Chapter 111: I Killed The Man Who Truly Loved Me
Odesse’s chest tightened as she looked at little Azure, the weight of the girl’s words pressing heavily into the quiet parlor. "Why would that happen?" she asked softly.
Little Azure looked down at her hands, her voice dropping to a fragile whisper. "You see, Odesse... Koa was like a bright, blinding light for Azure back then. When he was there, we completely forgot about Valex and the witchery. Koa gave us his absolute, undivided attention, and for a time, it was healthy. It was everything we needed." A faint, bittersweet smile touched the child’s lips. "And most importantly, he never looked at us like we were monsters. He never looked at us with disgust."
Odesse looked down at the floor, letting the words settle, before meeting the girl’s eyes again. "So... what happened next?"
Little Azure hesitated, her shoulders tensing before she continued. "When he left for the soldier camp, I didn’t return to the witchery immediately."
"Oh, really?" Odesse murmured.
"Yes," the child nodded. "After Koa and I married, I spent almost every moment with him. When he left, I suddenly had no one to talk to. The house was massive, but it felt so suffocatingly small. One day, I tried to go outside, but the eyes of the townspeople watching me made me so frustrated. When I was with Koa, I didn’t care who looked at me. But when I was alone... it felt like the entire world had eyes, watching my every move with absolute revulsion. So, I turned around and went back inside, locking myself away from the sunlight."
The child took a shaky breath, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. "In that empty house, I started hearing noises. The walls felt so thin. I could hear whispers... and then I started seeing shadows. It drove me completely mad. But still, I suppressed the urge to peek into Valex’s life. I stayed away from the magic. That torture lasted for almost a year."
Little Azure’s voice began to tremble. "Then, one day, I received a letter from Koa. He was supposed to return the very next day, but a political crisis occurred at the war front, and his leave was extended for another month. He wrote that he was so sorry, telling me how much he loved me and begging me to take care of myself." The child looked up, her eyes swimming with fresh tears. "Little did he know, as I read those words, I was seated on the cold floor of our bedroom, covered in self-inflicted cuts, bleeding in the dark."
Odesse watched the little girl in absolute silence, her heart aching with a profound, heavy sadness.
"I was devastated," little Azure sobbed, tears finally spilling over and dropping onto her lap. "I screamed and cried, praying that what I read was a lie. I tried to convince myself that maybe he just wanted to surprise me, that he would still walk through the door the next day. I stayed awake all night, tortured by the voices and the figures in the shadows, waiting for morning. But he never returned."
She tightened her small fists, her body shaking as the tears flowed faster. "He never came back."
Moved by a deep instinct to comfort her, Odesse shifted closer on the couch, stretching out her arm to offer the shivering child a warm embrace. Little Azure quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand, her voice growing thick and heavy with dark emotion as she pushed through the memory.
"I became desperate. I went to the store room and dug through our old luggage, where all my forbidden witchery books and potions were buried. I pulled one out. The very first thing that popped into my head was to spy on Valex’s soul. And when I breached his spirit, I saw it—I saw that he was tied to a horrific curse placed by Malrik, a curse that caused all his wives to die."
Little Azure locked eyes with Odesse. "It was hard seeing Valex’s soul suffer like that, Odesse... but a part of me was happy. I thought, if his wives are destined to die, then I can walk into his life one day, cure him of the curse, and be his ultimate savior. I kept spying on him, becoming more and more attached to my dark ways. The house was still a tomb, but I found a twisted sense of peace whenever I performed witchery. I did it constantly—not just to watch Valex, but to spy on everyone."
"So it became a coping mechanism," Odesse said softly, realization dawning on her. "A way to survive after losing Koa’s presence."
"Yes," little Azure whispered. "It was."
She paused, swallowing hard before continuing. "A month passed, and Koa finally returned home." A faint, genuine smile broke through her tears. "Oh, you cannot imagine how happy I was, Odesse. The moment I saw him standing at the front door, I ran to him and threw my arms around him, hugging him incredibly tight. He told me he was only back for two months. I was sad, but he promised we would make every moment worth it. We spent beautiful, romantic time together. We traveled. I was genuinely happy again, and I didn’t think about witchery or Valex even once."
