The Virtuous Dark Witch

Chapter 36

She's getting sneakier and sneakier. Elara lifted the corner of her mouth and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Does only Cinderaven have no objections?"

She'd had no other plans before this—only to settle old scores from twenty years ago. But once Benelli Larissa appeared with the blood rose, a new thought had taken root in her mind.

Was that not enough? Cinderaven stared into the dark road ahead, a bitter chill rising in his heart. When would his suffering end? He said in despair:

"Austin Corell has been gone for two thousand years. Just assume he's dead."

Elara let out a cold snort and continued forward, carrying Ana Stirling.

"When did I mention Austin Corell?"

It was plain as day. She wanted to see how long this silly bird would keep pretending.

There was no good way to answer. Cinderaven gave up struggling. He stopped flapping his wings hard and let himself fall from the sky. The future was bleak, and he was alone. Dying from the fall might actually be a decent ending.

But just before he hit the ground, a sudden force hurled him high into the air.

"Caw… caw! I knew you couldn't bear to let me die! Then let's be friends happily!"

Cinderaven flipped over and flapped his wings again.

He was quick to take advantage. Elara forced a laugh.

"I just thought you wouldn't die falling from that height, so I gave you a little help. Consider it doing you a favor."

What was she talking about? He didn't hear a thing.

Cinderaven looked around blankly, then slowly flew beside Elara.

"If you really plan to trade Ana Stirling for Anastas City and the Luo River Plains, you'd better have solid proof. Otherwise, Alexandra won't agree."

"Does the fact that Ana tried to enclose the West Sea Forest count?" Now that she'd made up her mind, she would weigh things carefully. "The evidence is those huge numbers of Moonlight Rings."

Cinderaven understood what the young Dessey meant.

"That only proves Ana Stirling was expanding her power. It doesn't prove she did it to encircle the West Sea Forest."

"Why would I need proof?" Elara glanced at the black crow. "Anastas City and the West Sea Forest are separated by the Luo River Plains, but they don't cover much land. At the speed of the Andros, they could reach the edge of my forest in less than half an hour after leaving Anastas City. What would you think?"

She should be grateful the West Sea Witch Ancestor had foresight. When the Andrea Kingdom was founded, an agreement was made with the Andros Ancestor: the Luo River Plains would never be enfeoffed to any Andros noble.

"I'd think the same as you." But Cinderaven wanted her to understand one thing. "Trading Ana Stirling for territory will be seen as a threat by the Andros."

Elara knew that perfectly well.

"Why did you have to be sealed into a bird, of all things?"

Even if he wasn't human or Andros—if he were a monkey or a gorilla—she could force him to write a deed.

Did it matter if he was a bird or another spirit? Thinking of his own body, Cinderaven felt gloomy. But he pulled himself together to sort things out for her.

"When we go to the capital, Ana Stirling won't be the most urgent matter. The problem with your aunt, Thea Dessey, is far trickier."

On the surface, the Witch Clan and the Andros maintained harmony. But secretly, the Andros had always coveted the witches' ability to communicate with nature. The witches, in turn, craved the Andros' long lives and extraordinary healing powers.

After tens of thousands of years, the Andros had gained nothing. But the witches seemed to have found a way to extend their lives.

The method was cruel—it stole life force from others—but Boyle's condition tonight showed it worked extremely well. That worried him greatly.

And now Thea Dessey had turned out like this. Chaos would surely break out again between the witches and the Andros.

Cinderaven was right. Elara's expression turned cold. She walked onward on her own. Her aunt was another reason she had to go to the capital.

"I haven't seen the current Thea Dessey with my own eyes, so I can't tell what's really wrong with her." Cinderaven was also troubled. "Let's just hope Alexander isn't too stupid. He'd better insist it was an accident during the transformation."

Meanwhile, Alexander was explaining exactly that to his father, Duke Alexandra Stirling, and his mother, Duchess Lisandra Stirling.

"That's what happened," he said, leaning lazily against a long leather chair with a cup of blood in his hand. His eyes flicked between his parents, then he tilted his head back and took a sip. "When Thea bit me, I held back my bloodline at once. She drank my blood, but have you ever seen a transformed being with no bloodlust?"

Duchess Lisandra Stirling stood by the window with her arms crossed and chuckled.

"Bloodlust is the nature of the Andros." Transformed beings aren't born Andros, so their innate flaws make them need even more life-rich blood to maintain their strength."

She turned to her husband, sitting behind the desk.

"According to Alexander, Thea's problem really is with her transformation."

Duke Alexandra Stirling twirled a blood-jade pipe in his hand. His blood-coagulated eyes narrowed as he looked at his son, not affirming his wife's conclusion.

When no response came for a long time, Alexander's face darkened. He finished the blood in his cup and glanced sideways at his father.

