Death, death, death, death.
Visible to the naked eye, despair that nearly shattered Seraphina.
"Why..."
The trembling girl trudged through the thick snow, the cold from her skin and muscles was nothing compared to the despair that spread from her soul.
She looked at both ends of the road, the scattered ice corpses silently narrated the great terror and despair of the past three days.
"Why, why didn't you stay at home... why did you run out."
Seraphina walked forward in a daze, those statues covered in frost, their expressions frozen, were like works of art gifted to the world by the god of death, perfect creations carved by the master of despair himself.
Look, the hope, fear, desire for life, the search for hope and salvation in the last moments before life was frozen, the expression of firm belief in redemption, and the contrast with the final outcome... how ironic.
Those eyes, already as fragile as glass and covered in ice crystals, reflected the manor that the people of Red Frost regarded as a holy place, reflecting the only person in this silent world.
Seraphina could no longer bear such terror, from childhood to adulthood, even when she was in a deadly situation, she had never felt a trace of fear, what she felt at this moment was not anger, but... terror.
She was afraid, she didn't know what she was afraid of, but the silent intuition and the silence of the soul made Seraphina feel something in her trance... something that made her teeth chatter.
She didn't know what it was, but for Seraphina, who trusted her intuition immensely, this feeling was enough to make her afraid.
"No... it shouldn't be like this... Ansel, Ansel!"
Driven by this fear, Seraphina started screaming like a madman, turned around and ran towards the manor, "Why are there so many dead people! What the hell is going on!"
But the youth who had brought her peace and happiness in the past three days did not appear, the one who appeared at the door was her sister, with whom she had hardly had any communication in the past few days.
Marlina, wearing a heavy black dress, her loose snow-white hair was very dazzling, the black feather decoration pinned on her hair added an indescribable mystery and nobility to the girl who was a village girl not long ago.
She walked out of the manor expressionlessly, passing by the ice sculptures as if she didn't see these poor people who died in hope and despair.
Marlina calmly walked onto the street, standing shoulder to shoulder with her sister, Seraphina facing the manor, and she looking around the street.
"Much less than expected."
Her muttering made Seraphina feel like she had fallen into an ice cave.
"This is a good thing, I can report to Mr. Ansel."
Marlina, who had simply looked at the ice corpses around the manor and then calmly turned around and walked towards the manor as if she had counted the fallen leaves in the morning.
"Marlina!!!"
The young wolf roared and grabbed her sister's collar, "What were you just saying! Do you know what you're saying!"
Marlina, whose body was slightly lifted off the ground, looked down at the raging young wolf with indifference, the alienation and aloofness in her eyes made Seraphina even more angry and heartbroken.
Her sister... when did she become like this?
When did she start to regard the lives of these ordinary people as nothing, and when she saw such a scene, she was not only unmoved, but even said "this is a good thing", which is worse than a beast?
Seraphina stared at Marlina, with her undisguised anger, trying to make her sister, who had lost her way, show a look of remorse.
But she saw nothing.
Yes, Seraphina saw nothing in Marlina's eyes, this once weak sister, who was helpless whenever she threw a tantrum, just responded to her anger indifferently.
"Mar—"
"Seraphina."
Marlina suddenly interrupted Seraphina.
"Are you angry?"
Seraphina was stunned for a second, then roared, "Seeing you like this, how could I not be angry!"
"No, you're just hiding."
Marlina didn't care that her body was being pulled further off the ground, she stated indifferently in a voice as cold as this silent world:
"You're hiding, your panic and fear. You're always like this, using a brutal and cruel attitude to make everything outside think you're fearless and never confused."
"Pitiful." She sneered.
"You... what are you talking about! What the hell are you talking about, Marlina!"
Seraphina's voice involuntarily became louder, even a bit hoarse, she grabbed Marlina's collar tightly, first roared, and then with a pleading tone, as if she was about to fall on Marlina, weakly said:
"Don't say that anymore, sister... they... they're all dead, they should have survived, so many people... are dead."
"So, why are you so afraid?" Marlina countered, "Does their death have anything to do with you?"
"I——"
The dark girl didn't give Seraphina time to respond, she continued to deliver her cold judgement: "You think it doesn't, of course you think it doesn't, but why, your incredibly sensitive intuition tells you, it seems, you've messed up something again?"
"..."
Seraphina's hand holding Marlina's collar tightened and began to tremble more and more, her lips moved, but she couldn't speak.
And Marlina, didn't give her sister any mercy.
"Seraphina, why do you think Mr. Ansel uses his own funds to aid the impoverished? Why, after taking over the affairs of the Red Frost territory, has he consistently squandered his resources?"
In her heart, the same anger arose—an indignation that could not be contested, a resentment born of ignorance. This fury caused Marlina to tug at the corner of her mouth, revealing a smile of unparalleled mockery.
"Even you can think of coercing the nobles to pay for all the coal purchases. Why hasn't Mr. Ansel forced them to use their resources to transform the Red Frost territory?"
Seraphina's body shuddered violently, as the cold and fear that threatened to consume her began to spread throughout her being.
"Seraphina, you are so foolish, foolish enough to believe that everything can be settled through negotiation and that all tasks can be perfectly accomplished by signing documents."
Marlina, who had already been aware, began to wield the butcher's knife against her sister.
"I'll tell you why—"