Whispers Hidden in the Dark Night (10)

Clang—!

As Leiber was stripped from Shirey's body, a certain building within Starlight—a white stone structure with tall pillars supporting its corners, its walls covered in climbing vines—was a girls' dormitory in Starlight.

Inside one of the rooms, it was a mess. The window was wide open, white curtains dancing in the rushing wind, and various experimental equipment was scattered on the floor. A woman was knocked down in the corner, struggling to lift her head as she looked at the uninvited guest. Blood gushed from her mouth.

"Ed... what do you mean by this?" The woman, Christie, asked in confusion, trying to reach out her hand.

The uninvited guest, Ed Ansendil, wore his favorite dark blue coat. His azure eyes had turned deep blue, and his transcendent aura made him appear cold and ruthless.

Crack!

"Ngh..." Christie's outstretched hand was stepped on by Ed, and she could only utter a pained syllable.

"Don't try anything funny. While being able to raise Leiber is a rather useful ability, you must have already lost your breeding ground, haven't you?" Ed said slowly, his beautiful voice delivering a cruel truth. Christie trembled and looked up at him in disbelief.

"No... impossible... Shirey she..." Christie wasn't so much questioning Ed as she was muttering in disbelief at the facts.

Ed withdrew his foot and turned around, his gaze sweeping across the room, spotting the wriggling Leiber hidden behind wardrobes, makeup boxes, and books.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your friend who told the teacher—she's a coward, otherwise, how could you have controlled her with your ability?" Ed said. "But what will you do now? Raising Leiber with a fellow mage is a very serious violation of discipline..."

Christie's face was pale, her mind no longer focused on how to resist Ed, but on how to escape the accusation... or even the punishment!

Thump! Thump-thump!

"Is Ms. Christie in?" The door was knocked on forcefully. Christie flinched at the sound and began to tremble.

"No... why so soon..." Christie clutched her head, seemingly unable to anticipate this outcome... She feared what would happen next, where she would be taken? No, that wasn't important, she hadn't completed that task yet... Thinking of this, her fear deepened, and she immediately looked around, searching for a way to escape.

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

What to do... what should she do...

"Ms. Christie? Please respond!" The knocking on the door grew louder. Upon hearing it, Christie immediately retracted her head.

"Christie Henried." Ed suddenly said.

Christie froze, looking at Ed in terror: "How could you... how could you know..."

"Your family has placed their hopes for revival on you, which is truly... desperate." Ed didn't turn around, standing by the window and gazing out into the darkness. "Since you're so worried about your background being discovered by Starlight, why did you come to Starlight in the first place... Oh, perhaps it's because the foolish students here are easier to control? But have you ever considered what would happen when everything is exposed?"

Christie trembled incessantly. She looked at the person who could still only be called a youth, her heart filled with shock and regret. Why had she underestimated Ed before?

"Christie?! Open the door immediately!" The voice outside the door grew increasingly unfriendly.

"Your Highness Ed!" Christie gritted her teeth and pushed forward with all her might. Because of the fall during the earlier fight, her injured leg made her advance more like crawling—she wanted to grab his coat. "Please help me... I have nowhere else to go... If they discover I'm from Henried... I will surely die..."

Ed didn't look at her, turning instead towards the door and calmly avoiding her hand. This action made her face turn even paler, like a drowning ghost.

"Your Highness Ed, I beg you... I'll do anything you want... just don't let me fall into Willondon's hands..." Tears rolled down Christie's cheeks, making her look incredibly pitiful.

Ed's hand slowly fell onto the doorknob, the corner of his mouth curling into an elegant smile. He turned to look at Christie, his expression like that of a spectator watching a dancer, not a girl with no way out: "Help you? Of course, I can, but..."

"I'll do anything!" Christie felt a glimmer of hope and said eagerly.

Ed smiled even more deeply at her words.

People's fear of Rose Month stemmed from their fear of darkness; a world surging with darkness, filled with human panic.

=================================

"It will take a little more time to find the Sword in the Stone," Fatenai said as she returned to the room and saw Merlin.

As she spoke, she removed the bandage on her wrist. The bloody marks had disappeared—this was another ability from the patterns, a skill belonging to the Wielder, which could be used to heal all wounds.

"No need to rush. You are not yet capable of drawing the Sword in the Stone," Merlin said.

Fatenai fell silent. In her memory, there were many plot points obtained through advancement. The story of King Arthur was just one of them. But how to complete these things in different worlds—and where should Merlin, as an unusual summoner, go?

If the summoner could stabilize themselves through this, it would be a good thing, wouldn't it?

As Fatenai was contemplating this, she suddenly saw the patterns on her hand appear on their own. Then, they floated up, detaching from her hand, and began to spin at high speed.

"I will wait for you... until the moment you can draw the Sword in the Stone," Merlin said again. Then she saw the spinning speed of the patterns gradually slow down. Afterward, Fatenai noticed a new pattern appearing outside the original ones, and she looked up at Merlin.

Merlin's body slowly faded. He walked towards Fatenai step by step, becoming fainter with each stride. When he could no longer be seen, he "melted" into Fatenai's hand—transforming into a blue gem.

It was the same as the gem Hermes had left behind.

But the power was different—Merlin seemed to have become a permanent summoner, who would always be summoned by her through this blue gem, whereas the stone left by Hermes only allowed her to change her eye color.

There were also summoners who left no stones, or rather, that state was the norm.

Holding the gem, Fatenai sighed. She didn't feel discouraged by this event—no matter where it was, such things existed—struggle and competition.

With a slight sigh, Fatenai opened her hand, and the magic patterns beneath her feet lit up.

Regardless, a new day would always come.