Eliz was in her room that evening, combing her hair at her bedside table and thinking about what she had learned.

The legend of the creation of the world was really interesting. The idea that the core of the world should actually be the beating heart of a god was crazy.

But not much worse than some of the theories from her home. Like Verne, people believed that something about his books was true and that another world was at the center of the world. Or that planet Earth is hollow, and there is just a giant machine.

Eliz wondered a lot when this legend was created. People hardly knew what was before the cataclysm. Also, how would they know anything about the creation of the Earth? Probably it was symbolism? Only Eliz did not have the imagination to interpret any of it.

Maybe the two gods were just two planets colliding? The smaller one became the world's core, and the larger one the surface? There had to be some other explanation for the dark magic. But let us leave it at that.

That is probably a sufficient explanation for people living in a world full of magic and monsters. Let us keep the scientific explanations to ourselves.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes, come in." She called out, looking at the door. An elderly maid entered and bowed. "Our guest would like to see you, young lady." She announced.

Eliz sighed. It was already dark. She wanted to talk to Donovan, but was it not too late for that?

"All right. Wait a minute." She said and got up to wrap herself in her robe. The older maid seemed to object, but Eliz silenced her with a look. She did not feel like spending another fifteen minutes getting dressed again!

Eliz followed the older maid to Donovan's room. She knocked and let Eliz enter.

Eliz looked around the room, which was nice but otherwise impersonal. Simply a guest room.

Donovan stood up as she entered. His tie was off, exposing his neck, and his hair was loose. Eliz raised an eyebrow and looked at him. It only takes so little to make him look like a heartbreaker suddenly. Now if he started making bed eyes, she'd feel like she'd walked in on some casanova.

"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked him.

"Yes, Elizabeth. We need to discuss what happened." Replied Donovan, offering Eliz a chair as he sat on the bed himself.

Eliz accepted the offer and sat down, crossing her legs and folding her arms. "And what exactly do you want to discuss? We both saw what happened. Experienced it. Do you still have doubts?"

Donovan shook his head. "No... yes. I do not even know. I am not denying it, but my mind is pretty confused."

Eliz sighed. "That'll get better. Probably. We do not know exactly what Selene is doing to affect people. I guess that it will wear off if you do not have regular contact with her for a while."

Donovan nodded. "Yes. That's very likely." He agreed.

Eliz looked at him. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" Eliz did not get the impression that was what it was about. Besides, she was not the kind of person others wanted to confide in. Is she some therapist?

"No. I wanted to talk about Dark Magic."

"The Duke and Duchess have already explained what that is." She let him know.

Donovan pushed his glasses on his nose. "So you told them? How did they react?"

Eliz shrugged her shoulders. "Of course. I could hardly keep it to myself, especially since you moved in temporarily. And I also had to explain Eren's condition. As for their reaction, they were skeptical at first, but then I think they finally believed me. Unfortunately, the evidence is weak, so they can not do anything official. But they said they would hire an undercover investigator to look into it." Eliz had no problem sharing things with him.

Donovan stared at her exposed ankles for a moment before averting his gaze. "I understand. That's probably for the best. They can not just blame the count's daughter. It's also quite possible she has the Count in her grasp." He brought his hands together and squeezed them tightly.

Eliz watched the movement; Donovan was probably still having difficulty seeing Selene in a bad light.

"What do you want to do?" He finally asked.

"With what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"With Selene." He clarified, but that did not help Eliz much.

"And what should I do with her?" She did not understand.

Donovan raised his golden eyes to her, looking at her slightly confused. "Stop her?"

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"Ha!" exclaimed Eliz with a laugh. She might have expected that. Hero complex!

"Why should I? Actually, I hope I manage to get out of her way before I leave." She shrugged.

"You are not serious, are you? After what she did to you? Eren? Gray? Are you not going to free him?"

Eliz raised her hand and pointed two fingers. "I have two of the four. I think that's a pretty good balance."

Donovan could not understand how she could be so calm and cold about the fate of the others. Gray was her fiancé.

"You know it's not Gray's fault. He's not himself."

Eliz found it funny that he said this, the one with his own problems.

Still, she had to give him some kind of answer without seeming like too much of a bitch. He was right about Gray being Elizabeth's fiancé.

Eliz cast a sideways glance with her eye. "Love is not infinite. Even if you know the other person is not to blame... But if he keeps hurting you, even thinking it's not his fault doesn't help anymore. And the line between love and hate is very thin. I just do not care anymore."

Donovan had not expected this answer from Elizabeth. He was uncomfortably aware that he still considered her as a bad person.

"I am sorry, Elizabeth. That he... We hurt you. But we can not leave them alone." He persisted.

Eliz shook her head. "What do you want from me, Donovan? You want me to fight against Selene? I am just an ordinary person. How am I supposed to do something like that?"

