Making his way back down the hill, Grand Duke Lione lowered his voice and ordered the knights to remain quiet. It would be foolish to try to interrupt the fight between the two bears in their frenzied states. 

 

As the roars continued to resound throughout the forest, Grand Duke Lione decided to wait it out. Sooner or later, one of the bears would succumb to their injuries, and they would finish the other one. 

 

They needed to move quickly. The commotion caused by the bears was likely to attract something else. 

 

As the knights moved around carefully, Grand Duke Lione gestured for Isaac and Sable to come over. 

 

“Come with me.” 

 

Leading them back up to where Auberon was, Isaac placed Sable down and they peeked over the hill to see the two bears fighting. 

 

“Knight, do you see it?” Auberon had not taken his eyes off of the orb. 

 

“I do.” Isaac frowned. 

 

The mana emitting from the orb gave him goosebumps. Whatever it was, it was the cause of the frenzied beasts. 

 

“Your Grace…” After explaining the presence of the orb, the other two frowned. 

 

“Whatever that orb is, we need it, Your Grace.” Sable said. 

 

However, Auberon shook his head at her statement. 

 

“It would be in your best interest to destroy it, child.” 

 

Sable looked at Auberon. 

 

“That orb will continue to corrupt whatever approaches it. Something as foul as that should not be allowed to exist.” 

 

“I’m afraid I agree with him, Sable.” Grand Duke Lione stated. “As much as we need to gather evidence, it is too risky to allow that orb to remain activated. And in any case, we’re not equipped to handle it.” 

 

Sable clenched her hands tightly, but she could not refute their words. Yes, she wanted to stop the outbreak, but she also wanted to gather evidence against the marquis. 

 

“Whatever it is you plan on doing, we can only wait.” They all fell silent at Auberon’s words. 

 

Fortunately, it was not long before one of the bears finally succumbed to its injuries. As the other bear started feeding on the corpse of the other, the knights made their move. 

 

However, Sable found something odd. As the knights moved closer to the bear and the orb, they suddenly stopped, one by one. There was hesitation in their movements. 

 

She turned in confusion only to notice that Auberon had yet to take a step forward. 

 

She couldn’t stop to think about it any further as the remaining bear finally noticed the knights’ presence. It was heavily wounded, missing chunks of fur and flesh, but it was still a considerable threat to the knights. 

 

Letting loose a roar, it charged the nearest knight. They immediately dodged out of the way, all the while striking back at the formidable beast. 

 

Angered, the bear swiped at the knights, not caring about its surroundings. Even the sturdy pine trees were unable to withstand its strength as branches and pieces of bark could be seen flying away. A single hit would be enough to seriously injure a knight. 

 

“Knights! Spread out! Don’t let it corner you!” Grand Duke Lione ordered. 

 

Learning from the previous encounter with the wolves, the knights were quick to adapt their fighting style, choosing hit-and-run tactics against the bear rather than face it head on. Whenever one of the knights appeared to be overwhelmed, another would draw the attention of the bear and allow the other to retreat. 

 

As the fight continued, Sable noticed that the knights were deliberately avoiding the orb. The bear was slowly being led away from it. 

 

Subconsciously, she stepped forward, then felt a hand holding her back. Isaac silently shook his head at her with a stiff expression. 

 

Eventually, the knights were able to slay the bear while only suffering minor injuries. They made their way back to the orb. 

 

The same as before, no one was willing to approach the orb. Not even the Grand Duke dared to approach the orb, and Auberon remained still. 

 

Sable started to move from their concealed position, but she was once again stopped by Isaac. 

 

“What’s wrong?” She stared at him in puzzlement. 

 

Isaac’s jaw was tense. 

 

“Be careful.” 

 

Sable frowned at his words. 

 

It didn’t take her long to find out the meaning behind his words. 

