Chapter 368

Chapter 154: At a Loss

“Ouset…”

Clang!

Carlos quickly twisted his body. The whistling porcelain bowl narrowly missed his head, smashing against the wall behind him and shattering into pieces.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling guilty as if he had done something wrong, not daring to look at me again. He dashed out of the room, slamming the door shut with a “bang.”

And Angel… he had already disappeared the moment I raised my hand.

The room fell completely silent.

I pursed my lips and rubbed my temples, shaking my head and lifting the blanket, slowly crawling to the edge of the bed and sitting down. I extended my feet towards the ground, then lifted my buttocks…

“A!”

Before I could stand up, my legs suddenly gave way, causing me to stagger forward. I hurriedly grabbed the bedside table to avoid falling flat on my face.

My legs were still stiff…

There was no real sensation while dreaming, but upon waking, my body told me that I had slept for far too long.

Ten days…

I sat back on the bed, staring blankly ahead, lost in thought for a moment. Then, as if remembering something, I abruptly turned around, completely pulling back the disheveled blanket, reaching for the sheets to check…

It was slightly damp, definitely due to sweat. Apart from that, there were no other fluids that would cause concern.

“Huh—”

I let out a sigh, unconsciously half-covering my upper lip with my lower lip, exhaling onto my cheek, causing my bangs to flutter.

This means I don’t have to hide the sheets anymore… right?

I was worried about wetting the bed after lying down for so long…

Looking down, I noticed I was wearing a light floral dress… hmm? I think I saw this dress in Victoria’s wardrobe in her bedroom.

It must be the clothes she changed for me, right?

Is she okay…

I didn’t see Victoria after waking up. Given the events in the capital, as queen, she might be somewhere in turmoil…

The destruction of the city was even worse than during the Teresa incident… entire buildings collapsed, countless lives lost… so many people…

So many people died because of me…

Ah… what should I do…

Confusion filled my heart.

Sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment, my white legs swung back and forth. When I felt my muscles loosen slightly, I leaned on the bed again, trying to stand up… finally managing to stand unsteadily.

Then, cautiously taking a step.

Good, I can walk…

But my legs are still stiff, as if my knees were nailed together, making every bend extremely difficult.

Taking awkward duck-like steps, I supported myself against the wall, heading towards the washroom on the left side of the door. Pushing open the door, I approached the small water reservoir used for washing, cupping my hands to scoop up some water and splashing it on my face.

Splash…

The icy sensation cleared my mind a bit more.

After washing three times, I

Lift her head and look up at the oval gold-framed mirror above the pool.

The young girl reflected in the mirror had bright eyes and pearly teeth, with delicate features like the most expensive doll in the world. Her head was covered with smooth black hair that cascaded down her face like a waterfall, with water droplets still clinging to her cheeks. A few wet strands clung to her forehead, and her pair of star-like dark eyes revealed deep confusion.

She stared straight at herself.

After a moment, she blinked her eyes.

… It has returned.

Her hair was no longer silver, and her eyes remained black as ever. At first glance, everything seemed the same as before.

Only…

Only some earth-shattering transformation, though unbelievable and hard to fathom, was quietly happening within her body.

In the mirror, a strand of silver hair, about the width of a finger, softly drooped from the black hair that half-covered her forehead, standing out prominently against the ink-black bangs.

This…

I raised my hand, touched that strand of silver hair, gently pinched it between two fingers, and twisted it back and forth like a braid, my eyes filled with confusion.

The girl in the mirror mimicked my actions. Suddenly, she curled her lips into a smile.

!

My heart suddenly thumped, and I took a hasty step back, raising my hand to touch my own face. Blinking my eyes, I looked fearfully ahead—what I saw in the mirror was the same girl pulling the corners of her mouth upward, her eyes wide like a bell, pupils trembling slightly from shock, and a look of disbelief on her face.

What’s going on!

Did I just missee something?

