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Thank I know thank

Morbid:
Volume 1

Talida Kang
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[Book Cover]
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MORBID
With eyes closed, a past now veiled in shadows.
Oh death, lead me to the uncharted lands,
Where memories of wild days fade into the mist,
Yet here I stand, braving the winds of change.
It was all, Bittersweet
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About Author: first page, first disaster

Skip this page if you want to :(

Just want to tell you, behind all these lies a young introverted 14 years old with her little PC
and half-broken keyboard. Hanging on her very last braincells, cringing out every day
reading her old chapters and editing them countless times. Judging myself before anyone
would take the firsthand! (Yes, I scrapped a ton of stuffs which sort of even cringed myself,
there are still the lot of them! Enjoy cringing!)
Growing up, she enjoyed drama, books, drama, movies, drama, writing (alright, mostly
drama :D). Spent most her time at home (rarely touching grass), her world revolves around
online novels, harry potter books, free downable pdf files and any random things she found
interesting online. Would usually come back to write after the long day of server hopping
and rage quitting in games (the fight scenes explain a lot here \^_^/) wtf was that emoji
Having no experience, since this was her very first time writing something rather serious.
Sorry it was a lie; this author actually has managed to write some drafts and short text
before, but seriously she never wrote anything so detailed and serious.
This book is neither pure literature nor a saintly work of art. So? So what? You are not
going to be reading those boring stuffs duh! We came here for the cool stuffs *sunglasses*
lol. Cool stuffs~ you know what I mean?
Swears and bad words are not censored here because censoring is a basically a useless piece
of progress and effort. Everyone in this century pretty much know these words, why even
bother? So, let’s stop with my random sprouting here. I’m very grateful that you chose to
wake up and opened this book today. You are about to witness something that will make
you laugh or cry. (if you don’t know what to choose then do both at the same time :D) If
you are not patient enough to uncover the clues, this is not for you. I have told you
beforehand, okay? Every chapter are connected, I promise.
Note: the italic sentences are monologues, in case you got confused :)
(I know my grammar sucks, please pretend that you didn’t see them, alright? :3)
From Talida Kang ^-^*
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Context

Volume 1: Return to the world

Chapter - 1 Echoes of the past ............................................. 6
Chapter -2 can I unsee It? thanks…...................................... 24
Chapter -3 ha I’m In danger~ .................................................. 49
Chapter – 4 You all lied, did you? ......................................... 71

“Trust me, I’ll be back

Though I won’t remember you anymore
But we will meet once more.”
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Chapter - 1 Echoes of the past

““Down from my bones, heavens know I tried

Believe in the heart, deep down it cried.
Watch you come and watch you go
A tale as old as time, but I will be fine”

“Who, who’s there?” Who’s speaking?”

She could only feel the noises around her, her hands… She was bleeding, blood dripping
down, her head was dizzy, her eyes were blurry and she could not remember what
happened just now. A sharp pain was digging into her head, as if something was craving
with a knife from the inside. Her eyes glanced around the environment around her. Before
a slim seconds of blacking out, she caught some moments of the pile of dead bodies, the
blood sea and black smokes around her. Soon enough her eyes shut down slowly and
slowly until then she could not force them open anymore. Exhausted.
“Hmm...” Lila opened her eyes again realizing that she was again in another place, she
was probably carried away from there, was there a war? The walls were cold and damp, it
was quite a dark room with no windows. It was a secret room or something (probably a
prison in a worse scenario). She tried to move her limbs but realized the chains tied her
hands, her knees, and even her torso was tied up. She suddenly realized she was sleeping
while standing.
“What the flick? Who the hell has the audacity to tie me up here? Why am I here…”
She shook her head and looked around, the room was an absolute humpty dumpty, there
wasn’t even a single chair to sit on, how rude. Suddenly she heard the door crash open with
a loud bang, finally some light reached into the room. A woman with a white fur coat with
her face covered walked in slowly and stood in front of her. “Close the doors' ' the woman
commanded some men outside. The darkness again returned and the room suddenly felt
even colder than ever. The woman took off the hood of her coat, she couldn’t see the face
but she noticed the silver hair in the dark. The woman took out a dagger and stared at her.
“Oh shit” she yelled in her mind as she tried to wiggle free, it wasn’t really funny to be tied
up with a person holding a knife in front of you. To her surprise the woman used the
dagger to cut off the chains, (instead of stabbing her, that’s what she thought) they fell off
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easily and Lila was finally able to wiggle free at last. “Listen here” the lady says with her
forced cold voice, “Do not blame me for doing this, but you will have to live in this new
identity, they are too dangerous for you and you are too dangerous for them” Lila shook
her head in confusion, she tried to remember what was that and what was the lady talking
about. “What place? What are you talking about?” Without answering her back, she gently
touched her forehead with her finger with a blinding white light bursting out the moment it
touched her head. She heard hundred sharp screams breaking into her head, with all those
sounds her head became too painful and soon enough her consciousness gave away slowly,
drowning with the screams and light.
She woke up, as she blinked seeing the sky again, she was sweating out and breathing out
fast. It was her old dream, that scene had been haunting her for many years, though she
barely could remember it from dreaming it too many times. Every time it never gets old, it
was like some sort of nostalgic memory of her (maybe?). She always had an uneasy feeling
that something had been hidden from her, a part of her past was a mystery even to herself,
yes seriously.
Ever since her memory told her, she never had a trace of her childhood, her past and
everything else except the days she spent moving around place to place, writing in her free
time and sometimes even trying to suicide. A fact that managed to keep her apart from
everyone else around her was, she could not die. Anything that seemed fatal to others, such
as drowning, falling off a high building or even being chased around by wild animals, she
always managed to wake up after being ‘dead’. It has been more than a thousand years at
least.
What’s stranger is that people have been ignoring Lila, like an invisible person, or a ghost.
Every time she went to say ‘hi’, she won’t even receive a single smile or even a glance. It
would either be a horrified stare or a sudden line of prayers, as if they felt a ghost’s
presence. (She was not a ghost, okay?) According to the books she read before, a ghost
could walk through walls, and would be stuck in a place. Last time she tried, she ended up
crashing with a loud thud and a potato on her head and to add up she was pretty much free
to go wherever she wished (try me ha!) But there was always one thing, she never fully
remembers who she was or how she ended up on the streets, except for that one dream in
her head. Or was it even a dream in the first place? Or did she even need to know?
“Ugh, my head…” she got up from her horrible nightmare as she rubbed her head, trying
to blink. And now she should be looking for something to do again. Life has been worse
than a rat from the drain, at least he got family to talk to and stay with. She sighed for the
first time of the day and decided that she should get herself some job. Kicking the door
open with full energy, but regretted it in the next second. This was the third door in the
month that she has broken from dramatically kicking it open. It was a blazing hot day, the
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sun shining proudly in the sky with a wide smile on its face, thank goodness she brought
her hoodie or she wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. The street was busy, people were
rushing all out and about and perhaps one of the busiest days in the town. Passing by a
building she heard something “interesting” after all these years. It was the town’s school
and they are learning history about umm, someone important. She caught some words
passing by, an old teacher with glasses with his crackly old voice was reading out to his
students.
“She was a powerful woman, with all of the dignity and grace, was dutiful with her
responsibilities and earned her name from a young age... Truly admirable indeed. She
managed to build the Abyssal Palace on her own and suppressed the dark magic for
thousands of years, slaughtered many monsters and… pretty much brought troubles to the
human world as well. However, everyone can see that no one could ever handle the
element of unconsciousness as much as she did. But great powers come with great
consequences. The wrath of chaos did not spare anyone, even the personification of itself.
No one was ever sure what happened to her or where is she now but we all still can feel her
once powerful presence and influence on this world—"
She walked past without listening more of some “dumb” histories of people, though she
somehow thought like “damn— that’s fucking OP.” but who could care less anyways, even
if she knew about histories it was useless. She didn’t see the portrait of the woman being
shown as she walked away, slightly missing a few seconds. The picture rolled down,
revealing a woman wearing a dark halo crown and had black eyes with a dark grand dress.
The person and her were nearly identical. Without noticing this, for her it was just another
boring day where she collected material to fix her own made cottage and stay there, feeling
tired after another day of suffering. She stayed in a small hut made of wood and some
leaves to save the heat, not the best but was enough to keep someone happy at least. People
around said it’s haunted but she thinks that’s bullshit, literal bullshit. She literally lives there,
why would it even be haunted. Funny how things turned out, never trust gossips especially
from old aunties. 80% of them were usually made up (what a pain). She walked past some
shops and stores, and randomly travelled alone like she did for hundreds of years. It was all
well until something stung her back to her senses.
Splash
Someone splashed her with some ice tea, she managed to get her thoughts to present which
were probably flying around the heavens a moment ago. Her face twitched from the shock,
her lips sealed and her eyebrows raised until she saw the person already showering her with
apologies before she could even complain about anything. WAIT, SOMEONE
ACTUALLY TALKED TO HER?
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“Oh my gosh, miss I’m so sorry! I will clean up the mess! I’m so sorry…”
“Woah, chill. It’s alright…” she replied, trying to wipe away the tea from her dress, half-
distressed and half-shocked.
“Wait, so you are just letting me go just like that?”
“Huh, or what am I supposed to do then anyways?”
The person who spilled their drink turns out to be a young girl, around 15 or 16 maybe.
She was there with her brown hair neatly braided with her big brown eyes looking at her in
surprise, wearing a graceful lavender dress which flowed down to her knees. Her arms were
filled with books, her cup was on the floor and a backpack as well, no wonder why she fell
out of balance and spilt her drink. Lila just laughed it off and helped her get up. Slowly she
walked away from the youngster, since there was nothing much to talk or do anything with
her anyways, but she couldn't help but notice some people staring at them. Lila did not like
the way that people were looking at her (it’s always the bad news you know!), so decided to
move further a bit…the eyes were not following her as she went, so probably they weren’t
even looking at her, ah just another day another imagination. Finally, after a few painful
moments, someone broke the silence. “Looks like someone is talking alone, again!
HAHAHA look at that!”
The poor girl was still there, standing alone as people laughed at her for talking alone and
having imaginary friends again. At this rate Lila was pretty much offended as much as
confused to another level, can’t someone live in peace like for once? It was enough that
people treated her as “invisible” and now they have the guts to call her like some sort of
non-existence object or an imaginary object like what the hell? Did she look like an
imaginary friend huh? And what’s up with bullying a young girl in front of the public? This
was getting out of hand! No one was going to say something about this? Okay, back to the
case everyone saw her talking with Lila, and what did they mean by talking alone? She
decided that she should turn back and join the drama, nothing’s going to get harmed at
least? She accidently pushed someone from the crowd which made them yelp, she was
about to apologize then suddenly something made her change her peaceful mood into
something…
“OMG WHO WAS THAT? WHO WAS IT?”
“Probably your dead grandma from centuries ago, getting back at you because you stole
her favorite socks from her dead bed? Duh, hello there!” she replied casually, feeling
sarcastic.
“What… HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT I STOLE—"
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The crowd was supposed to laugh, it was a good joke, okay? But strangely enough they
started to look around to each other “Is there a ghost or something invisible??” Whispering
and mumblings continued, half of them looking for the speaker of the last sentence, while
the other half freaking out. But one thing everyone was sure of was that they all heard a
voice of a woman. There was one voice, where was the person? Lila was speechless.
Also, she noticed some were rushing to leave the scene as well, maybe because they
thought things were heating up there, which would usually catch the attention of the group
called “The Hunters”, and nobody liked them. (Though she had heard about this group,
personally she herself didn’t want to do anything with them as well.) Not long after this,
very unsurprisingly, a group of men dressed in black suits, armed, rushed into the crowd.
They acted like the police or something, but totally looked good for nothing. Everyone
knew where they came from, or what usually happens when they get involved. Fucking
hell-
“HEY, what’s the ruckus here uh?”, the man with a shiny suit with a shiner head walked in
slowly from his car, thinking he looked totally badass but Lila thought he at least would
have the same height of a 11 years old girl. Somehow hilarious. Short person with short
temper, that actually made quite a lot of sense.
He took out something from his pocket which was making alarming sounds with a red
light glowing brightly, he picked it up, with his face as white as snow (what was that…) The
calm and relaxed expression quickly turned into sudden excitement as if he had found
something which he had been looking for a very long time. He suddenly made his men
surround the crowd, panicking the shit out of everyone. Children cried, adults were about
to cry and Lila didn’t know how to laugh or cry. She should have left with the smart people
a moment ago, but now she was stuck here with a lot of stupid or curious people, who
came to watch. (Yall actually deserved it, bah!)
Someone was stepping in or doing something about it? No one? What a surprise.
After she was complaining in her mind, someone actually stepped in the situation, who
could that be…? It was indeed someone that none of them had expected in the first place.
The girl was mocked and kicked around like a football from a moment ago, but she
somehow managed to gather up her courage and asked.
“What’s up with all that searching? What happened?”
The bald man snapped “It’s none of your business, the rest CONTINUE!”
But she wasn’t going to give up so easily yet, so she narrowed her eyes and followed him.
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“You know, you should give me some face at least. I’m still an owner of the Catherine
Mansion”
The man ignored her and continued walking around and ordering around his men, while
holding a cigarette in his left hand. In awe, the men started to capture people, forcing some
suspects to their van… it was totally helpless, well the curiosity killed the cat, should have
run when they had the chance just like some people who ran off. smart. People were
struggling to break through the barrier of men and while some of them were asking what
was happening. The group was worth its infamous reputation. The bald man finally yelled
on the top of his lungs.
“AHEM, LISTEN UP. ANYONE VISIBLE OR INVISIBLE! EVELYN CATHERINE,
WE ARE AWARE OF YOUR PRESENCE and *coughs WE WANT TO ESCORT YOU
BACK TO YOUR GRAVE! PLEASE SHOW US A- “
Lila laughed out, and her voice echoed in the air (pretty much like that cause there was no
one laughing or even making a noise, except that cranky voice). “Straight up logic, isn’t it?
Yelling out all that loud was supposed to magically summon the person you were looking
for? Don’t you think this is a bit too stupid? You should be moving your ass and looking
around, what’s up with trapping all of us in here?”
"Yeah, that’s what I am talking about.”, agreed the girl giggling. Everything went silent
once again, it might even sound like some awkward noises until the silence was broken by
a yell of the angry bald, short bird. Mr. angry bird :3
“Who are you even talking to?” he asked in a stern and a rather serious tone while looking
at Stacy while trying to find the second speaker again. Just like the others, he also failed to
find the person roasting him. That didn’t sound like a joke to anyone anymore, like what
the actual hell please tell me it’s a joke alright? She began to suspect herself for the first
time ever... (Am I only visible to certain people? Why only that girl over there seemed to be
able to see her? Or did she even see me or am I again making assumptions? TT) And then
he continued “Miss Stacy, if you can see HER, you should be aware what did, should you?
Please try to be honest.”.
Everyone blinked in confusion, for a moment they forgot the existence of the crowd.
Lila suddenly felt like she had to get out of here. Firstly, she needs herself to figure out the
situation again, secondly not even the heavens know what was up in the sleeves of the men.
Anything could have happened, alright? Or maybe the reason why no one has ever talked
to her, or even ignoring her might not be just to make her pissed, or maybe they really
couldn’t see her, who was even herself. She was not some sort of professional logistic but
anyone with a brain should have already figured it out already, alright?
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Thoughts were running round in her head, she should test this out, or should she? She
decided to act, though she knew she wasn’t the ghost they were looking for, at least this
should buy her some time. “Bahahaha, you foolish humans, what makes you think that I
would be easily fooled by such a simple play?”, she yelled with a deep and ghostly voice
(which wasn’t very deep, but this should work). GET OUT OF MY SIGHT OR I WILL
HAVE TO PUNISH YOU FOR BEING SUCH An UNGRATEFUL BRAT. WHO DO
YOU THINK YOU ARE AND WHY SHOULD I FOLLOW WHATEVER YOU DO?”
she crooked with 99.99% of confidence, then dashed away as fast and quietly as possible.
Damn they seriously did not see her running away, if this really was the case maybe she
didn’t even need to act! SHE! COULD! JUST! STRAIGHT! UP! RAN! AWAY! All these
efforts are for nothing… alright let’s not be pessimistic, she actually got away this easily.
The luck which was always stuck whenever she needed it finally made some appearance.
No one want to know what happened after a huge prank, umm they might but definitely
not her. The last thing she saw was the bald man staring at air in horror. She felt “relieved”
for the first time forever, after realizing people usually didn’t respond to her, not because
she was weird or anything. They simply couldn’t see her oh my gosh. She ran straight
home without even looking back, learnt her lesson for today. Stay! Away! From! Public!
Attention! It’s more trouble than it's worth.
She can’t deny the fact the group’s actions were very bold and impulsive, they must have
some sort of authority, who knows? After the huge drama in the city, the armed men were
everywhere in the town, marching around like some sort of security guards or anything, as
if she was going to do any damage to them anyways. She was also amused by the fact that
the bald man actually believed that she was going to “punish” him, these people may have
a thing with spirits and ghosts… Despite living there for a long time, it was her first time
bumping into serious trouble like a group like that. Serious trouble, serious pain in the butt.
Ahh
In the evening, she picked some berries from her small garden outside her cottage and
decided to make some tea while living in her perfect hide-out space. Drinking tea and
relaxing in the house while they were running around the town like some sort of
overworked, underpaid donkeys? She saw it as an absolute win. She picked up her basket
and walked back inside until she heard someone kicking the door and busting into her DIY
house. “Ah the fourth one, RIP.” To her very much surprise, it was a voice of a girl very
similar as if she heard this before, very recently. “Hii, Is anyone here?” Lila wasn’t very
sure if she should respond back or not.
“Hello? You see, I can tell that you are here” the voice continued disappointed for not
receiving a single response.
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Lila’s stupid old habit made her reply despite her fear, “WHAT? HOW?”
“Look at the freshly made tea on the table, duh, the steam is even there!”, the sound again
replied, a bit more cheerfully to the fact that they managed to get Lila to talk.
Oh shit, she’s right, Lila thought to herself as cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Well,
this was indeed much better than dealing with a group of angry birds, ahem- she meant the
hunters.
She slowly walked out to the front room and realized the person was no one but the person
who bumped into her and spilled her drink in the morning.
“You were that so-called invisible lady!!”, the girl exclaimed as she saw Lila.
If I’m invisible, then tell me how the hell can you see me? Lila replied in her mind.
Lila looked as if she had swallowed a whole lemon, but she tried to act nice. “Umm so
yeah, what are you even doing here? And how did you find me?”
“Oh right! I’m not actually looking for anyone. I came into the town this morning; I was
bored so decided to visit random houses! And by the way, nice to meet you there! You
surely made a big scene today.”
“Oh, young sis, you really shouldn’t be knocking around doors, this… this is way too
inappropriate! The way they treat you, you really shouldn’t be you know! Why don’t you
return to your house and enjoy your dinner peacefully instead? Thank you!”; she lectured
the girl in her mind while keeping a smile on her face.
“I know, it was umm awesome? but stupid.”
“So, is it true that you will punish them to death, if they umm... keep chasing you?”
“Of course not, I made it all up.” Lila replied.
Stacy shrugged, “I thought like that too, but you sounded so serious”
“Serious? Ha”
“Yeah, so anyways… Mind introducing ourselves? And I would like to ask something”
“You know what, I also have a question for you too!”
The girls looked at each other and said together “You go first!”
Lila decided to go first: “So can you see me?”.
The girl chuckled and answered “Of course! Or else why would I be talking to you?”
“Oh, then do you know why others can’t?” she continued with her question.
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A pause.
“You see, I sort of practice the dark arts, I know I’m a mortal but... Not for any bad
intentions but I thought we might be able to use it to fight against other spells or spirits!
Maybe you also have a connection with dark-magic too, don’t look at me like that! We have
the same type of spiritual energy, creating a special bond that allows me to see you while
others can’t?”
It took Lila about 10 seconds before she freaked out at this.
“Umm WHAT? Magic? Spells? Where am I? I thought they did not exist?”
“Please don’t tell me you are a commoner.”
“What no! I’m not a peasant! And what the hell is dark magic?”
“Well, you are definitely acting like a peasant, and wait. Honestly, we all are peasants, none
of us are the royalty actually.”
“So, you are telling me that there’s actually a king and a queen, like in the books?”
Stacy gave a “judging” stare and asked, “Do you seriously live under a rock?”
“Uh rude.”
“Okay, seriously… we do have a royal family ruling us, not a king or like that, how do I
say… Umm they don’t live here. They are from somewhere else, a place where no mortals
can reach. They call it the Three Grand palaces. The Hallway of memories, The Timeless
Palace and the Melody Palace, I think. Each of them has each owner, like the master of—"
“Oh okay, stop. I heard these stupid lectures somewhere else and this is already giving me a
headache.”
Lila immediately felt embarrassed as her pale face flushed with a faint pink by blurting it all
out, she just spoke her mind alright? Stacy did not make further comments about this (to
her relief) then continued with a smile.
“After everything we went through, we never really introduced ourselves, have we?”
“Me? Oh, just call me Lila…”
“I see, Stacy’s here and great to meet you, miss Lila.”
“Gosh no, don’t call me that! Just call me by my name, I don't mind.”
“Oh okay, and yeah as I was thinking, invisibility and memory loss maybe an effect on a
curse?”
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“What curse?”
Stacy took out an old book and started to flip the old crusty yellow pages which keep
making sounds. Did she plan to stay at her house after busting in there (breaking her door,
“accidently” spilled the warmly made tea and now the book?), nope no!
“Oh no, gosh no! Seriously a book that huge? Hell nah.” Lila echoed her mind back.
Stacy closed the book and put it back in her bag which was carrying on her back. With a
serious look she pointed her finger at Lila out of nowhere. “You, do you want to stay at my
mansion?”
Lila blinked blankly for a few seconds, “So you are inviting me to your house?”
“Yeah, duh, a mansion not a house. Come on!” she said (half-boasted) as she pointed at a
black carriage with some horses in front of the house, “Are you coming in or not?”
Lila on the other hand stood still as a log, reconsidering her life choices. Should she go?
She was not the type of a desperate person but one can’t help but be curious though.
“I mean, I can feed myself at least, I have a house to live in and I don’t know you yet.”
“Gosh, do you know why others can’t see you?”
“Of course I do, but—”
“Then there are no buts come” Stacy yelled and grabbed her arm as they got on the
carriage. The coachmen in the front seat stared at Stacy, pushing something as she got out
of the house, was clueless but he did not say anything.
“I don’t know but I feel like you are kidnapping me right now…” Lila snapped back at
Stacy.
“Don’t be silly, you are now my new friend! And you really need a glow up, and figure out
why others can’t see you!”
Stacy sounded assertive, and confident and Lila herself really wanted somewhere she can
live in comfort for the first time forever, so she didn’t say anything and decided to play
along, and most of all she trusts her (even if she did not, she can’t die anyways so why not).
It was a 20-minute trip, while Stacy poured her heart out about… her problems, her fake
friends and bullies, how people think she is and her shyness. Lila tried to stay like a good
listener, but her mind was somewhere else. Did she do the right thing? It sounded stupid to
follow a random person you met a few minutes ago but what if they tried to kidnap her?
Life will finally spice up at last, at least that’s what she hoped, it was all so… sudden.
Really, like what the heck even happened?
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The carriage stopped, soon enough Stacy grabbed her hand and rushed into the gate. The
mansion was grand, pretty much old fashioned, with a small garden with a fountain at the
entrance which leads up to the hallway. The walls are brown with candles lit up; she
noticed dozens of staircases in the hallway… Stacy seemed to know where she was going
though, she confidently walked up to a staircase, which was rather long (she gulped at the
first sight she saw the number of stairs).
“Stacy… You seriously know where we are going? I feel like I’m about to get lost in here”
“Oh relax, I’m sure you will actually get used to it here, you look smart”, Stacy replied
with a smile.
Oh shit, if I say I don’t get it then it might look like I’m actually dumb, she got me…ouch
Lila thought, while observing around the huge unfamiliar place. Every room and every
corner looked exactly the same, the same wallpaper, same large impressive paintings which
she had no idea about, while walking around they were both suddenly ambushed with
scream attacks.
“STACY, WHERE DID YOU THINK YOU WERE GOING? MESSING AROUND IN
THE TOWN SQUARE AGAIN?”
Stacy suddenly ran behind Lila and hid behind her, forgetting the fact that Lila’s actually
invisible and she was holding on air in everyone’s eyes. A tall woman, wearing a purple
dress with a collar, brown hair which was tied up into a bun and a frown on her face,
walked into the room with a ruler in her hands. Her face was very stern, giving her an
impression of a strict person.
“OHH Umm, MOM!”
Ah, it’s the strict mother and her daughter, what a pair~
“I’M GLAD YOU STILL KNOW THAT I’M YOUR MOTHER, NOW COME HERE”
she yelled wielding that totally safe looking ruler which definitely would not make you cry
after several beatings. The woman walked closer to them with that horrifying looking ruler,
but she ended up bumping into Lila (became a meat between two breads in a sandwich
help me— AHHH), the ruler did not hit her but she wasn’t fast enough to move out of the
way. (I didn’t get paid enough for this!!!)
“OMG WHAT WAS THAT?” the woman yelled in shock.
“So, mom, even you can’t see her?”
“See who?”
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Lila rolled her eyes for the 1,546,493,904th time, while Stacy gave her a should-I-tell-her
stare. In response, Lila also just shrugged at her face.
“Umm mom, I sort of brought someone home… and she’s kind of invisible”
‘Umm WHAT? Did you bring a freaking ghost home? Have you lost your—"
Lila suddenly coughed and decided to step in (Stacy wasn’t doing any much so yeah.)
“And for your question, I am not a ghost and with my most utter respect, please don’t be
stupid. I am not a ghost thank you very much and for some cases I’m just… invisible. I
believe that I was cursed by an unknown resource.” After this, her voice became soft. “And
I believe that I might be able to identify the spell with the help of Stacy, she looks like a
total expert here.”
Meanwhile in Stacy’s head… Oh shit, if I failed to break the curse then I’m not an expert
anymore, ouch she got me...
Stacy’s mother however felt both surprised and both offended at the sentence. Lila didn’t
mean to step in and to cut off her darling daughter’s words but she was being an idiot, okay?
If she let her continue, things were going to be more complicated than it already was. The
woman spoke to her daughter, “Stacy, do you know this, “not ghost” thing? And what does
she mean by you breaking her curse, I thought you …”
Meanwhile Stacy kept giving Lila that wtf-you-exposed-me glares, she wasn’t supposed to
be able to learn any magic at all, and Lila didn’t know about that, how was she supposed to
know the rules around here? In return she also gave her a don’t-look-at-me-idk-too stare.
“What do you mean, aren’t you supposed to practice magic? Why is your mother talking
like this” Lila suddenly thought in her head but coincidently with a direct eye-contact with
Stacy, but to her surprise, she heard something back just after she spoke in her mind. Stacy
seemed to hear it.
“No of course not! I’m not allowed, and wait a minute. How am I talking without using
my mouth!”
“That’s what I am saying, maybe this might be telepathy.”
“Damn, telepathy, but how?”
But their sweet conversation was once again cut off by Stacy’s mother who was looking at
her daughter, looking at air again. “You’re sure that you are okay sweetie? I’m starting to
think that you are getting mad?”
Stacy rolled her eyes, and walked away quickly leaving Lila and her mother alone in the
hallway. But not long, the woman followed her daughter nagging more questions and Lila
 P a g e | 18

