Chapter 685 - City of Miracles (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In Yennefer’s memory, Kaer Morhen was relatively desolate. Thanks to Geralt, it gave her some comfort. This place still gave her lots of wonderful memories.

Yennefer hailed from a poor family. She was rather accustomed to hardship. She furthered her education at the Aretuza Sorcerer Academy on Thanedd Island. Talent alone was not enough to rectify the hefty tuition fees.

Yennefer was a diligent student, earning respect from other students and teachers. Upon a successful graduation, she crafted her reputation, step-by-step, eventually becoming a known alumnus.

Yennefer did not have particularly high hopes in life. She was nothing like the pampered, high-maintenance Keira, and life of the upper aristocracy. Yennefer was more down-to-earth. She pursued more sincere sentiments, such as heartfelt affection.

Perhaps many would not believe that Yennefer cared for Geralt that deeply. She always seemed put off and cold. Her tongue was also particularly harsh, unlike the gentle and considerate Triss who lay upon his shoulder like a little bird. In fact, Yennefer was actually the more willing of the two to bear Geralt’s child. She was constantly researching for more methods of conceiving a child. She was also more than willing to confront hardship with Geralt and live a life that others sorceresses would never wish upon their most bitter of enemies…

Women who took hardship to the gut like champions were far better than women who only came around when there was pleasure to be given. When a woman refuses to abandon you even when you are at your lowest, that was true love.

Such love was highly scarce. To most, it was an outlandish thought. No one could possibly end up at the bottom in such a way and still have someone stick around with them.

Besides, nobody could completely dismiss status, wealth, abilities. Some dark corner of your heart would still call out to them. You can’t purge these traits out of your life and then say that pure love was all you needed. At most, they sounded like sweet nothings when uttered in epic ballads and poems. Yes, love a guy, even if he was dirt-poor, or bound to be the dirt beneath the figurative heels of dirt. If a turn of events actually occurred, we’ll see if any traces of this so-called “pure love” actually remains.

When a person loses everything, he would see how pure his relationship really is, or if things had been of a more… materialistic nature.

Some weirdos might be turned on by how “she did not love me.” Who knows, all this while, they had merely gone through the motions of an actual couple, only to realize that neither one of them actually loved the other. When they tired of the pretense, they would eventually break up.

When Yennefer arrived at Kaer Morhen, she immediately started wondering if she had taken a wrong turn somewhere along the road. These roads to Kaer Morhen seemed to be far too well-paved. Horses and chariots would find such routes highly convenient. As she closed in on the ancient castle, she found the area to be densely populated. Was this truly that desolate Kaer Morhen, not the Free City of Novigrad?

It was not like Yennefer had never heard about the rumors surrounding Kaer Morhen’s massive change. Obviously, she had dismissed such rumors to be exaggerations. She could never imagine such a desolate, dilapidated relic develop into a free City within so short a time.