"I'll do it!" Seraphine agreed with almost no hesitation.
She even took the initiative to remove the silk gloves favored by noble ladies, revealing her soft, fair, and delicate hands.
Then she reached out and clasped Levi's hand tightly.
A few seconds later, a layer of cold sweat beaded on Seraphine's smooth forehead.
Her pupils contracted, and her breathing grew heavy. Sweat quickly soaked her cheeks, causing strands of hair to stick messily to her face. It was as if a crushing weight was pressing down heavily upon her body and soul.
"Take a deep breath and relax," Levi said, releasing her hand just in time.
He had fully anticipated Seraphine's reaction.
Because when he first transmigrated and experienced the original owner's memories, he had felt the exact same agony and shock.
Those memories contained almost nothing but despair and suffering. Just skimming through them from an observer's perspective was enough to leave anyone breathless.
And since Seraphine was far more naive and sheltered than he was, the shock she received would only be greater.
And indeed, it was.
"Hah... hah..." Seraphine blankly pulled away from Levi's support, stumbling slightly before steadying herself.
She had seen many things she could never have imagined before.
For instance, Seraphine previously had no idea what it was actually like to be an apprentice in her own family's factory.
It turned out that the food she ate, the things she used and played with, and every gold coin she casually spent were all forged by workers enduring such miserable lives, welding components together piece by piece.
And yet, this job—which was unbearable for Seraphine to even imagine—was actually considered a stroke of luck in the eyes of those Zaunite apprentices. Because their memories of Zaun were even more tragic.
"Do you understand now?" Levi had only shared a few fragments with her, but it was more than enough.
"Yes," Seraphine nodded slightly.
She finally realized just how foolish she had been. She always sympathized with the sufferers she saw, yet she had absolutely no understanding of how deep their suffering truly went.
Levi didn't take the opportunity to lecture her.
Reality was far more persuasive than any grand speech. And Seraphine already possessed the courage and resolve to face that reality.
"Let's go." Those painful memory fragments had clearly placed a severe mental burden on Seraphine. Worried that she might collapse, Levi wanted to take her away immediately.
But Seraphine shook her head. "Mr. Levi, could we wait a little longer?"
"I want to listen a bit more to the voices of the Zaunites," she said, turning to look at the beggars.
They were still immersed in the beautiful music from earlier, their expressions as serene as devoted pilgrims.
Quietly enduring their hardships without a single complaint.
"May I shake your hands?"
Gathering her courage, Seraphine walked up to the beggars.
Perhaps her singing had truly moved them, or—more likely—the lingering effects of her magic hadn't completely faded. These beggars all held an inexplicable sense of worship and respect toward Seraphine.
It was like fans meeting their idol.
"Y-You want to shake our hands? How could we... How could someone as noble as you shake hands with the likes of us?" The beggars were entirely overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.
They instinctively revered Seraphine, yet felt too ashamed of their own wretchedness to approach her.
"Please," Seraphine insisted, extending her hand.
But the beggars shrank back even further. Even they felt that touching this young girl with their filthy hands would be a desecration of their idol.
"I-I'll do it..."
Finally, a female beggar stepped forward, hesitant yet excited. Her hands were slightly cleaner than those of the rough men, making them the most presentable of the group.
But even so, it was still the hand of a destitute beggar—covered in calluses and cracks, with dirt ground so deeply into the skin it seemed a part of it, and black grime fused beneath the fingernails.
When this hand was offered to Seraphine, she still instinctively recoiled.
This was a completely different experience from shaking Levi's hand. Although Levi's hands also had calluses, they were kept very clean. Moreover, his fingers were slender and long with distinct joints, naturally possessing a certain aesthetic appeal.
Even if it wasn't to experience life, Seraphine would have been perfectly willing to hold a hand like his.
But this female beggar's hand...
It was simply too filthy.
Just taking a closer look was enough to give the slightly germaphobic Seraphine goosebumps.
"I-I'm sorry, Miss..." The female beggar seemed to notice something and instinctively withdrew her hand, her face flushing with shame.
This gesture, however, snapped Seraphine wide awake.
"No! I'm the one who should be apologizing..."
Seraphine felt an overwhelming wave of shame.
She suddenly realized that she was actually a hypocrite!
She had sympathized with beggars and wanted to help the poor ever since she was a child.
She had always considered herself half-Zaunite. Whenever she heard her parents speak ill of Zaun, she would instinctively defend the homeland she had built up in her fantasies.
But now, standing face-to-face with these impoverished Zaunites, she finally realized the truth...
She had been disgusted by them all along!
It was a disgust so deeply ingrained that even she hadn't noticed it.
Her father was right. She wasn't a Zaunite at all—she never was!
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Overcoming her internal discomfort, Seraphine guiltily grasped the female beggar's hand. With just that single touch, it felt as though a layer of grime had coated her own skin.
Seraphine did not let go. She held on firmly, looking up to ask the female beggar,
"Could you please recall how you came to Piltover from Zaun and ended up like this?"
The question held no magic of its own, but like a sharp needle, it abruptly pierced the illusion woven by her spell.
"Ah—" In an instant, a torrent of agonizing memories flooded Seraphine's mind like fleeting shadows.
She witnessed a young girl struggling to grow up in Zaun by selling her parents' corpses and gnawing on Sump Rats. After finally scraping together enough money to buy an apprenticeship, she came to Piltover with dreams of working, only to lose everything in a factory accident. She was fired by the factory, evicted by her landlord, and marked for deportation by the Enforcers. She fought desperately to escape, but having lost her legal status, she couldn't find work. The woman had fallen so low that she even dreamed of becoming a prostitute, but because her face had been disfigured by Zaun's chem-fumes in her early years, no one even wanted to buy her body. Ultimately, she was reduced to a beggar, surviving on petty theft, scavenging through trash heaps, and begging for alms.
