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nHow much must one endure to truly grow? The answer varies, for life is a tapestry of myriad experiences. For Seraphina Marlowe, the answer is… steeped in cruelty. Where does this cruelty lie? Not merely in the fact that she lost everything, but in the cruel reality that the majority of her suffering was self-inflicted. Otherwise, Seraphina would not have indulged in battle and slaughter during her long exile, recognizing her mistakes as she grew, choosing to numb herself because of this realization, and growing once again through this numbness.

nFinally, after personally ending the life of the person she wronged the most in this world, and receiving that admonition and restraint, she was reborn. Fate, with its cruelty, sliced her flesh, hacked her bones, and finally reshaped her into the form of an emperor, the shell of a tyrant. “Is this… my future?” Seraphina’s vision was once again filled with Ansel’s face. The expression on her face was not one of collapse or fear, but of incomprehensible absurdity.

nShe was not running from reality, but simply because of everything she saw, she felt an incomprehensible absurdity. She could not believe how foolish she had been, how brutal she had been, and she could not believe… that she had abandoned her sister to escape from hell, stood helpless and wailing on the ruins of the village, wandered aimlessly in numb chaos, recklessly wielded power to create slaughter, and in the end… personally killed Marlina, who had sacrificed everything for her.

nSeraphina did not disbelieve the future that Ansel showed her. She just couldn’t believe… that the pitiful and hateful person was herself. “Ansel…” Seraphina lowered her head, her voice somewhat distorted and trembling, “Is that person really me?” “Is the person who is self-righteous, blindly arrogant, always saying how great she is, but never supporting Marlina, understanding Marlina, never standing by her side when she needed that power, and instead using that power to kill her, me?”

n“That is you, Seraphina,” Ansel said, stroking the trembling girl in his arms with a look of pity. His sea-blue eyes held no superfluous emotions. Only… the empathy of the pitiful. “The purpose of fate, like what I did to you — it needs you to grow, and the pain you experienced, the destruction of the village, and all the despair that Marlina encountered, are the nourishment for your transformation.”

nHe held Seraphina’s hand and said softly, “Perhaps you can’t intuitively understand my words, so, look at these again.” The scene in Seraphina’s eyes changed again. Now what she saw was the scene of Marlina and her being taken away by the Count of Red Frost. “Seraphina, you should have a vague sense now that you’ve caused so much trouble before, but the village hasn’t been retaliated against, it must be because someone is protecting you, right?”

nAnsel’s voice rang in Seraphina’s ear, “The person who protected you is the mentor who brought you into the Frost Tower. She actually has a lot of status in the Frost Tower, so she blocked countless disasters for you.” “So the question is, at this time, when you were caught by the Count of Red Frost, and during the time you were imprisoned in Red Frost Manor, why didn’t she make a move?”

nThe scene shifted, and a mature woman with an ordinary appearance appeared in front of Seraphina. She was looking at the words on the parchment, her expression full of sorrow and pain. “Isn’t this… my teacher?” Seraphina murmured to herself. “To be precise, it’s Polonia after she knew about your situation, and when she knew about you and Marlina, it was already two years after you were caught.” Ansel said as the scene shifted again.

n“Why did I study that damn Eternal Silence spell! If I had been a little earlier… If I hadn’t been immersed in research, Seri…” The scene froze, and Ansel’s explanation sounded at the same time, “This is Polonia’s confession memory when she talked to you. She entered a significant research a week before you and Marlina were taken away. Do you know… why she suddenly started researching?”

nIn the replayed scene, Polonia murmured with a trembling voice, “If only that inspiration had never come to be…” Amidst the escalating fury of Seraphina, Ansel smirked, his tone dripping with sarcasm:

n“Indeed, inspiration. ”