just sat on the ground. “Ah mothers be like.” She wasn’t sure if Mrs. Catherine liked her or
not, but she sure knew that she had to get out of there, as quickly as possible. She wouldn’t
be surprised if she was kicked out the next day or what, she really couldn’t blame anyone
really.
Later in the evening, Stacy and her mother came back into the room, the woman’s face
expression was now very much relaxed compared to the one she wore when she first came.
Mrs. Catherine spoke first “Stacy, tell me who you really are, Evelyn. Since you were also a
part of the family, I guess this mansion should at least welcome you.”
Lila didn’t respond, she did not know how to even speak for a whole 30 seconds. She just
pretended to be that ‘Evelyn’ just to pull the prank, okay? When did she become her, huh?
She gave Stacy a quick glare, the latter’s face was pulled into a nervous smile and she
quickly could tell that someone just lied to their mother.
“Monica Catherine here and, it’s great to meet you.”
Lila decided to speak again since it might look rude to stay silent. “Oh my, I see. Monica?
Thank you very much.” Moncia smiled and walked out of the room after her response
leaving her and Stacy back alone.
“Evelyn? Huh… What a name, and what does she mean by family?”
“I had to tell her that you were Evelyn, so that’s the way she will let you stay. Evelyn
Catherine, and this is the Catherine mansion so I hope you already guessed.”
“Then tell me why did you want me to stay? I mean it’s okay if things are not alright, I can
just leave”
“It’s—” Stacy paused for a while “It’s because I never had a single friend in my life, nor a
sibling to accompany me, and yes, if I looked desperate, because I am! Please stay!”
Lila lowered her head and looked to the floor and smiled. It was again, the first time since
someone asked her to stay or not leave, it was sort of weird…
“You? Want me to stay?”
“YES! Please”
Lila sighed; her face shaped into a weak smile but only to be surprised by a hug from Stacy.
Stacy ran to her and wrapped her arms around her. Lila was even more frozen than ever,
she had been “hugged” by someone. Stacy sure was a very bold girl, Lila froze on spot
without knowing what to say or do. All her life, she was rather numb and her emotions
were dense, a sudden twist of emotional stuff really did not shake her much. She was not
ready for this though… She pushed her away slowly.
 P a g e | 19

“You are very cold, you know,” Stacy suddenly said out of nowhere.
“Cold what?”, she quickly responded.
“You. Are you even alive? I couldn’t feel your heartbeat when I hugged you” Stacy
continued to ask.
“Umm WHAT? You shouldn’t be feeling me here and there again, nope! Don’t touch me”
said Lila as she stared in horror, Ayo. Her actions were way too bold and Lila felt as if she
had turned back into 13 years old, sensitive to everything and anything. Ah shit, here we go
again.
“Oh no, never mind! Why are you still staying up so late? Don’t you feel sleepy?” Stacy
asked hurriedly trying to avoid the topic.
“Sleepy? No. I just don’t feel like sleeping right now. What are you doing here anyways?”
“Nothing really much. So do you like the room?”
Uh, the room? Honestly ever since Lila stepped foot in the mansion, she was lost in her
own thoughts and forgot the look around the room, woah yeah, she actually forgot. She
turned her head quickly and scanned the room. It has the same wallpaper as the entire
building, wooden floors which were well polished, a small fireplace with a small flame
being lit and some furniture. She noticed a huge single bed, with sheets and pillows
prepared and a huge mirror on the wall.
“Quite decent, how considerate” she replied after a few moments with a smile. The halls
were long and empty, despite the huge area, the place was actually pretty much lonely. The
cold wind passed inside the room as winter sneaked in slowly, the snowflakes dropped in
once again, but for her last year’s winter was just like yesterday, couldn’t believe how time
passed so quickly. After her answer Stacy also gave her a small smile, which suggested her
sleepiness and walked out of the room slowly and slammed it shut. After the door’s closed,
Lila stood up and walked to the mirror, as much as she expected she saw no reflection in
the mirror as if she had the invisibility cloak wrapped around her. She picked up a pillow
from the bed and walked back in front of the mirror, the pillow was floating around in the
mid-air. She finally understood the horror people must have felt when they saw objects
floating around and hearing sounds despite seeing no one.
With a sigh she went into bed as she blew out the candles. She laid down with her back
facing the soft mattress as she sank into it. Pulling the wool blanket over herself, she closed
her eyes, it’s been so long since she ever lived comfortably like this. There was no
nightmare this time.
 P a g e | 20

She was again woken up from the sound next morning but a huge crash came from the
hallway. It made her sit up suddenly as she looked around. She was still there scratching
her head as she slowly got up from bed. She opened the door and saw a maid slipped her
hand and crashed the pile of plates as Monica was standing with her hands on her waist,
there looking utterly-speechless. Lila already saw the incoming yelling storm which will
soon turn this soundless building into a tornado. As a flash, she jumped back into the bed,
closing her ears with the pillow.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU FILTHY MAID, ALL 30 PLATES? SERIOUSLY? I
WAS THINKING TO HAVE A GRACEFUL AND AN ELEGANT MORNING JUST
TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS SUCH DISGRACE”
Then she paused and continuing her shrieking
“Ugh, THERE WAS A NEW GUEST AND I WAS THINKING NOT TO SHOW MY
UN-ELEGANT SIDE BUT YOU MADE ME DO THIS AGAIN! AND NOW HURRY
AND CLEAN IT UP BEFORE SHE WAKES UP”
With all that yelling, I’m already awake duh, and special guest? Hehe, I guess I am, Lila
said in her mind.
Then she walked out of the bed again, opened the door and coughed loud enough to make
sure Monica heard her. Hearing this Monica suddenly turned her back with a smile as if
nothing happened just now.
“Oh hi, you are awake Eve? I know you don’t need to eat but Stacy’s waiting for you
downstairs, and there will be someone special coming to town tonight. Stacy will explain
everything to prepare. And for now, let me finish my little problem here.”

So, I was not the special guest? Who could that be anyways.
“Mm, I see. But may I know who the special guest is?”
“I think Stacy forgot to tell you, every 4 years, the master of the 4 palaces… I mean 3
would come to the human realm for a special banquet, and it’s going to be tonight. The
special guest will be present there as well”
“Tonight? Here?”
“Oh no, such a simple building could not hold the responsibility for holding such a grand
case! We all are visiting to the Celestial Capital of course, that’s why everyone is busy this
morning”
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Lila nodded her head, as she headed to the stairs but was confused by which to go.
“All staircases lead to different rooms, but they all lead all the way down the main hall.
Choose any you wish” Monica told her swiftly as she walked away from her, maybe she
might have guessed the fact that Lila was still confused with the house. How did she know,
she cannot even see her? Sometimes she herself forgot the fact that she was invisible.
As she got downstairs, she saw Stacy at the table. She got her beautiful brown hair on loose
this time and she was wearing a sky-blue dress. She really looked good with pastel colors.
Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Lila and rushed towards her.
“Lilie, morning!”
A pause, as Lila was frozen again.
“What did you call me?”
“Lille, do you like it?”
Ugh, I swear no one gives me nicknames or stuff, this is getting awkward…
“Yeah, no. That kind of sounds freaking umm... I don’t know but it’s definitely not my type”
Stacy pouted as her head looked down, “Alright, if you don’t want me to call that, then
fine”, she looked a bit sad due to her previous words, Lila couldn’t help but feel bad.
“But it’s cute. Lille it is!” Lila spoke up again with her facial expression softened a bit,
Stacy’s face became much brighter after this. “Eeek, okay then! Hehe” She dragged her to a
chair as Lila sat down, and opened up her old book again. Lila tried to escape; she did not
want Stacy to make her read the book that thick! As Stacy turned her book pages and kept
saying “I saw this somewhere, really, found it ha! The Mortal Curse!”
Upon hearing the name, she suddenly felt a familiar chill striking on her back, a very
uneasy feeling. “The Mortal Cruse?” she asked. “Yes, the mortal curse… but this spell is
only used on spirits and personifications, wait a minute. Personifications… personifications!
Only personification ranked spirits entities can cast it, oh my lord who did you offended
that made him or her so angry to this point?” Lila blinked blankly in the air, could it be that
the white lady from her dreams? Who could it be? Was it because she was a personification
that’s why she would always disappear every time she tried to see her real face. But her
attitude towards her was always soft and rather even a hint of “kindness”. This was not
Stockholm syndrome, but she herself knew that the mysterious figure did not mean no
harm, or else she could have done it a long time ago.
“I’m also suspecting, the reason why you forgot all your memories might be because of this
curse”
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“Are you sure that it’s the Mortal Curse?”

