Chapter 99: A Bitter Pill
"So," Scarlett murmured, her voice losing its sharp edge, replaced by a strange, almost detached curiosity. She didn’t acknowledge Shade’s accusation, her focus now entirely on his returned appearance. "The nymph’s curse finally withdrawn, did it?" The words were spoken with the detached air of someone commenting on the weather, yet they held a profound weight.
Eirin blinked, her own confusion mirroring Shade’s. She looked from Scarlett to Shade, then back again, her gaze darting between the two figures. "What?" she whispered, the question escaping her lips before she could stop it.
Shade, too, furrowed his brow, the anger in his eyes replaced by a bewildered frown. The concept of the curse "withdrawn" was foreign, far removed from the ’true love’s kiss’ revelation he had just fulfilled. It offered no clarity, only deeper mystery.
Scarlett ignored their bewilderment, her gaze still fixed on Shade, as if he were a particularly interesting specimen. "It was only a matter of time," she mused, her voice almost conversational now, a stark contrast to her earlier hostility. "The Nymph of the Slumbering Slopes was a peculiar creature. Powerful, yes, but prone to... theatricality. And she has been long dead before you even arrive back here."
A faint unreadable expression crossed Scarlett’s face, a fleeting moment of something that might have been remembrance, or simply analytical thought.
Eirin felt a cold knot form in her stomach. "Dead?" The word echoed in the quiet lab, chilling her to the bone. The nymph, dead? But then how had she communicated with them for the last time, providing the very information that had led Eirin on this perilous mission? The pieces of the puzzle refused to fit, leaving a gaping hole of unanswered questions.
"Indeed," Scarlett continued, turning her attention finally to Eirin, her eyes, once cold, how held a glint of something akin to predatory interest. It was the look of a hunter observing its quarry, or a scholar dissecting a new discovery. "The lingering magic was bound to dissipate. A dead nymph’s magic, no matter how potent in life, cannot sustain such an intricate curse indefinitely." She gestured vaguely with her slender hand, as if dismissing an inconvenient trifle.
"The ’true love’s kiss’ was merely a convenient narrative for a fading enchantment. A final flourish from a dramatic spirit, perhaps." A faint, dry chuckle escaped her lips, devoid of warmth. "Or a way to ensure the subject of her curse suffered maximum humiliation before his inevitable return to normal." The last words were aimed pointedly at Shade, a barb she enjoyed delivering.
Shade let out a low, frustrated growl. "You knew this?" he accused, his voice tight with barely suppressed fury, a vein throbbing faintly at his temple. "You knew the curse would fade, and you let me suffer through that entire ordeal? You let people think that ridiculous fairy tale was real?" His fists clenched at his sides, his body taut with restrained anger.
Scarlett merely arched a perfectly sculpted brow, a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. "You rude little—the moment you stopped following me, you are no longer my pupil," she corrected herself, the sudden shift in tone almost jarring, like a broken record skipping.