“They all died, only Bell and I could escape,” for a moment Lucia kept silent, “A group of people attacked Valencia, burning, looting, and killing everywhere. In order to resist them, father… His chest was pierced by several swords and mother made us run away quickly, in the end, she also, also… ” The grief which had been enclosed within her heart for so long made it impossible for her to continue the sentence. All of the suffering, hunger, thirst, fear and grievances, in short, the whole injustice she had to endure along the way, suddenly burst free.
For her sister, she had clenched her teeth and held on, but now, it seemed that the defense lines she had built around her heart was no longer able to block the emotional ups and downs from her thoughts. which quickly turned her sobbing into very loud cries. She knew that this wasn’t a good time for it, that during the first meeting she should keep her courtesy, but the tears were like a storm, they couldn’t get stopped.
…
When Lucia’s outburst finally calmed, she raised her head, only to see that Nightingale’s shoulders had been soaked through with her tears.
“I’m sorry …” she blushed.
“It doesn’t matter, is it better now?” Then Nightingale took out a handkerchief and helped her to wipe her face clean, picked Bell up with one hand and held her in the other. “Let’s go; there are still many sisters waiting to welcome you.”
Lucia had thought that the witches’ residence would be located somewhere in a small abandoned warehouse or basement, she never expected that Nightingale would bring her to the castle area, wasn’t that the Lord’s private territory? Even more surprisingly, the guards not only did not stop her, instead they also greeted her.
Reaching the third floor of the castle, she walked into a brightly lit room, only to shockingly discover that the man sitting on the opposite side was the Lord who had recently received the cheers of the masses.
“This is the leader of the Witch Union, His Highness, Lord Roland Wimbledon. He took in the survivors of the Witch Cooperation Association, and also let spread the message to other cities, hoping to attract more homeless sisters,” Nightingale introduced the man, “He made Border Town into the home of us witches. You do not need to doubt this point, after all, the people who treated your sister and all the other sick people on board of the ships were us witches.”
Lucia’s head had turned blank, she totally hadn’t anticipated, that there would be noble willing to provide a home for witches, instead of seeing them as tools or slaves. When her soul finally came back to her body, she began to panic and bowed in a flustered manner. Her bizarre posture was so out of shape, that Nightingale couldn’t suppress her laugh, “Don’t mind it, His Royal Highness does not care about etiquette.”
“You came from the Eastern Territory?” The Lord’s voice was calm and relaxed, not giving her the impression of an interrogation, but more of a friendly chat.
Lucia stole a glance at him, seeing that he was sitting leisurely on his chair, and looked at her with an expression full of interest.
“Yes…”
As the conversation became deeper, and Nightingale supplemented some explanation, her mood gradually relaxed. Even though her counterpart was a noble, but he didn’t show an aggressive attitude, but rather the care of an elder.
“So, when your awakening was two years ago, you shouldn’t be an adult yet…” he spoke full of interest, “So, what is your ability?”
“Turning goods back into their original form,” Lucia said hesitatingly, “but it isn’t effective on all things.”
“Their original form?” His Royal Highness touched his chin in thought, he then pushed an beautiful cup to her over the table, “Can you demonstrate it for me?”
“This will destroy it.”
“It won’t hurt.”
Lucia nodded, went to the table and put her hand on top of the cup.
After a short while, the cup began to shrink and deform, ultimately forming into three distinct substances: The one on the far left looked like a pool of oil, dark and viscous. The one in the middle seemed to be a small cluster of fine black powder. Lastly, the one on the far right appeared to be clear water, which was slowly dripping down from the edge of the table.
