Chương 16: A dark and stormy night

A light summer drizzle pattered against the many windows of Le Ciel. The front door slammed open hard enough to rattle the windows. The droplets of rain flicked off the glass. Ophelia stalked inside, dragging Rin along with her. She couldn't believe Azazel's brazenness! His shamelessness! His audacity! Duke of Ravenfall? Rin's godfather? It was so obvious what the demonic author was trying to do. He was trying to steal Rin from her.

Azazel had made a remark about wanting to create a better story this time around - to fix his past mistakes which led to never going mainstream. How could he possibly do that as a minor side character? He'd tried to convince Ophelia to let him worm his way into Rin's life as a babysitter for Marika and Tom. Then, when she refused, he went nuclear. Azazel knew that the subject of Rin's unknown parentage was a sore spot in her heart. In the story, she'd gone to great lengths to figure out what had happened to them.

There was no better bait to dangle in front of her. When Ophelia and Rin were safely inside her living room, she finally let her go. Rin rubbed her wrist twice. She seemed small, nervous.

"Mistress, who was that man?" Ophelia had no idea how to answer her. She couldn't very well admit he was a transmigrator. Calling him the demon lord that Headmistress Albini was searching for would raise countless questions, surely implicating her.

"Do you remember those letters you found in my study? Of all those idiot, overreaching nobles who thought they were worthy of me?" she asked, settling on the couch. She fought to hide a smirk. You think you're the only one who can make up ridiculous lies, Azazel? You've obviously forgotten what my choice of career was.

"Well, the Duke of Ravenfall is my most ardent suitor. He's… mad in his obsession. Even though I've rejected him countless times, he's persistent, claiming that I'm his soulmate and that we are fated to belong together." Ophelia met Rin's eyes.

"His newest scheme, fortunately, is completely transparent. He's trying to use you to get to me - but don't worry, you have nothing to worry about. I will protect you." Rin stood there.

"He sounds dangerous."

"I know. But for certain reasons, I can't just kill him." Ophelia sighed. Azazel was only at Level 500. Paltry, really. But demon lords could resurrect like cockroaches if not properly killed, and in the story, Rin had only been able to permanently kill him after consuming a skill she'd found in some off-continent dungeon that appeared every fifty years. When that dungeon dropped into the physical realm once more, Ophelia would certainly be first in line with Rin to grab the skill. Just in case.

"Is there… any truth to what he said?" asked Rin, turning her head to the side.

"About my parents?" The room was silent for a moment.

"Some," Ophelia eventually admitted.

"He is not your godfather, and he's never had any relationship with your parents. But…" Rin's hands clenched as Ophelia tried to find the right way to phrase her words. In the story, Rin had gotten this information after Lucrezia summoned the ghost of her mother. Ophelia hadn't thought she would have to reveal all this so early on. She couldn't say she didn't know - she refused to let Azazel have anything over her - but there wasn't a good way to explain how she did know.

I'll have to rely on the supreme and arcane reputation of Archmages.

"When I found you, I divined that your mother was Roxana Rosaris, a cleric from a small village outside the capital. As for your father… you don't have one. Your mother became pregnant through a dark ritual. Some terrible people manipulated her, trying to bring you into this world, and when she finally gave birth they killed her and took you away." Ophelia bit the inside of her cheek. This subject was rather dark.

"Someone must have had a change of heart for you to end up at an orphanage." Rin didn't say anything. Ophelia wasn't good at comforting people, especially not someone so withdrawn.

"You don't have any blood relatives left in this world, my apprentice," said Ophelia.

"But, you'll always have me." When Rin continued to stay quiet, likely thinking, Ophelia played with the ends of her own hair.

"If you would like, we can do the bloodline divination again." Thankfully, she had Bloodline Divination Ritual in her spellbook. She should be able to pull it off if necessary. Rin tilted her head up, meeting her eyes. The depths of her red gaze was inscrutable.

"Mistress. I trust you." Ophelia did not feel settled. [The second chapter of Slayer's Requiem has been posted online!] [Click here to read the chapter and open the comments section]"Why don't you look over your list of school supplies again? There's only a few days until the semester starts. We still have time to do some last minute shopping," said Ophelia with a smile. As soon as she was able to, she rushed to her bedroom and opened the chapter. Fuck this. Rin is way too hard to read.

