Two emotions quarreled at once in Ell’s stomach: a nagging urge to have the Priest bash his own head against a wall, and a stinging temptation to try and control the corpse nearby into strangling him.

  Upon further inspection, Ell realized both desires were birthed by the same emotion.

  After giving the Priest a long blank stare, Ell turned on her heel, pacing slowly towards the large windows lining both sides of the hall. The air within the room was chilly, the coffin itself a human-sized freezer, intended to keep the corpse fresh. Dim lights of ever-burning torches of cold fire cast long shadows against the floor.

  Fingertips cold, Ell sought the warmth of pockets, only to find her robes lacking in that department. Golden leaves rustled atop the towering trees beyond the glass windows. Perhaps, it was the evening breeze; perhaps, it was Selin.

  Regardless, Ell was unafraid. Annoyed—yes—but not scared. That emotion was numbed by the unceasing threats from almost every single person she had met from the moment she had transmigrated.

  It was a lie to say she wasn’t missing the college's dorms and her pet Glutton.

  Ell glanced back, waiting to hear what the Priest had to say. Instead of speaking, he produced yet another artifact, a set of stud earrings connected by a thin length of silver chain. He extended one end to her.

  It took Ell a moment to recognize their function: transmission of thoughts. Not only did the Priest use a sound blocker, but he was not planning on producing any sound at all.

  The situation felt less like blackmail and more like a conspiracy.

  Ell smiled. “Yeah, no. You can keep it.” She turned to the doors. “Visit me at General Byrun’s mansion; I will only receive the Dragon’s ‘blessings’ there.”

  With a hand on the door, and at the edge of the sound blocker’s net, Ell waited for a response. The Priest frowned, shorter silver strands reaching his chin and casting swaying shadows over his features. There was a tremble in his voice as he spoke, “If they discover I was in contact with you privately, both of us will die.”

  Ell hovered by the door, fingers pressed against the carved wood. Her thumbnail dug into the side of her finger. In the end, she pulled away and pulled out her own pair of telepathic earrings. Each pair could only be used for a duration of sixty-five minutes. Ilai’s pair only had twenty-two minutes remaining.

  She hoped they’d suffice.

  The Priest slipped on the stud as Ell distanced herself from the exit and closer to the cube he held tightly by his side.

  ‘Who are they?’ Ell asked as the long chain glowed.

  The Priest stepped closer, and Ell prepared to activate Puppeteer. ‘The High Priests.’ He paused. ‘I know about your Blessing.’

  Ell shifted slightly. Book Ilai did not have any Blessing at all, unless he found out about the system’s skills. ‘And what would that be?’

  The Priest narrowed his eyes. ‘I drank your blood; there is no use hiding it.’ His head leaned forward as his low voice echoed in her head, and his lips moved soundlessly, ‘Reviewer.’

  The careful mask of indifference Ell wore to confront him cracked slightly.

  Typically, after the Temple obtained a sample of blood from a newly Blessed, they kept it stored away, capable of tracking down its owner at any time. All Blessed were required to register their Marks, otherwise, hefty fines and imprisonment—even slavery—awaited them.

  In a case like Ilai’s, where she had a Mark never bestowed upon a human before, the Priests would drink some of the blood, attempting to find out and understand the exact ability granted by the Dragon.

  Ilai’s blood yielded nothing. At least in the original plotline.

  It was not too hard to understand how that change had come to be, what troubled her was something else.

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  Her brows drew together, a sharp crease in between. ‘Explain clearly.’

  He rubbed his face tiredly. ‘You should’ve seen it too by now. You’re not the first Reviewer to show up, and certainly not the last. The Emperor doesn’t want his secret out, no matter how many Reviewers he has to kill.’ He paced back and forth, careful not to overstretch the chain hanging between their ears. ‘Everyone in the temple pretends not to know about him killing Reviewers, but they don’t know why he does so’

  Despite her confusion, Ell tried to appear composed. ‘What is he trying to hide?’

  The Priest’s head snapped up in annoyance. ‘Stop pretending. Didn’t you already see it?’ He moved closer, the sound transmitted barely above a whisper. ‘He killed the Dragon. And now, the both of us have to die if they discover we saw it.’