“Yes, because there are no other curses as strong as this. You might already live hundreds,
no, maybe even thousands of years like this, am I right? What was the last thing you can
remember?”
The first thing she could remember… It was strange but the first thing she could remember
was THAT DREAM! Should she tell Stacy about this?
“Not only have you lived for thousands of years, you must have been sealed. You should
have some spiritual energy left; they are leaking out! Or else why were they able to use such
advanced skills as telepathy? The person who sealed you must be someone who stayed
close to you every day, thus the spell could last for this long! Damn what really happened
to you?”
Don’t ask me, I don’t know either!
Lila just sighed, and explained her weird dream to her, the dream which kept hunting her
for so long. Stacy was there, left with surprise and an opened mouth after she finished.
“White hair? White hoodie? Sounds like someone from the Palace of Melody.”
“Palace of Melody?”
“Duh, one of the three grand palaces, or should I say four… never mind. I tried to tell you
about this earlier but your dumbass won’t listen. Now sit, and listen carefully.”
Lila just froze on the spot in gaze, excuse me, did she just lecture me?
“Once a upon a time—”
“GOSH NO, PLEASE MAKE IT SHORT, MAKE IT SHORT!”
“Girl, just calm the heck down chill. What’s wrong with you? Do not disturb me when I’m
talking.”
What the heck? When did she learnt to talk like that—
“Ahem '' Stacy coughed like an old scholar and continued “The eternal melody palace,
ruled by the personification of stability and peace, her excellency Elena. We all know that
people from that palace are absolutely obsessed with white, pure stuff despite having the
one as her sister. Moving on… they are all coming to that ball tonight, I guess mom already
told you already, right?”
Lila nodded mutely.
 P a g e | 23

“Yeah, Elena herself is coming too. She’s like an absolute queen, so beautiful that I could
cry.”
Lila couldn’t help but ask “It’s not like you have seen her before, why all these compliments”
“But all this news, the saying is always true you know, and have you seen her portrait? It’s
like drop dead gorgeous with all that white! The next palace is the Timeless city, unlike the
palace of the eternal melody this palace has multiple masters! I can’t even remember all of
them! The last one is the hallway of memories. It’s usually for holding memories, all of
these personation’s true forms so this is where they store them as a memory.” “Huh?”
It took some moments for Lila to get all the stuffs in her head and until
“Both you and your mother always say “4” then correct it back to"3 ", why is that so? Is
there a mystery person or what? Is there another palace left?”
To her surprise, Stacy began to act weird (bro was a horrible actor, it was obvious), trying
to avoid the topic. “What about we get ourselves some tea?” “No, don’t do this, since you
already told me this much, you should have told me everything. You are hiding something
from me, are you?” Lila tried to push her into speaking, denying every other topic Stacy
tried to bring up. Her facial expressions went dark.
“You would not want to know about her, really.”
“Humm, her? So there really was another one? I knew it”
“Just that, both of you have the same name, was the older sister of Elena. She’s gone long
ago, no one knows much about her anymore.” She replied very bluntly.
“Oh, dead?” Lila paused, somehow feeling bad, decided not to ask any more about
someone who’s gone so she continued. “But do you think the person in my dream might be
Elena?”
“Nice one, but it could be, could be not.”
“Yeah, someone as graceful and popular as her, why would she still bother to give you
some dreams. Lower your expectations, Lila!”, Lila lectured herself in her mind.
Stacy continued her explanation “Though it might have been Elena, it also could have been
someone from the same palace. Seems like you have a really close tie with it. Why don’t
you come to the ball with us as well? We might be able to get some clues”
This time Lila immediately accepted Stacy’s offer without any hesitation. How could she
miss such a chance like this? Finally, she was soon going to know who she really was, or
only heavens knew what still awaits her. She only knew one thing, she was ready, for
whatever awaits them.
 P a g e | 24

Chapter -2 can I unsee It? thanks…

“This one?” Stacy asked as she tried on a green gown, Lila narrowed her eyebrows as she
shook her head again, not only because green did not suit Stacy, but also because of her old
hatred with the color (this is a secret). Stacy tossed the dress back into the closet and sighed.
“I always thought I was a judgmental person but Lillie you are worse… Nearly half of my
closet is now tossed out.”
Lila finally spoke, “Your entire closet is filled with pastel color, girly fairy theme, and that
is a “royal ceremony”. You will easily get blended in the people; umm why don’t you try
on red? The darker the color, the better it is.” Stacy shook her head at this “No… it won’t
suit me I—” “Who said so? You have a fair skin and the dark colors will make you look
even fairer, trust me”
Stacy, feeling unsure, picked out a deep blue dress, the color was blue just like the water of
the deep ocean, this time Lila seemed a lot impressed. “You know what, this works too.”
Stacy put on the gown and looked at herself in the mirror, the blue sparkled on her. “You
are right! It really suits me…”
Lila nodded with a smile, “It’s because you are used to wearing soft colors, see? Now you
look like a queen and also if you don’t mind, I can help you with the makeup as well.”
Stacy seemed shocked by this sentence, “I thought you wouldn’t know such things, no
offense that I thought you were a plain person…” “Huh, a plain person? That was
personal. :<”
She might have lost her memories, but she somehow still had her bold fashion taste.
After some minutes of work, Stacy’s soft and delicate face turned into more of a bold and
confident tone. Lila also untied her braid from the hair and replaced it with some lock
waves at the end of her brown hair. It seemed like a fairytale princess’s glow up, Stacy was
ready for her very first ball, yet she was still nervous. “What’s up with that long face?”, Lila
asked as she noticed Stacy’s facial expression. She seemed to be nervous and likely
bothered about something, minutes ago her face was clearly full of joy and excitement but
now she could feel it fading away. Something was off, she was sure.
“Oh well, what could I say… old stuff, old things, pretty much normal actually.”, Stacy
replied with a weak smile on her face. Lila didn’t say anything after this, she just stared at
her quietly. She wasn’t going to force her to spill everything out, let her be herself.
 P a g e | 25

The clock stroked 7pm, everyone in the mansion hurried outside to look outside the sky, as
if something was coming. The coaches and carriages soon filled up the roads and streets,
people began to walk out of their houses to watch something… in the sky?
Sigh… good things never last.
Stacy immediately saw this and she too dashed outside in a hurry, leaving Lila to be left
alone in the room. She blinked blankly as everyone left her, thinking what was so special
could it be that made everyone crazy like this? Soon enough, a huge white light flashing on
the sky, reminding her of the same flash and its soft tingling tone. It was the same one from
her dream! As the light scattered, it revealed a young woman, dressed in a graceful white
dress and her silver hair as her silver halo crown shone on her head. This confirmed her
suspicions before, the mysterious white figure was indeed Elena, even if the person was
burnt into ashes, Lila definitely could not fail to recognize someone. Somehow an uncanny
feeling kept telling her that the lady herself also saw her as well. People suddenly yelled
together, “Greetings to her excellency” as they all bowed to the lady. Elena, held something
in her hand behind her back as she just smiled and just walked away in the mid-air. The
mid-air… wow.
“Wait a minute? Isn’t she supposed to be appearing at the Celestial Capital, right? What is
she doing here… Oh my lord, what the heck did I do, is she coming for me? Oh, shut the
fuck up, I didn’t do anything, alright? Oh no, it couldn’t be… Stacy said that the special
guests are a few people, right? Why only her and also why me? Not you stupid, why would
it be you? I don’t know AHHH”
Lila forgot the fact that Stacy heard everything that she was rumbling in her mind just now
and the latter sent her a very “helpful” message through telepathy: “Shut up I swear, I don’t
know either. People are saying that she came because of some personal case before the
banquet. And guess what? You might be the reason, there’s a possibility but also no. Don’t
overthink for now.”
“There’s a possibility? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Don’t make me feel worse! Should I run?
Should I hide? What should I do now AHHH.”
“Stop with your ‘AHH’ -ing...”
Stacy just gave her a glare from outside, communicating through telepathy was fun but
Stacy’s mind connection was sometimes a bit down so it was hard to talk telepathically all
the time. Lila just shrugged and went back into the house holding in her fear. Her insides
were screaming with panic for the first time ever, she began to felt as if her old disease has
reoccurred, feeling restless as she breathed heavily (that’s fucking overexaggerated—). Soon
enough, she began to calm herself down and walked out to the hallway in a hurry without
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watching her way, just to bump into Monica. The first second Monica knew someone
bumped into her; her face turned red preparing for another yelling section as she turned her
head but it didn’t come up. Instead, her face turned into a hint of surprise as she suddenly
looked into her eyes and asked simply.
“Oh, who are you?”
Lila again blinked blanky in awkwardness without knowing what to say or reply back.
“Wait, you can see me?”, she replied after being frozen for a few seconds. After hearing her
voice Monica’s face expression changed suddenly. “This voice… EVELYN?”
“Evelyn? Whose Evelyn, I’m—”
Lila suddenly stopped and knocked her head. Stacy told her mother that she was Evelyn,
she nearly exposed herself. “Oh yeah, right. That’s me.” she quickly added with a nervous
smile. Monica gave her some sort of that’s-sus look but she also managed to twist her face
back into a smile again. Glaring at her didn’t make Lila feel bad, but the smile did. It was
like a thousand daggers hidden behind a soft sheet of cotton, but she tried her best not to
lose her cool, since probably everyone could see her now, for some reasons which she
definitely was not enjoying.
How the heck am I visible again, someone explain mee?
She slowly again echoed her mind. “So, you can see me now?”
…
“Yes, to my surprise you don’t look anything like in the family portrait though?”
Fucking hell!
Lila suddenly ran upstairs back into her room. Now she is visible, she can finally enjoy her
face in the mirror, right? How could someone miss the moment? Barging into the room (the
door creaked, RIP— oh, not RIP anymore, it was still intact. Phew) she flashed in front of
the mirror eagerly and blinked.
A young woman no older than 16 or 17 stared back at her, with black silky hair which
reached under her shoulders. A pair of round eyes with double eyelids, black on the right
but her left eye was somehow white with no pupil in the eye socket (she noticed that her
eye color changed when she looked in the light, it somehow turned brown when looking at
sunlight). Her face was somehow considered delicate, high nose and a pair of thin cherry
lips on her white pale skin. She somehow looked “soft” and “delicate” rather than what
she imagined herself. Her face was a total contrast with her personality, if she smiled a bit
more, she would be able to copy the description of a warm and soft expression, nah she
 P a g e | 27

would rather frown or stay neutral. She was wearing a white dress which she changed into
that morning. What's surprising was when she was invisible her clothes would also
disappear alongside with her. (Okay that is not THE POINT? How did I even become
visible again??! Can’t somebody let me leave in peace as air? That’s also nice too, but why??)
And why could people see her now, or was it just Monica? Millions of questions ran
around her head as she sank into her bed. To make sure that she was visible now, Lila
decided to walk around the mansion to see people’s reaction since it was her first time
being ‘seen’.
She swooped to the outer-garden where every single maid and workers were there as she
yelped “HELLO!”. The people who were drowned in the event earlier ago were shocked
to their spine by Lila’s sharp and sudden call. One of them even dropped the broom in
shock but she managed to grab it back. The people looked at her in curiosity.
“Who are you? We have never seen you before in the mansion?”
Lila rolled her eyes, “At least you all should have recognized this voice of mine, huh.” One
of the gardeners seemed to understand what happened. “Our miss Stacy managed to break
the spell? I knew it! Welcome back Miss Evelyn, it has been a thousand years.”
(Oh, loved you for thousand years, will love you for a thousand more~ Wait no, stfu what
the fuck am I thinking!)
“Umm yeah, thank you.”, she replied as she slowly felt somehow awkward (another day
hiding the skeletons in her closet), walked back into the building as mummering and
whispering left behind in the garden. And now it was certain, she was now visible once
again but how could she still not remember her past? (OH, COME ON!) What made her
visible, well it definitely was not Stacy’s work…. Did it have to do anything with the
woman in white? Her spirit somehow managed to refill life energy, strong enough to be
visible again. She needed to go to the upcoming ball which was coming in a few hours, as
a person, not like an invisible thing. Her heart was feeling guilty, deceiving the house owner
while staying in the house made her feel bad. Maybe the faster she found out the truth, the
faster she could leave, the lesser the problem will be. And now, she must wait for Stacy to
come back.
While waiting, she managed to dress herself and prepared herself. She went back into her
room and sat in front of the mirror again. She grabbed a red ribbon and tied her hair into a
high ponytail, her hair flowed down like the waves of the ocean as she turned her head.
Her left eye, which was without a pupil, was now returned to normal but this time a trail of
red light would appear and she narrowed her eyes, mostly they remained normal. It was
taking time for her soul to refill its life energy; her pale skin began to have some life. The
 P a g e | 28

nearly paper white skin turned into a smooth fair one and her lips began to have more color.
Despite this, her body-temperature was still low, ice cold. She did not know what or which
helped her to refill life energy but it was… nice. She decided to put on a scarlet gown which
was placed in her closet, it has patterns of roses on it with black linings. However soon
enough Stacy came back from the sightseeing as she barged into the room. “YOU WON’T
BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED! OMG!!”
“Oh? What happened?” Lila suddenly asked in confusion. “ATHERLASH! ATHERLASH
HAS BEEN ACTIVATED AGAIN! EVERYONE SAW ITS SMOKE COMING OUT
AGAIN!”
“Would you mind telling me what the hell is Atherlash? And what do you mean by smoke
coming out again? There was no smoke before?”
“Remember the time I told you about Elena’s dead sister? It’s her weapon, the master was
dead but the weapon was not. It was waiting for its master’s arrival, but somehow it was
active again.”
The word ‘Atherlash’, somehow felt familiar too, from the first second she heard the word
she can’t help but giggle a bit. Has she gone mad? Just now, she discovered that she was
able to be visible and Atherlash was activated out of nowhere? Strange. She didn’t have to
do anything with this, did she? No, let’s hope not!
Stacy continued “It’s whether her return or someone had taken over it, it’s bad, really bad.”
“So, the ball’s cancelled?”
“Of course not, but everyone will have to be careful though.”
Lila nodded in silence, not long they were suddenly knocked back to alert by Monica’s yell
as it echoed through the hall. “THE CARRIAGE IS HERE, HERE! COME NOW YOU
TWO!” As her sentence ended, Lila and Stacy dashed excitedly towards the entrance as if
they were little girls getting ready for a party. They hop into the carriage as Monica and
some other people awaited them as well. The elders kicked them out from their carriage
and sent them to a different one. Lila realized their current carriage was the same one
which Stacy brought her to her mansion. Two young girls, one in blue, one in red, get in
together.
The sky went darker and darker as they went, it was a midnight ball which somehow
reminded her of Cinderella’s story, though there wasn’t going to be any prince there, but
trouble ahead, oh who knows? On the way, Stacy remained quiet, oddly silent, drowning in
thoughts and worry. Lila decided to step in, she closed her eyes and spoke in her mind.
“The bee is oddly silent today, no buzzing around?” Lila suddenly spoke with a smile.
 P a g e | 29

“Uh? It’s just that there will be a group of girls and they might—”
“Bully you? What? Don’t worry, I got you, I’m a professional!”
Stacy just turned her head to her with a weak smile, clearly, she was still a bit bothered by
them. She wondered how bad it could be? With her face at the window, the wind passed
through her hair as it floated gracefully along. It should have been around 10pm, the dark
roads and alleys were slowly filling in with light and music as they went. After around 2
hours, they began to see a huge tower shining with lights, with hundreds, no maybe even
thousands surrounding it. It did not even look like midnight at all. Lila saw some familiar
men in uniforms hanging around the city, it was the group which she encountered a few
days ago, they had never seen her before so… as long as she acted normal, they shouldn’t
be suspecting her, right?
After passing the huge gate, they suddenly saw many other carriages as well, with many
young ladies and lads from prestigious families, with the fire of excitement burning in their
eyes as they wandered around. It might have been their first time as well. The building…
the style and the interior somehow looked oddly familiar? The long hallway of people
awaited. Soon it was their turn, Stacy leaped out of the seat, with Lila coming out next
after her. Both of them shrunk back at everything, it was all way too huge. (Though they
heard most of the guests refused to come after hearing the incident of Atherlash, but this
was already huge enough.) It was an extremely wide hall, so wide that even the entire
Catherine mansion was only as big as its reception, no joke here. Lila quickly glanced at
Stacy’s face, it was so pale white, she was clearly shocked by the number of people and the
building. She grabbed her hand and went inside the hall; the luminous light and voices of
people welcomed them first where hundreds of lights were lit. The first thing that caught
their eyes was a stage, laid high and away from the public. The people were already sitting
there, different people with different colors as well. Behind the curtain of pearls and a layer
of white silk sat someone (probably Elena, or who would wear or adore white more than
her?), the green one also had someone sitting behind it, and next to it was yet another
curtained seat, a cream colored one… Between the white curtain and the green one was a
black one, with silver hangings, empty. Maybe the person was late or… oh wait, maybe it
was Elena’s sister’s seat, poor girl…
She reached her hand to search Stacy, the grip was empty. Huh empty? She turned her head
back to see, just to realize she was not there.
With coat sweat enraging on her forehead, she quickly ran and scanned the huge ball room,
everyone looked quite the same in their luxurious ball gowns and suits. Lila only could
keep pushing away people and keep looking, not daring to shout in case it might bring any
unnecessary trouble. Among the voices of thousands, she suddenly heard a glimpse of
 P a g e | 30

