Pain showed on Alice's face, but that was not the real problem. The hungry stray dogs had already surrounded her.
The poison had spread throughout her body. Her Magic Crest was repairing the damage, but it needed enough time.
Time was precisely what Alice lacked. Before long, she would die in the jaws of the stray dogs.
Instead, Alice grew calm. She began looking back on her life.
Her mother, her father, Aoko, and the man who had awakened the witch factor within her.
She felt a little regret. Why hadn't she been more insistent that night? Perhaps then she would not have been left with regrets.
In her daze, Alice seemed to see that man walking toward her with his arms spread wide.
Even the reaper from the underworld has come for me wearing his face. Perhaps death isn't so frightening after all. Alice gave a self-mocking smile.
The cold touch she had expected never came. Instead, she felt a warm embrace and magical energy steadily nourishing her body.
Alice said, "Am I dreaming? Then please, let this dream never end."
Yuan Shikai said, "Dreams always end, but you just have to dream again the next night. I don't mind you dreaming about me every night."
Alice said, "This isn't a dream!"
Yuan Shikai said, "Of course not. I wouldn't want my future wife to die so easily. We still have adorable little witches to bring into the world."
Only then did Alice realize that the man before her was no dying hallucination. He was really there, and the stray dogs around her had long since vanished.
Alice asked, "When did you get back?"
Yuan Shikai said, "A while ago. I've just been watching you from the shadows."
Alice said, "So when I-I was beaten this badly, and even