Chapter 73
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Deltan tripped over a root, causing everyone else around him to hastily drop to the ground the moment they saw him trip. He glared at them in dissatisfaction. This was already the nth time that it had happened.
Upon noticing that nothing happened, they warily got up as they prepared for something intangible. Although there were no signs of it, they were ready for anything that would come their way.
Deltan watched them with exasperation. He really wanted to say that just because he tripped did not mean that something would happen!
"Where are the arrows?" Brooke asked, puzzled.
"The magic spells?"
"Don't forget the Magic Beasts! And the monsters."
"How about a hole opening in the ground leading to numerous precious treasures?"
"Or finding something we thought was extinct?"
Deltan finally couldn't hold his temper anymore, exploding and launching himself at them.
Brooke laughed and dodged nimbly, causing the Eldest Prince to fall onto the ground disgracefully. The group of students scattered as they teased the prince.
Nine was the only one who didn't join in the teasing. She frowned, realizing that there was indeed something amiss here.
She walked forward into the shrubbery, feeling a strange sensation that drew her there. She couldn't help but sigh. Deltan's luck was indeed powerful. Not to mention out here in the wilderness, Deltan was able to encounter all sorts of things in the city. Even when he didn't leave his residence, he couldn't escape.
Beneath a tree by the lake, there stood a translucent figure, silently gazing into the distance. A young girl, her face still carrying the hints of childhood and innocence, stared at something she couldn't see. Her eyes looked too old for such a young girl. The image painted was very picturesque. That was, had it not been a ghost and instead of a young girl.
The energy vibes that the girl gave off were so faint that she could hardly feel it. Had it not been for Deltan tripping, she would have overlooked the ghost's existence. However, the moment she locked gazes onto the little female ghost, she felt a sudden overwhelming urge come over her.
Deltan and the rest froze when they noticed the translucent figure of the girl in the dimming sunlight. Slowly, they loosened their tensed muscles when they realized that the ghost held no ill intentions. By all accounts, she was just existing without any malicious intentions. What had caused her to feel such strong regret that she could move on?
Nocturne stayed at the back of the group, not communicating with anyone.
The ghost ignored everything that occurred around her, looking with the same dazed gaze in the same direction.
"What chains you to the earth?" Nine questioned. "What is it that causes you to feel such sorrow?"
The little ghost girl didn't move for a whole minute, making them think that she couldn't hear the question.
"Who is it that causes you to harbour such murderous intent in your soul?" Nine asked again, feeling the emotions coursing through the girl's body. As she existed in the material plane through the will of magic, the emotions shown through were even stronger than those who were still living.
The little girl with pigtails turned mechanically, surprise sparking within her for the first time.
The moment she moved, the stillness in the air was broken as she seemed almost alive. Her body was no longer so translucent that she looked almost invisible. Though still translucent, it was not as evident as before.
"Big brother, who are you?" she asked, her expression unchanging.
Nine studied the little girl before them. "My name is Nine Destan, Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire," she said, holding out a hand before her to the little girl.
The little ghost walked forward and made to reach out but withdrew her hand once she noticed that it was translucent.
"Subject Twelve," she said, dropping into a curtsey.
"Then, we must be siblings, right?" Nine said gently, smiling at the little girl. She suppressed the faint rage in her heart when she realized that this girl was part of some organisation that was kidnapping kids. The ghost only looked to be around six years old. She still had a little lisp in her speech.
The ghost girl smiled at Nine, realizing that they both had number names. This caused her to feel closer to the big brother talking to her.
Subject Twelve started telling her story to the group.
The little girl was eight years old, not six. As far as she could remember, she had been training in the organisation. What the organisation's name was, she didn't know. As test subjects, they didn't have any access to information.
Like this, from the moment they were brought in, they started to be harshly trained in all ways of killing and assassination. If they happened to pass and complete the training to the end, they would be granted a name as they ascended the organisation's ranks.
