Chapter 173 — Luna

But as the atmosphere calmed, Luna looked at Damian with eyes that were suddenly tearful.

"Can’t you stay for a few more days? I didn’t get to spend much time with you while you were here... Just a little longer?"

Her voice carried such raw emotion that everyone at the table immediately understood what she was really saying.

This was someone in love, desperate for any additional moments with the person they cared about most.

Damian became visibly uncomfortable, his posture shifting, his eyes looking anywhere except at Luna.

He’d grown used to Luna being shy and reserved about her feelings.

But now she was being so open and direct, expressing her love in front of the entire family without any attempt to hide it.

"I-I need to pack and organize things for tomorrow’s departure. I’ll see you guys tomorrow~"

He stood up quickly, the excuse transparent to everyone present, and left the dining room with more haste than grace.

"..."

Silence fell across the table.

Alaric, Sebastian, and Lyandra all looked at Luna with expressions mixing pity and concern.

Lyandra was the one who spoke, her voice gentle.

"Luna... why don’t you tell him? Actually explain what you’re dealing with? He deserves to know the truth about your situation."

Luna sighed, her smile helpless and sad.

"He’s uncomfortable with the whole thing. He still doesn’t think of me romantically, and he has too many other issues demanding his attention.

He probably thinks I’m a weirdo – we grew up together like siblings, and suddenly I’m coming onto him."

She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I-I already told him what I feel before he went into that portal. That confession was enough. Pushing more would just drive him away."

"You’re not a weirdo."

Lyandra’s voice was firm.

"You can’t help what’s happening to you. Your innate skill... it’s all that damn skill’s fault.

I still don’t understand how you even have an SSS rank innate skill when neither Alaric nor I have any innate skills at all."

Alaric reached over and placed his hand on Luna’s shoulder.

"Forget about all this for now... You’re both still young. Just try to control your emotions as much as you can.

Don’t let yourself feel negative things – they’ll only make everything worse given how your skill works."

Sebastian remained silent, but his eyes showed deep concern as he looked at his niece.

’Sigh...She’s really pitiful. Her skill lets her see the emotions of everyone around her, making her understand the truth of people in ways nobody else can.

But having such a powerful SSS rank ability while not even having awakened yet is bound to have severe side effects.

No ability that strong comes without cost. Especially not when it’s active from birth.’

Luna stood up quietly, excusing herself with a murmured thank you for dinner.

She walked to her room with measured steps, holding herself together until the door closed behind her.

Thud

Then.. she collapsed face-first onto her bed, grabbing her pillow and holding it tight against her chest.

"Status."

Her whisper activated the interface that only she could see.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Name: Luna Valcor

Age: 14

Rank:

Talent: SSS

Core Attributes:

Strength: 10

Speed: 10

Stamina: 10

Vitality: 10

Aura: 0

Perception: 40

Skills: —

Empath: SSS (Innate)

Hand Combat: E

Weapon Arts: —

Warning: Due to Empath Skill being SSS rank, the host is unable to control it as of yet.

Side Effect 1: All personal emotions are magnified by a factor of 100.

Side Effect 2: Surrounding emotions affect the host by a factor of 10.

Side Effect 3: Skill remains active with no ability to deactivate.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Luna stared at the status screen through her blurry eyes, the warning section she’d memorized years ago still cutting like a knife.

Innate skills had their advantages. Abilities that manifested from birth, that grew with the user, that didn’t require conscious activation.

But in some cases, they became curses that destroyed everything they touched.

Luna had been born with her Empath skill already active.

From her first conscious moments, she’d seen colors representing emotions radiating from every person around her.

She’d grown up unable to turn it off, unable to stop perceiving the emotional truth of everyone she encountered.

And the side effects had shaped her entire existence.

From childhood until now, she’d always been taken care of by Damian. He’d been her constant companion, her protector and her friend.

Always showing her kindness, always treating her with gentleness, always making sure she felt loved and safe.

