Red Upon Red

A sweet, cheerful voice, as innocent as if someone were raising their hand to answer a teacher's question in class, rang out from behind the crowd.

All the guests turned their heads away in unison.

A petite pink-haired girl stood outside the gate, dressed in a simple black dress, creating a stark and unsettling contrast with the red silk draped throughout the courtyard.

With that sweet smile on her face, she walked step by step into the main hall.

The crowd automatically parted to make way for her.

Whispers rose and fell.

"Miss Daswei House?"

"Didn't you just call off the engagement yesterday?"

What does it mean that she's dressed all in black?

I think I can smell bloodshed.

"I smell it too."

What do you smell?

"The taste of a knife."

"Hiss..."

Kexi stepped forward, blocking Aemeath's path.

"Danika, today is my big day, don't be silly."

"Nonsense?" Danika tilted her head, a gesture as cute as a kitten looking at someone with its head tilted. "Brother Kexi, I'm not being silly. I just have a question I want to ask—do you really love her?"

Kexi replied decisively, "Of course."

Upon hearing this answer...

Danika smiled.

That smile was completely different from the calm and dignified one she had shown when she called off the engagement yesterday; it was an almost pathological smile.

"Then I'll make your love come back to me, hee hee."

Kexi suddenly had a bad feeling.

The next second, she moved her hand.

No one saw how she moved.

Her petite figure seemed to merge into the air itself, then re-emerge before Aemeath.

Then, that delicate, white hand silently slipped into Aemeath's left breast.

Fresh blood splattered on the white wedding dress.

Crimson liquid splattered onto Danika's black skirt.

It splashed onto Kexi's frozen face.

It splashed onto Yaoyue's elegant cheongsam.

The splattered paint on the red carpet turned the crimson into a deeper, more glaring color.

"Aemeath--!"

Kexi's voice sounded as if something was forcibly torn out of her throat.

He caught Aemeath's body as she fell backward; her veil slipped to the ground, revealing her face, which had instantly lost all color due to excruciating pain.

Her golden eyes were wide open as she stared at his face. Her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a sound.

Blood gushed from the wound on her chest and seeped through Kexi's fingers, and she couldn't stop it.

No one had time to react.

The change happened too fast; from Danika raising her hand to Aemeath collapsing, it was only a few breaths' time.

Danika looked at her blood-stained fingers, licked them lightly with the tip of her tongue, then looked up at Kexi, who was kneeling on the ground holding Aemeath, her lips still bearing that sweet smile.

"Brother Kexi, the person you love is gone. Now, you can stay by my side forever in peace."

She raised her hand, and a beam of light shot from her fingertips, heading straight for Kexi's brow.

Startled, Kexi rolled to the side while holding Aemeath's body. The light grazed his ear and struck Yaoyue behind him.

Yaoyue's body froze for a moment, then began to shrink, and a delicate rag doll fell silently to the ground.

"Oops, I missed." Danika looked around, her pupils reflecting the red silks filling the courtyard and the terrified guests, her smile growing even sweeter.

Cioccolata had already broken through the crowd.

She twirled the short gun, which glowed green all over, in her palm, then pointed the muzzle at Danika's head.

Without a word, she pulled the trigger.

The green bullet burst from the barrel, accompanied by a resonant hum, aimed straight for Danika's nape.

Without turning her head, Danika raised one hand, and a claw flew out from her palm, colliding with the bullet in mid-air.

Green and red light exploded simultaneously, and the shockwave overturned several nearby tables.

Cioccolata was jolted back two steps, her heels scraping two white marks on the stone pavement, but she didn't stop—the second and third shots were fired in quick succession, each aimed at a different angle, the green bullet trajectories weaving a net in the air.

Danika finally turned around, tilted her head to look at Cioccolata, and gave him a "you're interesting" look.

She swung her hand back, and a beam of light several times thicker than before burst forth from her palm.

Cioccolata dodged to the side, and the beam of light struck several Montelli guards behind her.

The five people turned into five rag dolls, clattering to the ground. The guns in their hands remained in the aiming position, but the triggers could no longer be pulled.

Carlotta led the remaining guards out of the side hall.

The pistol in her hand was even longer than Cioccolata's gun. Without saying a word or asking any questions, she raised her gun and fired.

The bullet, with a sharp whistling sound, aimed straight for Danika's forehead.

Danika dodged to the side, the bullet grazing her hair and severing a strand of pink hair.

She reached out, her five fingers grasping at the air, and a claw flew out and wrapped around Carlotta's wrist.

Without hesitation, Carlotta drew a spare gun with her left hand and fired three shots—the claws shattered instantly. As she broke free, she fired several more shots at Danika, each one aimed precisely at a vital spot.

Danika casually waved her hand, her claws protecting her and deflecting all the bullets.

Kexi knelt on the ground, holding Aemeath's gradually cooling body in her arms.

The blood was still flowing from her chest, but it was flowing slower and slower, just like her breathing, becoming less and less.

Her golden eyes were still slightly open, looking at his face, the light in her pupils gradually fading.

"Aemeath... Aemeath, don't sleep..." His voice trembled, and his whole body shook.

Everything around me turned into a blurry mass of background noise.

The sounds of gunfire in the Cioccolata, Carlotta's roar, the guards' screams, and Danika's silvery laughter all blended together, as if separated by a thick layer of water.

The only thing he could feel was that the warmth of the person in his arms was slowly slipping away.

Aemeath's lips moved slightly.

Kexi quickly put her ear to her lips and heard the few words she squeezed out with her last bit of strength.

"... I haven't... killed you yet... you're not allowed to... die..."

Then she closed her eyes.

Kexi knelt on the blood-soaked red carpet, holding in her arms a person who would never open their eyes again.

Danika stood amidst the rag dolls and bloodstains, looking down at Kexi's retreating figure, her face bearing that same sweet smile as always.

"Brother Kexi, look, no one can take you away now. You will come back. Your love will return to me, you will become my doll, and stay with me forever and ever, hee hee."

Cioccolata rushed to Carlotta's side.

The Montelli foyer, which had just been brightly lit and filled with joy, was transformed into a living hell in a short span of time.

The floor was littered with rag dolls, dressed as guards, maids, and guests.

They were all from the Montelli.

She gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger again.