The red light in her eyes faded, the music disappeared, and the sound retreated back into the depths of her veins. Around her, the street was still the same, and Charlotte realized she was covered in blood. The giant sword was hovering above the city guard’s neck, ready to strike.

As the music disappeared, the city guard lost consciousness, and the blood spurting from his severed arm mysteriously stopped. The blood on the ground also lost its vitality, as the "dance" had drained it all.

The city guard had long since fled. They didn’t directly engage with Charlotte but were affected by the situation. Once they sensed something was wrong, they decisively ran away.

The frenzied sense of pleasure still lingered in Charlotte’s heart. She knew that as soon as the conditions were right, the voice would reappear. It was a power granted to the Aiborg family, and she would have to coexist with it, tame it.

Caroline held Charlotte’s shoulder. "Are you okay, miss?"

Charlotte shook her head, clearing the remnants of pleasure from her mind. "I... I’m fine. Caroline, where is everyone else?"

"They ran," Caroline replied. "The city guard, the civilians... they all ran. We need to run now too."

Caroline was right. They were close to the city wall, and the fleeing city guard could soon call for reinforcements; regular troops were likely on their way. Charlotte could defeat the city guard, but facing the regular knight order could turn out differently.

"Can you walk?" Charlotte stood with Caroline’s help, her steps unsteady. The "dance" had drained her greatly.

"No problem. Let’s go." Charlotte sheathed the sword into its black box. She saw a group approaching from the other end of the street, with the leader also carrying a giant sword.

The giant sword was the standard weapon of knights, though some, due to family traditions, used other large weapons, like Charlotte’s mother, who preferred a lance.

"We need to move faster." Charlotte didn’t want to face the knight order.

Caroline cast a spinning magic spell, and the knight leader swung his sword at the spell in mid-air, slicing it in half with just the sword’s energy. But the spell still had some effect, as its two halves sprayed large amounts of smoke, obscuring Charlotte and Caroline.

The knight’s giant sword spun, creating a gust of wind that quickly dispersed the smoke, but Charlotte and Caroline were already out of sight.

The knight knelt down, listening, distinguishing the sounds around him, and with a wave of his hand, ordered, "Follow me."

Charlotte realized they had turned into a dead-end alley. There were tall buildings on both sides, and ahead was a three-meter-high wall. She could already hear footsteps behind them and, calculating the distance, she knew there was no time to turn back now.

Charlotte nodded at Caroline. They both jumped and grabbed the top of the wall, using their strength to climb over.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

On the other side was a private garden. The grass was neatly trimmed, with a few bushes and a flower bed, showing signs of regular maintenance.

Entering a private garden wasn’t a big deal; Charlotte was mentally prepared for it. As long as it wasn’t a junk pile, anything was acceptable.

The awkward part was that there were three people in the garden.

An elderly woman, probably in her sixties or seventies, wearing glasses, was sitting in a lounge chair, knitting a sweater. She was now watching Charlotte and Caroline.

"Ah..." Charlotte knew she didn’t look great. If she were the elderly woman and saw two strangers suddenly climbing into her garden, one of them covered in blood, she’d definitely call for help.

The surprise in the elderly woman’s eyes quickly faded, and she adjusted her glasses, as if trying to see better. Then, she pointed to the door. "The door is not locked."

"Uh... no..." Charlotte thought she was being mistaken for a thief. She was about to explain when she heard a sound coming from outside the wall.

"They’re gone!"

The pursuers were faster than they expected.

"Get inside." The elderly woman whispered just loud enough for Charlotte to hear.

Charlotte didn’t understand what the woman meant and was about to argue, but Caroline tugged at her sleeve, signaling her to do as the woman said.

Charlotte only had time to say "Thank you" before Caroline pulled her inside the house.

The knight leading the group looked at the wall ahead, knowing his targets were on the other side. He gestured for his subordinates to intercept, while he himself climbed over the high wall.

When he saw the elderly woman in the garden, he froze.

"Miss Beatrice Bellamy." He put his sword away, placed his middle finger on his forehead, and bowed.

"Oh~ isn’t this young Alfred? What a rare visit. You don’t climb the windows of all those young girls’ houses, but you come to scale the wall of an old woman’s garden?" Beatrice glanced up briefly before continuing to knit.

"I’m chasing two cultists." Alfred coughed twice to relieve his embarrassment and then said in a very formal tone, "I ask for your cooperation in the investigation."

Beatrice adjusted her glasses as if she hadn’t seen clearly, took them off to wipe them, and then put them back on. After confirming she hadn’t mistaken him, she sarcastically said, "Oh~ this is really something, isn’t it? What day is it today? Could it be that the sun’s come out and young Alfred is doing something serious? I hear, ‘chasing cultists,’ ‘please cooperate with the investigation,’ oh my! It really sounds like something important. And while you’re chasing these cultists, you end up in my garden? Do you think I’m hiding cultists here and you want to cut me down?"

"You must be joking," Alfred said, sweat trickling down his forehead. "I followed them into a dead-end, and the cultists vanished. I climbed over the wall and ended up in your garden, Miss Bellamy."

"So, you think I’m hiding the cultists? Hiding them in that flower bed or in my house?"

"No, no, of course not." Alfred cursed himself for getting into this mess. He had only wanted to spend a few days in the knight order to avoid being scolded by his father. He heard about cultists causing trouble and injuring city guards, so he decided to take a look, hoping to improve his reputation. But he hadn’t expected to end up in Beatrice’s garden.

"Then, where do you think the cultists went?" Beatrice continued knitting.

"I think... I think..." Alfred felt like he was back in class, being called on by Beatrice while he was dozing off. "They must have escaped! Yes!" He had a sudden realization. "It must be because your eyesight is bad... no! The light was bad, and you were focused on your knitting, you didn’t see anything, and they took the chance to sneak through the garden and run away!"

Beatrice stopped knitting and looked at Alfred as if he were a pile of misplaced resources. "Then why are you still here?"

Alfred didn’t quite follow Beatrice’s logic and stood frozen, mouth agape.

"Keep chasing!"

"Yes!" Alfred responded as quickly as if the school bell had rung, and he dashed out of the garden.

Beatrice lowered her head again to continue knitting. When she thought Alfred had gone far enough, she said, "Come out now, he’s gone."