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"Awake?"

After an indeterminate time, Ravenna heard a voice beside her ear.

It was not a replay from a fictitious memory, but a voice that seemed to carry the warmth of reality.

Miss puppet realized her body was not as pained as she had imagined. She opened her eyes with some difficulty, and the first thing she saw was a tender face looming over her.

"Wow... Ansel, what\'s with her eyes?"

The girl squatting beside Ravenna exclaimed in surprise, "It\'s like she hasn\'t slept for a month, looks like she\'s dead or something."

"Step aside, Seri."

"Oh."

Seraphina obediently moved aside, allowing Ravenna to lock eyes with the young man.

It was still those ocean blue eyes, yet they were starkly different from the ones she had seen beneath the storm.

Ravenna had many words stuck in her throat, unable to voice them, and for some reason, Ansel was silent too, just quietly watching her.

After a long gaze, so long that Miss Seraphina was beginning to grow restless, Ansel finally spoke:

"Ravenna, am I not something that can be sacrificed?"

"...What?"

"I mean, what made you willing to forgo the exchange for those potions, to endure such inhuman torment, rather than provide Evora with the etheric armament?"

He pointed to himself, jokingly adding, "Is it really me?"

Ravenna was silent for a moment, then nodded gently: "Yes."

"... Let\'s return to the previous question then."

Ansel squatted down to meet Ravenna\'s gaze as she lay on the couch, peering into those dim purple eyes: "Why not sacrifice me this time?"

Images of the storm surfaced in Ravenna\'s mind, the boy\'s roar and expression under the downpour, and... the sorrowful words of Annelisa.

Almost subconsciously, she replied:

"Because Ansel... would be sad."

Seraphina was taken aback for a moment, then regarded Ravenna with a wary and suspicious look, while Ansel\'s lips moved slightly, his expression unchanged.

"So you really do treat me like a child."

The young Hydral laughed heartily: "And you overdo it... But, your answer is interesting."

"But," Ravenna stared straight at Ansel, "I heard you say you wanted Evora to pay a price."

"For now, you are still mine, and her casual insult to you is naturally a challenge to me."

Ansel\'s expression remained calm: "So, of course, she has to pay a price."

"Is that so..."

Ravenna looked at Ansel\'s unemotional face, and her heart gradually settled.

Even in that gray memory space, watching her deceased grandfather, Ravenna did not feel such a sense of security.

"And indeed, she has paid the price."

Ansel pointed to the desk: "I\'ve retrieved those potions for you, and at the same time..."

In the moment of Ravenna\'s astonishment, he dropped another piece of news that left Miss Puppet even more bewildered.

"Based on the value, I have obtained from her the truth about Eileen\'s death."

The young Hydral gazed at the slightly trembling purple eyes and said calmly:

"Not a clue, not mere fragments, but the complete truth."

He stuffed a scroll into Ravenna\'s palm, then stood up and walked over to sit in the chair behind the desk.

"No need to thank me, this is a reward you deserve for defending me, by the way... I must remind you, Ravenna." Read new chapters at m_v-l\'e|-NovelBin.net

The devil propped his cheek with one hand, looking at the puppet whose body was beginning to tremble, his lips curling slightly:

"You still have the right to regret. Give it back to me, then completely forget it as if it never existed, and continue to live your life in peace."

Ravenna did not respond to this, but asked with a trembling voice:

"Is this... true?"

"I can assure you of its authenticity."

Eileen\'s demise... tormented her for a full fifteen years.

It\'s a nightmare that even in the detailed recollection moments ago, Ravenna feared to directly confront, choosing to bypass it. She clung to the despair but refused to recall a single detail.

And now, the truth had arrived in her hands.

No longer a dispensable clue, no longer enigmatic words, but... the truth.

The truth that could grant her grandfather peace.

And how could she possibly... retreat now?

Miss puppet disregarded Ansel\'s warnings, her hands trembling as she painstakingly, bit by bit, unveiled the scroll.

As time trickled by, Ravenna remained frozen in the act of revealing the scroll, motionless.

Ansel closed his eyes to rest, while Seraphina, growing frantic with anticipation, couldn\'t help but lean towards Ravenna, eager to glimpse the scroll\'s contents. Approaching, she heard Ravenna\'s faint murmur:

"This can\'t be... this can\'t be...this can\'t be…"

"What can\'t be? Let me see—"

"This can\'t be!!!"

Ravenna\'s scream startled Seraphina, who watched in horror as Ravenna frantically tore the scroll to shreds, tumbling from the sofa to the floor, staggering towards Ansel, clutching at his trouser leg and shrieking, "Ansel... this is fake, isn\'t it? This is your deceit, a ploy to break me, isn\'t it? Isn\'t it! This is—"

"You can verify this answer yourself, quite simply, can\'t you?" Ansel responded nonchalantly.

Ravenna paused for a few seconds, then, like a person newly recovered from a disability, she fled the office in disarray.

"What\'s with her ghosty expression..." Seraphina, puzzled, gathered the fragments of the scroll, the head of wind piecing together the information, "Eileen Ziegler, died of..."

"Hmm... What?! What is this!"

Amidst Seraphina\'s equally ghost-stricken exclamations, Ansel, with half-lowered eyes, gazed at the office door, seemingly fixated on Ravenna\'s retreating, staggering figure.

Just moments ago, he had indeed contemplated, for an instant, not revealing this truth to Ravenna, not completing this final link in her taming.

Because Ravenna\'s recent display seemed sufficient already... there was no need to utterly destroy her.

But of course... it was not permissible.

The young Hydral murmured so in his heart.

It\'s as if you\'re telling me, telling me—look, this girl is already so obedient to you, she already cares so much for you, cares enough to forsake even that which she held most dear, why continue the destruction? Isn\'t this enough?

Ha... Hahaha...

If it is you who suggests this is enough, then it is certainly... not enough.

Dear Ravenna, I am truly sorry.

You are unwilling to sacrifice me, but I am already capable of sacrificing you.

Moreover... I still left you a chance.

Ansel closed his eyes, whispering softly:

"This is a fair gamble."

*