In the empty hall, Viktor sat alone in a chair, lifting his teacup and taking a sip of the steaming tea from time to time.
Vega lay draped over his shoulder, eyes closed, drowsy and about to fall asleep.
Vanilla stood quietly to the side, a gentle smile on her face.
It was already very late, yet none of them had left, as if they were waiting for something.
The crow seemed to be trying hard to keep itself from falling asleep, occasionally struggling unconsciously to tidy its wings, occasionally lifting its head.
After a while, Aurelian returned alone.
The pallor on her face had not faded. As she walked, her body swayed slightly, looking exhausted and weak.
Vanilla hurried forward and supported Aurelian as she walked over.
Only when she reached Viktor did Aurelian weakly greet him.
"Teacher."
Seeing Aurelian arrive, Viktor put down the teacup in his hand.
"How do you feel?"
Aurelian forced a faint smile and pointed to her chest.
"A little uncomfortable."
She had thought that coming here to pay respects to the mother she had never met wouldn't make her feel much.
But only after experiencing it did she understand.
In her heart, there was still a heavy, stifling feeling pressing down.
But compared to the discomfort of seeing her mother, what she found even harder to accept was her mother's inexplicable cause of death.
Why was it that even though her father was so powerful, he still couldn't protect her mother?
Aurelian felt a trace of fear.
Just like her father had told her.
No one could protect her forever.
Then what about her teacher?
Aurelian thought again about what had happened in the underground prison.
Teacher Viktor had disappeared again.
Even though she knew clearly that it was a test from her teacher, hoping she could grow through danger.
But if one day, she really encountered a terrifying monster she absolutely couldn't defeat, at that time, no one would be able to protect her, just like her mother.
Fragile, helpless.
Aurelian placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating strongly.
Her father would one day pass away, and in the future, Teacher Viktor would also leave her.
Aurelian lifted her head, looking at Viktor with a faint heat in her eyes.
'One day, would I also become...'
'Left with nothing?'
———
In the end, Aurelian returned listlessly.
Vanilla supported her back.
Before leaving, Vanilla helped her sit on the bed, then bowed slightly to her.
"Your Highness, I will be nearby."
"If you need anything, please call for me."
After saying that, she pushed open the door and left, giving Aurelian a spacious room to herself.
After Vanilla left, Aurelian tilted her head back and lay down.
She just looked at the ceiling, observing everything around her.
In the end, Aurelian finally understood.
This had once been her mother's warm room.
No wonder, even though she had come to such a strange place, only this room made her feel warmth and peace.
Turning her head, she saw that old doll, mended over the years.
So Aurelian reached out and took it.
Suddenly, a sharp cold wind blew open the curtains.
The pale pink curtains brushed across Aurelian's face. The cold wind slipped through the window gap, lightly passing over her long eyelashes.
Aurelian lifted her head and suddenly sat up.
But at that moment, behind her, she felt an invisible, deep embrace.
The surroundings seemed to slowly shift before her eyes. Time seemed to stretch out, like a river gradually freezing in winter.
The lifted curtain did not fall in her sight. Instead, it slowly curled in midair at a sluggish pace.
The sound of the curtain flapping never came. Silence wrapped around her.
Even her heartbeat seemed to slow slightly because of it.
When she came back to her senses, everything in the room returned to normal.
The sound of the wind faded, and the curtain gently fell.
As if nothing had happened.
But in the instant she lowered her head, the doll in her hand had vanished.
In its place was a crystal necklace.
At the end of the necklace was set a sapphire as deep as the ocean. Under the light, it seemed as if ripples of seawater flowed within it.
She tried to raise her right hand to touch the suddenly appearing gem.
But she suddenly noticed that the scar on her right wrist had disappeared without a trace.
It had returned to its usual fair, smooth skin.
Along with it, the pain had also completely vanished.
She didn't understand, but she still gently reached out to touch the gem.
On the back of the necklace, there were fine engraved words.
Aurelian carefully made them out and couldn't help reading them aloud, "My child..."
"You will shine as brightly as this gem."
Suddenly, the wind surged out of the room.
The window was closed again.
Aurelian felt a sudden daze in her heart, and a sense of loss swept through her body.
"Huh?"
Before she knew it, a clear tear slid down from the corner of her eye.
Drip!
The tear fell onto the sapphire of the necklace, shimmering with a faint light.
The surroundings were utterly silent. Aurelian sat blankly at the edge of the bed, letting the tear marks remain on her cheeks.
———
In the empty living room, only Viktor remained.
He stood up again and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Even though it wasn't yet the season, snowflakes had begun to drift outside.
Perhaps thinking of the heated look in Aurelian's eyes before she left, he spoke to Vega, "Vega."
"Earlier, did you want to help Aurelian?"
When Viktor said that, Vega instantly lost all drowsiness, stretched its neck, and looked at him.
"I did have that intention. Why?"
"How did she respond to you?"
Hearing Viktor's question, Vega immediately perked up, flapping its black wings, its beak opening wide.
"Heavens, you're talking about that?"
"Do you know, she rejected me."
———
That was deep within Guanta Prison, in the place of Spirit Reliant Stars.
