Chapter 28: Goodbye, Lorabelle

“Teacher… will she be okay?”

Avila’s heart ached as she looked at Aurora, now unconscious from pain in Beatrice’s arms.

She had brought her teacher here to find Aurora, but never imagined it would cause her such suffering—let alone that her teacher would force Aurora to become her familiar in such an extreme, painful way.

Aurora’s forehead was slick with sweat, and though she was already fast asleep, pain still twisted her features.

Crystalline tears clung to the corners of her eyes, never falling.

Seeing her like this made Avila feel even worse.

Her teacher still didn’t respond—only continued to gently stroke Aurora’s hair—so Avila nervously tried again, “Teacher, she…”

“Is that a question you should be asking?”

The cold voice cut her off like a blade.

A chill pierced Avila’s spine, and the rest of her words died in her throat.

“Avila, you seem very concerned about her.”

That cold voice came again, this time tinged with barely concealed anger.

“I… Miss Aurora is a good person—I mean, a good fairy.”

“I just didn’t want someone so kind to suffer like this.”

“Hmph. Avila, do you think kindness is a good thing?”

“Is… isn’t it?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Her so-called kindness only brings trouble to those around her. It brings misfortune to herself. These legs of mine—were ruined because of her senseless ‘kindness.’”

“Your legs… were ruined by her kindness? But why?”

“There’s no why. Let’s go.”

“Oh…”

Beatrice looked down at the slumbering Aurora.

She reached out and gently brushed the bruised side of Aurora’s face.

The last tear finally fell.

“Be a good girl and stay by my side forever, my Aurora.”

Then she turned to the orchid that had been hiding in the flowers nearby.

From her witch’s sleeve, she drew out a glowing, blue-luminescent flower and tossed it toward the creature.

“Take it. Your payment.”

“Th-thank you!”

Clutching the flower in its arms, the orchid darted away in a flash.

Beatrice mounted her broom, cradled Aurora in her arms, and prepared to return to the Academy of Magic.

Whoosh.

A longsword tore through the air, swinging straight at Aurora.

Just as the blade was about to reach Beatrice—barely a foot away—a diamond-shaped barrier materialized and deflected the strike.

“Who are you?”

Beatrice’s expression was icy as she looked at the red-haired woman before her.

Lorabelle held the holy sword, its radiant light steadily eating away at her body.

Her silver armor was covered in scratches, and sweat-soaked strands of hair clung to her forehead.

She panted heavily, clearly having rushed here in a great hurry.

A strong aura of resentment clung to her.

Tears filled her crimson eyes—tears so thick and dark they could be mistaken for blood as they fell.

“P-Princess Holy Knight?!”

“What now…?” Avila muttered, quickly slipping off to the side.

She could sense the thick tension between the two and knew better than to get in the way.

“What did you do to my sister… Answer me!”

Lorabelle raised her longsword and aimed it at Beatrice.

“Your sister?”

Beatrice’s brow twitched. Aurora never mentioned having such a sister.

True, long ago she had said she once had a younger sister—but she’d claimed she died a long time ago.

Did Aurora take on a new sister while Beatrice was gone?

That thought alone made her feel thoroughly irritated.

“Your sister is my familiar now. From this day forward, she has nothing more to do with you.”

“Give her back! Give her back! Give her back…!”

Lorabelle didn’t seem to register a word she said.

She just kept repeating those three words like a broken record.

Beatrice narrowed her eyes.

Something was clearly wrong—Lorabelle looked almost possessed, like a vengeful spirit had taken hold of her.

“Give my sister back!!”

With a sudden burst of fury, Lorabelle charged.

In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Beatrice.

The holy sword came crashing down, once again striking the barrier.

But this time, Lorabelle used every ounce of strength to keep her blade from bouncing off.

A terrifying force exploded from her body, reducing the trees and boulders nearby to dust in an instant.

The barrier cracked—inch by inch—its shimmering fragments vanishing into the air.

