Under the clear moonlight, the whole forest is silent and peaceful, occasionally emitting one or two birdsong, but also fleeting, hidden in the quiet night.
Wendy stood by the lake, looking up at the three full moons in the sky, and softly sang a mysterious song. The gentle and peaceful song was like a big invisible hand, gently soothing the noise in the forest and bringing everything into an eternal dream. The silver-white light of the lake washed over the rocks on the shore, and the soft sound was like the accompaniment of nature.
"What are you doing here?"
It wasn't until Wendy stopped singing that Jared asked.
"Guardian-sama ... you still awake?"
Wendy didn't seem very surprised by Jared's appearance.
"Couldn't sleep, so I took a walk."
Jared shrugged his shoulders, but he clearly had no intention of digressing.
"What are you doing here? The forest can be very dangerous, and I don't want the next time I see you to be in the belly of some beast."
"I'm praying, Lord Guardian."
Hearing Jared's words, Wendy replied indifferently, as she always did. But Jared quickly noticed that in the girl's hand, she was holding a pendant tightly. At the moment, Wendy was looking at the pendant, as if she was stuck in some kind of memory." I must thank you, Lord Guardian." Then, Wendy said something that surprised Jared.
"I don't seem to have done anything that you need to thank me for ."
"You killed the source of evil, the cruel murderers, which not only gave peace to my sister's soul, but also freed me from the pain I had suffered for so long. For this, I must thank you."
Hearing Wendy's indifferent but strong answer, Jared couldn't help but freeze, he then remembered what kind of role Wendy had played in the massacre in Green Shade City.
It was her magic that dispelled fear and filled with courage that she cast on those panicked people, so that they did not flee from this hell on earth because of their instinctive fear, but instead took the initiative to welcome death. It can be said that in the whole war of massacre, although Wendy didn't kill a single person personally, but what she did was to use another form of forcing people to go out of their way.
As you can see, Wendy's anger and hatred was no less than Jared's and Caroline's at the time, but her way of expressing it was more "sinister". Jared had heard Kylie talk about this kind of fear-boosting, courage-boosting magic, which was usually used in large-scale wars. Wizards sang hymns of courage, banishing the fear of those who went into battle and making them brave at the same time. Of course, in a battle between two armies, this kind of wide range of spells is quite obvious, and the attack power of the soldiers who do not fear death, or even the fear of death is far away, is far from being able to withstand the ordinary army. After all, when both sides are equal in strength, it is the soldiers' mentality and tactics that count. The term "routed" does not simply refer to a superficial defeat, but the psychological pressure is the real reason for the rout.
But it was clear that Jared, Caroline, Kula, each of them possessed a strength that could not be resisted. Every one of them possesses a powerful strength that can't be resisted, under such circumstances, Wendy actually banished their fear, and "kindly" gave them the courage to do so is to push those people into the fire pit. At first Jared did not think so much, but only just now, hearing Wendy's words he finally recalled the situation.
"My Sister ..."
Wendy held the pendant in her hand and whispered to herself as if she didn't care if Jared wanted to be a listener or not, or maybe, she was just talking to herself.
"Unlike me, my sister is very healthy and active, unlike me, who grew up weak and sickly. She was also gifted with very good abilities, and for as long as I can remember, she protected me, but I didn't want to hide behind her all the time. So I entered the academy and began studying magic. I chose Lord Celestia's school of magic because if my sister got hurt, I could help her and watch over her. Just as she has always stood by my side. And my sister became a truly gifted warrior as she wished, and we made a contract ...The days of that time were very happy and peaceful."
Here, Wendy gripped the pendant tightly in her hand, and she didn't turn around or even look at Jared for more than half a second.
"But everything changed when I became an apprentice Praetorian, after that mission I received."
Her voice gradually trembled, as if the frozen surface of the ice had begun to break up and melt, revealing the surging water beneath the surface.
"Originally, the Lord of Heaven's order was for me to go to the Kingdom of Marco alone to accomplish a task. After all, apart from being a San Marino, I'm just a simple magician. And a magician can get good treatment anywhere on the continent. But my sister found out about this news from somewhere, and she pestered me to agree to her traveling with me, and I have to say that I was really too naive at that time."
Wendy's slender body trembled slightly, while Jared was silent, having evidently guessed the truth of what was to follow which was too harsh for Wendy.
"Although I have heard of the Marco Kingdom's exceptionally cruel treatment of the gifted, but we are all children after all, and have never witnessed such horrible and absurd things. In addition, within San Marino Empire, the treatment of gifted people is not particularly discriminatory, so I finally agreed to my sister's proposal. Although in fact, I didn't want my sister to go with me. After all, Lord Cang Tian's orders are absolute, and since she had already reminded me not to bring Gifted people into the Marco Kingdom, it was naturally reasonable. But I am ... Perhaps, being by my sister's side for so long has made me develop the habit of relying on her."
The wind became cold, from the trees through the gap of the wind not only did not weaken the meaning, as if with a wail more and more bleak, as if in the set off Wendy's inner sadness.
"So in the City of Green, my sister was found and we were hunted. But in the end, my sister hid me, and then she went out and sacrificed herself to save my life. I still remember clearly what my sister said to me at that time ... It was her responsibility, we were in trouble because of her willfulness ...! No, it's my responsibility! If I had strongly opposed her traveling, then my sister would not have ..."
Wendy's voice became high in an instant, and a sadness, a pain, and a deep remorse that Jared had never seen before suddenly appeared on her originally indifferent and expressionless face. Jared was silent, because he agreed that Wendy was right to blame herself. Jared wouldn't comfort Wendy by saying, "It's not your fault," like everyone else. In fact, it was Wendy's own fault for not following orders, for letting her personal feelings cloud her judgment, and for taking any danger that might have arisen under those circumstances. And Wendy herself, because she knew this, was in pain and could not be extricated.
Everyone makes mistakes, and one mistake can sometimes be enough to make you regret it for the rest of your life.
"I will never forget the day when my sister was tied naked to the stake and the young children took pleasure in stoning her head and body. The adults laughed and gazed at my sister with irony, and even the old men, trembling on their crutches and supporting their frail bodies, cursed and damned my sister. I couldn't understand, I didn't want to understand, why they hated my sister so much, we didn't know them, we never met them, why did they hate her so much? But my sister didn't scream even when she was surrounded by fire, she just looked at me in the crowd and kept looking at me like that, we were sisters. I was all she had, and she, too, was all I had. ..."
Wendy was silent for a moment, then raised her hand, and the beautiful sapphire pendant slid through an arc into the lake, splashing as if it had never existed.
Then she turned around and looked directly at Jared.
"Lord Guardian, you have avenged me and made me taste the joy of vengeance. My sister, too, will be able to rest in peace amidst the wails of those souls who deserve to be damned to an eternity of agony in hell. I think I owe you a response. ..."
Said Wendy, gently reaching out.
Originally wrapped in the body of the robe fell off in an instant, only to reveal the inner translucent underwear and the young girl's delicate white body, like a small, delicate white flower, waiting to be picked, ravaged, after the last bloom of luster faded.
"This is a decision that I, ... Wendy, have made of my own free will. For me, it is also the only thing I have. Lord Guardian, if my body can make you feel happy, please enjoy and possess it to your heart's content. This is my only request, and the only thing I can give you in return as 'Wendy'."
Only at this moment, the girl was no longer a mere puppet, but an act of her own, of her own will.