Stacy's voice, it was trembling in fear helplessly. Lila’s eye suddenly glowed with red light
as she continued to push away the crowd and spotted a group of teenage girls, surrounding
something in one of the darkest corners of the room. One of them grabbed a tea-cup and
poured it onto something, umm no, it’s someone? She quickly rushed towards them and
pushed them away as if it was nothing. To her horror, she noticed poor Stacy, now her hair
bundled up into a mess, with tea dripping from her head to her dress and her make-up
messed up by her tears. The sight of this made Lila suddenly feel as if her insides were
burning, with this anger she suddenly slapped one of the girls who poured tea on Stacy,
which sort of sent the girl flying towards a nearby chair.
The girls were also considered as one of those “bullies” who loved picking on smaller and
weaker girls who wouldn’t dare to fight back, despite their same status Stacy was their
victim, no wonder she was so pale on the carriage! She knew that they were coming for her,
didn’t she? Lila also internally slapped herself for getting so distracted and forgetting the
whole person! She at first thought they would just laugh or just mock her around, she never
thought they would get physical. What was done was already done, she was also going to
do what should have been done as well.
“SHAMELESS!” she roared. “Doing this kind of thing even in public!” Her voice wasn’t
loud enough to shock the entire ball room but some passersby noticed it, standing rooted
on the spot and enjoying the show! Lila chose to forget the people and got back to her
business. She was 100% fully aware that since she slapped someone, she could expect some
7 vs 1 battle or something and she was prepared for it. Not to her surprise, she actually
slapped the boss of the group but she somehow felt even more pleased about it. The girls
managed to pull their leader back into position and they all stood in front of Lila, who
already had her hair tied up and removed her gloves, Position in ready ma’am! (FIGHT
ME BITCHES!)
“Who do you think you are to talk to us like that? Foolish enough to stand up for that rat—”
Before the girl could finish her sentence, Lila delivered a second slap on her right cheek in a
flash of lighting, both sides of her face being slapped, how satisfying!
“The rat? What do rats do? Scrawling in corners nibbling things? Isn’t that you? Someone
despicable enough to take things physically I see, are there any surprises for me to do as
well? I’m simply copying you.”, Lila replied with a calm expression.
“Do you know who I am?” the girl asked in a warning tone.
“Don’t know and don’t care madame.” Lila also replied with a smile.
“Since you slapped me twice, I will scratch that face of yours, You- You’ll pay! GIRLS!
TEACH THIS IGNORANT PEASANT A LESSON!”
 P a g e | 31

“Sure, if you have the guts, come ahead.”

Soon enough, she found herself suddenly surrounded by the other 6 girls, preparing to
absolutely beat her up as well. Lila quickly yanked Stacy by her hand from the corner,
wiped off her tears from her face and pushed her away from the place into the crowd. As
long as Stacy wasn’t there in the danger zone, she might as well be able to wiggle off easier,
okay?
Fucking hell, why did I get myself in this shit, she doubted for a moment but then decided
to stay on ground and face it, oh yes, they seriously were coming for her. (Still couldn’t
believe that things got really serious, she was just playing around, okay?)
The first girl tried to hold her off, grabbing her arms as she tried to pull them away, Lila
managed to kick her knee and wiggled free, eww get off me. As she tried to get out, the
second girl grabbed her by her hair while the other two tried to hold her off again, Lila just
jumped out as she dodged the two attacks of the other 2, they didn't get the hold on her
legs. She used her elbows to hit the two girls in their stomach, buying her some time to gain
the upper hand. She did not plan to actually cause any big harm but looked like she must
beat them or she would be the one to get beaten instead. The other 3 tried to get involved
too but this time Lila managed to grab an umbrella which laid on the ground. She held the
umbrella as if it was a weapon as she swung it across the 3 girls, taking them all down in a
single move smacking right in the face! “OMG…I’m actually good at this…” her insides
were screaming despite the very calm and pose she had on the surface. Lila herself did not
know what she was doing, all she knew was that she was doing it all.
They fell down to the ground, whining in pain, but the 2 girls who were beaten down got
up again trying to trip her. She quickly dodged the steaming hot tea which missed her face
by inches and grabbed the girls by their hair banging themselves as they fell to the ground.
By her back, the sneaky leader girl scratched her back with something sharp which gave her
a tingling pain. She quickly reacted as fast as she could, with a back kick, the last weakest
but the sneakiest girl had fallen. “MOMMA RAISED A SOLDIER NOT A BITCH!” She
yelled the sentence in her mind feeling proud and relieved that it was over, though she
thought her action was immature but she decided that she deserved a moment of
proudness. She reached her back and felt it, fresh blood was dripping down slowly on her
scarlet dress, it wasn’t very obvious, but Stacy seeing this suddenly ran to her.
“WHY DID YOU PUSH ME AWAY? WE COULD HAVE FACED IT TOGETHER!”
“As if you had the guts dear.”
“I—” Stacy paused. “Does it hurt?”
“Not much really. What happened anyway?
 P a g e | 32

“Nothing serious actually… they were just—”

“Don’t tell me I understand, not my first time stumbling across rats so…”
Lila gave a dirty look over the girls whom she just defeated, as they laid on the floor unable
to move a single muscle. The smallest girl from the group slowly raised up from her
position and began to talk again.
“You, what are you? Don’t you know who I am! I’m from the grand mansion of Celerial—”
“Grand mansion of Celerial my ass! This miss over there is also the only daughter of the
grand mansion of Catherine. Aren’t you two the same fucking status?”, Lila interrupted
again.
“Can’t believe Stacy actually tolerated you for so long, if I were her, I would made sure
you—”
Stacy suddenly grabbed her shoulder and spoke in a low tone.
“Yes, she and I are of the same status but my ancestor Evelyn isn’t here anymore, hers is
still there. Of course there’s a difference! Let’s not cause any more trouble, you have
already beaten them up blue and black, let’s leave.”
Before the two girls left, the bully leader, who was now able to get up and recovered from
the kick she received from Lila, spoke again. “You have quite an impressive level of
training. Instead of working for the Catherines, this Celerial clan can support you more
than they ever could you know”, she said in a low yet a coaxing tone.
Lila turned her face back at her, with a slight smile on her face.
“And excuse you, I’m not working for anyone… And you keep saying that you are a young
mistress and a young mistress, do you know who I am too?”
“No?”
“Mm, good! Never see you again, bye!”
As the sentence ended, Lila and Stacy flew away from the corner. Quickly they found their
seat and table. It took them ages to find it in the sea of tables and chairs! (Both of them
were distracted in the fight). They managed to kick out a random man who was claiming
that their seat was instead his, shoving the invitation in his face and “politely” throwing
him off the seat. The girls sat in their seats, noticing how messy their situation was and had
to fix each other's messy hair and makeup once again (what a pain). Stacy tried to put
medicine to the wound on Lila’s back, but she just shoved it away. It was just a small
scratch and she was not that little soft crybaby, she can deal with it herself. While waiting
for whatever was supposed to be happening, Stacy fanned herself with her fan, Lila rested
 P a g e | 33

her head on her palm. The time should at least be around 1am in the morning! What in the
world is actually happening? Lila quickly nudged Stacy with her elbow.
“Everything’s oddly quiet, what’s taking so long?”
“I know…”
Just after Stacy’s words, they suddenly heard a BOOOM, accompanied by a thick black
smoke and a flash of white light colliding across the sky. Everyone in the room shifted their
attention to the windows, in the sky. Something was fighting someone.
Huh, who would be having a grand 1 vs 1 at a ball? Imagine trying to show off their “skills”
at a ball, go to a better location for it, thanks!
Elena, the graceful white “goddess” like figure from earlier, who was supposed to be
behind the stage as a special guest, was sent flying back into the building with a crash.
(ouch that must have hurt) Her pale skin covered with black lines with blood smudged at
the corner of her lips, she was gravely injured, her bright silver eyes were bloodshot. Her
graceful, and poised position had completely been shattered; her condition now was rather
as if she was having a life-death battle with something. Everyone was frozen into their
spots by the sight of this, the ones sitting in their seats or the ones walking around all
remained rooted, not daring to move a single inch. Was the white light that collided with
the smoke here? Whom was she even fighting with?
Seeing everyone’s frozen reaction, between gritting her teeth she shrieked, “OUT! ALL
OF YOU!”
Although it may seem as if she was in anger and ordering them off to leave, everyone
understood that she was warning them to escape before anything worse could happen.
She was trying to chase everyone out, even in such a grand event. Most of the people here
are teenagers, and their very first experience in a scenario like this, knew nothing but to run.
As soon as the words left her mouth, people immediately crammed outside, Lila had no
choice but to tug Stacy under a table because of the amount of people, the speed. If anyone
fell down, they would be surely trampled down to death by the weight. Despite the
potential danger it would come, they were trapped, it was impossible to push through many
people at once. Elena might have known about it, since she was also a highly respected
figure, Lila guessed that she might be wise enough for this. Elena sighed at the sight of this,
maybe she was expecting more of a non-chaotic way of leaving. A lot of them were from
“high-prestigious” families, who would have guessed them to leave like that, alright? Have
some dignity, people! Within seconds, half of the room was outside as she expected
anyways, Lila hid herself and Stacy under a table, and used the table cloth to hide
themselves. Their table was at least 50 feet away from the real main entrance, but Lila
 P a g e | 34

already saw a window, easily openable in case they actually needed to run. However,
despite her effort to remain in the room, Stacy tried to follow the crowd but Lila managed
to grab her back.
“Don’t go, it’s worse! Get back in here!”

“What’s wrong with your head? This is energy corruption! Staying here is just like burying
yourself alive! We must leave NOW!”
“Energy corruption?”
Suddenly the huge ball room, which was filled with light and people, was now nothing but
an empty, dead silent room with smoke slowly emerging as some people arrived into the
room, rushing towards Elena. One of the women with an emerald color gown, helped
Elena who could barely stand up by now. The second person was a man, who looked
around in his twenties with a rather funny outfit, a cream-colored shirt with a pink outer
coat, what a fashion! First time seeing the mysterious and aloof Elena so close up for the
first time, Lila noticed that she and her face were about seventh-tenth alike, so similar
especially when you look at them from beside. Just that Elena has a softer delicate feature,
while Lila’s was considered a bit sharper. How strange the coincidences could be.
“Lila, I seriously think we should go…”
“Hm? No, wait a minute” Lila replied sternly.
It was her first time needing to feel like she must watch these, and moreover the people on
the stage somehow looked so familiar. She let her grip off Stacy despite saying no to her
earlier, expecting her to run away like she was nagging the whole time, but Stacy didn’t to
her surprise.
For now, Lila’s whole focus was on the stage, she slowly crawled out of the table and sat
back on the seat again, none of the people on the stage were free enough to check every
single chair, did they? Elena pulled out something from the mid-air, the object… It was a
bunch of smoke but not quite. It looked more like a whip, but instead of the metal rope it
was all smoke, wildly wandering aimlessly. The smoke somehow smelt like something was
burning, like barbecue? Oh no, of course not barbecue, but it sure smells like something
was definitely burning. It had a delicate handle made from silver crafted carefully, smoke
coming out from it, it was not normal. It was also again familiar; Lila didn’t know how to
feel. Despite feeling incredibly familiar with literally everything, her brain could not process
what it was. (x2 OH COME ON!) The smoke was wild and they looked as if they were
trying to break free from something.
 P a g e | 35

“This? How could this happen? Why would it suddenly try to break free from you? Didn’t
it used to listen to you??, another woman in the emerald green dress asked Elena. In return,
Elena just shook her head. “I don’t know why it would suddenly attack me, ever since she
was gone, Ather remained inactive, I don’t know… why?”
Lila watched everything, with her head resting on her palm with a slight smile on her face
until the lady dressed in the green dress finally noticed her, sitting alone in the empty sea of
chairs. Seeing her, the reaction Lila received was however a bit weird. Instead of getting
shoo away, the lady in the emerald dress altered the other 2 people about her presence.
Soon enough, both Elena, the woman in green dress and the man in the pink suit stared at
her.
The first second they saw her, they looked as if they had seen a ghost, their faces turned
into the color of a bowl of cold porridge. After a few seconds, they finally spoke.
“Which brave mortal dared to disobey my order to leave? LEAVE NOW!”
“Yes, the order was for the mortals. Not me. Took you long enough.”
A dead silence.
The more they looked at each other, the more awkward it became. Lila did not feel much
but the emotions were clearly crafted on their faces, sorrow, longing, anger but also the
unwritten memories as well. It was very deep, so deep that even herself did not dare to dive.
“Sister?” a sound echoed in the silent hall.
Everyone froze on spot by the sound of Elena, it was no longer a graceful and elegant
voice rather like a wronged child who met her mother. Although Elena’s call was uncertain,
anybody could hear the lingering piece of hope in her voice. Was it her dear sister or
somebody else? Even if her sister was right there, she would not be able to remember her.
Lila also couldn’t believe she was seeing Elena the second time again in real life, though
she couldn’t help but to back away slowly when Elena tried to get closer. Great, now a
sudden realization splashed her face like a bucket of cold water, that dead sister of Elena
was her? Was she just bluffing or was it real?
Please don’t call people random things at once, thank you!
Normally, Lila would echo her mind back but this time she couldn’t. Both parties were
uncertain, they did not know what to do, afraid that any single movement would make a
mistake.
The man in a pinkish suit and the woman in an emerald green gown did nothing, they
stood silently in the corner yet their eyes told a different story. Lila’s mind went blank,
 P a g e | 36

although she had already expected to find out something from her past, she did not expect
to find someone to call her ‘sister’, especially from someone like this, okay? Although the
situation seemed calm and peaceful, it was worse than a raging battlefield with uncertainty.
She felt as if she made a grave mistake. She herself was not mortal, anything should
happen would not really affect her but she forgot the fact that Stacy was, any spiritual
attack or any outbreak could be deadly for her. From sitting, Lila suddenly grabbed Stacy
from their hiding spot, grabbing her hand and ran towards the entrance. Lila opened the
door for her; Stacy didn’t understand what she meant.
“Leave? We ought to be leaving soon! Why now?”
“No. Not we. You should go, stay somewhere safe.”
“What about you?”
“I won’t die, I can promise you that.”
“Lila, you really are Lila, Lilliana Everheart.”
“Hm?”
“Lilliana Everheart. You never were as evil as the books said.”, she said this one last
sentence before she left with her blue gown, running further and further away.
“Never were evil as the books said”, this phrase kept running around Lila’s head in
confusion, Lilliana Everheart? Was Stacy trying to say that she was Lillian Everheart? Was
she Lilliana Everheart? Please no…
Slowly she closed the door and turned back to the stage. She turned her head to the room.
“The mortal curse, is it? Who was it?”
“Since you remember that you were cursed, why can’t you remember the caster?” replied
the woman in an emerald green dress with her voice as cold as ice.
“I don’t remember it, I just identified it a while ago so I’m afraid I do not.”
They looked at each other for a moment before answering her again.
“Who told you that?”
“Just a friend.”
“Ha, then she must be very knowledgeable. For now, let me say things to the point. Indeed,
you were cursed by the Mortal Cruse, but no one has the ability or the gut to curse you. It
was you.”
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Lila stood there blanky and scratched her head. “It was like a suicide? Why would I do
that?”
“You can ask yourself, you dumbo dumb, it’s been 1000 years, where were you?” the
woman in a cream-colored dress, with pink ribbons, cut into the conversation. Wait a
minute, wasn’t it man a moment ago? How—
And now instead of a smart suit and a mask on his face, it was now replaced by a slim
dress and two long cloths attached on the arm area, the silver mask into a face with smooth
make-up, and the slipped back brown hair turned into locks of wavy curls.
“Don’t look at me like that, being the only guy in a huge room is way too awkward! Now,
I’m Stella, the starry skies of the night, master of the faces, the personification of
appearance! It was Steven a moment ago, but I would prefer you call me according to the
way I change, alright? Yes…you just witnessed shapeshifting, but this form is also pretty.!”
Lila silently nodded trying not to act rude.
Then in a new appearance, and now “she” turned at the woman in the emerald gown and
stared at her silently until the latter spoke up.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“IT’S YOUR TURN? I even changed my looks just to introduce you, you don’t get it?”
“Doesn’t she remember me—”
“If she remembers you, you probably wouldn’t be standing here so comfortably here, go
ahead and introduce, don’t be so unfriendly, we all are old buddies :D”
Everyone stared at each other in awkwardness for a moment, waiting for the lady to start
her introduction. Feeling hesitant, she slowly started.
“Back into history, depth of memories where I reside, here I stand. Veronica, the
personification of memories.”
Stella giggled a bit, hearing Veronica's face turned red with fury. “What is there to giggle
about? Huh? Huh?” “No... no… you are actually the memory itself yet you still forgot the
fact that Lila was… ahem never mind.” Veronica smacked his head with her fan and made
a loud thud sound (must have hurt, ouch). Lila, now standing in front of them, did not
know how to laugh or cry. They acted so lofty and aloof in front of everyone, who would
expect them to be acting like some 8 years old behind the scene? After teasing around each
other, their faces grew serious back again. Veronica walked back to her seat and sat there
with her leg crossed, asked.
 P a g e | 38

