Laura's cries echoed through the castle halls, raw and unfiltered. The sound carried far, bouncing against the cold stone walls. It wasn't often that she let her emotions spill so freely, but now… now, she couldn't hold it back.
Hearing the whimpering cries, Olie—the demonic maid—materialized into existence.
Summoning herself from the void, she flickered into reality, her sharp obsidian eyes scanning the room. It didn't take her long to spot Laura's trembling figure. Her attention then snapped to the man standing in front of her, his posture unusually still.
Einar.
Olie's instincts screamed. Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.
She leaped, her heel cutting through the air like a blade— and slammed into Einar's back.
The force of the impact sent him crashing forward, face-first into the marble floor. A sickening thud echoed, followed by a slow trickle of crimson spreading beneath him.
For a moment, silence.
Then, movement.
