"W... why?!"
The temperature in the basement dropped again!
Jasmine's voice was no longer ethereal. It had grown hoarse and low, filled with malice that was still taking shape.
Intense resentment poured wildly from her spirit, forming a black mist visible to the naked eye.
"Whenever she casually mentioned missing the dry climate of the royal capital, Father would spend a fortune to have a temperature-regulating magic array set up here!"
"Even when the manor's finances were strained, Father never once let the caravans run out of the pastries she used to eat in the royal capital!"
"He did all that just to make her happy... How could she... Why would she do this?!"
Seeing that Jasmine's spirit seemed to be changing in some uncontrollable way, Loris hurried forward and shouted, "Calm down, Miss Jasmine! Don't let hatred consume your mind!"
But Jasmine seemed not to hear him. No matter what Loris said, she kept repeating, "Hate... Father died because of me... I want revenge."
"This is bad! By the Holy Light, this evil transformation is happening right before my eyes!" Loris watched as the resentment around Jasmine grew stronger, his voice tinged with frustration at his plans being disrupted. "A true knight does need powerful evil to prove his glory... but never through such... such a tragedy-inducing process! This is a desecration of the sacred rite of ascension, an insult to my path as a knight of the Esteemed Loris!"
He Xi ignored the melodramatic knight beside him. He understood that unless Jasmine could resolve this knot in her heart, her transformation would be irreversible.
"Hate won't solve anything. Helena won't suffer just because you hate her."
"The Shadow Baron always lived by the principles of love and forgiveness. Look at yourself now—is this really what your father would