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nThe question in her heart remained unanswered.

nWhy hadn’t Marlina and Ansel stopped her, knowing full well the consequences of her stubborn actions?

nShe didn’t want to blame anyone else for her mistakes; she just wanted an answer.

nOr perhaps she was afraid of something even more terrifying that her intuition was hinting at.

nIn the midst of this unsettling silence, the door suddenly opened.

nAs if to answer her doubts.

nOr perhaps, to bring her even greater despair.

nThe girl garbed in black stood at the doorway, her gaze placidly resting on her younger sister lying on the bed.

n“You’ve been unconscious for three days,” she began, “Mr. Ansel says it’s a matter of the soul and spirit, requiring recuperation.”

n“…Yes, ah.”

nSeraphina opened her mouth, unsure of how to respond, merely shifting her gaze elsewhere, unwilling, and afraid to meet Marlina’s eyes.

n“Your willingness to finally admit your mistakes is commendable,” Marlina said, “It’s something you would do.”

n“…”

nSeraphina managed a strained smile, “I can’t always rely on Ansel to solve everything for me, Marli.”

nThe impassive girl nodded, seemingly without any further words to say, yet she did not leave.

nStanding there, staring at Seraphina, as if to say… you still have something to say.

nYou have questions you should ask.

nIn the increasingly unbearable silence, Seraphina forced a smile, “Marli, do you have anything else to say to me? If not, I’d like to rest.”

nThen, Seraphina saw disappointment in Marlina’s eyes.

nYes, disappointment.

nSeraphina couldn’t understand where it came from, which made her increasingly panicked… disappointment.

n“Seraphina, I thought what happened that day would be enough for you to grow up,”

nMarlina took a step back, her voice indifferent, “But you don’t even have the courage to face it, I overestimated you, rest well.”

nShe turned around, preparing to leave the room.

n“Wait!”

nSeraphina struggled to get out of bed, enduring the pain to ask loudly, “What do you mean! What do you mean by growing up… Marlina, what are you trying to say! You…”

nShe clenched her teeth, suppressing the panic in her heart, trying to make her voice as serious as possible:

n“Why… why didn’t you stop me when you knew what was going to happen?”

nMarlina, who had been waiting for this question, turned back to face Seraphina.

nThose eyes, the same color as her own, those gentle and kind eyes she had seen countless times, were now filled with alienation and indifference that made Seraphina feel strange and fearful.

n“I’ve already told you the answer, Seraphina.”

nHer tone was steady, “For your growth.”

n“…”

nSeraphina’s body began to tremble, her lips moved, but due to her emotional and physical condition, she accidentally fell to the ground when she got out of bed, looking very miserable.

n“My… growth.”

nThe girl, who was trembling and whispering, struggled to get up and walked towards her sister step by step.

n“You said, my… growth?”

n“To make you realize your own foolishness, your own mistakes, your own arrogance, and at the same time, to make you understand the cruel and ruthless world,” Marlina said without any hesitation, “You should have a deep understanding of these.”

nOf course, Seraphina deeply understood everything Marlina said.

nNot only herself, but also those commoners who she once considered as her own kind, their reactions, their changes, everything they showed… all made Seraphina fall into deep confusion and self-doubt.

nBut…

nBut, is this the reason why Marlina didn’t remind, didn’t change, and let those who could have survived die so miserably?

nJust for the so-called… to make her grow?

nThe source of this cntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

n“Marlina!!!”

nPure rage rose from the deep despair in her heart.

nSeraphina roared, stumbling towards Marlina, her eyes gradually filled with tears.

n“My growth… you just for this, for this… watched so many people die!”

nWhen she reached Marlina, she punched her sister’s face directly. Marlina staggered back two steps, a bruise quickly appearing on her delicate cheek, but her expression remained unchanged.

n“Or what?”

nShe looked at Seraphina, who was clutching her collar and preparing to punch again, and said expressionlessly:

n“Wait until you become stronger, wait until you become more trusted by Mr. Ansel, wait until your destructive power can affect a wider land, more innocent people… wait until under such circumstances, you make more irreparable mistakes, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times more cruel than now, then I should kneel down and beg you with tears, not to be willful anymore?”

nSeraphina’s fist, which was about to hit Marlina’s face, began to tremble in an instant.

n“I’ve done it, Seraphina,” Marlina said in a tone that made Seraphina’s whole body twitch, “I’ve done it many times, but it’s useless.”

n“If it were useful, you wouldn’t be so angry today, you wouldn’t blame your mistakes on me.”

n“If it were useful, nothing would have happened, you would be Mr. Ansel’s most trusted subordinate, you would have shared the glory with him three days ago.”

