The Price of the Beloved

: My Senior Sister Died

My Senior Sister died. Everyone said I killed her.

Our Master expelled me from the sect on the spot.

My Senior Brother, who had always treated me like a sibling, spat venom at me, saying the very sight of me made him sick.

The High Immortal I grew up with threw me back into the Koi Pond, saying I was unworthy of Metamorphosis.

I spent a thousand years using a Secret Technique to resurrect my Senior Sister. But at the very moment my soul was about to scatter to the winds, they all went mad, begging for my forgiveness and pleading for me to stay.

1

My final wisp of a remnant soul was locked within the Soul-Locking Lantern. I could do nothing but emit a faint, shimmering glow and perceive the world within a few feet of me.

My surroundings were always quiet, a place no one ever trod. The only one watching over me was the Artifact Spirit of the Tower of Locked Souls.

No, that's not quite right. When my wisp of a remnant soul first entered the Tower of Locked Souls, a woman did come to see me.

Her name was Lyra Aurelian.

The very person The Gods accused me of killing, and the one I had spent the last thousand years striving to resurrect.

'It seems she's truly been revived. And I... I suppose I really must be fading away now.'

As if my final wish had been fulfilled, the glow from my Remnant Soul dimmed further, startling the Artifact Spirit into hastily transferring Spiritual Power to me.

My Remnant Soul was forcibly sustained, and I was compelled to receive Lyra Aurelian's visit.

'I never expected that she would be the one to visit me at the very end.'

We were both Koi from the same pond, disciples of the same Master. I just never imagined that the childhood friend who swore to marry me would one day fall in love with her.

She was the dazzling, scorching sun, and I, a mere glimmer of starlight among the infinite heavens.

The day the Demon Clan attacked was the day before her wedding to High Immortal Jaden Caelus. They went to the front lines hand in hand, stepping into the fray together to slay the demons.

I lacked Lyra Aurelian's immense combat prowess, but I was skilled in Arrays.

Using my blood as a sacrifice, I inscribed a massive Demon-Purging Array across the Celestial Court, hoping to annihilate all the invading demons in a final, decisive strike.

But I was a step too late. Just a moment before I could activate the Array, the leader of the Demon Clan ran Lyra Aurelian through with a Demonic Blade.

She died, leaving behind only a single fragment of her spirit.

Everyone said that if I had only been a moment faster, Lyra Aurelian would have survived.

Some said they saw me hesitate for a moment before activating the Array. Others claimed I was jealous and had intentionally waited until after Lyra Aurelian was fatally wounded to unleash its power.

In short, my failure to activate the Array in time had led to the death of my Senior Sister.

She walked up to the Soul-Locking Lantern and looked at me with a helpless expression. "Elara Aurelian, why did you have to use a Secret Technique to resurrect me? Even though I died a thousand years ago, I still had a fragment of my spirit left. Given enough time, I could have cultivated myself back to life. It just would have taken longer."

If I weren't just a Remnant Soul, I would have told her with a bitter smile.

'It would take at least ten thousand years for a single fragment of a spirit to fully cultivate a new body. And I... I couldn't endure ten thousand years of that torment.'

'Everyone in the Celestial Court mistook my daze from blood loss for a fit of jealousy toward you.'

'Senior Brother cursed me daily, High Immortal Jaden Caelus wouldn't even spare me a glance, and Master... Master cast me out of the sect.'

'In the vast Koi Pond of the great Celestial Court, there was no longer any place for me.'

'The way everyone in the Celestial Court looked at me changed. They no longer saw the naive, innocent Little Koi I once was...'

And it all began the day I emerged from my seclusion.

I had been in seclusion for so long, and I missed Albus terribly. The moment I sensed his presence, I ran to him in excitement and, right in front of all the other Celestials, threw my arms around him. "Albus, I knew you were the most amazing of all!"

'I wanted to celebrate his final Metamorphosis, joyfully imagining that we could finally be together forever.'

But I didn't notice how the way everyone looked at me had changed.

All I knew was Albus impatiently prying me off him.

"Junior Sister! How can you be so shameless?" Lyra Aurelian shrieked, her face a mask of disbelief.

I was stunned. I looked around, and saw accusation in everyone's eyes.

'I didn't understand. I had only hugged Albus, just as I had thousands of times before.'

'When he was still a Celestial Crane, it was our favorite thing to do. We'd done it tens of thousands of times.'