 

As she walked forward, she was suddenly overcome with both an uncomfortable sensation, but also a strong desire welling inside her to touch the orb. Unknowingly, she started to focus on the orb.  

 

The knights were also able to sense something was strange when they first approached the orb. Although they lacked the ability to sense mana, they could not ignore the growing sense of unease the closer they got to the orb. 

 

Yet, none of them felt the strong desire as Sable did. 

 

The first one to notice something was wrong with her was Isaac and Auberon. The mana from the orb filled their senses, but they were able to sense the faint trace of mana coming from Sable.

 

Isaac realized that she activated her ability, but he didn’t understand why. Pushing the uncomfortable feeling aside, he tried to go after Sable. 

 

At this point, Sable fully activated her ability. In her heightened state, she moved forward with an unnatural speed. Her body was moving on its own. 

 

“Stop her!” Isaac suddenly yelled. 

 

Several knights attempted to grab her, but each one failed as she dodged out of the way. 

 

Finally, Grand Duke Lione was able to grab her coat. She struggled against him. 

 

“Snap out of it! Sable!” Noticing that she was in a trance, he called out to her. However, Sable didn’t respond. 

 

Rather, before the Grand Duke could grab her, she slipped out of the coat that she was wearing and ran to the orb. 

 

Unable to stop her, the others could only look on in horror. 

 

As Sable stood over the orb, she suddenly removed her gloves. She fell to her knees, and the moment she touched the orb, a blinding light filled the area. 

 

When Grand Duke Lione and Isaac opened their eyes, Sable was laying in the snow, unconscious. 

 

“Sable!” Isaac ran to her limp form. 

 

Concerningly, she was feverish and gasping for air. Her condition appeared critical. 

 

Isaac was forced to recall the memories of when he first found her, dying of hypothermia. He looked up in a panic at the Grand Duke. 

 

“What the hell just happened?” Grand Duke Lione was shocked by Sable’s actions. 

 

“I don’t know, Your Grace.” Isaac carefully wrapped his coat around her. “She suddenly activated her ability.” 

 

“She absorbed the mana coming from the orb.” Auberon’s calm voice interjected. The dire wolf finally moved from his hiding spot and approached them. 

 

“What?” Grand Duke Lione looked at the dire wolf. 

 

“You no longer feel it, do you not?” Auberon tilted his head. 

 

At first, Grand Duke Lione and Isaac were confused by his words until they both realized that the uncomfortable feeling coming from the orb had disappeared. 

 

They stared at the young girl in confusion. However, they could not do so for long as her face contorted in pain. 

 

Examining her condition, Grand Duke Lione made a decision. He turned to Auberon. 

 

“Lord Auberon, I’m thankful for your help, but I’m afraid we’ll have to part ways here.” He bowed in gratitude at the dire wolf. 

 

Auberon nodded in understanding. 

 

“Knights! We’re heading back to the village!” Grand Duke Lione ordered. He walked back and grabbed the inactive orb. 

 

Forming a protective circle around Isaac, who was holding Sable, the party started making their way back to the village in a hurry. 

 

Auberon observed them as they left. 

 

“An interesting child, indeed.” He chuckled to himself. 

 

He then turned to the side. 

 

“Now, shall I ask what those little rabbits are doing here?” 

 

Auberon’s eyes shone with a cold glint. 

