Chapter 236: Each Their Own Path

“Am I right, my fiancé who will be formally betrothed to me in just a few months?”

Celicia’s voice, cool as wind mixed with snow, echoed down the street that now held no spectators—only a pond full of great white sharks. In that instant, it was as though a supreme god had stripped the world of sound, leaving the street terrifyingly silent.

Muen’s lips trembled. He was pinned beneath Celicia’s calm, faintly mocking gaze, yet he didn’t even have the courage to look back.

Because it was obvious: the powder keg had been lit.

“What? Betrothal?”

Sure enough, Anna’s brows immediately shot up.

She knew full well that Muen and the girl before her had a true engagement between them, that their betrothal was only a matter of time. After all, it was an arrangement personally decreed by the Emperor, something nearly impossible to overturn. What she hadn’t expected was that this moment would come so soon.

What’s more, this princess—famous for her cold aloofness—would actually state it openly in front of everyone.

What did that mean?

Was this a declaration of war?

Anna’s expression darkened. Her long hair lifted though there was no wind, and deep in her jewel-like eyes, a pale moon began to rise.

She was angry.

On the other side, Anne was far calmer. She had already known this news, so naturally Celicia’s words didn’t provoke much reaction from her.

But even so.

Her hand still clenched tightly at her skirt, and the faint sound of metal rang in the air.

As the Young Master’s personal maid, she should have anticipated this scene long ago.

She shouldn’t have had any opinion about it.

And yet, now that the moment had come...

She found it intolerably unpleasant.

Night deepened.

A thin mist drifted from the river, but it was swiftly scattered by invisible auras, leaving the air unnaturally clear.

The cold atmosphere shifted into a faint killing intent, gathering strength, ready to explode.

Drip. Drip.

Time crawled by.

Like the heavy sweat dripping from Muen’s brow, each drop fell with suffocating weight.

Finally.

Celicia moved her gaze away from Muen. She brushed aside the silver strands over her brow, her beautiful eyes still calm as a frozen lake. It was as though she paid no heed at all to the two hostile forces surrounding her.

“What’s this? Do you mean to strike at me?”

No fluctuation of magic.

No aura released.

No hostility.

No killing intent.

It was spoken as simply as small talk.

And yet those light words pressed down on Anne and Anna with crushing force, freezing their hostility in place.

Not only was it because of the unfathomable strength of this peerless talent of the Empire—the girl hailed as the Pure White Witch—but also because of her identity.

She was the Third Princess of the Leopold Empire, the most exalted of beings in this nation.

For Anne and Anna, with their current identities, to even be allowed to speak before her was already an act of great mercy.

If they truly raised a hand against an Imperial Princess in public, what awaited them would be the will of the entire nation itself.

So her arrogance was perfectly natural.

...

“It seems the two of you have no objections to me taking him away, then.”

Celicia’s face remained cold and expressionless.

“In that case, let’s go, my fiancé.”

“Eh? Um... leaving right now, isn’t that a little—”

Celicia shot him a cold glance. She said nothing more. She simply reached out, seized him by the collar, and, as though she were picking up a kitten by the scruff of the neck, dragged him off.

Muen turned back with a tear-stained face, pressing his palms together in earnest apology toward the two girls.

It’s not that I don’t want to resist—this one is just way too dangerous!

Please don’t bite me later. I’m innocent!

...

Watching the two of them vanish from sight, Anne and Anna were both left silent.

For a long time, they only stared at each other.

Anna spoke first: “I’m leaving.”

Anne replied: “I’m leaving too.”

“Then, farewell.”

“Farewell.”

Anna walked away first.

But she did not take the road back to the Academy.

The path beneath her feet led toward the Silent Bureau.

“I never wanted to fight.”

Anna whispered.

In this world—where even someone like Ariel, an ultimate female-female enthusiast, could openly build a crystal harem and even bear children by magic—it was normal for a man of great strength and noble status to have several women.

With Muen’s identity, and his future achievements, Anna had long since prepared herself for there to be other women at his side.

She was not the type who enjoyed competing, nor did she care much for titles.

As long as she could remain by the side of the one she loved, that was enough.

Her so-called greed was nothing more than a wish for him to give her more warmth and affection.

But.

Here and now.

No matter how gentle or uncompetitive her nature, she could not endure someone trampling her face and flaunting a so-called engagement.

Even if that person was a princess.

“So, wait for me... Your Highness.”

On Anna’s lovely face, her usual allure faded, replaced by a rare stern majesty Muen had never seen before.

Moonlight spilled from her jewel-like eyes.

With each step she took, the deep shadows around her writhed in chaos, then bowed in turn beneath her supreme authority.

“I don’t care about being a so-called Duchess.

But...

I’m looking forward to it.”

Anna’s eyes were resolute, her voice low as she murmured:

“To the moment when even you, exalted Princess, will have to bow your head... and call me ‘Elder Sister.’”

...

After Anna left.

Anne remained where she stood, gazing silently at the direction in which Celicia had taken Muen, for a long, long time.

On her dignified face, a fleeting distortion passed—twisted, hideous.

“As I thought, to rid the Young Master of these parasites around {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} him... as I am now, I am far from enough.”

She lowered her head to her hands, recalling that overwhelming sense of crisis she had felt when facing Celicia just now.

Her instincts told her plainly: she was still nowhere near being Celicia’s match.

Yes, she was also a God-Favored, and she prided herself on talents no less than Celicia’s.

But the Princess had years more training, and resources Anne could never compare with.

Not only Celicia—even that woman called Anna gave her a strong sense of danger.

She too was a formidable rival.

And as the Young Master grew ever more exceptional, who knew what other kinds of dazzling temptresses might be drawn to him.

“I can’t wait any longer.”

Anne climbed into the carriage and gave a soft command.

“Go.”

The carriage lurched into motion, heading toward the city’s edge.

Anne rested her chin in her hand, watching as the city receded, while toying with something she had somehow procured—a key, carved like blood-colored jade.

“Abyss...”

She murmured, as though speaking to herself.

“I wonder... if slaughtering tens of thousands of demons will be enough to make me strong enough?”