With all my remaining strength, I sent out the paper crane. A searing pain tore through my chest as a demon’s arrow pierced through me, the agony spreading along with my blood.

The leader of the demons let out a cruel, mocking laugh.

“Heather Crane, you’ve finally fallen into our hands!”

But I didn’t have the strength to respond. I was dying.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

The next moment, I felt my spirit slip from my body, rising gently into the air.

The weight of my unfinished business bound me, too deep to enter the afterlife.

I couldn’t move on. Instead, I remained in the mortal realm as a wandering spirit, waiting until my unresolved feelings dissipated.

In my life, I had walked a righteous path, slaying monsters, protecting the innocent. My only regret was not divorcing Elias, not exposing Quinn’s deceit myself.

With that thought in mind, I drifted toward the Oracle’s Tower, eager to see when Elias would discover my death.

He wasn’t at home. He was holed up in his quarters within the tower.

Elias had lived a charmed life, praised as the greatest seer of his generation, his remarkable talent making him a legend.

Not only was he gifted, but he was also strikingly handsome.

Most of the disciples who joined the Oracle’s Tower did so because of him.

So when I told others that he had betrayed me, their immediate response was to blame me.

“It must be because you’re not pretty enough!”

“You’re lying! Elias’s such a good man; there’s no way he would betray you!”

And Quinn? She would put on her innocent act, her voice soft and pitiful:

“Why would Mistress think that of me… I would never do such a thing.”

Tears from a beauty like her easily rallied others to her side.

I had tried explaining myself over and over again, but no one believed me.

In the end, I stopped speaking altogether.

I became a laughingstock in the world of mages.

Elias looked down at me from his lofty perch, his gaze filled with disdain.

“What will leaving me accomplish? Do you really think anyone will support you?”

I had no words.

The man who had once been my closest companion now felt like a stranger, and a repulsive one at that.

He was the one who had pursued me, loved me, and ultimately betrayed me.

From that moment, I swore I would never shed another tear for him.

As my thoughts wandered, I glanced down at Elias.

He was currently drawing a divination sigil.

The sigil he was crafting could predict the future, revealing the closest brush with death so that one could avoid it. Such sigils were incredibly rare, and only a few could create them – Elias being one of them.

Ironically, as his wife, I had never received one.

He would spend all his energy crafting these life-saving sigils, only to give them to Quinn without a second thought.

As he worked on the sigil, a frown creased his brow, though I couldn’t tell what troubled him.

A paper crane fluttered by the window. Elias glanced up, but when he saw it wasn’t pink, he looked away, his expression dull.

He was waiting for one of my cranes.

Elias muttered to himself in frustration, “What’s Heather’s deal? It’s been seven days, and she’s still sulking? Honestly, if it’s that big of a deal, I’ll just apologize.”

So it had been a week since my death.

I almost laughed. If he really cared, he could’ve just used a sigil to find out where I was. What was he pretending for?

As for apologizing?

Sorry, but that ship had sailed.

“A whole week, and she hasn’t even returned home. Where could she have gone?”

He pressed too hard with his pen, smudging the ink and ruining the sigil. It was just like his heart – restless and impatient.

That sigil was wasted now.

I found myself eagerly anticipating how he would react when he learned of my death.

Abandoning his work, Elias left his quarters, and I followed him outside.

The entire sect was buzzing with excitement, as the selection process for new inner disciples was in full swing. Laughter and conversation filled the air.

As Elias wandered through the grounds, he seemed to relax without realizing it.

Then, a loud voice from one of the disciples reached his ears.

“I wouldn’t want to be Elias Herring’s student!”

Elias’s curiosity piqued, and with a sudden interest, he walked over and asked, “Why not? He’s one of the most powerful mages there is.”

Ever since Quinn had come into his life, Elias had stopped taking on new students.

All of his tenderness and care were now reserved for her.

What had started as a simple mentor-student relationship had clearly shifted into something else.

Perhaps it was because Quinn was a slow learner, and he needed to guide her closely.

Or maybe it was because she was beautiful, soft like a rose without thorns.

Of course, there was also the possibility that he had simply grown tired of me and needed someone new. Quinn, conveniently, was the easiest “new” thing for him to get.

The young disciple, unaware that the man before him was Elias himself, shrugged and explained casually, “Because he couldn’t even foresee the death of his own partner. If he couldn’t predict something as important as that, how strong can he really be?”

“What… what did you say?” Elias froze, repeating the words in disbelief, his face going pale as if drained of all blood. His lips quivered uncontrollably.

“That’s impossible! You’re joking, right?!” Elias stammered, as if hoping for reassurance.

The disciple, thinking he hadn’t heard correctly, repeated with a smirk, “His partner died, and he couldn’t predict it. That’s it. No joke.”

“Died? When?” Elias’s voice wavered, and without thinking, he grabbed the disciple’s shoulder with a deathly grip, causing the young man to wince in pain.

“A week ago! They’re even holding the funeral right now! What’s wrong with you?” the disciple spat, pulling himself free from Elias’s grasp, annoyed by the stranger’s intensity.