At each time, they brought in twelve kids to train. For the first six years of training, they were nameless. Once they turned six, they were numbered one to twelve based on their cumulative scores. Subject Twelve was the worst in terms of killing in every way.
Unfortunately for her group of twelve, they were closely knit and were akin to a family. They helped each other out and had no sense of urgency nor competitiveness despite harsh treatments from their instructors.
Countless methods that had been tried and tested were used on them to break them apart, but to no avail. Finally giving in to take drastic measures, Subject Twelve, who had been the worst of the group, had been killed in front of the other eleven in their group. Helpless and burning with rage as they watched the weakest of their group die without being able to struggle, they swore to get revenge.
Even though they knew that this was just what the instructors wanted, they first had to get strength before they could take action. The conflicting emotions caused them to drive themselves even harder, obtaining outstanding scores in the process.
Awakened as a ghost, Subject Twelve could only watch on as her family went through pain and suffering because of her. She witnessed their sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears.
Although they could see her, they seemed to have thought that they were seeing her because she had come back to haunt them as a figment of their imagination, which caused a vicious cycle where they pushed themselves even harder and got hurt everyday as they watched her attempt to speak to them.
Since the instructors could never see her, Subject Twelve's family took her as a figment of their imagination, as a drive to grow stronger to avenge her.
Realizing that she was only causing more suffering upon her family, Subject Twelve left, hovering nearby but out of sight.
There were a few wet eyes in the crowd as Subject Twelve finished telling her story. Some of them had siblings, or even children, and the plight of the little girl's story struck them hard. They superimposed her image on their own children or siblings and felt the ache worsen at the hard experiences she went through.
"Teacher, let's help her!" Aciel said, unable to hold herself back.
"Yes, please. We will eradicate the organisation from the planet and save the suffering children."
Nine looked each one of her students in the eye and only felt their unwavering determination.
"Y-you're going to help me?" Subject Twelve asked, expression hopeful but sceptical at the same time.
Nine reached out to pat the little ghost on her head, comforting her. Subject Twelve was shocked when the big brother's hand didn't go through her like it did when her siblings tried it.
"Don't worry," Nine said, her eyes gentle. "Your big brothers and sisters will help you."
The radiant smile that Subject Twelve gave them almost blinded them.
With Subject Twelve leading the way, Nine's group of students followed after her as they applied a staggering amount of stealth charms on themselves.
Nine's eyes caught on Nocturne, who hadn't moved an inch since the appearance of Subject Twelve.
She could see that he was paler than he already was, almost making look as translucent as Subject Twelve herself. Other than that, he had almost no physical symptoms that gave himself away.
Unfortunately for Nocturne, Nine's eyesight was impeccable after being transformed into a Vampire. She could see the faint, almost unnoticeable tremors in his hand.
Instantly understanding, she couldn't help but feel her heart soften. Wordlessly, she held his hand, which was colder than usual.
Even though she didn't say anything, her presence seemed to anchor him slightly, causing him to feel unendingly grateful. Nocturne thought that he had hidden it well enough, but it felt like nothing could escape Nine's eyes.
Something small like this might not have been anything significant in Nine's eyes, but it was the little things like this that Nine did that made Nocturne fall deeper and deeper in love with Nine. Before he knew it, he was already so deep that he had no hope of extracting himself from this abyss.
Nocturne's heart felt warm when Nine squeezed his hand reassuringly. From Nine's usually stoic and indifferent face, it really couldn't be seen that his husband would react like this so gently.
Nine, who realized that Nocturne's trembling had stopped, studied his face, noting that his facial colour looked a lot better than before.
Nodding, she let go of his hand, feeling like the warmth in her hand had become a little cooler. It gave her a strange sensation.
Like this, Nine and Nocturne followed after the group of students which contained both Seyton and Shade as well, who had been burning with indignation and rage inside, just like the rest of them.
