Evangeline froze.

A ridiculous fact suddenly dawned on her.

Ever since she had known Nix, his every thought had been for her to kill Loras and possess this body alone. Yet this Beastman, so paranoid he bordered on madness, lost all will to live the moment he lost her. He gave everything to the very soul he despised most.

At the tribal trading assembly, she had actually seen the madness in Nix’s violet eyes shatter, piece by piece.

What Nix left behind in the end was not hate, but an extreme love—an unspoken... sacrifice to see her wish fulfilled.

He knew better than anyone what she wanted.

And so, with his own hands, he transferred his life force to her target, granting her wish in the cruelest way imaginable.

Evangeline put the egg back into her storage space and took Loras’s hand.

His body was rigid, and a flicker of resistance and repulsion crossed his eyes, but ultimately, he did not pull his hand away.

Evangeline took the opportunity to pull him to his feet. She draped a black cloak over him, shielding him from the brilliant moonlight. Shrouded in shadow, the tense line of Loras’s shoulders finally, imperceptibly, relaxed.

Evangeline’s long lashes trembled. Though her expression was calm, the pale, cold stiffness of her fingertips betrayed a hint of her pain.

She gently tightened her fingers around his wrist, as if trying to clutch the last wisp of Nix’s warmth. After a long moment, she said, "Let’s go back. There’s always a way. I will get him back."

Her voice was soft, and it was unclear whether she was speaking to Loras or to herself.

Loras looked at Evangeline intently, his voice low and tinged with a sort of relief. "You’re really not her."

The night wind rustled the edge of his cloak, bringing a chill. ’The female who once took pleasure in torturing me, the one who left me with endless, shameless memories... she and the female before me now just don’t overlap at all. They’re different.’

"She’s dead, isn’t she?"

Evangeline started, but when she looked up, she saw Loras give a small smile, as if he had finally escaped a long nightmare.

’When I was adrift inside this body, I was always in a daze. The few times I was lucid, I could only watch her coax and deceive Nix. I saw them whisper intimately, saw the obsessive devotion in Nix’s violet eyes that I hated so much. It only made my own cold disgust churn more violently.’

’Then, amidst the clamor of the tribal trading assembly, I seized a fleeting opportunity. As the sharp bone knife pierced her heart, I had no intention of living. By killing Evangeline, I could finally be free too.’

’But I never expected Nix could love a female so much.’

’In the beginning, wasn’t he just using her? He wanted this Heart Demon, ’Evangeline,’ to kill the me that was inside the body.’

’He was supposed to be a cold, cruel, emotionless "monster." How could he possibly fall in love?’

Loras suddenly recalled a scene he had once glimpsed in a moment of chaos.

It wasn’t a moment of endless, intimate entanglement, but one where Nix carefully gathered the sleeping female into his arms. In his downcast, violet eyes, there was no longer a cold, deathly stillness, but a deep affection that Loras couldn’t comprehend.

’So, in that moment when Nix gave up everything and left it all to me, I suddenly asked myself, was I really wrong?’

’But I’m the one who suffered the abuse! I’m the one left with all the painful memories!’

’Why should Nix’s obsessive devotion be seen as some great love, while my pain is just supposed to be erased?’

’I can’t forgive her, much less be intimate with her day after day. Is it wrong that I want to be free?’

’I did nothing wrong. But in that final moment, when Nix chose to sacrifice himself, I lost the right to hate.’

’What’s even more ridiculous is that she wasn’t even *her* anymore. With my own bone knife, I killed a part of myself.’

Loras closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "I’m sorry. I didn’t know you weren’t her."

Evangeline glanced up at him without responding, simply pulling him along toward Danton.

Danton immediately came forward to meet them. His long, azure hair shimmered like flowing water in the moonlight. His eyes were gentle as he reached out to adjust Evangeline’s collar. When he looked at Loras, however, his expression turned cold, though he still gave a slight nod.

Loras silently accepted the distant courtesy.

