Chapter 12

The cleansing banquet ended hastily.

However, it wasn’t truly over.

“When Carl was very young, his sister had poor health and often went in and out of the temple—sometimes, she even stayed there long-term. He grew up lacking playmates.

“But fortunately, he had a gentle, educated, and kind mother. The mistress of the house was a beautiful woman, kind and mild-tempered, rarely expressing her own emotions, but she dearly loved her two children. Back then, she would always hold young Master Carl in her arms, reading him storybooks on the swing by the lake. At night, she’d sing lullabies by his bedside to help him sleep. At that time, the person Carl relied on the most was the mistress.”

The grey-haired steward knelt before Talli, head lowered as he slowly recounted,

“…Back then, he was the first one to see the lady’s corpse. He was only seven years old at the time. He had just received his first wooden arrow and excitedly wanted to show it to her…”

His head bowed even lower, and his voice grew more strained. “But all he saw was the lady lying there peacefully.”

Outside the window, the moon hung high in the sky.

Talli sat at the desk, her black hair blending into the blowing curtains and the night behind her, making it hard to see the expression on her face.

“So, Theresa asked you to come and tell me all this—for what purpose?”

“…”

The steward almost lay flat on the ground, bowing deeply toward Talli.

“Our young lady understands that saying all this now is probably meaningless. But we thought… you should at least know this part of the past. Young Master Carl is absolutely not the type to accuse you of damaging the family’s reputation. That incident has always been a sore point for him, and he could never bring himself to mock someone with baseless accusations. He may be blunt and harsh in his ways, but both I and the young lady can vouch for his character…”

“In that case,”

Talli interrupted him, “You want me to forgive him?”

“…”

“You’ve said so much—what you want is for me to say, ‘I forgive him,’ isn’t that right?” Talli gently shook her head. “Maybe you don’t know—he’s already apologized to me for that.”

For “losing all rationality whenever Theresa is involved.”

Talli had come to understand something.

The real danger was the halo of the female lead.

Theresa wouldn’t hurt her—but that didn’t mean the men under the influence of Theresa’s halo wouldn’t.

…Like Kristen, for example.

Compared to him, Carl’s words were nothing.

“…”

The steward didn’t know what else to say. All he could do was repeat, “I’m sorry, Miss.”

“I’m tired of saying things like ‘I forgive you.’“

Talli let out a quiet sigh.

“Please have him… no, have them avoid appearing in front of me from now on.”

“Miss—” The steward looked distressed.

The elderly man with graying hair in front of her was Theresa’s personal steward, who had watched both her and Carl grow up. He usually didn’t show up in the main manor.

“Sorry, I overstepped. This was never my home to begin with—” Talli paused. “I suppose it should be ‘I’ll try not to appear in front of you all anymore,’ instead.”

“…”

“Please stand up,” Talli said. “I don’t deserve this.”

“…”

After a moment, a soft sigh landed with the sound of the door closing.

Talli finally felt like the space belonged to her again. She curled up one leg, rested her chin on her knee, and turned to gaze at the moonlight outside the window. At some point, the little fox had leapt up and was pacing beside her leg.

Talli lowered her eyes.

Looking into its gem-like eyes, she had no doubt that if it could speak, those eyes would already be saying something.

…Probably not anything good.

Talli reached out, grabbed its front paws, and flipped it over suddenly. “Are you mocking me?”

The fox struggled twice, eyes flashing with menace, as if threatening her—but then it calmed down again.

“You’re being disdainful.”

This time, Talli said it with certainty.

“Fix that attitude of yours,” she said, lifting it up and giving it a little shake in the air. “Do you still know who your master is? How dare you give that look to the one who brought you back?”

As she released it and it prepared to run across the desk, her hand shot out again, hooking it by the collar.

“…Deritz.”

The fox trembled almost imperceptibly, then instantly went still.

Talli didn’t notice. She had fallen into memories.