Or maybe…

I slowly walked back to the mirror and carefully examined my face. Tilted my head, pulled my hair, tugged at one side of my cheek, pouted my lips, stuck out half of my little tongue, then closed one eye… The girl in the mirror did the same actions, looking rather silly.

… What am I doing?

Am I confused from sleeping…

“Hah—”

After taking a deep breath, I slapped my face hard, moved my tongue around in my mouth, licked my teeth, opened and closed my mouth, then tried to speak: “One… One…”

“I am… Beynor…”

“I am… Yes, Peynor…”

“I am… Peynor… I am… Silvija… I am… What exactly am I…”

In the mirror, the girl’s gaze dimmed slightly, and her shoulders slumped as if deflated.

Everything that happened in the dream, I remember clearly.

That little girl who grew up in the castle, from learning to speak to falling off a cliff, her sixteen-year life was now vividly etched deep in my mind, as if it were my own… No, it was my life trajectory.

I had forgotten it before, but now I just recalled it.

And the “clinic” below the cliff, along with Dr. Romanov… I vaguely remember dreaming about them before. But back then, it felt like a real dream, and after waking up, I could remember very little. But now…

When I recall what happened after that experience,

Fear, trembling, anger, and endless hatred welled up from the depths of my heart.

My body was trembling, my hands were shaking.

I held my trembling fingers in front of my eyes, staring at the pale, delicate skin on my palm.

After a moment, there was a sudden “whoosh,” and crimson sinful flames ignited instantly, engulfing my entire hand. The scorching light flickered before me, turning the washroom red. The temperature around me rose rapidly. The water in the reservoir began to boil with a bubbling sound, followed by a “crack” as the mirror in front of me cracked and shattered, falling into the boiling water.

In the next moment, the flames disappeared from my hand.

… It was a completely different feeling than before.

The power of this sinful fire had become incredibly smooth, so smooth that it felt like a part of my body.

So…

I took a deep breath. I clenched and unclenched my fingers, then spread them out again. The crimson glow in the center of my palm had not faded; instead, it emitted a cold, dazzling blue light.

Ssssss—

Accompanied by a hissing sound like a snake’s breath, thick white fog rose from my entire hand, quickly spreading throughout half the space. The washroom was filled with mist, the temperature plummeted, frost formed on the walls, and the surface of the water in the reservoir froze rapidly. Then, with a “bang,” the entire pool burst open.

Crash crash…

Ice fragments hit my face and body. I was startled and hastily reined in my orderly powers, looking at the scattered ice shards on the ground and gently rubbing the spot on my cheek where an ice shard had struck.

“… It hurts.”

The power of frost seemed to have grown stronger…

Dong dong dong.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside the room. Then I heard someone say from outside, “Hey, little Hill, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

It was Carlos’s voice.

“I’m fine!” I shouted.

Outside, Carlos was silent for a while, then he spoke again, “I’m right outside the door. Call me if you need anything.”

I didn’t respond to him and looked at my hand again.

One more time…

This was the final one.

In the next moment, chaotic energy gathered and moved.

Pitch-black dead smoke surged out from my entire arm, condensing into three thin smoke serpents in front of me in an instant. I focused my mind and controlled the smoke serpents to circle my body rapidly several times, colliding and merging in front of my line of sight, forming a smoke ball. Then came a soft “whoosh,” and the dead smoke condensed into a tangible form, transforming into a black fire with a pale white glow, burning fiercely above my palm.

I watched the burning flame intently.

A second later, my opened palm closed.

Whoosh—

The pitch-black flame vanished instantly, and a few wisps of dead smoke re-entered my chest.

I lifted my head.

In the broken mirror in front of me, the faintly visible half-face gradually lost its crimson hue in the bright, clear right eye of the young girl.

I stared blankly at the mirror, unmoving, unsure of what to think. After a long while, the image of a black castle nestled against the mountain and snow suddenly appeared in my mind, along with Lady Catherine’s gentle smile inside the castle.

“Mama…”

I want to go home…