  Ell was stunned. So much so that her nonchalant fa?ade appeared to work as she blinked at the Priest calmly.

  At this point, if she pretended to understand, she might slip up and reveal her ignorance. But if she was exposed not to have seen the vision he speaks of, she could not predict how he would act. The safest option was to leave.

  As for answers, the Dragon herself could give her answers.

  ‘As long as the both of us don’t speak of it, no one will know.’

  The Priest smiled coldly. ‘It’s not enough. No Mark can remain unknown. You need a Blessing.’

  Ell finally understood his purpose of meeting her today. ‘You want me to make up one.’

  ‘Indeed,’ he replied as he took out a black vial. ‘This contains a mixture of two types of Blessed blood: Casrald and Sculptor. It combines the abilities to turn what is touched into emerald with the ability to sculpt and mold objects into the shape you desire. It should give the illusion that you can create and reshape emerald objects.’

  Ell took the vial and turned it between her fingers. Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought of drinking blood.

  The Priest continued, ‘I will pretend to discover the ability. When the High Priest summons you to confirm the Blessing, drink five drops before arriving at the Temple. The ability should last an hour.’

  What the Priest had said so far was reasonable. Under the current circumstances, the only way for him to stay safe was to cooperate with her. She had some time to confirm his words before following through with the plan.

  She looked up at him. ‘You can discover my Blessing after tomorrow.’

  The Priest’s stiff shoulders relaxed slightly. ‘All right. If you need to see me before then, I’ll be blessing the dead girl until tomorrow night.’

  Indeed, using Ilai’s dead ‘friend’ as a context to visit was a safe option, although Ell did not wish to meet with the Priest at all.

  Before retrieving the nearly spent earrings, she asked one last question, ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Daven,’ he replied before handing over the artifact.

  With silent farewells, Daven went back to performing the rites over the corpse while Ell left the hall.

  Selin quickly found her way to her side. “Your Highness,” the guard called, eyes hinting in the direction of the make-shift funeral hall.

  Ell shook her head as she followed the path to the exit where the guests’ carriages awaited. As evening shifted into night, those who had not shown up earlier in the day, now poured in for the last hours of the mourning.

  Byrun and Versan were conversing by their carriage, the twins peeking through the window curtains of the carriage, listening on to the conversation.

  “Death is always unexpected, don’t regret it,” Versan said, hand gently kneading Byrun’s arm as he looked elsewhere, distracted.

  Perhaps, if Ell was Ilai, she would have been curious, but Ell only felt uncomfortable listen to another family’s affairs when she had possessed their loved one.

  She passed them quickly and boarded her own carriage, urging Selin to ride ahead.

  There was another matter she had to tend to.

  ‘Dragon,’ she called in her head as soon as the carriage moved. ‘The Reviewer stunt was the result of your efforts, wasn’t it?’

  The Dragon refused to answer despite several attempts.

  Ell sighed as she massaged her temples. ‘If the Priest is telling the truth, you’ve been showing people that the Emperor had harmed you for ages, but he’s suppressed all your efforts. Here’s what I think: rather than sabotage each other, we should join hands. It appears we share a common enemy.’

  A low chuckle sounded. The dragon finally responded, To ask for cooperation, one must have something to offer. You have nothing to give. I have nothing I need from you.

  ‘Yet, you replied,’ Ell said slowly. ‘If the Emperor has indeed wronged you, then it’s been decades, maybe even centuries since, yet he remains on his throne. I don’t believe you’ve forgiven him. It’s more likely that you cannot exact your revenge on him. If you tell me the specifics, perhaps I can help, and we can reach an agreement.’

  So far, the decrease in the Stability has been tolerable. But as the consumption of DVPs was bound to increase in the future, Ell’s calculations might not be enough to prevent the Stability from falling to zero because of the Dragon’s interference. She was not excited to know how that death would be.

  Drowning had been painful enough.

  When Ell began to think that the Dragon was not interested in striking a deal, the Dragon spoke again, If you want a cooperation, you must prove your abilities first. There was vicious lilt to her androgynous voice. Find Varoth’s wife. Succeed, and we’ll talk.