Chapter 40

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In a corner of Leyton Castle’s hallway.

Someone slowly emerged from the shadows.

Thud—

It was Arthur.

Arthur’s eyes gleamed with madness and excitement.

‘…Found you.’

He had found the heretic.

The heretic wasn’t Ellie, the daughter of Lord Leyton.

It was the girl who was always with Ellie.

A girl with white hair and red eyes.

In the past, she would have been accused of being a witch and burned at the stake just for her appearance.

Of course, times had changed.

White hair and red eyes were now understood to be genetic traits, so no one was accused of being a witch based on appearance alone.

But the girl Arthur had just encountered in the hallway was undoubtedly a witch.

The compass had reacted.

And it had reacted violently.

The surface of the compass had turned blood red, and the needle trembled as if convulsing.

This meant the girl’s evil energy was extremely powerful.

The stronger the evil energy, the more intense the compass’s reaction.

‘It’s been a while since it reacted this strongly.’

The last time the compass had reacted this intensely was when he had encountered the “Silver Witch”.

The Silver Witch.

A woman with red eyes that shone through her white hair.

It had been a long time since he had thought of her.

She was the most powerful opponent Arthur had ever faced.

And she was also the most beautiful.

Her gaze and smile had captivated countless people.

Even clergy were no exception.

There were too many clergy who had turned their backs on God, enchanted by her beauty.

Arthur had been one of them.

The reason he had ultimately failed to kill her was that he had hesitated at the last moment.

― Don’t kill me.

Her voice was clear and soft.

A voice that enchanted those who heard it, resonating gently.

A voice that whispered tenderly, yet carried an inexplicable sadness.

It was hard to believe that such a voice belonged to a witch who had slaughtered hundreds of holy knights.

― I… I’m pregnant.

She smiled with a pale face.

A cold, lonely smile.

A smile as beautiful as a beam of moonlight.

The moment Arthur saw her smile, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed.

Of course, it was only for a fleeting moment.

But she didn’t miss that fleeting opportunity.

Thud!

Her magic pierced Arthur’s abdomen.

Arthur dropped his sword and collapsed.

All his comrades around him were dead.

― Fool.

She looked down at Arthur with cold eyes.

“…”

Arthur reached out to grab his sword again.

But there was no chance of winning.

She lightly stepped on his hand.

― Still, thank you. For sparing me.

As Arthur felt his consciousness fading, he looked up at her.

There was only one thing he wanted to ask.

Was it true that she was pregnant?

But he never got to ask before he lost consciousness.

That day, Arthur had ultimately failed to kill the witch.

A witch he had pursued for three long years.

Hundreds of holy knights had been sacrificed in the process, but he had still failed to kill her.

Yet, the Holy See believed Arthur had executed the witch.

After that day, the witch had never shown herself again.

The Holy See concluded that the witch had suffered a fatal wound from Arthur and had likely died from it.

Well, that had been over ten years ago.

Now, her infamy was slowly being forgotten.

‘Come to think of it…’

Arthur quietly narrowed his eyes.

That girl from earlier.

She looked so much like the Silver Witch.

Her hair color, her eye color, and most of all, her face…

For a moment, a thought crossed his mind, but Arthur shook his head.

In any case, it had nothing to do with him.

All Arthur had to do now was eliminate the heretic.

There was no need to think about anything else.

Arthur took a step forward.

Thud—

Earlier, he had no choice but to hide when Lord Leyton and the knights approached.

If he had attacked the girl in front of them, he might have had to face countless knights of the Leyton family.

Of course, Arthur didn’t care about that, but there was a chance the girl might escape.

He couldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past.

Arthur decided to wait for the girl to be alone.

After all, now that she had been exposed as a heretic, there was no way she could escape divine judgment.

◈

“Hmm…”

Ellie twirled in front of the mirror, wearing a dress.

Her pink dress fluttered every time she moved.

“What do you think, Lucy? Do I still look too young? Should I wear something else?”

Lucy shook her head.

“It’s fine.”

No matter what she wore, she would still look young.

After all, Ellie was young.

Ellie looked at her reflection in the mirror and muttered softly.

