Eternal Undying Chronicles

The snow had started to pile up. Three days had passed since Alicarde and Malefica arrived in the village, and at this moment, Alicarde's patience was wearing thin. They had tried to meet Cassandra the morning after they arrived, only to find out she had left the village.

She didn't return until late that night. The next day, they went to meet her again, but she claimed to be too tired from her trip, though Alicarde and Malefica later discovered she had only been staying in a small cottage just outside the village.

They got this particular information from a young witch named Marian. She was a bit too easy to trick.

By the third day, Cassandra had made it blatantly obvious she did not want to talk and was simply wasting their time.

Alicarde felt a strong urge to kill her. He would have started a massacre if not for keeping himself under control, suppressing the aggressive influence of his true name. He did not want to kill Malefica's people.

On the upside, he had been sharing a bed with Malefica for the past three nights and enjoying her home-cooked meals. It felt almost like they were a married couple. That was part of the reason he was willing to be patient, despite not being able to stand the disrespect from the witch.

However, he made up his mind: if the sun set and the witch made no effort to meet them, he would make her pay.

Taking a deep breath, he felt the chill in the air as snow began to fall. Winter had arrived.

He heard a thud behind him, followed by a groan. He smiled under his hood, recognizing the voice. It was the young witch Marian, who was quite clumsy.

"Careful, girl. You might hurt yourself," he said.

She stood up, snow in her blonde hair, her nose and fingers slightly red from the cold.

"Yes, I will," she replied.

He shook his head. For the past three days, she had served as a guide—or rather, an observer. Oddly, she seemed more interested in watching him rather than Malefica. Alicarde wondered if it was because he was a man in a predominantly female society. That would explain their caution. Then again, he was also an outsider, which could be another reason.

At first, Marian had been somewhat afraid of him, but after spending time together, her fear had faded. Alicarde had a naturally sarcastic side, especially during the day, and could even be somewhat playful. She quickly warmed up to him.

Marian was roughly his age, maybe a year or two older, but still close enough. She saw him as a mysterious figure, a reaper with a deep, sinister voice and an inexplicable connection to the "evil" Witch of the Night, Malefica. Yet, she found him quite nice—or at least, she thought so.

Brushing off the snow, Marian coughed awkwardly.

"I-I meant to do that," she muttered.

"Really now, you meant to fall face-first into the snow?"

She looked away, clearly embarrassed.

"Yes, that was intentional."

Alicarde chuckled softly. Marian was innocent, reminding him of when he first met Elizalina Crimson, though Elizalina had faked her shy demeanor.

'I sure hope this one's genuine; otherwise, my luck would really be shitty.'

"So, Marian, where is Cassandra?" Alicarde asked, watching her fidget.

"I-I can't tell you. Last time, Lady Cassandra scolded me," she pouted.

"You're just like the bad men they warned me about…who deceive young girls."

Alicarde smirked.

'This sheltered witch is truly naive.'

"Really now? And what do these bad men do exactly? Tell me more."

"They trick unsuspecting girls into having…"

She trailed off, her face turning crimson. Alicarde shook his head.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Why did you stop? Into having what?"

Her face burned red as she muttered.

"I can't say."

Alicarde laughed.

"You're so sweet. In that case, why don't we go ask Cassandra in her cottage in the woods?"

"No, I don't wanna!"

Marian protested as he grabbed her hand, gently pulling her toward the woods.

"Come on, let's ask her. I wonder if she'll tell me," he teased.

"No, stop! She's not there—she's in the temple!" Marian blurted, clearly embarrassed.

'Like taking candy from a baby.' Alicarde smirked.

"In that case, let's go to the temple and ask her," he said.

"No! Please, Lady Cassandra would be really mad at me. She told me to keep you away," Marian begged.

Alicarde's eyes narrowed.

"And why would she want that?"

"I don't know… Just let me go, please," she whimpered, on the verge of tears.

