Chapter3

It was utterly absurd. It was simply because I refused to let him neglect his magic practice. Caleb told him that Sylvia wouldn't force him to practice and would instead take him to play at the Magic Tower every single day. Just like that, to escape a few nagging words and out of a simple greed for playtime, my own child willingly conspired with an outsider to murder his mother.

In my previous life, after I died, Leo followed Caleb into the room without shedding a single tear. He leaned over my body and spat directly in my face.

At the thought of this, the smile on my lips slowly faded.

I turned, walked into the walk-in closet, and pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside lay a spool of "silver thread" and a small vial of "Holy Light Corrosive Fluid." I traded my jewelry for them at the Shadow Market the very second I opened my eyes in this second life. I wrapped the silver thread tightly around my wrist and tugged my sleeve down to conceal it.

"Elora." The bedroom door was pushed open, and Caleb walked in carrying a cup of tea. "You had a fright today. Drink some soothing tea and go to sleep early." He personally brought the teacup right to my lips.

I looked down and caught a sickly sweet, metallic scent. It was a slumber potion. In my past life, this was exactly what he used to keep me completely unconscious while that beast drained my blood night after night. Meeting his gaze, I took a small sip and held the liquid in my mouth.

"It's a little hot," I said softly. "I'll drink it in a minute. Go check on Leo in the guest room first."

Caleb stared at my throat, seemingly satisfied only after confirming I swallowed. He then turned and left the room. The very next second, I spat the tea directly into a nearby potted plant, before dumping the remaining half cup of contents into the soil.

Midnight. I lay in bed, my eyes closed.

A faint rustling sounded from the headboard. It was here. A small mass padded up the edge of the blanket and onto the bed. It stepped over my stomach and slowly crept up to my chest. Finally, it stopped right next to my pulsing carotid artery. It opened its jaws.

The exact moment those sharp teeth were poised to pierce my skin, my eyes snapped open. My right hand shot out from beneath the covers, and the silver thread hidden in my cuff whipped tightly around its neck. I crossed my wrists and yanked backward with vicious force.

"Ahhh—!"

An agonizing shriek tore through the silent night. It wasn't the squeal of an animal at all; it was the bloodcurdling scream of a woman.

The silver thread, coated in my blood, ignited into a searing burn the second it made contact with the dark magic festering inside her. The ferret clawed frantically at my arms like a maniac, but I refused to let go.

Bang! The bedroom door was kicked open with brutal force. Caleb charged into the room like a madman.

"Elora! Let go of it right now!" He grabbed my wrist.

I looked up and stared directly into his eyes. "It crawled into my bed in the middle of the night to rip my throat out, and you want me to let go?"

Caleb choked on his words for a split second before his face darkened. "It's so small. What could it possibly do to you?"

The screams grew weaker by the second. Caleb's eyes went bloodshot with frantic panic. "I told you to let go!"

Right at that moment, Leo ran inside barefoot. Seeing the ferret on the verge of being strangled to death, he burst into wails, lunged forward, and slapped me hard across the head.

"You bad woman! Let her go!" Leo sobbed and screamed. "What does it matter if she drinks a few mouthfuls of blood! It's not like you'll die! Aunt Sylvia is coming back soon!"

"Who is coming back soon?" I looked at him.

Leo's eyes darted around in sudden panic, and he shrank behind Caleb's legs.

Caleb clamped a hand firmly over his son's mouth. "Shut up! Who taught you to spout such nonsense!"

Taking advantage of my momentary drop in focus, Caleb reached out to snatch the silver thread. I yanked my wrists back violently. The ferret's scream instantly caught in its throat, choked off entirely.

Caleb's hand froze in midair, not daring to advance another inch. His voice softened to a desperate plea. "Elora, let go... I swear I won't let it touch you again."

Watching the father and son perform this dramatic act, I suddenly remembered how, in my previous life, I cried my eyes red over this blatant favoritism. Now, I found it utterly laughable.

I slowly loosened my fingers. The silver thread slipped freely from the ferret's neck.

Caleb snatched the creature into his arms and retreated out into the hallway. Leo followed closely, standing on his tiptoes and frantically tugging on Caleb's arm to check the ferret's neck.

"Don't be afraid... It's okay now... I'm right here..." Caleb mumbled to the beast.

Looking at his pale, terrified face, I was suddenly reminded that on the night I took my last breath in my past life, he never showed even a fraction of this fear.

I got out of bed. In the bathroom, cold tap water washed over the red scratch marks the ferret left on my arms. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror—pale, but absolutely wide awake.

Through the gap in the door, Caleb's hushed voice drifted in intermittently. "Tomorrow... Tomorrow I'll put three times the slumber potion in her breakfast..."

I walked over to the cabinet, pulled open the drawer, and let my gaze fall onto the small vial of Holy Light Corrosive Fluid.

What he didn't know was that his precious Sylvia absolutely wouldn't survive past a few more nights.