A streak of red light flashed through the air.
Amid the wind whipping snow into flight, a sharp, sinister laugh pierced the desolate night sky and reached everyone's ears.
Descending with that laughter was a black shadow whose features could not be made out. She landed atop a tall tree within the manor, several dozen meters away.
By moonlight, they could see that the shadow wore a magnificent long gown upon the snow-covered tree. Dots of deep crimson covered the dress, like splattered blood.
Though her face could not be seen clearly, the red light from before had gleamed from her eyes, dazzlingly bright in the dark, snowy night.
"It's her, no mistake! She's Lady Yurika!" Jin Cancan's eyes were filled with terror, and her voice trembled visibly. "Just as Lord Viscount said, danger appears once night falls!"
Jin Cancan was terrified. She wanted to tell Angel to step back, but when she looked up, she saw Angel and Sanders speaking in low voices, neither of them appearing afraid.
Jin Cancan opened her mouth, intending to say something, but after glancing at Sanders's calm, unruffled expression, she ultimately swallowed her words.
Instead, the strange person in a White Bear mascot costume, whom Jin Cancan had been ignoring all along, suddenly asked her, "Is the Lady Yurika you mentioned Yurika, the 'Bloodstained Shadowthorn'?"
Jin Cancan turned to White Bear. She noticed that his gaze was strange, as though he were suppressing some emotion.
Jin Cancan shook her head. "I don't know who your 'Bloodstained Shadowthorn' is."
White Bear was about to ask something else when a shout suddenly came from afar.
"Angel? Angel is back? Damn it, don't come in! Hurry back to Gelu Town—don't step into the sealing circle!"
Following the voice, everyone looked over and saw an armored figure