Donovan looked at her nervously.

"You have the power of light."

"Like hell I do!" Retorted Eliz firmly, making Donovan wince.

"And don't you dare spread that kind of nonsense anywhere. I do not have the power of light." She pierced him with her gaze.

"But you stopped the Dark Magic. If it was not a power of light, what did you do?" He asked.

Eliz shook her head. "I have no idea. It just happened. I consider it a coincidence, and I will not risk it just to verify it."

Donovan pressed his lips together. "But the others..." He was not going to back down.

He knew Elizabeth was somewhat right, but he did not want to abandon his friends.

Unfortunately, without Elizabeth, he had no way to fight back against the Dark Magic or Selene.

"Look." Elizabeth sighed and stood up. "If I get the chance, I will try to help them. But I will not actively do it. If you want to save them so badly, then come up with something on your own. And if it's not too risky for me, I might even help you. But until then, do not try to talk me out of it. I am not an honorable hero." She made her way to the door.

"Good night, Donovan. Get a good night's rest." With that, Eliz left and went to sleep.

Donovan remained seated on the bed, gazing thoughtfully at the chairs where she had sat before.

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Eliz lay back in bed and sighed. She wondered if Donovan would think of something, but she would not rush into anything.

Eliz slowly fell asleep while thinking about all she had to do tomorrow.

The night was passing when something disturbed Eliz's sleep.

She unconsciously frowned and rolled onto her back.

When she felt something cold on her neck, she opened her eyes sharply.

She saw Eren standing over her, looking at her with cold black eyes as he slit her throat.

Blood gushed out, and her hands flew to her open throat as she tried to stop the bleeding. She froze in shock, gasping, but blood filled her mouth, and she rubbed her eyes in horror at Eren.

Eren grinned wickedly. "If you'd stayed out of it, you might have lived a little longer." He told her, taking a moment to enjoy seeing a defenseless Elizabeth covered in blood.

Then his eyes flashed, and the black color began to drain from his eyes. The original purple color returned.

Eren began to stagger like a drunk and grabbed his head. When his mind settled, he looked up, looked around, and then his eyes fell on Elizabeth. It took a moment for his mind to realize what he was looking at. His eyes widened in shock, and he noticed the bloody dagger at his feet.

He paled and immediately turned green as he felt sick.

"Elizabeth!" He shouted and rushed to her bedside. He tried to put his hands over her wound.

He looked back at the door. "Help! Help! Call the doctor!" He began to shout in a panic. Then he looked at his pale sister, who had blood everywhere. She stared at him with bulging eyes and gasped for air.

"Elizabeth, hang in there! It's going to be all right. The doctor will be here soon!" Eren felt tears welling in his eyes.

The door opened with a bang, and Alobela rushed in. She stopped on the threshold when she saw the horrible scene. She paled but was immediately surrounded by a light layer of blue light and disappeared from the room.

"Doctor! The young lady is hurt!" He heard her yell from the hallway.

Eren watched as his sister's life drained out of her. "No... Hold on a little longer... Please..." But Elizabeth's eyes stopped moving and darkened.

"No! Elizabeth, come back!"

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YOU DIED

Eliz stared at the words that emerged from the darkness and did not respond.

The Revive option was included. The visitor position changed to 301. Repeat sequence initiated.

Eliz opened her eyes, and the first thing she did was grab her neck and hyperventilate in panic.

The next moment she sat up abruptly, bent over the edge of the bed, and began to empty the contents of her stomach.

"Miss!" She heard the surprised voice of Alobel, who was immediately at her side and began to hold her hair out of the way and stroke her back.

Eliz could not stop shaking.

'Too real!" she screamed in her head.

Gradually, Eliz began to calm down. Her throat was fine. She was not bleeding. She could breathe. She was not dying.

"Young lady. I am going to get the doctor." She heard Alobel say, but Eliz grabbed her arm to stop her.

"No. No... I'm fine." She cleared her throat.

"But..."

"I said no, Alobela! Nothing happened!" Insisted Eliz firmly.

Alobela hesitated but then nodded her head

"As you command, young lady."

Eliz let her go and asked for water. As Alobela reluctantly went to comply with her request, Eliz again ran her hand over the back of her neck and looked down at her clean palm.

"Selene, you bitch. I was going to avoid you, but you asked for it yourself. You are going to pay for this." She hissed hatefully.

Alobela returned with water.

"Young Lord Hephisto will arrive in an hour. Shall I cancel his visit?" Alobela asked.

Eliz stared at her for a moment.

"No. No. It's all right. Help me get ready."

The meeting with Donovyn and the revelation of Dark Magic hasn't happened yet? That's good. That's great! So I'll do it again, and I'll do it better this time. Selene, just wait!