Chapter 21-Way Back Home

After what happened to the palace, I stopped Typhon from using his influence to intervene in the punishment of the witches of the Diamond Order. The information about being the second princess must be confidential. My family was still unconscious after Jasmine poisoned them. Although I removed the poisons from their bodies, I can't help but worry about when they will wake up. I was captured by the Sapphire Order for the accusation of negligence in my duty to protect the royal family, which is my family. Besides, my power, emerging from my body that day, almost destroyed the beautiful garden of the palace. I only received messages from the messenger owl of Zain.

The Diamond Order was the head order of the witches here in Eblines. The Diamond Order was made up of veteran witches and wizards. They have the authority to punish an individual who violates the law of life and magic. On the other hand, the Holy Church's duty is to preserve the righteous way of using magic and grant blessings to the empire. The two sectors have different goals but have critical objections to each other's rules. That's why the encounter between a witch and a holy mage or priestess is such a pain because of each other's methods.

I was detained in the dungeon of the Sapphire Order as they were the bearers of the truth about this empire. Having restricted mana is such a pain because of the limited spells that can only be used in these situations. Besides, having these chains is such a pain because if an ordinary witch gets chained, the low grade spell won't affect this chain. Although I inserted a lie that these chains can't restrict my ability, I have to act that I am weakening because of these chains until the right time comes, if ever that time will come. I heard some foot steps coming from the east, and how surprising that Caela, the dumb wind witch, was standing in front of my cell, smirking like she won this game.

"Oh! How surprising that the great witch of Glaustein was here, staying in our dungeon! Did you sleep well? Oh! I forgot! You can't sleep very well because the bed on which you were lying was cold, unlike in the palace!" Caela said in an irritating tone.

It feels like I'm listening to a person inhaling pitching gas! I crossed my arms and looked at her in boredom. "Look at you, thinking that capturing me is such a good idea. Then you must reconsider all your actions," I said, and sleep on the bed she called cold.

Maybe I closed my eyes, but I know that she is furious about what I said. If she thinks that I'm still a fugitive she wants to capture, well, she is wrong. The queen of Glaustein lifts the decree, but only on paper, because being a fugitive in the eyes of the people may help me hide my identity.

"Blue Rose Witch! You really boil my blood!" Caela shouted, and she was about to blow up my cell when a senior witch showed up just to slap her face.

Honestly, I want to laugh hard, but I was in a serious situation where I needed to act in a weakened state. The senior witch looked at me and said, "Blue Rose Witch, you underwent a fair yet tough due process. I'm sorry for the failure of our witches to respond to this small but serious matter. We will never neglect such a mission again. Forgive us that our people needed to resort to you for our negligence. "

Caela got shocked and threw a tantrum at the senior witch. "But Miss Evanora! She was a fugitive! She doesn't need special treatment!" The senior witch glared at her and that made her stop. The outburst of her emotions pulled the last string of the senior witch's patience; "As your senior, I will never tolerate such foolishness!"

The senior witch took a deep breath before she continued, "I ain't giving her any special treatment, moron. I am asking for forgiveness for our negligence. The people of the village of Dolika lost faith in us for not giving attention to the curse that their people had been suffering. They are asking for her freedom, including the sage of death, Ehadris Clair, and the second Lord of the House of Cromwell, Lord Typhon Cromwell."

My eyes widened at what I had heard. I thought it was clear that they should not meddle in this situation. The senior witch that Caela called Miss Evanora opened the cell and unlocked the chains. Miss Evanora uttered, "You're a free woman from now on, Blue Rose Witch of Glaustein. You humbly treat our people like they are your people."

I moved my wrists and my shoulders to avoid stiffness. "As the bearers of justice, we should know that small problems are the same as big problems. If we leave them unsettled, they will progress to bigger problems than we expected. Our future depends on how we resolve these problems, or else neglecting them will make our system rotten to its core," I said in a serious tone.

Miss Evanora laughed and put her hands on my shoulder. She smiled and asked, "Your principles are kind of interesting. Do you want to join the Sapphire Order?" I've been waiting for this moment, but my mother won't let me. My heart belongs to the field of witches, but if I can't join the Order, how could I change the rotten system of witches of Eblines? I'm sorry, Mother, I can't keep my promise to you.

"Now that I am standing on Eblines, I can't stand to see that the witches of this land have no principles. I want to eradicate this negligence and injustice. Being a witch is not about bragging about magical powers we have but engaging ourselves in giving justice to individuals who suffer injustice," I said, and walked outside the cell.

I looked at Caela, who was gritting her teeth in anger. She rolled her eyes and said, "Maybe you're just a class C witch in Glaustein! You have no right to talk to me! I'm a Class B witch!" I blinked my eyes many times and then laughed. "I hate to say this, but I'm a Class S plus witch in Glaustein," I said, and looked at Miss Evanora.