And her skill had absorbed all of it.

Every moment of affection was magnified by her perception. Every gesture of care was amplified by the side effects.

Every smile directed at her created emotional resonance that built and built and built!

She’d developed a crush on him when she was young. Just innocent childhood affection for the brother who protected her.

But the skill had turned that innocent feeling into something consuming.

Magnified by a factor of 100!

A small crush became overwhelming love. Mild affection became a desperate need. Simple appreciation became an all-consuming obsession!

It had distorted her mind while she was growing up, warping her emotional development in ways she couldn’t control or prevent.

And the result was... she started viewing Damian as everything in her life. Not just important or more cherished. But literally everything that mattered!

When she’d finally understood what was happening, when she’d been old enough to articulate the problem, she’d told Alaric and Lyandra in tears.

They’d taken her to Sebastian immediately, hoping medical expertise could find a solution.

But there was nothing to be done.

SSS rank innate skills couldn’t be suppressed or controlled until after awakening. And even then, mastering them took years of dedicated effort.

She was trapped with an ability that magnified every emotion she felt by a hundred times.

When she was sad, the grief was crushing, making her unable to see any joy in life.

When she was angry, the fury was blinding, making her very cold.

When she was afraid, the terror was paralyzing, making her hide in her room for days.

And when she felt love...

It became her entire world.

Her parents had seen how much guilt she carried, thinking herself wrong and broken for feeling this way about her brother.

So they’d told her the truth – that Damian was adopted, that they shared no blood relation, that her feelings weren’t as unnatural as she’d feared.

This revelation had removed massive amounts of guilt. Had let her stop fighting against her own emotions quite so hard.

But it hadn’t changed the fundamental problem.

She still loved him with intensity that would destroy most people. Still needed him with desperation that scared her. And still viewed him as the center of her entire existence.

And she knew – understood clearly – that the skill was responsible.

That without the magnification effect, her feelings would be normal sibling affection or maybe a manageable crush.

But knowing that didn’t make the feelings less real.

Didn’t make them hurt less when he was uncomfortable around her!

Didn’t make the loneliness easier when he left!

Luna buried her face in her pillow, tears soaking into the fabric.

"Calm down... Don’t think negatively... Don’t think negatively."

She repeated the mantra her parents had taught her, trying to follow the breathing exercises Sebastian had developed for her.

"I’ll be going to Stormhold Academy soon... I’ll be with him soon... I just need to hold on until then... I just need to stay stable until the entrance exams."

She focused on that thought, using it as an anchor against the crushing weight of magnified sadness.

’I’ll be near him every day. I will see him after classes. Will eat meals together. Will train together. Will be part of his life!

I just need to survive until then.

Just need to not let the negative emotions overwhelm everything.

Just need to keep breathing.’

Outside her room, the house was quiet.

Downstairs, Alaric held Lyandra while she cried silently, both parents grieving for a daughter cursed by the very talent that should have been a blessing.

’There must be something!’

Sebastian sat alone in his study, reviewing medical texts for the thousandth time, searching for any treatment or solution he might have missed.

And in his own room, Damian sat on his bed staring at nothingness.

He understood Luna loved him. Had known for years despite her attempts to hide it.

But he didn’t know about the skill’s side effects. He didn’t know she was trapped in emotional hell by abilities beyond her control.

He didn’t know that every moment she spent trying to act normal was a desperate battle against magnified feelings.

He just thought she’d developed a crush that would fade with time and distance.

Thought that going to the Academy separately, building her own life, meeting new people, would help her move past whatever she felt.

The truth – that her skill made moving past anything functionally impossible – remained hidden.

A family secret carried by everyone except the person it affected most.

Luna eventually cried herself to sleep, still clutching her pillow, her status screen flickering and fading as consciousness left her.

Tomorrow Damian would leave again.

And she would be alone again with emotions that felt like they might tear her apart.

But she would survive... Because she always did.