Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. In the winter of her fourteenth year, a riot of refugees broke out in Silverlight City, and her parents, who were distributing food to the refugees, never returned. Nightingale and her younger brother were sent to another branch of the Geran family, the home of her father's brother.
It was also in that winter that Nightingale awakened as a witch.
She carefully hid her abilities, but was still discovered by Old Geran, who snatched her younger brother away from her and used his life to threaten Nightingale into working for him.
Nightingale had no choice but to obey. She was specially trained by members of a thieves' guild hired by Old Geran, and then did some shady things for him, such as sneaking into the homes of business rivals to steal contracts and documents, eavesdropping on city hall meetings, and later, even putting poison in the water tanks or wine glasses of some potential competitors.
The Geran family's business grew bigger and bigger, but his attitude towards Nightingale also became increasingly worse, beating and kicking her whenever things didn't go his way. Except for working for him, he kept Nightingale locked in a room, and the door was replaced with iron bars. What made Nightingale the saddest and most puzzled was that her younger brother, Hyde, almost never came to see her anymore. She began to suspect that Old Geran had already killed her younger brother.
At her repeated requests, the other party brought her younger brother with a look of disgust. However, Hyde told Nightingale with a face full of disgust that he wished he didn't have a sister like her, and that witches should go to hell and keep company with demons.
Nightingale collapsed instantly, but the nightmare wasn't over. Old Geran gave her the final blow - the secret that she had become a witch was told to him by Hyde, just to get away from the witch, the further the better.
After sending Hyde away, Old Geran coldly warned her that her younger brother would inherit his father's title after he came of age, but if Nightingale did not continue to obey his orders, he could make her younger brother die silently at any time.
In this way, Nightingale was manipulated by the Geran family like a puppet in despair and great sorrow. In the Snow Moon of her upcoming adulthood, on the way back from completing a mission, she met Wendy. Or rather, Wendy found her.
Upon learning that the Witch Cooperation Association existed, and that there were many sisters like her who had encountered misfortune but had not given up resisting, a few sparks suddenly ignited in Nightingale's broken heart.
From confusion to determination, she didn't spend too much time. On her coming-of-age day a week later, she gritted her teeth and endured the torment, and her power also underwent earth-shattering changes. The mist was not only to hide her figure, she found that those iron bars could no longer stop her.
After the symptoms of the coming-of-age day recovered, she entered Old Geran's bedroom like a ghost one night and cut open his neck with a bishou. Seeing the blood spurting several feet high and the other party's wheezing sound, she was surprised to find herself calmer than she had imagined.
Afterwards, Nightingale left the Geran family. As for her younger brother, Hyde, she didn't want to bother with him anymore.
In this way, she and Wendy embarked on a journey to find the Cooperation Association.
After Nightingale finished speaking, she waited for a moment and saw that the prince was still immersed in the past, so she excused herself and left. It took Roland a long time to come back to his senses. He had to say that every witch had a long and painful history, and those who could live to adulthood were the best of the best.
And the fact that he could transmigrate and become a prince was really the luckiest thing ever.
The next morning, Roland went to Nightingale's room to visit Wendy.
After a whole night of rest, Wendy looked much better, and the arm that had been reattached had also regained its color. Although her body was still a little weak, she still supported herself and bowed to the prince as a sign of respect.
"I already know about your matter. Thank you for saving Nightingale's life," Roland took out a piece of parchment from his arms and said straight to the point, "There is no doubt that Hakkala can no longer accept you back into the Cooperation Association. Why not stay in Border Town and work for me? If you agree, sign this contract. The salary is the same as Anna's, one Gold Royal per month."
"Your Highness..." Nightingale blinked her eyes, hesitant to speak.
Roland naturally knew what she wanted to say. For this friend who had changed the trajectory of her life and saved her life in the Impassable Mountain Range, Nightingale didn't want to force Wendy to make a decision so quickly. In her opinion, as long as Wendy stayed in Border Town for a while, she would definitely lean towards her side.
"I also wish I didn't have to talk about this so urgently, but some things become more dangerous with each day that passes." Roland paused for a moment, and Wendy didn't interrupt, waiting quietly for what he would say next. "I think I might know how witches can get through the Awakening Day unharmed."
"What?" As soon as these words came out, both witches changed their expressions and asked in unison.
"It's just a guess, there's no concrete evidence," Roland waved his hand and said, "The harm that witches receive in the camp is less than when they are liuwang. The only difference is that when you are liuwang, you hide your identities, afraid of being discovered, while in the camp, you have to constantly use your abilities to maintain the daily operation of the camp."
Wendy nodded, "What you said... is right."
"And Anna in the castle, has to train her abilities every day. Before the Coming-of-Age Day, she even exhausted her magic power and fainted. When she woke up, she had already safely passed the most difficult stage for witches, and was unscathed."
"So I think this may be the key to solving the Demonic Beast's devouring. Witches are containers of magic power. In the process of growing, magic power constantly accumulates, and when it exceeds the body's tolerance limit, it will cause harm to itself. And the Month of Demons itself is the time when the witch's power is at its strongest."
"If you can constantly release your magic power and keep it at a safe value, maybe the torment of the Awakening Day will be greatly reduced, or even completely disappear." Roland paused and then said, "As the lord of Border Town, I can provide witches with a place to release their power at will. No one will arrest, try, or directly execute you because of it. If my guess is correct, then without a doubt, Border Town is the Holy Mountain you have been searching for for a long time."
Witches have been taught since birth that this dangerous ability is given by demons. Those who are a little more clear-headed will only think that the power that constantly backfires on itself is a curse. This is a vicious cycle: the more you don't want to use it, the stronger the backlash will be. As a transmigrator, Roland's attitude towards this power is completely different. After reading the memories of the Fourth Prince and excluding the existence of the True God, he simply regards magic power as a kind of energy, a kind of superpower that can be controlled by his own will.
Wendy was silent for a long time before asking, "If I sign the contract and agree to work for you, what... what will I need to do first?"
In these hundreds of years, some witches have been secretly imprisoned by a few ambitious people because of their unique abilities, and used as consumables. Although the church severely punishes such behavior, it is still difficult to stop. And they are ruthless when using witches. Once they lose their value, their fate is miserable.
Roland had naturally heard of this, but what he valued was long-term interests, a win-win sustainable development system. He smiled and replied, "What you need to do first is to practice your ability repeatedly until you completely master it - just like Anna."
Welcome all friends to visit and read. The latest, fastest, and most popular serialized works are all in original!