She hid a smile. The people she picked up were all so cute. They were so unbearably cute that she felt like teasing them all the time.
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Deltan tripped over a root, causing everyone else around him to hastily drop to the ground the moment they saw him trip. He glared at them in dissatisfaction. This was already the nth time that it had happened.
Upon noticing that nothing happened, they warily got up as they prepared for something intangible. Although there were no signs of it, they were ready for anything that would come their way.
Deltan watched them with exasperation. He really wanted to say that just because he tripped did not mean that something would happen!
"Where are the arrows?" Brooke asked, puzzled.
"The magic spells?"
"Don't forget the Magic Beasts! And the monsters."
"How about a hole opening in the ground leading to numerous precious treasures?"
"Or finding something we thought was extinct?"
Deltan finally couldn't hold his temper anymore, exploding and launching himself at them.
Brooke laughed and dodged nimbly, causing the Eldest Prince to fall onto the ground disgracefully. The group of students scattered as they teased the prince.
Nine was the only one who didn't join in the teasing. She frowned, realizing that there was indeed something amiss here.
She walked forward into the shrubbery, feeling a strange sensation that drew her there. She couldn't help but sigh. Deltan's luck was indeed powerful. Not to mention out here in the wilderness, Deltan was able to encounter all sorts of things in the city. Even when he didn't leave his residence, he couldn't escape.
Beneath a tree by the lake, there stood a translucent figure, silently gazing into the distance. A young girl, her face still carrying the hints of childhood and innocence, stared at something she couldn't see. Her eyes looked too old for such a young girl. The image painted was very picturesque. That was, had it not been a ghost and instead of a young girl.
The energy vibes that the girl gave off were so faint that she could hardly feel it. Had it not been for Deltan tripping, she would have overlooked the ghost's existence. However, the moment she locked gazes onto the little female ghost, she felt a sudden overwhelming urge come over her.
Deltan and the rest froze when they noticed the translucent figure of the girl in the dimming sunlight. Slowly, they loosened their tensed muscles when they realized that the ghost held no ill intentions. By all accounts, she was just existing without any malicious intentions. What had caused her to feel such strong regret that she could move on?
Nocturne stayed at the back of the group, not communicating with anyone.
The ghost ignored everything that occurred around her, looking with the same dazed gaze in the same direction.
"What chains you to the earth?" Nine questioned. "What is it that causes you to feel such sorrow?"
The little ghost girl didn't move for a whole minute, making them think that she couldn't hear the question.
"Who is it that causes you to harbour such murderous intent in your soul?" Nine asked again, feeling the emotions coursing through the girl's body. As she existed in the material plane through the will of magic, the emotions shown through were even stronger than those who were still living.
The little girl with pigtails turned mechanically, surprise sparking within her for the first time.
The moment she moved, the stillness in the air was broken as she seemed almost alive. Her body was no longer so translucent that she looked almost invisible. Though still translucent, it was not as evident as before.
"Big brother, who are you?" she asked, her expression unchanging.
Nine studied the little girl before them. "My name is Nine Destan, Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire," she said, holding out a hand before her to the little girl.
The little ghost walked forward and made to reach out but withdrew her hand once she noticed that it was translucent.
"Subject Twelve," she said, dropping into a curtsey.
"Then, we must be siblings, right?" Nine said gently, smiling at the little girl. She suppressed the faint rage in her heart when she realized that this girl was part of some organisation that was kidnapping kids. The ghost only looked to be around six years old. She still had a little lisp in her speech.
The ghost girl smiled at Nine, realizing that they both had number names. This caused her to feel closer to the big brother talking to her.
Subject Twelve started telling her story to the group.
The little girl was eight years old, not six. As far as she could remember, she had been training in the organisation. What the organisation's name was, she didn't know. As test subjects, they didn't have any access to information.
Like this, from the moment they were brought in, they started to be harshly trained in all ways of killing and assassination. If they happened to pass and complete the training to the end, they would be granted a name as they ascended the organisation's ranks.
