Isolde Eldridge was currently inside her and her husband's bedroom within the Eldridge manor, awaiting her husband Cooper's return with a deeply furrowed brow.
Her auburn hair fell in gentle waves down her back, held loosely by an elegant gold-laced circlet. Her dark brown eyes, once vibrant, now reflected a solemn expression, with deep anxiety coiling within her.
The room was completely silent and filled with the current sole owner's agitation.
It had already been more than a day since her husband Cooper and nephew Jack left for the Southeast forest to capture the two orphanage girls.
Initially, Isolde was calm and not worried at all and had full trust in her husband's capabilities.
Even if he was delayed beyond the estimated time, as a Rank 1 Warrior, who within that forest could be any threat to him? Even the worst beast in that forest could only run away with its tail tucked under his mighty presence.
Isolde was completely at ease and had no worries—but that was until this evening, when she received news of the two orphanage girls' safe return, along with that parentless bastard, Eric.
Isolde had never personally seen Eric or the two orphanage girls, but she held an enormous hatred and grudge against all three of them, especially Eric, as he was the reason Cooper had lost his right wrist.
Thankfully, back then, Jarvis's arrival and pleading had saved Cooper. Otherwise, her husband might have already perished unjustly.
The hatred Isolde held toward the entire orphanage was, in fact, far greater than what Cooper or the entire Eldridge family harbored. She had sworn that after the old witch died, she would use all her resources and connections to bring hell upon the orphanage.
She would make such a hell out of that place that no workers would ever dare to work there or take care of any children.
She cared little for all the homeless rats who would suffer there.
But even after the three orphaned kids returned, Cooper and Jack did not.
Isolde was patient and quietly waited, and before she knew it, midnight had already passed.
By now, most townsfolk should have long gone to sleep, and Cooper and Jack no longer needed to worry about witnesses, so they should have returned home by now—even if the mission had failed.
Yet even after waiting for so long, neither of them had returned, nor had they tried to contact her by any means.
The longer this went on, the higher Isolde's anxiety grew.
She had already sent some of the manor guards to check the forest. It had been hours since then, and no news had been sent back. In other words, they still hadn't found Cooper or Jack.
Isolde was full of worry. She had had a bad premonition ever since the orphanage brats returned to town. It sounded absurd to her, and she had wanted to dismiss it, but it only made her feel even more anxious and panicked.
If not for that old witch still being alive, she would have barged into the orphanage, ordered her guards to drag those homeless kids out, interrogated them, and then executed all three on the streets. Sadly, she could not do so at this moment.
After so much worrying, there was finally a knock on her door.
It was already past 2 AM, and no one should disturb her unless it was truly important—news about Cooper or, perhaps... Cooper himself had returned!
With a heart full of anticipation and excitement, Isolde quickly reached for the door while adjusting her luxurious gown along the way.
As soon as Isolde opened the door, she was startled.
A giant girl—even taller than Cooper and more than two feet taller than her—stood right in front of the door, looking down at her, with pity?
Height aside, the woman was an absolute beauty with an extremely alluring figure, to the point that Isolde felt no other woman could come close to such perfection.
Isolde stood there, dazed. She felt she must be hallucinating...
How could such a huge woman suddenly appear before her out of nowhere? Nor would any guards have allowed this person to reach this far into the mansion. They would have at least made noise—but it was completely silent outside.
As Isolde remained lost in confusion, the long-haired beauty leaned slightly forward to pass through the doorframe and then walked inside the room.
Isolde was helplessly pushed backward, lacking even the strength to resist. The woman was otherworldly, radiating an aura that made disobedience—even mentally—unthinkable.
By the time Isolde regained her senses, she was already inside her room, and the enchanting woman had closed the door behind her.
Suddenly, Isolde panicked, sensing her life might be in danger. This woman must not have arrived with good intentions!
At that moment, her memory sharpened, recalling where she had heard of such a tall, beautiful girl in town.
As soon as Isolde remembered, she shrieked with extreme hatred: "What the hell are you doing in my room and inside our manor, girl? How dare you barge in?! Seems your orphanage and its parentless children have grown bold. Just wait—I'll have the guards drag you out and teach you all a harsh lesson!"
Isolde would not normally have lost her composure like this—she had been raised to act with dignity and calmness in any situation—but her heart was pounding erratically, as if she were in mortal danger, preventing her from judging the situation rationally.
