Chapter 4. Three books. Three Pill Jars. [RotDE] (Patreon)

It was a sunny day, and a tall and small girl walked side by side. The taller girl had very lightly tanned skin and wore an ordinary dress that girls in the town wore.

Her body was not thin, as the manual work from living in a remote place shaped her to be a strong woman. She had inherited her mother's curvy body, but since she wore loose clothes, it wasn't that noticeable.

Moreover, Loreia, the tall woman, always trained herself with her father to become stronger and be able to protect her little sister. This year, she was already 18 years old.

"Little Tatyana, where do you want to go today?"

Her little sister looked up at her, and Loreia was instantly fascinated by the child's ruby-like eyes. They were so pretty and large. Loreia had never seen prettier eyes than hers. 'They are like those precious gems on the riverside.'

With a sweet smile, Tatyana spoke. "Big sister, do we go play in the river again? Today is a perfect day!"

Loreia smiled with a pampering expression. "Of course! How about I teach you how to catch fish today? We can eat them for dinner later."

Tatyana's eyes lit up, and she began swinging their interlocked hands. "Okay! Big sister, you must teach me well!"

Loreia chuckled. "I was 12 years old when I first learned from Dad, so I have a lot of experience!"

Little Tatyana commented with a proud look. "I'm nine years old, so I'm sure that I'll be better than you when I'm your age!"

Loreia snorted and tousled Tatyana's hair affectionately. "You are a little know-it-all, aren't you?"

Tatyana laughed. "Hahaha."

They exited the town's border and approached the nearby river through a safe path. It was really early in the morning, so they had the entire day to play around.

Tatyana looked at the clear water that had a few fish swimming and asked. "How do we catch them?"

Loreia smiled. "Well, there are a few ways to do it. We can spearfish, we can use a net, or we can use our hands. Which one do you want to learn?"

Tatyana got thoughtful, her little cute face becoming serious.

When Loreia saw her expression, she really wanted to rain kisses on those round and meaty cheeks. 'She is so cute!'

Tatyana commented. "I want to try with my hands!"

Loreia was surprised. "Oh? Why do you want to use your hands?"

Tatyana smiled as if she knew that Loreia would ask. "Of course, it is because I can always use my hands, but I won't be able to use the others if I'm alone!"

Loreia lifted an eyebrow, amused. "I see. As always, you are so clever, little Tatyana." Then, Loreia moved behind Tatyana and grabbed the straw hat that was hanging on her back, placing it on Tatyana's head. "There. To fish with hands, it needs a lot of patience, and we don't want to be burnt by the Sun, don't we?"

Tatyana grabbed the edges and pulled them a bit upward to look up at her big sister with a big smile. "Yes!"

Loreia laughed, softly pinching her cheek. "Okay, come with me. Remember to whisper if you want to talk, okay?"

Tatyana nodded, and after placing their shoes on the shore, they walked inside.

The rocks were a bit pointy, but Tatyana braved the slight pain and continued walking forward, reaching a place where the water raised to her calves.

Loreia smiled and praised her. "You are really tough, little Tatyana."

Tatyana smiled. "If big sister can do it, I can also do it!"

Loreia laughed and commented. "Now that we are in position, you have to stay extremely still and wait."

Tatyana opened her legs a bit to stabilize and nodded. Remembering what Loreia told her, she whispered. "And then?"

Loreia also lowered her tone and explained. "You wait. When a fish approaches between your legs, be like a bird and try to grab the fish."

Tatyana nodded seriously and looked down at the clear water. Through the reflection, she could see her petite white feet being touched by a few small fishes. 'Oh? Can I catch these?'

Loreia felt Tatyana's actions and whispered. "Those are too small to eat. Try to aim for the ones bigger than your hands."

Tatyana stopped lowering her hands and nodded.

Then, they waited.

One minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes…

Tatyana was a bit numb because the water in the river was cold, but she persevered and continued looking at the water.

Loreia was surprised. She remembered that the first time Terrance, their father, taught her how to fish with her hands, she almost gave up after 15 minutes. 'She has a lot of concentration and willpower.'

