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  The beautiful melody reverberated through the room. elia sat up straight in the chair, holding the harp, her slender fingers moving across the strings, pying a soft and enting tune.

  Catelyn sat elegantly in front of her, silently watg her daughter py. Finally, a satisfied smile appeared on her face. It was only in these moments that she could fet, even if just temporarily, that her daughter wielded a long sword at night.

  At the end of the song, elia sighed quietly, relieved. The test of that day had finally been overe. However, Catelyn didn’t seem willing to let her go so easily. With a slight smile, she was about to ask elia to repeat the song when, fortunately, Ser Rodrik ehe room.

  "Lady, miss, my lord is looking for you. Beark has returned from the Wall."

  After speaking, Ser R the harp in elia’s hands and frowned. God, five him, for he hated music.

  Upon hearing this, Catelyn stood up and looked at elia, who silently sighed in relief. Her mother chuckled lightly. She then walked over to her daughter and handed her the support staff.

  "Let’s go. Your dear uncle arrived just in time and saved you. You should thank him."

  "I will!" elia stood up, holding the staff firmly. Using it skillfully to guide herself, she followed Catelyn to meet her uncle Benjen, who had returned once again. She never allowed ao help her walk, even with her blindness during the day. She didn’t want to depend on anyone, not even her own mother.

  And, over the years, she had done very well. Even on unfamiliar roads, her walking speed wasn’t much slower than others. She couldn’t see anything, but the curious thing was that, even in that state, she could inexplicably sehe presence of life around her.

  She could feel any living being, like people, dogs, and even rats, although she couldn’t see them. Still, she could perceive the distaween them and herself; it was a very peculiar sensation.

  And this pce was Winterfell, the home where she had lived for ten years. elia knew every pnt and tree in that pow, she ripped over anything, even without seeing, when she was at her own house.

  Ten years ago, Lord Eddard Stark, lord of Winterfell, had a daughter born blind. This fact was known by everyone in the North and even throughout the Seven Kingdoms. However, except for the Stark family and a few deeply trusted servants, no one khe true extent of her dition.

  She couldn’t see during the day, but at night, her vision became clear. She was able to see perfectly two dogs running across the wn around Winterfell. Of course, her peculiarity didn’t stop there.

  If it were only that, elia believed her mother, Catelyn, would never allow her to learn feng. Everything ged because of one night, five years ago.

  It was the night she had her first nightmare.

  Her father strictly ordered that no one reveal her secret to the outside world. He also repeatedly advised her o expose her abilities in front of strangers, even to the lords and families of the North who had sworn loyalty to the Starks. Furthermore, her training in feng and archery was also kept secret.

  To others, she was just a young blind noblewoman. But she had to admit that she hated being a dy just as much as Arya did!

  elia followed her mother to meet Uncle Benjen, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. As part of the Night's Watch, he spent almost the entire year at the Wall and only mao return on rare occasions.

  "How long will Uncle Beay this time?"

  After Uncle Benjen and her mother fiheir greetings, elia tightehe staff in her hands and asked. Something that shoh a blue-silver light, submerged at the bottom of a ke in her dreams, had been appearing every night retly. She knew she o do something about it.

  elia didn’t kly where the pce she saw in her dreams was, but she had a rough idea.

  The nd of eternal winter, north of the Great Wall.

  It was a dangerous pce, but elia knew she had to go.

  "I’ll stay more than ten days. I have some things to settle this time. Are you curious to know more about the Wall?"

  Benjen raised his eyebrows and joked. Every time he returned, elia and Jon were always eager to hear stories about the Night's Watch. They were the only two young people in Winterfell who showed so muthusiasm for it.

  When elia was little, she was very curious about the White Walkers iories. After all, they were pletely different from any creature in the world she had lived in before. To her, everything about the North and the Wall was shrouded in mystery. However, as a child, the only thing she could truly identify with was the Night's Watch, whose stories were told by her uncle Benjen.

  "Actually, no." elia shook her head slowly, with the elegant smile her mother always said was that of a true dy.

  "I just want to know how much time I have to pack so I go with you to the Wall." She said this calmly, but it was enough to make everyone in the room lose their posure.

  "What?" Ned was fused and surprised.

  "Lia, what are you talking about?" Catelyn lost trol. She pletely fot the refined manners she always demanded of a dy and grabbed elia’s arm, panicked.

  "Father, mother, this dream has opped in all these years. Retly, the water in the frozen ke ged, and something appeared in it. It’s calling me, I o go! I know I ’t ighis dream!"

  elia tightehe staff in her hands, looking directly in the dire of her father. Although she couldn’t see him, she knew his eyes were fixed on her. At the same time, she knew his gaze must be filled with seriousness and disapproval. But she trusted that her father would uand her.

  "I o go there and find out. It’s still summer, winter hasn’t arrived yet. I have to go now!"

  elia spoke with determination, not a trace of hesitation or fear in her voice.

  "Lia, since your first dream, five years ago, I’ve searched for this pce you described."

  Benjen frowned, clearly disapproving of elia’s suggestion. For the past five years, whenever he patrolled beyond the Wall, he kept his eyes open to try to find the snowy valley she mentioned, but he never found any sign of that pce.

  In such a dangerous pce as the north of the Great Wall, how could elia, a 10-year-old girl, go there?

  "No, Uncle Benjen, no dream be this real, and no dream st five years. I ’t be fooling myself."

  "Besides, I feel like I o go in person!"

  elia argued with frustration. She couldn’t expin why, but she just felt something was calling her from the nd of eternal winter.

