Chapter 139: A Promise Remembered
It had been three days, but the villainess known as the Bloody Swan proved relentless. No matter how Beatrix felt the connection growing, the Swan would fight her way back, and with time, she was actually resisting.
On the third day, Beatrix took a new approach: changing the times of day she used the Curse of Pain and trying to deliver fast, multiple jolts of pain rather than three big strikes per day.
This type of shared trauma weighed on Beatrix just as much as it weighed on the Bloody Swan, but Beatrix had Matilda as an instant healer who would immediately relieve the pain and trauma.
Still, there was the psychological damage, which was difficult to mitigate. Beatrix was the one doing the torturing, and she had years of experience with this type of magic. This wasn’t the first time she had used that type of magic to torture someone, but it was certainly the longest. This put Beatrix to a true test, making her feel that even though she was doing it with all her heart, she was not getting any results.
This stressed her even more. If she were to prove useless now, she would not fulfil the promise she had made to Ian many years ago.
Matilda and Beatrix had several conversations over the past couple of days while staying at Matilda’s house outside the city. Matilda consistently asked Beatrix why she was pushing herself, but Beatrix remained defensive about the matter, sometimes even hostile.
Whenever she expressed anger toward Matilda, Ian would show his displeasure toward her. There was a clear distinction in how he treated Matilda compared with Beatrix. For Matilda, he always spoke softly, maintaining eye contact, and showing great attentiveness whenever she spoke. In stark contrast, with Beatrix, he consistently appeared pensive and hesitant to exchange words, even though she frequently approached him and affectionately called him "Dear Ian."
As for the reason she put her full tenacity into this project, it was something she preferred not to tell anyone, hoping that Ian still remembered the promise they had made when they were young.
"It was almost seven years ago..."
As Matilda sipped her tea, she frowned, overhearing Beatrix’s mutterings.
Seven years ago, Beatrix was ten years old; she was not allowed to be a sorceress. She was only a useless daughter who was meticulously educated in the liberal arts and scripture. Then one day, House Grayson, to whose heir she was betrothed, made an official visit to House Morgan, along with a hefty sum of money, in order to provide Beatrix with a Spellring and magic education.
A Morgan witch trained by the House of Morgan is rather rare, and in Beatrix’s case, it was a stroke of pure luck that elevated her position, winning her the favour of the former head of the house, Lord **Benedict Morgan**, the Chief Court Wizard of the Elgardish Empire.