The naive Seraphine had never imagined that for a woman, becoming a prostitute could actually be considered an extravagant dream.
These memories...
It hurt. It hurt too much!
"Ah—" It was a very real, physical pain.
"What's wrong, Seraphine?"
"My abilities... they've been overstimulated and are out of control," Seraphine cried out, clutching her ears as a splitting headache tore through her. "The voices... they're everywhere... nothing but voices of suffering! Ahhhh!"
This was the Zaunite Community; naturally, melodies of suffering were everywhere. In fact, there was almost nothing but melodies of suffering.
Mr. Ivern had forbidden her from coming here precisely because he feared his daughter's abilities would spiral out of control in a place like this.
"Seraphine!"
Seeing her on the verge of passing out from the pain, Levi finally started to panic.
Casting aside all other concerns, he immediately caught the swaying Seraphine, scooping her up into his arms. Seraphine weakly rested her head against his chest, looking as though she was about to lose consciousness.
"Hold on, I'm getting you out of here right now!"
Levi carried her and prepared to leave quickly.
But Seraphine forced herself to hold onto her last shred of consciousness, her blurry gaze turning toward the beggars.
"You can go... go to the factory district. Find Mr. Ivern at the Hextech Audio Factory. Ask him to give you a job and help you regain your apprentice status... D-Don't forget to mention my name. I'm..."
"Seraphine!"
Seraphine awoke from the darkness.
When she opened her eyes, she was already surrounded by the clean, bustling streets of Piltover.
The sky here was so clear, the sun so bright. It was as if everything she had just witnessed in the Zaunite Community was merely an illusion from a nightmare.
As for Seraphine herself, she was being carefully supported by a man, resting steadily on his back. The man's shoulders were broad, providing the perfect place for her to sleep comfortably.
"Oh, it's Mr. Levi..." Seraphine groggily recognized the man's identity and safely rested her head back on his shoulder.
It was then that she faintly heard it: Levi was singing for her in his mind. He had been singing the whole time.
The melody was soft and sweet, the rhythm soothing and elegant, giving her an indescribable sense of peace.
This wasn't a Piltovan song. Once again, it was a piece she had never heard before.
"Mr. Levi?" Seraphine woke up fully, her voice laced with excitement. "What song is this?"
"You're awake? Good, you weren't out for too long," Levi said, breathing a sigh of relief.
And finally, granting Seraphine's wish, he began to discuss music with her.
"This is Lullaby. You mentioned that your father's nursery rhymes helped ease your pain, so I figured this song might be able to do the same."
"Mhm," Seraphine murmured, carefully feeling the gentle melody. Her mind did indeed feel much lighter.
The melody of this song truly helped her.
"Thank you, Mr. Levi."
"Is this Lullaby also your work? Your style is incredibly rich and versatile. It seems like you can master any theme... You're simply a genius!"
"No, I didn't write this song. It's a piece by Schubert."
"Schubert?"
"You don't know him? But aren't you able to read minds?"
"No... Mr. Levi, your soul seems to be protected by some kind of power. There are certain things I simply cannot read."
"I see," Levi muttered. It seemed Seraphine couldn't access the memories that would expose his identity as a transmigrator.
In that case, his earlier desperate attempt to focus his attention and only recall the original owner's experiences for Seraphine to see had been completely unnecessary.
"So, who is Schubert?"
"That's hard to explain... Just pretend I composed it. Anyway, just listen to the music. No matter what style you want to hear, I can play it for you."
"Are you saying... you know many, many more songs that sound this beautiful?" Seraphine's eyes sparkled.
"Yeah," Levi nodded. As an amateur enthusiast, his music library was quite extensive.
"Are you willing to teach them all to me?"
"Of course."
"Thank you, Mr. Levi! You're so good to me!"
"Uh... am I?" He couldn't even count how many times he had called her an idiot in his head.
"Better than before," Seraphine smiled contentedly.
That was true.
Seraphine was willing to admit her own childishness and naivety. She was willing to step down from the clouds and communicate directly with the people at the very bottom, even reflecting on and feeling guilty for her past ignorance.
And at the final moment, she had forced her nearly collapsing mind to stay awake just to point out a path for those beggars.
She didn't just run away after moving herself to tears, nor did she slip away after casually handing out charity. Most importantly, she didn't bring up that absurd poverty-alleviation method of "Let me sing a song for you" again.
Instead, she thought practically and gave them the help they needed most urgently: apprentice status and a job.
Seraphine's actions had completely exceeded Levi's initial expectations. After all, he had originally viewed her as a complete idiot.
As a result, Levi's impression of this naive young lady had unknowingly improved quite a bit.
"It's not just an improvement, you know..." Suddenly, Levi noticed that the breath Seraphine exhaled against the side of his face was growing hot and feverish.
Resting on his shoulder, she stammered,
"Mr. Levi, y-you seem to..."
"...be starting to like me a little bit."
Levi was speechless.
"Nonsense! I..."
'Fuck!' he thought. 'I hadn't even realized it myself, yet she found out first. This girl is terrifying. There's absolutely no privacy. Whoever marries her would basically be serving a prison sentence!'
"M-Mr. Levi, why are you already thinking about marriage... That's t-too ungentlemanly... We've known each other for less than half a day!"
Levi remained speechless.
"Seraphine, in this regard, you're inferior to Sona."
"Sona?" Levi's memories regarding the game's lore were also among the contents Seraphine couldn't read. "Who is Sona?"
"A girl with abilities similar to yours."
"Eh? Then how am I inferior to her?"
"She's mute. She can't speak."
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