“Your eyes remind me of that wicked deity once enshrined in the temple not long ago. That same kind of gaze—watching everything I did… It’s laughable, right? It was just a statue, but I could tell what kind of expression it had. It made me feel like I was nothing more than a speck of dust at its feet.”

“…”

“And then I wiped the dust from my hands onto its face.”

“…………”

“Come to think of it, I’m really curious what’s written on the pages behind that book. About that being—just how powerful is it? And whether it can…”

Take me back. Let me leave this world.

Talli didn’t finish the thought out loud.

She let go, and the fox fell onto the table, seemingly still in a daze.

Her mood seemed to dip a little.

The fox shook out its fur, watching as the girl lowered her eyes, drew the curtains, and returned to bed.

It quietly lowered its body, and its eyes darkened, unreadable.

—

Back then.

A young man with blue hair emerged from layers of thick mist and arrived at the top of the black tower. In the blood swamp at the tower’s peak, a figure appeared.

The figure was small and hunched, seemingly aged, as if her back had been bent by the weight of time.

“Deritz,” the old voice was heavy with sorrow as she slowly said, “…you will die by her hand. It’s certain. That fate cannot be changed.”

“The Crimson Witch,”

A clear and cool voice replied, “I didn’t come here to listen to that kind of talk.”

There was a trace of arrogance in his tone, along with a light smile. In the void, he lightly clenched his right hand, as if holding something invisible:

“I’ve seen that girl. Do you know how fragile she is? Like a reed. I don’t even need to touch her—just a phantom is enough to make her tremble in fear.”

“This is the prophecy of fate!!“

The voice suddenly rose sharply, “It cannot be changed, cannot be changed! The ending of fate has already been written, and no one is allowed to alter it—”

“Enough.”

Her words were cut off. The other voice grew impatient, “Crimson Witch, you know I hate this kind of talk.”

“……”

There was an undeniable authority in his voice—no one dared to challenge it. The once rambling witch suddenly fell silent, tightly shutting her mouth without saying another word.

“You know what I came here to ask.”

“……”

After a short pause, the Crimson Witch finally began to speak slowly.

The fog surrounding the young man began to fade slightly. His mood seemed to have lifted a bit—he even ignored the witch’s repeated “curse” as he turned to leave.

—

Now, Deritz thought of that “curse” again.

—“That girl will one day kill you.”

He looked at the person sleeping peacefully in bed.

She had a slender frame and pale cheeks, with long eyelashes gently hanging down, casting a small, quiet shadow on her lower eyelid. After the bandages were removed, the bluish-purple veins under her almost translucent skin were visibly pumping with blood, and some new scars had formed on the old, unhealed wounds.

…He couldn’t even imagine how this reed-like human girl could ever kill him.

Deritz extended his left claw, and the sharp claw tip emerged, briefly glinting with a cold light in the dim room.

He gently, gently pressed his claw against Talli’s pale, fragile neck.

The beast’s sharp claws pressed against the girl’s skin, which had a slight pink hue. It dented inward, and if he pushed just another inch, she would quietly slip away from this world in her sleep.

He watched her breathing steadily, suddenly recalling the day when the fox inhabiting this body had died. That’s when he had come here with a sense of superiority—

This inconvenient body, enduring so many intolerable humiliations, still had to endure the bold offenses of this lowly human.

Unforgivable.

Deritz withdrew his claw.

…Unforgivable.

Therefore, he could not let her die so easily.

Deritz wanted to see a breakdown of despair and pleading on this face that seemed to never waver, or perhaps see the flames of anger and jealousy burning in those eyes that were always filled with reason.

If he could witness such a scene, he would probably laugh out loud in joy.

But before that…

What he needed to do was to gain this human’s trust and reliance.

—Then, he would destroy it ruthlessly.

—

In the following days, the mansion was busy with preparations for Miss Theresa’s school year.

