Melina gasped in shock at Master Gilbert's words. She was aware of the Church's strict policy towards inhabitants of the Monster Realm– they weren't tolerated in the slightest. Even sapient races like elves were treated poorly, while any monsters were just killed on sight.

But she had never stopped to think about what happened to humans who opposed the Church. She knew that those affiliated with it were severely punished, just like Alistair had been. His punishment was actually rather mild since he was a nobleman. It was likely that Duke Sinclair wouldn't allow his son to be truly humiliated.

Those without such a strong lineage weren't so lucky. She remembered that when she had just been taken to the Church, all the newcomers were instantly shown what happened if they defied the will of the System God. Harsh punishment starting from standing in the hot sun all day while holding heavy buckets filled with water, and ending with brutal flogging.

The first time Melina had witnessed a man getting flogged for disobeying an order from a higher-standing bishop, she was absolutely horrified. She didn't crave such punishment, so she did her best to follow orders and climb the ranks.

While the methods were brutal, she didn't question believing the Church's words that System powers have to be used for good. That if you didn't discipline System users properly, they'd stray from the path. Melina was horrified to realize how indoctrinated she had been.

"What do you mean by get rid of them?" Melina asked nervously.

"Exactly that. To maintain power in Alemahria, the Church got rid of anything that could oppose it. And the Holy Knights were the ones who carried out their dirty work. There is nothing holy about it," Gilbert spat.

The thought sickened Melina to her stomach, and she slumped back in the bed. To think that the Church would stoop so low just to remain in a position of power.

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked nervously.

"I'm okay… I just feel like a fool for not realizing it sooner," Melina muttered.

"You were but a child, indoctrinated to do their bidding. It's not so surprising. If anything, it is my fault that this whole mess happened…" Gilbert said, clenching his fists tightly.

"Master, how could it ever be your fault? Me being taken to the Church was not something you could have prevented," Melina chuckled. But Gilbert looked glum—even more than usual—and even Alistair's expression darkened. "Master?"

She looked between the two men. There was something they weren't telling her.

"I could have easily prevented that if only I had taken you in…" Gilbert said and gently took Melina's hand. "But I was a fool. When Jasmine died together with Matilda, I was so stricken by grief that I couldn't even think of raising you. I… I left you at that orphanage and ran away…"

Gilbert's hands shook, and tears ran down his wrinkled face. Melina stared at him in shock, not quite believing his words.

"Wait, wait, wait… Master, what are you talking about? Taken me in? I know Jasmine is your wife, but who is Matilda? I have no clue what you're talking about," Melina shook her head, not able to wrap her head around this revelation.

"Matilda, my dear daughter. She and her husband, Alex Dufour, lost their lives while visiting Sunglow together with you. I still remember the joyous expression on your face when you ate my pastries, constantly begging for more. But then…"

Gilbert let out a pain choke and covered his face with his hand. "Then those Church bastards. They must have been on lookout, hoping to exploit my weaknesses. Sent their Holy Knights—some of whom I consider my brothers—to my home in the middle of the night. I fought with all I could… but in the end, you were the only one I managed to save. I'm so sorry, child!"

Melina didn't know what to say, seeing him break down like that. The Church had murdered his family, no, their family, in cold blood. Melina's mother, father, and grandmother were taken from her before she even got a chance to know them.

She always wondered why she couldn't remember anything about her family, but now it made sense. Her childish mind must have erased the horrible event. To think that she was serving the same people who murdered her family. The thought revolved her.

"Why did you leave me in the orphanage?" Melina asked, still shaken.

"So you'd be safe. I didn't want to risk them getting you killed, too. I'm so sorry, child," Gilbert explained, tears still streaming from his face.

Her hands wrapped around her grandfather before she even realized. Deep within her, emotions roiled like a stormy sea—anger for being abandoned, but also understanding that he was trying to protect her. She wasn't yet sure if she could accept it, but she could cry along with him for their lost family. Thus, they remained in each other's embrace for a while.

