“How are you feeling now, Miss Aurora? Does it still hurt anywhere?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. The medicine Misha gave me worked really well.”
At this moment, Aurora was lying on the bed, while Azalea looked at her anxiously, a hint of guilt flickering in her eyes.
“If I had come up earlier, Miss Aurora wouldn’t have been injured…”
Aurora waved her hand repeatedly and said, “It’s not Princess’s fault!”
“It was my carelessness—I was the one who opened the door for them.”
“I should have asked first before opening it.”
“But luckily, I didn’t rush Zoya down at that time, otherwise I can’t even imagine what they would have done to her…”
She gently stroked Zoya, who was clinging to her with tear-filled eyes.
Since seeing Aurora hurt, Zoya seemed never to have left her side.
Aurora had no idea how many times she had used her handkerchief to wipe Zoya’s tears—the cloth was soaked through.
She had no choice but to carefully dab at Zoya’s tears with her fingertips.
“Gu…da…”
Zoya called out in a hoarse voice.
Aurora understood and smiled tenderly, then bent down to place a kiss on Zoya’s smooth forehead.
She then gently stroked her hair and whispered comforting words: “I’m fine. I’m not leaving…”
Thud.
Downstairs, the sound of a door opening rang out.
It should be her sister coming back!
Heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs—the kind of sound that only comes from armor clanking against wooden floors.
Only Lorabel would wear armor at home.
Aurora looked toward the door expectantly, waiting for her sister’s figure to appear.
Click.
“Sis, you’re back…”
Her smile froze suddenly, even her greeting stopped on the last word…
Azalea noticed something was wrong and also looked toward the door.
Her pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
She opened her mouth to say something but didn’t know how to begin…
“Sis, I’m back.”
Lorabel stepped inside.
A faint smile hung on her blood-stained cheek.
Her blood-red armor reeked of iron and gore, and on her wrist dangled something pink—it looked like a human brain, being carved away bit by bit like an animal’s, accidentally sticking to her armor.
The wooden sword at her waist looked dull. Lorabel usually cherished her weapons and rarely used them to such an extent. With her swordsmanship, it was hard to imagine what she had fought to wear the sword down like this…
Her appearance had changed strangely.
Her once fiery red hair had turned purple, and her eyes were completely covered by a dark veil—neither Aurora nor Azalea could see her pupils; her eyes were entirely consumed by blackness.
The sacred and majestic aura that used to surround her had completely vanished, replaced by a terrifying and unsettling presence.
Was she still a Paladin now?
Could the sacred golden magic really still emanate from this person standing before them?
“Sister, what happened to you?!” Aurora finally snapped out of her daze, speaking in shock.
“Why are you covered in so much blood? And your hair and eyes…”
There were so many questions, she was too flustered to form them properly.
“Don’t worry, sister…”
Lorabel stepped closer to the bed where Aurora lay.
She gently took Aurora’s hand and pressed it against her bloodied cheek.
She smiled softly at Aurora and slowly said, “I feel… good now… better than ever.”
Right now, she didn’t want to care about any rules or restrictions. She just wanted to be close to her sister, to fall together with her. She wanted to slowly corrode her, staining her with her own aura…
Aurora was too stunned by her sister’s words to speak.
If not for the comforting familiarity of her sister’s face, she wouldn’t have dared to believe that someone exuding such an ominous aura could be her lovely, beautiful sister.
“Lorabel, what exactly happened just now?” Azalea finally spoke up, concern in her voice.
She reached out to touch Lorabel’s shoulder—the only part seemingly free of bloodstains.
But as her fingernails brushed against her, a black fluid suddenly oozed out from Lorabel’s armor, crawling along Azalea’s fingers and wrapping around her arm.
“W-what is that?!”
She quickly pulled her hand back and immediately noticed the fluid clashing with the goddess’s power within her body.
It entwined and struggled against her golden magic like a fierce battle.
When the black fluid was wrapped by her thick golden aura, it was gradually dispelled bit by bit…
Stunned, she looked at Lorabel.
Lorabel didn’t seem to notice any of this, still gently pressing herself against her sister.
There was no emotion to be seen in her blackened eyes.
“Can you tell me what happened, sister?” Aurora calmed herself and asked gently, like speaking to a child.
“Sister, I’ve avenged you…”
“Avenged…”
Even without her saying it, Aurora knew.
The bloodstains on her sister and the pieces of flesh stuck to her armor could only come from a human body.
But Aurora didn’t want revenge.
She just wanted her sister to be okay, to have a life without so much trouble…
“What’s happened to your eyes? And your hair… I still prefer your original red.”
“My… hair?”
Lorabel looked puzzled.
When her gaze landed on the only piece of silver armor untouched by blood on her shoulder, she caught a reflection of her strange new appearance.
She looked in disbelief toward the dressing mirror on one side of the room…
That dreadful image fully appeared before her eyes.
“What am I…?”
Suddenly remembering something, she hurriedly released her magic essence upward…
“Black…”
“Say it.”
Azalea thought she’d misheard and leaned closer, eyes widening.
Black.
Lorabel’s magic essence was black!
Before, although her magic had traces of black, she could still release golden power.
But this time it was different.
Only black.
No matter how much she concentrated, all that came forth was black.
A terrifying thought flashed through Azalea’s mind.
Lorabel drew the dull wooden sword, raised it, and stabbed it into her own arm.
“Sister!”
Aurora tried to stop her, but it was already too late.
The wooden sword pierced straight through her arm, but she showed no sign of pain.
She no longer felt pain.
Pulling the sword out, the wound began to heal at a visibly rapid pace.
But unlike before, it wasn’t healing—it was being filled in by a black substance…
This was not a power given by the goddess.
“The goddess… has abandoned me.”
T/L note: Chapter 132 & chapter 133 have been removed from the original text hence the story progresses from chapter 134, happy reading
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