“So, what now? The ball’s ruined, everything’s ruined, she’s back and what the hell is
happening? How are we going to explain afterwards?”
Elena wiped the blood off her lips, the black lines on her hand remained, as she slowly got
up and walked towards Lila.
“Do you remember me?”, she asked very shortly.
“No. I’m sorry.”, Lila replied bluntly, deciding that lying wasn’t going to make any
difference anyway.
“It’s alright.” Elena replied gently. “We all have expected it anyways, but in order to control
your own element, you must remember everything again.”
“Yeah, you left all your shit to this poor girl and you better get working babes. You missed
so many good stuffs”, Veronica in her seat interrupted.
Lila wasn’t sure if she wanted to remember her past anymore, she was still lost in her own
thoughts when another person interrupted once again.
“But seriously sis, red slays with you! Been ages since I saw you with a red dress, you were
usually dressed in black like some sort of emo, no offense.”, said Stella trying to break the
silence also trying to get Lila speak.
“Would you mind changing back into your male form again?”
“Huh why? Isn’t this form beautiful?”
“Because you are way more talkative in your female form. I kindly request for you to shut
the fuck up and let me get things straight.”
“As if you are straight anyways…” Stella muttered under her breath, turning back into the
man in that pinkish suit also known as Steven. Lila continued.
“So, before I do anything, I must remember things right? For now, I can’t literally do
anything yet. Can you tell me who Lilliana Everheart is?”
“BRUHH” yelled Steven in annoyance but to his surprise Elena and Veronica agreed to tell.
“Seriously, this girl… haven’t you read the books before? Did you forget how to read?”,
continued Steven but he stopped after receiving glares from everyone. He rolled his eyes
and also went back to his seat. Why was everyone acting like old people (because they
are…) Atherlash, who was ragging in smokes and hostile, strangely became docile and
obedient ever since Lila suddenly made her presence clear. It wasn’t fighting to break free
from Elena’s grasp anymore, somehow it calmed down.
“What was that thing over there?”, Lila asked again.
 P a g e | 39

“Noo, Ather! Your owner forgot about you~ The grand mistress Everheart actually forgot
about her own whip!” Steven pestered again, this time Veronica casted a small green light
with a flick of her finger, he suddenly went quiet again with his eyes angrily glaring at her.
“Don’t worry, that should only last for about 10 minutes. If you could keep your mouth
shut before, I wouldn’t need to do anything.” Veronica replied back to his angry stares.
“Ha, deserved.”, Lila commented.
With muffled noises, he turned his head away from them.
After stabilizing her energy, Elena finally spoke up.
“Even if I told you everything now, you would forget them later, because that’s how a curse
works. As long as the curse is still in effect, your spiritual powers or your core or your
memory will still be in a dormant state and there’s nothing even we can do.”
“Isn’t there a way to break it?” Lila asked impatiently, raising her eyebrows.
“There is a way, if someone casted you. We can remove the curse by crushing the core of
the caster, totally eliminating and wiping them off. The curse exists as the caster but too
bad you’re the one who —"
“So, you are telling me that I must destroy myself, burn my core into ashes just to regain
the memories or the powers? What’s the use of breaking it in the first place? Maybe I really
did not want myself to break it.”
“No, for the memories I think someone can help you…” They all stared straight at the
confused Veronica in her chair fanning herself.
“Wait what? Why me?”
“Why you? Even though the curse has destroyed the traces from her soul, but you still have
the copy, do you? Come on…” Elena pleaded with a pout like a child asking for candy.
Veronica couldn’t take it so soon enough and replied quickly. “Alright bah! Don’t look at
me like that, alright? Fine. I’ll take a look.”
She got up from her seat, and walked up to Lila and touched her forehead again, just like
how Elena did in her dream. A burning emerald light shone on her fingertips as she pressed
it between Lila’s eyebrows scanning her memory and then removed her hand quickly,
announcing back. “Most of it is already shattered and scattered into pieces. I might need to
go back to the palace to get more connection sweeties.” She got up from the floor and
quickly turned away and fanned herself again.
 P a g e | 40

“I must go to the realm of the spirits? Before I go, can I talk to someone really quick?”, Lila
suddenly spoke up quickly. The 3 looked like they had swallowed a lemon, they didn’t
seem to be happy with it. “You have new friends?”, they yelled at the same time.
“What’s wrong with you people? Of course I made some friends.” Why was everyone
making her look like she was an ice-cold, emotionless and expressionless so much that she
would fail to make friends? Or was it jealousy? Hehe who knows?
“Oh, it’s nothing, it was just that we didn’t know if anyone even wanted to be your friend
except us”, Steven replied quickly as Lila threw another wtf glare at him.
“The world doesn’t always revolve around you, get that in your head.”
She was preparing to leave when Veronica suddenly stopped her. “No, you can’t leave like
this. Your Atherlash may seem perfectly obedient and a cute little sweetie pie right now but
who knows what’s going to be up once you leave. Do something or Elena’s going to suffer
from energy corruption again.” Hearing this Lila walked up to the stage and grabbed the
whip and called out. “Ather?”
The whip which was perfectly calm and still was now flooding with smokes again, trying to
show its attention. The silver handle suddenly turned into silver liquid as it got on her hand,
to her arm to her shoulder and wrapped itself around her neck as a necklace. The whip also
shapeshifted itself into a necklace! The silvery color remained the same, with the locket of
a rose…they all could see the smoke coming out from it but later it managed to calm down.
Now Atherlash remained happily on its owner’s body after 1000 years as a rose necklace.
The two immortals rolled their eyes at the scene, the whip was literally making illusions
and keeping trying to fight back Elena’s own spiritual power which was sealing it from
lashing around, even causing her energy corruption a moment ago and now it’s acting like
it was innocent as if everyone wronged it, what a red flag! But honestly, if Lila really wasn’t
around, only heavens know what more disasters it would make, and now at least it’s back
into its rightful owner, everything should be fine.
“Remember, no matter what you are always welcomed back. I suggest you better start
finding books about “Liliiana Everheart” and read them. Though I can guarantee the facts
are not 100% true, at least this should help you get your goddamn memories a bit into your
head.”
Lila gave him a hope-u-step-on-a-Lego sort of glare before she turned away to exit, it
sucked to not remember anything and making a clown out of herself. She opened the door,
the shivering wind barged in, realizing it was already raining heavily already, still walking
through the rain to the huge gate. Her hair which was tied into a bun now was loosened up,
her scarlet dress was soaked by rain water but blood from the wound would keep dripping
 P a g e | 41

down. After walking a few steps, she suddenly felt light, her knee went weak, she felt
something inside her was cracking, this weird feeling eventually spread out to her whole
body and ended up collapsing on the road in the rain. The last thing she heard was “What
happened, wasn’t she fine a while ago? Lila? Lila!”
Blink.
She never thought she would even blink again or even open her eyes again. Oh wait, yes…
even if she wanted to die it was impossible for her anyways. Her vision was still blurry, she
could hear some familiar voices around her. She lifted up her hand, she still could move
and now she tried to sit up only to be jump scared by a yell. “LILLE! YOU ARE
FINALLY AWAKE!”
Stacy? What was she doing here?
“I’m sorry, your excellency… My bad.” Stacy quickly added after that, something was up.
“Doctor! How’s she now?” spoke in a familiar voice again, it was Monica. Obviously. she
was back into the Catherine mansion again? But how…
“The poison’s deep in her blood vessels, even in her heart by now, and the last time I
checked it stopped beating and HOW? This— This is a miracle!”, the doctor exclaimed.
Poison? What the heck! When did she even got poisoned in the first place? She felt her
neck, Atherlash as the necklace form was still there, phew what a relief! Before she could
actually sit up and look around, questions started raining on her.
“What actually happened back at the Celestial Capital? Did you actually break into a battle
with Elena? How did you survive and what happened? You got lots of explanations to
do… Lila.” Monica said slowly.
“Oh, so you knew? And what the hell, of course I didn’t go there to fight! With this
condition of mine, do I look like I’m even able to fight someone?” Lila suddenly
remembered her fight with the 7 girls and lowered her head in guilt. “Umm yeah, actually,
I did fight with some people but definitely not them I swear!”
“Mn.” Monica replied shortly.
What was that “Mn” supposed to mean? She was telling the truth, okay?
The doctor took off her gloves. “The poison is a no ordinary one, it’s called the “The gleam
of silver”, and it’s only used by one and only clan, the Celerials. The wound on your back
seemed to be the entry into your body, someone used a poisoned weapon on you, did they?”
Oh, right, how could she forget! That little sneaky girl, yet cunning and ruthless, if she
really was a normal mortal who knew what would be her fate by now? Lila coughed a bit
 P a g e | 42

to show that she was aware of it, while Monica now stared at Stacy. “Young lady, what
actually happened back at the ball? First year without your mother and oh lord, what
happened!” Stacy sealed her lips shut, she didn’t look like she would talk and Monica as a
mother was getting more and more furious by the sight.
“What could have happened anyways, of course someone was so scared of some 7 girls
and hid the fact that they were suppressing her for so many years. One of the goddam girls
even managed to stab me.” Lila suddenly stepped in.
“What 7 girls? What was that supposed to mean?” Monica snapped back as fast as lighting.
Lila again opened her mouth to reply until she suddenly received a sharp telepathic
message from Stacy. “Please DON’T, don’t tell her please!”
“Why not?!” Lila also snapped back quickly.
“Mrs. Catherine, you might be more aware of many other clans than I am, and might be
even more clear about the status of this clan than I do. Stacy, your only daughter has
become the punching bag of some young mistress from the “Celerial” clan and even had a
fight with me. According to her response towards them I can predict that she might have
been controlled by their words, or threatened by something. I believe there must have been
some actions needed to be taken, don’t you think so?”
Monica stood on the spot frozen for a few seconds before she could reply back stuttering
“Ce-Celerial clan? Bullying? It sounds just like them. Lil-Lila you… I’m sorry your
excellency, I didn’t mean—”
“Stop with this “your excellency” crap, what the hell was I or who I even was, I don’t
remember or even care okay? Just call me by the name, it’s much better than “your
excellency” this and that.” (Sis even managed to lecture me a moment ago, why still act
with courtesy here huh, there was no difference) “And also, by the way, Mrs. Catherine,
why is everyone so afraid of that stupid little clan?”
“Because that “stupid little” clan’s owner is your freaking ex-girlfriend.”
“MY EX WHAT?”
Yeah sure, hearing the word “ex” wouldn’t feel so good, and what the heck? She seriously
needed to read the books about her, imagine reading the history of yourself because you
forgot it? Lila smacked her forehead with her hand, this was all way too stupid. “Ahem…
Just because she’s my *coughs* ex-girlfriend you said? It doesn’t mean you all have to be
scared the shit out of yourselves?” Monica just stared at her in silence before she continued,
“You know what, it actually makes sense!” ‘So?”
 P a g e | 43

Monica sighed unexpectedly, “Actually there’s nothing we can do right now.” Lila felt as if
her mouth had fallen to the floor in surprise and also horror. The power struggles, woah
they actually worked this way? Even someone as chill and composed as Monica showed a
slight sign of fear, who the hell that clan actually was. Speechless. She decided to shut up
before Monica would actually kick her out.
She decided to stick up to her plan for now, step 1, try to remember (read: memorize)
everything!! She should have been trying to collect the information but gosh heavens she
had been poisoned. But now, everything was done and she’s recovered (*she just died a
moment ago), she should be able to get to work right? No, not until this question storm
kept raining on her, did people enjoy interrogating her despite calling her “your excellency”
this and “your excellency” that. For now, she could sit on her bed and wait for more
questions to come. Honestly, she could blame no one, and she still had lots and lots of
explanations left to do so (which she herself did not know how to explain…)
The doctor suddenly stepped in. “Wait a minute, ever since I checked your pulse, I could
detect nothing, nothing at all! I was about to announce that you have died but you
suddenly came back to life. This is a miracle.”, she repeated. Lila just nodded softly, with
no sign of surprise or curiosity on her face. The doctor just stared in confusion at her
reaction and left without saying another single word. Well yeah, it was awkward, someone
at least should feel a bunch of emotions after being brought back to life, who would stay
like “Oh? I nearly died? Okay?” After this, she finally managed to actually stroll around the
room with her eyes. Ah, it was her old room back in the mansion, she even expected
Monica to be kicked out already but how did they find her or carry her back? Now it was
her turn to shower them all with questions.
“Erm, how did I get here? I was back there, right? What happened?”
“You were unconscious until just now, after nearly everyone was dispelled, we were
worried that you— You and Elena might actually have a fight and things might turn back
just the way back then so we came to check in after a week. So basically, you were sleeping
for 15 days, basically 2 weeks.”, Monica explained.
OMG 2 weeks??!! And what do you mean by checking after a whole damn week? Big sis,
you actually should care for me, alright? Though I know I can’t die, but you can’t let
someone be on the ground, lying there for an entire week! And what happened to those 3
“masters”, where did they go?
And now she wished nothing but to actually forget everything she just learned; it was all
way too stressful. Although her life was meaningless or boring the days before she arrived
at the Catherine mansion, at least it was stress-free. She now could do nothing but sighed
 P a g e | 44

and continued with her remembering (aka memorizing) every single fact about someone
called “Lilliana Everheart” which everyone was claiming that it was her.
“I, umm want to read some books about erm… history about people from the spiritual
realm? I wonder if you have any books?”
Monica just coughed and nodded while Stacy was already ready to show off her special
collection of books. Lila honestly was not a huge fan of books nor did she even loved
books in the first place but you know, this was a very serious matter. She nodded while
smiling in uncertainty, she knew she would not last long between that long pile of books.
Lila still wished she slept a bit longer and now she was dragged into Stacy's favorite place,
the mansion’s library, but it definitely wasn’t going to her favorite place or never ever. Upon
entering the place, it was dark with curtains closed. Lila expected some bookshelves and
some tables maybe, what could go worse? Stacy ran and pulled the rope, the curtains were
lifted up and the light suddenly barged into the room, Lila felt as if she was about to pass
out. The room should be at least around 50 feet wide, with huge bookshelves which were
taller than 8 feet, hundreds of them. Some were so high that there were ladders to reach
them! “Gosh NOOOOO, do I seriously have to read them all?”
“Your choice,” Stacy replied. “Then please get me an interesting one Miss Stacy.”, she
again replied with a smile. Stacy’s eyes lit up as she heard this, she knew what she was
looking for. She ran towards a bookshelf; she searched through some books mumbling
“The Legend…the legend… Oh here it is! The legend of the dark rose!” “Uh? The dark
rose?”
When she opened the book, the book cover had a picture of a woman, which looked oddly
similar to Lila’s face. The pure white complexion, the shape of eyes, the face even the stare,
just that this woman had more of a cold expression, and dark areas under her eyes
compared to Lila here. She also yielded a whip, which looked just like Atherlash which
was now on her neck. In the cover, it rather had a longer holder part and the smokes were
thicker, they didn’t even look like smokes at all, rather like a piece of metal rod. Was it
really her? Surprisingly the book was not as thick as she has expected.
“No one really talks about her, or should I say you, I don’t know but this is one of the
longest pieces of writing, recorded here. You won’t find it in other libraries, the topic is
forbidden.”
Hearing this, Lila somehow got offended much, how dare they?
They turned the first page and saw a huge quote written in the middle of the page.
“The era of fear, withdrawn back in times
 P a g e | 45

She was once the one, Lilliana Everheart.”

