In the Ostrich family residence, Andrew Ostrich was in his courtyard, his eyes bloodshot, as he listened to Tobias Ostrich telling him something.

Andrew always seemed somewhat crazy, so Tobias (not really caring about him) didn’t even realize that Andrew wasn’t exactly in a sane state.

Tobias thought everything was normal, and after saying his part, he left, expecting things to go his way.

But Andrew’s mind was already locked on a singular fact.

While talking, Tobias mentioned that while executing the plan, Andrew was not to touch Ana Ostrich.

He had already failed to kill her once, and if he tried again, it could draw unnecessary attention.

But the mention of the failed kill was like driving Andrew up a wall.

He solely locked on fixing that mistake.

There was just one problem with that.

He was already far from sane, so instead of being able to target Michelle, he turned aggressive toward his servants.

The next day, Tobias was expecting his plan to be set into motion, but until the evening, nothing happened and Andrew didn’t even come out of his courtyard.

Suspicious, Tobias went to take a look, and the sight he was met with greatly shocked him.

Even as a seasoned Spirit Master who had gone through many fights and seen (or caused) quite the number of brutalities, he felt his stomach twist in disgust.

Andrew’s courtyard, after barely a day, was filled with blood and groans.

The servants were nearly all crippled, but alive.

Not a single person had died.

"What are you doing here?!" Tobias exclaimed when he finally found Andrew, beating up a servant.

Andrew twisted around to look at Tobias.

And with that, Tobias got to see just how much he was covered in blood.

Not only were his clothes fully red, but even his face and wherever skin could be seen.

Some of the blood was already dried up and peeling off, but the new blood over it was keeping it stuck. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Seeing the state Andrew was in, Tobias finally noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and had an insane glint in them.

Tobias took a step back.

He understood he could no longer use Andrew, and it would be in his best interest to distance himself from him.

Luckily, he had never openly worked with Andrew; only ever secretly.

After becoming aware of his new situation, he turned and left.

He definitely didn’t want to get entangled in Andrew’s bloodlust.

Maybe it would even benefit him if he reported what was going on to the elders.

Then, they wouldn’t connect him with Andrew.

So, a while later (about an hour later, but that was considered a while in such a big residence; getting from one place to another took quite some time), Tobias led two elders to Andrew’s residence.

As they neared, the smell of blood reached them, making the two elders frown.

When Tobias told them Andrew was torturing servants in his courtyard, they didn’t expect it to be to such an extent.

The elders walked through the courtyard, trying not to look at all the wailing servants.

Like that, they entered Andrew’s room.

"Andrew Ostrich! Stop this right away!" one of them shouted.

After that, they restrained Andrew and dragged him away so the rest of the elders could decide what to do with him.

In the elders’ hallway, Vincent listened in to the verdict, his eyes narrowing.

He was satisfied that things were going exactly as he planned, but at the same time, he was enraged that things were going like that.

The elders were really bastards who only ever cared about their own interests and hypocrisies.

Andrew had tortured and crippled dozens of competent servants, ruining their lives, but the elders only decided to put him into solitary confinement for a few years and block his use of spirit energy while there.

Having heard the verdict, Vincent returned to his courtyard where Michelle was already waiting for him.

"Things went as planned," he said the moment he stepped in.

Hearing that, Michelle reached into her space and took out a stone wrapped in a cloth.

Vincent took it and unwrapped it.

In the cloth lay a poison‑element Life Stone.

"What is this from?" Vincent got a bit curious.

Michelle nodded.

"I went to kill an Orange Widow."

"Any specific reason for that?" Vincent asked.

But Michelle just shook her head.

She didn’t want to say that it was because she had already absorbed a Life Stone like that once before.

She didn’t want anyone in the Ostrich family to ever know that she had absorbed some Life Stones; even if it was someone like Vincent whom she trusted.

Vincent took the Life Stone and put it away.

"I’ll make sure things go smoothly. You make sure you don’t die from it then."

After that, Michelle and Vincent talked about the last details of the plan before she left.

It was one of the last days she would be in the Ostrich family as Ana Ostrich, so she went over to see Amelia Ostrich.

With the little girl, she played for a good while, messing around, playing hide and seek, and such until Amelia fell asleep from exhaustion, a smile on her face.

Michelle picked her up and carried her to the bed to tuck her in.

After that, she went to prepare herself for the night mission.

Concealing herself, Michelle went toward the family dungeon.

Sneaking in was also quite easy because of her nonexistent presence.

Inside the dungeon, Michelle went to find the solitary confinement room.

There, she saw Andrew, sitting listlessly on the ground, staring into the wall.

Vincent had indeed messed with his mind, and Michelle didn’t even want to know how he did it.

It was time to completely break the poor man.

Michelle actually revealed herself.

"Hi!" she said with a smile.

The moment Andrew whipped around to look at Michelle, she disappeared again and he was just gazing into an empty hallway.

"You want to kill me?" Michelle reappeared to say that before going presenceless again.

And then, she appeared again: "Just like you went against the servants?"

She remained around for a moment longer before disappearing once again.

Andrew’s already bloodshot eyes went completely red with rage and bloodlust.

He lunged at the bars keeping him in the cell, clawing toward where Michelle had been standing.

Michelle reappeared for the last time, no longer disappearing.

"Why are you attacking me? You wound my fragile little heart," her voice was soothing, but that only further pushed Andrew’s buttons.

As she spoke, she grabbed the enraged man by his wrists, pulling him tight against the bars.

"I’ll kill you..." Andrew groaned against the bars.

That was what Michelle wanted to hear; the goal was to enrage Andrew to the point he would do anything just to kill her.

All that while, her appearing and disappearing was also to make him doubt his sanity (which wasn’t intact).

When Michelle was done with that and Andrew no longer believed she was real, she conjured up an ice key and entered the cell.

There, she sat down opposite the man.

Just because he didn’t believe she was real didn’t mean he wouldn’t attack.

Every few minutes, he lunged at Michelle to kill her.

But Michelle always disappeared from him and moved to a different spot in the cell.

Only as dawn came did Michelle disappear for finality and once again use the ice key to get out.

And she made sure not to lock the cell door as she left.

After Michelle left, Vincent came with the permission from the elders to question Andrew whether he knew anything about the time Ana had been found in the lake, drowning.

Before leaving, Vincent seemingly accidentally dropped something wrapped in a cloth.

Because of the thick cloth, it didn’t make any sound, and Vincent left.

Andrew reached his hand through the bars and took the clothed thing, unwrapping it carefully.

When he saw the poison‑element Life Stone, his eyes gleamed, cold murderous intent resurfacing.

Also, while reaching for the stone, he knocked with his shoulder into the cell door, which creaked ever so slightly.

Of course, that happened because Vincent deliberately dropped the stone in a place where (to reach it) Andrew would have to tap against the door.

So, after checking the stone, Andrew noticed the open door and walked out of the cell.

The guards in the dungeon’s hallway hadn’t been expecting Andrew to get out.

Also, while Andrew was in the cell, his spirit energy was suppressed, but in the hallway, that was no longer the case.

Being a seasoned killer, he very quickly took care of the guards and walked out of the dungeon without anyone in the family knowing.

Outside the dungeon, Michelle was standing nearby, watching closely.

Seeing him leave, she quickly went to her new spot; specifically the elders’ hall.

They still had questions for her about how she survived the Spirit Onslaught room and such.

But because of the mess Andrew had caused in his courtyard, they didn’t get the chance to ask her about it the day before.