It was something that not only Loreia but also Terrance and Salia realized. Other than being able to learn extremely quickly, Tatyana's ability to focus and complete tedious tasks was unlike any other child.

Loreia saw a fish approach and knew that she could catch it. However, she didn't do so. If she moved quickly and caught it, the splash she would create would scare other fish away.

Her eyes moved toward the small girl, concentrating on the water below, and she smiled softly with a nostalgic tone in her eyes. 'She is already so big.'

Loreia couldn't help but remember the past. 'Time goes by so quickly…'

Loreia sighed. Now that she was 18, many of the responsibilities were piling up. Not to speak about the house's chores, she needed to find a husband soon to continue the family.

Of course, Salia and Terrance weren't urging her, but she could see a few of the girls of her generation already being married and becoming pregnant.

Remember that Loreia was part of a remote town, so being married and having children when one was 18 was the standard practice. By 20, she would be considered a woman "past her prime."

However, Loreia was reluctant. She wanted to continue caring about Tatyana and see her growth. Be by her side during her happy and sad moments, and protect her from bad people who might want to harm her.

Loreia knew that if she married and had a husband, her contact with the young girl would be almost entirely cut. After all, the culture said that a woman had to guard the house while the husband earned their bread.

While Salia and Terrance were relatively progressive for their age, they also wanted children, and a pregnant woman working in the fields was not something that could be done.

Moreover, this was something Loreia thought about and hadn't shared, but when she thought of having intercourse, her entire body erupted in chills. Just imagining herself below a man made her whole body feel unwell.

Splash!

The loud sound of water took Loreia back from her thoughts. "I got it! I got it!"

Loreia looked over and saw Tatyana's beautiful face widely smiling, her large eyes bent into crescents as she held a flopping fish with her two dainty hands.

'Let's forget about complicated things. Today, I'm here to enjoy the day with my little sister.'

Loreia laughed and approached, carefully walking through the water. "You are awesome, little Tatyana!"

Tatyana smiled proudly, but the fish kept flapping, trying to free itself, so she was getting flustered. "B-Big sister, what should I do now?"

With a small laugh, Loreia crouched, picked a big stone, and grabbed the fish from Tatyana's hands by the fins. "Well, if you want the fish to stop moving, you must do this!"

Pang!

After placing it on a flat stone nearby, Loreia hit it firmly, instantly killing it. Tatyana's eyes shone, and she clapped. "You are so strong, big sister!"

Loreia laughed and used her free arm to lift Tatyana from below her armpits and carry her outside the river. "I'll carry you. Your feet must be already numb, aren't they?"

Tatyana nodded with a smile. "Thank you, big sister!"

They reached the shore, and after resting for a while and letting the Sun warm up their bodies and dry their feet, they put on their shoes and returned.

By the time they arrived home, it was already lunchtime. Tatyana rushed across the house, shouting. "Mommy! Mommy! Big sister and I caught a fish!"

Salia was boiling some vegetables when she felt a little girl crash against her back. "Little girl, be careful. I'm cooking your launch, and if you spill it, we won't eat today!"

Tatyana looked from the side. "Vegetable soup?"

Salia nodded. "That's right."

Loreia approached with a smile and commented. "Here, Mom. A fish. Tatyana caught it all by herself."

Salia lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Aren't you trying to boost your little sister's achievements?"

Loreia snorted. "As if I need to do that." She then hugged Tatyana from behind and smirked. "She is good enough without me needing to boost anything!"

With a small laugh, Salia answered. "Well, you are not wrong. Hm… What to do with this?"

Salia grabbed the fish and decided to clean it and let it simmer in another pot for their dinner. "I'll make a fish porridge with it. What do you say, girls?"

Tatyana licked her lips. "Yummy!"

Loreia nodded. "Yummy, indeed."

Terrance came back not much later, and they all ate a sumptuous lunch. Tatyana spoke about what Loreia and her did together, and Terrance and Salia 'ah-ed' and 'oh-ed,' making Tatyana giggle.

