he would be the person she would spend her entire life with.
Remembering the scene, Leisa smiled and kept staring at Evan's face.
"What?" Evan was troubled by her constant stare, but the latter was still saying with a cheerful tone. "Nothing. Hehehe…"