Daughter of a Serf

He was merely one ordinary person among 1.4 Billion, possessing nothing but the supposedly awe-inspiring Status Blessing. In truth, he was a social outcast with nothing in this new world.

His country simply did not exist on this continent, nor even among the stars above.

He might be able to fool the villagers of Fruit Basket Village, who had never left their village, but before a worldly lord like Viscount Hughes, his lie would probably be exposed with ease! By then, he might instead implicate Anlìyà and the others, causing them to be punished by the enraged lord.

With that thought, Xian made up his mind.

"Sorry, Anlìyà."

After saying this calmly, he ignored the pleading look on the blonde girl's face and walked straight back into his room.

If something could not be done, it was best not to promise it from the start. Otherwise, it would only mislead the person being promised, sending things down a path worse than failure.

Inside a log-and-thatch cottage on the edge of the village.

"Is that so? That Highness refused?"

Upon hearing his daughter's answer, Robert, the village chief, seemed to lose all his strength and collapsed to the floor.

"Father, Father!"

Anlìyà hurriedly helped him onto a chair and quickly brought him a bowl of water.

"Are you all right?"

The girl worriedly watched her adoptive father. Even after drinking the water, his face remained pale as paper, while tears faintly shimmered in her azure eyes.

"I'm fine. It's an old problem. Whenever I get nervous, my head starts hurting. A little rest will fix it."

Robert let out a long breath and reassured her with a smile.

Yet his weak voice and bloodshot eyes made it clear that he was only forcing himself to hold on.

Anlìyà fell silent. She did not expose her adoptive father's lie, but her guilt only deepened.

Her adoptive father had originally been in good health. Otherwise, he would never have become village chief.

But when she was six, she had playfully climbed to the top of the orchard. Unable to get down, she had cried in panic. While trying to save her, her adoptive father had accidentally fallen from a great height and struck his head. From then on, his health had steadily worsened, and whenever the weather turned bad, the pain in his head became unbearable.

"I'm sorry, Father. If I hadn't burdened you, you would surely be much happier than you are now!"

Unable to bear the torment in her heart, Anlìyà fell to her knees. Her eyes and the tip of her nose gradually reddened, warm tears dampening her cheeks as her voice began to choke.

"Get up, my daughter. You have never been a burden to me. You are heaven's gift to me."

"You have never owed me anything. If anything, I should thank you. It was because you gave me those beautiful memories that feel as though they happened yesterday that my life became whole."

Robert bent down and gently stroked the girl's silky, supple blonde hair. His weathered face was filled with fatherly love.

"But... but I failed your expectations. I couldn't move that Highness."

Anlìyà raised her tear-streaked face, her beautiful azure eyes full of self-reproach.

"Clearly, it would have been such a trivial matter for that Highness, but he still..."

"Enough, Anlìyà!" Her adoptive father, who had just been so gentle, suddenly shouted sternly with a grave expression.

The sudden change left the girl at a loss.

"We cannot resent others simply because they did not offer us help."

"After all, they have never owed us anything."

"Even if we have helped others, it was because of our kindness, not because we sought repayment."

"Everything shall be judged by the gods."

Robert spoke in a low voice.

He did not want his daughter to become narrow-minded. As a serf with nothing, kindness was the greatest wealth he could leave her.

"I will remember your teachings, Father."

Anlìyà wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her delicate, flower-bud-like face gradually became resolute.

"But no matter what, no matter what methods I must use, I will never stand by and watch everyone become slaves who can be bullied at will."

Anlìyà spoke without hesitation.

"You are right. We should not force that Highness to lend us a hand, so... I will offer him a gift he cannot refuse."

Anlìyà bit down on her lip, a trace of determination flashing through her eyes.

Yet her hands unconsciously folded before her, her fingers lightly twisting the hem of her clothes and revealing the panic and unease in her heart.

A father knew his daughter best. Seeing her like this, Robert instantly guessed what his daughter, far more beautiful than any noble lady, intended to do.

"No... you can't."

"Father, this is my own choice!"

Robert wanted to stop her, but Anlìyà shook her head vigorously.

He opened his mouth, wanting to sternly stop her as a proper father should. But when he thought of those faces that trusted him, his lips moved, yet no sound came out.

In the end, Robert could only let out a long, mournful sigh, so heavy it seemed to contain all his helplessness.

"My daughter, I'm sorry that your father is only a lowly serf." Robert lowered his head, his face full of guilt.

"But I am honored to be the Daughter of a Serf." Anlìyà replied calmly.

Robert's body trembled at her words. Holding back the tears about to spill from his eyes, he turned and returned to his room.

As a father, crying in front of his child would be far too laughable.

A moment later, after calming down, he emerged holding an old wooden box so clean that not a speck of dust rested on it, and handed it to Anlìyà.

"Open it and take a look," Robert said in a low voice.

With a trace of curiosity, the girl gently opened the wooden box. Inside lay a neatly folded blue dress.

Anlìyà's expression immediately turned to astonishment.

"Do you remember it? When you were thirteen, a traveling merchant came to the village. Among the goods he displayed, you fell in love with this dress at first sight. You cried, made a fuss, and even went on a hunger strike because you wanted me to buy it."

"You said that if you lost it, you would have no dreams left for the rest of your life. You said it was the only time in your life you would ever be willful, and that the village had enjoyed a bountiful harvest that year, so I could afford to buy it." Robert spoke faintly.

"But Father, didn't you firmly refuse me back then? Even when I starved myself until I fainted." The girl looked at her adoptive father in confusion.

"I refused because I was only a serf. As a child, there would be many more things you wanted in the future, but I would be powerless to provide them, so I refused your willfulness."

"And I kept it because, although I am only a serf, I still love you."

Robert smiled kindly, and even the wrinkles on his face seemed to relax with that warm smile.

The sight made Anlìyà's eyes sting.

"I had planned to save it and give you a surprise when you got married, but now, it is clear that you need it more."

"My daughter, even at the ugliest moment of your life, you must preserve your humility and kindness, and... a little beauty."

"Go on. Like in the songs sung by bards, make that noble Highness fall for you!"

Robert spoke as if he did not care, but his tears would not stop flowing.