I present my badge that represents my ranking as a Class S plus witch. "I can't believe my eyes. This badge honors those witches who killed many noble vampires!" Miss Evanora exclaimed. I nodded and replied,"I got this badge when I killed the noble vampire back in Glaustein. I became a fugitive because I refused to marry Prince Sol of Glaustein. But the decree to capture me was lifted after the Eblines empire saved me from my marriage."

I crossed my arms for Caela. She was pale after what she had heard, "Forgive us, Lady—" Before she could finish her words, I spoke, "I'm Epiphany Saberblade. Nice to meet you." Miss Evanora became serious.

"Saberblade, you say? So you're that child? I can't expect to see you here. I can't believe that you grew up to be a lovely lady," Miss Evanora said. My eyebrows raised and I asked her, "You know me?"

Miss Evanora nodded, "Yes. I am the one who gave you that surname after we rescued you from an orphanage in Glaustein."

She saved me from that hell? So she knows who I am? "So you know who I really am?" I asked in a serious tone. Miss Evanora signaled to Caela to leave us alone, and to Caela's shock, she left the dungeon. We talk while walking out of the dungeon.

"I gave you that surname because when I saw you there, you were covered in blood and you were holding a sword. That time you blankly looked into our eyes, and we were horrified by what you asked," Miss Evanora said, and she let out a deep sigh.

My hazy memories began to flashback to the day that I was saved from the orphanage. That was the final test. I was tasked with killing a captured noble vampire. I had no emotions at that time, and all I wanted at that time was to kill the vampire in front of me. After I killed the vampire, a beam of light shone upon me, and when I looked up, I saw many unfamiliar faces.

"I'm done killing the Noble Vampire. Did I do a great job? Where's my loaf of bread?" I asked them in a bored but soft voice.

I remember a woman hugging me, and for the first time, that was the moment I regained my humanity. I remember how to cry like a child. "Hush, you are safe now. Take it easy. You may take a rest," she said in a soothing voice.

In my two years as experiment zero of Project Ouroboros, I can't believe that my savior was in front of me. But I still remember that there was a boy who was the same age as mine that was tagging along with them. I remember he got scolded for being reckless. When we reached the upper ground, Miss Evanora looked at me, once again. I asked her to test her if she knew about my real identity. "If you know me, then you know who my parents are?"

Miss Evanora shook her head and answered,"Nope. All I know is an orphanage was just a front for the experiment called Project Ouroboros. And we need to save a lot of children, but when we arrived, there was only one survivor of that gruesome experiment. That is you, Epiphany."

A silence deafened us until Miss Evanora tapped my back really hard. It feels like I am about to vomit into my lungs due to the heaviness of her hands. "Cheer up, Epiphany!" How could I? I almost died on that tap!

"Epiphany, you shouldn't do that again."

I heard a familiar voice, and when I looked up, it was Typhon.

"Lord Typhon! What are you doing here?" I asked.

He akimbo'd in disbelief and I could sense his irritation with my actions. Typhon whispered, "Let's go back to the palace. They are waiting for you."

I looked at Miss Evanora and she was smiling. To my surprise, she winked at Typhon. Typhon shook his head in disbelief, and we walked away from the building. When we walked outside, I saw that the building where we came from was the Sapphire Order.

Typhon asked, "You must be hungry. Did they treat you well?"

I crossed my arms and looked at Typhon. He raised his eyebrows and I replied,"Didn't I say that meddling in my affairs is prohibited?"

He flicked my forehead, and I crouched down to the ground while holding my forehead. I glared at Typhon, but he smiled sarcastically. Typhon said, "So you can meddle in our affairs while we can't meddle in yours?" Seems unfair to me. Since you were hard-headed, I guess talking directly to His Majesty would help?"Typhon said, like he was threatening me.

I stiffened in my place and I slowly looked at Typhon. "How dare you? Don't you ever tell Mother or Father or even Big Brother Rowan and Big Sister Amethyst about this matter!" I said in a low but serious tone.

Typhon shrugged his shoulders and we entered the carriage. The carriage started moving and a moment of silence enveloped us. I pouted my mouth and looked at Typhon. He spoke in a baritone voice, "Regarding your request, you are too late. When they woke up earlier, they panicked when they didn't see you around, and I told them that you had surrendered to the Sapphire Order and the verdict would be released at eleven o'clock. Luckily, the Diamond Order didn't see any fault with your actions and apologized that they thought that you had travelled from Glaustein to Eblines to grant the request of the villagers that the Sapphire Order neglected to do so from the start."

I looked outside the carriage's window, and I saw the palace from afar. The view was breath taking.

"I guess being a hard headed daughter is such a stress for them."

When I looked at Typhon, he was sleeping while his chin was supported by his palm and his elbow was leaning against the carriage's window. He looked so kind if he stayed asleep. I sat beside him and leaned on his left shoulder. I never thought that this person had a warm personality despite his cold attitude.