Lala felt like she was floating. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the feeling, rather it was the first time she had felt something in a long time. She felt like she had awoken from a long slumber. In truth, she couldn’t remember much of what happened once she was caught. She remembered a trial and a prison cell.

Lala spent much of her time ruminating.

[If only, I was stronger then… Sebastian wouldn’t have…] She thought over and over again.

Still, the current situation Lala was in was too bizarre to be considered normal

[Did the prime minister move me again?] She thought, the rumbling in her stomach was gone, rather she didn’t feel much at all

[Am I dead?]

Thinking further, she probably died at some point probably of starvation or something similar, but Lala didn’t particularly care. The world she had been born into, had nothing left for her anyway, rather

She tried to move her limbs only, to find that they had been bound by some sort of ethereal chain. She pulled on the chain and it seemed like it would be impossible for her to leave them.

In her world, there were a few religions that dealt with the afterlife plenty of them would describe as an afterlife, where the good would be blessed with heavenly relief, and sinners would be punished with imprisonment or torture. Lala was beginning to think she was in the latter camp.

“Ow” Lala whispered

She felt a throbbing pain on her head, not unlike a migraine. It was like a nail embedding itself deep into her head.

Suddenly a voice called out.

“What a troublesome little thing. Please be wiped and move one”

The man in front of Lala was a terrifying figure, with slicked-backed grey hair and golden eyes that seemed to pierce her.

She felt another pain in her head and gave a groan.

“Please stop making this more difficult, these memories are difficult enough already to remove.” The man had a slightly annoyed expression on his face still, his face was inhuman as if he was merely mimicking the act of annoyance rather than actually feeling it.

[Memories? What is this man talking about?] Lala said.

Another piercing pain went through her head. She felt something leave her.

“Ah I’m getting closer, the image of that troublesome man is gone now.” The man was starting to look relieved.

[Image?] It was then that Lala was struck with the horrifying realization that she could no longer remember what Sebastian looked like. The man in front of her, through some sort of mysterious method, was trying to make her forget Sebastian.

“I refuse!” She shouted.

A vein bulged in the man’s neck,

“Just. Be. Erased.” He said coldly

“Suck it!” Lala bit back.

Lala continued to feel the piercing pains in her head. Each time she desperately held on. The memories of Sebastian slipped in the beginning.

[Where did we go when we left the palace again? Ah mou! This guy I have to hold on]

Lala stubbornly held on, and as she grew more used to the pain, it soon softened into a dull throb something that had become laughably manageable.

The man in front of her was sweating slighting and the bulging vein on his forehead had grown larger.

“Annoying,” he said speaking to himself. He stopped whatever he was doing and stared at Lala.

“You are more trouble than it’s worth I’m already bored of you, Enjoy eternity rotting alone, you miserable piece of mana.”

The man flicked his fingers and the chains binding Lala vanished. The ground underneath her disappeared as well and suddenly she felt herself being stuck in a free fall into a pitch-black abyss. She felt a feeling like being squeezed and a pinching pain and suddenly a thud as her body came crashing down into a hard rock surface.

Lala looked around her peering into the dark caverns around her.

[Where am I?] She thought.

She stood up and dusted herself off.

[I miss Sebastian] she thought

She felt a piece of her, disappear into the cavern walls around her, and a small shadow puff appeared on the ground. The puff seemed happy to see her.

[Odd. What are you?] She thought.

To her surprise, a small screen appeared in front of her.

Simple Dark Spirit

Race: [Spirit] Age: 1

HP: 4

Mana: 2

Agility: 1

Strength: 1

Defense: 1

Skills: none

Traits: [Minor Dark Spirit]

Another prompt appeared in front of her.

“Name this spirit”

Y/N

At that moment, Lala, who had closed her heart opened it slightly once again.

Kitsura

So, I apologize in advance, but I guess I'm no longer doing daily updates and switching my schedule.

I am sorry for the daily readers, I don't take this decision lightly, there has been a lot of thought(Going on hiatus or thoughts of dropping the novel entirely...), but I still want to finish this story even if it takes me longer. It's the first piece of fiction I feel proud of and I want to give it a fitting end rather than letting it die.

I just simply don't have the time or energy to keep up with daily updates. For context, I am literally busy 8am to 8pm most days right now and while I've usually been good at fitting time into my schedule to write during my downtime between classes and weekends, I don't even have weekends anymore with how busy I am.

I will plan for Mon, Wed, Fri released which leaves my weekends open and coincides with deer on Tues, Thurs, and bring my weekly writing count to ~4.5k words with extra time to spare. Chapters take me between 1-2 hours to write and it's just too hard to fit it into my schedule without sacrificing sleep, social life, or grades at this point.

Patreon readers may have noticed a decline in chapters with slow updates and this is the reason why. Last month, was the first time in five months, I was missing a chapter at the end of the month, and I was very close to refunding all my patrons for not holding up my end of the deal.

Honestly, I hate myself for having to do this, but I hope this explains my decision-making a little more. Once, we're past December 9th(Finals) I may have a bit more time but for now, this will be the schedule going forward.

I will try to post extra chapters when I can.

Love you all, 

Newfypuppie.