"Hankerchief?" Alistair said, holding out two.

Melina and Gilbert each took one, wiping their eyes and faces. After taking some time to calm down, Melina said, "Master, no, Grandfather, did you take me as your apprentice because you knew who I was?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to at first. But when I saw that you had a System too, then I knew I had to, otherwise the Church would take you away anyway," Gilbert grumbled.

"Thank you," Melina said. "You've been looking out for me this whole time."

"I'm just doing my duty as a grandfather. I've neglected it for too long," he muttered.

Melina's smile faltered as she remembered the Stone of Sacrifice.

"Wait… what did you give to the stone to heal me?" She asked in horror. "My mana must have been in complete frenzy. It would take a great price to fix it."

"The System itself. It was the only thing that would be deemed as worthy to exchange," Gilbert said with a shrug.

"The System itself?! Master, will you be able to work even? What about Knight? Isn't your connection severed now?" Melina asked in horror.

"No, I won't be able to work anymore, nor fight. And yes, you're right to say that my connection with Knight has also been severed. He's not a familiar anymore," Gilbert said. "But I'm an old man now. It's about time I retired."

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"Retired? But what will happen to the bakery?"

"Isn't it obvious? You'll be the one running it."

Oddly enough, this was the most shocking thing she'd heard that day. She gaped at Gilbert in disbelief. "Me?"

"Who else? I don't remember teaching somebody else," Gilbert shook his head.

"But… I've barely been here for three months," Melina objected.

"And you've far exceeded all of my expectations. Don't think that I'll stop teaching you or leave you alone. I'm going to be helping as much as I can, but I won't be able to do the intensive cooking I've been doing up until now. The System stats provided me with much of my strength, not to mention the skills that made the cooking easier and alleviated my rheumatism and other problems," Gilbert explained.

Melina nodded, her head downcast. Gilbert's health hadn't been the best when she had arrived, but while she was holding his hand, she felt that the strength behind them was gone. She felt guilty that he had sacrificed something so beneficial for her sake. There was only one thing she could do to repay that kindness.

"I'll do it. I'm going to turn Sunglow Bakery into a name everyone will remember," she said, clenching her fist in determination.

"Hey, hey, there is no need to attract more attention to us than necessary," Gilbert grumbled.

"I'm pretty sure everyone's attention is already on us," Alistair noted. "My father knows what's happening. The Monster Lord knows and remembers the past, although I doubt he'd approach us so carelessly now that Melina has her magic back. The Church suspects her, and once they come for their expedition, then those suspicions will be confirmed."

"Exactly. I'd say the situation is as bad as it could get," Melina noted.

"Don't challenge fate, girl. Things can always get worse," Gilbert warned.

"Of course. That's why I'm going to do my best to improve our chances of victory, and we're going to do it with the power of pastries," she said with a determined gaze.

Gilbert looked at her like she was crazy, and Alistair looked confused.

"Girl, did the mana jumble your brain or something?" The old baker huffed.

"No. My mind is clear, even if my head hurts a little. If we want to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself, then we have to do it gently, instead of using brute force. We have to make people realize that the Monster Realm is crucial to us. And what better way than to spread pastries made with ingredients from the Monster Realm and a bit of magic."

Melina's mind was already filled with ideas of what she could do. It would be a slow change, and there would be a lot of obstacles. Ideally, she would need other people to join the cause. Leliana and her project of growing Monster Realm fruits in the Human Realm would be one. Perhaps, she could also involve Milo.

The young carpenter would be coming to Sunglow soon. There were good materials from Monster Realm that he could work with if she just acquired the permission of the Guildmaster.

She could also try to talk to the possible next [Archmage] candidates and convince them to join their cause instead. There were many possibilities, and Melina felt hopeful. With mana coursing through her again, she felt like she could tackle this challenge head-on.

Elowen lay in his bed in the Guild room, staring at the ceiling above him. He didn't miss the deep breaths of guards stationed outside his room. The Guildmaster had assigned them to him after learning everything that had happened from Alistair. That was after the nobleman had mercilessly pummeled him.

