Yet at that very moment, a sensation—no longer subtle, but intense, like a bolt of electric current—erupted without warning from the depths of her lower abdomen.
It raced through her limbs in an instant, leaving behind a lingering numbness and a hollow, aching void.
“Clang!”
The new spoon slipped from her hand once more and fell to the floor…
Then came… her body…
“Your Highness!!”
…
Lina and the maid lunged forward together, catching Seraphina as she collapsed.
“Your Highness?”
Seeing the blood drain from Seraphina’s face in an instant, Lina had to admit—she actually felt… a little worried?
While she was still questioning herself, the demon maid spoke quickly. “You hold Her Highness—I’ll fetch Lady Erasia!”
“Ow!” Seraphina’s full weight suddenly bore down on Lina, nearly buckling her knees. By the time she turned her head, the demon maid had already hurried out of the book room.
Lina carefully eased Seraphina back into the chair, using her own body as a backrest, then raised an arm to gently wipe the sweat from Seraphina’s forehead with her sleeve.
She kept calling Seraphina’s name over and over.
“Lady Erasia has arrived!”
…
Consciousness became a lone skiff sinking into thick, dark seawater. Fragments of the past floated like shattered mirrors suspended in the ocean… breaking apart!
Seraphina’s hazy awareness was washed away by the tide, rising only to burst into foam.
The greatsword in her hands began to crack; the armor on her body grew heavier and heavier, nailing her flesh—and even her soul—ruthlessly to the ground.
Suddenly the world flipped. The seawater turned ice-cold, slapping against her dying face. That single sheet of contract devoured her entire past.
She felt herself trapped in a mirrored corridor beneath the sea. Every mirror reflecting her former self was gradually replaced.
Powerful arms were traded for slender ones; rough skin gave way to sensitive flesh.
And in her lower abdomen—the ceaseless, gnawing pain that eroded her will, like endless ocean noise that never faded.
The mirrors grew clearer and clearer, finally converging into a scorching torrent that set the quiet sea ablaze!
Seraphina jolted awake, yet the nightmare seemed to chase her out into reality.
Her blood felt replaced by molten lava; wherever it passed, muscle and bone screamed under the unbearable strain.
“Urgh—AAHH!”
A heart-wrenching cry tore from her throat.
Her body curled into a tight ball. Soul-shaking agony overwhelmed all resistance. Sweat instantly soaked through her thin clothes, clinging stickily to her skin.
This pain far surpassed every previous side effect of the potions. It was a declaration—the arrival of the end!
The very last thread tying her to him was being mercilessly crushed.
“No… please don’t…”
She reached out helplessly, fingers digging deep into the bedding beneath her. Her teeth bit through her lip.
Yet nothing could shift the agony inside her for even half a second. Tears mixed with sweat blurred eyes that had already grown more enchanting.
Just as wave after wave of pain threatened to overturn her consciousness, a sudden icy presence enveloped her.
On any other day, she would have wanted to flee to the ends of the earth. Now, it was a lifeline—she desperately tried to crawl toward its source.
The bedroom door had somehow been pushed open without a sound.
She seemed to have only just returned from afar; the hem of her black robe still carried the scent of road dust.
When those deep eyes fell upon the violently trembling figure on the bed—like a storm-battered flower—the softest part of her heart was stirred.
For a single instant, her gaze seemed to pierce through time itself, as though through this new, fragile face she were gazing at someone from a far-distant era…
Across a thousand years of history, that one smile still lingered indelibly in her heart.
She strode quickly to the bedside, her expression devoid of its usual teasing playfulness. She simply sat silently on the edge of the bed.
She even dismissed Erasia, who had been waiting anxiously nearby.
Was that… worry in her eyes?
“Why… has it come early?”
Movira’s voice was low and grave, stripped of all her usual frivolity, leaving only a heavy calm laced with confusion.
She slowly reached out, gently brushing away the tears soaking Seraphina’s face, every movement carrying an unprecedented… tenderness and care.
“Stop… please stop… I beg you…”
Seraphina lifted unfocused eyes toward Movira, filled with humble pleading.
Movira gazed back at her and shook her head slightly. “It can’t be stopped anymore, my dear Seraphina.”
Her tone was certain—yet tinged with… pity?
“I’m sorry. This is the necessary price for bidding farewell to the past.”
Watching another wave of agony swallow Seraphina whole, Movira slowly lowered her head and whispered, so softly only she could hear, “You will forgive me, won’t you? From now on, we can never be separated again.”
“Relax… go chase that light.”
She murmured into Seraphina’s ear, her voice softer than Seraphina had ever heard—gentle, even carrying a guiding magic. “Feel it. Accept it. No matter what… I’ll be waiting for you!”
This embrace was no longer the imprisonment of before; it felt more like a fortress standing beside her, shielding her from all the noise of the world.
Even more astonishing—a warm, gentle magic was flowing from Movira’s body into hers, guiding the rampaging torrent inside Seraphina.
“Nn… hngh…” Seraphina let out an unconscious whimper. Her exhausted body had no choice but to rely completely on Movira.
At the same moment, countless emotions surged up together, churning her mind into chaos.
Time crawled forward through the crucible of pain, yet Movira’s posture never changed—like a guardian statue, utterly still.
Seraphina felt something new—something that should never have belonged to her—taking root inside her body…
She did not know how long it lasted.
Eventually Seraphina lay limp in Movira’s arms, without even the strength to lift a finger.
Sweat had long since drenched her body—and Movira’s chest as well.
Movira let out a soft breath and looked down at the girl in her arms, as though she had just been pulled from the sea.
Seraphina’s face was still pale, but the last lingering trace of masculine sharpness between her brows had vanished completely.
In its place was a softer, more feminine fragility—like an exquisite, easily shattered work of glass.
“It’s over.”
Movira’s voice was hoarse, as though she too had borne part of that torment.
She carefully dabbed away the beads of sweat on Seraphina’s forehead with a handkerchief, treating her like… a priceless treasure.
Seraphina kept her eyes tightly shut. Long lashes still trembled with clinging tears.
She could feel it—something had left her forever, irrevocably.
And something else had taken root inside her, once and for all…
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