What tore through the illusion was a clamor that stung her eardrums.
The piercing noise startled her awake from her daze. When Tii opened her eyes again, the cold iron chains made a harsh, grinding sound. A heavy neck yoke weighed on her head, and rough iron chains bound her ankles — these were torture devices Ansels used for high-profile criminals.
‘Was I… captured by them?’
She was imprisoned in a wooden cage, her hands tightly locked, a captive of Ansels. A surge of intense panic welled up in Tii’s heart as she realized she had fallen into enemy hands.
If not for the poison, she could have escaped from the enemy army’s camp with her ability, even if she had been discovered.
‘Who exactly poisoned me?’
She tried to recall everything before she lost consciousness, but only felt a wave of confusion. She remembered being ambushed while on a mission, but the specifics were shrouded in a thick fog.
Outside the cage, the human soldiers of Ansels were clamoring incessantly. They scrutinized Tii with mocking and disdainful gazes, as if admiring a rare exhibit.
The prisoner carriage traveled slowly along the rugged road, its body jolting constantly. She was filled with anxiety, unsure of where she was being taken or how the battle outside was progressing.
‘Has the war already ended? How are the members of the other assassination squad? Did Valivadan achieve victory?’
***
As time passed, the prisoner carriage finally came to a halt.
Through the gaps in the cage, Tii saw that she had been brought before a massive tent. She was dragged out of the cage, her body barely able to support its own weight. The soldiers escorted her into a temporary interrogation room. Several Ansels officers were already seated there, their gazes cold and sharp, as if they already viewed Tii as a dead person.
“Is this the famous ‘Phoenix’ who assassinated the Princess? She’s just a little girl,” one officer said with a cold laugh, his eyes full of disdain. “I didn’t expect you would see such a day.”
“…I won’t tell you anything.” Tii raised her head and spoke with all her strength. “Don’t waste your breath.”
She was the ‘Phoenix’ of Black Feather; even if she was trapped in an enemy kingdom, she could never open her mouth. She knew these people would definitely subject her to a brutal interrogation.
Tii clenched her teeth, but she hadn’t expected the other party’s reaction to be so outside her expectations.
“Speak? Hahaha! It seems you still don’t understand the current situation!”
The officers exchanged smiles, clearly not surprised by her answer.
“Miss Phoenix, we don’t need you to speak.”
Banje, the officer who had just changed her bandages, stepped forward with a look of contempt on his face. “Because everything you know, we have known for a long time.”
Tii’s pupils suddenly dilated. Just as she was wondering what those words meant, a slight sound came from behind the curtain. Immediately after, a familiar figure slowly walked into the interrogation room.
That aged face, that hunched body, and those deep, sharp eyes made Tii’s heart sink to the bottom of an abyss. This person was the teacher she lived with day and night, the Astrological High Priestess of Valivadan — Jirusaga.
“Teacher? You… why are you here?”
Tii’s voice trembled, her throat feeling as if it were blocked, raspy and weak. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. She had never been this powerless.
As an assassin, Tii had seen countless cruel scenes and ended innumerable lives. She had clearly forged an incredibly strong will, yet at this moment, her heart completely gave way.
The answer did not need to be spoken. Everything before her was enough.
Jirusaga had betrayed Black Feather and Valivadan. Judging by the attitude of these officers, Jirusaga had been undercover for many years, just as Tii herself had once been undercover in the Palace of Ansels. The person she regarded as her only family had deceived her from beginning to end, treating her as a mere tool.
‘No… it shouldn’t be like this!’
“You were the one who made me join Black Feather, and you were the one who made me an assassin! You were the one who cautioned me over and over not to forget my father’s dying wish, telling me to serve the Grand Priests with my life!”
“The faith I’ve held until now was only built because of you!”
“You made my hands covered in blood, made me kill one innocent person after another, and let me be tortured by guilt all night!”
“I told myself all of this was for you, for my father, and for the kingdom… that I wasn’t wrong, that these were sacrifices that had to be made for the strength of the Witch Tribe!”
“But you — Teacher, what are you doing?”
“Of all the intelligence I brought back from every mission, how much did you hand over to the leader of Black Feather? And how much did you quietly modify without my knowledge?”
“Why did Golden Finch City fall?”
“Why is Valivadan’s war effort suffering defeat after defeat?”
“Why, just when we finally saw a glimmer of hope for victory… did it turn into a disadvantage in an instant?”
“Teacher… no, Jirusaga, what on earth are you doing?”
Tii didn’t even realize that she had begun to sob quietly. Jirusaga smiled slightly, a hint of irony in that smile.
“Phoenix, you truly are very obedient. I told you long ago that your ability far exceeds mine, but your heart isn’t strong enough; you cannot break free from the shackles of emotion.”
Her voice was low and powerful, each word like a blade stabbing into Tii’s heart. She slowly leaned down, hooked Tii’s chin with one hand, and stared into the young girl’s emerald-green eyes. Her gaze was as deep as a beast’s.
“That is why you were used by me. Don’t you want to know why I did this? You can’t blame me — everything is the fault of the Divine Temple.”
“Although they pay Black Feather a handsome salary, according to the distribution system, the vast majority of the money falls into the pockets of that High Priest of the Moon. Even an Astrological High Priestess like me receives almost nothing.”
“It’s very unfair, isn’t it? Clearly, the ones executing the missions are the assassins, and the one responsible for training those assassins is me. That fellow does nothing yet takes the most benefits. How ironic.”
“So, I joined Ansels. Since these experimental results are mine, I naturally have the right to use them. The same results, sold to the Lord Duke through the black market, fetch a price ten times higher than what is given to the Grand Priest.”
“Oh, Phoenix, I’m not as stubborn as you.”
After saying this, the old woman took out a fine needle from her sleeve and lightly pricked the red-haired girl’s forearm. Tii’s body jerked violently.
A sharp pain shot from her arm, followed by a strange numbness that quickly spread. She looked down and saw a black scar appearing on her fair arm. The scar expanded at an eerie speed, gradually forming a shape resembling a butterfly.
That shape looked exactly like the first birthday gift her teacher had given her years ago — that wooden butterfly.
Jirusaga’s cold voice rang in her ears: “This is Butterfly Poison, the only thing that can kill a monster like you. Phoenix, do you remember how your father and sister died?”
Tii no longer had the strength to respond and could only collapse onto the ground in exhaustion. Jirusaga waved her hand, and two soldiers quickly propped her up.
“Take her to a high place, find a spot with a wide view, and behead her with an axe coated in Butterfly Poison in front of the Valivadan soldiers.” Jirusaga announced with a cruel smile, “This war should come to an end.”
Tii’s mind went blank, and her vision gradually blurred. For some reason, at this moment, there wasn’t much fear of death in her heart.
After the layers of calculation and deception were stripped away, her former faith had already collapsed. Her world had become empty, and there was nothing left worth clinging to.
‘Is there… no longer a reason to persist?’
‘No… at least, there is still one.’
That beautiful long silver hair, that warm smile… the girl who was willing to see her as a friend even knowing her disguise. The person she deeply loved.
“Little Suxiu…”
‘No, it can’t end like this.’
‘She is still waiting for me.’