Arlene shuffled on the bed, her eyes slowly opening.

"Where am I?" she said. "An unfamiliar ceiling."

It was still just as laborious to breathe. Still difficult. Her heart beat at a high speed, and her body was sweltering from within with a strange heat. For all the ice magic she had used, it felt as if every bit of warmth she had absorbed from her enemies struck her all at once now.

She could never get used to this weakness.

Her body was heavy. There was a strange smoke in the room.

"Ahak ahak..." she coughed and tried to push herself up through the pain. A Reinvelt was used to pain. Her burning eyes adjusted to the light at last as she turned to her side and saw them.

A pair.

A black-haired man, young, tall, with very thin eyes and an almost eerie smile. Handsome.

With him was a white-haired girl, her eyes purple, holding a rolled cigarette.

"You’re up?" the drop-dead gorgeous beauty asked her.

"Ah..." Arlene quickly checked her clothes, then she placed a hand on her neck. Memories of what had happened right before she passed out returned to her mind. "You people..."

She was struggling with her words.

"Don’t say much. It’s okay," the man said. His voice was deep yet alluring, with a very calming tone. It came across as resonant as a chord. "We did say we’ll be able to help you, yes. You just need to answer some things for us. Do that, and it’ll be a much better use of your energy."

Arlene nodded.

She was deeply tired. It was difficult. She never thought that the corruption would be like this. Was her willpower simply lacking, or did it hit her harder than others? She couldn’t tell.

What she knew for sure, though, was that until her last breath, she wasn’t ready to give up. She would fight. She would fight for her life.

"Girl," the woman in the room said. "You’re Arlene... what was it?"

"Reinvelt."

"The whole thing. That has a better effect."

"Desmond."

"Ahem. Are you Arlene Desmond Reinvelt?"

Arlene nodded, half-confused. Even though she was sick, she thought she could get sicker still of all this foolishness. No, wait, no way. Was it because of their cigarette? Were they actually not smoking a normal cigarette, by any chance?

The smell was off, and they were a little giddy.

"Is that marijuana?"

"Yup," the man said. "Well, I told you, she is the heir."

The man turned to her with a smile. He leaned in and checked Arlene’s temperature. The girl moved back slightly. She was corrupted—was this guy not worried about it spreading? As if he didn’t care, he touched her forehead anyway.

What the hell kind of bravery...

"Miss Arlene, I am going to ask you another question that will decide how we help you."

"How...? Meaning?"

It was difficult to speak.

"It’s simple, really. Just tell us these two things. One, does your family know you are corrupted? And two, if they know, have they abandoned you?"

"Hah..." Arlene chuckled. "Money? Titles? What do you want? I hate it, but I’ll give it to you. You’ll have enough money for both of your next seven generations. But if you’re scamming me, I’ll make sure your next seven generations pay! Ahak ahak!"

"Yeah, money would be nice."

"We actually thought of money in the beginning, right?" the girl asked, and the man nodded. They both seemed to be in a world of their own. It was almost unsettling.

Through her blurry vision, she was unable to digest these people. Was it them, or her? Was it because of the corruption? Or was the smoke of the marijuana making her high, too? She had never done it, and Arlene was a little scared about it somewhere.

The man lowered himself to meet her eyes. He pulled Arlene’s chin straight.

She had no choice but to look back at him.

"Answer."

Fear ran through her. It was an intimidating gaze. Right now, what could she even do?

"T-they know. And I am... not abandoned. Whatever money you want."

"No, we don’t want money." He shook his head. "We’ll take you back with us. Do you think you can walk at all?"

The two of them looked at each other and nodded, as if they had gotten whatever they needed.

"Take me back? Where to...?"

"Our home," the girl smiled brightly and said. "The Grim Palace."

Arlene took a second.

Then another.

The Grim Palace...? She knew that place very well. It was a memory from way back when she was a child.

At that time, in books and stories, her nanny, her mother, and even her father would tell her about it.

That beyond the forest where the fairies lived, in the part where no one dared step...

There lived a person. A monster. A witch. One unlike any other person, monster, or witch could hope to be.

With a wave of her hand, the entire world would tremble. Neither the emperor of three hundred years ago, nor the Demon Kings on the other side of the world could stand up against her.

Like a storm, she came when their war tried to encroach upon her land.

A god. A ruler among rulers. The Queen of Witches.

The entire world shook for ten days and ten nights under her wrath.

And once it was clear no one would touch her, she returned to her home.

Beyond the forest where the fairies lived.

Was her castle.

The Grim Palace. A grim reminder of that figure.

Of.

Fear filled Arlene. Everything around her seemed to start to lose color. The two beings in front of her towered over her, their eyes a madder red and their smiles bright.

"The Witch... Queen?"

"Co-rrect," the man said. "This right here is the Witch Queen, Lady Weiss, and I am her attendant, Phantom."

"Hah..." Arlene chuckled. This was the name she had been spreading around to fuel rumors, and the figure she was worried her brother would end up starting a war with.

The very figure she had left home to avoid.

Was she truly to believe she was here?