The Flower of Separation

The Ageha family must be erased.

At some point, the Zestra family who remained on the sidelines as guardians became less secretive. Shockingly enough, they desire the destruction of an entire family.

Zushi has always believed that no matter how evil people are, they do not deserve to die. She believed that even evil people can become good and how there are those who have no choice but to be evil to achieve their goals.

A long time ago, she knew somebody like that. But every single time she tried to think of that person, the images would become blurry.

A portion of her childhood is blurred. Whenever she inquires about this, the maids would look frightened, and the head butler said she ought to ask her uncle. Zushi did, and that was the day her so-called uncle stopped treating her kindly. On the surface, he would still treat her as the heir to the Zestra family, but in private, he would look at her in disgust.

The words she often heard growing up were, is it okay? That woman is a traitor.

Zushi didn't understand why they would say that. But she knew they wouldn't say such words randomly.

In the memories she lost, she must have betrayed her family. The Zestra family is not strict, but they are very traditional. There are certain rules that they cannot break; otherwise, it would be seen as a betrayal. It seems she broke one of those rules.

When she joined up with her husband's family after she escaped the Zestra household with her son, Zushi tried to find out, but they stopped her from doing so. It would never have occurred to her that they knew something if she hadn't seen their uneasy gazes and heard them talk about it.

Is it okay not to tell her the truth?

The truth, sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. Sometimes there are things best kept hidden away in the shadows.

Those words did not belong to her at all.

They belonged to the person whose image ends up blurred every time she focuses on the memory.

"You're so pathetic. I only broke a few limbs, but your already like this."

There was no response from the boy. Rosa kept hitting him, but he didn't move an inch, nor did he speak. It was only when he didn't move did Zushi realize something was wrong.

"Stop your going to kill him!" She exclaimed.

Rosa laughed. "Oh please, you're a participant in these games. Killing somebody? It is perfectly normal. Besides, he is the one who trespassed; even if you brought him out, father would kill him on the spot."

But all of this was wrong- this entire game, the entire Ageha family.

Zushi thought she already understood her power.

She thought she already knew everything, but the moment she saw such a disturbing sight before her eyes. She ended up using a different type of power. A power she has never used in her entire life, or maybe she has?

Before she knew what was happening, she had yanked the girl away from the young boy and repeatedly hit her with an odd-looking butterfly-shaped hilt. She only used the hilt of the sword or spear, the blunt end, but it was enough.

The smell of fresh blood filled the dense forest erasing the natural scent, replacing it with something revolting.

Zushi kept hitting with the hilt and then punching. There was a strange glow around fists; it was the same white color, the same light magic, and yet she saw swirls of black wrap around her fingers.

"Gahhhh!! Please stop."

Those cries did not register in her mind, she thought she heard something, but her mind went blank. Her thoughts are already too far gone.

Kill, she has to kill this woman.

If she keeps this woman alive, then she will hurt more innocent people; she will hurt young people.

The image of a young boy with blonde hair calling her mother appeared in her head, and she lost whatever rationality she had left. She turned the weapon in her hands, and the girl's eyes widened, alarmed.

"P—please stop."

A cry for help, and yet moments ago, when she was torturing that boy, she simply mocked him.

Unforgivable, this is the one person who she can't allow to escape.

Before Zushi could administer the finishing blow, however, somebody grabbed hold of the sword.

Zushis blank gaze turned to the beautiful hand with blood dripping and saw the source. A woman with black hair tied in a ponytail wearing military-like clothing.

But she recognized her immediately. It was Miss Lilian, Ageha Lilian- a member of this cruel family. However, she already knew the woman was different.

"I thought as much." She didn't seem surprised at this sight.

Zushi didn't know what the girl was referring to. But one thing was for sure; she didn't come here to save the other person. It was just a brief moment, but the girl had turned to her first.

Rosa, who had scurried away with the help of her people, seemed frightened seeing Lillian.

"Sister."

Lillian walked over with a smile on her face, but there was a dark aura around her. "You know I don't appreciate it when people destroy my plans. Who said you could attack the Empress?"

"But sister, didn't you issue an order?"

"Did I give those orders to you?" The girl was smiling, and her tone seemed normal. But Zushi felt a sudden chill in the ar. Why does it feel so cold?

Doesn't Miss Lillian have fire element ability? There are many rumors in the capital of her flames. Moreover, Zushi still believed that it was Miss Lillian that set those villages on fire before. But there was no mistaking the chill in the air.

"No, but-" Rosa's sentence fell short, not because she didn't know what to say but because Lillian swiftly cut off the girl's tongue. It happened in a split second, and the girl didn't even have time to scream.

Zushi, who was in a daze, seemed to gradually snap out of it as she looked at the tongue that rolled by her feet.

She didn't even see when Lillian did that.

Rosa's face color turned paler and paler. She looked as white as a ghost as she looked at the tongue on the ground.

Lillian cupped the girl's cheeks. "Didn't I warn you before? If you interfere in this game, then you will pay the consequences. It seems you treasure your voice so much; now that you are unable to talk, maybe your ego won't be so large? You are nothing; you are not even trash. If the Empress over there is garbage, then you are even lower."

Rosa's guards seemed startled and frightened, but they managed to pull away from their frightened master.