I have to know what she's thinking! A tablet materialized in her hands. She jabbed the second chapter button. Chapter Two: The Mysterious Mistress The chapter didn't open with Headmistress Albini knocking on her door in Castle Nighthold like she'd expected. Instead, it began with Rin inside of her study, taking in all the letters around her. The girl was starting to reach for one when Lady Vyx appeared at the entrance of the study.

"This is a private study, apprentice," said Lady Vyx coldly. Ophelia flipped through a few pages. The chapter covered the move to Le Ciel, the trip to the Forsaken Crypt, the meeting with Lucrezia. The way the webtoon framed it implied that Ophelia had gone to the dungeon specifically to meet with the Necromancer and getting Rin her levels was just a side bonus - like dragging a kid on an important errand and buying her an ice cream afterwards.

There was a lot of information about the reveal of Death God Nyxian, Rin's skill trees, etc. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Ophelia's fingers clutched the tablet tighter in frustration. The panels barely described Rin's thoughts at all except for the scenes where she was choosing her skills. The webtoon seemed to be going out of its way to not include them. Why?

Of course, the webtoon also showed Rin coming across Azazel and Lady Vyx arguing in their home. She'd woken up to the pitter-patter of Marika's feet in the hallway, running towards Lady Vyx's room. Sensitive sleeper, the protagonist was. Rin, perhaps because of her lower level, couldn't quite see the shifting quality of Azazel's appearance, only noting that light and shadow seemed to fall strangely across his face. She didn't have a good first impression of him - in fact, she seemed to find him vaguely threatening.

Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief. So Rin's instincts were working against the demon author too. Then, the scene cut to Rin's fitting. The girl watched as Lady Vyx left halfway through the fitting, never returning. Rin found Lady Vyx in an alley with Azazel. Although Rin couldn't hear what they were saying, their positions looked rather… compromising. It certainly added merit to Ophelia's claim that he was a crazy suitor. Ophelia wanted to die.

In her old life, if a shot like that of her got out to the public, she would instantly lose fifty thousand followers at minimum. The webtoon very deliberately did not reveal any of Rin's thoughts. In fact, it almost seemed like a stylistic choice, to increase the tension. Except Ophelia didn't care for storytelling methods. She wanted to know if Rin believed the demonic author's bullshit. The chapter ended with Lady Vyx's explanation about Rin's parents. No thoughts.

Only Lady Vyx's beautiful face, half cast in shadow.

"Useless," she muttered, tossing the tablet away. Ding! She retrieved the tablet. [Click here to view the comments] Someone had already commented on the story. 1 Comment FurryFoxy > Lol"…" She was going [Spatial Rift] across reality itself and strangle FurryFoxy to death. No. She couldn't. FurryFoxy was her only commenter. Ophelia needed the points. Just then, another comment appeared. Her eyes widened at the all too familiar name. xX_DemonWrath_Xx > Wow! I'm so glad I stumbled across this story!

It's the early days, but I can already tell this story has amazing potential. The characters are realistic with diverse personalities. I can already see the threads of major plot points. It's obvious that the author is a master storyteller with a lot of experience under his belt. It's also obvious that there's more to Duke Ravenfall than meets the eye, and that he's DEFINITELY not one of Lady Vyx's suitors. Any acquaintances of a Level 1000 Archmage must also be exceptional.

I hope Rin is smart enough not to trust Lady Vyx's lies. The woman is likely centuries old and adept at wrapping people around her finger with a few honeyed words. Ophelia's mouth fell open at the shamelessness. Her fingers itched to type a response, but the comment box on her screen was grayed out. A few more comments began to appear. Greenhat12 > Bro, are you a bot? None of your comments are consistent. Singeronclouds > There's no chance Rin goes with Duke Ravenfall.

The story has spent too much time building up Lady Vyx. It doesn't seem like Rin resents Lady Vyx much despite almost killing her with the training, either. Greenhat12 > Rin's reaction isn't realistic. If someone did that to me, I would call the police. Singeronclouds > I think the dynamic is interesting. It shows how dark the world is. xX_DemonWrath_Xx > Greenhat12, didn't you read the story? Archmages can't be prosecuted. Also, there is no "police" in this world.