 

~~~ 

 

Sable blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Realizing that she was looking at a ceiling, she sat up to look at her surroundings. 

 

She was in a prison cell. In fact, it was the same prison cell where she drank the poison and died. 

 

She rubbed her eyes in confusion. 

 

“...Are you finally awake?” 

 

A familiar voice called out to her. 

 

Slowly turning her head, she made eye contact with the other Sable, sitting on the other side of the cell. She looked at her older counterpart with shock. 

 

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Sarcasm laced her voice as she spread her arms out to indicate their cell. 

 

“W-Why am I here?” 

 

The other Sable looked guilty. 

 

“I apologize for putting you through that.” 

 

Sable furrowed her brows. 

 

“That… was you?” 

 

The other Sable nodded. 

 

“I needed a way to talk to you, and after thinking for quite a long time, this was the method I came up with.” She paused, then quietly muttered. “Although, it was a gamble.” 

 

Sable’s eye twitched when she heard her whisper. 

 

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t gamble with my life.” 

 

The other Sable raised a brow. 

 

“What?” Sable looked at her questioningly. 

 

“Nothing.” The other Sable shook her head. 

 

“Anyways, as much as I’d love to talk to you, we’re on a time limit and we have a lot to talk about, little Sable. Tell me, what was the last thing you remember before… you know.” 

 

“I remember being here.” Sable gestured around to the prison cell. “Then drinking the poison, and everything going black.” 

 

The other Sable nodded thoughtfully. 

 

“I see.” 

 

She fell quiet for a moment. 

 

“When you, or rather I, died, I didn’t reincarnate like you did. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that you didn’t reincarnate at all.” 

 

Sable blinked in confusion. 

 

“Didn’t that wolf tell you? ‘Another presence’ were his words.” The other Sable explained. 

 

“Then who… what exactly are you?” 

 

The other Sable sighed. 

 

“While it is true that we are both the person known as Sable, it would not be false to say that I am a different you.” 

 

“Please don’t speak in riddles.” Sable gave her other self an odd look. 

 

“We are two souls who live in the same body. And you, the surviving Sable, inherited some of my memories.” 

 

Sable struggled to make sense of the information that was given to her. 

 

“That-” 

 

“Sounds crazy?” The other Sable smiled in self-derision. “I’ve had a lot of time to think, little Sable. When you’re, quite literally, trapped inside your own head, it’s hard to remain entirely sane...”

 

Her voice trailed off. 

 

A dark emotion flitted across the other Sable’s face. 

 

“Do you know why I told you that we were all pawns?” 

 

Without waiting for her to respond, the other Sable continued to speak. 

 

“After I died, my soul didn’t pass on, unlike what they preach at the church. Rather, my soul continued to wander and so, I witnessed the events at the Capital.” 

 

She stared at the ground with a distant look. 

 

“After our execution, the Grand Duke left to go after Marquis Marten. This, of course, meant that he had to leave the Capital in order to pursue him. I thought that after they captured the Marquis, then that would be the end, but…” 

 

She stared directly at Sable. 

 

“I was wrong.” 

 

~~~ 

 

The disembodied soul of Sable floated above the Capital. 

 

It was an understatement to say that she was surprised to find herself opening her eyes after dying from the poison. The place she was standing over was an unmarked grave in the commoner’s district. 

 

When she tried to ask for help from the first person she saw, not only did they not see her, but they also walked right through her. 

 

In her confusion and panic, she ran around the streets of the Capital trying to find someone who could see her or respond to her cries. 

 

In the end, this was a fruitless effort. After wandering for a while, she found herself back at the unmarked grave. 

 

It was there that Sable spent a while thinking. About the man that called himself her father, the decisions that led her here, she didn’t know how long she spent thinking, but she replayed the events in her head. 

 

Slowly, dark emotions and a desire for revenge grew inside her. 

 

She hated the man who called her useless and discarded her like a piece of trash. She hated herself for ever trying to earn his love when she should have known better. 

 

If she was ever given a second chance, she would make sure to kill him herself. 

 

However, she was dead. 

 

She didn’t know why her soul was still here, but rather than sit around and lament her fate, she decided to make the most of it. Assessing her disembodied form, she discovered that aside from passing through physical objects, she could also fly around the Capital. Making use of her new abilities, she moved through the Capital and arrived at the Grail Palace, the palace of the royal family. 

 

For a while, she roamed the halls of the palace, unsure as to what she was looking for exactly. Eventually, she ended up in the strategy room. 

 

It was there that she found the Grand Duke.