’I remember this male—the one whose tail scales were scraped off. I don’t know any of Evangeline’s Beast Husbands well, but we were all fellow sufferers. Now, however, she has pieced each of us broken men back together again.’

"Let’s go back."

*

Back in Blackwater Swamp, the rainy season had passed. The Blackwater Beastmen had migrated, leaving a profound silence in their wake.

Evangeline led Danton and Loras through the marshland to the bamboo house.

The surrounding Moonlight Flowers had all withered, leaving behind only scorched yellow husks on the ground. Loras looked at them and lowered his head.

"Caden Albright?" Evangeline heard no sound. Frowning, she pushed open the doors to the bamboo rooms one by one. They were all tidy, but empty. Judging by the fine layer of dust on the tables, they had been gone for some time.

Evangeline rubbed the bridge of her nose. ’It seems even after I sent a message, they were still worried and went out to find me again.’

Danton frowned. "They left again?"

Evangeline gently stroked her Contract Mark and nodded. "It seems so. But it’s alright."

She sent out another Sound Transmission Bird.

"Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s rest for now." Evangeline pulled Danton into a random bamboo room.

As for Loras, she didn’t need to worry about where he would stay. Nix’s bamboo house was now vacant.

"Is this... where Lachlan lives?" Danton asked softly as soon as they entered.

"Can you smell him?" Evangeline was a little surprised. ’I know Beastmen have a keen sense of smell, but Lachlan has been gone for days. His scent should have mostly dissipated by now. Danton can still pick it up?’

Danton shook his head. "It’s not the scent. My senses are much duller on land. It’s the Bone Bell on the eaves."

Evangeline glanced out the window. The Bone Bell hanging under the bamboo eaves was making a soft, tinkling sound.

She couldn’t help but smile. ’Among her Beast Husbands, only Lachlan was elegant enough to decorate with things like Bone Ornaments.’

Evangeline tidied up the room, changed the bedding, and pulled Danton down to lie beside her. Placing his hand on her lower abdomen, she asked in a low voice, "Back in the Oasis Tribe, were you and Lachlan close?"

’Come to think of it, they were quite a pair. One was cool and aloof, the other gentle. One loved pleasant sounds, the other was born with a beautiful singing voice. They both had an untainted purity in their very bones.’

’The only difference was that one of them had been snatched back under duress by "Evangeline."’

’And the other had been ensnared in a trap meticulously crafted by "Evangeline," lured back with one sweet lie after another.’

’Both of them were just as foolish.’

At the mention of the "Oasis Tribe," Danton’s expression grew dazed for a moment.

He quickly recovered and said softly, "We were... on speaking terms, I suppose."

He paused, then added hesitantly, "What you said to Loras..."

Although he hadn’t intentionally listened to their conversation, the evening wind had carried fragments of it to his ears.

In an instant, all his doubts transformed into a key, unlocking every chain of confusion in his heart.

’I always felt that Evangeline had changed so much. But it turns out, it wasn’t that she changed. It’s that she was never her to begin with.’

"Yes, it’s the truth," Evangeline nodded, admitting it freely.

’The Transmigration Administration Bureau doesn’t forbid Task Takers from revealing their identities. As long as it doesn’t make the situation worse and you can complete the mission perfectly, they don’t restrict your verbal tactics at all.’

’The only thing to worry about were these male leads, who had been tormented by fate to the point of madness and were destined to be without heirs.’

’They are steeped in a world-destroying hatred. Even if you tell them the truth, will they believe it?’

’No.’

This was a conclusion Evangeline had drawn from her own bloody and tearful experiences.

’They would see the truth as just an excuse, a form of sophistry, a malicious provocation.’

Evangeline wrapped her arms around Danton’s tense waist, her long lashes brushing gently against the hollow of his shoulder.

Her voice held a playful note. "If I were still that original ’Evangeline,’ The Virago, The Beast God would probably get angry enough to manifest, wouldn’t he? No matter how muddle-headed or ignorant he is, he would never let someone like ’Evangeline’ become a Witch, right?"