The story began more than a decade ago.

Back then, Sercis encountered an elf couple with their child at a rarely visited forest border.

They were surprisingly hospitable to Sercis, a human, which greatly surprised him.

Because in the human-dominated Kingdom of York, countless examples of other races being persecuted existed, making non-human races very hostile toward humans.

Sercis was curious about them, so he accepted the elf couple's hospitality.

But what he never expected was that this couple actually had other intentions.

They had secretly prepared an evil sacrificial ritual, intending to offer the adventurer they had lured and their daughter to an evil god.

Sercis successfully escaped from the ritual, but the couple opened a door to a strangely distorted space and were corrupted by a mysterious power, both going insane.

With no alternative, Sercis had to kill the couple.

But their daughter, Kassy, had been infected and was terrified by the chain of events, nearly driven to the edge of madness.

As a last resort, Sercis tried signing the highest-level blood contract with Kassy, transferring the mysterious power to himself, taking on the curse's corruption.

Additionally, Sercis sealed Kassy's memories of this series of events.

He still remembered the innocent and pure smile when he first met Kassy.

Being offered by her parents as a sacrifice to an evil god, nearly swallowed by darkness—these things were too difficult for Kassy to accept and might have become a lifelong nightmare.

If she could forget these things... perhaps she could return to being the carefree elf girl she once was.

Over the following decade, that curse never dissipated, reactivating with each new moon.

Although during this time, Kassy had pleaded with him many times, hoping to dissolve the blood contract between them.

But Sercis worried that once the contract was dissolved, the curse transfer would become ineffective, and Kassy would once again be swallowed by darkness.

He also didn't want Kassy to recall that nightmare-like past, to remember that her seemingly loving parents were actually so terrifying.

Who could have anticipated that this silent endurance and sacrifice would become poison in Kassy's heart, ultimately backfiring on Sercis himself?

And the knife Kassy thrust into that completely defenseless back became a wound Celitia could not heal.

When awake, her mind was strong enough. Celitia could use sufficient rationality to analyze their behavior, trying to understand the choices they made.

But in the still of night, when the mind and body were at their most vulnerable, the protective shell used to protect herself would unknowingly crack, revealing the bloody wound hidden beneath, never healed.

"...Mmm..."

A crystalline teardrop rolled from her eye socket, slid past her slightly reddened corner of the eye, and disappeared into her disheveled hair, never to be seen again.

This tear was silent, almost like an illusion.

And Sophia saw it all.

She was stunned for a long while, feeling a twinge of pain in her own heart.

Instinctively reaching out, Sophia carefully wiped away the faint tear marks from the corner of the girl's eye.

"Though physically weak beyond words, your mouth doesn't even respect me, a princess, so, so I can't be blamed, right..."

Sophia randomly made excuses for herself, but the more she spoke, the more guilty she felt, her voice gradually lowering.

"If from the beginning, you had just shown weakness like this, without being so aggressive, I wouldn't have thrown you out..."

In this ward filled only with the silent night, after much internal struggle, Sophia finally uttered a word.

"I'm sorry..."

She hoped that the next day, Celitia would wake up and her body would recover.

Having finally said what had been pressed on her heart, Sophia felt relieved.

She thought it was about time for her to leave.

Taking one last look at the unconscious girl on the bed, Sophia said to her:

"Then I'll go first. Rest well."

With that, Sophia was about to stand up from beside the bed when her right hand was suddenly tightly grasped.

"...Don't go..."

Though clearly not awake, Celitia seemed to sense Sophia was about to leave and suddenly gripped Sophia's hand tightly.

"...Don't... leave me alone..."

She murmured, her lips trembling slightly, emitting a few broken syllables.

Gradually, that persistent hand lost its strength again, falling powerlessly.

The girl finally let go, and Sophia was clearly free to leave, but she stood there like a statue for a long time.

"Sigh... what am I to do with you."

While sighing, a happy smile hung on Sophia's lips.

She liked this feeling.

Liked the feeling of being needed by someone.

After Celitia woke up, if her attitude improved a bit, if she was willing to admit her mistakes...

It wouldn't be impossible to try what Colton suggested and get along well with her.

To become... friends?

Sitting back down beside the hospital bed, Sophia gently placed Celitia's arm back and tucked in the blanket for her.

"Still so cold..." Sophia muttered to herself. "Why is her body temperature so low? The blanket has covered her for so long, yet it hasn't helped at all."

Was Celitia's body temperature inherently too low, making it impossible to warm up no matter how much she was covered?

Looking down at the girl's pale face, an idea gradually rose in Sophia's mind.

"Fine, then I'll reluctantly sacrifice myself. Hmph, when you wake up tomorrow, don't be too respectful and fearful."

No sooner said than done. Sophia took off her outer clothes, pulled back the blanket, and crawled in, squeezing together with Celitia.

"Really, you're like an ice cube. It's lucky that this young lady has a good constitution, otherwise I'd catch a cold because of you."

While complaining, Sophia wrapped her arms around the girl beside her, slowly stroking her back.

The warmth from Sophia gradually warmed the girl's ice-cold body.

"Alright, it's okay now. By tomorrow, it shouldn't be so uncomfortable anymore..."

Sophia could clearly feel that the constantly trembling body in her arms, under her comfort, gradually became much calmer.

A gentle smile slowly spread across her lips.

"So, rest well, Celitia."

Sophia hummed a bright and warm melody very softly.

Without realizing it, drowsiness overtook her, and Sophia gradually entered dreamland.

Early the next morning, Celitia woke up early.

As she had expected, the curse reaction disappeared, and her physical condition, after hitting rock bottom, gradually recovered to its original state.

She had endured it, which was cause for celebration.

However...

Staring at that sleeping face just inches away, Celitia felt extremely puzzled.

What had happened while she was unconscious?

Why was the bad-tempered princess sleeping beside her?