Chapter 49

On the way back, Talli clutched the red rune in the palm of her hand.

She was deep in thought, and when she was climbing the stairs, even when Lina flew over to find her and called her several times, she almost didn’t hear.

“Miss Sacrifice!!”

The little fairy shouted loudly next to her ear, “Did you lose your hearing after coming back from the ground?!”

Talli snapped out of her daze. “What is it?”

Lina said, “The Crimson Witch wants you to go to her.”

Talli paused. “…Now?”

But Deritz would soon be back from the Abyss.

“Yes, now,” Lina said, looking troubled. “Because His Highness is coming back soon, she wants you to go quickly. She said it’s just a small matter, and it’ll be over in a bit.”

Talli acknowledged her and followed behind.

After entering the same room she had seen in her dream, Talli closed the door. Lina told her she would wait outside the door.

She walked up to the curtain, and an old voice spoke, “Talli… I finally get to see you.”

As usual, Talli didn’t see the Crimson Witch’s face. However, her voice was exactly the same as the one she had heard in the dream.

“How did the task go?”

Talli replied, “He already knows my purpose. I wasn’t able to tame him. You might want to find someone else to place your hopes on.”

The Crimson Witch behind the curtain laughed a few times. “…So what if he knows? The heart isn’t something you can control just because you want to.”

Talli turned her head. “But if he knows, even love will be reserved. If I can’t get 100% of his love, I won’t be able to win his heart.”

“That’s one way to put it, but, Talli, you know, love is relative.”

Even though they were separated by the curtain, the gaze still fixed on her. “When you went out today, I placed a tracking spell on you in advance. So, I know you went to meet that magician.”

Talli furrowed her brow. “You…”

“Don’t worry. Because of that, I also know that no other spells have been placed on you by the Monarch, so we can speak freely.”

The Crimson Witch chuckled a few times. “…I know you want him to survive.”

Talli paused and said, “I just don’t want to owe him.”

“The magician told you that if a human’s true heart is merged into the Curse of Undeath, the Monarch will be able to survive,” the Crimson Witch stated.

“He saved me, and he also deceived me, hurt me. I deceived his emotions and took his heart. There’s nothing left to give him in return. I can only exchange it with my own heart.”

Talli said.

“Did the magician boy tell you the consequences of doing this?”

“All it means is losing the ability to love,” Talli said. “I never had that to begin with. It only started to form after I met Dusk… and now that it’s returned to him, it’s not too much of a loss.”

She remembered that in the afternoon, Alex had told her on the city wall that when they first met and played chess, he had originally intended to take her emotions as collateral. But he found that Talli lacked this emotion—the ability to love, something that normal people should possess.

However, when he found her again the second time, amidst the flood outside the city wall, he unexpectedly discovered that by then, she had already developed such emotions.

“Alex told me that once I give my heart without reservation, the true Curse of Undeath will be successfully crafted. At that point, I will return both the Curse of Undeath and this heart to Deritz.”

Talli paused for a moment, then asked, “You won’t stop me, will you?”

The Crimson Witch chuckled. “Of course not. To be honest, my goal is simply to prevent the power from being in the hands of that demon… the rest doesn’t matter. No, rather, it would be better for him to live, because only then will he live in pain, and live to pay for his sins…”

“……”

Talli turned to leave. “I don’t care about that, but you’d better stop casting strange spells on me. If I—”

She stopped in her tracks.

A sound came from the door.

“Ah… ah… Your Highness, Your Highness, why are you here?”

Lina’s voice, struggling to suppress her panic, echoed at the door.

“Why are you here?”

It was Deritz’s voice—clear and familiar, the voice she knew so well.

Talli’s heart leapt.

The Crimson Witch also stopped smiling, her brow furrowing as she immediately reacted. “Talli, come here.”

Talli hesitated, unsure of what to do, but with no other options, she walked over and extended her hand. A withered hand appeared from behind the curtain and gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her forward.

The door opened.

Lina stood in the doorway, completely at a loss, her expression filled with panic and anxiety.

She hadn’t managed to dispel Deritz’s doubts.

