The offer to reunite with her long-lost family was a trap. The pact with Hevengos was a fait accompli. Dolores whispered sweet words to Greta, saying that she could regain her long-lost family, and even her mother.

Despite reviving numerous people as undead, Greta had never revived her birth mother. In truth, she harbored a fear of ‘failure’ deep within. She hesitated because her birth mother was not someone to be hastily revived and discarded like others.

As much as her birth mother was precious to her, Greta had never considered the idea that family might be precious to others. Dolores delved into this vulnerability.

“I can completely revive her. Not as undead, but as a human being.”

The ceremony to summon ancestors and the associated magic meant exactly that. Dolores promised that Greta could love and meet her mother, who had embraced her for ten months, not as a father or aunt who did not recognize her but as a real mother.

This ‘real’ magic, which was incomparable to what Greta had been researching with Kendal, was a completely different level. The moment Dolores recognized her as family, Greta, who had fallen into Hevengos involuntarily, was constantly whispered sweetly by Dolores. Thus, Greta became the bait that the fish bites, followed Dolores, and committed a terrible sacrifice.

“How, why… Why am I…!”

Greta, who had killed her last remaining family with her own hands, collapsed and screamed. Although the blood did not flow, the Hopeland Changesback, who was within the fence of family, Greta’s hands took away the lives of Hopeland Changesback, who wanted to be recognized, Count Everlym, a father who wanted recognition so much, and his beloved son Hysclef. All were lost at the hands of Greta.

However, Dolores embraced Greta, who thought she would be left alone, as a family. Not just as a Gypsy community or an aunt but as a real family. It made Greta realize that her bloodline was still flowing. Yet, this was the result.

“Ah, aah…”

Greta sobbed as she received the blood flowing endlessly from Dolores’ body. As if she wanted to push the blood back into Dolores’ body, as if she wanted to stop the blood from flowing any longer. This blood. Because this was the blood that connected Dolores and Greta.

‘If all of this flows away, if it all disappears into the ground.’

Only then would Greta truly be alone. She didn’t want that. No, it was more than just not wanting it; she was scared. Yes, Greta was afraid of being left alone. The loneliness that felt like she would forever be alone after losing her mother and being seemingly alone at Count Everlym’s mansion. No one looked back at her then, no matter how much she cried, laughed, spoke, stumbled in front of others, broke things, or threw tantrums.
Afraid that she might become lonely once again, like the young days when she felt as if she were transparent like the air. Perhaps that’s why Greta clung so desperately to the name of family. If she could gain recognition from Count Everlym and become a member of Count Everlym’s mansion, she thought she would no longer be lonely.

“I, I just…”

Sobbing, Greta wiped the flowing blood from the ground as if she were collecting spilled water. It was an attempt to pick up spilled water, but Greta had no other choice. Even doing this might help her avoid going insane. No, maybe she was already insane. However, cruelly, the blood continued to flow, and Dolores’s body, which was becoming empty, cooled and stiffened.

After a while, when the aftershocks stopped, other followers of Hevengos cautiously approached one or two at a time, their faces full of caution.

“That… Sister Greta?”

The follower who, under Dolores’s divine authority, called Greta not a member of Hwangbi but a family of Hevengos, a niece of Dolores, and the family of Gypsies, called her, trembling with her lower lip.

Even in his eyes demanding an explanation of what on earth happened, he saw Greta as a corpse, with Dolores turning into a corpse and both hands covered in Dolores’s blood. However, it was unbelievable. Why did Greta kill Dolores, and why did Dolores, the strongest and most purposeful within Hevengos, give herself to Greta?

“Sister Greta…?”

The follower called Greta again with a deeply bowed head. Greta did not show any signs of response. There was not even a movement of her shoulders or chest, to the point where it was a concern whether she was breathing properly. The lifeless Greta seemed as if she were frozen to death. However, between her disheveled hair, her pupils were different.

The whites were wide open and the blood vessels were vivid, her pupils were flickering vividly like the eyes of a beast. It seemed as if she would immediately catch and devour prey entering her territory. Or perhaps kill it as it is. Greta’s intentions and actions were unknown to the pitiful follower who silently approached Greta.

Flinch.