Otherwise, she might have considered that Jack had already enslaved these girls and sent Livy to deliver news about Cooper.
Isolde quickly noticed the strangeness of the situation: no guards arrived despite her loud scream, nor did they even inquire what was wrong.
Though the door was closed, the window behind her was open—so the guards below should have heard. Yet not a single response came, as if they had all fallen asleep or vanished silently...
The more Isolde thought, the more panic swelled inside her.
Gazing at the tall beauty, she somewhat understood Jack's infatuation. She even felt a pang of jealousy—but all such emotions were crushed under the weight of terror, as if she stood before a predator seconds from ending her life.
Isolde couldn't fathom why she felt this way—in over 30 years of life, she had never experienced such dread. Her body weakened and numbed, as if her strength was draining away.
She despised this feeling—yet her body refused to move, as if it had rusted like century-old iron.
'Cooper, save me... Where are you...? Are you safe...? Please help me...'
Isolde wept silently in her heart.
The tall girl's gaze suddenly shifted from pity to cold indifference, which further terrified Isolde to her core.
She watched as the girl slowly raised her left hand toward her head—and then felt her entire skull seized in that palm.
She then heard the woman speak apathetically, and those words shattered her completely:
"Cooper is dead, and so is Jack. I will now send you to them."
CRACK.
Before Isolde could react, her vision shifted from the tall woman to the bed she had meticulously prepared for Cooper's return.
Understanding dawned upon her, but by then... she had already lost her life.
Like a flower plucked from a tree, Isolde collapsed silently onto the floor.
She died "peacefully"—except her head was twisted 180 degrees backward.
Livy watched the woman—who had just been threatening the orphanage—fall lifelessly without another sound.
That venomous tongue had been silenced so smoothly that Livy suddenly grasped how fragile life truly was.
She stood there, dazed, before releasing a long, weary sigh.
She wondered if she had completed her mission perfectly.
She turned and left the room.
Outside, Eric leaned against the wall, Lyria standing quietly beside him.
Gazing at Eric, Livy tried her best to smile, but anyone could tell it was forced. She wasn't feeling well after killing someone with her own hands for the first time.
"T-that woman... she had bad intentions toward the orphanage. I-I see now why Brother Eric wanted her dead."
She attempted small talk to lift her spirits, but the reality of extinguishing a life—one moment breathing, speaking, existing, the next gone forever—left a bitter taste.
Worse, Eric had forbidden her from using any weapon during this mission. So, aside from using her fingers as a knife and targeting vitals, all Livy could do was twist the target's neck. It was the quickest and cleanest option, as she didn't want any blood splatter on her.
Because of this, the act of killing impacted her far more deeply than if she had used a blade.
Eric smiled to ease Livy's distress, but his tone remained indifferent.
"I did indeed want to kill Isolde because she would inevitably create trouble for the orphanage. More than that, I want both of you to learn that when you kill someone—however vile they may be—understand this: they might have someone who loved them, or someone who saw them as a parent, children, or whatever."
"If possible, wipe them all out without hesitation, including children. If you show mercy, then that's just inviting trouble for yourself and your loved ones. Those alive can also only live in hell until they somehow successfully harm you in some way to satisfy themselves."
"So, it is best to remove them all from this physical coil. Of course, it may not be practical all the time, but be aware that this can bring trouble in ways you may never imagine."
With that, Eric calmly pushed off the wall and walked away.
He was satisfied with Livy's performance, though she would likely feel terrible for days. Hopefully, she'd recover after seeing the beauty of the heart-shaped island.
Unlike Lyria, who was a lot more stable and could judge things calmly and decisively with her choices, Livy was a bit more indecisive on such matters. Eric wished to change that about her. Previously, it wouldn't have mattered, but now that Livy had become his companion, he didn't want either of them to be indecisive.
Once one decides to take any action, that person should follow through thoroughly.
Hesitation was the worst crime—especially after one had already decided on something—as it would only bring pointless, prolonged suffering and confusion to all sides.
Do it or don't; nothing should be in between.
In this murder, Eric didn't really care about leaving clues or not, as he in fact wanted someone to seek him out by morning. The current mission requirement he'd pushed upon Livy was just to give her hands-on experience.
'Sigh... If only Stuart were here, everything could be completed without such a roundabout way of doing.'
Eric shook his head and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Lyria and Livy to return to the orphanage themselves.