openwho

Ravenna Ziegler, the things she cared about most, aside from her unrealistic delusions and the Tower of Babel that housed them, was there really nothing else?

"Ziegler..."

The Elder Princess murmured to herself, her gaze gradually brightening.

"Speaking of which, I never paid much attention to how that old man died."

She shifted her gaze to Ansel\'s face, her tone slightly elevated: "Ansel, tell me, do you think our little puppet would care about this news?"

"These are all your own thoughts."

Ansel picked up his wine glass again and took a sip, chuckling with an air of detachment: "It has nothing to do with me, right?"

This was the gift Ansel had prepared for Ravenna.

A safer method that would not endanger her life, allowing her to obtain the answers she so desperately sought.

Otherwise, why would Ansel have deliberately waited for Ravenna to finish displaying Nidhoggur before instructing Evora to cease her prying?

As for the cost...

It was merely a triviality, something she had paid countless times before, simply a continuation of… selling her own soul and beliefs.

The venomous serpent gazed into the wine in his glass, whispering in his heart:

Accept this gift well, Venna.

*

By the time Ravenna arrived at the spot where Seraphina was, the girl was squatting by the stream, washing her face.

"Oh, you\'re here," Seraphina turned her head, her eyes slightly open, her naturally watery eyes now even more dewy, giving her a lively appearance: "Have you dealt with them all?"

"There are still some left, but they suddenly lost the ability to move, so I guessed you had completed the hunt," Ravenna shifted her gaze to Seraphina\'s surroundings, "So, where is the lesser of the Tidecallers?"

"Haha, right here!"

The girl stood up abruptly, shaking her head to cast off the droplets on her face and hair, proudly holding her head high with one hand on her hip, then pulled out a semi-transparent blue jellyfish from her... pocket?

"This is it! It\'s dead for sure!"

Seraphina pinched the strange life form that could manipulate living beings at will, as if holding a soft ball, her casual demeanor suggesting she hardly regarded it as a divine species.

"Is this... a Tidecaller?" Ravenna gazed at the semi-transparent blue jellyfish in Seraphina\'s hand, "A jellyfish?"

"Don\'t be fooled by its softness, when I caught it, it jumped right onto my face, disgusting!"

Seraphina rubbed her cheeks with a look of disgust: "I almost couldn\'t resist bursting it right there, but without a corpse, I wouldn\'t be able to show off to Ansel."

"How did you kill it... without using physical means?"

"Well..." the future Beast King scratched her head, "I just pumped some ether into its body, and it died instantly."

Saying this, red and black streams of energy intermittently appeared around Seraphina\'s body.

When she killed Conrad, Seraphina further understood how to control the flow of ether outside her body, and now she was adept at it.

Ravenna remained silent, her mind conjuring the image of the giant corpse she had passed on her way here, a black-furred gorilla standing five meters tall, clearly the Tidecaller\'s last desperate struggle.

But the outcome was that Seraphina had beaten it to death, leaving behind a body with half of it blasted away.

This was... Seraphina\'s power, even recognized by Ansel.

No, it was more than just power.

Although Ravenna had only been with Seraphina for a short time, the overly pure girl was too easy to read, her character transparent in Ravenna\'s eyes.

Loyalty, determination, sincerity... Ansel valued her, and even, even liked her... It was not without reason.

Ravenna silently observed Seraphina, who was engrossed in examining the corpse of the Tidecaller, murmuring softly about how to boast of her achievements to Ansel and express the immense joy she found in her endeavors. Her eyes sparkled with a brilliance akin to the most dazzling stars on the veil of the night sky.

Ravenna realized this was an opportune moment.

Given Ansel\'s profound trust in Seraphina, could it imply that Seraphina might be privy to … Ansel\'s secrets?

Even Marlina was aware of such information, albeit through Ansel\'s mother. If Seraphina and Ansel shared such a close bond… it stood to reason she wouldn\'t be oblivious to these matters.

Seizing the moment was imperative. Should any misunderstandings arise, they must be addressed forthwith, rather than allowing them to fester — In the face of uncertainty, inquiry was Ravenna\'s modus operandi.

"Seraphina," Ravenna intoned, taking a deep breath.

At this juncture, unnoticed by all, even Ansel was unaware of her intentions, as if the heavens themselves conspired to aid her in this inquiry.

Even if Seraphina might eventually relay Ravenna\'s question to Ansel, it was a stark contrast to being discovered outright by him.

"...Ha?" Seraphina casually pocketing the Tidecaller\'s corpse and tilting her head. "What\'s wrong?"

"I wish to ask you about something," Ravenna said, locking eyes with Seraphina, her words deliberate and measured.

"Is there any force in this world capable of compelling Ansel to change?"

"!"

Seraphina\'s expression shifted instantaneously, but she instinctively denied, "Wh-what are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Who in this world…could, could possibly compel Ansel? Are you referring to the empress?"

"... No, I understand now, thank you, Seraphina."

The answer was unequivocally clear.

The girl who could not conceal her emotions had the answer written all over her face, which was… precisely what Marlina had once told her. Even the words that had been verified by her as truth now seemed to be conclusive evidence.

Ravenna, with trembling hands, struggled to push her glasses up her nose.

She felt a blinding whiteness before her eyes, her limbs became incredibly weak, and her ears were filled with a cacophony that, as time passed, morphed into the sound of her own heartbeat—thudding, increasingly rapid.

When she regained her composure, Ravenna realized she had begun to gasp for breath incessantly.

["Mr. Ansel… has forsaken something of great importance to him."]

This was the reality.

—Could there be a more terrifying entity that had abducted Ansel, coerced him, and led him to forsake something significant? Could that significant thing be... all that they had experienced together, the promises they had once made?

If so—

At that moment, Ravenna\'s inner void and bewilderment reached their zenith.

What was the purpose of all her resentment, hostility, and entanglement over these three years?

From initially reaching out to Ansel incessantly, hoping to get answers from him and harboring a faint hope, to after reuniting with him, trying to decipher his plans, constantly confronting him, and then becoming utterly passive and numb—until now.

In this prolonged period, what exactly was the nature of her negative emotions towards Ansel... what exactly...?

What on earth... have I done?

Peaking alongside this indescribable emptiness and confusion;

Was an overwhelming sense of regret that threatened to consume her entirely.

*