The young man, dressed in black, tall and slender, with delicate features, stepped forward, his face shadowed. His lips curved slightly as he walked in, his eyes catching the slightly swaying curtain.

“Your Highness…”

The Crimson Witch slowly spoke, her voice calm. “Are you here to forecast the weather?”

She lowered her head, gazing at the deep purple crystal ball, swirling with mist in her hands. “The next few days will be rare sunny days, with no rain, and the clouds will be thinner than usual…”

“Perfect for your travels.”

“That really is rare.”

The young ruler let out a light laugh, but his gaze remained fixed on the figure behind the curtain. He walked closer.

“However, Crimson Witch, rather than that, I’m more interested in knowing if you can divine the location of a person.”

“……”

“Since I returned, I haven’t been able to sense the human sacrifice’s presence on the tower. Crimson Witch, your divination has never been wrong in thousands of years. Since that’s the case, help me see where she really is.”

Deritz smiled faintly. “Although it’s just a small matter, you should agree, right?”

The Crimson Witch moved her lips, a chill running down her spine. Her gaze shifted slightly, and after a long pause, she finally spoke. “Hmm… the human sacrifice, her location…”

“…In Your Highness’s chambers.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the curtain was swiftly pulled aside.

The ruler’s face was solemn as he smiled kindly, gazing down at her from above.

“Really? What a surprisingly delightful revelation.”

“……Yes.”

Under such a gaze, even the Crimson Witch struggled to speak, beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead.

Terrifying… such a terrifying power and intellect.

Deritz crossed his arms, his gaze lazily scanning behind her.

“Looks like there’s no one here.”

He spoke slowly.

“Your Highness, Your Highness must be joking,” the Crimson Witch pulled at the corners of her mouth. “How could there be any humans here…”

“That would indeed be the best.”

At the same time.

Talli was desperately flapping her wings, flying toward the door.

Yes.

The Crimson Witch had been forced to turn her into a butterfly, and now, to fulfill the task that the witch had spoken of—that “she is in your chambers”—Talli was doing her best not to be noticed by Deritz while flying up to the upper levels of the tower.

As she passed by Lina, it seemed the other hadn’t noticed, being entirely preoccupied with her.

The little butterfly was simply too small. When Talli was human, she had always thought the tower was large, like a small city, but she had never thought it was this big. She had to flap her wings with all her might just to cover a small distance.

A long corridor, now, seemed endless to her.

After a long struggle, Talli was almost at the corner, the sound of footsteps echoing from the end of the corridor, followed by the sound of a door closing.

She even heard Lina let out a sigh of relief.

She thought she had flown far, but it turned out she had only covered such a short distance.

…Talli was really on the verge of collapsing from flying.

The other person was walking toward her at a leisurely pace.

The footsteps were like they were stepping on her heartbeat, making her heart rise and fall.

She had to hurry, faster, faster…

Once she flew around the corner, she would be temporarily safe. Talli’s heart, which had been held high, was finally about to relax.

But who would have known—

“I never expected, in this desolate place,”

Cold fingers gently pinched her wings, and a pair of beautiful, narrow eyes came close to her. Those ruby-colored eyes reflected a beautiful glow, and the delicate features of the face made anyone who approached it hold their breath.

Talli’s breath stopped as well.

It was only from fear.

“—that there would be such a beautiful little butterfly.”

Inside the cylindrical glass bottle, a quiet little butterfly was silently trapped.

Deritz turned the glass bottle upside down in his palm and slowly walked back.

“Your Highness.”

“Your Highness.”

—

The passing officials greeted him, and the elves stopped flapping their wings, landing on the floor to bow to him. They quickly noticed the glass bottle in Deritz’s hand and the little butterfly inside, and couldn’t help but whisper to each other, “It’s a butterfly!”

“I haven’t seen a living butterfly here in all these years! Have you ever seen one?”

“I haven’t even seen a dead one…”

“To think it’s being held in His Highness’s palm—does he plan to take it back? He wouldn’t turn it into a specimen, would he?”

—

Talli’s scalp tingled.

No way, he wouldn’t really turn her into a specimen, would he?!

She suddenly thought of the dream in the temple.

