Tick, tock... patter, patter...

Rain slowly blurred the half‑open window of the tower. A faint breeze brushed the tender spring leaves, making them rustle softly...

Nights in the Demon Castle were this quiet. Other than the weak whisper of wind outside the window, there was nothing but silence...

The teak floorboards glowed faintly under the moonlight. The moon was especially round tonight. In the tiny room there was only a bed and a few pieces of furniture. Small and warm was the perfect way to describe it.

Allen felt horrible. Every bone that had been broken ached like a knife scraping along bare bone. It had gone on too long. The torture of the pain was unbearable now, and it dragged her up out of sleep.

Half‑conscious, she rubbed her eyes with both hands out of habit. But she couldn’t see anything.

She pressed her hand to her own eyes, trying to check, but it was pitch‑black. She couldn’t see her own fingers.

“The night’s really dark...” Allen thought blankly.

Her sleep‑fogged mind had forgotten everything.

She reached up and touched her own face, slightly damp with sweat.

“So painful...” she thought to herself. The wounds on her hand were wrapped in bandages, and the moment they brushed her cheek, pain flared. That pain cleared her head a little.

She couldn’t see anything... couldn’t see anything at all.

Bones broken, tendons cut, eyes burned blind... Allen’s thoughts raced. “That’s impossible!” With that thought, she gritted her teeth against the faint, bone‑deep ache and forced herself up, clutching the bed curtains for support.

“Ah... ha... see... I’m standing... ha...” Gasping for breath, Allen held on to the curtain, muttering to herself, trying to cheer herself on. Just standing up had already drained every bit of strength she had.

A thin line of pain ran from her ankles, but her feet themselves felt nothing at all. Calling them “feet” didn’t feel right—it was more like she couldn’t even feel they existed.

“It... it can’t be like this...” Allen choked out under her breath, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. It was still clear and pleasant, but now it was full of grievance and helplessness. Her eyes stung. It felt like something was about to overflow again.

“Light... and slow...” Allen repeated in her heart.

She slowly lifted one foot, carefully touching down on the soft mattress... totally numb. Then a sharp sting in her foot grew stronger—that meant she’d made contact. She eased her weight down. Step, keep going...

“Ha... it’s fine... see... I...” she whispered to herself, trying to find comfort in her own words...

“Mm—” She didn’t finish. A sudden fall caught her completely off guard. Her whole body crashed into the soft bedding. The bed gave a muffled groan, the dull thud rippling through the air into Allen’s ears.

Her leg was broken. That was the undeniable truth. No matter how she tried to deceive herself, the fact was a fist slamming straight into her face. Allen felt dazed.

“Boom—”

A deep sound rolled across the sky. It was the first spring thunder of Awakening of Insects.

On the Emil Continent, spring came especially fast. Once the Ice Festival passed, it took less than a month for the temperature to become pleasantly warm. Right now was exactly that time. Spring arrived together with that first thunder—that was the Emil Continent’s strange climate.

Before her eyes was endless darkness. Because she couldn’t see, her hearing and touch had sharpened to the extreme, unbearably sensitive. That single peal of spring thunder blindsided her. Even though it was heavy and dull, it still jolted Allen’s fragile heart.

Her friend dead, her comrades gone—for Allen right now, those were secondary. What was pushing her to the edge was this silent night and that terrifying thunder. Every slight sound was like countless snakes and scorpions gnawing at her nerves, already worn thin by torment.

The soft sheets brushing her skin felt like crawling serpents. Cold sweat broke out all over her. Nothing around her was trustworthy. Even leaning against the bedframe gave her no sense of security. It felt more like lying in a cold coffin.

Allen’s mind was blank now, but the fear from touch and sound was slowly eating away her sanity. Maybe that itself proved she had already broken, already gone mad.

She wanted to scream, but didn’t know who to call for. Mom? Maybe her mother was the very root of all this, yet she still understood her father and her brother. Brother? Everything had started because of his inhuman cruelty too. Dad? If it weren’t for his inaction, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.

Looking around in her mind, Allen realized there wasn’t a single person she could rely on.

Those thoughts flashed wildly through her head, leaving her feeling even more helpless.