  It wasn’t that she wasn’t afraid of the White Walkers, or that she was making a joke. elia khat, at least before the story began, and still in the summer, the danger was minimal. The real danger would e ter.

  "No! You absolutely ot go. I won’t allow it!"

  Catelyn took a deep breath and refused sternly. She would never allow her 10-year-old daughter to go to such a dangerous pce, especially because of a dream.

  "Fine! When Benjeurns, you will go with him to the Wall."

  Ned, who had been silent for a long time, finally nodded. He looked at elia’s determined fad had to admit that she had always been different from others. Since she was a child, his daughter had been surrounded by many mysteries, and this dream could not simply be ignored.

  Open danger is not what scares the most, the unknown is what truly frightens. He didn’t want his daughter to carry such a great and uain mystery forever. Perhaps a journey was necessary to find answers.

  "Ned!"

  Catelyn turo her husband in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. How could he really allow their daughter to put herself in danger?

  "Catelyn, don’t worry! Lia won’t go alone. I’ll apany her on this journey. You know what happehat night, five years ago."

  Ned approached, held Catelyn’s shoulders firmly, and spoke seriously, trying to calm her.

  "But..." Catelyn frowned, still ed, but the memory of that night made her hesitate. After a long silence, she nodded in resignation.

  "You must bring Lia back safely, Ned! Promise me!" Cately go of his hands, her voice den with solemnity. The idea of losing her daughter was unbearable.

  "I promise! I swear by the old gods and the new, I will bring our daughter back safely."

  Ned gave a light pat on Catelyn’s shoulder, trying to fort her. Then, he looked at his graceful daughter. He khat soon they would have ao the mystery that tormented her. Whatever was waiting, it would be revealed at the right time. But he would never allow anything or ao hurt his daughter.

  Although Catelyn had agreed to elia’s journey North, sadness and still weighed heavily on her heart. She hugged elia for a long time, relut to let her go. elia, in turn, forted her patiently until, finally, she mao break free.

  She held her staff and walked slowly outside. The blue sky she would never see was, to her, an endless night with a shining moon.

  elia believed that this journey North would bear fruit.

  "Lia! Over here!" Robb and Jon were apanying Bran in his archery practice. It was his sed training session.

  "How’s the training, Bran?"

  elia lowered her eyes and approached, feeling her way toward Bran and the others. She stopped in front of them, looking in the dire she sehey were in. It felt strange for her to look at people during the day.

  To her, people seemed somewhat like a fme or smoke. This perception was vague, but each person had a slightly different color. She still didn’t fully uand what this meant, but she called this perceptiofire."

  "I think I’m doing well, but you were probably better than Bran when you started archery, right?"

  Robb teased, recalling the time when elia began archery training. It was always after dark, since she could only see at night. However, he had to admit that elia was naturally talented.

  Although she couldn’t see during the day, her other senses were incredibly sharp. Moreover, her strange ability of special perception allowed her to almost always hit anything moving.

  The previous year, they had gone hunting. elia rode a horse specially trained by her father to suit her dition. It was no surprise that, at night, she excelled with her agility. However, even during the day, her hunting skills were impressive.

  "Robb, you have to uand that Bran is just starting." elia frowned, disapproving of the teasing, and turo Bran, somewhat frustrated. She raised her hand and gave him an encing tap on the shoulder.

  "e on, Bran! One day, you’ll surprise both of them! And then you’ll defeat them! You do it."

  Robb and Jon exged gnces, smiling, and shrugged helplessly.

  "Do you think I ?" Brahe bow and arrow. It still seemed a bit heavy for him. He couldn’t uand why he couldn’t hit the target, while elia, even without seeing, was so skilled.

  "Of course you ! e on, keep practig. Failure is the path to success!"

  elia gave Bran a gentle nudge, guiding him toward the target. It was where she practiced archery every night. Even though she couldn’t see, she kly where the target was. But now, it wasn’t the time to show off her skills. She didn’t want to disce Bran further.

  "This isn’t fair! I also want to learn archery and feng. Why won’t my mother let me learn?"

  Arya, who had just finished aiquette lesson with Sansa, approached elia, as disheartened as a wilted flower, and together they watched Robb and Jon teach Bran. Arya’s eyes sparkled with envy.

  "Have you asked Jon to secretly teach you?" elia asked with a faint smile.

  elia pyfully draped her arms around Arya’s shoulders. Deep down, she was gd she couldn’t see during the day. It spared her from being a dy of society, even though Catelyn insisted she learn female etiquette and py the harp.

  "But he doesn’t have much time to teach me. Jon also has his own responsibilities, and I o keep my mother from finding out."

  Arya spent her days sneaking around and hiding, but iy, she had very little time to train, and deep down, she didn’t like living that way.

  "I don’t like being a dy, I like swords. Sansa likes sewing needles, but I want to be a swordswoman!"

  Arya lowered her head, disced. She knew her mother would never allow it. After all, there were very few female swordsmen in the Seven Kingdoms.

  Why couldn’t she learn feng like elia?

  "You , Arya! One day, you’ll be a great swordswoman!"

  elia enced her, though she khe path wouldn’t be easy. The freedom to folloath came at a high price, something elia wished she could alleviate, but couldn’t promise anything, even with what she knew.

  But so what?

  elia had never been naive enough to think that, just by knowing future events, she could shape fate as she wished. That would be presumptuous. Besides, the plot she knew was only a small part of something much bigger.

  All she could do was her best.

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