"Are you upset about what I just said, or still bitter about Rocky Anastas's death?"

Duke Alexandra Stirling looked away at those words. He slammed the blood-jade pipe onto the jade table without care, stood up, straightened his clothes, and suddenly flashed in front of Alexander.

Alexander had been reaching for a wine bottle to pour himself more blood. He pulled his hand back.

"What… what do you want?"

"I just want to see if you're lying to me."

Duke Alexandra stared into Alexander's eyes, helplessness filling his heart. He loved and hated this son. "Boyle Larissa personally confirmed Thea lost her ability to communicate with nature. Why is it suddenly a botched transformation with you?"

"Boyle Larissa?" Alexander stuffed one hand into his pocket, full of disdain. "You believe that old witch's words?"

Duke Alexandra hated his reckless attitude most of all. He reached out and yanked his hand out of his pocket.

"Boyle Larissa would not dare lie to me."

Alexander's eyes darkened at that.

"What do you mean?" Before his father could answer, he snapped, "Don't tell me you have shady dealings with the Larissa Clan too?"

"Alexander," Duchess Lisandra reminded him in time. "Watch your tone." She glanced at her husband, who had no intention of explaining. "Ana told your father about Thea's transformation. With me here, your father wouldn't dare bring Boyle into the Stirling Manor."

Alexander grabbed the glass wine bottle and chugged several large gulps of blood. The coldness calmed the fire building in his chest. He set the bottle down and sneered.

"I must have been away too long. I didn't realize Ana could speak for you now."

Duke Alexandra was also stifling with rage. If this wasn't his own son, he'd twist his head off and save himself the trouble.

"Ana only had Rocky Anastas. Killing him was like killing her." What was I supposed to do as her father?"

He blamed him for indulging Ana. But when the little beast killed Rocky, why didn't he return to the capital? Instead, he ran off and left the mess for him. What else could he do but look the other way?

Alexander knew his father had been bottling up his anger, waiting for his return to let it out. He stood firmly and took the scolding. Once it was over, he wiped his face.

"Ana still has a grandson, doesn't she…"

Smack!

Duke Alexandra could no longer hold back his fury. He flicked Alexander hard on the forehead and snapped.

"Do you want to exterminate her entire line?"

Even Duchess Lisandra said nothing this time. Her beautiful eyes turned to the window. The night was lovely tonight!

Alexander rubbed his head and stepped back silently.

"He hasn't done anything to me. Why would I kill him for no reason?"

Duke Alexandra didn't believe him for a second. He pointed a finger at his nose.

"Alexander Stirling, you'd better rein it in. Don't think that after twenty years of gallivanting around, the Andros nobles have forgotten that you murdered Rocky Anastas. They're not bringing it up now only because Ana has gone too far lately."

"Is that so?" Alexander said with undisguised contempt. "I think it's because of Thea."

He and Thea had returned to the capital less than a day ago, and their marriage was already arranged. The funny part was, they were the last to know.

"Don't blame your father for this." Duchess Lisandra turned to face Alexander. "I pushed for your marriage to Thea." Ana is preparing to enclose the West Sea Forest. I've sent a blood rose to summon her back."

Alexander had nothing to say. He nodded and prepared to return to his room.

"Rest well. Try hard to give me a little brother or sister." He walked toward the door. "Don't count on me. I'm terrified I'll end up with a child like Ana. If you love me, don't make me suffer that."

Only after the door closed did Duke Alexandra speak to his wife.

"Does he think I deserve this?"

Duchess Lisandra laughed.

"So you did catch on."

Her son was back with Thea. She was in a good mood and wanted a drink to celebrate.

Duke Alexandra shook his head, laughing in anger. None of his other children dared to talk back to him like Alexander. He turned and saw his wife already drinking—she was clearly delighted.

"I suppose the West Sea never imagined one of her descendants would marry into our Stirling family."

"Exactly," Duchess Lisandra said casually, sitting on the carpet. She looked through her wine glass at her husband across from her. "So, Alex, Thea simply wasn't fully transformed. There's nothing else wrong with her."

Duke Alexandra raised a hand and rubbed his eyes.

"Lisandra, this isn't something I can decide alone."

"We were all born in the Soporaya Mother Grove, but none of us have blood as pure as Austin's." Duchess Lisandra reached out and took her husband's left hand, resting on the long glass table. "And Austin has always loved following nature. I believe even he wouldn't use his bloodline to probe into Thea's transformation."

"Sigh…" Duke Alexandra felt helpless. "But the problem is he's not here. Besides, April and Brett have already started asking about Thea. They clearly trust Boyle Larissa more."

Not mentioning Brett made her remember. Duchess Lisandra smiled faintly.

"Brett has that Rozin woman wrapped around his finger, hasn't he?"