But Elias was no longer listening. His mind raced as his trembling hands began to draw a divination array. Symbols of power filled the air: Earth Clash, Hidden Bond, Mortal Break, Dark Void…

And then it confirmed the truth: death.

Desperately, he tried again, hoping for a different result. But the signs were unchanging.

I was truly dead.

The realization hit him like a blade to the chest, and Elias coughed up blood, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Of course. That’s why she hadn’t come home for a week.

Why she hadn’t sent any word.

Why everything suddenly felt so wrong…

Heather was dead.

How could she? How could she leave without saying a single word?

The disciple, now frightened, tried to make a quick exit. But before he could escape, Elias’s voice, cold and dripping with malice, stopped him in his tracks.

“Where’s the funeral?” Elias’s tone was low and dangerous.

“I don’t know!” The disciple snapped.

The next instant, Elias’s sword was at his throat, his voice chilling: “Tell me.”

“R-Ravenswood! It’s at Ravenswood!” the disciple stammered, his voice shaking with fear.

Without another word, Elias took off in a sprint, stumbling at first but quickly gaining speed, as if terrified he might miss something – something irreplaceable.

My friend, Rowan Locke, stood on the high platform, her eyes red and swollen, struggling to hold back her emotions as she delivered the eulogy.

“Heather Crane lived a simple life, yet it was anything but ordinary. She fought against the demons until her very last breath...”

Elias stood silently, unwilling to disrupt the service, his gaze fixed on my gravestone, lost in thought.

The crowd began murmuring among themselves.

“Heather was really such a good person, always fighting for justice.”

“Yeah, such a tragedy… gone far too soon.”

“It’s a real shame…”

How ironic.

In life, they dismissed me, but now, after my death, they sang my praises. It felt like the ultimate hypocrisy.

Let me leave this world just as I came into it – unadorned, untouched by anyone’s pity or belated affection.

When Rowan finished speaking, Elias finally approached my grave.

“Elias? What’s he doing here now?” someone whispered.

“Didn’t they say they weren’t on good terms?” another replied.

“Isn’t it because he cheated on her? I didn’t believe it at first, but now that Heather’s gone… it must’ve been true.”

“I heard Quinn seduced him!”

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder.

Rowan glared at Elias with pure hatred. “What are you doing here? Get out!”

But Elias didn’t respond. He stood frozen in front of my grave, his eyes vacant.

“Hey!” Rowan stormed over, unable to contain her anger any longer.

Elias’s voice was hoarse, broken, as if finding the words was physically painful. “I was her husband… why wouldn’t I come? Why did no one tell me she died? Why didn’t anyone say anything?!”

“Her ‘husband’?” Rowan sneered bitterly. “Be honest with yourself – were you ever truly faithful to her?

“You didn’t even need to be told! You could have used your powers to know if she was dead or alive! But you didn’t, did you? Because you never cared.”

Elias squeezed his eyes shut, realizing the truth. He hadn’t foreseen my death. He had been so wrapped up in his lies that he never even considered that I could slip away without a word.

“Faithful?” Elias murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. He clung to my gravestone like a drowning man, his voice unraveling in desperation. “Heather, is that what you still cared about? I loved you. I’ve always loved you… Quinn, she only reminded me of you when you were younger…”

I hovered above, stunned.

“Every time she came to me, asking for help, she made me think of you. But it wasn’t love with her… it’s always been you. Always.”

I thought back to when I first met Elias. It had been a strange day, and coincidentally, he had been fleeing from a group of demons.

At the time, I wasn’t particularly strong, but I was good at running. So, I helped him escape, without even knowing who he was.

I remember telling him off afterward, scolding him for recklessly getting into fights with demons.

He had just stood there, wide-eyed.

I had thought he was just some naive fool, not knowing he was a genius, hiding his true strength.

As I was about to leave, he called out to me. His lips quirked into a shy smile.

“Fate said I’d meet the love of my life today. Will you at least tell me your name?”

Back then, I wasn’t strong, but I worked so hard to become his equal, to be worthy of him. But now, hearing him, I realized… he didn’t love my strength. He loved my weakness.

And when I became stronger, he sought my weakness in someone else.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at myself. How foolish I had been, to have ever loved him.

Elias’s words had now confirmed everything, and the crowd’s whispers turned to outrage.

“Wait, so Heather was telling the truth all along?”

“I can’t believe Elias was like this! Disgusting.”

“What a scumbag!”

Normally, Elias would have been furious at the insult to his honor, but now he didn’t even flinch. He just stayed by my grave, continuing to speak.

“Heather… come back. Please come back. I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it!” He was nearly hysterical, his voice cracking.

“Get out! Stop ruining her funeral!” Rowan shouted, pulling him away.

Elias’s desperation grew. He turned to Rowan, his eyes wide with pleading. “Did she leave me any message? Anything at all?”

Rowan smiled maliciously, clearly enjoying his suffering. “Oh, she did leave something.”

“What? What did she say?” His eyes lit up with a brief flicker of hope.

“She wanted to end your marriage. She wanted a divorce,” Rowan said, her voice cold, each word hitting Elias like a hammer. “Do you understand?”

Elias staggered. He coughed violently, blood spilling from his lips.