Alicarde sighed, realizing she didn't know anything useful. He stopped pulling her but kept her hand in his, and to his surprise, Marian suddenly dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying?" Alicarde asked, concerned.

She sniffled, looking at their hands.

"You've…impregnated me."

Alicarde nearly choked on his spit. He glanced at the beautiful blonde witch, visibly confused. Enjoy new tales from empire

"Wait…what?"

"I'm pregnant!" Marian cried.

Alicarde's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"You have to take responsibility!" Her voice trembled with fear.

"Dude, I did not knock you up," Alicarde insisted, completely baffled.

Through her sobs, Marian explained.

"Everyone knows that unprotected hand-holding with a man can make you pregnant!"

Alicarde's expression deadpanned.

'This girl takes naive and stupid to a whole other level.'

For a brief moment, he worried he had triggered some kind of magic and actually made her pregnant, but quickly realized that wasn't the case. She was simply ignorant. Alicarde sighed.

"You really are a simpleton, aren't you?"

Marian sniffed, tears still streaming down her face.

"You are not pregnant. That's not how reproduction works. Holding hands can't make you pregnant—that's biologically impossible," Alicarde explained.

He used gravity manipulation to lift her to her feet. Marian looked at him, still sniffling.

"Really? I'm not?" she asked, doubt in her voice.

Alicarde nodded. "Really. If you don't believe me, I can tell you how it actually works."

"Really, I'm not are you sure?"

She had a doubtful expression on her face.

"You aren't trying to get out of raising our child, are you?"

His eye twitched.

'Bitch please, I wouldn't do that'

"Again, Marian, you aren't pregnant. You're still a pure maiden. If you don't believe me, I can tell you how baby-making actually works."

She still seemed doubtful of his intentions.

Alicarde sighed and launched into a vague explanation about the birds and the bees—nonsense about how if a man and a woman loved each other, they could create a child. He kept it basic, but the young witch's awestruck expression made it look like he had just opened the door to a brand-new world.

Her awe started to irritate him, and he cursed out loud.

"Screw your sheltered upbringing, I'm telling you everything."

'Don't blame me for telling her, you assholes. She's an adult she has to know'

She tilted her head, confused, as Alicarde went into explicit detail about how it all worked, holding nothing back. He even ventured into some visceral descriptions, making the young girl's face turn beet red. He didn't stop there, either—Alicarde went out of his way to describe popular styles and even threw in a few fetishes people indulged in.

She was a pure maiden, but at that moment, Alicarde had definitely tainted her a bit.

Not long after, she started asking questions, and he obliged, teaching her even more.

'God, I really can't be a gentleman, can I? I think I just ruined the mind of a good girl.'

Her eyes were wide open as if she had stumbled into a whole new reality. The pure ones were always the easiest to corrupt, especially when they crossed paths with someone unscrupulous. By the time he finished, the sun had already set—winter brought shorter days and longer nights.

And the nights belonged to him.

"Alright, that's enough. I'm off now."

Alicarde waved her off. He had gotten the information he wanted, and his patience had reached its limit.

"Erm, where are you going?"

He turned back, drawing his sword from his back.

"I'm going to go murder that Cassandra woman, kay?"

She blinked, her eyes widening when she felt his killing intent.

He was tired of being patient. Malefica would just have to forgive him for killing a few of her people. Alicarde made his way toward the temple, sword in hand, causing a commotion as he stopped outside. Marian followed closely behind, her expression full of fear.

"Cassandra, come out and die!"

His words echoed through the village, carried on the insidious fog of his fear ability and the weight of his baleful killing intent.

Fear permeated the air, and the witches who were weaker were overcome by his dark power, sinking to their knees.

The more powerful ones resisted, while the combat-oriented witches went to battle stations, pointing their magic-infused hands at him.

'Huh they're ready for a fight that's good'

Malefica must have heard the ruckus from wherever she was in the village because she came dashing over with a basket of vegetables.