Chapter 1 Introduction I

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The pulse of life was burning hot in both of her hands.

Holding a beating heart dripping with blood, Elaine looked at the woman sitting in front of her. She was bleeding from a gaping hole on the left side of her chest. Elaine groaned.

“What on earth…are…you…doing…”

Drip. Blood flowed out from the woman’s empty breast like a fountain. There was no sign of a heart inside the hole where blood continuously poured out.

Suddenly, her vision began to waver.

The scent of blood swirled around the air. The blazing fire, the sound of buildings collapsing, people falling and dying everywhere around them, the acrid smell of burning, and the pain of her tearing lungs—all of it horrifically disturbed Elaine’s mind.

A thick and squishy sensation was still felt in her hand throughout such a disturbance of her senses.

She couldn’t understand why such a thing was there in her hand. Elaine asked the owner of the heart with a trembling voice.

“Why…? Why—this…run…”

With a pale face, the woman patted the cheek of the fallen Elaine. The touch on her skin was so cold. It had always been the warmest thing in her life, but why was it so cold now?

Elaine saw the red puddle of blood that had accumulated on the ground. It was such a tremendous amount of bleeding that she couldn’t believe had come from her own body. As the blood in her veins drained out, her breathing gradually became thinner, just as her life.

“I’m sorry…everything…it’s all my fault.”

Elaine could see the woman crying through her blurry vision. It was such a desolate sight. Her shoulders began to tremble.

How did it come to this.

What on earth happened? You are not one to do this without reason.

From where did things begin to go wrong. Elaine hoped that she was losing her mind at the moment. She wanted to believe that everything happening around them right now was just a result of her mind playing tricks on her.

“My lovely Lane…”

The woman took a moment to catch her breath as she was struggling to breathe. Suddenly, when she spoke again, her voice was ingrained with a strong sense of clear will.

“I’ll give you my heart.”

Elaine immediately returned to her senses, as if she had been struck by lightning. She wanted to scream, but ironically, only a raspy breath leaked out from her dry throat.

Crazy! Are you out of your mind? If you give it to me, you’ll…you can’t! Don’t tell me you’re really going to do this…?

“With this, you can live.”

Elaine’s insides were burning. She no longer had any power left in her to restrain the woman. She didn’t even have the energy to lift her hand.  She felt so pathetic and resentful towards herself when she could do nothing but sit there with no choice but to watch the woman’s actions.

The woman picked up her heart and held it close to Elaine’s chest.

No, don’t do it.

“I have a last favor to ask of you.”

In the face of her very own impending demise, the woman’s violet eyes were stained with lingering regret.

“I’m sorry to ask this of you. I know I’m shameless. But…after I’m gone, the child will be all alone, right?”

If you’re going to make such a heartbreaking face, don’t ask me. Please survive!

“Please protect him and my child… Lichst.”

Bella, please…

“We don’t have much time left. Now, really…”

With a tearful face, Bella smiled like a flower. It was a smile that had always led her to the light, like a moon rising in the dark.

Bella became a swarm of light and gradually scattered like dust. Elaine mustered up the strength to reach out her hand in an attempt to capture the dissipating light, but nothing touched her fingertips.

An empty hand, unable to touch anything, wandered in the air. Through her dim vision, a burning heart appeared in her sight. The never-ending burning fire around her swallowed up everything in its path. As if erasing all traces of this land, the witch’s blue flames engulfed the earth.

“I was happy to have you. Lane, I won’t regret making this choice.”

With those final words, Elaine sank into a deep sleep.

It was January 31st, 512 in the Philion Calendar.

The prosperous capital, Seveka, often referred to as the blessing of the kingdom, faced a devastating end at the hands of a witch.

And Elaine opened her eyes to the world 20 years later.