The Crimson Throne

Step by step, she had pushed Isabella into a corner, hopeful that the woman would have no choice but to yield to her demands.

Isabella stared at Elaine. Her clouded gaze and deadpanned expression were like an abyssal vortex, swallowing those looking down at its depth of despair. Elaine's eyes narrowed, striving to decipher the woman's intent. Suddenly, Elaine realized that the Valois mistress was not focusing on her but on something or someone else behind her. Her head shifted, wanting to follow the woman's line of sight. Yet, before she could see the object transfixing Isabella, the woman's low murmuring again dragged back her attention.

"I have no more regrets…" the Valois mistress muttered. "This is my last act of revenge. I will offer my and this child's souls as payments."

"What are you—"

Before Elaine could comprehend her words, Isabella pulled a hidden dagger from her sleeve and lunged at Azalea, stabbing her through the chest. The little girl did not have time to fight or cry. Her eyes expanded in disbelief as she took her last breath. The woman then immediately extracted the weapon and stabbed herself in the neck, splattering crimson liquid on those nearby as she fell to the ground. Purple-colored flames flared from the open wounds and dispersed throughout their lifeless bodies.

The fire rapidly spread while chaos engulfed the chamber. Everyone, servants and masters alike, screamed and ran toward the exit, attempting to escape the flame's destructive path. Guards and servants from the outside poured in, seeking to subdue the fire.

"No…how could this happen?" Elaine stumbled toward the corpses, her entire body reeling from shock, entrapped by the haunting scene. Never did she expect Isabella de Valois' crazed final action. Who was she speaking to in the end? A hand caught Elaine's arm and pulled her back.

"Please stay behind me, Lady Estella," Cecil called, slipping between her and the fire. "It is too dangerous here." His voice returned Elaine to reality.

She raised her head, scanning her surroundings. The flame had created scorching circles around them and some others, blocking their way out. Paraveas slumped to the floor with hands covering his head not far behind her, trembling and too afraid to move. Tasha remained immobilized beside the child's skeleton, awaiting Elaine's order. In the back of the chamber, Liviane held her son close, though she did not seem too worried about safety, watching the turmoil with indifferent eyes. "Please stand back, Sir Ascania," Elaine said.

The blond-haired young man glanced back, brows knitted together. "Milady, you can't—"

Elaine's hand gripped Cecil's arm while her eyes locked with his. "Did you forget whose daughter I am?" She delivered an assuring smile and released a soothing, cool breeze from her fingers to him.

Though his body remained tense on high alert, Cecil lowered his gaze in contemplation.

"Trust me," she stated with determined eyes.

After a brief moment, the blond-haired young man slightly relaxed. "Please be careful, milady," he cautioned her before stepping back.

"I will." Elaine marched ahead. "Everyone moves aside," she commanded. Despite their panicked state, the servants and mistresses in front of her halted their movements. Instinctively, their bodies listened to her authoritative voice. Elaine nodded and continued forward. She closed her eyes and directed her magical energy down her arms to her fingers.

A brisk, biting sensation suddenly overwhelmed everyone around Elaine as the temperature in the chamber rapidly dropped—freezing smoke billowed from the floor, forming a thin layer of ice across its surface. The ice dispersed in several directions and swiftly snuffed the fires in its traveled path. When Elaine's elemental magic had extinguished all the flames, the once temperate grand room had transformed into a winter landscape with icicles covering the ceiling and sheets of snow and ice blanketing the furniture and floor. The humans within the vicinity fared little better than the objects. Some coiled into balls with their hands and feet numbed from the cold, suffering from light frostbite. Others sought refuge behind the furniture, hoping it would partially block the arctic blast.

Perhaps I used too much magic. My skill requires more practice, Elaine reflected. Of the Duke's children who inherited the Croix bloodline's elemental magic, the original Estella was among the strongest. However, because of her high status, she rarely needed to use her gift. After possessing Estella's body, Elaine, too, seldom employed the magic except for a few life-threatening situations. Her gaze pivoted back to the remains of Isabella and Azalea. Both corpses and the weapon had disintegrated in the fire, leaving only specks of ashes and dust. Where did the purplish fire come from? How did it engulf the Valois mistress' and Laeticia's daughter's bodies in such a short period?

Isabella de Valois already took the answers to both questions to her grave.

"I hope you enjoy today's performance, Mother." She curtsied to a scowling Duchess and turned on her heels, leaving those who remained to deal with the aftermath. "Let's return." Elaine then motioned for Cecil, Tasha, and Paraveas to follow her and swiftly exited the grand room, quickening her steps down the hall. She needed to return to Estella's manor and review her secret journal. Perhaps it might offer clues to today's event. Cecil heeled Elaine while Tasha pulled a distraught Paraveas from the floor and dragged his heavyset body along with her extraordinary strength.

When Elaine arrived at Estella's manor, she immediately summoned the head maid and instructed her to return Agnes Rossi's brother to his daughter. "Everything is arranged for your new life," she informed Paraveas before he departed. "Your old debtors and enemies will not come after you anymore. However, if you continue your 'special' habit, I cannot guarantee your future safety."

"Thank, thank you, milady. I swear to the Olden Gods, I will not gamble anymore." His head bobbed, and his eyes lit up, finally escaping the malaise and shock from earlier.