<b>Chapter </b><b>331 </b>
“The Solemnity Guild only takes in those whoe willingly, but I was brought here against my will,” Sara said, her voice <b>trembling</b><b>. </b><b>Thave </b><b>a </b><b>brother </b>
he loves me so much.”
Sara pleaded, her voice trembling, “Madelyn, why does the Solemnity Guild want me? I don’t want to kill, I don’t want to train–I just want <b>to </b><b>be </b>with re brother.”
“Madelyn… do you think I can ever go home?” Sara whispered, her voice trembling with fragile hope.
Whoever joined the Solemnity Guild could never leave.
Sara understood that, too. She slumped on the steps with a sigh and murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, “I can never go back, can <b>12 </b>Madelyn asked gently, “I heard you were covered in old wounds when you first arrived at the Solemnity Guild. What about your brother?”
Sara fell silent, her face shing with fear as if remembering someone. She said nervously, “It has nothing to do with my brother…”
Sara clutched at her clothes, curling into a tight ball with her face buried against her chest.
She was like a fragile fledgling, meant to be sheltered under wings, yet here she stood in this merciless ce that devours souls whole.
Madelyn’s heart softened. She reached out and gently stroked Sara’s head. “If you want to tell me, I’ll listen,” she said softly.
“Thank you, Madelyn,” Sara murmured.
A few dayster, Sara sought out Madelyn again, tightly clutching a well–worn notebook in her trembling hands. Its edges were frayed from years of use<b>, </b>and the pages had yellowed and turned brittle with age.
“Madelyn…” the girl asked hesitantly, “if I… if you ever meet my brother someday, could you please give him this notebook for me?”
Madelyn didn’t say a word, but she sensed something amiss. Looking at Sara with concern, she gently asked, “Why? You can give it to your brother yourself when we find him–there’s no hurry.”
Tears welled up in Sara’s eyes as she forced a small smile. “Then I’ll leave it with you for now. It’ll be safer that way.”
Madelyn took the notebook and nodded gently. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll keep it safe for you.”
Madelyn fixed Marcus with a gaze colder than ever. “Marcus, where’s Sara’s notebook?”
Marcus looked at her with a mocking sneer, his voice dripping with arrogance. “That worthless notebook? I burned it ages ago. It’s been two years–did you really think I’d still be holding <i>on </i>to it?”
Madelyn clenched her jaw, her voice trembling with rage. “If you want toe after me, then do it directly! Why drag Sara into this? She was never a threat to you!”
Seated on the stone bench, Marcus looked down at her with a superior air. He sneered, “Madelyn, that’s a question you should be asking <b>Sara</b>, <b>not </b><b>me </b>
“That good–for–nothing had no ce in the Solemnity Guild,” Marcus sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. “But she <b>had </b><b>to </b><b>be </b><b>kept here</b><b>–</b><b>so </b><b>death </b>was her only fate.
“I gave her a choice; kill you or die.
“She chose to die so you could live.
<b>“</b><b>You </b>two could’ve been travelingpanions to the underworld. Who <b>would’ve </b><b>thought</b>… <b>you’re </b>so <b>damn </b><b>tough</b><b>–</b><b>even </b><b>that </b><b>explosion </b><b>couldn’t </b>k
<b>1/2 </b>
He threw his head back in raucousughter, his grating cackles reverberating through the cavernous space.
Meeting Madelyn’s bloodthirsty re–so intense it seemed to drip blood–Marcus didn’t flinch. Instead, heughed with even greater arrogance and taunted, “You want to kill me?”
He defiantly lifted his chin and said, “Don’t forget the rules of the Solemnity Guild–kill and you die. Do you dare make a move?”
He got up and sauntered off, his stepszy and full of swagger.
In an instant, the wind swept through.
Marcus froze mid–step. “W–What did you do?” he stammered.
A needle shot into Marcus’s neck. He tried to move, but his whole body locked up–rigid as stone, unable to budge an inch.
“Madelyn! Let me go!” he screamed in panic.
Madelyn stepped closer, a frosty smirk curling at her lips. “Do you know why I came back? Because I’m going to kill you–and make sure you <b>die </b><b>in </b>agony.”
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