When Elodie came out of her father's office, she deliberately ignored Carl.
Carl was furious. He grabbed her hand hard and demanded to know why she was ignoring him, but that kind of move from Carl instantly annoyed Elodie as well.
Only then did Carl notice that his sister seemed to have been crying.
Elodie only threw him one line. "Mind your own business."
Carl protested. "You think I want to worry about you? If weird rumors spread about our family, are you going to take responsibility?"
In the end, Carl also warned her, "Don't run around tonight. Stay quietly in your room."
Only then did Elodie suddenly remember. Tonight was the night of the lunar eclipse. The day, every three years, when the moon was swallowed by darkness, and also the day Ashen lost control.
On nights without light, the power of the underworld goddess grew stronger. The four great families and the royal bloodline all struggled to control their authorities and would lose control one after another. When Carl lost control three years ago, Elodie had witnessed his power with her own eyes. Although Ashen was better at suppressing himself, he still could not completely control it every time.
Lunar eclipse nights were always like this. He hid alone in the courtyard, enduring the pain by himself.
Six years ago, when Elodie first accidentally stepped into the courtyard, she had stumbled upon Ashen suffering alone. But with one harsh shout, Ashen scared her away.
This time, however, she knew he would come again. So she went to find him on purpose.
According to the original novel, once the sunny heroine Estelle appeared, she would soothe Ashen and max out his affection. But this time, Elodie decided to snatch Ashen first.
She gently placed her hand on her brother's back, as if to soothe him. Ashen, however, sharply ordered her to get lost, and then fainted. But Elodie had no intention of leaving just like that.
When Ashen opened his eyes again, he found that the one keeping watch by his side was actually Elodie.
She was startled. Don't tell me he's lost his memory. She hurriedly explained in a panic, "I saw you collapsed on the path. Are you all right?"
Once he recovered, Ashen only said calmly, "I'm fine."
Elodie quietly stepped back and turned to leave.
Only then did Ashen realize that the little girl who had accidentally intruded into the courtyard six years ago was actually Elodie.
After the night of the lunar eclipse, everyone returned to their everyday lives as if nothing had happened. Yet there was one person who just would not stop hanging around Elodie these past few days.
She could not figure it out. What on earth is he up to?
Elodie asked her brother, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Ashen instead sighed. "My little sister really is so warm."
She pushed him away, telling him to hurry up and go to work. Ashen insisted she was just being stubborn. "You're obviously worried about me."
Elodie knew he was only testing her like this. So Ashen told her to hold out her hand.
She was completely confused. "Why do you suddenly want my hand?"
Before she could react, Ashen grabbed her hand and used magic power to scan her. Just as Ashen seemed about to do something more, Carl appeared and asked what they were doing. Carl then told her, "Mother is calling for you."
Elodie replied to Carl, "Next time, just have a servant pass on the message." And she warned the two of them, "Stop coming to bother me."
The Duchess got straight to the point. "How are the antidotes for the twelve poisons coming along?"
Hearing twelve poisons, Elodie felt as if the sky were collapsing. She stammered that she seemed to be missing a bottle, saying that she had accidentally knocked one over while cleaning, her face full of guilt.
But the Duchess calmly said there was no need to worry. Even if someone stole the poison from House Pedia, if they did not know what it was and only took it because it seemed valuable, they would pay the price. Either they would die on the spot from taking it by mistake, or they would try to sell it on the black market, only to be found out and thrown into prison.
Elodie had never expected that someone with such beauty could speak such frightening words so lightly.
What she expected even less was that the one who had taken that bottle of poison turned out to be the first prince.
The first prince's side had it analyzed and discovered that the bottle actually contained poison. He concluded that in the Duke of Pedia's household, aside from the Duchess, no one could create such a vicious poison. For a moment, the first prince suspected that the Duchess wanted to assassinate the Duke's daughter. But that did not quite make sense.
Just then, the first prince seemed to realize something.
On the other side, Elodie once again went out together with Carl, with the magic tower as their destination, just like before. But in truth she did not want to travel with Carl at all.
Suddenly the carriage jolted violently. Carl became alert at once and told her to stay inside and not come out. The clash of blades outside continued without stopping, and a trace of fear rose in her heart.
After a long time, Carl still had not returned, and Elodie started to feel uneasy. She pushed open the carriage door and discovered Carl already injured and lying on the ground.
Just as the assassin was about to deliver the finishing blow, she threw out a bottle of poison. She immediately helped Carl up. Her poison could only buy time. It was not lethal.
So she dragged Carl along and ran for their lives with all her might. When she looked back, she saw the assassin pursuing them at terrifying speed.
Ahead was a cliff, and behind were the pursuers. Carl positioned himself in front of her. As Carl fought the assassin, a flying sword suddenly shot toward her. She narrowly dodged it, but behind her was a bottomless cliff.
At the very last moment, Carl rushed over to grab her. Elodie recalled that childhood memory between her and Carl, and she pulled her hand back.
This scene stunned Carl. He never imagined that she would rather die than take his hand.
And Elodie also had not expected that in the end she would still die in such a hollow way.