At each time, they brought in twelve kids to train. For the first six years of training, they were nameless. Once they turned six, they were numbered one to twelve based on their cumulative scores. Subject Twelve was the worst in terms of killing in every way.
Unfortunately for her group of twelve, they were closely knit and were akin to a family. They helped each other out and had no sense of urgency nor competitiveness despite harsh treatments from their instructors.
Countless methods that had been tried and tested were used on them to break them apart, but to no avail. Finally giving in to take drastic measures, Subject Twelve, who had been the worst of the group, had been killed in front of the other eleven in their group. Helpless and burning with rage as they watched the weakest of their group die without being able to struggle, they swore to get revenge.
Even though they knew that this was just what the instructors wanted, they first had to get strength before they could take action. The conflicting emotions caused them to drive themselves even harder, obtaining outstanding scores in the process.
Awakened as a ghost, Subject Twelve could only watch on as her family went through pain and suffering because of her. She witnessed their sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears.
Although they could see her, they seemed to have thought that they were seeing her because she had come back to haunt them as a figment of their imagination, which caused a vicious cycle where they pushed themselves even harder and got hurt everyday as they watched her attempt to speak to them.
Since the instructors could never see her, Subject Twelve's family took her as a figment of their imagination, as a drive to grow stronger to avenge her.
Realizing that she was only causing more suffering upon her family, Subject Twelve left, hovering nearby but out of sight.
There were a few wet eyes in the crowd as Subject Twelve finished telling her story. Some of them had siblings, or even children, and the plight of the little girl's story struck them hard. They superimposed her image on their own children or siblings and felt the ache worsen at the hard experiences she went through.
"Teacher, let's help her!" Aciel said, unable to hold herself back.
"Yes, please. We will eradicate the organisation from the planet and save the suffering children."
Nine looked each one of her students in the eye and only felt their unwavering determination.
"Y-you're going to help me?" Subject Twelve asked, expression hopeful but sceptical at the same time.
Nine reached out to pat the little ghost on her head, comforting her. Subject Twelve was shocked when the big brother's hand didn't go through her like it did when her siblings tried it.
"Don't worry," Nine said, her eyes gentle. "Your big brothers and sisters will help you."
The radiant smile that Subject Twelve gave them almost blinded them.
With Subject Twelve leading the way, Nine's group of students followed after her as they applied a staggering amount of stealth charms on themselves.
Nine's eyes caught on Nocturne, who hadn't moved an inch since the appearance of Subject Twelve.
She could see that he was paler than he already was, almost making look as translucent as Subject Twelve herself. Other than that, he had almost no physical symptoms that gave himself away.
Unfortunately for Nocturne, Nine's eyesight was impeccable after being transformed into a Vampire. She could see the faint, almost unnoticeable tremors in his hand.
Instantly understanding, she couldn't help but feel her heart soften. Wordlessly, she held his hand, which was colder than usual.
Even though she didn't say anything, her presence seemed to anchor him slightly, causing him to feel unendingly grateful. Nocturne thought that he had hidden it well enough, but it felt like nothing could escape Nine's eyes.
Something small like this might not have been anything significant in Nine's eyes, but it was the little things like this that Nine did that made Nocturne fall deeper and deeper in love with Nine. Before he knew it, he was already so deep that he had no hope of extracting himself from this abyss.
Nocturne's heart felt warm when Nine squeezed his hand reassuringly. From Nine's usually stoic and indifferent face, it really couldn't be seen that his husband would react like this so gently.
Nine, who realized that Nocturne's trembling had stopped, studied his face, noting that his facial colour looked a lot better than before.
Nodding, she let go of his hand, feeling like the warmth in her hand had become a little cooler. It gave her a strange sensation.
Like this, Nine and Nocturne followed after the group of students which contained both Seyton and Shade as well, who had been burning with indignation and rage inside, just like the rest of them.