The child’s face suddenly went entirely blank, the warmth vanishing. "But one night, while we were asleep, I had a nightmare. A horrific nightmare where a voice kept chanting Valex’s name over and over. And since that night... I was never the same again. I became entirely cold toward Koa. Everything he did annoyed me. He still showed me nothing but compassion—he was never harsh, and he never looked at me with disgust—but I was the one who kept pushing him to the edge. When the two months ended, he had to leave again. I could feel a sharp, agonizing pain in my heart, screaming at me to stop him, to save our marriage... but I just stood at the top of the stairs and watched him walk out the door. The moment it clicked shut, the house turned pitch black and suffocating. I collapsed to the floor and wept in absolute agony."
Odesse listened, completely frozen, unable to find words for the gruesome, tragic sequence of events that had systematically broken Azure’s mind.
"My entire life began to revolve around Valex," little Azure continued, her voice growing hollow. "He consumed my thoughts and my dreams, to the point where I didn’t care what Koa did anymore. Whenever Koa came back on leave, his presence just made me furious." She squeezed her small hands together, a grimace of pure psychological pain crossing her features. "But Odesse... my true spirit was fighting against it. Every time Koa returned, a part of me tried its absolute best to break through the darkness and be happy. But it felt like the universe itself was actively working against me. We reached our fourth year of marriage, and through it all, he never once looked at me with disgust. He never complained. He did try to talk to me about how little effort I was bringing to our life together, but he was rarely home anyway, because his unit was preparing for a massive political battle at the war front."
The child’s eyes grew cold and detached. "I got so bored, Odesse. So incredibly tired of the marriage and the endless waiting. In a moment of complete madness, I released a dark spell—a curse that would ensure he would be killed on the battlefield. And that is exactly where he lost his life."
Odesse gasped softly, her hand flying to her mouth in horror.
"I was in deep, suffocating agony for an entire year," little Azure said, staring blankly ahead. "I locked myself inside that house until the grief finally wore off. Then, I returned to the Moonlight Pack, waiting for my moment to strike." She looked down at her shaking palms. "I killed the only man who ever truly loved me. And that... that is my absolute biggest regret."
The silence in the room was deafening. Odesse swallowed the lump in her throat, her voice trembling. "Does... does the Azure out there in the living world remember him?"
"Yes, she remembers him," the child replied bitterly. "But she doesn’t remember the sweet, romantic, true version of him. She only remembers a twisted version that her maniacal mind fabricated to fit her delusion—a fantasy where she is the innocent victim, and he was the one who failed her."
Odesse felt a wave of profound, agonizing pity wash over her. "This is so incredibly sad," she thought to herself, her mind spinning in confusion. "I feel nothing but sorrow for her now... I don’t even know if I have the heart to kill her anymore..."
Instantly, little Azure snapped her head up, her eyes wide and urgent as she read Odesse’s mind. "You must kill her, Odesse."
Odesse flinched, looking down at the child. "You... you want me to kill her?"
Little Azure nodded firmly. "Yes, I do. You have to understand—Azure only lives for the thrill of the chase. After Valex rejected her, she was entirely ready to die. You could have killed her easily back then, but you didn’t. Instead, she found a brand new thrill to keep her going: you. She built this entire curse as another game, another bomb for herself. If you lose this opportunity right now because you feel bad for her..." The child’s voice dropped to a chilling, serious whisper. "...then I am so sorry, Odesse, but no one knows what she will do next. She will find a new horror to give her a thrill, and we will never get her into a position where she is ready to die again. You have to end it."
Odesse took a deep breath, her focus sharpening as she leaned in. "What is her physical anchor? Where is it?"
Little Azure looked at her directly, the final piece of the puzzle locking into place. "It was the last present ever given to her by Koa."
"What is it?" Odesse pressed.
"A silver leg anklet," the child whispered. "She wears it always."
Comments