"High Immortal Jaden Caelus and High Immortal Lyra Aurelian were engaged a month ago."

I don't remember who said those words, but I remember exactly how I felt.

'Albus was High Immortal Jaden Caelus now. The one worthy of him was no longer me, Elara Aurelian, who did little more than play by the Koi Pond. It was the equally dazzling High Immortal Lyra Aurelian.'

The look in our Master's eyes was also filled with disappointment.

"Elara Aurelian, how could you try to steal your Senior Sister's fiancé?"

Master's accusation left me pale as death.

Afterward, all the Celestials gossiped that I was secretly in love with High Immortal Jaden Caelus and jealous of my own Senior Sister.

On the day the Demon Clan attacked, he and Lyra Aurelian stood together—he in billowing white robes, she in defiant red.

Together, they formed an unbreakable defensive line at the South Heavenly Gate, slaying countless demons.

As for me, I was beaten back by the very first demon I faced.

'How could someone like me have any right to stand beside him?'

I came to terms with it. I began to inscribe the Array, standing behind them and letting them protect me. But in the end, everyone said I was jealous of Lyra Aurelian and had refused to activate the Array at the critical moment.

Even Albus... no, High Immortal Jaden Caelus... looked at me with disgust in his eyes.

My jealousy had killed my own Senior Sister.

'But I've resurrected her now. Surely, they won't hate me anymore.'

I should have faded from this world completely. I never expected that a final wisp of my remnant soul would be trapped in the Soul-Locking Lantern, forced to endure a fiery torment each day.

'I suppose this is my punishment—for daring to touch my Senior Sister's fiancé and for failing to protect her when the Demon Clan attacked.'

I heard her call my name. "Elara Aurelian, you must focus on recuperating your soul. Master and Senior Brother are waiting for you. They're waiting at the Koi Pond for you to become a Little Koi again."

I couldn't answer her, but it seemed she didn't need a response. She sighed to herself and continued, "Albus and I are preparing to get married by the Western Koi Pond. You focus on getting better, and I'll take you there for a change of scenery, all right?"

At her words, the wisp of my remnant soul began to flicker violently.

Back then, neither of us had yet achieved Metamorphosis. We first met at the Western Koi Pond, and I took to calling him Albus.

Albus was the Celestial Crane I knew before my Metamorphosis, and the Western Koi Pond was the place where we first met.

'He's High Immortal Jaden Caelus now. Lyra Aurelian has only ever called him High Immortal Jaden Caelus. Why would he tell her his name was Albus? Why would they choose to hold their wedding ceremony at the Koi Pond?'

I let my consciousness drift away.

'If I just leave, I won't have to see any of this!'

The Artifact Spirit shrieked in terror. "This Remnant Soul is fading! I told you not to let her into my Lantern's Core!"

Lyra Aurelian jumped, her voice filled with panic. "Is there any way to keep her from fading? High Immortal Jaden Caelus said she must be kept alive!"

"Someone has to come stimulate her will to live! Make her absorb Soul Power on her own and strengthen her spirit. As she is now, this Remnant Soul can't withstand even the faintest heat from the Soul-Locking Lantern!"

Lyra Aurelian fled in a panic, calling back that she would find someone to stimulate my will to live.

I felt the silence return to my surroundings.

'But who would come? Everyone in the Celestial Court despises me.'

In the thousand years since Lyra Aurelian's death, I spent every single day being blamed.

Even members of the Celestial Guard who merely brushed past me would mutter something.

"That's her—the vicious Koi who'd harm her own sect sister over a man!"

"So vicious. High Immortal Jaden Caelus and High Immortal Lyra Aurelian were already engaged. The wedding was only three days away!"

"She probably lured the Demon Clan here herself, hoping everyone would see her as a savior so she could win over High Immortal Jaden Caelus."

"I've never seen such a wicked Koi!"

Every sentence, every word... even after a thousand years, their gossip about me never ceased.

Not a single person ever spoke up for me. Even Albus was utterly disappointed in me.

I remember what he said: "Elara Aurelian, you are the most malicious person I have ever met!"

And yet, right before I went into seclusion, he had let me hold his un-metamorphosed body and told me, "Elara Aurelian, you're the best. No matter what happens in the future, I will always trust you unconditionally. I will always be on your side."

'Ha. It turns out that in this world, you can't trust anyone at all.'