"What kind of joke is this?! It's only been one day!" Allen soaked in the bath, negative emotions suppressed in her heart sparking like embers. She felt like a lit powder keg, exploding with rage...

Why so slow?!... Over seven hundred days left before escaping this hellhole! She'd tried so hard to numb herself... Staring at the body in the water—this form that wasn't hers—Allen drowned in despair...

For revenge, she'd trained to death daily at Gryffindor, building muscle. Now it was replaced by a slender, pale arm... How could she survive with this? Even self-defense seemed impossible. Allen thought this in quiet corners, lost in wild thoughts no one noticed.

The more she dwelled, the more absurd it felt. Why had she been so determined just days ago? So bold she'd risked everything to escape, betraying her faith, committing deception.

"Why did I want to drug them... Why did I deceive others..." Fraud contradicted everything in the Bible she'd read...

At heart, Allen was utterly pure. She followed her faith strictly, obeying every word in scripture. She could kill bloodthirsty bandits without blinking, yet would walk through fire for comrades. That's why she'd chosen to die as her brothers' substitute.

Yet she'd committed such a heinous act.

The absurdity grew. Allen laughed like a madwoman, each chuckle twisting her heart with acid pain. Her eyes, mirror-like, glittered under the bath's Magic Crystal Lamp lights. Was she even herself anymore...

Her heart's accusation brought wordless agony. This was the real Allen: abandoned, lost, finding purpose, then losing it again...

The silver-haired girl reflected in the water wasn't her...

Staring at that reflection, Allen felt a sudden, nameless fury.

"Ah!" Possessed, she clenched her fist and smashed the image.

"Hah... Now I can't see..." The water's ripples shattered the reflection. "...you..." But soon, the ripples stilled, and the image reappeared before her.

It showed a startled face—Allen in the water seemed to mock her. In a flash, that mocking expression shifted back to shock.

What can I do now but lie to myself...

Beating my own reflection in water—how utterly ridiculous...

Her coiled hair had tumbled loose from the wild gesture, soaked. She decided to just keep soaking...

Not looking... She hugged her knees tightly...

Where do I go from here... Allen wondered...

After a long soak with no answers, she shook her head, refusing to dwell further.

The bathhouse stood behind Demon Castle's mansion—a magnificent oval structure of stacked quartz columns. Carved with reliefs, it told a story from Demon Castle's founding, though Allen couldn't read them. Above, no roof existed, yet rain never entered. Transparent Magic Crystal panels covered it, as if inviting stargazing.

Leaning against a quartz column, Allen slumped on a stone bench. "So beautiful..." She gazed at the starry sky, lost and murmuring aloud.

Her weakened eyes saw only pitch-black night. The huge moon glowed with a unique hue, its fluorescence swallowed by darkness—like a bright but lightless silver plate. Stars were mere firefly sparks devoured by endless black, yet the faintly glowing Milky Way gave it a strange beauty.

Warm, gentle water soaked her body, soothing away the day's fatigue. Allen loved this comfort. Unconsciously, her eyelids grew heavy... "Just a short nap... a tiny one..." She thought she'd rise soon. Safe in that thought, she drifted into sleep...

In her dream, Allen lived the same dull days as today. Lilith scowled at her with her usual sour face. Luna grinned her ever-carefree smile, as if nothing changed... Days slipped by unnoticed until two years passed. Luna had mastered cooking—no longer needing Allen. Her contract with Lilith ended... But dream-Allen felt no excitement, only deep confusion. Two years without hard labor left her weak as a caged animal, defenseless... Lilith kicked her out of Demon Castle: "I'll never care for you again..." Outside, Demon Castle's comfort and her unsteady legs eroded her fighting spirit... She died in the great forest... Torn apart by a massive Shadow Wolf, the crunching sounds echoing...

"Ah!..." Allen jolted awake. Her body turned icy as snow. Had she not been in the bath, sweat would've drenched her... The dream flooded her mind. Truly terrifying—if she waited for the contract's end, escaping the forest might be impossible. Would the Dark Lord send someone for a useless person? Absolutely not... Allen faced it: Lilith had planned this! She'd wait until Allen was worthless, then feed her to beasts! That cruel, evil Dark Lord!

Allen was certain. Tears rolled unbidden from her eyes.

She wants me dead! A liar! The Dark Lord is no good!

Rage and frustration crushed Allen's chest like ten thousand tons of stone. Hard to breathe. Trusting demons only brings ruin—the teachings were clear. Suicide... might let her die with honor... Her thoughts spiraled wildly...

It's over... All over...

...

"I won't... I won't let you win.....!"

Fury ignited within her. Her weary body surged with energy.

Allen slowly stood. She checked the quartz column—vines wrapped around it showed the time: ten o'clock!... She'd slept four hours in the bath...

Late. Allen hurried with her restricted body. She grabbed the showerhead, scrubbed fiercely with floral lotion, rinsed her hair thoroughly, then dried it with a warmth-generating magic crystal. Swiftly, she changed into a nightgown, gathered her dirty clothes, and rushed toward her room atop Demon Castle... She shoved the oversized bath door open...

"Crash...." The Magic Crystal Lamp slipped from her hand, shattering on the floor...

Outside the bath... utter darkness. Allen had prepared for poor vision, but not this...

The corridor to the mansion had no lit Magic Crystal Lamps... She recalled: Lilith, with no current research, turned all lamps off at eight... Allen had slept four hours...

The fallen lamp cast a warm orange glow, swallowed completely by darkness. Nothing ahead was visible—just void...

"Gulp.." Allen swallowed hard, eyes damp...

"I... I... won't let... you win..."...

She snatched the lamp and ran toward the mansion. Not because she wasn't scared... but she feared losing her hard-gathered courage after so long... feared it vanishing like smoke...

She sprinted, ignoring the slight ankle pain, scalp tingling...

So tired... so tired... Just slow down a bit... a little...

Allen slowed. What lay ahead? Unseen... She turned corners by memory... blind...

To distract herself... she hummed Gryffindor's school song softly. Off-key from fear, yet her steps didn't stop...

The humming drifted through the empty corridor, echoing into an eerie sound... like a ghost's whisper...

Faintly, it twisted into a word...

—Allen?—

"Clatter..." The nearly dead Magic Crystal Lamp fell again... followed by a soft "thud...."

Allen's legs turned to jelly, unable to support even her light frame...

A thread snapped in her mind......

"I'm not... sob... I'm not her.." She babbled frantically, weakly...

Words choked into sobs...

Just like the wine cellar years ago......

Allen feared the dark...