Following the execution of the General and his family, Ilai had gone missing, no corpse found. Everyone had assumed she was dead, until Tyra received an anonymous letter, hinting that Ilai was still in Jemlar.

  A familiar address had been inked in red—General Ronan’s mansion.

  Tyra had understood at once. In the past, Ilai used to spend her outings in the company of the General Ronan’s daughter, Nari. Thus, the Crown Princess concluded that Ilai had sought refuge with Nari.

  Nari had proved her wrong.

  When Tyra found Ilai, her cousin was maimed thoroughly. Tongue severed, the skin of her face and bare scalp twisted upon itself from repeated ironing with hot metal. Her fingers bent at odd angles, their bones broken and left to heal without treatment over and over again.

  Ilai gaze had been unfocused. No matter how many times Tyra had called, her cousin never answered.

  Ilai was no more.

  When Ell first read the story, she thought that Tyra had recovered Ilai from the torture chamber to the slave camps as a last gesture of kindness to her undeserving cousin. But now that she understood the cousins’ dynamic and Ilai’s intentions, Ell thought that perhaps the slave camps had been the only place Tyra could exercise some control and keep Ilai safe.

  The King’s power had dwindled in the past years, the throne depending on its few winged generals to stay in power. Tyra could not have retaliated against Nira. It was a miracle she had managed to take Ilai away.

  The revenge Tyra could not exact on the ones who had tortured Ilai, Ell was now going to deliver.

  Ell could not say her intentions were pure. While avenging Ilai was definitely satisfying, what she needed most now was deviation points. And what greater plot deviation could be found than removing the three who had resulted in Ilai’s miserable ending?

  So, after visiting Varoth’s house, Ell went back to the General’s Mansion but sent Selin investigate the whereabouts of three ‘friends’. Once the guard informed Ell that they would be spending their evening at the Golden Tower, Ell made more detailed inquiries.

  Although Nira, Avaren, and Renek had committed great atrocities against Ilai in the story, Ell wanted to make sure they were always villains and not falsely framed by the narrative like the many half-truths told by the novel.

  For the sake of convenience, Ell might as well not have cared. But she refused to become a selfish hypocrite like Quinn.

  Thankfully—for Ell’s DVPs—and a little regretfully—for Ilai’s misfortune—Selin acquired information about bodies carried in and out of a hidden room in General Ronan’s mansion that the trio often frequented. Torturing people to death appeared to be an enjoyable past time the girls indulged in.

  Conscience appeased, Ell began preparing for her first solo murder.

  Ell was not in a position where she could afford to become a murder suspect. She needed to puppeteer a murder but could not have it appear a puppeteering. So, upon finding out that Renek was bringing along a servant not any less wicked than herself, she set her sights on those two.

  The most important part was the bind between Renek and her servant, where if Renek died, the servant would quickly follow.

  So, after Ell took control of the servant and had her kill her master, the servant promptly dropped dead.

  The tower elevator reached the ground floor as Nari and Avaren’s shrieks were drowned by the shouts of guards as they rushed to the sixteenth floor.

  Selin pulled Ell into her embrace and took flight, leaving the growing crowd behind. Quinn followed their fading silhouette with a frown until they disappeared.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  An inconspicuous servant, always by his side, stepped forward. “Your Lordship, we received a report,” he said to Quinn as he handed him a ciphered letter.

  The crease between his brows deepened as he stepped into the carriage and unfolded the letter.

  He read the letter several times before he spoke, “We’re heading home.”

  Selin did not take Ell to the General’s Mansion directly; they detoured to the orphanage, landing on the fenced roof. The sky darkened rapidly as the sun took back its light.

  Ell’s fingers trembled slightly as she gripped the railings. She could almost feel the warmth of the blood that had spurted on the puppet’s face. The scene where Ilai’s mother cut into her flesh replayed in her head. The slow trickle of blood. The meat Ilai had eaten every day in that cave.

  Sourness filled Ell’s throat, but she pushed it down. She inhaled deeply, cool air calming her chaotic thoughts.

  A hand extended from the side, placing an activated sound blocking cube on a thicker portion of the railing.

  “I need a list,” Selin said. Ell turned to the guard, confused. “A list of the traitors,” she clarified.

  Ell paused. It was not that she hadn’t considered it. With the right food, Selin could covertly take out her enemies. But although Ell needed strong allies, what she needed more was to become stronger herself.

  Put more bluntly, Ell needed to become comfortable killing. Today she puppeteered a murder, tomorrow her own hands would be stained by blood.

  If she was going to survive the original plotline, if she was going to survive Blessark and one day break free from Ilai’s identity and begin a new life, Ell had to be prepared. So, Selin could only be the backup plan.

  Ell rubbed a thumb along the side of her forefinger. “I told you, I don’t recall everything,” she sighed. “Whenever I remember for sure, I will let you know.”

  Selin fell silent. Ell turned, planning to get some sleep in her quarters, when the guard interrupted, “Was I a traitor?”

  Ell looked at Selin in surprise. “Why would you think that?”

  The guard’s tail unwrapped her waist as she approached Ell. It lay limply on the ground. “The kids were asking about you,” she said, her expression nonchalant.

  For a while, Ell struggled to make a connection. Then her eyes widened slightly as Ilai’s memories stirred.

  The kids. Selin’s little brother and sister.

  Ilai had encountered them gathering rotten food from the excesses of richer neighborhoods. After much gentle persuasion, she took the children to a public bathhouse. Clean and clothed in new attire, Ilai had taken them to the orphanage where they were fed till full.

  They told her of the Flesh Traders who had kidnapped their parents. Of their older sister, Selin, who had been ‘cursed’. They assured Ilai that while Selin did look a little scary, she was the ‘best sister ever’, always hunting for food and keeping them warm in the unforgiving winter.

  Lately, their sister had been a little sick. Only coming by to deliver food when they were asleep.

  The siblings insisted on going back home to wait for their sister and bring her to the orphanage, so Ilai had accompanied them to their makeshift house of broken rubble.

  They had waited until the sun had set, but Selin still did not appear. Ilai left a guard behind to inform Selin of her siblings’ whereabouts while they headed back.

  At midnight, as sixteen-year-old Ilai, who loathed going to General’s Mansion, had decided to go home, she was attacked by Selin. The Transcender had followed the children’s smell until she reached the orphanage. Having been scrubbed clean, their smell was faint, and among the scents of the many children at the orphanage, Selin could not pinpoint them.

  So, the cursed woman had set her sights on Ilai, whose distinct smell clung to the doorstep of their house.

  After the guards had intervened, and the situation was explained, Selin was treated with human blood. It took but a few days until Selin became a permanent guard by Ilai’s side.

  From then on, whenever Ilai would come by the orphanage, she would have a meal with the three siblings without fail. She would dine occasionally with the other orphans as well, but the other kids were not as attached to Ilai, having been brought to the orphanage by other caretakers.

  Ell ran a hand through her hair. She looked away, stripping her voice of any guilt. “I have missed them too.”

  They left the rooftop, heading to the dining hall where the children must have gathered.

  Laughter spilled into the corridors as caretakers shuffled in and out of the dining hall. Ell couldn’t help but smile. The sounds of young happiness were fulfilling for someone who was an orphan herself.

  The workers greeted her warmly as they passed. Ell nodded at them and pushed the swinging doors in, stepping into the bustle of children.

  Instead of children, she came face to face with two women who looked eerily identical. Ell froze as she cursed in her mind.

  Family troubles never ceased to haunt her.

  [Impersonator Activated]