“Umm that was ominous” she thought, Stacy flipped over to the next page, it was another
chapter, The garden academy.
“The garden academy
It was one of the most ancient and prestigious academic systems since the first generation
of the spiritual personifications, producing honorable figures, including this flower, the
dark rose Lilliana Everheart. Although not considered as great, was still one of the
respectable figures in history. Along with her fellow students, she once studied under the
wing of the old palace mistress as one of the top students. After 900 years of studies, she
was soon strong enough to exist in this world. No one knew when her mortal life was, all
we knew was she had lost her physical body since her days back in the academy.”
The page was torn apart, clearly there was supposed to be more pages left but it looked as if
someone destroyed it on purpose. Oh well, at least she knew some facts, this wasn’t too bad.
There were still some remaining pages left, Lila quickly flipped them over, relieved to find
some pages left from the first chapter.
“Despite her mischief and rebellious behavior, the old palace mistress still showed favor
towards her, compared to other students who were well-disciplined and studied hard. She
once mentioned her as a little crow flying up and about the sky, gliding free and soaring
furthest from the rest.”
And now Lila couldn’t help but feel that something bad was waiting for sure. The pages
were yet again, torn apart leading them to more of a tragic event, none of them was sure
what happened before but it was a total breakdown. No one knew what happened between
but the pages skipped to an event.
“The fire broke down the walls, the light burned down the classrooms, blood was spilled
miserably as it flowed down like a river from the stairs. The students fought their very best
but they were surrounded and outnumbered, reinforcement was impossible before everyone
was wiped out. The old palace mistress sent her very last remaining students who were
lucky enough to remain alive outside, Lila who was now nothing more than just a mere
part of an uneased soul tried to cling on to the very last moment but was still sent out
forcefully by her teacher. The palace mistress fought alone until her last demise, leaving the
building under the control of the enemy. The garden might be cleared but she managed to
save some of her last flowers before her last breath. “
“Send them away? Why would she? They could have fought together…”, Stacy suddenly
asked, then she stopped, noticing the darkened expression on Lila’s face. She has never
seen Lila’s face so stern or looked as if something held her back.
 P a g e | 46

“Because it was useless.”, Lila replied to her shortly, her voice was trembling.
“Useless how?”
“There was going to be another wave of army upcoming, do you really expect some
inexperienced students to hold it back?”
“I—" Stacy seemed to be affected by the words as well, “I’m sorry I didn’t know—”
“Don’t be sorry dear, you should have asked really. I asked myself as well too, I hated
her… Hated her for leaving everything just to use herself as the scapegoat for some mere
children.”
Stacy’s heart sank, did Lila just call herself and her remaining friends as some “mere”
children?
“Now I understand, she saw the bigger picture, the better ending. Yet…” Lila paused after
saying this, she wasn’t sure herself if she even wanted to continue the reading. After the
emotional things, she sighed again, trying not have another emotional outbreak in front of
Stacy, it was kind of embarrassing.
“Wait, how did you know there was going to be another wave of army? Did you remember
any fragments or anything?”, Stacy suddenly popped in. What she asked actually made
sense, why would she remember the fact?
“I don’t know… it just popped into my head.”
Stacy narrowed her eyebrows, “The seal is leaking… There must be a weakness in the curse.
Remember, every evil curse has a way to be broken, even though this spell cannot be
straight up broken, we might be able to weaken it somehow. Your memories are locked up
but actually you still remember vividly when you actually meet them face to face don’t you?”
Lila again, nodded mutely without knowing what to say or reply.
“Then that’s it, that’s the way! There have been too many unanswered questions about you
and the way people are making casual remarks and accusations. Ugh, it’s way too ugly!”
Lila raised her eyebrows.
“Casual remarks and accusations? How?’
“Ahem, if you really want to know about them, I do have a grand collection about gossip
and “spicy” stories of famous people and of course that includes many things. I might
actually collect some about the spiritual realm as well! Let’s hope you don’t get even more
traumatized after reading that… For now, let’s shush and continue this book, shall we?”
Feeling stupid, Lila again nodded silently, she did not have a good feeling about the
 P a g e | 47

upcoming pages from the book. She even wondered if she remembered anything she learnt
from the “garden academy”, umm nope sorry, it has been ages since she had her last
revision with the lessons, bye! As they turned the next page, it was there already in the
second chapter, the biography! That’s what she has been waiting for this whole time. Let’s
hope lesser pages were torn off compared to the last chapter., she silently muttered in her
mind.
“Biography
If you are reading this, you are either a historian or someone who dared to discuss or even
interested in dark histories, welcome. Dear reader, by the time you opened this book it
should already be hundreds of years since the ink has soaked the pages.”
Well, it indeed had been quite a long time, just looking at the pages which are on the verge
of tearing apart! The two had to flip the pages as softly as possible, fearing that more pages
will be torn off and the information will be even more incomplete than it already has been.
They continued.
“Being one of the youngest members of the second generation to ascend to the spiritual
realm, she was considered a bit Inexperienced compared to others when they got the
position.”
“INEXPERIENCED MY ASS!” she screamed in her mind again, why was everyone
gossiping about her right in her face uh? Sure, they had the guts, didn't they? Oh well, guess
what? Yes, you are right, the page was torn off again, how annoying.
“—As the abyss has been finished, she made it her residence, the place which is only
accessible to certain people. The place was blanketed with fog, or rain and the entire
building was rather pitch, black and dark. The building was considered grand and graceful
but one cannot escape the ominous atmosphere as well. The thousand-layer grand hall was
the entrance of the palace where unknown layers of dark silk curtains are placed, with each
mirror in every corner of the walls. If someone did not manage to get out before the sun set,
their soul and their consciousness will be gone, trapped enterally in the abyssal soul prison.”
“Damn… that’s actually so cool…” thought Lila to herself while Stacy’s face went white
reading it, with horror or maybe even a little bit of surprise. “The taste, you really got the
taste huh?” she slowly spoke after being frozen for a few moments. Frankly even she herself
did not know what had gotten into her, because she was not remembering things, rather
like “memorizing” so all she could do now was to stare back at Stacy blanky. When did
Stacy become this judgmental?
“The incident of sleeping people
 P a g e | 48

This is one of her greatest handworks, being able to trap someone’s soul in her domain
without taking their lives. The incident of hundreds of people, sleeping soundly in peace
without waking up. If it wasn’t for their lack of breath, anyone passed by would definitely
think that they were corpses. The outbreak was caused nearly 6000 years ago, when she
was at her peak. The victims were alive, but not quite. No matter how hard anyone tried to
wake them up, they just won’t as if their soul was sucked out. The body was perfectly
normal, but for some unknown reason they will not regain their consciousness.”
“Living corpses,” Stacy quickly added, “How horrifying.”
“Umm…” Lila did not know how to reply, she was utterly speechless than ever. They tried
to turn to the next page but more and more pages were torn off, who did it anyways?
Clearly someone did not want them to know much about “her”, the two thirds of the book
have been ripped off already but they certainly caught a glimpse of some important events
that she was supposed to know right? The next time she mentions something, let’s hope she
won’t be staring at them again and able to respond. For now, the one last remaining,
probably the most important part of the book, the fall of a rose. Stacy, who was now even
more curious and confused, tried to ask her even more questions that she herself wasn’t so
clear about. The book was supposed to make things clearer, not to make it even more
confusing than it already has been. Just before they were about to read the last part, they
suddenly heard some noises from the outer rooms. It was drop dead silent a moment ago,
what happened? It sounded like an argument as Monica’s sharp voice and the voice of
someone indeed very familiar as well, definitely not in a good way. This male cranky voice,
IT WAS THE BALD MAN, THE LEADER OF THE HUNTER GROUP! HOW
COULD THEY MISTAKEN SUCH A HUGE EVENT? AHHH, now the trouble has
arrived knocking on their door.
 P a g e | 49

Chapter -3 ha I’m In danger~

What was he doing here, especially at this time? The girls decided to not go out to look
around again, they surely had learnt their lessons. Ear dropping seemed enough.
“Oh well? This is my house and you are absolutely not doing anything!”
“But miss, this is an order—”
“From who? Your mom? Seriously whoever it is, they still absolutely don’t have any single
piece of right just to barge into my house JUST LIKE THAT!”
Surely enough, no one could out-power Monica’s strong and powerful voice, they all could
hear the sigh of the bald man after her sentence. Bro was definitely getting exhausted after
trying to argue with the grand mistress of the mansion, at least he tried, poor guy.
“I apologize, miss but the track of the ghost ended up here and it’s our job or it would be
causing troubles around…”
Yeah, sure enough, someone was still traumatized from her prank she pulled a few weeks
ago. It wasn’t supposed to be this serious, at least she thought he would be smart enough to
realize that he has been fooled but no, of course no. How did he managed to track her
anyways? She should at least clear the mess, should she? Now she was somewhere safe, in
front of someone as reliable as Monica (let’s hope she won’t throw her under the bus), he
won’t be able to do anything to her. She gave a quick ting to Stacy through telepathy, “I
WILL BE RIGHT BACK!”
In a flash she got out of the library, and went to the outer courtyard and hid behind the
door, peaking through the window. As she got closer, the device in the bald man’s hand
suddenly rang again just like the way it did the last time, but the ringing became more
violent.
“SEE? MISS? THE GHOST IS VERY CLOSE, WE MUST INVESTIGATE NOW OR
ELSE—”
“Oh no, there’s been a misunderstanding again, I suppose?”, she interrupted him and she
walked out of the main entrance. Lila now wearing a black dress which reached to her
knees, with a belt on her waist and a hood, her fashion was sort of standing out alone from
everyone’s elegant colorful dresses. With a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands, she waved
hello at the man who stood rooted on the spot. She brushed off her hair confidently and
walked closer as the device’s ringing became even more rapid and alarming, then she
stopped with her lips turning into a smirk. “The person that you all looking for is me, and I
 P a g e | 50

believe I must make things clear. I apologize for the ruckus I caused the day before, and I
can see that I have made quite of a disturbance to you and the system here. I do not know,
or even heard of the name Evelyn Catherine before, but sadly she has already passed away
and her soul is already at peace. I’m ignorant of the reason why this little device of yours
kept ringing at my face, but I can guarantee that I’m no ghost or anything ‘evil’ monster
you probably imagined. See, I’m totally normal.”, she confidently lied. She could be
anything else, but she was totally not normal, everyone knew that pretty much actually. It
felt good to act badass in front of someone who you ran away from a few weeks ago.
Monica glared at Lila’s clenched hand when she was speaking, clearly, she was using her
most inner energy just to put on an act, it looked like as if was about to bleed after being
clenched so long. Even she herself was impressed by Lila’s acting skills, no one knew how
many screaming or chaos just passed in her mind. After being chased away by everyone,
the bald guy finally stopped, as he took off his heat and bowed before he left. “I see, sorry
for the misunderstanding ladies, This Hawking shall leave now.” He urged his men away
whom were still unwilling to move, Lila tried her best to pull her stone face until they left.
Monica stared at Lila, her face wasn’t considered too sharp or anyone scary, but her face
expression was, icy and aloof. Lila narrowed her brows as they left and returned into
mansion, feeling somehow relieved.
Although Monica was the one whom looked the oldest, but when it came to real age… Lila
was, but no one needed to know that, do they? The doors closed slowly as they went back
inside, the sun was about to curl back behind the mountains as the sky went orangish-red,
ah the sunset. All of them felt something was off since the man left, something… sure was
making everyone uneasy. The bald man should not be leaving this obediently with that
arrogant attitude of him, something must be waiting for them, who knew. Monica put her
hand on Lila’s shoulder, which somehow sent her spine shivering. “It’s indeed cold.”
Wtf ? What’s wrong with having a cold body? I’m already dead… So?
Lila quickly backed off in awkwardness, and now she was the one feeling the most uneasy.
Stacy was already there, sitting on an armchair, looking pretty much confused as well.
“Where’s the book? Let’s continued”, Lila started to break the silence, the mansion became
awfully quiet since they came back from outside. She waited for a response; it’s been 5
seconds… 10 seconds… 30 seconds… No, no response? Huh? That was strange, Stacy
would never do that to anyone. She turned around to check out for the others, they all also
stood rooted their spot, she suddenly felt something was wrong.
Feeling stupid, she waved in front of Monica’s face, she should at least would receive a
sharp snap if she did that but yet still it was much better than everything frozen. To her
horror, Monica did not even blink, this… this was not normal, their bodies frozen as if time
 P a g e | 51

as stopped. Someone else casted a spell, an illusion. Freezing someone’s body while
intruding their mind, oh no, THEY WERE IN DANGER, SERIOUS DANGER. Why
was she the only one unaffected?
While rotting her brain out, she suddenly heard someone sneaking through the garden’s
gate, like some tiny bit of footsteps. Now a cold realization struck her like a lightning, the
men, they have never left in the first place! Shit, shit, shit… these words ran through her
mind in a loop as she tried to calm down. She quickly also sneaked outside, to peek at the
people who were peeking in the house. Not to her surprise, there were many other dozen
men outside. What the heck? When did Catherine mansion become like this, people
coming in and out like it was their home? They seriously needed guards, being a
“prestigious” mansion sure did not really defend them entirely. She got up from the
curtains, yeah hiding behind the curtains, everyone knew that hiding place and it was way
too obvious. She turned her head, only to discover that she was already surrounded by a
few dozen men. She wasn’t really going to pick a fight with all of them, they weren’t some
maidens like the last time! Oh, hello there trouble! What’s up, she quickly flashed these
sentences in her head, and now she somehow remembered someone told her before…
“Lila dear, whenever you find yourself in danger… try to face it, if not try to retreat.
Retreating is not an act of cowardness rather more of a common sense.”
Oh right! It actually made sense, but how? How was she going to escape?
The bald man now his face expression was completely different from the one he used in
front of Monica and stared at her with malice in his eyes.
“Finally caught you, Evelyn. Our mistress has been looking for you for such a long time…”
What the actual fuck? What mistress? What Evelyn?
“The mansion of Celerial has finally caught you, now the mansion of Catherine is no more,
it’s high time I have reached this point in my career.” He snapped his fingers and Lila
suddenly felt something leapt out of her body, yeah it was her soul obviously, the ground
underneath her was giving away and again found herself somewhere else. Teleportation is
getting out of hand these days, she thought.
Fogs and darkness surrounded her, and the figure of the man slowly emerged as well.
“Impressive, impressive… Even my illusion spell could not send you here, you really are
something. You after all, was not that woman from that history, tougher than you look
huh?” he sneered confidently, but the question was why? Lila was clearly feeling that her
once empty dried blood vessels were filling with energy, wait there those spiritual powers?
She felt as if she had this feeling before but also felt as if this was her first time.
 P a g e | 52

Atherlash which once remained docile on her neck suddenly moved from her neck and
slowly placed itself in her hands, was it a sign that it was telling her to use it? Now the
silver handle shined and the smokes were thicker as if they were considered as a metal rod,
wait a minute she saw it somewhere before… THE BOOK COVER! Atherlash has
regained its original form, maybe she might also be able to transform? She closed her eyes
as she narrowed her eyebrows and swiftly waved her hands, suddenly black smoke began to
surround her, she slowly and slowly began to feel the energy surging inside her.
Her body, which was usually filled with coldness, began to feel warmer and lighter. The
smoke disappeared, she found herself wearing a completely different clothing, instead of
her little black dress with the hood, she was now wearing a graceful long black dress which
was decorated with multiple silver hanging which somehow matched with Atherlash. Two
long silk cloth was attached on the elbow area, they would gracefully swift around
whenever she made a hand movement. Her long dark hair was now loosening with some
waves near the ends, and she somehow felt a bit taller. She opened her eyes again, feeling
really confident by now, gave the bald man a piercing cold glare. Now this is what “Liliian
Everheart” was.
“Thanks, now I’m back where I should be, oh hello.”, she spoke with her voice both gentle
but filled with murderous air as well.
“YOU— YOU ARE NOT EVELYN CATHERINE? YOU ARE THE— THE DARK
ROSE!”
“Haven’t I told you before? What kind of advantage will I gain just by lying to someone
like you?”
“YOU— you are actually back, no wonder the energy corruption I—” he tried to get out of
the realm but it was too late. He should have never ever sent Lila back into her old domain,
no matter how strong the mortal curse may be, it was redeemed useless in the dream world,
or the world that exist in people’s minds, the unreal world. Now she has regained her prime
power, as long as she remained in this world she would be at her most powerful, though
this wasn’t sure when she was back into the real world but as long as she was there, Mr.
Hawking sure was in deep trouble.
Red light suddenly glowed in her dark eyes, she wasn’t interested in what he was going to
say or do, she only knew one thing. She must tear his consciousness into a million pieces,
this way he won’t wake up again (though his body might still be alive?). She grabbed
Atherlash and whipped it towards him, he somehow tried to use something to shield
himself but Atherlash was strong enough to break it through and gave him a lash. After
receiving a single strike, his consciousness form was already seen-through, nearly destroyed.
And now it was her time to sneer and trash talk.
 P a g e | 53

“Hmm, Impressive. Usually, the souls will shatter into pieces after the first strike, guess I
should gift you an extra lash. Congrats.”
Sending someone into the dream realm is no ordinary ability, adding the fact that he
cannot be destroyed by a single lash, he was not a normal mortal as well. He kept
muttering some words in hope of getting out of the world, but no one can leave, especially
when it is back in control of her.
This time instead of lashing at him, she raised her hand as if she was grabbing someone by
the neck and the man somehow was lifted into the midair as well.
“You think things could not get any worse, do you?”
“Ha, it was just a miscalculation and sure enough you can act cocky only here. In the real
world, you are also useless!”
“Sadly, enough as if you think you can return to the real-world sweetie. I may be useless in
the real world but where are we now?”
Her facial expression went dark, with the red light glowed brighter until she looked like a
thirsty vampire on a hunt. “Oh, you reminded me! I cannot use my own spiritual power in
the real world because of the curse but I think “borrowing” from someone should be fine,
don’t you think so?”
“You… WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?”
“You may guess.”
“I don’t dare.”
“Oh?”
‘Do I have access to his spiritual energy even when he’s in a dream? Maybe I should try…’ she
quickly thought, it was always right to make preparations and take the chance while you
have it.
“Ather? I sort of forget how to transfer spiritual energy? Would you mind helping—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Atherlash has already leapt out of her hand, wrapped
itself around the man whom was in the midair, squeezing him like a snake. Suddenly they
all could see glowing yellow light coming out from him and Atherlash suddenly jumped
back on Lila. From the first second it returned back to her, she suddenly felt a sudden flash
of energy once more. Atherlash knew what she exactly meant, how sweet. At least now she
could use them in the real world, honestly the curse was a real pain in the butt especially
when she needed something to defend herself, let alone attacking others and of course
remembering things, ahh.
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Yoo~ This is how the job’s done… Thank Chu~

