Dawn fell asleep as soon as the sun moved over head. We took four, no, almost five hours to knock one of us out. The room was in a mess, it was almost as if we had used love as a perfume in here.


    I stretched my hands above my head and slipped off the bed.


    After cleaning the ce, Dawn, and then myself, I changed into a ck tunic and white trousers. It was a fit that we had started making back in Apollon, so I quite liked it.


    "Hm, quill and paper," both flew over. I wrote a quick note for Dawn and ced it on the table next to her. I also changed her nkets so that she won''t be cold and stepped out of the house.


    This was my time for redemption. I had to make things up to everyone and as soon as I could. Thankfully, there wasn''t much problem here with Dawn, but there was someone else that I had to cate right away.


    As I stepped down the stairs, Titania spoke up.


    "Where to now?"


    When had she gone back into the brand? No, when did shee out?


    "Well, there''s someone we can only be open with right now when sses are on."


    It was still noon, I had more than enough time till the evening. But it was urgent.


    "Who?" Titania.


    "Maria, of course."


    "Oh…"


    I soon found the bridge. Should I take something for her? I probably should.


    "Uh, Eugy…"


    "What is it?" I asked.


    "I… took a peek once… you should probably skip this one…"


    I stopped in my tracks.


    Skip?


    Skip this one?


    I felt a strange sense of foreboding crawling up my back at her words. Taking in a deep breath, I decided to just give her some of my loot as a gift and rushed toward the ind that housed the unaffiliated first years.


    "Worst case, I''ll hand over Catene."


    —Whirrr!


    Shut up chains. You get no say in this.


    At the southern corner of the ind, from the spot the overlooked the beach below and the beautiful shores near the Poseidon academy, I found the two-story building with a doorway arch full of lilies and Sophia roses.


    This was probably the room of those two.


    "Eugy, turn away. Seriously, turn away. I have a very bad feeling."


    I couldn''t. I truly couldn''t.


    It was better to be cautious. I slowly circled around the back of the building. Past the edges of the city and its streets and into a slightly wild part ofnd were flowers and leaves grew on their own.


    As soon as I stepped back, the white walls of the house seemed to have turned dark. The flowers behind every building, their vines adorning the windows and its sills, and their aroma sending appreciation for life was nowpletely shriveled up and dead, to a degree that would make the old trees back in hell look like toddlers brimming with energy.


    "What in the world…"


    "I told you. Run. Run right now."


    The bad feeling caught up to me too and the sense of foreboding choked down on my neck.


    Right then, a soft thud resounded.


    Followed by a groan. Like thest calls of a being next to death. It was as feeble and soft as the sound I would expect an ant to make before being crushed under an elephant''s legs.


    "What was that?"


    "I don''t know! Just skip it, please!"


    Evil queen much? Just what had she seen in there?


    I heard the groan again.


    It sounded like it came from the floor above. That should be where Sophia was boarding. I was certain that the rooms here were divided inside, so both the aide and the student lived in the same ce yet in different quarters.


    It was necessary to take a look.


    I hid as much of my presence as I could and climbed the closest tree with a hop. I tried to peek into the windows of the second floor, but the coiling dead flowers made it impossible to look through.


    I took in a deep breath and hopped over.


    My hands grabbed the window pane before I set myself up on it. The windows were…


    "Not locked."


    I slipped inside the room, and immediately, the sight of a dozen different clothes and books filled my sight. From books on magic and research to ball gowns and sleepwear, even delicates were syed around like anybody''s business.


    "So this is Miss Sophia''s room, I''ll be trespassing for a bit."


    I closed my eyes and focused on the sound again.


    The groans. The groans like the screeching of the abyss itself. They continued.


    I rushed outside the door, not making the faintest sound, and looked over at the next.


    Tapping twice there was no answer, but the groans remained.


    "Shit, I''m knocking this down."


    I said, but it broke apart with a simple tap.


    What the hell, who made weak shit like this… ah, right, I was the strong one hahahaha.


    No time.


    I rushed inside the room. As the door open and the sunlight fell over to the room, my eyes fell on the locks of brown hair on the ground. Beyond it were the fleeting sight of fingers that hid behind the bed.


    "H-hey!" I whispered and rushed inside.


    There, next to the bed in the surprisingly clean room was a man without a soul. He kept groaning weirdly while iling about in pain.


    All this! What was this?


    Was this the ck sight all around me?


    I ced the man on my knees and pped his face.


    Enjoy new stories from empire


    "Who are you!" I asked.


    "Uhkkakaakk."


    "Tell me right now, who in the world are you?"


    "Way to go, Eugy. You''re the one who should be asked that!


    "Kakkk… Lord… Eugene?"


    Oh? He knew me.


    "Knight Alec, is it you?"


    "L-l-lordddd…. Save meeeee….!"


    "What is it! Who did this to you!?"


    "Below… below…"


    Alec tried his best to speak, but fell limp with his tongue sticking out.


    Oh fuck.


    "Hey! Hey! Come back!"


    "I told you… we should just skip this…"


    Oh no. It was Maria.