"I am here to talk."

At the sound of Ulrich’s cold voice, eerily similar to the one he used before killing her companions, Shana flinched.

She scrambled further back across the mattress, pressing herself tightly into the corner as if desperately hoping she could phase through the solid stone wall.

Ulrich stared down at her without an ounce of pity but rather a grimace, wondering if he was that scary.

She was visibly trembling, completely terrified of his mere presence.

"Goodness, Lord Rubenhart. It seems your very existence traumatizes the poor girl," Meera sighed from the doorway.

Ulrich shot her a brief, annoyed look before turning his harsh gaze toward the waiting guards.

"Out," he said.

The knights nodded without hesitation, quickly retreating up the stairs to leave them completely alone in the damp corridor.

"Good morning, little witch," Meera said with a pleasant but very hypocritical smile on her lips as she stepped into the cell beside Ulrich.

"Do you remember me? Two years ago, I killed one of your friends. I honestly cannot remember his name, though, but it was an accident, believe me!"

Shana’s tear-filled eyes darted to Meera. Recognition flashed across her dirty face, and her eyes widened in horror before she immediately squeezed them shut and looked away.

"P—Please..." Shana choked out as she hugged her trembling knees tight against her chest. "Kill me... just kill me."

"Kill you? We aren’t here to kill you," Meera said, letting out a sigh.

Shana just shook her head, refusing to look up as she buried her face deep into her knees.

"I... can’t do this anymore... just kill me," she sobbed, her voice cracking as she began to weep.

Her wailing echoed off the dark stone walls of the cell. Ulrich, Meera, and the silent Edmar stood watching her, all looking almost awkward in front of that.

Looking at Shana curled in the corner, it was obvious to anyone that her spirit had been broken.

Two years ago, she had watched her companions be brutally killed right in front of her eyes.

Then, she had been dragged down here and locked in this suffocatingly dark cell, her only connection to the outside world a tiny, barred window near the ceiling.

For two agonizing years, she had nothing to do. Nothing to feel.

She had spent every waking hour staring blankly at the dark walls, completely alone with her thoughts.

And the only thought that ever surfaced was the vivid memory of her companions dying. That day was the moment her life was permanently destroyed.

"I—I am sorry..." Shana whispered, her voice muffled against her knees. "I am sorry..."

She bit her cracked lips hard, but more tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking into the fabric of her tunic.

Meera simply crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at the broken witch with mild interest.

"Were you even fully aware of what you were dragging yourself into when you agreed to join that foolish little raiding party of yours?" Meera asked.

Shana did not answer her. She just cried harder, her shoulders shaking with broken sobs.

The answer was painfully obvious. She hadn’t known at all.

None of them did.

Two years ago, they had all acted so arrogant, so reckless and proud. But the moment they realized they were trapped in Ulrich’s snare, they looked like nothing more than terrified children.

As expected, there was nothing but profound regret etched into Shana’s face. If she could go back in time, she would never have left her Coven.

She had grown up listening to the elder witches and mothers warn them about the cruelties of the outside world. But hearing about it and surviving it were two entirely different things.

The outside world was not a place meant for witches to roam freely. There was a very good, bloody reason the Covens remained hidden even now.

"You are an adult, not a child stumbling in the dark," Ulrich replied, completely unmoved by her tears.

"You made a choice. You came here knowing full well the risks. You were fully prepared to breach my walls and slaughter my people just to steal Anna-Maria’s daughters."

Shana shook her head, tears spilling over her cheeks. "I—I never wanted to kill—"

"Do you expect me to have pity on you?" Ulrich cut her off, his voice dropping to a frostier tone.

Shana stiffened instantly. She slowly raised her trembling gaze, finally meeting the void of his cold crimson eyes.

"I spared your life for one reason only," he said. "I needed a hostage in case your wretched Coven decided to retaliate. But it seems I was concerned over nothing."

He took a step forward, his boots echoing off the stone. "Not a single one of your sisters has attempted to strike back. They have not even bothered to send a scout to see if you were still breathing or negotiate with me."

Shana clamped her arms tighter around her knees. She bit her trembling lip, unable to deny the truth.

For two years, she had spent every night staring at the ceiling, praying that Lucida and Agatha would return with the Coven to save her. But the shadows had remained empty.