Elowen hadn't resisted. He felt like he had deserved it. Seeing Melina bleeding out had made him realize what a horrible mistake he had committed. He had wanted to negotiate with the Monster Lord on his own terms and hoped that he'd be willing to work together with them.

But he had underestimated the severity of the circumstances. Melina had killed him before, and he remembered that. However, he didn't know what happened after his death. He didn't know that both realms fell into ruin, not just the Monster Realms. He had grown resentful of all humans and wouldn't even think of working together with them.

Elowen wasn't even sure if he would have managed to return to Sunglow safely if Melina and Alistair hadn't come to find him. The Monster Lord was growing irritated by his suggestion of working together with humans to prevent the tragedy. He wasn't even willing to listen to his explanation until the end.

"What a mess I've made…" he muttered, lifting his hand against his forehead.

A knock sounded on the door. He didn't even need to ask to know who it was.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, and Leliana came in, carrying a tray of food. He hasn't had much appetite to eat after that horrible incident, but the stubborn redhead insisted that he eat at least a little during each mealtime.

"Good day, Sir Elowen," she greeted him politely. "I brought you some lunch."

"Thank you, Miss Leliana," he replied politely, getting up from the bed.

He felt like a slob, behaving more like a petulant human child rather than an elf. The recent events have taken quite a toll on his mental health. He'd have to rectify that.

"How much longer will they keep you under guard?" She asked with a frown.

"As long as necessary," Elowen said, half-heatedly taking a sip of the soup.

"Isn't it already clear that you didn't mean that to happen?" Leliana asked.

The redhead didn't actually know the true story. The whole town was in panic when their beloved baker's apprentice had been brought back with one foot in the grave, and even more shocked after Alistair had publicly blamed Elowen for the whole thing.

The Guildmaster did her best to calm the people and salvage the situation. The story was that Elowen had separated from the group in hopes of finding resources on his own. Melina, Alistair, and Sienna went to bring him back, but they got attacked by a monster, and Melina was the one who got injured.

"It was my fault that Miss Melina got horribly injured. I cannot blame everyone for their anger," he said dejectedly.

Leliana glared, putting her hands firmly on her hips. "You keep saying my fault, my fault, and moping here, but if you feel so bad about it, why don't you just apologize?"

"Moping?" Elowen stared at her in shock. "I'm moping? Elves do not mope!"

"You are moping. Just because you are an elf, it doesn't mean that you can't mope. Or are you elves suddenly above us humans?" Leliana narrowed her eyes.

"No, that is not what I meant at all," Elowen hurriedly shook his head.

"Then I'm sure that you're not above apologizing either."

"But… I don't think I deserve forgiveness," he said dejectedly.

"That's not for you to decide, is it? If you have wronged Melina, then it is for her to decide whether she forgives you or not. Quite frankly, I don't believe she would be angry enough not to forgive you. I once tried to steal her boyfriend, yet we are on rather friendly terms now," Leliana said confidently.

"You did what?!" Elowen asked in shock.

Steal Melina's boyfriend? Was she talking about Alistair? Is that the kind of man Leliana was interested in? For some reason, that knowledge stung Elowen more than Alistair's punches, and the man had not held back.

"Oh, it's all in the past now," she waved it off nonchalantly. "But you really should try apologizing to Melina. It's clearly eating at you immensely."

"It is?" Elowen muttered.

He didn't feel that it was eating at him. But then again, why else would he feel like this? Initially, he had been ready to kill Melina if she had proved to be too dangerous, but he realized that he didn't want that at all. He wanted to work together with her and other humans. He wanted the two races to learn mutual understanding.

"Miss Leliana, I think you're right. I'll try to apologize to Melina," he said firmly.

Leliana smiled. "Good. I shall accompany you. Lord Sinclair is likely staying by her side. It's best if you don't face him alone."

Elowen nodded. He had a distinct feeling that Alistair was nowhere nearly as forgiving as Melina.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.