Aurelian crouched halfway on the golden sand, watching piles of white bones rise up and then slowly fall back down.
At that moment, the ghostly green magic light had already weakened. It could not last much longer and was about to dissipate.
At that time, Aurelian's heart was filled with endless confusion and helplessness.
She couldn't control the demon dragon, which meant she couldn't pass the test set by Teacher Viktor, and might even drag down Priscilla, who was facing an enemy attack.
The struggle in her heart pushed her into an unprecedented anxiety.
Right at that moment, a hoarse voice echoed in the depths of her mind.
She felt a deep, mysterious single eye gazing at her from the depths of her heart.
Along with ghostly, tempting voices sounding from all directions, 'Do you need my help?'
'I can grant you a great deal of magic power, and you won't need to pay any price.'
Aurelian heard that tempting voice, and a realization flashed through her mind.
"Magic power…"
Just as that strange voice in her heart had said.
There was only one reason she couldn't revive this fifth-tier demon dragon.
Her magic power wasn't enough.
Although as a necromancer she didn't rely too heavily on magic reserves, that was based on summoning undead from the domain of the dead.
And Aurelian didn't even have such a domain.
What she could do was only summon undead that existed in the real world.
That required a massive amount of magic power to support.
While Aurelian was still hesitating, the voice in her heart spoke again, 'Trust me. You won't need to pay any price.'
Hearing this, Aurelian's eyes became a little unfocused.
"Power…"
Sure enough, she was still too weak.
The deep single eye in her heart stared at her intently.
Its abyss-like dark tentacles kept extending.
It was as if, the moment she accepted the temptation, she would be tightly seized by those tentacles and dragged bit by bit into the depths of the abyss.
But…
"I refuse."
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The voice in her heart stopped abruptly, replaced by heavy heartbeats echoing one after another.
Vast magical energy surged instantly within Aurelian's body.
Like a giant beast awakening from the depths of the sea, lifting countless waves before they crashed back down.
Although Aurelian was only second-tier, her magic reserves might rival that of a third-tier mage.
But even if she were third-tier, insufficient magic power still made it impossible to revive a demon dragon.
So Aurelian took out the magic potions from her clothes.
As her magic dissipated, she poured them into her mouth frantically.
Soon, the ground was left with countless empty glass bottles.
The demon dragon's corpse showed faint reactions, but the magic was still like a fragile candle flame, flickering unsteadily.
It still wasn't enough.
But it was obvious she didn't want all her efforts to go to waste.
So Aurelian gritted her teeth and suddenly drew the longsword from her waist.
The blade rested against her right wrist.
Cold sweat had already begun to form in her palm, and her hand trembled uncontrollably.
Yet the sword seemed frozen in place, unable to cut down.
And the illusory voice in her heart seemed to grow anxious, trying to persuade her again, 'You only need to agree to me. Why go this far?'
"I already said, I don't need it."
The voice's persuasion didn't shake Aurelian's resolve. Instead, it made her determination even firmer.
"My teacher told me, I possess the greatest talent in this world."
She took a deep breath.
"I'm willing to believe him."
[First-tier magic: Self Suggestion]
At that moment, a glint flashed through Aurelian's eyes.
She clenched her teeth, and the longsword in her hand cut across her wrist like lightning.
Slash!
Her blood burst out, scalding hot like boiling water.
The sharp pain brought by the blade made Aurelian collapse to the ground, unable to suppress it.
She could no longer hold the sword and could only throw it aside.
Although she had imposed a firm self-harm suggestion on herself, it couldn't completely block out the stabbing pain.
But it didn't matter. As long as she gave herself the suggestion, she could forget it all.
Blood continuously flowed from the wound, and the feeling in her wrist gradually became numb.
Yet the magic power flowing again inside her body filled Aurelian with surprise.
She took out the crimson potion hidden in her clothes.
And this, too, was given to her by Teacher Viktor.
Its effect was the same as that miraculous magic potion.
The wound on her right hand quickly disappeared, and her vitality was replenished.
But the required magic power was still not enough.
She kept drinking the scarlet potion, feeling life surge back into her body.
Cutting her wrist, exchanging blood for magic power.
Over and over again.
———
"In the end, as you saw, that demon dragon was successfully enslaved by her."
Vega spoke with a trace of emotion, as if reminiscing about what happened at the bottom of Guanta Prison.
A second-tier body enslaving a fifth-tier undead demon dragon.
If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe such a thing.
It seemed the Sol family's bloodline was more abnormal with each generation.
Vega fell silent for a while, as if hinting at something, then spoke again, "She didn't even blink when she cut herself. I really can't imagine what could make her cry."
"Yes."
Viktor looked out the window with a trace of emotion.
The falling snow seemed to be constantly changing.
"Madam, did you hear?"
"Your child is far stronger and far more dazzling than you imagined."
"So there's no need to worry..."
The snowflakes drifted, gradually forming into the shape of a woman.
With a smile that couldn't be seen clearly, and with final relief, she gently bowed toward Viktor and Vega.
Until the snow scattered with the wind, dispersing her form.
And taking away the last trace of her presence left in the human world.
"She won't cry again."