There were many things to prepare for the new semester, and Talli was called to the study of Lord Fred. First, she was given a simple apology for what happened that evening, and then he told her that she wouldn’t be able to get official enrollment at the academy in the short term. If she wanted to attend school, she would have to do so as Theresa’s reading companion.

“You’re just a companion in name,” Lord Fred said, “Anything Theresa learns, you will learn as well.”

It was as if he was granting her a great favor.

After the events of that evening, Talli hadn’t heard a word more about it. The power of the witch family truly was so great that they could dominate even the imperial capital.

“Actually, with so little time left, does it even matter whether you go to school or not?”

Lord Fred’s face darkened, “…It’s bad for our family’s reputation.”

Talli didn’t comment. She understood that if they hadn’t treated her as a normal younger member from the very beginning, Carl and Theresa would have certainly noticed something.

They lived in the light and couldn’t even imagine how those who lived in the shadows survived.

As Talli was leaving, she ran into Theresa and Kristen in the hallway.

When Theresa saw her, she immediately lowered her head, her expression sad and dejected, as if she didn’t dare to speak to her.

Kristen followed behind her.

This was Talli’s first time seeing Kristen in a normal state.

He was behind Theresa, looking calm and composed, with none of the previous wild, biting demeanor. He seemed much more normal now.

…A bit disappointing.

Talli had thought that the voice from that day would have dealt with Kristen. After all, they had taken Kristen away.

Someone as powerful as that, or whatever other creature, wouldn’t it be easy for them to deal with Kristen?

Now, every time Talli saw his face, she felt unlucky.

She turned her face away, not wanting to see him, and quickened her pace.

But she was suddenly called out to.

“Talli…!”

It was Theresa’s voice.

At such a close distance, Talli found it hard to pretend she hadn’t heard.

Reluctantly, she turned around and saw Theresa walking toward her, her face full of conflicted guilt, as she pushed Kristen in front of her and softly said, “Kneel!”

Kristen didn’t move.

Theresa’s voice was incredibly soft. Even when she was this angry, it was impossible to detect any trace of her anger.

“You won’t listen to me?”

Theresa’s eyes were reddened.

Probably because of what had happened that night.

Theresa wanted to talk to Talli but was hesitating about something, so she tried to break the ice with Kristen.

However…

“…I won’t kneel to anyone but my master.”

Kristen kept his head down, his voice deep.

“You still know I’m your master!”

Theresa lowered her voice. “Things the master never said, you do them on your own, things the master told you to do, you refuse!”

Her voice was sorrowful, her face pale, her shoulders slightly trembling, and her voice was tinged with tears.

Frustration, and also feeling ashamed.

Kristen’s expression wavered slightly.

“Kristen Farrant.”

As the tension in the room held, Talli suddenly spoke up and called Kristen’s name.

The sound broke the stagnant atmosphere.

“You have a surname, Farrant, right?”

Theresa paused for a moment, slightly stunned.

Kristen didn’t respond. He remained expressionless, his face cold and distant, making him appear as though he were a machine with no flesh or blood.

“A surname, no wonder you’re so noble and arrogant, unwilling to bow your golden knees to a young lady from a prestigious family.”

Talli took a step closer to Kristen.

This young man was very tall.

Talli raised her eyes, getting closer to him. In front of Theresa, he didn’t dare act. He could only stand rigidly, staring at Talli as she closed the gap between them.

“Letting your lady apologize on your behalf, bowing and scraping behind your back, do you think that’s an honorable thing to do? Or is it that disobedience and ignoring orders… this is the knightly spirit you’ve always adhered to?”

Talli’s deep purple eyes locked tightly onto the undying knight’s gray pupils, and for a moment, all the old grievances surged in her heart.

“I don’t need you to kneel now. Besides, even if you did kneel, it wouldn’t undo the things you’ve done to me.”

She tilted her head back and clenched her fist tightly, aiming at his face:

“Do you see it? One day, it will force you to lie prostrate before me, trembling and begging for mercy.”