Chapter 184: Depressed Lily

The good news, at least, is that her father woke up soon.

They said that he was recovering pretty nicely. He even stayed awake long enough to have a good talk with her.

He just apologized for hiding things from her—especially about his illness. But mostly, he apologized for not being a better parent to her. He admitted that nobody ever truly prepared him for the role. Nobody taught him how.

His father didn’t want to raise her the same way his own father raised him. He didn’t want her to grow up in a cold house and family, but he’s gotten so busy that, unknowingly, that’s what he’s ended up doing anyway.

He reminded her to be strong. Not just in terms of martial realms, but more importantly, emotionally. She must learn how to harden her heart and will in order to survive this cruel world.

’Try as I might, I can’t protect you forever. You inherited your mother’s generous heart, but that’s not enough to survive in this world.’

That’s what he told her. And honestly, that stuck with Lily for quite some time.

But then, again, the world won’t just sit back and let her adjust. It’s as if it’s pushing her to the brink of insanity because before she could even accept the fact that her father might not have much time left, another event sprung up on her.

Desolate City’s Youth Martial Tournament.

It became a hot topic within the whole city, and soon, the roster was revealed. Lily was in there.

She received an invitation, obviously, and Lily signed up.

It’s not like she had a choice. If she didn’t, the rest of the Heartveil family would accuse her of rebelling or being a traitor. They’ll call her a coward first, and that will give them an excuse to push their agendas.

If she refused to participate, they would call that showing weakness to others, something that the Heartveil family can’t afford.

Lily hadn’t forgotten that not only the Heartveil family, but the whole of Desolate City was pitting her against Aria. Somehow, there’s this rivalry between the Carmichael family and the Heartveil family.

Two blessed damsels of rivaling families fighting against each other? What a scoop! Everybody will surely look forward to that, right?

Lily never signed up for this rivalry; it’s the public who decided for her, for the both of them, actually. Hell, there was originally no animosity or rivalry between their families. It’s public opinion that sparked it ablaze.

And somehow, they’re supposed to assume the roles they were given.

Now, even the descendants of both families are deluded and think that they must clash. They’ve ridden the hype and drowned in it.

Lily hates it so much, but what can she do?

So, her participation was practically given not because she wants to, but because she couldn’t run away from this.

Surprisingly, though, Sieg also qualified for this tournament. He wasn’t given an invitation, though. But his strength qualifies, so he could participate.

Lily felt complicated about that. On one hand, she was happy for him. Surely, if he got some decent results in the tournament, then the stigma of a loser and trash that’s been forced upon him will be gone.

On the other hand, she feared that she might have to fight him in one of the rounds. And she really doesn’t know if she wants to win that fight or lose.

The only one that she could say for certain she would fight with all her strength was none other than Aria.

Why? Honestly, Lily was starting to forget her reasons as well. Was it to compete for Sieg’s attention? Was it to prove that she has what it takes too? That she’s not worse or less than her? Is it because she’s just giving what the people were asking for from her? Was it for the reputation of her family?

Or was it simply because she wanted to prove that she could be confident, loved, and as strong as her?

At this point, does it even really matter?

Anyway, the tournament arrived, and Lily was pretty much already guaranteed to end up in the grand finals. There are very few in this city that could match up with her strength, skill, and talent.

Most of her fights ended with a single attack or the immediate surrender of her opponent. Same goes with Aria.

This allowed the attention to be focused on the tournament’s dark horse, Sieghart Augustine Fletcher.

Widely known as a fallen prince charming, the delusional trash of the desolates, and the stubborn fool. Through some unknown means, he recently flipped his script and suddenly became a genius, standing shoulder to shoulder with others.

His matches all began with trash talk and face-slapping. Nobody believed that Sieg deserved his spot here, nor the strength he has now. And those matches ended with Sieg winning anyway. Clean and smooth, too. Even the referees can’t find a flaw to discredit him with.

Lily watched as Sieg proved himself. Turning the audience from haters, neutrals, and then fans.

By the time the final rounds arrived, Sieg had convinced a lot of people with his skills and results, getting rid of his bad reputation and replacing it with a good one.

It’s a classic ’rags to riches’ type of story—martial world style—and it made headlines within Desolate City.

Alas, Sieg’s luck wasn’t meant to last forever.

Ultimately, he didn’t have enough time and resources to truly climb to the top.

He began losing when he was matched up against the true geniuses of the Desolate City. One particular opponent embarrassed him so badly that Sieg had to walk off the stage looking as if he had swallowed a fly.

Rest assured, Aria proceeded to beat that guy senseless in their fight. And Lily defeated him, too.

Then, Lily’s fears came true.

Sieg was matched against her. She knew that this was going to happen and that she couldn’t avoid it, but facing this event still broke her heart a little bit.

Not because she didn’t want to fight him, but because she needs to defeat him.

She wants to give him a win, because heaven knows he needs one and oh-so-badly wants one. But in this stage, she couldn’t afford to do that. There’s just too much at stake.

Sieg himself said that she shouldn’t hold back. If she does, he will truly hate her. And that’s the worst outcome that Lily never wants to see.

So, she defeated him.

His match against Aria, though. It was totally different from what he expected.

The two of them practically argued, on stage, on who surrendered first. Sieg threw the match; he had no desire to fight Aria and felt that she truly deserved to be at the top of Desolate City.

Aria, on the other hand, was willing to give him everything she owns. Even her still beating heart, should he ask for it.

It was comical, really. But it also made it sufficiently clear for Lily where Sieg’s stance was.

In the end, he convinced Aria that it’s her win. He practically ordered her to win this whole tournament, one that she took personally.

Lily then had a match with Aria, and it wasn’t even close.

You’d think that spending most of her time trying to please Sieg, she’d get rusty at least, but no. She’s as sharp as that sword of hers and completely a different person when she’s facing a stranger.

Even more so to a potential love rival.

In the end, Aria took first place. Lily came second, and Sieg cinched the fifth place—almost costing him an arm and a leg to do so.

Sieg washed away his previous reputation and has become famous in one go. Aria sits where she’s supposed to be, and only Lily feels miserable.

Her family was disappointed by her loss to Aria. They pointed out the way he held back against Sieg. Her father was still sick. And her crush essentially stopped being cordial with her for some reason.

Lily feels like life has it out for her. She felt so utterly alone, wondering what she ever did to deserve all this.

She found herself wishing on the stars again. Uttering the same wish she had since she was young...well, younger.

I wish that I were born this beautiful and talented. I wish I were just an ordinary girl. Maybe that way, life wouldn’t be so cruel to me, and I wouldn’t be so alone.’

It was a wish she knew would never come true, but it’s her wish anyway.

Days passed like that, and the longer her current situation persists, the more stifled she felt. Even her incredible achievements feel like they’re for nothing in the face of the criticisms aimed at her.

Out of loneliness and need to escape this cruel reality, even for a bit, she dived into the VR world.

And when she saw that [Marek] was online, she was reminded that maybe there’s a way for her to forget the real world more effectively.

And who knows, maybe [Marek] doesn’t mind hearing a stranger rant about life for a bit.