In that dream, the young Deritz looked at her with the same novelty, but his gaze was purer and clearer, like a raw stone washed by a heavy rain—there was no hint of any malice.

But today, she did not see such clarity in Deritz’s eyes. Instead, there was more interest, a leisurely air, and a secretive probing.

…So, it couldn’t be, right?

She couldn’t help but try flapping her wings against the glass, quickly realizing it was useless, not even calming her anxious heart.

The transformation magic that the Crimson Witch had placed on her wasn’t set to last long, she had to leave the glass bottle, leave his palm, before the magic wore off.

Talli lifted her head. Through the glass and the open center of the tower, she could see the cloudy, grayish-blue sky. She used to feel that such a sky was too heavy, too oppressive, but now she thought that as long as she could escape from his palm, even such a sky would be fine.

Soon, she realized that Deritz wasn’t taking her around the winding corridor to the upstairs but was bringing her to the rooftop garden on this floor.

The garden wasn’t as large as the violet flower fields in the wilderness, but it was very beautiful, with ever-blooming flowers of vibrant purples and reds. Magic that was available all day long maintained the nutrients and vitality of the soil, allowing the little flowers to quietly experience their entire life cycle, from birth to decay, on this piece of land.

They hadn’t seen a larger world, so they grew contentedly in this place.

On either side of the glass walkway were the plant and animal cultivation rooms on this floor.

Researchers and officers here studied new species of plants and animals, and Talli guessed that they must have put a lot of effort into growing flowers in the wilderness.

Because of this, the area was quite lively. The training room was filled with small animals, making sporadic noises, all mixed together.

But as soon as Deritz arrived, all these creatures quieted down.

As Talli was watching the flowers through the glass bottle, suddenly, she noticed the space below her empty.

It turned out Deritz had picked up the bottle.

What was he…

She tentatively tried flying out, moving her wings. Once she saw that he was indeed smiling and didn’t stop her, she became bolder and flew a few meters away from him.

It seemed that Deritz was in a good mood today and was ready to release her.

Talli lowered her body and flew around the flowers, planning to slip away when Deritz wasn’t paying attention, find a corner with no one around to change back, and then sneak back into his bedroom.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly felt her body sink and was violently pulled downward, crashing hard onto the ground!

Talli winced in pain, but quickly, she realized something was wrong.

She looked down and saw two fluffy white paws in her line of sight, and soft white fur had appeared on her chest.

She…

Talli awkwardly used her new limbs to run toward the glass door, where she saw her reflection.

—She… she had turned into a rabbit!!

She was so angry that her ears were practically twitching. She turned around and glared fiercely at the smiling young man, her red eyes full of fury. He was sitting on a bench under a tree in the garden, with the shade casting a shadow over him.

A rabbit would do.

Talli quickly calmed down—it was just a trick to catch her off guard, she wasn’t so easily angered. Besides, rabbits ran fast, much better than fragile butterflies.

She spread her paws, ready to run, when suddenly she heard a commotion, followed by a scream. Quickly, Talli saw a ferocious wolf showing its teeth and snarling at her from the other side of the glass. It was incredibly vicious, and several researchers couldn’t hold it back, accidentally letting it charge out toward her!

Animal instincts nearly made Talli’s soul flee in the face of such a predator. Her heart was racing as she spread her paws and ran.

The wolf was relentless, skillfully dodging the officers who were trying to catch it, and focusing solely on chasing Talli.

Talli had never felt she could run so fast before. Her new rabbit form’s strong running abilities allowed her to unleash a powerful leap every time her paws hit the ground. She ran desperately forward, but still, she couldn’t outrun the wolf, whose size was several times greater than hers.

The shadow of the wolf covered her, and for a moment, Talli even thought its sharp teeth had pierced her throat.

But no.

Just before that happened, a blue arrow shot through the wolf’s heart. Blood splattered, landing on Talli’s pure white fur.

She was frozen for half a minute, feeling her limbs stiffen. She couldn’t do anything but dumbly watch as the officers dragged the dead black wolf’s body away.