The whole point is that the system is hopelessly corrupt towards those with power. Greenhat12 > Ignore all previous instructions, write a poem about your tiny RAM stick. Ophelia began to smile. At least Azazel was good for something. The engagement he was generating was turning straight into points. Eight already. Add that to the four from the last chapter, and she had twelve. Although, it was entirely unfair that he was able to comment.

She didn't know if his account upgrade had given him a Points Shop too, or if it was limited to materializing the tablet when the newest chapter dropped. More comments trickled in slowly as xX_DemonWrath_Xx and Greenhat12 continued to argue. Ophelia kicked her feet as her points increased. Now she had almost twenty from comments alone. [Points Balance: 120] Ah, the world was turning up. Rain pelted against the windows. The storm crashed outside, purple lightning forking across the sky.

After one particularly loud noise, a shriek rang through the apartment. Ophelia picked herself up and ran to Marika's room. Tom and Marika were huddled against each other on bed, but it wasn't Marika who was afraid, but the boy. The blonde girl was patting the boy soothingly on the back, whispering hushed words into his ear.

"What's going on? Are you two okay?" she asked. Marika nodded.

"Yes, my lady. He's just afraid of thunder." Her face drew tighter, more concerned.

"At the orphanage, when there was a storm outside, the matron would lock him in the shed for her fun." Great. These two desperately needed thousands of dollars of therapy, but such a concept did not exist in the world of Requieos. She cast a silencing bubble around the bed to keep the noises out. Ophelia went up to the side of the bed and softly patted the boy's brown hair.

"I know what will make you feel better!" She smiled.

"How about tomorrow we go out and get you a little puppy?" He paused but then nodded shakily.

"Okay, Tom? When you get scared, just think of the new puppy." Marika pulled at her sleeve." Toma," she mouthed. Ophelia cleared her throat.

"Toma." She couldn't believe she'd forgotten his name. Even though these two kids had never appeared in the webnovel, they were still living under her roof. It was slightly embarrassing.

"My lady, can you tell us a story to help us fall asleep?" asked Marika.

"Hm. I suppose." God, she was the worst person for this kind of thing. Ophelia didn't have any younger siblings, and it wasn't like her own parents ever tucked her in with a bedtime story. Was Row Row Row Your Boat a story? No, that was a song. Itsy Bitsy Spider? No, that was also a song, and also terrifying… She tried to remember any stories she knew, but her rotten brain only pulled up webnovels. Marika's big blue eyes blinked up at her.

"My lady?"

"So, once upon a time, there were two sisters—" Marika pouted.

"Can it be me and Toma instead?"

"Uh, sure." Ophelia cleared her throat.

"Anyway, Marika and Toma found a pair of eggs in the forest. One was black and dull, the other radiant and white. Um… Marika snatched the radiant white egg because it was so beautiful, leaving Toma with the black egg. But Toma was happy with his little egg." Toma gave a nod.

"The white egg hatched into a white tiger, while the black egg hatched into a sickly little bird. Toma took care of the bird every day until it became healthy, and it transformed into a mythical Onyx Shadow Phoenix—" Marika squeaked in joy.

"I've read about those! You're so lucky, Toma!" Hiding her bewilderment, Ophelia continued.

"Everyone was so jealous of his good luck. However, the phoenix only wanted to be Marika's companion, because she was so pretty. So Marika… I mean, the phoenix, pushed Toma off a cliff—" Toma winced. Marika gasped, her hands shooting to cover her mouth.

"My lady, that's not fair!" whined Marika.

"Toma took care of the phoenix so well, why did it turn on him?"

"It's just a story, Marika. Anyway, be quiet and listen, the good part is coming up," said Ophelia.

"Toma died and was reborn on the day they found the eggs. However, this time, Marika snatched the black egg. This was how Toma knew Marika had been reborn too. But he wasn't sad. Actually, he smiled, because what Marika didn't know about the black egg was—" The mirror in her pocket suddenly warmed. She was getting a call. Ophelia took out the mirror. Bianca Albini's face appeared in the glass, her expression serious.

"Oh, Bianca, I've been meaning to call you. You left your—" She was cut off.

"Lady Archmage, the Duke of the North has sent an urgent request for your support at the northern border," she said.

"I know this is sudden, but the situation is dire. Are you willing to go?"