n“A gift from the heavens… inspiration.” “And in this present moment, where I have altered everything, Polonia has not received that inspiration. I can easily invite her to the Red Frost city, she is this not engrossed in research that disregards all external matters.” Seraphina stared intently at her long-unseen, tear-streaked teacher, her words squeezed out between clenched teeth, “And this is because… Ansel, you came. Even if the mentor enters the research, you will change the fate of me and Marlina.” “Indeed, so Polonia did not receive such inspiration again, fate judged that it was meaningless to do so — Do you find it absurd? An inspiration that could overturn the etheric realm, just to let you and Marlina… fall into an irretrievable abyss.” Seraphina could only remain silent. In this spiritual world, Ansel withdrew the projection of his inner heart and projected something else. It was not the understanding of the world by the traveler, but his… own memories. “This is just the tip of the iceberg of how it manipulates your life.” As Ansel said this, a young boy appeared in the scene. Golden hair, sea-blue eyes, undoubtedly, this was the young Ansel of Hydral. However, his eyes were so gloomy and indifferent that it was frightening, not at all like the expression a eleven-year-old child should have, but more like… a mad beast. “I have only one request, kill her.” The boy in the scene issued such a ruthless and merciless command, his tone did not fluctuate at all. “Seraphina, when you were eleven years old, you were suddenly assassinated.” Ansel said, “I did it.” Seraphina did not get angry, but responded calmly, “But… I didn’t die, I remember very clearly, I killed that guy.” “Hmm, logically speaking, you at that time had not stepped into the extraordinary, and in no way could you have killed the other party in return. Do you know… what rank the assassin I hired was?” Ansel sneered, “A third-stage extraordinary, a killer with ten years of experience.” “… But… that guy wasn’t that powerful at all.” “Yes, because the person who came to assassinate you was not the guy I originally hired.” “…” “The ‘assassin’ I hired looked down on you as a target and didn’t want to go to the desolate north, so he subcontracted it to a second-stage assassin; and this assassin, also felt that killing a child was beneath his dignity, so he subcontracted it again, and after several rounds, only a weak and just entered first-stage assassin took on this job.” Ansel looked at Seraphina, his tone did not fluctuate, “Then, he was killed by you who was forcibly driving the spirit matter.” “What do you think, how much push did fate do in this?” “At that time, I hoped to kill you without alarming anyone. After all, you were just a child in a remote village. If I made a big fuss, I might be discovered by my father, which I didn’t want to see, so there was such a ridiculous assassination.” Seraphina also let out a bitter, mocking laugh, “This is really… interesting.” “Yes, it’s really interesting.” Hydral sighed like this, changing the scene to something else. “Just this once, I realized that you absolutely cannot be killed, no matter what means I use, fate always allows you to turn danger into safety, and even grow. If so, I would have become its tool, so I chose to give up killing you and started planning a new plan.” This time, Seraphina saw… the young Marlina. “My thought at that time was that the source of your fall into the abyss and your rebirth was not the Count of Red Frost, or the Red Frost territory, not those who gave you pain, but… the people you cherish.” “So, I started trying to protect Marlina, to keep her away from tragedy as much as possible, and you, who were bound by Marlina, could not get enough growth.” “But I failed.” Seraphina stood in Ansel’s perspective, watching Marlina and a nobleman chatting. “I have pushed more than ten times to make Marlina come into contact with people of all classes.” Ansel said, “These people have all been screened by me, either they have a conscience, or they have a keen eye, or they are nobles, extraordinary beings, businessmen who maintain their own interests.” “But Marlina did not accept any of them.” “These people do not lack henchmen, but lack a talent who can manage wealth and business well. And this kind of talent… is naturally the most trustworthy when cultivated from a young age.” “So, even if Marlina accepted any of these people’s invitations, the fate of your family might have changed.” “But Marlina did not accept any of them.” The young Hydral sighed with a complex and pitying look, “I don’t know what Marlina was thinking, how fate was interfering with her, but the fact is… she gave up more than a dozen opportunities and still stayed in the Red Frost territory, waiting for the arrival of fate.” “And then, I also suddenly understood that even if she and you, your family left the Red Frost territory. The tragedy would still happen, just in a different way.” In the vast spiritual world, Ansel said to Seraphina, who was hanging her head, “So, I started a long preparation and plan, which is now realized.” “Ansel…” Seraphina looked at the boy in front of her, murmuring in a daze, “Who are you? Why… why do you know these things? And why… choose me?” Ansel laughed, “This is the end.” He held Seraphina’s hand in the spiritual world, hugged her into his arms, and whispered, “It’s time for you to witness me, Seraphina.” So, Seraphina saw. The confusion at the beginning of the embryo, the soul from another world, the vast memory library, the vast sea of knowledge, and… Hydral’s future. “I am the same as you, also a tool in its hands, a tool to push the world towards the next process.” Ansel smiled calmly, “It’s just that you are the foundation of everything, revered by people and future generations as great; while I, as the greatest sacrifice under this foundation, only deserve eternal contempt and scorn.” Seraphina trembled as she read Ansel’s original life. She, who had only felt sadness and anger when reading her own life, was at this moment… feeling fear. Yes, Ansel’s life was so desperate that it made her, who had witnessed how miserable her own life was, feel fear.

n“The memory of this traveler friend is too vast, I only found the memory of this world in a corner when I was ten years old.” The scene presented in front of the two changed, Ansel stared at the scene that was no different from reality, and slightly lowered his eyes. “This is the beginning of everything, and it is also my… final proof.” *

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