— The Final Letter —
The Previous Night.
Moonlight, pale as water, washed over Seraphine's ashen face. She clutched her best friend Clara's hand, her voice a whisper, light as a sigh:
"Clara, you're my dearest friend. I wanted you to be my maid of honor, to share my joy... but you know, marrying Damien is not my choice."
She took a deep breath and pressed a sealed letter into Clara's hand. "Tomorrow, please don't come to my wedding. I want you to marry for love, not end up like me... This letter... please, promise you won't open it until after noon tomorrow. Okay?"
"Seraphine, what's so secret? Can't you tell me now?" Clara took the letter, puzzled but not overly concerned, tucking it casually into her bag. She tried to offer comfort:
"Even if it's not for love, marrying into such wealth is a dream for countless girls. At the very least, you'll never have to worry about money again."
Seraphine's smile was as faint as a breeze and as fragile as glass on the verge of shattering. "Remember," she reiterated, her voice firm, "after 12:00 noon."
---
Now. 11:30 AM.
Clara stared blankly at the letter in her hand. A sudden, icy dread shot up her spine.
Something was wrong.
Seraphine's tone yesterday, her eyes, that final, parting instruction... Countless details exploded in Clara's mind.
Riiip—
She tore the envelope open, the promise forgotten.
A bank card fluttered out. But as she unfolded the letter itself, the blood in her veins seemed to freeze solid—
"Clara,
If you are reading this, I am already gone. I have chosen to die at my own wedding.
Do not grieve for me.
Rather than imprison my whole life in a loveless marriage, I prefer to claim my final freedom through death.
This is not an escape.
It is the only way I can resist them.
The only way I can shatter their plans and break these chains.
Clara, in our next life, let us still be the best of friends.
Now, I entrust you with two things.
First, the 100 million in the card is the bride price from Damien. Please keep it for me. Do not, under any circumstances, give it to my mother.
She is impulsive with money. Please provide for her monthly, just enough so she lacks nothing. Let this be my final act of filial duty as a daughter.
Second, you must never tell Eren about my death.
I love him, with every fiber of my being; and precisely because of that, he must never know the truth. I cannot let him carry the pain and guilt for the rest of his life.
He has suffered enough since childhood. I cannot let him endure more because of me.
Remember this—especially the second point.
Better that I take all the pain with me, than let Eren live a life of torment.
I..."
The ink smudged, the words cutting off abruptly.
Clara's face drained of all color. Her hands trembled so violently that the letter crackled like dry leaves.
"Eren! Yes, find Eren! He's so powerful, he can save her!"
"But... Seraphine made me promise..."
"There's no time for that! Saving her is what matters!"
Clara gritted her teeth, quickly snapped a photo of the letter and sent it to Eren, then immediately dialed his number.
"Eren! Don't speak, just listen!" The moment the call connected, Clara's frantic voice shot out like bullets:
"Seraphine was forced to break up with you! Damien threatened your life! She pushed you away, made you hate her, to protect you! Think about it, three years together, you know what she's really like! Everything she did was to keep you safe!"
"She's going to kill herself at the wedding today! I sent you her final letter! Eren, if you have any conscience left, go save her! You're the only one who can save her now! Hello? Eren! Are you listening?!"
---
— The Desperate Sprint —
BOOM!
Clara's words detonated in Eren's mind like a clap of thunder from the heavens.
So that was it... That was it!
All the "betrayal," all the "cruelty," suddenly made sense. He had been so blinded by hatred, he had missed all her pain and desperation!
Slap! Slap! Slap!
He raised his hands and struck himself across the face with all his might, his cheeks instantly reddening and swelling.
Trembling, he opened the photo. His eyes scanned each word as if treading on red-hot blades.
«...I love him, with every fiber of my being... he must never know the truth... Better that I take all the pain...»
His vision blurred. A hot surge clawed up his throat—
PFFT—
Blood sprayed from his lips, splattering across the floor like shattered despair, his mind and soul fracturing!
"NO—!! SERAPHINE! YOU CAN'T DIE! I FORBID IT!!"
A bestial roar tore from his throat. He transformed into a uncontrollable hurricane, bursting out of the room.
"Eren, what's wrong?!" Selene, who had just stepped out of the bathroom, was terrified by his appearance. But only a phantom shadow remained; Eren was already gone.
He abandoned his car. He wouldn't wait for a helicopter.
Right now, he was burning through his lifetime's cultivation, pushing his speed to the absolute limit. His body tore through the air, becoming a blur barely visible to the naked eye, charging madly towards the Vale Estate!
The time was 11:42 AM.
Less than twenty minutes until high noon.
"Seraphine! Wait for me! You must wait for me!"
"Faster! I need to go faster!!"
His eyes were bloodshot, his demeanor frenzied. The psionic energy within him boiled and burned. His speed nearly broke the sound barrier, the street cracking under the sheer force of the wind he created in his wake.
