Whispers Hidden in the Night (10)

When—!

As Leiber was torn from Shirey's body, a building somewhere in Starshine—a white stone building with tall pillars supporting its corners and flower vines climbing its walls—was one of Starshine's girls' dormitories.

One of its rooms was in utter disarray. The window stood wide open, white curtains billowing in the wind, and experimental equipment lay scattered across the floor. A woman had been knocked into a corner. She struggled to lift her head and look at the intruder, blood spilling from her mouth.

"Ed... what do you mean by this?" The woman was Christie. Confused, she spoke and tried to reach out.

The intruder, Ed Ansendil, wore his favorite dark blue coat. His azure eyes had turned deep blue, and his usually extraordinary bearing now seemed cold and merciless.

Crack!

"Ugh..." Ed stamped on the hand Christie had tried to reach out with, and all she could do was let out a pained cry.

"Don't try anything. Being able to raise Leiber is a very useful ability, but you must have lost your breeding ground by now, right?" Ed said slowly, his elegant voice delivering the cruel truth. Christie shuddered and looked up at him in disbelief.

"No... impossible... Shirey..." Christie sounded less like she was questioning Ed and more like she was muttering to herself, unable to accept the truth.

Ed lifted his foot and turned around, his gaze sweeping over the room and the Leiber wriggling in hiding behind the wardrobe, makeup box, and books.

"Don't worry. Your friend wasn't the one who told the teacher—she's a coward. Otherwise, how could you have controlled her with your ability?" Ed said. "But what are you going to do now? Raising Leiber on a fellow mage is a serious violation..."

Christie's face went pale. She was no longer thinking about how to fight back against Ed, but about how to escape blame... and even punishment!

Knock! Knock-knock!

"Is Ms. Christie inside?" The door was pounded hard. At the sound, Christie jolted and began to tremble.

"No... why so soon..." Christie clutched her head, as if she had never imagined things would end this way... She was terrified of what would happen next. Where would they take her? No, that didn't matter. She hadn't finished what she needed to do yet... The thought deepened her fear. She looked around, trying to find a way to escape.

How could she possibly escape? Even if she got out of the dorm, she couldn't get out of the Gray Walls.

What should she do... What could she do...

"Ms. Christie? Please answer!" The knocking outside grew louder. At the sound, Christie immediately shrank back.

"Christie Henried," Ed suddenly said.

Christie froze and stared at him in terror. "How could you... how could you know..."

"Your family placed its hopes for a revival on you. In a moment of desperation, you really..." Ed didn't turn around. He stood by the window, looking out into the darkness. "If you're so worried about Starshine discovering your background, why come here at all... Oh, perhaps the students here are easier to control? But did you ever think about what would happen when everything came to light?"

Christie trembled uncontrollably. She looked at the person who was still young enough to be called a boy, her heart filled with shock and regret. Why had she ever looked down on Ed?

"Christie?! Open the door at once!" The voice outside grew more hostile.

"Your Highness Ed!" Christie gritted her teeth and struggled to move forward. She had hurt her foot in the fight, so all she could do was crawl. She tried to grab the hem of his coat. "Please help me... I have nowhere else to go... If they find out I'm from the Henried Family... I'll surely die..."

Ed didn't look at her. He turned toward the door and calmly evaded her hand. The gesture made her face even paler, like a drowning ghost.

"Your Highness Ed, I'm begging you... I'll do anything you ask... Just don't let me fall into Willondon's hands..." Tears rolled from Christie's eyes, making her look utterly pitiful.

Ed's hand slowly settled on the doorknob. The corner of his mouth curved into an elegant smile. He turned to look at Christie as if she were a dancer, not a girl with nowhere left to turn. "Help you? Of course I can, but..."

"I'll do anything!" Christie said urgently, sensing hope.

Ed's smile deepened.

People feared Rose Month because they feared the darkness. In a world where darkness churned, human terror was everywhere.

"It'll take a little more time to find the Sword in the Stone." When Fatenai returned to the room and saw Merlin, she spoke slowly.

As she said this, she unwound the bandage around her wrist. The bloodstain had vanished—it was another ability of the markings, the art of the master, which could heal any wound.

"Don't rush. You're not yet strong enough to draw the Sword in the Stone," Merlin said.

Fatenai fell silent. In her memories, there were many stories tied to advancement, and the tale of Arthur was only one of them. But how was she supposed to complete these things in different worlds? And where was Merlin, an unusual summoner, supposed to go from here?

If this could help the summoner stabilize, wouldn't that actually be a good thing?

Fatenai was thinking about this when she suddenly saw the markings on the back of her hand appear on their own. Then they lifted off her skin and began spinning rapidly.

"I will wait for you... until the moment you can draw the Sword in the Stone," Merlin said again. She watched as the markings gradually slowed their rotation. Then Fatenai noticed a new marking had appeared around them, and she looked up at Merlin.

Merlin's body slowly began to fade. He walked toward Fatenai, becoming fainter with each step. When he finally vanished from sight, he "dissolved" into her hand, turning into a blue gemstone.

It was just like the gemstone Hermes had left behind.

But its ability was different—Merlin seemed to have become a permanent summoner, one she could summon at any time with this blue gemstone. The stone Hermes had left behind could only change the color of her eyes.

Some summoners didn't leave behind stones. Or perhaps that was what the usual state was.

Holding the gemstone, Fatenai sighed. She wasn't discouraged by what had happened this time—such things existed everywhere: struggles for power.

She sighed softly, opened her hand, and the magical markings beneath her feet lit up.

No matter what, a new day would always come.