Otherwise, how would he have time to meddle in Thea's business?

"Not yet. That Rozin woman refuses to be transformed."

"How interesting. If she doesn't want to be transformed, why does she stay at Redney Manor?" Duchess Lisandra's eyes flickered with contempt. "Also, according to the slaves at Redney Manor, that Rozin woman likes staring into Brett's eyes. Does she only like his eyes?"

Duke Alexandra frowned, confused.

"Perhaps she likes the power those eyes represent?"

Anastas City was pitch-black that night, but far from quiet. Piercing screams swirled through the city on the wind, making the night even more terrifying.

On the empty streets, Elara walked slowly, carrying Ana. Perhaps she was too badly injured; the thick, cloying scent of blood in the city hadn't woken the sleeping Ana.

Cinderaven, flapping along behind Elara, almost envied Ana—at least she was being carried.

"I think our biggest mistake on this trip was not bringing a birdcage."

Elara chuckled.

"I'm starting to believe you really aren't Austin Corell."

"Really?" Cinderaven didn't believe her for a second. "Can I stand on your shoulder for a while?"

"No," Elara refused without hesitation. "Haven't you ever thought about finding your real body?"

Based on where Fisher had appeared twenty years ago, finding the body where he'd hidden his soul shouldn't have been hard.

Cinderaven fell silent and stopped talking. He flapped his wings hard, planning to stay far away from this Dessey girl who kept trying to trick information out of him.

"Why won't you look for it?" Elara grew more confused as he tried to avoid the subject. "Or is it useless even if you find it?"

Cinderaven was quiet for a while before replying.

"Knowing too much only brings more trouble. Besides, there are many things I don't fully understand myself."

He was telling the truth. Even now, he couldn't figure out why he and Selah had been cursed by the Twin Spirits on the exact same day. During the great battle of the Witch Ancestors, he had been far away in the Andrea Capital and hadn't taken part in fighting the Twin Witches. Was this not just bad luck falling from the sky?

"Do you have any children?" Elara asked out of curiosity. From what she knew, the seven great figures had all had descendants of some kind—even if some were misfits.

"Can we not talk about such a sad topic?" Cinderaven didn't care if Elara liked it or not. He landed on her left shoulder, wings folded over his chest, head tucked in, looking dejected. "I suddenly realize even though Selah died early, she was lucky to have all of you."

Elara was about to lift her hand and shove him off her shoulder when she froze at his words.

"You… you really left no heirs?"

"Are there rumors going around I don't know about?" To keep his balance on her shoulder, Cinderaven decided to go along with this awkward topic.

"I just mean a few black crows in the forest look a lot like you." Elara laughed out loud as Cinderaven looked like he'd eaten a bug. The gloom in her heart lifted.

He had a sudden urge to risk his life pecking out her beautiful eyes. Cinderaven stopped tucking his head in and smoothed his feathers with his wings.

"Have you ever seen black crows that don't look alike? They're all black lumps. Every crow in the forest looks the same!"

Elara smiled brightly.

"I've heard Austin Corell was extremely handsome. Women who admired him must have lived all over the Mal Continent. Didn't a single one catch his eye?"

"I really have no idea."

He'd spent every day either suppressing rebellious Andros or searching for a way to lift the Twin Spirit Curse. When had he had time to look at women? And with the curse still on him, how could he dare bring harm to those weak women? Having descendants? He was lucky just to keep himself alive.

Something was off. Elara knew purer-blooded Andros cared deeply about heirs. Logically, Austin Corell should be no different. Her expression shifted slightly.

"Barring accidents, we'll leave for the Andrea Capital at sunset tomorrow. Are you sure you don't want to find your body?"

Cinderaven looked up at the night sky. After a long pause, he said firmly:

"No need."

Guided by the Dark Soul Rope left by Lord Vazhena, he could find it anytime he wanted. But right now, his soul wasn't free, and the Twin Spirit Curse wasn't lifted. Retrieving his body would be useless—and might even bring a lot of trouble.

"Fine." Elara stopped pressing the issue. "Then can you tell me why you're sticking around me?"

Why else? He was waiting for her to become a Witch Ancestor and help him escape his suffering. But thinking about her plans, Cinderaven asked curiously:

"If… and I mean if Austin Corell asked you for help, would you do it?"

Elara turned to look at him and answered at once.

"That depends on what price he's willing to pay."

Whatever problem Austin Corell couldn't solve must be huge. She wasn't stupid.

Just as he'd thought. Cinderaven hesitated whether to keep asking.

"What's wrong with Austin Corell?" For no reason, the secret Benelli Larissa had told her flashed through her mind again. Elara stopped short. Could the other one be Austin Corell?

Cinderaven fell silent, trying to figure out how to save himself.