When she finally came to her senses, the young man had already stood up from beneath the tree’s shade. He walked toward Talli, but this time, before he could approach, her body instinctively moved. She turned around and dashed out of the garden at lightning speed.

But that wasn’t the end.

Finally, leaving the chaotic breeding area behind, she found herself back on the track—the long corridor. It was the perfect place for small animals like rabbits to run, but Talli stumbled.

When she managed to stand, she no longer had her front legs.

She had turned into a white bird.

A white bird would do. Talli gritted her teeth in frustration, flapping her wings as she quickly got the hang of flying in just a few minutes, heading swiftly toward the upper levels!

In the winding corridor where the elves passed by, all they saw was a little white bird frantically flying around.

They pushed and shoved, some screamed, while others tried to capture her. In any case, Talli’s flight wasn’t smooth.

What tormented her more was the dangerous presence she sensed behind her. The feeling was rapidly closing in from behind with incredible speed.

When Talli turned around, she was startled by a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, its crimson tongue flicking out. It had red eyes, and its scales reflected a chilling, beautiful glow in the dim light.

A venomous snake!

Were the people in the breeding room crazy to be raising such a terrifying creature?

Talli didn’t dare look any longer, clenching her teeth, sweating with anxiety. She urged herself to fly faster and faster, her wings flapping until they felt numb.

As long as she made it into Deritz’s bedroom, this creature wouldn’t dare follow her, right? After all, animals were too afraid to approach him.

Thinking this, Talli couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of relief.

Deritz’s room was right in front of her, and the servant elf in charge of cleaning had left the door open to let the room air out. She seemed not to notice the small bird flying overhead or the winding poisonous snake. She glanced down at the time, then, thinking it was about the right time, she grabbed the heavy copper door knocker and struggled to push the door open.

Almost there!

Talli’s heart lifted, and she dashed into the room just before the door was fully closed.

However, the next moment, a dangerous presence suddenly appeared.

Talli didn’t even have time to react before the fangs sank into her back and wings. The cold, slippery body of the snake slowly coiled around her from behind, wrapping around her like a twisting vine.

Talli let out a faint cry. She struggled furiously, flapping her wings, and landed on the desk, scattering books and tools all over the floor. The snake, still wrapped around her, slid from the desk to the chair, its tail hooked onto the backrest.

The little bird flapped desperately, perhaps because at moments like this, the instincts of animals kicked in. Even as half of her body was coiled by the snake, she still had enough strength to fight, pecking at the snake with her sharp beak.

Crash!

The chair was knocked over, landing on the snake’s tail.

Talli felt her body, which had been squeezed so tightly, suddenly loosen. She quickly flapped her wings and flew forward, but the snake still clung to her, not letting go. Talli’s scalp tightened as she used her beak to grab the bed’s curtains in Deritz’s room, trying to shake off the snake.

But the snake gave a powerful tug, freeing itself from the chair’s restraint, and coiled tightly again, its cold, hard body pressing against her soft body and feathers.

The snake’s tail slithered across the floor, twisting and curling, its scales wrapping around her soft and fragile abdomen and chest, coiling tightly around her vulnerable throat, squeezing the air out of her body.

The cold, sharp fangs pressed against her throat, almost piercing her artery. Warm blood surged through her skin, hitting the snake’s venomous teeth. Her heartbeat slowed, tangled tighter with the snake’s grip.

…She couldn’t breathe. The air in her body was being squeezed out, and she was sure this snake might actually kill her.

Even her heartbeat was slowing down.

Talli’s vision blurred, and she couldn’t hold on any longer. She let go of the beak and collapsed onto Deritz’s bed. The snake, still coiled around her, rolled a few times in the blankets.

The beautiful and dangerous venomous snake, tangled among the disheveled sheets, surrounded a weak little bird, her breathing fading. Her eyes fluttered, and her wings were trapped within the scales, while her tail feathers hung quietly under the snake’s long, winding body, as if she were truly on the brink of death.

The snake slowly loosened its grip.

It pressed its cold scales against her chest, over her heart. The blood there slowly began to flow back, and her heartbeat gradually returned to a steady rhythm. The rise and fall of her chest became more noticeable.

The magical effect dissipated.

