CHAPTER 261: HER STORY [2]

She continued to live her abnormal life, with her uncaring and cold parents who surveyed her every action with an evaluative gaze, their gazes over the years transformed from love, to pity, to guilt, to fear, to cautiousness, to coldness, and now they looked at her, accepting that she was a monster.

Her room itself was like a cage; she could not leave her room, as it would be locked after a specific time at night. As if the parents were afraid that she might turn into an abdominal monster and crawl into their room and murder them both. Though it had been years since they last saw those lifelike nightmares. However, the lingering fear from it remained as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.

The little girl who never received love from her parents, and who saw others only had alternative intentions towards her, continued to cling to the existence of that one blue-eyed boy who always treated her normally, like a friend, the only person who appreciated her monstrous eyes.

Time passed, and they grew closer, but a barrier remained between them, somehow preventing them from expressing their feelings appropriately. She was afraid that if she wanted anything more, it would ruin all that she had with him. Perhaps the boy also thought the same. Too scared to take that one step despite knowing that they both loved each other dearly. Or maybe something else was stopping them from realizing the truth, but no one knew for sure, not even those two.

When the girl turned the ripe age of 18, her parents had already made a decision and selected a boy she would be married off to, and they left no room for argument; she couldn’t muster the courage to tell the boy she loved. Eventually, she decided to confess, telling him all her feelings and everything that was on her mind. But she knew her love was not pure; it was born of necessity, to cling to the being that valued her for who she truly was, who understood her. And now again, she was about to confess out of necessity.

To preserve her own existence, to save herself, she knew why she was doing this; she had to save herself, somehow, just like how he had saved her from the kidnappers at that time. He would probably find a way to get her out of this situation again. She was disgustingly selfish, and she knew it. She knew it more than anyone; if any other girl even looked at him, she had the uncontrollable urge to butcher those wretches alive.

Hang their cut off heads in front of the school gate so that everyone could see, so that no female ever again lay their eyes on him. She shook her head; she had been having such murderous urges often, especially when it was even the slightest bit related to Tyler. Was it her survival mechanism that was driving her to behave this way? She didn’t know.

But alas! on that very day, going towards the school, she disappeared like a flash, her bag dropped to the ground with a thud, she did not die by some accident, she was not kidnapped, she did not commit suicide, but simply disappeared.

A few moments ago, just as she was walking, lost in her own thoughts, too worried about her own future, how would she say it to him, would he be able to do something about it, maybe take her and run away somewhere else, she knew that her father had definitely threatened her friend to maintain a certain distance. If he crossed a line, his uncle’s family would be threatened.

But suddenly she realized that her surroundings had changed; she was walking through a plane of darkness, with darkness all around her, yet a solid surface beneath her feet, and some traces of water. She was horrified. What was going on? She was walking through the streets just a moment ago. Why was everything like this? What had happened suddenly? Where was she?

Then she suddenly saw it, a blinding gold light far up in the sky, like a golden star illuminating the silent void she stood on, from countless light-years away. A few minutes passed, and she was unable to move her eyes away from the light. The gold light seemed to be approaching her at a dangerously high speed from who knew how far away, or maybe she was the one moving. She wondered if it was some star that was falling from the sky.

But she did not realize that the light radiating from the Golden Star was increasing in intensity as it approached closer. When the intensity of the light reached a certain threshold, the light seemed to converge on the figure of Sophia. She screamed in a soul-wrenching agony. Her skin started to melt and bubble like hot lava; her beautiful pink hair caught on fire, and blood began to drip from her scarlet-red eyes.

She was transforming; her soul was being transformed. As her body and flesh continued to melt, it started to heal and regrow as well. The pain of having been burned alive and healing at the same time was unimaginable. Usually, the brain shuts off when faced with that kind of torture, yet she remained awake, no drowsiness on her mind. Fully feeling every single shred of pain, her brain fully functioning, and maybe even better than before.

Eventually, as the transformation came to a close, the pain began to subside slowly. She had been transformed; her beautiful skin had become even more pristine, soft, and glowing white. Her hair was now as black as the starless nights.

She became taller, more developed, and more beautiful in every possible way; her face also changed completely, unlike before. She became more than 10 times beautiful than she was before. Her charm was overwhelming. No one would recognize her anymore; the only thing that remained the exact same as before was her eyes.

As she was kneeling on the ground, the light reached right on top of her as it illuminated the entirety of the void. But it did not hurt anymore. A blinding light overtook her entire vision, and she had to close her eyes. She stood up, put her hands in front of her face, to lessen the intensity of the light scorching her sight. Eventually, the light receded, and her vision returned to normal.

And then what she saw made her question reality itself. A majestic palace, filled with countless paintings and golden patterns, filled with luxury that transcended common sense, was right in front of her eyes. It overflowed with a kingly majesty, contrasting with all the knowledge and common sense she had grown up with in the modern world. The place she was standing on had a red circle drawn on it, filled with fresh blood.

Her eyes looked around at the various individuals who seemed to be looking at her intently in turn. They all had golden hair and red-colored eyes, similar to her own, but much lighter in color. They all wore medieval clothes, and she could instantly recognize that this entire setting resembled that of medieval times. But her heart trembled in fear as she sensed somehow that they were not normal humans.

Then, right in the middle, stood the king, Golden Beard, with a well-built physique; his clothes had fewer jewels in them compared to those of other individuals. But his divine and shiny clothes were all engraved with strange glyph-like letters. His presence was overwhelming, as the king’s red eyes could almost pierce through Sophia. She felt utterly small and insignificant, like an ant in front of that scrutinizing gaze. They were all looking at her with a dangerous intensity, as if she were some animal. Their expressions were strange.

She took a step back involuntarily, and at the same time, multiple voices boomed from different places,

"This is the valkyrie?"

"She’s just a child."

"Look at her, she’s already too scared?"

"This is supposed to be the savior of humanity?"

"She is about to cry."

"Why are her clothes like that?"

"But she is quite the beauty, hehe."

"Indeed, indeed, all the summoned heroines are bound to marry the next king, so we are the descendants of the Valkyries."

"That’s right, which is why our eye colors are like that; the red eyes are the only common thing between the Valkyries of all the generations."

"Her charm stat is exceptionally high, as expected."

At first

The royals continued to chatter one after another. Only those with pure golden hair, belonging to the pureblood royal family, were here, as the summoning ritual was a secret of the royal family. However, no one but the current king of the Suncrest Great Kingdom could perform the summoning.

Suddenly, a beautiful womanly voice filled with silent power spoke, silencing all the chatter, "Miss Valkyrie, I welcome you to our humble world."

Sophia looked up high; right beside the king stood a beautiful woman wearing a tiara, who remained seated in a majestic chair slightly below the king’s throne. Anyone could guess that she was likely the queen of the kingdom. But she was not the queen; she was the favorite concubine of the king, who was treated as the queen, because of the king’s favoritism. This was the mother of the first three children of the king, including the first prince, Luther.