Prologue

"Catch them! Don't leave anyone alive!" a deep and solid voice from a man wearing gold armor echoed in the hallway of the Alderidge family's ducal mansion as he commanded his men to chase after the masters of the house, and almost immediately, more than three dozen armed and cloaked men pursued them.

In contrast to the Alderidge siblings' wounded and bloodied appearance, the men chasing them appeared to be fully energized, and in no time, a few of them had nearly caught up to the four siblings. One of the cloaked men raised his arm to attack Clarence, but just as he swung his sword towards the youngest among the Alderidge siblings, the cloaked man's head flew away, and fresh blood spurted out from the wound.

"You dare!" Claire growled, her eyes gleaming as she aimed her sword at her foes. Despite being alone and fighting a group of cloaked men at the same time, Claire managed to eliminate every single one of them who got too close to her and her siblings, leaving their lifeless bodies scattered on the cold floor, lying in the pool of their own blood.

"Run, my lady! We'll hold them off," a brown-haired knight named Rowan said as he and three other knights came to a halt to fight the assassins pursuing their masters.

Catherine, Celine, Claire, and Clarence continued forward toward the family's archive room while the sound of swords clashing against each other grew louder behind them. The four of them kept running along the long hallway of the Alderidge mansion, which used to look like something out of a fantasy world but was now littered with their servants' dead bodies on the floor and traces of blood on the wall.

As soon as they entered the archive room, Celine immediately began her search for a particular grimoire that they needed to perform a forbidden spell among the hundred other grimoires in their family's archives, whereas Clarence rapidly drew strange symbols and patterns on the floor just as his elder sister instructed.

"We have to go back at least three weeks," Catherine told her younger siblings as she applied pressure to the stab wound in her stomach to stop it from bleeding.

"How do we know three weeks is enough time for us to counter this attack when we don't even know who is behind it? Numerous people and different factions are targeting us. Even the imperial family wants us dead!" Claire countered. Her matching beige coat and pants, as well as her slender neck and hands, are now soaked in the blood of the many assassins she has killed.

"You're right. It could have been one of the many aristocratic families against us, or some other faction attacking us so they could hide behind the imperial family's anger. We don't really know, but Lala, this is the safest bet we could take," Catherine explained. Just then, Celine's voice interrupted them.

"I found it. Let's all get to our positions," she said, and without further ado, the four of them stepped inside the pattern Clarence had drawn.

Claire's heart was pounding as she watched Celine light four red candles in front of each of them before she began chanting a spell from the grimoire she found.

"Look for them! There are only four of them left!" the same deep and solid voice from the man in armor earlier entered everyone's ears, and almost immediately, they realized that there wasn't much time left. Despite that, though, none of them dared mention it for fear of distracting Celine.

"Izdigamhe molitvata si kŭm Bataluma, neka bŭdem podpomognati i spaseni ot zlo. Nie shte vi vŭrnem nazad vŭv vremeto" with each word that Celine said, the wind from who knows where grew stronger and as her siblings watched her, all they could think of was one thing. Impressive.

Just as everyone was hoping that the spell would end as soon as possible, the mahogany door that separated the Alderidge siblings from their enemies suddenly burst into pieces, sending small pieces of wood flying in all directions. As none of them is allowed to move from their places, a few of those small pieces of wood that burst hit them in their faces, making them turn their heads and glare at the culprit.

"We found them," one of the two men announced as he took a step into the room, his eyes flashing a strong intent to kill, but just as he was about to take another step toward the siblings, the guy who had just spoken and the other guy beside him went flying away.

Everything happened so fast, from the moment the two guys flew away to the moment the entire doorway was barricaded by a thick block of ice with just a wave of Clarence's hand, not giving the assassins enough time to react.

"We've been blocked!"

"Fools! What else are you doing? Destroy it!"

Despite having the ability to form a thick wall of ice that fast, Clarence found it difficult to keep rebuilding the barricade he had built while the cloaked men on the other side continuously attempted to destroy it in order to reach them. His magic is nearly depleted after overusing it for three days straight, but he desperately grits his teeth to keep himself from slipping up and allowing their enemies to approach him and his sisters.

"Leave them to me," Knowing that the thick block of ice that serves as a barricade between them and their enemies can only last so long depending on Clarence's remaining magic, Claire wanted to slay everyone she could to lighten the burden on her siblings. She then began unsheathing her sword from its scabbard, but she was instantly stopped in her tracks by a hand.

"Look," Catherine said. Just then, a bright red light appeared out of nowhere, starting from where Celine was standing before it began moving towards where Catherine was and onwards. The red light slowly began spreading through the pattern drawn by Clarence, as if it were alive, and each time that the light reached one of them, the entire floor vibrated.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

"Poveryavame zhivota si na vas. Mozhesh li da ni nasochish kŭm praviya pŭt i da ni otklonish ot opasnostta"

With each thunderous sound that came from the men that were trying to destroy the block of ice, Celine's voice grew louder at the same time as the vibration on the floor spread into the entire mansion, making it shake as if an earthquake were happening. Eventually, the barricade that Clarence had made got destroyed when the amount of magic that he had been using got depleted.

Seeing the weird formation that they were positioned in and hearing the incantations that Celine was saying, the assassins immediately lifted their swords and ran to attack them. Noticing this, Claire was quick to make a move.