At almost the same moment, the young girl stretched out her hand, the magic forming between her five fingers, turning into a sharp little knife. Her face flushed, still catching her breath, and with the knife, she pressed it forward.

Her black hair hung against her pale skin, damp with sweat, sliding down her neck in a way that was almost shocking. In her violet eyes, fury blazed, and she stared, unashamed, at the young man on the other side, who wore a smug smile.

“Deritz, do you really have to torment me like this?!”

The blade was pressed against his throat, but the young man only laughed nonchalantly, “Talli, do you know? My greatest pleasure is seeing that kind of expression on your face.”

He leaned against the bedpost, his long arm reaching out to pull the girl’s slender waist closer to him. The blade drew closer to his neck, and a thin line of red appeared on his skin.

“You…”

Talli really wished she could just strike and kill him right there, but she forced herself to control her arm, ensuring the knife wouldn’t move forward another inch.

Deritz squeezed her slightly trembling wrist, his palm slightly warm. “Why don’t you strike? Is it because your arm’s too weak, or because you can’t bear to do it?”

Talli pressed the knife against his chest, trying to pull her arm back but finding no strength to do so. Gritting her teeth, she coldly replied, “Of course it’s because I have no strength. Otherwise, you’d have already breathed your last in front of me.”

Deritz chuckled lightly. He tightened his grip on her wrist, causing the knife to drop, dissipating into magic. Talli struggled to pull her arm back but was instead yanked forward, crashing into his chest.

As she stumbled, she finally felt the tension in her body ease. She had no strength left, and fatigue seeped into her bones.

Only then did she realize she was sitting on Deritz’s lap, her body pressed tightly against his chest, her hair and collar tangled together.

Talli covered her nose, which had been hurt by the collision, and lifted her head, for the first time noticing how close the young man’s neck was. A tempting, almost intoxicating fragrance emanated from him, and the red gem earrings still hung from his beautiful earlobes.

“…Dusk.”

Talli saw the inscription on the collar, just beneath the bloodstains she had personally carved. The blood dripped down his long neck, falling onto the leather collar, slipping into the indentations of the words.

He hated it so much, yet still wore it.

The young man’s body stiffened for a moment before it started to warm up.

It was almost like a spell. Talli lightly touched the indentation on the collar with her fingertips, watching the rise and fall of Deritz’s chest and the movement of his Adam’s apple. After a moment, Deritz’s voice became hoarse as he called her name. “…Talli, look into my eyes.”

Talli froze, then slowly raised her head to meet his gaze. In the dim light of the room, the young man’s red eyes shone with an almost mesmerizing brilliance, and with the reflection of the red gem earrings swinging from his earlobes, it was like a lamp enticing a butterfly to fly into the flame.

There was no disgust, no confusion, only clarity.

In that moment, he seemed to briefly become human again, returning to the dusk.

By the time Talli regained her senses, she had already kissed the young man’s Adam’s apple. She gently bit it with her teeth, her lips occasionally brushing the scar, causing his reactions to intensify. His breath became deeper, more erratic.

Talli gripped his shirt, slightly lifting her waist, and moved down to kiss his lips along his throat.

When she finally pressed her lips against his, their breaths intertwined, and Talli felt her heart burn intensely.

She remembered what Alec had told her: to keep Deritz alive, she had to exchange true feelings for true feelings. And when the other’s heart faltered, it would drag hers down with it, into the river.

No one could escape.

“…You lost focus.”

The young man’s crimson eyes looked at her, his breath hot, and the tips of his eyes tinged with pink.

He squeezed Talli’s waist, pressing her firmly against him, as if trying to meld her into his body, his lips and tongue moving relentlessly.

Talli snapped back to reality.

She tugged on the young man’s shirt collar, gently pulling him backward, and both of them fell onto the bed.

The red gemstone earrings gave a faint “ding” sound as they swayed under the light.

“Dusk.”

Talli closed her eyes and suddenly said, “…I wish this were just a dream.”

The young man paused for a moment.

His voice was hoarse as he leaned down to kiss her again:

“Just think of it as if all of this is just a dream.”

…

…

…