After eating, Tatyana and Loreia went to a reclining chair Terrance built outside and laid on it together. Loreia hugged Tatyana closely and smiled, feeling satisfied. 'So peaceful.'

Tatyana was also very comfortable on top of Loreia. Because of Loreia's curvy body, even when she was strong, her body was still very soft. So, the little girl felt that resting on her was even better than sleeping on a bed.

"Little Tatyana."

Tatyana mumbled, her eyes closed.

Her big sister laughed soundlessly. "Little Tatyana, wake up."

Tatyana opened her eyes slowly, revealing her red irises, and looked at Loreia groggily. Smiling, she leaned forward and gave her a big kiss. "Good morning, big sister."

With a reproachful smile, she tapped her forehead. "What morning? It is already the afternoon. If you keep sleeping, you won't be able to sleep at night."

Tatyana blushed. "Oh."

Loreia smiled and patted her butt. "How about we play hide?"

The little girl nodded. "Okay!"

And the rest of the day was passed as such. As Loreia counted, Tatyana looked around the house for places to hide.

Suddenly, she came across a door that she had yet to enter. She remembered that it was always closed, and when she asked about it, her father and mother dismissed it. Even Loreia seemed to be reluctant to speak about it.

However, now it was half-opened. 'Should I go there?'

Little Tatyana was clever enough to know that they didn't want her to enter. However, she couldn't hold back the curiosity of a child. 'I'll enter quickly and then leave.'

With that in mind, Tatyana approached and pushed the door open.

It creaked, revealing that it wasn't used often, and a staircase that went down was exposed. 'How were these places called…? Right, a basement!'

The little child opened the wooden door and stepped into the dark basement. She didn't fear the dark and slowly descended after closing the door behind her.

When she reached the bottom of the short staircase, she arrived at a closed room with a small window that poured the afternoon's light, barely illuminating the place.

There were many shelves, chests, and other kind of furniture to hold items.

Moreover, there were also large bags of food. However, between all of it, Tatyana's eyes were instantly attracted by a semi-opened chest in the corner of the room.

The nine-year-old walked forward, slowly approaching, and opened it. "Hm? There are books here?"

Tatyana knew that books were really precious. Even as the doctors of the town, her family didn't have more than five.

However, in this chest, there were three books that she had never seen before. Moreover, they were completely different from what she had seen until now.

The three books had a sleek cover with elegant hand-written words, a thick spine, and beautiful accessories. They looked more beautiful than gems she had found in the past.

Tatyana was confused. She could instantly tell that these books weren't normal. However, they had some kind of fatal attraction.

She slowly read the titles of the three books. "[A Cultivator's Anatomy], [Vortex Energy Gathering Cultivation Technique], [Formation Symbols and Lines for Beginners]."

Other than the three books, there was a cloth stained with maroon spots and three strange jars. 'They look like those jars Mommy uses to hold the medicine, but…'

The three white pill jars felt as if they were glowing. A strange aura gathered around them, making them look like otherworldly items. Moreover, the very light scent that leaked from them made Tatyana's eyes shine. 'Wow, they smell so nice.'

Other than that, there wasn't anything else in the chest besides a strange dress with a hole in the chest area. Seeing that hole made Tatyana feel strangely suffocated.

Confused, she caressed her chest. 'What is this?'

She was puzzled as to why she would suddenly feel this way. But, looking at those clothes and the large hole in them, Tatyana felt sad.

After pondering for a while, Tatyana decided to carry the three books away. She liked reading, and her parents always told her that reading would make her more intelligent, so she thought that if she read these books, they would praise her.

With that in mind, Tatyana left the basement with the three thick books and hid them in her room below her bed. Tatyana had been cleaning her own room for two years already, so the chance of them being discovered was very small.

After exiting her room, someone suddenly grabbed her from behind. "KYA!"

Tatyana was startled, and her soul almost jumped out of her body. Meanwhile, behind her, Loreia burst into laughter. "I caught you! You really hid well this time, didn't you?"

Tatyana laughed a bit guiltily. Loreia didn't realize, and they both continued playing.

They didn't know that those three books were the start of the cruel path Tatyana would have to walk in the future.