Her mother merely sighed, looked towards the distance, and repeated the same line she had said countless times before, "Hannah, when you grow up, you’ll understand."

She never discovered the wounds on her daughter’s body.

Or perhaps she simply didn’t care.

Just like her mother had said, in her lifetime, all her love was given to the man she should call "father."

Even though he betrayed them.

"He will always be your father..."

Lots of people would later say the same thing to her.

They always tried to console her that way.

"He will always be your father, you must forgive him, even if..."

Even if he killed the majority of Southport’s people, deceived and betrayed her mother... and even took away her loyalty and life.

She was still expected to forgive him.

Twisted logic, all of it.

Hannah didn’t believe any of it, so her eyes always carried hatred.

Hatred towards that man.

That was the only thing her mother ever noticed about her.

So, she made her swear an oath.

An oath to never harm or betray her own father.

In the ancient land of Southport, oaths carried a strong binding force, especially among close kin.

Parents and children, bound by blood.

That year, Hannah was seven years old. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

After her mother passed away, Hannah became truly alone.

Still harboring beautiful illusions about that man, her mother’s last advice was for her to seek him out.

This time, Hannah couldn’t argue and nodded in agreement.

At the age of twelve, Hannah sought out that man.

Just as she had expected, the man was both shocked and disgusted by her arrival.

He already had a new wife, and a daughter only two years younger than Hannah.

However, in front of so many people, he couldn’t refuse his own daughter’s request for "shelter."

He cared about his image, especially after becoming the king of the imperial royal family.

Not wanting to be labeled as heartless and ruthless, the man had no choice but to accept Hannah.

With a hypocritical smile, he said, "Hannah, this will be your new home from now on. As your father, I will always cherish you."

Lies came easily to him.

Perhaps the man thought she was still young and didn’t remember the past anymore.

And this so-called new home became Hannah’s cage in the days to come.

...

It was also around that time that Hannah met Wayne Lane.

Wayne was three years older than her.

Despite being only fifteen, he was already the most gifted Mecha Master at the Mecha Academy.

He was distant and aloof, like an unsheathed sword, seldom showing much expression on his face, barely furrowing his brows in a slight frown before casually resolving any difficulties during simulated combat.

At that time, Hannah, utterly vexed by the schemes of her "younger sister," took the initiative to apply and attend the Mecha Academy.

There, she concealed her identity.

On the first day of school, during a simulated combat, she was randomly paired with Wayne.

One was a freshman only capable of operating a basic mecha, the other was a known mecha genius at the academy.

Such a battle was almost devoid of suspense.

Wayne thought so too, which is why he didn’t give it his all during the fight.

Then, Hannah, piloting a basic mecha, ferociously ground him into the dust.

Fifteen-year-old Wayne still carried the arrogance innate to a favored child of heaven.

Yet those inky black eyes showed shock for the very first time.