Andesha returned to the bed, where her father sat beside her.
Everything felt like a dream—even the pain from tugging at her wound just now could not convince Andesha that any of this was real. Her head began to spin again, waves of weakness and vertigo washing over her. Was this a sign that she was about to wake from the dream?
She raised her head and looked at her father's face, repeatedly confirming every detail, as if she wanted to carve every wrinkle, every strand of hair, every subtle shift in expression into her mind, then carefully compare them with the image she remembered from more than a decade ago. She did not know what meaning there was in doing this—but she had to find something to occupy herself with so that her emotions could gradually calm down.
Her father was completely different from the one in her memories. Aside from those eyes, Andesha could hardly find any details in his face that matched what she remembered... Was it merely because the passage of more than ten years had caused her to forget the details of her childhood? Or could the experiences of those years truly change a person so drastically?
"You look completely different from how I remember you," she could not help saying. "I remember you having a very high forehead... and a wider nose than you do now..."
Bard raised a hand and touched his face.
Yes, this face had indeed changed a great deal—changes that even the passage of time could scarcely explain. Embracing darkness and corruption came at a price. He could no longer remember how many forbidden, dangerous powers he had touched, nor how much he had paid for them... flesh modification, Abomination Factor testing, mutation, toxins. This face had shifted between human