---
— The Bride's Last Choice —
The Wedding Venue.
Damien and Seraphine walked side-by-side onto the ceremonial platform, fixed, plastic smiles on their faces as they approached the red offering table.
Upon it lay the ritual items: offerings, incense candles, wine bowls, and in the center, a gleaming dagger—they would use it to draw blood from their fingers, press their prints onto the marriage contract, and burn it to seal the covenant with heaven.
"Two families unite, a covenant is forged in this hall," the celebrant chanted loudly. "Mr. Damien, do you take Ms. Seraphine to be your wife, to love and respect her, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer?"
"I do," Damien's voice was firm, but inside he sneered:
My wife? No—
you are the offering that will rebuild my power.
The celebrant turned to Seraphine. "Ms. Seraphine, do you take Mr. Damien to be your husband, to love and be faithful to him, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, until death do you part?"
The venue fell silent. All eyes were fixed on the bride.
Seraphine gazed calmly at Damien. Those eyes, once brimming with warmth, now held only icy desolation and final resolve.
The seconds ticked by. The silence tightened like a noose.
The celebrant prompted in a low voice, "Ms. Seraphine, please answer 'I do.'"
Damien's eyes turned frosty, a powerful, oppressive aura rolling off him, though his face maintained its pleasant mask. "What's wrong, darling? Are you unwell?" The words were concerned, the tone was a threat.
Seraphine felt a chill down her spine under the pressure, but she mustered all her strength and declared, clear and measured, word by word:
"You ask whether I am willing?
Then hear my answer clearly—
No.
I.
Am.
Not."
Gasp—!
Three words, a boulder dropped into a still lake. The venue erupted in instant uproar!
"Is she insane?! She dares refuse Damien!"
"Slapping the Vale family's face in front of the entire city's elite, does she have a death wish?"
"It's over... it's completely over..."
Damien's face instantly darkened, twisting into a vicious mask. He hissed through gritted teeth:
"Seraphine... are you... looking... to die?"
"Looking to die?" Seraphine let out a bleak laugh, her voice carrying clearly across the grounds. "In the eyes of you nobles, the lives of us common folk are indeed like weeds, to be trampled at will."
"But so what? Do you think I'm afraid, Damien? You destroyed my love, forced me to submit with your power and influence! I have loathed you from the start, despised all your hypocrisy! You think I would willingly marry you? Dream on!"
Damien's face contorted with utter rage. If he didn't need her alive for the sacrifice, he would have torn her limb from limb right then!
"Enough!" he roared. "You lowly wretch, being allowed to marry me is a supreme honor! Say 'I do' now,
or I'll make you—"
"Or you'll what?" Seraphine cut him off coldly, her eyes like quenched ice. "Make me wish I were dead?"
"Damien, let me tell you, even if we are the cattle and horses in your eyes, we too have dignity that cannot be trampled!"
"If living offers no way to resist, then I will use my death to refuse you!"
"I want all you high and mighty people to see clearly—"
"Not everyone will kneel before power!"
"—I'm sorry, Eren! Let me use my death to protect you one last time."
Before the words had fully faded, her hand shot out, snatching the dagger from the offering table. A flash of cold light—and she plunged it, without the slightest hesitation, straight towards her own heart!
Thump—!
The sickening sound of the blade piercing flesh was unnervingly clear.
The pristine white wedding gown was instantly dyed into a tragic, vivid canvas by the gushing blood.
---
— Rage Upon a Sea of Blood —
"NO—!"
A cry of utter despair, a soul-tearing roar like that of a wounded beast, thundered from the estate's entrance!
Yet, the sound was almost swallowed by the dead silence of the scene. Everyone present was utterly stunned, frozen in place by the absolute, final act they had just witnessed.
That delicate woman had spoken the most powerful words with the calmest of tones.
Then, she had enacted her defiance in the most brutal way possible.
Facing death unflinchingly.
Shaking every heart present.
In that moment, every noble present felt a heavy blow strike their conscience. So, the fury of an ant could indeed shake heaven and earth.
Seraphine had branded an indelible mark upon their souls with her life.
"Seraphine, you...!" Damien's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, his face twisted beyond recognition.
He had calculated a thousand scenarios, but never this one—that this docile lamb possessed such ferocity! With his Master-level abilities, he could have stopped her, but that completely unforeseen, absolute resolve had made him hesitate for one fatal second!
Ruined! The sacrifice was ruined! His meticulously laid plans, his hope for restoration, all utterly destroyed by this woman's single act!
"Goddamn you...!" Overwhelming fury nearly stripped him of his reason. He took a step forward, intent on grinding the corpse that had ruined everything to dust.
But just as his hand rose—
A figure, fast as lightning, carrying boundless killing intent and soul-crushing grief, materialized on the ceremonial platform in an instant!