nHer sister’s words, those ruthless, cold, and extremely cruel words, cut back and forth through Seraphina’s soul, which had received a little comfort after completing her redemption.

nThe girl looked at the stranger in front of her, listened to her strange words, looked at her strange expression, and felt as if a large chunk had been brutally ripped from her heart.

n“It shouldn’t… be like this.”

nSeraphina let go of her hands, tears streaming down her face, and fell weakly to the ground, “Marlina… why have you become like this, why… why don’t I recognize you anymore…”

nHer sister, how could she disregard so many lives, just for… her so-called growth?

nHow could all this be worth it? How could such a cruel and ruthless thing be something her gentle sister, who always tolerated her, would do?

n“…”

nMarlina was silent for a long time, finally nodding, “Then, let it be.”

nIn Seraphina’s growing unease and fear, Marlina said.

n“Then, be it you don’t know me anymore.”

n“If it can make you grow up.”

nShe left without any hesitation.

nBang!

nThe door was closed, and Seraphina’s trembling hand had just been raised.

n“Uh… ah…”

nShe had already, lost the ability to cry.

nThe girl just opened her mouth, under this despair, she couldn’t even cry.

nHer sister, didn’t want her anymore.

nShe had lost the most important person in her life.

n“Don’t… don’t…”

nSeraphina, whose soul was full of wounds, struggled to get up like a madwoman, forcefully opened the door, and then fell to the ground again.

nIt seemed like there was no one else in the mansion, only her.

nShe scratched at the floor, once again struggling to prop herself up, swaying as she climbed the stairs, the light in her eyes dimming as if it could go out at any moment.

nNo… it’s not that there’s nothing.

nThere’s still… there’s still Ansel, I still have Ansel… he’s… the best to me.

n“Ansel… Ansel! Ansel… where are you!”

nSeraphina, who was almost lying on the handrail, climbed the stairs with difficulty, calling out helplessly in a hoarse voice, “Ansel… Ansel, don’t leave me, you said…”

nYou said you would… always respond to me.

nSo, as if truly responding to Seraphina’s plea, that bright figure, already imprinted in Seraphina’s heart, appeared at the top of this flight of stairs.

n“An, Ansel!”

nJoy surged in Seraphina’s heart, this joy and hope even completely dispelled her previous despair, she almost crawled up the stairs with her hands and feet, like a believer about to ascend to heaven and receive redemption.

n“Ansel!”

nThe exhausted, scarred wolf threw herself into Ansel’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

nIt seemed that in his arms, she finally regained the ability to cry.

nAnsel, who appeared so timely, held her waist with one hand and stroked her head with the other:

n“What’s wrong, Seraphina?”

n“… Marli hates me, Marli doesn’t want me anymore.”

nThe girl cried helplessly, her immense sadness making her only able to repeat, “She doesn’t want me anymore… doesn’t want me anymore…”

n“How could it be.” Ansel comforted her, “Marlina wouldn’t abandon you, and neither would I.”

nThese words immediately calmed Seraphina down, she sobbed, but her voice was soft, “I, I know… Ansel would never abandon me.”

n“I… I know I was wrong, it’s all my fault, Ansel, you don’t have to say it’s your fault anymore, it has nothing to do with you.”

nShe snuggled into Ansel’s stomach like a puppy, that monster who could fight with the emperor in her dreams, whose fists and feet could overturn the earth, was now exhausting everything, trying to show her value and meaning in Ansel’s eyes, just to tell Ansel, and herself, that she would not be abandoned.

n“Ansel won’t be hated by anyone, it doesn’t matter if I’m hated… from now on, from now on I won’t make decisions on my own anymore, whatever Ansel tells me to do, I’ll do, I won’t think about anything else anymore, Ansel is always the best, and the right one!”

nShe clumsily, anxiously, as if afraid of suffering the pain Marlina had given her again, so eagerly showed her “growth”.

n“I will never cause trouble for Ansel, so… so Ansel will surely not abandon me, right?”

n“Of course,” Ansel replied with a smile. “Even if Seraphina were not like this, even if she caused countless troubles, I would still keep her by my side.”

nThis promise brought Seraphina complete peace of mind. She ceased her tears, and the wolf who had found a home and reliance laid down all her burdens, nestling wholeheartedly in Ansel’s embrace, basking in the tranquility that the promise brought her.

nAnd it was amidst such hope,

nIn such serenity that allowed her to escape all pain, all sorrow, all despair,

nAnsel of Hydral, the devil from the abyss, bent down and whispered in Seraphina’s ear,

n“But you may not necessarily be like this.”

n“…Huh?”

nThe young man tightened his embrace around the girl who stood on the edge of the precipice, pulling her into his arms, not to save her —

nBut to personally send her… into the abyss of no return.

n–>

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