Seraphina’s pain was going away.

  That was what she knew. For some reason, she could feel more of her mana. The mana that had been keeping away, freezing like a stone in her body, converting her completely into a sculpture, was now going away. She could feel it flow through her body.

  Being an S-Ranked Hunter, one of the strongest in the world, she could tell. It was easy to tell for someone like her. Her life span had just increased.

  Her consciousness waded through the confusion as her eyes opened. She found herself in a hot sweat as she propped herself up. Her eyes went to the window first. The crimson sunset. The next thing she noticed was the cloth on her forehead. It was a warm press. That was what was heating her up on the outside, it was just the condensation. What got her on the inside, that was something Seraphina did not know yet.

  “Are you up?”

  Seraphina looked to her side. She was lying down on the couch, leaning over the backrest, looking down into her eyes was the beautiful black-haired girl who was slowly changing her life.

  “Elara…”

  “It’s evening already,” Elara shrugged. “You missed a large part of the day.”

  “Were you here the entire time?”

  Elara smiled wryly.

  “Of course,” she said. “I was worried about you.”

  Seraphina nodded at those words.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “It’s… warm.” There was no keeping up the Ice Queen anymore. She never tried to in the first place, but there was just no way any longer. “I think, it worked. I am sure it worked. The pain is less, and I feel full of energy.”

  “That’s good news.”

  Seraphina reached her hand out, still lying down. For some strange reason, she had an urge to touch Elara’s cheeks. Instead, she snapped her fingers. A small bird of ice formed from her single snap. It flew around in the office, reflecting the orange-crimson hue of the setting sun on its blue ice as it gently stroked Elara’s cheeks with its wings, then dispersed into thin air.

  Elara smiled brightly. “Wow…”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Elara… how do I pay you back?”

  Elara chuckled at Seraphina’s words. “I think you showed me something very pretty right now. That is enough. If you’re feeling well, I should get going.”

  The girl didn’t wait another second and was about to leave. Seraphina quickly got up and grabbed Elara’s wrist.

  “Where are you going? Allow me something, at least. Maybe dinner or something?”

  “Look…” Elara sighed. “I just got fired from my job, and I don’t want to take money or anything from you. I just did this because I was convinced, and it didn’t bring any negatives to me. You got a bit of my life force, and that’s enough, right?”

  A bit. Seraphina did hear those words, and she thought that it should make her nervous, but at this moment, she was only feeling deep concern for her benefactor. “Fired? Don’t you work here?”

  Elara nodded.

  It was then that the door to Seraphina’s office opened. It was a sudden movement that neither of them expected. A young man wearing glasses and a suit just entered the office without a word.

  “Miss Seraphina, are you still here—”

  It was her assistant assigned to her by the guild. Assistant less and more of an intrusive presence in her life, especially these days when she was sick and wanted to be alone.

  “Ronnie?” Seraphina muttered.

  “Ah…” Ronnie was smart. He was one of the smartest people working in the guild, being a B-Rank Hunter himself. He was also involved in many of the administrative tasks at the company, knowing everyone around him. That’s why his brows furrowed right away as he saw the other girl in the room. “F-Ranked Hunter fired today, Elara Klein? What in the world are you doing here?”

  Ronnie ignored the fact that he had just barged into the room of his superior and the fact that she herself was holding Elara’s hands. He had been brazen, of course, given how docile the Ice Queen herself had been acting these last few months. He didn’t, for a second, think that any repercussions would come his way.

  For the hopeless Seraphina, he was already making most of the decisions.

  “You… did you barge in here to beg for your job back? To an S-Ranked Hunter at that?!”

  “That’s…” Elara grit her teeth and faced the man head-on. “I didn’t do any of that, okay? Who the hell are you anyway?”

  Heck, she was fired. Why couldn’t she be rude to anyone in this company now? It didn’t matter to her!

  “Garbage and leeches like you are the main problem with this industry. Fucking parasites. I’d call security, but I think it’s better to deal with you first-hand—”

  “Ronnie,” Seraphina said. A strong pressure filled the room. Her aura was leaking out into place, a pressure and a presence of the S-Ranked Hunter that had not emitted from her in months was now oppressing everything in this place. Her voice echoed through the room and sent a cold, chilling wave all across the room. “She is my guest, how dare you speak like that?”

  “Huh…? What, Seraphina. I know you’re kind, but you don’t have to be so nice to—”

  And that’s when another surprise hit them. Elara had already escaped the enraged Seraphina’s grasp and was right in front of Ronnie. The B-Ranked Hunter, taking on the Ice Queen’s rage head-on, was unable to react as Elara came right to his face and shoved her knees into his nethers.

  “OOF!”

  “Oh…”

  “Fuck. You. Who are you calling a parasite, huh?”

  Ronnie dropped to the ground. B-Ranked or whatever, the family jewels were the weakest spot for a man. Elara took the chance to kick the man’s head again and looked down at him with rage. “Maybe next time, knock before entering your boss’s room. Ronnie.”

  With that, Elara left.

  Seraphina stood there, unable to do anything.