Thunder and rain raged outside. Allen curled up quickly into a tight little ball, lying on her side. She hugged her legs hard with both arms and pulled the blanket tightly around herself. Skin pressed against her own skin. Only like this could she feel any sort of support.

Everything, everything—maybe the one at fault had always been herself. If she really thought about it, Allen’s very birth was a huge mistake. She had ruined the lives of her father, mother, and brothers. This was just her paying for her sins.

A heavy pressure squeezed down on her chest, suffocating. Her tears broke through like a burst dam, falling uncontrollably and soaking the sheets.

It hurt too much. Her whole body went even weaker from crying. A warm current rose from her brain, slipped into her marrow, then spread from there through her limbs. Everywhere it passed felt numb, like it had been anesthetized—numb, yet strangely comfortable. Her consciousness grew more and more blurred. But this was also her escape from the hell of touch and sound.

“Hss... haa...”

Even her breathing seemed to fall under that numbness, growing slower... and slower.

“Maybe dying like this... wouldn’t be so bad...” Allen thought.

Even as she was about to pass out, her tears refused to stop. They forced their way out from behind her closed lids, never ending... never ending...

“I hate this world... I’m so mad...” she let out a faint, barely there complaint. But who would hear her?

No one...

...

“Water, rise and scatter in the air!”

Luna chanted in her heart. The low‑tier Water Ball she cast burst apart, breaking into countless tiny droplets. They drifted down onto the field like a light rain, soaking the soil.

This improved magic irrigation method could easily water any plant. The water droplets, infused with water element, were like fertilizer, feeding the plants even more. In less than one morning, Luna had finished watering the entire flower field. That was already incredibly fast. With that kind of area, one person should’ve needed at least a full day. Besides, nobody would usually bother planting such a huge sea of flowers.

Back then, Lilith had complained that the whole Demon Castle felt way too gloomy. So Luna planted flowers all along the outer wall. Different seasonal flowers intertwined. As spring left and winter came, every period of the year, the Demon Castle’s outer ring would be covered in blooms. At any time, a faint floral scent drifted in. It was almost ironic. This was the Demon Castle, yet it looked so bright and fresh...

Inside the castle, there was only a small flowerbed next to the botanical garden—that was where Luna’s home was. She only kept rare species there, to supply Lilith for potion‑making...

Outside the flower field, patches of wheat were scattered through the forest. Those had been replanted after Allen arrived, which was why the Demon Castle had started making bread. The wheat didn’t need much care to grow strong; just a light spray of Luna’s water element once in a while and it flourished. Beyond the wheat, some small vegetable plots were planted. There weren’t many, but they grew fast, so there was no worry about running out of vegetables.

Like this, the land outside the Demon Castle looked like a huge farm, completely self‑sufficient.

“That should be about it,” Luna thought to herself.

“Grrr~” Her stomach let out an unhappy grumble.

Ever since Allen ran away, Luna had been living off the greenfruit she grew. Greenfruit really was amazing—just two could fill your stomach instantly—but the more she ate, the worse the taste got. Greenfruit was way too sour and crunchy. Right now Luna wanted meat more than anything.

Luna had always been a meat‑eater. She’d even eat people... For example, when she cleaned up the Holy War battlefield last time, most of the corpses ended up in her stomach. Because of her ability to absorb cultivation... every time Luna turned into her human form, she had the power of a Holy Sage. But she never really used it. Compared to sword skills or magic, Luna preferred direct, simple punches...

If the Magic‑Users’ Association ever found out a Holy Sage‑tier mage like Luna was using Water Balls to water flowers, fertilize fields, and grow crops... a lot of people would probably cough blood in fury. Right now, Holy Sage mages were still being revered like treasures in that association.

“I want meat!” Her stomach complained nonstop.

But she had no idea how to cook it. Luna had tried before—she’d squeezed a Fireball into her hand as a heat source, then pressed a chunk of beast meat against it. The result was a lump of pitch‑black charcoal...

In Luna’s head, she just couldn’t understand how food was supposed to be cooked. Lilith, as the Dark Lord, didn’t need to eat at all, and she looked down on cooking anyway. The end result: no one made meat, ever. Luna was about to go crazy from craving it.

