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As he muttered in bewilderment, the cold energy surging around him made Roviet realize why Rosetti could use forbidden spells without a care.

That was possible for a half-blood—especially a half-elf with a once-in-a-millennium body of extreme cold.

In this world, half-bloods sometimes gave birth to individuals with such extraordinary powers.

As he thought, the absolute cold took shape as ice crystals, sparkling with countless brilliant stars, and shot toward him.

Roviet froze for a moment, then quickly dodged. He avoided a direct hit, but in exchange, after his right hand, even his left foot was frozen… and frostbitten.

“Tch. I missed?”

Rosetti clicked her tongue in frustration and gritted her teeth.

She quickly steadied her breathing and continued her assault, while Roviet switched to evading, going from offense to defense.

Forbidden spells were undeniably powerful. And thanks to her body of extreme cold, Rosetti suffered less backlash from using them than most people would.

But… that was only temporary. No matter who you were, if you used a forbidden spell for too long, you’d eventually meet the same end as anyone else who’d learned one: self-destruction…

They both understood that.

So…

“Get the children to the city lord’s manor! Go, now!”

As she held the enemy off, Rosetti ordered Meimei to retreat.

“Ah… okay.”

Meimei blinked in surprise, then hurried to her feet. But…

“Sis, you have to come with us!”

“I’ll leave in a little while. You go first.”

Rosetti smiled gently and reached out as if to pat her head.

But when she saw Meimei shivering, her teeth chattering from the cold, Rosetti gritted her teeth in frustration and pulled her hand back…

She saw her reflection in the ice crystals all around her: long, pointed ears that weren’t human, and stark-white hair… A self-mocking smile tugged at her lips. Then she made up her mind…

“Sis, what are you talking about? If you’re going, then we’ll go together…”

“I said go, so hurry up! Can’t you see you’re in the way?”

Rosetti’s furious, hoarse shout made Meimei swallow the words she’d been about to say…

Facing the sister who was both familiar and strange to her, the still-young girl could only lower her head meekly, hold back her tears… and lead the orphanage children away.

And at the very moment the children left…

A fist wreathed in pure golden battle aura was shattering the frozen domain Rosetti had created, one section at a time.

The beastfolk were so physically strong that even losing an arm and a leg wasn’t enough to make them underestimate their opponent.

Beastfolk were born warriors. They could endure attacks with their bodies, get a feel for the battle as it went on, and grow stronger still in the midst of combat.

That was why even a level-one beastfolk warrior could fight on the front lines.

And it was also why Rosetti had to keep learning more powerful forbidden spells if she wanted to stop the beastfolk from advancing…

“Looks like I really have to use an even stronger forbidden spell…”

Clutching her staff, Rosetti watched herself gradually fall behind. If she didn’t use a stronger forbidden spell, she’d very likely lose…

No. She was certain to lose!

If she lost here while facing two level-four beastfolk, the city’s fall wouldn’t be far off…

“I have no choice…”

Rosetti sighed. She’d wanted to save this for when she reached the front lines, but there was no other option now…

“Huh?! This cold energy…”

In an instant, the cold around Rosetti surged once more, forcing Roviet to stop his attack for the moment.

Even if he could gain the upper hand with his physical advantage, he still had to be careful—very careful—against a forbidden spell cast by burning through its user’s life.

Roviet was right to be on his guard.

This time, with the aid of her body of extreme cold, she cast the forbidden spell known as Absolute Seal.

Though it was technically a level-four spell, its power and wide-area effect put it on par with level five. And with Rosetti’s unique body of extreme cold… its power could well reach level seven.

A level-seven mage could certainly hold her own against a level-four warrior.

Beneath the starry night sky, the white-haired girl was wrapped in frigid air, ice swirling around her.

This was Rosetti. Once she made up her mind, no amount of persuasion could stop her. For the people she wanted to protect, she’d keep going even if her body was battered and broken.

She’d been alone since childhood, and everything she had now came from Alice and the children. For their sake, she wouldn’t hesitate to give her life.

She felt not the slightest concern for her own life…

Nor did she feel the slightest attachment to the world…

Still, if she had to name one regret, there was one small thing.

“Should I have thanked him…?”

A man who should’ve been as insignificant as a wisp of smoke, someone no one would acknowledge, had helped her in a way she’d never expected.

If it weren’t for that man, the children she treasured might have been in danger long ago…

It was true that she’d disliked him from the start, judging him before she knew him. But now that she thought about it… he hadn’t actually done anything that bad. Aside from rudely calling her his wife all the time, and being lazy and careless… there wasn’t much to dislike about him. If anything, he’d helped her a lot…

If she could, Rosetti really wanted to thank him and apologize to him in person…

But now… that might be difficult.

…

A wry smile touched her lips. She regretted that, of all people, that man was the one she’d thought of at the very end… and in that moment, Rosetti’s spell was complete.

“Oh no!”

Realizing it was something he couldn’t possibly withstand, Roviet turned and ran.

“Trying to run? Too late!”

As if the night sky had caved in and the stars had fallen, a blizzard swept over him. In the blink of an eye, Roviet was swallowed by the storm.

“Ha… hahaha… Looks like I won that bet…”

Seeing the enemy swallowed by the blizzard and his burning battle aura finally extinguished, Rosetti dared to dispel her magic.

The white gradually faded back to its usual gold. Rosetti wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

All around her, everything was buried in white. The orphanage had been changed beyond recognition, stripped of the life it once held… Rosetti lowered her head in loneliness.

Now that things had come to this, and Meimei had seen the identity she’d tried so hard to hide, she probably couldn’t stay here anymore… But that was for the best. Now she’d have nothing left to hold her back from going to the battlefield…

Leaning on her staff, she struggled to her feet. She couldn’t fall yet. Not before she’d completely dealt with the beastfolk attacking them…

“Damn it. I was this close to being done for.”

Rosetti: ?!

Roviet crawled out of the iceberg. He was still alive!

At the sight of him, Rosetti didn’t hesitate. She hurried to raise her staff and finish him off, but her body couldn’t take any more of that strain…

“Looks like I win, Icebound Witch.”

With a smug smirk, Roviet cracked his bones and came over to Rosetti.

He stared down at Rosetti, who lay at his feet, gritting her teeth and wishing she could bite him to death. Up close, even Roviet couldn’t help admiring her beauty. What a pity… she was still tainted by her lowly half-blood heritage.

“Don’t blame me. Blame your companions. With the enemy at the gates, they’re still busy fighting among themselves.”

“What are you talking about…?”

Rosetti froze.

But he had no intention of explaining. He raised his battle-aura-wreathed arm and brought it down toward Rosetti without hesitation…

But just then, a lazy voice, completely out of place, broke the silence.

“Who’s making all that racket in the middle of the night? Keep it up and your kids might be born without **holes.”