“And now… don’t blame me for doing this or oh heavens you might be the one casting this
on me instead, I don’t want to be the victim thank you very much and now have a good
day!”
After having his spiritual energy sucked out, the man’s face became pale and became weak
enough unable to speak. Lila rolled her eyes at him. He was easier than he actually looked,
or was she just too much overpowered? Who cares, it was high time she gets out of there.
After all, the entire Catherine Mansion was in danger, she must try to wake up them before
it was too late. With this man trapped, this should spare her some troubles which might
come rolling at her face later.
“Ah shit, I forget how to get out of here…”
She was thinking to ask for Atherlash but she stopped, she was the owner dammit, why
was she asking every small thing to a whip! It was way too embarrassing, okay enough with
this embarrassing shit, it’s not like she had any choice anyway.
“How do I get out of here?”
She was expecting it to do another signal or movement, only to be actually shocked to as if
her entire spinal cord has been frozen, it was a voice! Holy mother, it can actually TALK?
“Since you have been memory wiped, I understand that you indeed lost knowledge about
advanced things but miss how could you forget to exit the dream world, it’s literally like
exiting the backyard of your own house, duh. Don’t ask me for everything, dumbass.”
“Excuse me sis, WHAT? I’m still your owner and how could you say that!”
“Yeah sure, throwing at me with that “I’m your owner” bleh… Okay fine, if you want to
leave, just say it out loud duh.”
How in the world her own whip was talking back at her, things were surely getting out of
hands. She was planning to ignore it for the entire week as a punishment but as she thought
about it again, she really could not do anything without its help. Forget the punishment,
let’s focus on getting out. She was acting totally badass and sassy a moment ago and thank
you Atherlash, her mood was now a bit off now, nah she couldn’t blame anyone really.
Closing her eyes again and focused on the surrounding, “This isn’t real, EXIT!”
Her feet suddenly felt the ground and the air around has returned; she was back. It has
become much quieter back in the mansion, it was drop dead silent. Of course, everyone
was trapped in the dream world except for some people. She forgot the dozen men around
her, she still felt herself on the ground without moving a single inch. She needed to make
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them get out of the mansion without touching any of the people. Some voices swarmed
into the atmosphere while she was thinking.
“It has been around 20 minutes, both the chief or that girl hasn’t returned. It really should
not have taken this long for the chief to finish off some little ghost, something isn’t right…”
“Yeah” agreed the others.
Oh no, they were getting aware that their so-called chief was in trouble, now she better act
right now, now or never. Within a flash, she snapped her torso up, getting up as Atherlash
now placed in her hands, unleased it quickly. Why was everything so quick, duh it was to
make sure they did not have the chance to fight back! Atherlash managed to impress her, it
could reach the speed her mind was going, everything was so smooth and flowy. After
receiving a single lash, as expected the closest one to her were taken down easily while also
preparing for the second wave. Every move she made, every flow it went, although she
never really remembered them when someone asked her but she was automatically
remembering all of them when it became an emergency. Let’s say it was in her muscle
memory. The way she was using Atherlash, it didn’t even look like she was fighting for her
life, more like she was just playing around with it.
In less than 3 strikes, the dozen men whom were all mighty crumbled on the floor, dead.
Yeah, she didn’t mean to wipe all of them out but she did it a bit heavy-handed. She was
sure she was not going to feel bad at all, because imagine if she was the one on the floor
now, she was done for. Also again, she didn’t want to be the victim thank you very much.
Not waiting for another moment, she ran back into the main hall. Stacy remained still with
the book in her hands, Monica was still standing rooted to the spot with her eye brows
narrowed, the servants were also frozen in their spots.
“What now? Isn’t there a way to bring them back?”
Atherlash did not respond this time.
“Oh my gosh, Aria. Stop being a goddam drama queen and do something!”
After hearing its old nickname ‘Aria’ from Lila’s mouth, the calm and stable smokes
suddenly began to move rapidly.
“It’s— It’s been so long you called me that… You still remember it?”
“I don’t know, it just slipped out of my mouth. Do I usually call you like that?”
“Mm…” Everything went silent for a while with her hand still gripping on it, somehow
even a bit awkward? Lila began to realized that the whip can only communicate with her
telepathically as well, maybe she could try to talk to Stacy like that. They have done it for a
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couple of times, but she couldn’t be so sure, because Stacy herself was trapped in her
nightmares, endlessly chasing her. She should give it a try though.
“Hello? Stacy? You there?”
“…..”
She wasn’t very surprised anyway; this was very much expected. Someone probably be
frozen in the middle of her endless nightmares, looked like she had to step in again. It
would probably take her forever to check in and out of every single person’s dream, sigh
she must return back to the dream world again. Another day, same shit…. Okay never
mind!
“Ah shit, I forgot how to enter again!”
Before Atherlash would roast her again, she quickly added.
“Yeah right, I know now. I have to say it loud, do I?”
“Nope.”
“Huh?”
Obviously, the entry and exit were different, how? A whole different type of spell or…
The logic of sleeping to enter a dream was surely something everyone was aware of, and
trying to slap yourself awake was yet also another logic that Lila knew as well. She guessed
that she should be creating an entry with her mind, and imagine herself as getting in,
though she wasn’t sure how “spells” or the logic worked in the world around her, but she
should give it a try at least.
With the new information she just made up, she decided to get back to work, it’s now or
never. Before going to the dream world again, there are something she needed to make sure
something. She may have the ability to guard the souls in the realm of dreams but they
would be completely helpless in the real world, including herself. Security came first! Also,
she herself had to make sure, the men whom she assumed was dead, must be dead for real
without a trace, to avoid future troubles or danger. With caution, she decided to cast
another single lash on the “dead” bodies. This time, some men from the further corner
twitched to the lash, meaning they were playing dead how cute as if the thought she wasn’t
going to notice them huh.
Slowly and slowly, she walked towards them and sat down beside on the floor and smiled.
Ever since she unleashed Atherlash, her identity was exposed and everything was as clear
as the day, there was no doubt that these men were from a strong clan with a powerful
backing sure enough anyone with a brain would have heard about the history of the
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spiritual realm. Meaning, they already figured out whom she was thus they chose to play
dead and would try to call for reinforcement after she entered the dream realm again? Bruh.
There was something about her since she was able to remember, she loved to act and play
along despite knowing what was really going on, then strike the kill when the opponent did
not expect the most. A big fan of finishing things off (same here, yay) But this time she
seriously did not have the time nor the mood to play with them. All these cat fights and
ambushes… way too childish.
“People these days, trying to act dead without being dead before, how could this be
efficient? Off you go! Maybe after this time, your acting skills might improve, don’t forget
to thank me later.”
The second she finished her words, her eyes glowed with red light. Black smokes suddenly
emerged into the room, taking shape of huge hands. After that she flicked her hair and
walked out of the room as if nothing even happened, leaving the trails of yells back in the
room. She just lent someone else’s hand to finish the job, she had been doing things too
personally these days and she did not like that very much. (don’t take things too personally,
it’s bad for your health you know?)
Without wasting a single second, she dashed back into the main hall where everyone in the
mansion stayed frozen. Lila herself also seated herself in an armchair, making Atherlash to
surround the room like a ring, a barrier so no one else would not barge inside at any time.
Even if someone came, it could always alert her at once, this should be good. However, in
case she had to fight someone in the realm of unconsciousness, she still might not need to
do much, really. Even in worst case scenario, she could always wake up again to escape,
still she could not imagine if anybody could beat her in her own domain.
Closing her eyes, she suddenly felt the lack of gravity and everything began to float around,
just like how things would float in the space. A few moments later, her feet suddenly felt
the ground, ah she had arrived. Her situation right now, was rather like predicting things
and trying to go along the flow. She did not really understand her real strength nor how
things actually worked, and was completely aware that she might not stand the real chance
against the real bosses, final bosses or whatever boss it was (which she might come across
later, let’s hope not), everything was in limit.
The world of the dreams still remained foggy, dark and a mystery to everyone else, the
atmosphere was uncertain and would change according to one’s emotional state. Lila now
was in her own dream world, which was rather considered empty and deserted, she wasn’t
this emo okay? Though she wasn’t feeling sad or anything much, she was feeling empty.
The part of her heart has disappeared, she needed to fill in the blanks to know what she
actually felt like and who she really was. For now, she should be trying to access to the
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main source… the main source? Stacy forgot to tell her which palace was responsible for
the realm of dreams! Great, now she was going to do whatever she thinks it is, whatever
happened next, leave it for later. Goodbye!
As she walked across her dream realm, everything seemed as if they were in a loop, the
never-ending smokes passed by, the fogs covering the entire area like a blanket. It was an
absolute maze; she wasn’t even sure where she was going. It was drop dead silent,
completely, until she heard a faint humming of a familiar song coming nearby.
“Down from my bones, heavens know I tried
Believe in the heart, deep down it cried.
Watch you come and watch you go
A tale as old as time, but I will be fine”
The lyrics were clearly weren’t written skillfully but one can understand how could the
person be feeling. Her head turned around as she tried to look for the source but the sound
did not get louder or smaller wherever she went.
Meaning, there was no source, it was playing in her head. She was aware that illusions
were available and possible that she was infected again. But if one said it was illusion, it
was rather like a glimpse of memory she somehow forgot. Reciting and saying the lyrics
over and over again, she again went back on track. She was losing focus so easily, that was
bad-habit but she couldn’t help it. She needed someone for information, but there was
again no one standing behind her back. *Sigh* This phrase again was also familiar. She
needed Atherlash no matter what, the only trace of her past. Her past was not only a
glimmer of hope for her, was also like a person who might be able explain whom she was,
who was she. She was lost.
No, she could not do that… that would be so selfish. Atherlash was a weapon, it also had
its limits, she could not and would not force it off. Not to mention it was her job, old job.
The dream world is nothing but a creation of someone’s mind, the more she became
stressed, the harder it would become to find the main power source. Step one, try to be
calm, easy enough? Not much actually, not for someone in a total chaos like her. She
decided to sit on the ground and stared around. The place was dark, still she could see her
surroundings. The more she sat and observed, things around her became clearer. Finally,
after a good while of calming herself, she found herself in a middle of a deserted garden,
with every single plant either withered away or burnt or died. (that’s why everything was so
dark before, how depressing) However, in the heart of the garden, was a huge tree with
some fresh green grass surrounding it, it was blooming with flowers. A flourishing tree in
the middle of a deserted garden? Interesting… She went closer to the tree, it was at least 8
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feet tall with mystical purple color leaves shining, with a gentle breeze, they fell like purple
crystals. It was a …. (she couldn’t identify what was that) tree, danced gracefully in the
middle of an island of nothingness. Soon, she was standing beside the tree, as she touched
the tree’s stem, it glowed with blinding white light. A door appeared, leading to somewhere
even darker and mysterious. Do you know what to do when you find a door? Enter, duh,
even if it could trap you there forever or anything that awaited.
I don’t know what the fuck I am doing~
She blinked, her eyes announced that she was there, the main source (perhaps?) The
dreams of the dream, the one and only place where one can has access the dreams of the
mortals, no other than the (….) the what? She didn’t know too, was it some sort of palace
too? Professor Stacy had indeed lectured her with the whole lot of information before the
ball, the 3 ah-no, it’s 4! Which explains… the dead sister of Elena (she wasn’t dead okay?),
the fourth palace must have been her domain. Now, she stood high before the capital of
dreams, the palace of bleh-bleh-bleh.
It was dark, yes, the very first impression that someone could describe was the eerie
darkness, pitch black dark that Lila felt as if she went blind. She lit up a small flame, using
some bit of the spiritual energy she “borrowed” from Mr. Hawking the angry bird (RIP the
angry bird). The tiny light shattered some bit of the mystery, revealing some fogs and
smokes.
Oh, I’m so surprised~ Kids let me tell you, there are only fogs and smokes behind all of your dreams
and day-dreams. How does the dream world look like? Fogs, the lot of them! Achoo, ah dust too!
Despite her mental comment towards the place, she made sure she did not lower her guard.
With a small flame, she wandered around, spending every 5 seconds narrowing eyes and
raising eyebrows at literally everything. This time she entered the realm, she came alone (I
am peace ^-^), she was basically un-armed, vulnerable as f, sometimes she would usually
suffer from random brain lag and she could not remember which one of them made her
came inside without a second thought.
Ah, I still don’t know what the fuck I’m doing~
Wandering around for a few good minutes, she was standing in front of a huge rusty metal
door, at least around 8 feet tall (she wasn’t even 6 feet how was she supposed to climb over
the fence or something?), was she even supposed to open it? For her, there was only one
choice she could make, going ahead. There was no going back, if the door was opening or
not, she was going in. She knocked on the door, she could expect it to remain closed or
would magically open for her. And guess what, it actually magically opened. Wait
WHAT—
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The door did not hesitate, as soon as her hand touched the corroded metal, the door itself
sort of ‘magically’ opened itself, Lila did not know if this was a good or a bad omen but it
always actually kind of sweet, how considerate…
How considerate my ass. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?
After entering the palace, Lila’s eyes were considered finally opened-wide.
It was a huge dark hallway; she was greeted by the endless layer of silk curtains and
countless mirrors which would follow her wherever she went. The “ceiling” was indeed
something quite impressive, it was a carefully crafted paintings which she wasn’t really able
to see clearly. Countless crows flew over her heads out of nowhere, when she meant
countless, she really meant it. There were crows ever since she entered this so-called palace,
what was the name? Palace of never-ending crows and mirrors? What kind of person had
this type of taste to build this entire lot! (Edgy~) She internally rolled her eyes.
Her situation was now rather complicated, she still could not believe that she lost focus and
actually fell in the trap. What trap? Uhm…rather complicated, but she swore she read
about something called “the thousand layers silk curtains” or “abyssal soul prison”, right?
Just very recently, freshly new information, even though she might not remember every
single detail but the sound of “soul prison” was ominous enough, alright? She felt like a 5th
grade student going to school for an exam without a single bit of revision. Really.
Oh, wait no, she was again was very sure that professor Stacy had made her read a book
just before Mr. angry bird ahem— Mr. Hawking barged into the house, did she? That’s
right, now she finally remembered what was it and where she was.
THE! GRAND! ABSYSSAL! PALACE!
She suddenly rethought about the comments she made a moment ago, she felt as if she
needed to slam her head into a wall. The palace was her domain which she built herself, so
the palace of never-ending crows and mirrors, ahem— The Abyssal Palace was also one of
the good “grand” stuffs she pulled off thousands of years ago. Seriously, what had actually
gotten into her head at that time? *Sigh*
She finally arrived to the main central source at last! She somehow wanted to yell out a
“HOME SWEET HOME!”, but decided to shut it, mission came first than everything.
And now she had finally reached the main power source after a few hours of painful
tracking (and losing focus in the next second), the painstaking effort had finally paid off but
there was a small problem here. How was she supposed to get out these entire lot of
curtains in 24 hours? The souls hanging there weren’t going to wait for the entire day!
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Honestly, forget about 24 hours, even if it was 24 centuries she might not have guessed the
way out. Maybe or maybe not. She still could hear Atherlash lecturing her: how could you
forget to exit the dream world, it’s literally like exiting the backyard of your own house,
duh. Well, since she was the one who built this entire place, it could be considered as her
house as well. This time it wasn’t the backyard; it was the front door. It was typically like
standing straight right in front of your house but forgotten the keys. She has never felt
anything more frustrating than this.
It should at least have been 2 hours since the entire Catherine mansion was down, should
have already at sun-set in the real world. Things were not turning out so well, not because
of she now was trapped, it was also because the night-time was more dangerous for victims
who were trapped in their own dream realms. More possibilities were there and anything
could happen in somebody’s mind. Although nothing could happen to their physical bodies
but their soul will suffer a lot, in worse case scenario they could ended up being “living
corpses”. She couldn’t afford to waste more time.
The effect of the hallway wasn’t designed for anything “cool” or taste, more like a huge
maze, a perfect weapon to crush someone mentally, really. Since it was a maze, there
should always be a way out, but she would need to observe the question. What was the
maze asking for? What did it want? Why was it even here? There must have been clues
placed here, yes there must be. All the stuffs here were not only for decoration, were they?
She placed her eyes on the mirrors for the first time ever. She saw hundreds of reflections
of herself but she was dressed differently in each mirror.
Oh, is this some sort of fashion show?
The closest mirror in front her shown her current appearance, tied up hair with a black
dress and a hoodie. The one behind it was also her, but wearing a dark halo crown, a long
dress with two long cloths on her arm-area, somehow reminded of herself when she used
the transformation spell a moment ago. The further mirror also reflected her too, but in a
totally different clothing and style. Beside the second mirror, she saw herself dressed in a
teal uniform with purple linings, but her hair was braided there.
The furthers one shown herself wearing a sky-blue colored dress, which style was rather
outdated, long collar reached her neck, the long sleeves which nearly covered her entire
hand and she was wearing a pearl headband, and she looked a lot younger here compared
to other reflections, looked a lot cheerful in there. It was the only reflection of herself with
a full smile on her face, the smiles faded slowly and slowly along each reflection. Seeing
this, she quickly smiled at herself in the mirror, but there was still frozen expression fixed
on the faces of others, except that younger-looking one and her current self. That was
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strange, why didn’t the others smile along? Reflections were supposed to copy the
movement of the object they were reflecting. How come?
It was actually pretty simply actually; it was because they were not reflections.
The mirrors of timeline. How could she forget.
The mirrors show different timelines of a person, and now she didn’t dare to look at the left
side row of the mirrors anymore. AHHH, she hated history more than anything.
Bad news, in order to get out of there, she must face both rows of mirrors, must she? The
hallway wanted people to face everything shown in every mirror, the dark silk curtains were
illusions to make people think the hall was endless until the person managed to face
anything that was slapped into the mirror without a mental breakdown. One wrong step,
one will be spending eternity in this soul prison, even if it was the owner herself. There was
one message displayed loud and clear, it will not accept weaklings or outsider in it. It was
reasonable actually, especially when it was the central control of the dreams and the
unconscious world, no one can easily intervene or tamper it.
Yeah sure, show whatever you like, I will look whatever I like
Not long, she began to walk closer to the mirrors, tried knocking on the surface, as if she
was trying to call the reflections in there to come out. To her surprise, the braided hair ‘her’
just rolled her eyes at her face, how rude!
“Don’t play around, tell me the password.”, Lila suddenly snapped out of nowhere. The
reflection seemed to be both shocked and offended at her sentence.
“Aren’t you supposed to ask her for it? Not me!”
The reflection pointed at the other reflection of “her” wearing a black dress with a halo
crown, ah it was asking her to ask the ‘her’ from her emo era. Surely enough, that guy
wouldn’t be that easy to communicate. Lila again sighed and walked over in front of that
mirror.
“Erm, hello there?”
“….”
What’s up with that attitude? What a pain in the ass!
Without receiving a single response, Lila violently knocked on the mirror’s surface, the
reflection’s face expression went dark to this. It stared at Lila in response.
“Alright that’s better! Would you mind telling me the password, your excellency?”
“Since you are the future me, you should have remembered it?”
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Lila felt the need to punching someone right in the face and throw them off into a river.
What the hell? If she really remembered it, why would she have asked? Actually, being
trapped and wandering around alone might have actually saved her face than asking these
good-for-nothings for the password!
“Do I look like I would care to ask you if I knew?” Lila asked, expressionless.
“Alright, the password is the three holy mothers”, the mirror finally replied.
….
The three holy mothers? What in the dumb fuck was that? As the grand, purified, graceful
and horrifying palace, how was the password of it was freaking… childish? That wasn’t the
point, who were that three ‘holy’ mothers? The mirror simply only gave her a hint, for the
names she must figure it out herself. For now, when it came to people she knew from the
past, whom seemed to be this close to her might be…
“Veronica and Steven… and me?”
As soon as the words left her mouths, the mirrors, the curtains and that bunch of crows
disappeared from the view, dissolved slowly, the floor also disappeared from her feet and
she suddenly felt as if she was floating in a void of nothingness. She did nothing wrong did
she? Before she could rant about anything more, she was falling into something again. The
dark void around her disappeared, and somehow, she fell into a pit. Nope—sorry, it was
huge room and she was dropped off like a pen from who-knew-where into this! Maybe due
to the aggressive fall, Lila suddenly saw the moon and the stars flying around in her eyes at
the few first seconds of her landing. Shaking her hand and rubbing her eyes off, she
managed to pull herself together and observe the surrounding. Wow…
This is how a ‘great’ palace should have been, how perfect! Just her taste and how she liked
it! It was a vast place, with curtains covered the windows, candles lighten up faintly and the
whole place was empty! Yes, exactly this was how a proper palace should have been. There
wasn’t much furniture in that huge room, there was also a high stage, of course there was a
chair covered behind dark curtains and cats. There were cats beside the chair! Aww how
cute~
No, not now Satan! I’m here for the serious business, now let’s see…
It has been several hours, painful hours for her to finally reach the place, although it
couldn’t have been considered anything great, but it was still an achievement, alright? Now,
she was in the main source where she could access everybody’s dream realm, umm…
“Ah shit, I forget how to enter other people’s dreams!”
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Even if Atherlash was here, it couldn’t say ‘the backyard of your house’ since it wasn’t her
dream world. Oh, to add up, there was no Atherlash here to boss her around, it was again
time to do whatever she thinks it is, whatever happened next, leave it for later. Goodbye!
She quickly scanned the room in a flash, skimming the features and the objects around.
There was a huge armchair, big enough for 2 people to sit behind the curtains. There was a
head of a deer hanged on the wall, no pretentious ‘grand’ paintings. Instead, there were
animal’s skins, horns of unknown creatures and their heads. What a collection! The entire
floor was covered by a huge carpet made of who-know-what skin, which was rather soft
and warm (but weren’t soft enough to protect her head when she fell), and the perfect
vocabulary to describe the entire place was: lifeless. Empty, quiet and dark, it was
completely lifeless, indeed. Despite having no one to attend the room, there weren’t a single
dust or spiderwebs, or maybe someone actually had to clean the room who knew?
And the most noticeable thing was the huge portal in the middle of the room, surrounded
by smokes (somehow reminded her of Atherlash). She guessed that she might currently in
the lobby hall of palace, but she was already inside the building. She has already risked
enough, there was nothing to lose to go inside the portal, right? She could have suspicion
against other people, but not herself alright? If she even couldn’t trust herself, whom was
she going to trust? Thus, she herself probably would not send herself into some sort of
danger (let’s forget the fact that her own loss of memory was her own handwork) but still,
she must go.
The closer she went, the stronger the wind blew, which sent her pony-tailed hair flying and
flapping. Although the portal seemed dark but when she went through it, there was again
another flash of blinding lights that she had to close her eyes, then found herself with
someone. The person was standing their back at her face, staring at something far away.
Lila decided to get closer to check who he or she was, she slowly walked towards the
person and lifted the small flame on her fingers closer to the person’s face, narrowing her
eyebrows. This made both of them to jump at least 2 meters in the air from shock.
“LIILE?”
“STACY?”
“What how? How am I here? It’s been so long since I was stuck here and I don’t know
what to do…”
“This your dream world, it’s actually pretty natural that you are here. You are supposed to
be asking why am I here? Well, to get you out of, of course.”, Lila replied casually. “What
happened to you guys?”
“So, wait, I am not the only person caught by that nasty illusion spell?”
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“Nope. Your entire mansion was dragged into it.”