She hid a smile. The people she picked up were all so cute. They were so unbearably cute that she felt like teasing them all the time.
Deltan tripped over a root, causing everyone else around him to hastily drop to the ground the moment they saw him trip. He glared at them in dissatisfaction. This was already the nth time that it had happened.Upon noticing that nothing happened, they warily got up as they prepared for something intangible. Although there were no signs of it, they were ready for anything that would come their way.Deltan watched them with exasperation. He really wanted to say that just because he tripped did not mean that something would happen!"Where are the arrows?" Brooke asked, puzzled."The magic spells?""Don't forget the Magic Beasts! And the monsters.""How about a hole opening in the ground leading to numerous precious treasures?""Or finding something we thought was extinct?"Deltan finally couldn't hold his temper anymore, exploding and launching himself at them.Brooke laughed and dodged nimbly, causing the Eldest Prince to fall onto the ground disgracefully. The group of students scattered as they teased the prince.Nine was the only one who didn't join in the teasing. She frowned, realizing that there was indeed something amiss here.She walked forward into the shrubbery, feeling a strange sensation that drew her there. She couldn't help but sigh. Deltan's luck was indeed powerful. Not to mention out here in the wilderness, Deltan was able to encounter all sorts of things in the city. Even when he didn't leave his residence, he couldn't escape.Beneath a tree by the lake, there stood a translucent figure, silently gazing into the distance. A young girl, her face still carrying the hints of childhood and innocence, stared at something she couldn't see. Her eyes looked too old for such a young girl. The image painted was very picturesque. That was, had it not been a ghost and instead of a young girl.The energy vibes that the girl gave off were so faint that she could hardly feel it. Had it not been for Deltan tripping, she would have overlooked the ghost's existence. However, the moment she locked gazes onto the little female ghost, she felt a sudden overwhelming urge come over her.Deltan and the rest froze when they noticed the translucent figure of the girl in the dimming sunlight. Slowly, they loosened their tensed muscles when they realized that the ghost held no ill intentions. By all accounts, she was just existing without any malicious intentions. What had caused her to feel such strong regret that she could move on?Nocturne stayed at the back of the group, not communicating with anyone.The ghost ignored everything that occurred around her, looking with the same dazed gaze in the same direction."What chains you to the earth?" Nine questioned. "What is it that causes you to feel such sorrow?"The little ghost girl didn't move for a whole minute, making them think that she couldn't hear the question."Who is it that causes you to harbour such murderous intent in your soul?" Nine asked again, feeling the emotions coursing through the girl's body. As she existed in the material plane through the will of magic, the emotions shown through were even stronger than those who were still living.The little girl with pigtails turned mechanically, surprise sparking within her for the first time.The moment she moved, the stillness in the air was broken as she seemed almost alive. Her body was no longer so translucent that she looked almost invisible. Though still translucent, it was not as evident as before."Big brother, who are you?" she asked, her expression unchanging.Nine studied the little girl before them. "My name is Nine Destan, Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire," she said, holding out a hand before her to the little girl.The little ghost walked forward and made to reach out but withdrew her hand once she noticed that it was translucent."Subject Twelve," she said, dropping into a curtsey."Then, we must be siblings, right?" Nine said gently, smiling at the little girl. She suppressed the faint rage in her heart when she realized that this girl was part of some organisation that was kidnapping kids. The ghost only looked to be around six years old. She still had a little lisp in her speech.The ghost girl smiled at Nine, realizing that they both had number names. This caused her to feel closer to the big brother talking to her.Subject Twelve started telling her story to the group.The little girl was eight years old, not six. As far as she could remember, she had been training in the organisation. What the organisation's name was, she didn't know. As test subjects, they didn't have any access to information.Like this, from the moment they were brought in, they started to be harshly trained in all ways of killing and assassination. If they happened to pass and complete the training to the end, they would be granted a name as they ascended