They entered East Street, and the scent of blood grew thicker. Elara stopped twenty meters from her shop and stared at the figure at the other end—Juna Charlotte, still wearing the same delicate white dress from that day.

She dropped Ana Stirling she'd been carrying, plucked two strands of hair from her head, and let a faint glow flow from her fingertips. She pinched the hairs between two fingers and let go. The strands shot out, turning into silk-thin silver threads. One flew toward Boyle's Sun Staff, the other wrapped around Ana Stirling.

In just three seconds, the tough silver threads bound Ana to the Sun Staff, which stood straight in a c***k in the middle of the street.

Juna Charlotte clapped her hands and stepped closer, walking over limbs and corpses.

"You really didn't disappoint me."

The world was full of strange, self-absorbed creatures. Elara was used to it. But strange creatures came in different kinds—and this one was not only poisonous but extremely annoying.

"I thought you'd left Anastas City."

"Why would I leave when tonight is so lively?" Juna Charlotte's smile grew more genuine as she passed Ana Stirling tied to the Sun Staff. "And congratulations on making a name for yourself, shaking the entire Mal Continent."

Elara let out a light snort.

"Why not congratulate yourself?" When Boyle had appeared earlier, she'd wondered about Juna Charlotte. "I should thank you too. Without your exaggeration, I couldn't have settled my score with Boyle so quickly."

But in doing so, she'd helped the Charlotte Tribe remove two major obstacles in one go. That annoyed her.

"We're both Dark Witches. Helping each other is only right." Juna Charlotte was truly happy, so she missed the coldness in Elara's tone.

Elara raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" She put her hands on her hips and stepped forward. "Let me guess what you'll do next." Her cold gaze fell on Juna's face. "You'll egg me on to kill Ana Stirling, stir up conflict between the West Sea Forest and the Stirling family, so your Charlotte Tribe can sneak into Anastas City bit by bit."

Clever plan—taking over Anastas City without losing a single soldier. She almost admired it.

Juna Charlotte's smile faded.

"You're overthinking."

"Am I?" Elara leaned closer. "Are you feeling proud right now?"

She was satisfied when Juna's smile finally disappeared. She turned and walked toward her shop, speaking softly into the air. "Ada, this is your sister."

Juna Charlotte's heart turned cold at those words. Before she could react, a black seed shot through the air and pierced her heart vein, then sprouted and took root instantly.

Ugh…

Something was sucking her blood dry. She looked down at her stabbing chest. An ink bamboo plant broke through her flesh and bloomed rapidly in the moonlight.

Ada Charlotte, dressed in traditional tribal animal hides, stepped out from the corner. She stood beside her sister and watched her body wither away, completely calm. She'd imagined this scene countless times before, always breaking down in tears. But now that it was really happening, she couldn't shed a single one.

Elara went up to her mother's room on the second floor of the shop and stood by the window, looking down at the street. After Juna died, Ada returned her body and the ink bamboo flower growing from her chest to dust, then left without looking back.

When the red sun rose again, Anastas City was no longer the same as before. Elara cultivated for several hours and returned to her peak condition. She told Cinderaven, who was dozing in the corner:

"Go collect all those Moonlight Rings."

Cinderaven thought he'd misheard.

"Why me?"

Was this just another way to t*****e him?

"Because all the dead and injured are Andros," Elara said matter-of-factly.

"What's that got to do with me?" Cinderaven made one last protest. "They're not crows."

But when she glared at him coldly again, he suddenly decided collecting rings one by one was a good way to kill time.

"I'll go right now. Don't worry—by the time I'm done, your glorious deeds will be known to everyone."

Just as Cinderaven had said, by early evening, news that Elara Dessey, the new Lord of the West Sea Forest, had slaughtered all the transformed beings in Anastas City in one night had spread like wildfire. By then, Benelli Larissa had also reached the capital.

"What did you say?" Duke Alexandra Stirling stared at the fang lying in Benelli's palm and flew into a rage. "This is utter nonsense."

Benelli shook his head solemnly.

"It's not nonsense. Viscountess Ana Stirling came looking for trouble on her own. Nearly all the transformed beings in Anastas City were slaughtered. Even my grandmother didn't escape."

"Pfft…" Alexander, sitting nearby, burst out laughing. "Boyle's dead too."

Now there was no one left to testify against Thea. He no longer needed to stay here. He stood up to go tell Thea the good news—but was stopped before he reached the door.

“Alexander…”

"Wait," Alexander quickly cut his father off. "Elara Dessey is the Lord of the West Sea Forest, just like you, the Andros Ancestor. You should know to think of the greater good. So even though I'm marrying her aunt, this isn't a relative I want to mess with."

He swore if he said one nice thing about Ana in front of Thea, she'd turn on him instantly. Twenty years of companionship would mean nothing.