Raya swung the giant scythe, its blade hooking into the raging current beside her, and immediately the whole river began to emanate a series of deep, faint purple hues. It seemed like she had hooked something in the water with her scythe, and as she gently twisted her body, she effortlessly hooked a wooden boat from the depths with ease.
The wooden boat was entirely enveloped by a crystal-clear purple glow, similar to her scythe—half purple, half ethereal. And as the boat surfaced, within Fisher’s line of sight, he suddenly noticed a golden-haired girl, sitting in the corner of the boat with her arms wrapped around her knees.
As the boat was pulled ashore by the scythe, Fisher and Moli got their first glimpse of the person sitting there.
Moli’s expression shifted subtly as she hurriedly ran towards the boat.
The girl sitting there donned a cream-colored dress, and her ladylike short boots also appeared to be of no small value. When she heard the familiar sound, she looked up somewhat stunned, revealing her tearful eyes, swollen red from crying.
Who could she be, if not Moli’s roommate at Saint Nali University, Isabella?
Her face was streaked with tears, her expression one of disbelief. She looked at the non-human whale-man species tail and ears on Moli, then said blankly,
"Moli... you really are a demi-human?"
But in truth, Isabella was only somewhat surprised; she didn’t mind whether Moli was a demi-human or not. Or rather, there was something much more important than Moli’s identity pressing on her heart right now, forcing her eyes to tear incessantly.
"Isabella... how come you’re here? It’s the weekend, you should be inside the Golden Palace..."
Once Moli brought this up, Isabella covered her head with pain as if reliving some extremely distressing memories,
"No... Sister, my sister... Lunxis has gone mad, he killed Father King. Brother Dexter came back but... but he didn’t care about Father King or Lunxis at all, he tacitly allowed Lunxis to kill Father King... Sister also returned at this time. I felt uncomfortable and wanted to talk to her about these things.. but, but..."
As if recalling something terrifying, she clutched her head tightly, her voice breaking into sobs,
"Sister is... she’s the real villain. Brother Dexter realized it was all Sister Elizabeth’s doing. He knelt and begged her for mercy, but she... with that sword...ugh... Brother’s head just rolled in front of me!"
The more she spoke, the more she disintegrated. Fisher, who was listening behind, realized what had happened and involuntarily sighed.
Fisher knew Isabella’s situation; Elizabeth was very indulgent towards her, shielding Isabella in almost everything. It seemed because she had grown up in the abnormal environment of the Gedelin family, she wanted her sister to grow up healthy, at least to be a child from a normal family.
And so, Isabella was like a flower sheltered in a greenhouse, oblivious to the dangerous environment around her, completely unaware.
But when the gentle sister inadvertently laid the bloody truth bare before her, it was as though her world collapsed, plunging her into a state of hopeless despair.
The Royal Family’s struggles were always thus; the brothers of Gedelin IX had seldom met a good end.
"Sister and brothers, they were all deceiving me, even those previous harmonious moments... it was all deception. I want to leave Saint Nali, go anywhere, just not Saint Nali... I went to Milica, asked her for help, she then told me about a way to leave Saint Nali..."
Fisher looked at Isabella, curled in the corner of the boat, momentarily lost for words.
Indeed, given Elizabeth’s doting on Isabella, even if she stayed in Saint Nali, she wouldn’t harm her, and she might still live a normal life. But the feeling of everything being brutally torn apart was no less painful, especially for Isabella.
In front of Isabella’s current vulnerable state, Fisher didn’t try to persuade her to return, but instead turned his head to look at the black demon beside him,
"Shall we set sail now?"
"Huh? So you guys are all in cahoots, wait a minute, why does it feel like you both came to fleece our sisters of their wool? She gives you less, you give a bit less, treating us like free laborers, right?"
Though Raya was vocally fierce, she didn’t take any substantial action, mostly just expressing her dissatisfaction, and Fisher didn’t plan to engage with her.
They needed to hurry aboard the boat and leave this place. But even Fisher hadn’t expected that what was originally planned as an escape with just Moli, now also included Old Jack, Isabella, plus the three Mouse Ladies, Karma.
Moli boarded the boat first, sitting next to Isabella to comfort her. However, as the comforting words were spoken, it also aroused her own sadness, and she suddenly remembered how her aunt had left her, forcing her to pretend to be optimistic and first deal with the present danger.
As Isabella cried, and as she wept, Moli’s eyes also reddened, prompting her to wipe her eyes as she looked down at the damp cabin floor.