“Wow, even you?”
“Ha, of course not. Naturally, I’m immune to those little tricks. I get in here on my own
actually, just passed that painful hallway to enter you guys’ dreams. Is everything alright?”
“Something was chasing me a while ago…”
“Oh? I see. They are not real, just your assumptions and imaginations. Actually, none of
the things in a world like this might even be real. Tell me, did you even see them clearly?”
“No! Of course not, I don’t dare!”
“Ah… alright, alright fine…”
Before she was about to get Stacy out of the illusionary prison, a sharp snake-like sound
came in chattering in her ears, so familiar. “I—I can’t hold on any longer, ahh, Master,
please come back and help me, can’t hold off this much! COME BACK!”
Atherlash? What happened?
She quickly touched Stacy forehead with her fingers, a tingling red light glowed on the area
(wow I am doing the same thing as Elena and Veronica did, how exciting!), she stared
straight into Stacy’s eyes. “You ready?” The latter nodded. Just like that Lila began to use
her spiritual power which she ahem— “borrowed” from the angry bird, her dark eyes
somehow shone with red light, like a tiger seeing a prey, not long Stacy could feel
something lifted both of them up and threw them into a void.
“AHHHHHH”
That was again, another much of an aggressive fall. Lila was quite used to it after being
tossed away back and forth like a pocket-pen for a few times before, but Stacy wasn’t but
she didn’t say or move a bit, frozen. (much better than hearing any ear-piercing scream).
Not long, Lila suddenly woke up, she has managed to return her soul back into her body.
Her body remained in that sitting position on the chair since in the afternoon for so long
that it felt as if her back was cracking. Her face twitched as she suddenly yanked herself off
the chair and stood up. Stacy also seemed to wake up at the same time, meaning Lila’s first
attempt of using teleportation again was a success. Phew…
Before saying anything or even sighed in relief, they actually had some visitors outside,
trying to barge in and fighting with Atherlash. No wonder the poor child has been in such a
desperate stage; it was getting ganged up. Lila silently signaled Stacy to remained quiet and
sneaked outside to check who was it.
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If someone said Lila was surprised, then it’s a lie. She would have been surprised if they
didn’t come, so this was rather more natural. So, this is how they want to play, huh? The
doors were opened and the game had started, it was… playtime.
First thing first, she grabbed a silver mask which covered their eyes and their half-nose, that
should be enough. She silently shoo-ed Stacy away and asked her to find a place to hide
first. It wouldn’t be great if anyone got hold of her and tried to use Stacy as a hostage or
when she tried to “help” (read: make things worse) in a fight, it was better for her to be
away. Before running off the hide, Lila suddenly asked.
“Do you know how to wake people up from illusions? Even if not, do you have any basics
of clearing illusions?”
“I do know.”
“Good, for now grab your mother and try to wake her up. There’s something she can do to
help us in the situation… I’ll hold them off!”
“You? All alone? Are you sure, do you need any help?”
“No thanks now go!”
Though the idea was fighting unknown amount of people vs 1 sucked, she was somehow
used to it, just like a daily routine. After Stacy managed to run off to who-knew-where part
of the mansion, Lila also grabbed Atherlash and dashed away in the dark like a shadow,
spying. Even though Atherlash was having a hard time meeting the first wave of people, it
somehow managed to lash out all its century-long anger towards them and both of them
ended up hiding in a corner. “Spying the enemy in the dark” was better than “I’m in the
light and the enemy is in the dark”, alright?
Also, there was always something she had been wondering about. According to the
Catherine’s loosen-up security system, that meant that there rarely (or perhaps) never met
an invasion this serious or any assault and attacks before. She also wondered who could be
so allergic to this ‘Evelyn Catherine’, that a single piece of rumor of seeing her presence
again would attract so much trouble, what the hell? Honestly, it wasn’t fair. She wasn’t even
the part of the Catherine family but why was she the one fighting all its enemies head on
head? Maybe it was because of a sense of responsibility she felt. They took her in, and they
got in trouble, naturally she was the one to blame for all of these.
The arrival of the bald man was just a tiny little bit of warning, it was much softer and
gentler than the upcoming waves. Maybe because they didn’t receive a single response from
the first wave they had sent, another troop was coming to check if they need reinforcement
or anything. Actually, it was perfect, perfectly perfect, just the way Lila wanted. Basically,
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sending a single troop, one by one was much easier to wipe off, just like sending offerings
to the lion’s den. She could literally do this all day, a piece of cake.
“You ready, Ather?”
“More than ready!”
“Yes, bitch slay, LET’S GOO!”
Atherlash greeted them from the dark with a single swoop, kicking them off from the
legendary endless stairways of the mansion, jump scaring them. The mansion used to be
bright and shining with candles and lights was now no different from a haunted castle with
all the lights blown out. (we all know who did this… it was for strategy purposes, alright?)
Lila’s eyes which were shining with red light in the dark also suddenly jumped in, with her
quick reflexes she managed to send them all flying outside into the fountains. Even herself
couldn’t help but notice that she was becoming faster and lighter in her movements,
especially after coming out of the dream realm. She also suddenly realized that she had
spent too long fighting physically in such a crude manner, as a several thousand years old
entity, it was a bit of a disgrace for someone like her to do everything by herself. Of course,
she might be able to pull off some spells and use it on them as a practice… that was
actually not bad! In the days she spent in the Catherine mansion, Lila was so bored and
idle that she managed to voluntarily pick up a book and some ‘interesting’ spells. There
couldn’t have been a better chance to put them on use.
In this world, people didn’t need special magic words or need wands to cast spells or curses,
higher level induvial can just cast it with a flick of finger or just a single glare towards the
target. Although Lila may have been powerful before (maybe or maybe not?) but her
current state was made things a bit complicated. She was like a low-battery power mode,
she didn’t dare to recklessly use so much energy at once. Having Atherlash in her hand was
actually pretty much lucky, it didn’t need any spiritual resources or energy to order it
around, despite being a spiritual weapon. According to what the books said before,
Atherlash was also currently in a pretty low situation as well, just like herself right now.
They however had a choice right now, use whatever they had in their hands. Lila was not
afraid of the clueless mortal people, what she was worried about was someone with real
high cultivation would actually come. Something was telling her that things weren’t going
to be easy as it may look, she was feeling uneasy. Clearly, she and Atherlash were able to
hold the upper hand right now, but none of them were sure how long would this last.
Stacy peeked through the small secret mirror and watched the battle against 25 people and
the duo. She has never seen the legendary Atherlash, or Lila using her spiritual powers.
Red flashes paced and yelps appeared, yellow light of the sword glares clashed like a
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lighting, but they were always disappeared after smokes surrounded them. The entire
mansion was dark, pitch-black dark, especially when it was already near mid-night. The
fight scene was blurry and unclear but anyone can sense the tension going on here. After a
few good minutes, Stacy could not hear the men anymore, someone slowly walked closer
to her, slowly and slowly.
“Stacy?”
“AHHHHHH, WHO’S THAT?”
Lila flicked a small fire with her fingers as revealed her face. The silver mask was tainted
with blood and a trail of red painted on her jawline and cheek as she gave Stacy a faint
smile. She took off the mask and wiped the blood off her face with her forehand, her
clothes were also soaked in blood and nearly torn apart with cuts.
“Omg, there are blood everywhere, are—are you alright?”
“Nah, what do you mean? Those are not my blood…”
Stacy stood up, lighted a candle and looked around, astonished. The mansion’s usual
graceful entrance hallway, which was filled with flowers was now piled up and scattered
with probably dead bodies. They were lifeless.
“You…Did you kill them all?”
Lila sighed at this, gave Stacy a very short answer. “Yes.” Then she continued. “It’s either
them or me on the floor, of course it must be them.” There wasn’t a single trace of shock,
guilt or any other emotions as she spoke, what’s most scary thing was… it all looked very
normal to her. Stacy was speechless, although she hated the men who intruded her home,
she never really wanted them dead. She could never want anyone dead; it was her first time
seeing an event like this, it wasn’t wrong to say that she was traumatized.
“Hush, I’ll do the cleaning up for later, don’t worry. How’s your mom and the others?”
It took Stacy around 15 seconds before she could talk again. “They should be awake
anytime soon. The illusion effect was somehow taken down, I just transferred some life
energy from the outside, all should be well.” Hearing this Lila swiftly nodded and walked
away, lighting up the candles again. Lila quickly tugged Atherlash to her belt, the smokes
curled up.
“Is this the cursed whip Atherlash?”, Stacy suddenly popped up after being dead silent for a
few moments. Lila narrowed her brows, “Cursed? Who’s cursed? And yes, this is Ather,
don’t mind her she doesn’t like people a bit…”
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As Lila shifted her attention to Stacy, Atherlash somehow made a hissing noise out of
nowhere, smokes getting more rapid and thick. Atherlash indeed did not like humans.
Stacy helped her mother to lie down on the bed, as she used her palm to gently closed her
eyes, without the consciousness in the body, Monica was no different from a stiffen corpse.
Seeing her own mother in this state, naturally Stacy’s face was like a withered flower,
without a slight expression of her usual cheerfulness.
Lila was also busy with her business; she dragged the dead bodies one by one by their legs
out of the mansion and piled them up somewhere (who knew?) then covered the pile with
a huge white cloth. After getting rid of the bodies, she hurried back into mansion, grabbing
a broom and a bucket she swept the floor which was tainted with blood and gore. She
placed the furniture back to where they should be and replaced the old flowers with the
new one from the garden. A few minutes had passed, Lila finally managed to clean up
everything until they were sparkling clean. If anybody just came in, they probably would
not be able to tell that there was a massacre before.
The cleaning up section was over, Lila finally had the time to check on the victims of the
illusion spells. She opened the door, only to see Stacy sleeping with her head rested on her
unconscious mother. This made Lila smiled, but also made her feel a lot more guilty.
Slowly, she walked up to Monica, she paused her breath, closed her eyes as red light shone
on her hand. Carefully she pressed it against Monica’s forehead, and quickly scanned the
woman’s condition. Both her body and soul weren’t in danger but she could sense the
remaining effect of the illusion, causing her to be still asleep. Monica was older, meaning
she had more trauma or any hidden emotional despairs compared to Stacy, thus it was
harder to pull her off from the dream realm.
In conclusion, Lila must take a third journey back into the dream realm to actually finish
the job she was supposed to be doing.
Before she went back again, she also must make sure to keep everything in place in the
physical world as well. She decided to wake the sleeping Stacy up.
“Hey, wake up!”
“Hm?”, Stacy yawned. “Why you waking me up?”
“Look, I have scanned her condition, outside help is useless. Someone must try to get into
her dream to wake her up. So, I will be going… I’m leaving you and Ather together.”
“HUH? Atherlash? HELL NO! It seemed to hate me.”
“Whether it hates you or not, that’s not the problem. While I’m gone, Ather will be acting
like the vanguard outside, she will guard the house. Although she would be guarding it,
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she’s also kind of down right now, might not be able to hold off some much people. So,
you better stay awake, in case you have to run, alright?”
Stacy silently nodded to this.
Feeling guarded, Lila sat on the armchair next to the bed. Within a few moments, Lila
suddenly looked as if she was in a deep sleep, with her soul at the dream realm. It was
pretty much clear that she wanted Stacy to guard her physical body when she was gone as
well. And now, with both her mother and her “friend” both were in deep sleep, Stacy could
only wish for the best, though knowing that this peace would not last for long.
She slowly walked closer to the empty shell of Lila, whom soul was already in the dream
realm and sat next to her. She lowered her head and with a smile, which was completely
different from her usual immature innocent expression. It was rather like smiling at
someone whom she was watching someone whom she waited for a long time, a very long
time. “Stacy” reached out her hand towards Lila’s face and tugged a lock of hair in front of
her eyes behind her ears as she slowly mumbled.
“I’m sorry… Lille. I lied to you.”
She flicked her hand, with a faint lavender light, Stacy’s brown hair turned into wavy black
one, her fair skin turned pale, snow white and her brown eyes turned hazel. Her light pink
colored dress turned into a bright yellow dress with patterns of sunflowers. She also held
an umbrella in her hands, it was also shinning with feathers coated around the corners.
“Yes, you are right, you never were Evelyn Catherine, the reason why the spirit detector
stone was alarming was because of me, not you. I’m Evelyn Catherine, the real person…
I’m not gone yet, you know.”
The soulless Lila just remained silent with her eyes closed, she probably wouldn’t be able to
hear whatever “Stacy” just said just now. Completely unaware of the situation, but
Atherlash did. Evelyn forgot the fact that whatever Atherlash heard would eventually get
back into Lila’s ears one day… but not now. The outside of the mansion was dark, but Lila
made sure she lighted every single candle, on purpose. Firstly, it gave off the impression
that everything in the mansion was very normal, confusing the upcoming attackers.
Secondly, with all the light inside, the outside looked even darker, a perfect place for
something… a present for those who dared to come.
The Catherine Mansion was no easy as it may have seemed.
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Chapter – 4 You all lied, did you?

[ To be continued ]