Water Mage in the Flame Realm

Chapter 459 431: History Repeats Itself (Part 2)

"Beiru! Father! Your struggle with the Magic Guild didn't go well, did it? Otherwise, why would you try to persuade me to serve the Warm Fire Commerce Association again? I killed my sister, your most beloved and cherished daughter!"

Catherine's voice grew louder and louder.

But there was still no response from anyone.

She couldn't help but feel a bit angry, a sense of frustration as if a long-held spell was disrupted, leaving her with power that couldn't be unleashed.

She strode down from the Scholar's Fortress and cursed the sky: "Just wait! I know you all are hiding behind this Illusion Realm, watching me make a fool of myself! Just wait, I'll come out and kill every single one of you—"

She abruptly stopped speaking.

Her mouth halted and her footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

At her feet on the sandy ground lay a bloodied figure.

It was... Father Beiru.

A little distance away, another corpse lay — it was Mother Yi Lian.

Catherine: "..."

She widened her eyes and opened her mouth, yet was speechless, standing there like a fool, completely stunned.

Neither Andrew, nor Barbara, nor Chairman Beiru, nor Lady Yi Lian, ever had the chance to truly ask Catherine: "Why did you do those things? Why kill your sister, kill your husband? Just to seize the Strange Fire and become stronger?"

Catherine never voluntarily revealed the true motive behind everything she did.

Because she couldn't explain it herself.

She only knew that ever since she was a child, every time she saw her eldest sister garner almost all of their parents' praise and affection, she would get very angry.

Especially every time when the eldest sister was alone with her, she was always so gentle, which made Catherine feel really disgusted: having taken all the attention that was supposed to be mine and then pretending to be nice?

So, at first, it was due to "jealousy," which was the part Catherine was certain about.

She was also certain about enduring endless pain and finally merging two Strange Fires into herself — the "ecstasy" of controlling power. Catherine truly loved continuously making herself more perfect, she enjoyed this process.

Strangely, after killing her elder sister, stealing the Strange Fire, then killing her husband, seizing the Royal Court's inheritance, and harmonizing the two Strange Fires within herself, truly making herself a unique existence—

Catherine, on the contrary, became more willing to reconcile various imperfections outside her perfect self.

For example, after the elder sister died, her mother vented her anger on Barbara, and due to excessive grief, her personality changed dramatically, fighting violently with her father every day.

Catherine did not know that besides grief, the rest of the anger and quarrels were actually Mrs. Yi Lian's pretense.

She was in a good mood then, so she rather acted as a mediator between her parents and between her mother and sister.

The key is that she wasn't just putting on an act, she really put her heart into it because she genuinely enjoyed the process!

If the elder sister was still alive, this is what she would have done.

"So I... actually wanted to become the elder sister, to surpass her?"

Such thoughts would occasionally pop into Catherine's mind, only to be immediately extinguished by herself: "I am me, I didn't imitate anyone!"

Until this moment.

Seeing the bodies of Beiru and Yi Lian lying before her, right at her feet.

"Is this... fake? Or an Illusion Technique?" Catherine stared intently, yet no matter how she tried, she couldn't continue to deceive herself that all in front of her was just an Illusion Technique.

No matter how she looked, this was unmistakably reality. Catherine's pride in her powerful abilities repeatedly confirmed this fact to her!

With a thud, Catherine knelt down.

Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

She finally confirmed what she had been striving for, what everything she did was truly for: she was indeed imitating her elder sister, but the focus wasn't actually on her sister — she just wanted her parents' attention, which was her deep desire and the real origin of everything.

The elder sister was the one skilled at doing just that, so she killed her to take her place.

Initially, Gus actually told her to assassinate Beiru and Yi Lian directly, but she refused.

After killing her sister, she had numerous opportunities to kill Beiru, Yi Lian, and her sister Barbara, but she refrained.

With the Shield of Flowing Fire, she had almost assassinated Andrew as a Female Assassin, but her sister stood in the way, between her and the unconscious Andrew, causing her to ultimately withdraw and leave.

All of Catherine's actions slowly placed her in absolute opposition to her family — her parents and sister.

Yet deep in her heart, she realized that she had always wanted to live like her elder sister, in a world without her, to enjoy harmonious relations with her parents, her sister, and her family! This thought exploded like a thunderclap in Catherine's mind!

"No, no, no!" Catherine's body trembled as she lifted her head again, somehow finding it already soaked with tears.

A gust of wind blew by, lifting the sand within sight, and also dispersing the bodies of Beiru and Yi Lian.

Catherine reached out to grab, but caught nothing, because nothing was left.

Tears and snot covered her face, and her expression gradually twisted with rage, gritting her teeth: "Who? Who did this?!" She suddenly jumped up from the ground, running madly, searching around, "Who killed my father and mother? Come out! Get out here!!"