“Tch. Annoying.”

Crack!

With a sharp shatter, the barrier broke completely.

Lorabelle’s blade came down with deadly precision, slicing straight through Beatrice—

—only for her body to split cleanly into two without a single drop of blood being spilled.

“All that muscle and not a shred of finesse?”

“And they still call you a holy knight? Or maybe you’re not one at all.”

A mocking voice rang out from the air as the two halves of Beatrice’s body instantly turned into a puff of smoke and slowly dissipated.

Lorabelle looked up at the witch floating above, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

“I’m her sister! I’m not some holy knight!”

“Give her back—give my sister back!”

She kicked off the ground with force, shattering the earth beneath her feet.

With the sharp clash of armor ringing in the air, she leapt toward Beatrice once again.

Her longsword swung down at the witch, but the airborne Beatrice easily leaned back and avoided the blow with grace.

Every slash after that, Beatrice dodged with ease.

Lorabelle’s wild strikes looked less like battle and more like a tantrum—a furious child flailing about with a sword.

“I thought so. You’re not the true owner of that body, are you?”

“You don’t even know how to use basic magic. All you rely on is brute force. What are you—some ten-year-old ghost clinging to a corpse?”

Her words received no response. Lorabelle, consumed by rage and grief, could no longer hear anything.

Her mind was filled with only one thought—her sister.

“What a boring farce. Let’s end this quickly.”

Beatrice tightened her hold on Aurora with one arm, while raising the other high into the air.

A magic circle appeared in her palm, this one inscribed with different patterns—glowing a deep violet.

Her gaze turned cold as she stared down at Lorabelle.

She didn’t seem to care what consequences might follow if she killed the so-called holy knight here and now.

“Die.”

The violet magic circle rapidly expanded.

Accompanied by a violent gust of wind, a massive scorpion tail erupted from the array.

Dark purple and crackling with terrifying lightning, the giant tail arched in the air—then suddenly twisted and stabbed downward at Lorabelle.

With such a massive scorpion tail crashing down, there was no room to dodge.

She had no choice but to raise her sword and brace herself for the blow.

Boom!

The earth split open with a deafening crack.

Purple lightning burst from the fissure, flooding the forest with blinding violet light.

Beatrice didn’t bother to look at the chaos below.

All she wanted now was to take Aurora and leave—so she could finally make her tell her everything she had gone through these past years.

Crack—

Another thunderous crack echoed from the ground—Lorabelle, covered in blood, once again charged at her with a slash.

“Damn witch! Give my sister back!”

“Tch. Tough one, aren’t you.”

Dodging the blow with ease once more, Beatrice was ready to unleash a powerful spell to finish her off for good.

But just as she extended her right hand, a pair of pale, delicate hands grabbed it.

“Don’t… hurt her.”

Aurora had been awakened by the noise of the previous blast.

She looked at the bloodied Lorabelle, then at Beatrice, who was about to cast a spell, and immediately understood what had happened.

“Don’t hurt her?”

Apparently displeased by those words, Beatrice pinched Aurora’s cheek, glaring at her in frustration.

“You care about her that much?”

“She became like this because of me.”

“There are two personalities inside her. One is my sister… and the other is Crohn Lorabelle.”

“She ended up this way because of my curse. Please—I’m begging you, help her.”

“Help her? You want me to help someone who’s trying to kill me?”

“Aurora, you really are too kind. But why are you always so cold to me?”

“I… I beg you.”

Aurora gently picked up one of Beatrice’s hands and rubbed it against her own cheek like a cat trying to soothe its master.

“Pfft—hahaha! So you do know how to be sweet, huh?”

“Fine. I’ll help you. But first, I want to make sure she understands reality.”

“What reality?”

“The reality that you—Aurora—belong to me now.”

As she said this, she cupped Aurora’s face in her hands and, right in front of the fallen Lorabelle, kissed her forcefully.