Chapter 70: 57 - Cthulhu
After such a warm and tight embrace, we both put our clothes back on.
Yet, the lingering intensity that had washed over my body still felt suspended, clinging to my pores as if time hadn’t moved. Perhaps my body hadn’t fully recovered from the recent emotional explosion.
As I thought about it, my eyes inadvertently fell upon Azalea’s faintly forming cleavage—still young, unripe, unlike mine.
Perhaps it would grow someday. Or perhaps not.
But before my thoughts could linger, something pierced me: a gaze.
A gaze that stiffened the back of my neck—sharp, murderous, distinctly hers.
I looked up.
"What are you looking at?"
Ah, she has returned back to her old self...
The little sister I was so familiar with—sullen, cold, and sadistic.
It was truly strange, considering she had just hugged then shagged my body as if warming it, not as a sibling, but... something more foreign. Deeper than love.
Her extreme shifts in character always sent shivers down my spine.
And honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the person who eventually loved her also had to bear such an eerie peculiarity.
"Oh, it’s nothing. Just curious."
"You must be thinking weird things, right, big sis? Just so you know, I was like that because you were crying like a disqualified princess thrown into a gutter, you know?"
There comes her sullen nature again.
That was Azalea Rosella Lovecraft: our family’s voodoo doll.
Full of contradictions. Indifferent like a duck, then suddenly clingy like a kitten.
Cold on the outside, but warm inside her cracks.
"Oh, I see... well, fine. I’ll tell Arturo you wet the bed when you were little."
"Hey, don’t do that! That’s cheating, big sis!" she said, clapping a hand over my mouth and pushing me—I, who hadn’t finished changing, fell.
We both tumbled to the floor. Azalea was now directly on top of me.
She looked at me with a cunning smile, a smile that made my hair stood on end.
Perhaps because I was still not fully clothed.
"Azalea... whatever is on your mind, please don’t do it."
She only smirked.
"Oh really? Then what was that ’shagging on the bed’ just now for?"
Her words hit hard—not because of their meaning, but because of how she said them. As if all boundaries had blurred.
Without a warning, she kissed me. Fiercely. Deeply. Our breaths mingled, dropping something warm into my oral cavity.
But something wasn’t right.
"Enough, that’s enough..." I gently pushed her away.
"Dinner will begin soon," I said, making an excuse.
She got off me, then smiled like a child who knew they had just done something wrong. I quickly moved away and re-buttoned my clothes.
"So, big sis wants more, huh? It’s fine. I’ll oblige, even until midnight."
Her voice sounded like a child finding a new toy. But that was precisely what was frightening. Because I felt the same way.
Yes, we were alike.
Both of us liked what was beautiful—even if that beauty was terrifying.
That was the Lovecraft family.
Everything enjoyable, no matter how terrifying—that was life.
"No. Don’t. I’d rather apologize."
"For what? I wasn’t hurt."
Her gaze was innocent. Cold. As if what had just happened was merely a casual act between siblings from a respectable family.
"Because I introduced you to the outside world."
She smiled faintly, then extended a hand to help me stand.
"I understand, don’t worry. You did the same thing with brother Arturo, right?"
Your world instantly shook.
"H-h-how did you know?!"
She merely winked, placing her index finger to her lips.
"That’s... a secret."
* * *
After the dinner banquet, I walked down the corridor of this old mansion. Hanging lamps dangled like withered corpse flowers, suspending their hopes from the ceiling.
I was looking for... something. Or more precisely: someone feline.
"Cthulhu... where are you, darling?"
The sound of my leather shoes echoed softly against the cold marble.
And then, as if answering my call, another set of footsteps was heard.
The steps were too light... yet too regular.
From the open spiral staircase balcony in the evening, she appeared.
"Helena," she said, her voice reverberating like water echoing in a basement.
I turned. Our gazes locked.
Her name is Chthulhu. She is not a human, let alone a monster. Not anyone—and therefore, she could be anything. Including part of this family. Including a pet cat.
"A creature will come that will change the magical world forever," she said.
"That creature... an elf. But imperfect. Peculiar. Lame. Too alien to be understood. And she will destroy everything—including the Lovecraft family."
I frowned.
"Who? Selene?" I asked spontaneously.
My rival, now an Arcanist Mage, too clever for her own good. If she were going to do that, it would be more than expected from someone as powerful as her.
But Cthulhu remained silent.
"No. This creature... is sent. From another world."
I fell silent.
Suddenly, the air around me turned cold.
Interdimensional delivery? That was Void-level magic, something even top-tier Arcanists were reluctant to touch.
* * *
After our bodies united. After our breaths mingled in a bliss of pure carnal desire. And after she spoke my name—Helena—in a way no one ever had before...
Selene gave me a gift: Mytheia.
Not just an artifact, but a window to the future. And after Selene left my sight, I was curious and looked at the screen, beseeching for something.
When I finally looked into what I was beseeching for... I saw her.
That creature.
An elf. Exactly the same to what Cthulhu told me.
Incomplete. Peculiar.
But not because of her body frame.
Because of her origin. Because of the form of her soul.
And in that shadow—I saw her killed me.
Then one by one...
The Lovecraft family disappeared.
Azalea.
My mother.
Arturo’s trace was also erased.
As if our existence had been annihilated from the world.
I did not cry. All I could do was... plan.
If I couldn’t prevent the future, I would sabotage its reality.
And the best way to sabotage the future is to make the present too complicated to predict. Ergo, I built a scenario.
A case. A trap. A fake suicide scheme.
Which would make her—that creature—the prime suspect.
Kairi.
Yes, that was her name from Mytheia’s cipher.
I finally got it.
She would be imprisoned forever.
Banished from the magical world by a system too proud of its justice.
That was the only way... to save my family.
And not far too distant, that promised day had come.
Precisely, the day I first saw her with my own eyes.
Not through Mytheia’s reflection.
But real, standing in front of me.
That girl.
Shining hair. Flat face. Gaze like a broken glass.
Kairi Selene Eryndell Veylith was her registered name.
A creature from another world, who didn’t even know she was a curse.
And me?
I smiled at her.
"After class, please bring Kairi to my office. There’s something important I want to discuss."
Then I turned to her.
My eyes smiled. Your lips smiled.
My heart did not. No, never did.
"I’m truly grateful you’re alright. But this case... right now it’s Aethelgarten’s top priority."
"Both of you, please go to class now. And Kairi..."
"Yes?"
"Have fun and enjoy your day, okay."
I walked away.
Ah, that smile...
The smile when you finally met someone who had destined to destroy you.
And finally, you could embrace them...
While hiding a knife behind a ball gown.
Then, slowly but surely, kill them.
So, why am I telling you all this?
Because all of this...
is related to what is happening right now.
I opened my eyes.
My body was still weak.
My mind was smeared with a black fog.
But next to me...
Kairi. Lying down. Breathing. Still alive.
And then...
The door opened. Footsteps entered.
Hat. Badge.
A smile that was too calm.
He was in-disguise, but I could smell that scent.
No matter how much he hid his identity...
Arturo.
He approached, with a voice as calm as water touching a knife.
"Good morning. I’m Arthur Shakespeare from the International Magic Association. And we’d like to ask a few questions."
I smiled.
Finally, the game began.