“Will Mom like it…?”

The floor was littered with dresses.

It was evidence of Ellie trying on and taking off dresses multiple times.

Yet, Ellie still wore a troubled expression.

“Ah, I think the blue dress might be better…”

“No.”

Lucy grabbed Ellie’s shoulders and met her gaze.

“You look beautiful as you are now.”

“…”

Ellie’s eyes wavered.

“Really…?”

“Yeah.”

Ellie’s cheeks turned slightly red.

“…Thanks. Then I’ll just wear this.”

Just then.

Knock knock.

― Ellie, are you still not ready?

Ed’s voice came from outside the door.

Ellie spoke up.

“I’m ready. You can come in.”

Creak—

The door opened, and Ed and Ron entered.

Ed and Ron paused for a moment when they saw Lucy.

But soon, they noticed the roses in the vase and smiled faintly.

It seemed they were relieved she hadn’t thrown them away.

“Let’s go, Ellie.”

“Okay. Lucy, I’ll be back.”

“See you later.”

Ellie waved at Lucy and followed Ed and Ron out of the room.

The room fell silent.

Lucy stood still and looked around.

It was a mess.

Should I clean up a bit?

The maids probably cleaned every day, but leaving it like this still felt a bit off.

Of course, she had no intention of doing it herself.

Lucy summoned skeletons.

Whoosh—!

A magic circle appeared on the floor, and five skeletons rose from it.

The skeletons clattered their jaws and bowed toward Lucy.

It seemed to be their way of greeting.

Lucy gave them an order.

“Clean up the room.”

The skeletons immediately began cleaning, moving around stiffly.

They hung up Ellie’s dresses, which were scattered on the floor, and tidied up dolls and ribbons.

Lucy watched with satisfaction.

“Good job.”

After a while, the cleaning was done.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Lucy dismissed the skeletons and left the room.

She planned to take a stroll and explore the castle a bit.

The castle was huge, and there were still many places she hadn’t seen.

But the moment she stepped into the hallway, she ran into an unexpected figure.

“…”

It was the old man who had been looking for the bathroom earlier.

The old man stared at Lucy and muttered.

“…You really do look like her.”

Lucy tilted her head.

Look like her? Like who?

But she didn’t have time to think.

The old man reached out and grabbed Lucy by the neck.

“!”

It happened in an instant, but Lucy reacted quickly.

The moment the old man grabbed her neck, she cast a skill.

Shadow Step.

Lucy’s body melted like ink and swiftly moved away.

She reappeared a few meters away from the old man.

The old man’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“So this is the magic of a heretic. Slippery as a rat.”

“…”

Lucy frowned as she looked at the old man.

The old man had only held her neck for a brief moment.

But it still felt sore.

If she had reacted even a second later, her neck might have snapped.

Who is this old man?

Thud!

Seeing the old man lunge forward again, Lucy turned around.

She ran around the corner of the hallway and up the stairs.

She ran as fast as she could, mixing in Shadow Step to increase her speed.

Her short legs got caught on the stairs a few times, causing her to stumble, but she managed to reach the top floor without being caught by the old man.

Once she reached the top floor, Lucy immediately headed outside through a passage.

It was pouring rain outside.

Lucy didn’t care and kept running.

After running for a bit, she reached an open area.

The castle’s rooftop.

The castle’s surroundings were visible at a glance.

It was about 20 meters high.

If she jumped, she would die.

And it was a dead end.

Only then did Lucy stop running.

Whoosh—!

The sound of rain filled her ears.

The sky was filled with dark clouds, and the rain was getting heavier.

Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, and her clothes felt heavy.

Thud—

Behind her, the old man was approaching.

In his hand was a large sword emitting a pure white light.

The old man’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.

“In the name of God, I shall purge this evil soul.”

His voice echoed through the rain.

“Submit to divine judgment. There’s nowhere to run, witch.”

“…”

Lucy quietly opened her mouth.

“I wasn’t running away.”

A dark figure rose behind the old man.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Everytime the old man speaks, I cringe to death. 

Please kill him fast so I never have to see him again!