The girl before her was none other than Leonora Edron, daughter of Duke Edron, who had been missing for over ten days.
Aurora recalled the last time she saw her—just over ten days ago—when Leonora had a knife in hand and was attacking anyone she saw. Back then, she had assumed Albert had already dismissed her.
But here she was again, appearing right before Aurora’s eyes in the dead of night, uninvited, standing in her bedroom.
Thinking back to that moment when Leonora held the knife, Aurora’s anxiety spiked, and she instinctively tried to put distance between them.
But with Leonora pressing her down, Aurora had nowhere to retreat on the bed.
“What… what do you want?” she asked in a trembling voice.
Her eyes nervously glanced downward, and when she saw no dagger or similar weapon in Leonora’s hand, her heart eased slightly.
“Aurora, come with me—now!” Leonora said, pulling Aurora’s wrist and urging her to stand.
Aurora’s surprised gaze watched as Leonora headed straight toward the window.
By the window stood a broom—evidently, Leonora had flown in through the second-floor window on it.
What was she planning? Did she intend to kidnap her under the moonlight?
Suddenly, Aurora wrenched her hand free.
She grabbed the vase from the table, eyeing Leonora cautiously.
“What exactly do you want?” she demanded, her body instinctively shielding herself.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Aurora… Please, trust me,” Leonora’s voice trembled, but her tone was more like a desperate plea.
“Why should I believe you?”
“I’m here to save you! Your sister—she’s gone mad! She’s been lying to you, you know that?!”
“She cast some kind of spell on you, wiped all your memories! Even mine…”
“Aurora, I love you. I would never harm you. Please, come with me. I’ll take you away from that madwoman.”
“We can escape to a small country in the east. They will protect us. We can live peacefully and happily—just like before!”
…
For some reason, her tone grew hysterical, her words tumbling out faster and faster as if trying to spill every secret she knew.
But to Aurora’s ears, these words sounded unbearably harsh…
“That’s enough!”
With a sharp rebuke, Leonora’s torrent of words came to a halt.
Aurora’s eyes burned with anger as she snapped, “My sister has always cared for me. She is not mad!”
“She would never erase my memories!”
“Leonora, you barged in uninvited in the middle of the night spouting nonsense. You’re the one who sounds crazy!”
“You…”
Before Aurora could unleash all the anger she had bottled up, her voice faltered.
Because she saw it—tears.
Large teardrops slid down Leonora’s cheeks. She wiped them again and again, but they never stopped.
“I… I’m not lying. Aurora, please, come with me…” Her voice was filled with heart-wrenching sorrow, breaking with every word. Seeing her like this, Aurora felt as if Leonora’s words might truly be the truth.
But the thought that her own sister could do something so cruel was impossible for Aurora to accept.
Seeing her so pitiable, Aurora’s voice softened somewhat.
“Sorry, but I still can’t believe it.”
She walked to the window and drew back the half-closed curtains completely. Looking at Leonora, she spoke quietly.
“You should leave now. Don’t come looking for me again. I won’t tell anyone about what happened tonight.”
“……”
Leonora gripped the hem of her skirt, reluctant to move, letting the tears fall freely.
After a moment of silence, just as Aurora was about to say more, Leonora suddenly spoke again.
“I love you… Aurora… I want to live with you—forever, forever…”
Faced with her endless confession, Aurora was at a loss for words. She simply gazed into Leonora’s eyes.
The straightforward declaration ended abruptly as Leonora raised her lowered brows. Her tear-filled eyes flickered with a strange black mist swirling within.
In her hand was a dagger—pulled out from who knows where—slowly advancing toward Aurora.
“What do you want to do?” Aurora asked, stepping back cautiously until her back hit the wall.
“Please, don’t do this to me, Aurora.”
“If you’re still mad at me, I’m sorry… Aurora, please come with me.”
Her mouth kept uttering pleas, but Aurora no longer had the heart to listen.
The blade pressed against her abdomen, ready to pierce through at any moment.
“Aurora… Aurora…”
“Please calm down!”
Aurora tried to move the hand holding the dagger, but the moment she touched Leonora’s skin, a shudder ran through her body, and the dagger dropped to the floor.
“Aurora, will you come with me?”
Leonora seemed to misunderstand, thinking Aurora had accepted.
She caught Aurora’s hand and pressed it against her cheek.
Warm, soft skin touched Aurora’s palm, the burning tears wetting her hand. At this moment, Aurora felt as though Leonora was on the verge of shattering. If she uttered the words “don’t come looking for me again,” she would be like a fallen leaf in autumn—fragile and broken with the slightest touch.
Why was she hesitating like this? Was it because seeing Leonora so pitiful stirred something inside her? Leonora was so beautiful and innocent; anyone would feel pain watching her cry.
But deep down, Aurora felt it was more than that. The words “I don’t want to see her cry” came from her heart, yet another hidden voice echoed—the voice of not wanting to see the one she loved in tears.
Before coming to the academy, Aurora had never met her. Leonora’s body was covered in scars, and the bandages on her wrists were even soaked with blood—an outward manifestation of her emotions spilling out, infected and festering.
Why… why was she so drawn to her? Aurora could not understand.
“Enough wasting time, Leonora Edron.”
A familiar voice came from the window. Aurora turned her head slightly and saw Albert’s figure.
Blue blood trickled down his back, and sweat—likely from pain—glistened on his cheek.
“Director Albert?”
“Give me a little more time, Director Albert!” Leonora called out loudly.
“There’s no more time. If you can’t persuade her, then give up.”
“The people from the kingdom will come looking for you this morning. By then, it will be too late.”
“What do you mean by ‘too late’?” Aurora asked, puzzled.