“The pain does not slowly increase?”
“No. When your time arrives, the pain will strike you just like lightning, but how long you have to resist varies from person to person. My sister was not strong enough, but …” she trailed off.
Roland understood what she meant, not knowing how long they had to suffer the pain was already a kind of torture in itself, not knowing how long they have to resist – it was similar to being on an abandoned ship in the middle of a heavy storm. It would be easy to let people give up the desire to live on.
During the moment of silence, Roland felt a hand on his shoulder.
“During my homeless and miserable years, I had seen too much death. I saw witches being treated like cattle, hanged, burned, or tortured to death just for the entertainment of the nobility. The only way for a witch to survive was to live far away from other humans, living a cloistered life. I do not know where the Holy Mountain is located, but in our hearts it is an unattainable paradise.” Nightingale’s voice became softer than it had ever been in the past. “but Anna is different. In addition to the help we sisters can give her, I have never seen someone else being so concerned about a witch as you. She is needed by people, she is valued and treated like a normal person … Your Highness, Anna has not even made it through her adulthood yet, but she has already found her Holy Mountain.”
However, this was not the outcome Roland had hoped for. He closed his eyes, and recalled the scene when he had meet her.
She was barefoot, and was only wearing tattered clothes. She had been living in a cage, but there was not the slightest hint of fear in her face. Her eyes resembled an unpolluted lake surface, clear and calm.
She was the flame, but she wasn’t flickering like a flame.
Memories began to appear like the pictures on a film reel.
“I have satisfied your curiosity, Sir, so can you kill me now?”
“I have never used my power to hurt someone else.”
“I just want to stay near you, Your Highness, nothing more.”
“The Demon’s Bite will never kill me, I will beat it.”
“Are you dreaming? I’m not going anywhere.”