Chapter 334: The Wrong Path
[Why am I like this? Why am I like this?] Primrose stopped in her tracks as she suddenly heard Lorelle’s cries echoing in her heart. [I didn’t mean to hurt them ....]
Primrose wanted to listen further, but Leofric and Edmund had already taken her out of the house, leading her into the front yard.
When she and Edmund sat down on a wooden bench, Leofric spoke to the maid. "You can take the day off. I’ll look after my sister today." He pressed a few gold coins into her hand. "Share this with Miss Gia and Dr. Abell."
The middle-aged maid—whose name turned out to be Susan—nodded, then called the other women so they could leave the house.
Primrose didn’t even need to read their thoughts to know how happy they all were to finally go home early.
"I’m sorry, wife. You had to witness Lady Lorelle’s anger earlier." Edmund observed her face, checking carefully to make sure no glass shards had hurt her. "Before her illness, she was never like this."
"There’s nothing wrong with Lorelle," Leofric corrected as he walked toward them.
Edmund glanced at him but said nothing in return, not wanting to argue.
"She’s just tired, that’s all." Leofric sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, lowering his head for a moment.
Deep down, he knew something was wrong with Lorelle. That was one of the reasons he had asked Primrose to trick her mind.
"She ... she didn’t mean to be rude to you both." Primrose finally spoke. "Just like you said, she’s only tired."
[I think this is my fault too,] Edmund spoke in his mind so Leofric wouldn’t hear. [Since last year, I’ve rarely visited her. I was too busy with the kingdom’s endless demands after the humans started securing political ties with the beasts.]
[But besides that, it hurt to watch her fade away day by day.] He sighed inwardly. [I never spoke much with her even before, but she always laughed and chatted happily with Leofric. She used to have such a bright spirit.]
Unfortunately, her illness had stolen that joy. Edmund understood it, but because he struggled to express his feelings, he worried his coldness only made Lorelle angrier.
In the end, he only gave Leofric money to take care of her and let him be the one to accompany her, since Leofric never had any trouble communicating with Lorelle.
Primrose slipped her fingers between Edmund’s, gently holding his hand to ease the weight in his heart.
It was truly a curse, not being able to speak properly to the point that he couldn’t even build a good relationship with his own sister.
"What happened to her?" Primrose asked softly.
Leofric took a deep breath before finally saying, "She chose the wrong path, dabbling in things no one should ever touch. At first, it was only curiosity, a small step into forbidden practices. But curiosity soon turned into obsession. By the time I realized how far she had gone, it was already too late."
Primrose’s brows furrowed. "Forbidden practices? You mean ... dark magic?"
Leofric’s silence was enough of an answer. His hands clenched on his knees as if he were holding back his anger. "She was always brilliant, always chasing knowledge, but sometimes brilliance blinds you. She thought she could control it, that she was strong enough to master it. Instead, it devoured her."
Primrose turned to Edmund, and since he said nothing in return, it was clear that he also knew what had happened to Lorelle.
With hesitation in her voice, she asked, "Can we ... at least ask Lady Raven to help her?"
Raven was a dark witch, someone who had already walked many forbidden paths. Since she wouldn’t be leaving the palace until tonight, maybe they still had a chance to seek her help.
"Lady Raven?" Leofric paused for a moment, as if trying to recall her. "Oh, her. She’s more of an expert in curses, not in healing those who failed to control dark magic. So she’s useless in Lorelle’s case."
He shook his head slightly before adding, "Besides, Lady Raven’s body was born to bear black magic. She will never feel the torment Lorelle is suffering now."
Raven might have changed her identity and hidden herself from the magic tower, but Leofric, with his sharp instincts as a skilled magician, could still sense that she had walked the dark path many times before.
Even so, since he no longer served the magic tower, he didn’t bother to question her presence.
Primrose held her breath before finally gathering the courage to ask, "If I may ... what kind of dark practice did Lady Lorelle get involved in?"
Leofric’s jaw tightened. For a long moment, he didn’t speak, as if the weight of the truth was too heavy to share. Finally, he exhaled and said, "She wanted immortality."
Primrose’s eyes widened. "Immortality ...?"
Even Raven had never walked that kind of path because why would anyone want to be immortal? It was nothing but torture, watching the people you love die one by one while you were forced to keep on living.
Leofric gave a bitter smile, one without joy. "Yes. She was terrified of death, terrified of being forgotten. So when she discovered ancient rites that promised eternal life, she chased after them without hesitation. She believed that if she could live forever, she would never lose the things she loved."
Primrose frowned. "The things she loved?" She looked at him in disbelief. "Nothing in this world lasts forever. How could she ever believe it would?"
A loving family, good friends, a spouse, or even pets ... everything must eventually face death when the time comes. That’s why chasing immortality just to avoid losing the things she loved sounded rather foolish.
Across from her, Leofric let out a quiet chuckle, so soft that Primrose almost didn’t hear it. "You’re right, Your Majesty," he said gently. "Nothing in this world lasts forever."
Not long after, he suddenly stood up and spoke in a sharper tone. "Anyway, since Lorelle failed to walk that path, she has received her punishment in return."