Chapter 29: Taking You Home

Their lips met in the next moment, accompanied by Beatrice’s gentle fragrance and her warm breath.

Aurora felt the oxygen being drawn from her little by little—her mind growing dizzy from the lack of air.

She tried to push Beatrice away with all her strength, but her body had gone limp, as though all power had been drained from her.

Even lifting her hands felt impossible.

She felt a sudden nip at the tip of her tongue, then their lips parted.

Beatrice gently tugged her tongue with her teeth, revealing the glowing purple familiar contract sigil upon it.

Beatrice cast a mocking gaze toward Lorabelle on the ground, as if to silently declare that Aurora now belonged to her—something she could toy with as she pleased.

Then, she pressed forward again, capturing Aurora’s lips in a deeper kiss, this one loud and even more seductive.

On the ground, Lorabelle watched this scene unfold.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Her hand trembled around the sword’s hilt as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Her mind was on the verge of collapse.

She opened her mouth, wanting to scream, but the crushing sadness in her heart smothered her voice, leaving only faint, broken sobs.

“No… don’t… Sister, don’t kiss her…”

“That place… it’s mine… That’s my sister…”

Sensing Lorabelle’s unraveling emotions, Beatrice only deepened the kiss further.

“Let go of my sister… Let her go!!”

At last, her voice tore from her throat.

Her grip on the sword tightened until blood seeped between her fingers.

A tremendous power burst from her body as she charged at Beatrice, who hovered in the air.

Barrier after barrier shattered beneath her blade.

The sword point thrust straight for Beatrice.

But Lorabelle’s strength was nothing but brute force, leaving her riddled with openings.

Just as the blade was about to reach Beatrice’s graceful brow, Lorabelle’s body suddenly froze mid-air.

A purple tentacle had appeared from behind without her noticing.

It effortlessly crushed her silver armor and burrowed inside, coiling tightly around her slender waist.

“I’ll kill you—I’ll—mmph!”

“So noisy.”

The tentacle clamped over Lorabelle’s mouth, silencing her completely.

“Heh, go on—take a good look at your sister like this.”

The tentacle dragged Lorabelle’s body closer.

Beatrice forcefully pulled Aurora into her arms and, right in front of Lorabelle, kissed her once again.

This time, at such a close distance, Lorabelle could see everything more clearly.

She even saw the tear slipping down from the corner of Aurora’s eye, falling drop by drop.

“Mm-mm!!”

She struggled in frustration, but the more she thrashed, the tighter the tentacle wound around her, squeezing the air from her lungs.

Her strength was draining rapidly.

Tears poured down like a river as Lorabelle felt her mental endurance reaching its absolute limit.

She was on the verge of completely losing her mind.

Pop.

Aurora, her brain foggy from oxygen deprivation, leaned weakly against Beatrice’s chest, gasping heavily for breath.

“We’ve played enough. Let’s wrap this up.”

Beatrice looked toward Lorabelle, who was still tightly bound by the tentacles, and her lips curled into a smug smile.

“I don’t smell any curse on you. Could it be…”

She raised a finger to Lorabelle’s forehead—then pressed down hard, drawing blood from between her brows.

“Mm-mm!!”

Lorabelle had long since run out of strength.

No matter how hard she struggled, it was useless.

She could only watch helplessly as Beatrice pierced her skin and drew out her blood.

Beatrice rubbed her fingertips together, smearing the blood between them.

Black vapors rose from it.

“The aura of forbidden magic… So that’s it.”

“A holy knight with forbidden magic in her body? How amusing.”

She had seen this magic before—in fact, she had created it.

Back when Aurora was still by her side, always calling her “sister this” and “sister that,” it had thoroughly annoyed her.

So she began researching a spell that could seal or erase certain memories.

After poring through countless books, she dissected over a hundred magical arrays and combined their runes in new ways—eventually creating a brand-new spell.

But its effects were entirely unknown.

It was, in every sense, a forbidden magic.

Beatrice hesitated for a long time and ultimately never used it on Aurora—she was too afraid Aurora might forget her completely.

In the end, she sold the forbidden spell to a foreign kingdom.

She never expected it to make its way back to the First Kingdom—nor that she would witness its results firsthand like this.

Seeing Lorabelle like this, Beatrice felt a quiet satisfaction in her heart—her decision back then had clearly been the right one.

If Aurora had ended up in this state… well, that might’ve been nice too?

Then again, maybe not.

What if Aurora only had feelings for this “sister” of hers?

“Stay still. I can turn you back to normal.”

The tentacles around Lorabelle tightened again.

Beatrice collected more of the blood from the center of her forehead and began carefully tracing symbols on her skin.

Before long, a vivid red magic circle appeared on Lorabelle’s brow.

“Beatrice, she… she’s going to be okay, right?”

Aurora had mostly regained consciousness.

Seeing Beatrice drawing runes over Lorabelle’s forehead, she couldn’t help but grow anxious.

Beatrice’s hand paused mid-symbol.

She shot a sideways glance at Aurora and said coldly, “What does it matter to me?”

She moved in closer, their faces nearly touching, her icy gaze locking onto Aurora’s eyes.

“Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook. You owe me—and once we’re back, I’ll be collecting every last debt.”

Her warm breath fell hot on Aurora’s face.

Beatrice’s bright red lips were now just a leaf’s width away.

“Mm-mm!!”

“Behave.”

The moment Beatrice uttered that frosty command, the red magic circle on Lorabelle’s forehead suddenly flared with blinding light—and she slumped into unconsciousness, completely enveloped by the tentacles.

A second later, all the tentacles withdrew back into the magical array.

Lorabelle fell from the air, crashing hard to the ground.

Aurora’s heart clenched, and she instinctively reached out to catch her—but the moment she pulled away from Beatrice, she was yanked violently back into her arms.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“She’s… she’s my sister…”

“She won’t die.”

If that girl had the strength to survive her attacks with nothing but her body, then a fall from a hundred meters wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

A red chain materialized in Beatrice’s hand, its other end already fastened tightly around Aurora’s delicate neck.

She gave it a small tug, and pain shot through Aurora’s entire body.

Aurora bit her lip to suppress any sound, though her body still trembled involuntarily.

“Let’s see where you try to run next, Aurora.”

Aurora didn’t dare meet her eyes.

She lowered her head, silent.

Beatrice summoned her broom and took off toward the east, dragging Aurora behind her.

She didn’t even glance back at her student, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.

“Where… where are we going?”

“Heh. Where else? I’m taking you home, Aurora.”