She supplemented her sword with the souls of those she had killed, and as if on cue, Catherine, who was on her way, ducked down in her place just as Claire swung her sword. At least a dozen cloaked men fell dead almost instantly, but that didn't give them enough time to breathe as more and more men entered the room and attacked them.

Catherine, Claire, and Clarence were preoccupied with fighting the assassins that they could reach, and because none of them could leave their positions and ruin the formation, it was difficult for them to protect Celine, who was still chanting incantations.

"Just focus on protecting yourselves. Leave Celine to me," Claire urged, fearing that her siblings would suffer further harm. Catherine and Clarence, on the other hand, had no objections because they both knew that Claire was a master swordsman with combat experience. They believe she is capable of doing it.

Using the little bit of magic that he can squeeze from himself, Clarence eliminated anyone who was trying to harm them. He was able to kill the assassins who were approaching him one by one, whereas Catherine was able to kill a few of them despite the fact that she lacked magic and had little skill with a sword.

The sound of swords clashing against each other drowns out Celine's incantation. Claire, who was busy protecting her and Celine's lives, was slashing their enemies in her range as if they were made of paper when she suddenly got distracted by a pained gasp from beside her. Claire had a bad feeling about it, but she persisted in turning around.

The sight of Catherine kneeling on the ground, a huge sword buried deep in her chest, vomiting a mouthful of blood, made Claire feel light-headed and woozy. Claire felt dizzy with rage, pain, and sadness, but before she could express her rage, she saw someone waving his sword at Clarence and slashing his neck.

"No!!" she roared, and as if something had awoken within her, her bright red eyes flashed gold, and a wave of aura enveloping the entire room appeared out of nowhere. It left the assassins gasping for air as they clutched their chests in pain before they all passed out one by one.

The room, which was filled with loud noises just a few seconds earlier, instantly became so quiet that only Celine's voice could be heard. Two of their siblings are lying on the cold floor, one is already dead, while the other is gasping for her life as she stares into Claire's eyes. That alone made Claire feel as if she was going crazy, as she could not do anything to help them. They cannot leave their position, no matter what.

"Don't cry, Lala. We'll see each other again," Catherine comforted her. She was obviously struggling to breathe, but she still smiled at Claire as she spoke.

"Of course, we will. We have to," Claire replied, but it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself as she watched the red light that was glowing beneath Catherine and Clarence's feet just a moment ago retract away from their lifeless bodies.

Silently, she mourned their deaths. She was so sad, despite knowing that they would all meet again, that she didn't notice a figure silently entering the room from an unexpected portal. As if everything that has just happened were child's play for the man in gold armor, he has a playful grin beneath his helmet as he raises his sword, and Celine's groan echoes in the room as she, like her siblings, falls to the ground.

"You should not have let your guard down," the man said, his purple eyes meeting Claire's still-glowy gold ones. Claire's eyes that were welling up with tears gazed at Celine's body on the floor. Her disbelief is visible in her expression as she mutters a sentence to herself. "It failed. She did not finish the spell"

"It's only the two of us now, my lady. You're mine now~" the man said again, a chicky grin plastered on his face as if he is confident that Claire will really be his, but contrary to his expectations, the blood-drenched maiden grabbed her sword before she attacked him.

Each blow that she is giving feels heavy for the man, making him grit his teeth as he fights back.

For the next few minutes or so, the two of them were so busy giving each other blows one after the other that they didn't notice Claire's body disintegrating into gold specks of dust little by little.

"Everyone is already dead, my lady, and hundreds more of my men can come any time that I need. You should give up if you want to be spared" he taunts her before wielding his sword on her neck, but Claire is quick to dodge it.

He expected her to say something to taunt him as well, but Claire remained as quiet as a mouse. Instead, she used all of her newfound 'energy' that she suddenly gained when she saw Catherine and Clarence die, and with a swish of her sword, the man's body flew a few steps away, a deep wound appearing in his body.

"Why would I still want to be spared? What else would I have if I remained alive?" Claire asked back as she stared into the man's eye.

The look in her eyes was bone-chilling. It was the gaze of someone who has nothing else to lose, and seeing it, the playful glint in the man's eyes vanished. He was finally serious about killing her.

Standing back on his feet, he tightened his grip on his sword before he jumped to attack Claire. His advances this time are deadlier as if the fight that happened just earlier was just a warm-up for him. For a moment, the two of them were able to exchange blows with each other, but Claire, who was wounded and has been fighting for three days straight, was eventually overpowered by the man in no time.

With a wicked glint in his eyes, he stabbed his sword into Claire's chest before taking a step back to admire the blood-drenched maiden in front of him.

Despite the fact that she lost, Claire's glowing gold eyes remained glaring into the man's purple ones as if she could kill him with just her gaze. That didn't bother the man, though, as the way that he looks at the dying girl in front of him is exactly the same way that a seven-year-old is looking at his birthday gift.

The man felt a sadistic sense of pleasure pumping in his veins, especially when the young maiden took her last breath, but his happiness didn't last long.

Instead of seeing the pained and defeated look that he was expecting on the girl's face, what he saw instead was Claire's body fully disintegrating into nothing but golden specks of light before it flew away. It looks so magical—enchanting even—which made the man roar as he took his gold helmet off.