The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Ghost-Hammer’s unexpected self-introduction left all six of them momentarily speechless.

Only Jessica hesitated for a brief moment before quickly restoring her calm, gentle smile.

“A colleague? You mean a war correspondent’s colleague?” Hannah asked, striving to keep her voice steady, though the tension in her face betrayed her nerves.

Zane and Ethan exchanged surprised glances. Neither had known that Nova had once been a war correspondent. Their eyes instinctively found Nova’s scars, silently wondering, *Could those marks be from the battlefield?*

Claire instinctively covered her mouth, too stunned to utter a word. It felt as if Nova was continuously dismantling their assumptions, shattering their understanding piece by piece.

Maxwell fell into a deep, contemplative silence. He wasn’t slow to catch on — the word “colleague” didn’t quite fit with the image of a war correspondent. Something didn’t add up.

“War correspondent?” Ghost-Hammer’s rough voice picked up the phrase sharply. It was rare to see this gruff man show such intense focus, but when it came to Nova, his attention was razor-sharp.

He immediately suspected that Nova might be hiding her true past. After all, they had all taken lives — a reality difficult for ordinary families to accept.

“Yes, we are—” Ghost-Hammer began, attempting to cover for her, but Nova gently placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

Stepping forward with quiet confidence, she said, “You’re right. I’ve been on the battlefield. But now, I’ve stepped back to the rear lines.”

Having been imprisoned on Devil’s Isle for six months, Nova had indeed vanished from the international scene, so it wasn’t entirely a lie.

She carefully watched Maxwell and Hannah’s reactions. Just as she expected, their bodies trembled visibly, struggling to come to terms with the revelation.

“Novie… you actually fought in a war,” Maxwell’s voice cracked with disbelief.

Hannah’s reaction was even more intense than when she had first seen Nova’s scars.

The truth went far beyond anything they had imagined. After all, they were just young adults in their early twenties, accustomed to wilderness training and survival exercises. Compared to someone like Nova, who had faced real battlefields, their experiences felt trivial.

Even if Nova had survived by sheer luck, her perspective was worlds apart from theirs. She could easily rival the secret fugitives hiding within SLRA.

Piecing together Nova’s earlier hints, everyone silently filled in the gaps of her story.

Maxwell thought to himself, *Nova went to war to survive, endured life-or-death situations, and returned covered in scars. She couldn’t bear it any longer, so she stepped back and became a war correspondent.*

That explained the formidable strength he had witnessed in her.

Claire and Zane shivered involuntarily.

Zane mused, *So this is the reason behind Nova’s incredible strength. The mystery that had been puzzling me all this time is finally solved.*

His tense frown slowly eased. Though he remained quiet, the weight on his shoulders visibly lightened.

He thought, *Now I finally understand her background. Good. Her level doesn’t make me feel inferior anymore. I can grow stronger, and then stand rightfully by her side.*

A sudden clarity washed over Zane. The distance he had deliberately kept between them began to shrink. He silently vowed, *I will become stronger. Together with Nova, we will become the most powerful force within SLRA.*

He swore to himself, *Nova, you’ve caught my attention. You won’t be able to escape me now.*

He spun around abruptly, his large, muscular frame moving with the excitement of a child, and said loudly, “Sure.”

*****

That afternoon, after school, Maxwell, Hannah, and Nova walked home together — accompanied by Ghost-Hammer. It was a rare sight indeed.

Even Hannah, who usually chatted nonstop, walked silently beside Nova without complaint.

As they stepped inside the villa, Hannah called out first, “Mom, we’re home.”

Maxwell followed closely behind her.

Nova trailed behind, while Ghost-Hammer looked around with curiosity, taking in the peaceful, ordinary home nestled in the countryside.

“Boss, you’ve been living here all this time?” he asked, his tone filled with fresh interest.

“Yeah,” Nova answered simply.

But as she entered, she noticed Hannah and Maxwell standing frozen in the entryway, their eyes blank as they stared toward the living room.

An elderly man dressed in a dark suit sat on the sofa, while Charles and Fiona stood before him with bowed heads, as humble and submissive as servants being reprimanded.

It was the first time since her return that Nova had seen her parents show such deference.

Just as she wondered what was going on, she heard Hannah whisper, “Someone from the main family. They drove Dad out ages ago. Why would he suddenly show up here?”