113: Live 1

Live 1

"You—" Dorothy's eyes widened when the dagger cut her skin. She was not near enough for a clean hit, yet the small cut was enough to draw blood.1

Seeing this, Rosalind smiled.

The dark curse on the dagger was very potent.

"Hold her!" Victoria screeched. Earlier when Rosalind swung the dagger, the other two people who held her were also wounded by the weapon.

It did not take too long for them to start screaming in pain. The dagger was cursed.

Rosalind smiled when Victoria realized this.

"Kill me…" Rosalind said. They could kill her now and she would die smiling knowing that the pain Dorothy would go through because of the dark curse was going to make her suffer until she died. Not even the Blessing of the light could heal her.

"Mother that— "

"The dagger is curse. Take it away from her!"

However, the other mercenaries were already showing some signs of hesitation. They knew that no one could heal a dark curse. Having it was worse than dying right then and there.

While everyone stood frozen, Loren was different. He immediately tried to snatch the weapon away from Rosalind, but the moment he approached her, a large sword flew his way. He quickly avoided it and looked at the source of the sword.

There stood a man with hair almost as white as Dorothy's.

Huig!

Rosalind could not help but see hope. Huig is here! He is here to save her.

"What are you waiting for! Go call someone to help my daughter's wound. Take her away from this place and that woman— go get her! Why aren't you listening to me? Get her!"

"Madam… that dagger is cursed," one of the mercenaries said. "We only agreed to take her. Not risk our lives and suffer forever. We did not sign up for this."

"You— Where are you going!?" Victoria panicked. How could they cower in front of an old rusty dagger? "Where are you going!?" she screeched. "Attack her! She is powerless! She does not know how to defend herself!"

"Two of our colleagues are already screaming in pain! Do you really think we are fools!? That dagger must be something special. I am not paid enough for this nonsense! I still have a kid at home!"

"Me too!"

"You— How dare you say that! I paid—"

"You did not pay for our lives!" someone else said. "Everyone, we should leave."

Slowly, the mercenaries who were once surrounding her left while shaking their heads. These people were really not that powerful. They were just desperate to accept the gold because most of them were Unbelievers and had been struggling to live with their families.

They just wanted the gold.

They were not there to sacrifice their lives!

"Hey! I gave you gold! I own your lives! How dare you leave now?"

"Loren do something— Jeames— "

"Madam, my priority is taking the Young Lady to someone who could heal her." Jeames did not even let Victoria speak. He lifted Dorothy up and disappeared into the dark. Seeing this, Victoria stilled. She was speechless. She looked at Loren who was now fighting the white-haired guy.

Aside from them, there were two mercenaries on the ground, trembling from the pain.

Victoria intentionally hired mercenaries to do the job because she wanted to keep it clean. Moreover, she did not want anyone else to know what happened tonight. Loren and Jeames were the only ones who should have known what happened here. After that, she had already planned to get rid of the mercenaries by killing them!

She could not allow those people live to tell the tale!

She needed them dead!

But then this happened!

"You— you did this!"

Those mercenaries recognized her! Then they left before she could tell Loren to kill them!

"Loren! Kill that man and take care of this woman!" Victoria said. However, Loren said nothing in response. Irritated, Victoria glared at Rosalind who had been staring at her as if— as if—

"You— What are you planning to do?" Victoria asked when she saw her tilt her head and gave her a sadistic smile. "What are you planning to— don't you dare approach me!" Victoria ordered.

"Why not?" Rosalind responded, her voice a little low, but Victoria could clearly hear it.

"You— If you hurt me—"

"Hurt you?" Rosalind frowned. "I would not do that. Why would I hurt the woman who raised me as her own?"

"I—" Victoria took a step back, and her knees started to shake. She wanted to move, run away from Rosalind, but her legs refused to move. Her heart thundered against her chest as her body grew colder by the minute.

For the first time… Victoria felt scared.

"Do you know what the dark curse would do to your body?" Rosalind asked. "You must have known. You have read the books, you saw the illustrations."

Victoria swallowed. "Get away from me."

"Don't worry, mother," Rosalind said. "I am not going to hurt you. I would rather let you live and watch you suffer than give you a quick death. You— along with Dorothy, deserve a long— long life." Rosalind smiled. "Together."

Before Rosalind could take another step, the man with white hair appeared next to her.

"You must leave," the man said. "Now!"

"What about you?" Rosalind examined Huig and notice that he did not look too well. From her peripheral she could see Loren approaching them.

Instead of answering her question, Huig pulled her wrist and started running.

"I—" Rosalind could not tell him that her feet hurt. Something compelled her to just run. Perhaps it was her will to live.

No matter what, she was not going to die tonight!

"You must reach that tree," Huig said. "The inscriptions end there. Go now!"

"What about you?" she asked.

"I will follow you."

"But—" The next thing she knew, Huig already pushed her away as he turned towards Loren who was following them. For a moment, Rosalind stopped running.

"What are you… doing!? Run! Now!"

Rosalind blinked, and then she blinked again.

Then she turned around and ran away without looking back. Tonight, she was going to live.

pqdm.com