She stuffed a couple of greenfruit into her mouth at random, then it was time for her to clean the Demon Castle. Cleaning was easy for Luna. She combined Water Ball and Fireball into steam, filled the rooms and hallways with it, then controlled the steam to contract into a single clump and dried it out. All the dust gathered up in an instant. Running back and forth like this, she could finish cleaning the entire Demon Castle in less than an afternoon.

Whatever time was left, she’d spend in Lilith’s study or parlor, keeping her company. After that, she’d go check on Allen, sit with her for a bit, then head back to the botanical garden to sleep.

That was Luna’s daily life. Boring, but always full of energy.

As always, Luna came to Allen’s little room. She gently lit the Magic Crystal Lamp, keeping her footsteps as soft as possible so the teak floorboards wouldn’t creak and wake Allen...

“Master said to leave Allen alone, but when she had that fever, Master still panicked and saved her... She clearly doesn’t want to let go, so why won’t she just be honest...” Luna thought.

It had been three days since that high fever. In all that time, Lilith hadn’t come to check on Allen even once, as if Allen simply didn’t exist.

Lilith was just that stubborn... Luna understood her less and less.

With that thought, Luna turned up the lamp and saw the blanket curled into a little ball. Allen was gone.

“Allen changed positions! That means she’s already woken up!” Luna realized at once.

She tiptoed closer and lifted the blanket. What she saw underneath made her jump. Allen was curled up tightly, her face flushed red. Her breathing was so heavy it sounded like her lungs might tear from the strain...

“Li... Li... Lilith!!!!” Luna screamed, completely ignoring any sense of respect as she shouted Lilith’s name.

She sprinted for the parlor and shoved the door open. Lilith was sitting on an armchair, sipping the black tea Luna had brewed for her earlier, a book in her other hand...

“What happened?..” Lilith looked at the panicked Luna and asked.

“A‑Allen’s not going to make it!!” Luna blurted. She was too frantic to explain anything clearly.

“...” Lilith fell silent.

She quietly closed her book and set the teacup calmly on the saucer. Without a word, black light rippled off her body. In the blink of an eye, she vanished.

She’d gone upstairs with teleportation magic.

By the time Luna reached the top floor and pushed open Allen’s door, Allen had already been laid back into a normal sleeping position. Her breathing had returned to normal too.

“I told you to study magic properly... but you never listen...” Lilith said softly. In her tone, there was a faint hint of scolding.

Luna scratched her hair awkwardly, unable to come up with any retort for a while.

Maybe she wanted a short break. Lilith sat down on an armchair in the room, propped her elbow under her chin, and watched Allen from a distance.

Luna sat on the chair by the bed and gently stroked Allen’s forehead, which was covered in cold sweat.

“Who’s… there…” In the haze, Allen seemed to see a pair of warm hands, softly caressing him.

He didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to be apart. Driven by that obsession, Allen used every last bit of strength he had, forcing his hands to move as he desperately grabbed onto that hand.

“Mm… don’t… let go…” The words slipped out of him in broken fragments, from somewhere deep in his subconscious.

Tears welled up like little beads from the corners of his eyes. The sensation of crying jolted Allen awake.

He used all his strength to sit up against the bed, clinging tightly to those hands.

No matter whose they were… to him, these hands were like the only lamp shining in the dark.

“Don’t… you… leave…” Allen hugged that hand and broke down, sobbing loudly.

Luna froze for a moment, then her expression softened. With her other hand, she gently stroked Allen’s head, quietly comforting him. That only made Allen cry harder, his tears falling without the slightest restraint.

When he’d finally cried himself out, Allen slumped against the edge of the bed again, silently letting the tears run.

Luna sat at his bedside, not knowing what to say. She glanced back at Lilith in the distance, who was sitting silently on her chair, looking a little awkward.

“Do you… want… want to hear my story…” Allen choked out.

Luna was taken aback. She turned to look at Lilith; Lilith gave a small nod, signaling it was fine.

“Mm… go ahead,” Luna said.

“I……………”

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