Chapter 366 - Emotional

Anne was backing away against the wall as Emma was steadily getting closer. The kindness and compassion in the white-haired girl's expression did nothing to reduce the werelynx's anxiety."Y— You can help by getting the fuck away from me!" Anne screamed in a panic. Her body quickly transformed into its werelynx form out of pure defensive instinct.

She knew she couldn't attack Emma. Even if she might win against her, especially if Emma continued getting closer, there were a handful of beings in that room who would turn her into a bloody smear on the wall in seconds if she tried.

Being who were ignoring her screams.

Viljar frowned and looked behind him to see what was going on, but Erik put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Viljar's frown deepened, because he had no idea what was going on, but he trusted Erik, so he didn't move. But he did continue to stare at Anne.

Nora, too, looked behind at her friend, but she simply smiled encouragingly. Erik had told her what he was doing and ordered her not to interfere. Naturally, that meant it was impossible for Nora to do anything,

Fortunately, Anne was far too focused on Emma to notice, otherwise it might have stung her quite a bit.

In her werelynx form, Anne pressed herself against the wall, limbs splayed out, eyes wide in panic. As soon as Emma came within a few feet, Anne started hyperventilating as the claws on her tense, transformed hands created grooves in the wall.

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Rage fought with panic in her gaze, "S— Stay away from me! F— Filthy human!"

But Emma didn't stop. She smiled kindly at the panicking woman, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. It'll all be over soon."

At the same time, she raised her left hand, and slowly started bringing it closer to Anne, causing the werelynx's hyperventilating to worsen.

"P— Please…" she whispered, as the hand approached her face, wide eyes locked on Emma's limb.

Then, contact.

Light-green energy started playing around Emma's fingers as she caressed the yellow fur on the werelynx's head. Immediately, Anne gasped and tensed her body. Tears started flowing from her cat-like eyes, and her gaze became lost in the distance.

"M— Mom…?" she muttered softly into the distance as her body slowly returned to human form.

Emma smiled indulgently, but shook her head, "I'm not your mother, Anne." She continued stroking the werelynx-turned-human's straight, platinum-blond hair, "But do you think she'd have wanted you to be filled with hatred for the rest of your life?"

Tears continued streaming down Anne's face, her voice hoarse, and her eyes looking at nothing, "T— They forced her to… and t— then they… Right in front of me… so much screaming… so much blood… s— she cried out at me… told me not to look…"

The room had become entirely silent. The others watched Astrid in the middle, their backs turned to to the pair in the corner, but they listened silently to Anne's cries. Even the ones that didn't care about her found their hatred for hunters rising.

"I know," Emma smiled compassionately, like an indulgent mother. "The hunters did that, on the day of the awakening."

Anne's distraught, lost expression became a little more focused when she frowned, and hatred sparked in her eyes. "Hunters are humans," she half-snarled, half-sobbed.

Emma nodded softly, wiping away some of Anne's tears with her right hand, while keeping the left on Anne's head, softly glowing green, "Yes they are. But not all humans are hunters. Your mother knew that didn't she?"

"I—" Anne stammered, her eyes wandering, trying to find release from the memories Emma's presence was stirring inside. "S— She was wrong…"

Emma shook her head, "She wasn't wrong. She was wise." Then she took Anne's chin with her right hand, and forced her to look into her eyes, "Let it go, Anne. Humans weren't to blame—hunters were. You know your mother wouldn't want this for you."

Anne opened and closed her mouth a few times, but then her strained expression suddenly slacked a little, and she smiled absentmindedly. "I— I'm sorry, Mom… I'll be… better…" Then, her body lost all its tension as she fainted.

"Ah!" Emma yelped, and quickly grabbed the unconscious woman, before she sagged to the floor. As a second rank Arcanist, her body was more than powerful enough to carry Anne, so she took the woman into a princess carry.

Now with an unconscious woman in her arms, she pursed her lips wryly and looked at Erik. "I don't know if it worked, Master…" she muttered through their bond.

Happily, Emma nodded and went to do as he said.

Meanwhile, Viljar frowned as he turned to his nephew, "Care to tell me what just happened?"

Erik smiled slightly in amusement, and shrugged casually, "Anne's hatred of humans was starting to become a problem, so I did something about it... Or rather, I asked Emma to do something about it." Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"How?" Viljar demanded, not losing his frown.

Erik sighed, and started to explain, the entire room now focused on him, "I asked around a little about Anne's past, and found out what happened to her mother during the same raids that destroyed Frostvik, and I made a plan to help her resolve some of her issues."

By now, Emma had re-joined them, and Erik looked at her fondly. "My lovely second wife possesses the nature affinity, which gives her a sort of motherly aura. She doesn't like to use it much, because it messes with people's heads, but that is exactly what helped her reach Anne."

Now, all heads turned to Emma, and she immediately shrank back a little, not really used to all the attention.

But she stood her ground, even while poking her fingers together nervously, and nodded, "I just concentrated my aura on her for a moment, I didn't really mess with her head, I guess… I just forced her to confront her feelings about her mother, and then I guided her towards a more tolerant mindset."

Elora had taught Emma many things about her motherly nature aura, and this was one of them. While Emma didn't really like messing with people's heads, she needed to at least learn the techniques, allowing her to control her aura.

The people in their group had various reactions, ranging from shock, to curiosity, to disinterest, but before anyone could say anything, Astrid opened her eyes.