"That woman I spared and sent away... she was the one who dragged you into this suicide mission, was she not?" Ulrich asked.

Shana just looked away, her silence screaming the answer.

Meera had already extracted that truth during the initial capture. Lucida had begged for the others’ lives, claiming she was the only mastermind. But Meera, of course, had not cared about their pathetic loyalties.

"Yet, I have not seen a single shadow of her anywhere near my lands," Ulrich continued. "Is that the vaunted sisterhood of a Coven?" he added, his voice dripping with dark sarcasm.

Shana sat frozen on the mattress. Her wailing slowly died in her throat, replaced by a hollow despair.

Ulrich had just handed her the brutal reality she had refused to accept. She had been completely abandoned.

She had followed Lucida with blind, naive trust, only to be left to rot in the dark while the rest of her friends bled out beside her.

Ulrich fell silent. He observed her, like a predator watching wounded prey. He waited for the exact moment her final mental defense shattered before speaking again.

"I am going to give you an opportunity," he finally said. "A chance for freedom. At the very least, a chance to leave this cell and feel the sunlight again."

Shana did not dare to move. Ulrich simply continued.

"I hold the daughters of Anna-Maria. The very prizes you were so desperate to steal from me."

He watched her eyes widen slightly before continuing. "Perhaps you have spent the last two years imagining the tortures I inflict upon them. But I assure you, my treatment is different from whatever your Coven had planned."

He leaned slightly closer. "That is what you truly wanted, isn’t it? To drag Anna-Maria’s blood back to the forest and mold them into weapons for your own petty vengeance against everyone hating witches, or who knows, any enemies of your Coven?"

Shana could not form a word. Amidst the terror and the betrayal, guilt finally took root in her chest.

"Anna-Maria had a very good reason to leave her Coven in a village," Ulrich said coldly. "She did not even deem her own fellow sisters trustworthy enough to raise her children."

"I... I..." Shana clenched her fists in the sheets, wanting to deny his words. But she had nothing to offer.

When Lucida had first proposed the raid, Shana had eagerly agreed to the horrific truth of their mission.

They had fully intended to warp Anna-Maria’s powerful bloodline. They wanted to forge those innocent girls into fearsome witches to act as shields against the humans. They had wanted weapons, not children.

"If you have any desire to do something meaningful with the rest of your miserable life, you will listen to me," Ulrich said.

He locked eyes with her, demanding her full attention. "If you have even a single, pathetic trace of that sisterhood you witches take so much pride in, you will at least attempt to redeem yourself. You will help Anna-Maria’s daughters."

At those words, Shana’s blurry, tear-filled eyes widened.

She stared up at him, searching his stoic, shadowed features for any sign of deception. But he was serious.

"They are still children," Ulrich continued. "And no matter what luxuries or protections I provide them, I will never be able to erase their innate nature as witches."

He took a slow step back toward the open iron door.

"That is why they need someone," he said, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "They need someone to keep them company in ways I cannot. Someone to give them the guidance necessary so they do not grow terrified of their own nature and the growth of their Witch Trees."

He paused, casting a dark look over the small window.

"That is exactly how it is supposed to work inside your Covens, is it not? An elder sister stepping forward to explain the magic, supporting and guiding the younger daughters so they do not tear themselves apart."

Shana’s eyes flickered slightly in the gloom. The mention of the sacred Coven traditions, the very ones she had betrayed by seeking to weaponize the girls, clearly made her uncomfortable.

Ulrich turned completely around, having said his piece. He did not intend to wait in the damp cell for her tearful reply.

"You may call it whatever helps you sleep in that darkness," he said without looking back. "Call it respect for Anna-Maria. Call it a wish for your own redemption. Or call it simple sisterhood."

He stopped just past the threshold of the iron bars, his silhouette framed by the flickering torchlight of the corridor.

"If you possess any of those feelings, you will accept this role. You will be there for them."

He slowly turned his head, his crimson eyes locking onto her terrified form one last time.

"If you refuse, then I will leave you down here for eternity. You will rot in the dark, and you will die in the most pathetic, forgotten way a Witch could possibly die."

Adding those final words, Ulrich turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Shana alone with her choice.