Eleanor’s interaction with Judge Prescott sours her mood for the rest of the day. She barely pays attention in class as she concocts her evil schemes to get back at him.

“Scoop out his eyeballs with a spoon… Slice his skin and pour salt and pepper… Break every bone in his limbs and leave him in the wood… Cut off his tongue, grill it, and force him to eat it…”

Eleanor mumbles her plans to the horror of the students sitting nearby.

But as much as Eleanor would like to drag the judge into a dark alley and torture him to death, she is constrained by several factors—her sickness, her disabilities, and the fact that she can’t slip away from her entourage. During class, she is surrounded by her followers. After school, Princess Grace would drag her to meet up with Carter before going home. And the duchess and her people wouldn’t let Eleanor out of their sight, outside of school grounds. She is constantly under surveillance and is a prisoner of her friends and family.

Even after a month, she can’t find a chance to make good on her threat, and seeing Judge Paton Prescott’s smiling face in class pisses her off more and more.

One day, Eleanor and the judge pass each other in the hallway.

“I’m still waiting, child,” the judge says with a grin. “Or are your words nothing but hot air… Angel of Ceram?”

The judge chuckles and walks away, leaving Eleanor to grind her teeth so hard, blood seeps out of her gum. That night, after eating dinner with the princess and Duchess Gilda, Eleanor locks the door to her bedroom and transforms into a snake. She slithers to the transport point in the villa, before changing her mind and heading for the town instead.

“I don’t know if they’re keeping logs of the teleportation usages or not… They probably do, given it’s a massive security risk.”

The villa is located a distance away from town. Most people can travel the distance just fine on foot, but Eleanor is exhausted after only traveling halfway through.

“Cough! Cough! Fuck… my lungs are burning… Are snakes even supposed to have lungs…?”

Eleanor stops to take a rest, then she tries sprouting wings on her back.

Whoa! She turned into a dragon!

That’s the lamest looking dragon I’ve ever seen. Lose the feathers, girl! You look ridiculous!

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Feathered dragon… feathered dragon… What does that remind me of…?

The dragon climbs to the top of a tree and spreads her wings. She takes a deep breath and leaps into the night sky!

And… she tumbles down and splatters on the ground.

“Ouch! That was not aerodynamic at all…”

Eleanor puts herself back together and climbs up the tree again. This time she transforms into a raven. She spreads her wings and flies into the night sky. The raven finds it difficult to flap her wings so she extends them further and makes her body lighter and glides with the night wind.

She gets close to the city and sees the massive structures of Umber Tower silhouetting against the night sky. She aims for the tower, but suddenly she feels an intense source of hatred coming from the town.

“Hello? Where were you hiding this whole time?”

Eleanor… or rather the devil is drawn to hatred like a moth to flames. She tracks the scent to an unassuming building in the residential district. The raven lands outside the window where the hate energy is the strongest. She can hear two people speaking. One of the voices sounds eerily familiar.

“Master, how much longer must I wait? That hateful harlot is within my reach.”

“...Patient, my herald… Patient… As you know, Umber Tower is not as simple as it seems… Laying a hand on her there will undermine our grand plan in the long run… But worry not, my herald. Your chance will reveal itself...”

Hey, that’s the voice of the cult’s leader!

I can’t make out the other voice… Sounds distorted…

The raven leans in to listen closer, but the voices grow dim. So she turns to goo in an attempt to sneak through the window’s gap. But the second her body touches the building’s domain, an invincible barrier repels her back with scorching heat!

“Who’s there?!”

“...Spies!...”

The devil endures the burning sensation and quickly turns back into a raven and flies away. “Bang!” She hears the window burst open behind her, but she doesn’t look back. She flaps her wings as fast as she can despite the sickness and the pain assaulting her. Her lungs are burning and her brain is screaming, but she keeps flying. She rides the icy ocean wind until she reaches Umber Tower.

“...Declan… Gotta find Declan…”

Eleanor’s vision is darkening as she reaches the school ground. She lands outside of Professor Declan’s office—empty. The school building is cloaked in darkness. Only a faint light leaks out from one of the windows.

Eleanor follows the light to the shining window and taps on it. She keeps tapping and tapping, and rattling her wings, until the person inside the room notices and opens the window.

“Why, hello there. What are you doing here, big guy?”

It’s Carter!

The boy cautiously looks at the strange black bird and waves his hands to shoo it away.

“There’s no food here, birdie. Go on. Get out of here. Shoo! Shoo!”

“...Let me… in… Carter… let me…”

“Eleanor?!”

Carter jumps up in surprise as Eleanor’s voice comes out of the raven’s beak. He moves to the side, allowing the raven into the room. It appears to be the library with the only light source being a lantern on a desk.

“Eleanor?! Is that you?! Wh-what’s going on?! Why are you…?”

“Turn off… light… I’m being followed… And… and call my… mother… call my…”

The raven’s body becomes unstable and begins to melt into red liquid. The last thing the devil sees is Carter looking at her in horror—before the image turns black.

Eleanor faints in front of Carter for the third time. And this time… her secret is laid bare.