"What are you doing?"
The moment Eyla heard it, her body froze.
Like her veins had been laced with ice.
Her breath hitched. Her knees lost strength. Every fiber in her being screamed danger.
She knew—instinctively—that she couldn't run. Couldn't move. Couldn't even think of escaping.
Because whatever stood behind her… if it was behind her… would attack the moment she tried.
And she wasn't confident she could survive it.
That voice—
It wasn't loud.It wasn't angry.
It was empty.
Emotionless. Cold. Like the space between stars. Like something ancient pretending to be human.
And in that moment, she felt it.
A sword at her throat.
Not real—just the illusion of it. But her body believed it.
Her instincts believed it.
Her skin prickled where the phantom blade hovered, and a slow bead of sweat traced down her neck like a warning.
Eyla's eyes widened. Her mouth parted slightly. She tried to steady her breath, tried to compose herself—but failed.
With a hard swallow, she turned her head.
Slowly. Against every instinct screaming not to.
The room—
Empty.
No one behind her.
Only the girl on the bed.
Still seated.
Rubbing one eye sleepily, her white hair a soft mess of tangles, half-lidded gaze barely focused.
Ah…
'It was just her…'
Eyla exhaled, tension leaving her body in a wave. She was even shaking slightly. Embarrassing. The fear had clung to her like a second skin.
It must've been stress. Or maybe the after-effect of the fact that she was sacred when she found out rie meet with his majesty
Yeah, this must be it, she rationalized. Who wouldn't feel a little shaken after facing him? Even I—
She paused.
The girl was still staring at her.
That same look.
Blank. Calm. Still.
As if watching something beneath her.
Her eye that never dare to look up at her was not staring at her…
There was no fear in them…
Just… watching.
It Annoyed her.
Eyla's pride surged.
She remembers the girl asked her a question…
Was this girl questioning her now?
She curled her lips into a smirk and let her fingers slide one of the golden bracelets onto her wrist—right in front of her.
"What's wrong, mutt?" she said smoothly, her voice regaining its bite. "Worried I'm taking something that's not mine?"
She chuckled darkly and stepped closer.
The girl didn't move. Her gaze didn't shift.
It irked her.
That same look. That same silence.
As if she weren't even worthy of hate.
"Lower your eyes," Eyla snapped, grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking it hard.
"Did you forget how to greet your mistress?"
She didn't wait for an answer. With one sharp pull, she threw her to the ground like trash.
"Did you think you're something now? Just because His Majesty called you?"
Her heel crashed into the girl's chest with a violent thud, causing her body to curl.
"I've been gone for one week and already you're forgetting your place."
She raised her hand, mana flickering faintly around her fingertips like heat rising off a flame.
"No worries, though," she sneered, kneeling beside her like a cat playing with its prey. "Since I'm back… I'll remind you exactly who you belong to."
She didn't see the smile on the girl's face.
Didn't see the way her crimson eyes blinked once—glowing faintly red in the shadows.
"Since I'm back…" Eyla leaned in, her breath hot with arrogance, "I'll remind you exactly who you belong to."
She raised her hand to strike her again—but then she stopped.
TCHK—
A sound. Like something crawling beneath the floorboards.
Her fingers twitched. She slowly turned her head, sensing it—that presence again.
Shhhhkkk...
A creeping sensation clawed its way up her spine. She glanced toward the corner of the room.
Nothing.
Her mana pulsed defensively, a cold sweat forming on her brow.
Whoosh—
She flinched.
Spinning her head sharply—back to the girl…
Her eye widens when she saw the girl biting on her neck…
"What the hell—"
But before she could say anything a sharp pain hit her…
"G-GAAHH!!" Eyla screamed, her eyes wide as Rie clutch her hair pulling it back—biting into her throat with more force like a feral animal.
"Y-You—!" she tried to push her away, hands clawing at Rie's back. "You bitch! GET OFF ME!"
But she couldn't.
Rie's jaw locked down, her teeth sinking deeper—CHOMP—into skin, sinew, and muscle. The pain wasn't just sharp, it was primal.
Eyla's body jerked back, throwing her full strength—mana surging with a low, violent WHRRMMM around her palm.
"I'll kill you for thi—"
But she didn't get to finish.
The mana flickered—
—and vanished.
FHHHHHTTTT.
Like smoke snuffed out in the wind.
Eyla gasped, stumbling back.
Her vision blurred.
"Wha—What...!?"
Then she saw it.
Her hands.
Her arms.
Black veins were crawling up her flesh, writhing like snakes beneath her skin.
"W-What is this—?!" she shrieked.
Where the veins spread, her skin turned gray, then black, then began to rot.
SZZZZKKKKK... The flesh cracked. Peeled. Split.
Her limbs started trembling.
Power. Draining.
Sight. Blurring.
Breath. Shallow.
"N-no... no this can't be—"
She tried to scream, but the veins wrapped around her leg. Her knees buckled as they pulled her down—twisting like barbed chains over her legs, arms, and chest.
"I—I'm a Viscount-rank demon! I-I'm—!"
The words stuck in her throat as she looked up—and met her eyes.
Rie's.
No longer dull.
No longer pitiful.
But glowing. Crimson and alive with unholy power.
Ba…dump. Ba…dump.
A deep throb echoed in Eyla's mind as the girl stood over her—quietly. Calmly.
Not with rage.
Not with hatred.
Just… silence
Her empty eye looking at her.
That, more than anything, shattered Eyla's will.
Those weren't the eyes of prey.
They were the eyes of a Predator.
"W-what did you—" she choked out, struggling weakly. "W-who are you…?"
She summoned her mana again—tried to.
But it was like tossing water into an endless void.
And then she heard it.
A voice.
Right inside her ear.
"It's no use."
Soft.
Beautiful.
Unfeeling.
Ba…dump.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Eyes fluttered.
That voice again—like a lullaby in a world of knives:
"There's no use..."
"There's no escape."
"You were dead the moment you enter this castle"
Eyla's mouth hung open.
Her limbs twitched.
And then the fear came.
Crushing. Soul-ripping. Maddening
This wasn't the girl she used to torture to play with.
Just looking at them she can see, this is not the same person…
But no matter who she was she didn't want to die…
The fear of death knows to be the most primordial fear…
At that moment looking at those red eye Infront of her she realises on thing.
She is going to die…
This girl is going to kill her.
"N-no…" she mumbled. "Please… don't kill me… please…"
Her voice came out cracked, distorted—barely human.
But the girl's eyes didn't blink.
Didn't change.
Just stared down at her.
Empty.
Hollow.
"P-please… Rie… please... don't… kill… me…"
But it was too late.
The black veins surged into her chest.
CRRRKHHH!!
She convulsed—spasming violently as something exploded inside her.
A red light bloomed through her ribs.
An unnatural force tore through her heart, her insides boiling with shadows.
And the last thing she saw—before the world went black—
—was the girl leaning in again.
And biting down.
CHOMP.
.