the organisation's ranks.At each time, they brought in twelve kids to train. For the first six years of training, they were nameless. Once they turned six, they were numbered one to twelve based on their cumulative scores. Subject Twelve was the worst in terms of killing in every way.Unfortunately for her group of twelve, they were closely knit and were akin to a family. They helped each other out and had no sense of urgency nor competitiveness despite harsh treatments from their instructors.Countless methods that had been tried and tested were used on them to break them apart, but to no avail. Finally giving in to take drastic measures, Subject Twelve, who had been the worst of the group, had been killed in front of the other eleven in their group. Helpless and burning with rage as they watched the weakest of their group die without being able to struggle, they swore to get revenge.Even though they knew that this was just what the instructors wanted, they first had to get strength before they could take action. The conflicting emotions caused them to drive themselves even harder, obtaining outstanding scores in the process.Awakened as a ghost, Subject Twelve could only watch on as her family went through pain and suffering because of her. She witnessed their sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears.Although they could see her, they seemed to have thought that they were seeing her because she had come back to haunt them as a figment of their imagination, which caused a vicious cycle where they pushed themselves even harder and got hurt everyday as they watched her attempt to speak to them.Since the instructors could never see her, Subject Twelve's family took her as a figment of their imagination, as a drive to grow stronger to avenge her.Realizing that she was only causing more suffering upon her family, Subject Twelve left, hovering nearby but out of sight.There were a few wet eyes in the crowd as Subject Twelve finished telling her story. Some of them had siblings, or even children, and the plight of the little girl's story struck them hard. They superimposed her image on their own children or siblings and felt the ache worsen at the hard experiences she went through."Teacher, let's help her!" Aciel said, unable to hold herself back."Yes, please. We will eradicate the organisation from the planet and save the suffering children."Nine looked each one of her students in the eye and only felt their unwavering determination."Y-you're going to help me?" Subject Twelve asked, expression hopeful but sceptical at the same time.Nine reached out to pat the little ghost on her head, comforting her. Subject Twelve was shocked when the big brother's hand didn't go through her like it did when her siblings tried it."Don't worry," Nine said, her eyes gentle. "Your big brothers and sisters will help you."The radiant smile that Subject Twelve gave them almost blinded them.With Subject Twelve leading the way, Nine's group of students followed after her as they applied a staggering amount of stealth charms on themselves.Nine's eyes caught on Nocturne, who hadn't moved an inch since the appearance of Subject Twelve.She could see that he was paler than he already was, almost making look as translucent as Subject Twelve herself. Other than that, he had almost no physical symptoms that gave himself away.Unfortunately for Nocturne, Nine's eyesight was impeccable after being transformed into a Vampire. She could see the faint, almost unnoticeable tremors in his hand.Instantly understanding, she couldn't help but feel her heart soften. Wordlessly, she held his hand, which was colder than usual.Even though she didn't say anything, her presence seemed to anchor him slightly, causing him to feel unendingly grateful. Nocturne thought that he had hidden it well enough, but it felt like nothing could escape Nine's eyes.Something small like this might not have been anything significant in Nine's eyes, but it was the little things like this that Nine did that made Nocturne fall deeper and deeper in love with Nine. Before he knew it, he was already so deep that he had no hope of extracting himself from this abyss.Nocturne's heart felt warm when Nine squeezed his hand reassuringly. From Nine's usually stoic and indifferent face, it really couldn't be seen that his husband would react like this so gently.Nine, who realized that Nocturne's trembling had stopped, studied his face, noting that his facial colour looked a lot better than before.Nodding, she let go of his hand, feeling like the warmth in her hand had become a little cooler. It gave her a strange sensation.Like this, Nine and Nocturne followed after the group of students which contained both Seyton and Shade as well, who had been burning with indignation and rage inside, just like the rest of them.She hid a smile. The people she picked up were all so cute. They were so unbearably cute that she felt like teasing them all the time.
