hotmtlnovel Chapter 12: "Rebirth"
Chapter 12: "Rebirth"
It was another sunny day. Birds chirped crisply outside the window, and the vast forest surrounding the mansion seemed as if under a spell, remaining lush and verdant throughout the four seasons.
"Mmm~ What wonderful weather. With such beautiful sunshine, it seems too wasteful for only me to enjoy it, doesn't it?"
On a small balcony on the second floor of the mansion, a tall, elegant woman with black hair and red eyes stretched lazily while lying on a rocking chair.
Behind her, inside the room, was a completely different scene. Despite it being broad daylight, there was no light inside—only darkness, eerie and terrifying. One could only see something plant-like squirming, like a newborn larva about to break from its cocoon and transform into a butterfly.
"Red Magic Mirror, tell me how many days have passed."
Bai Xuerou waved her hand, and a red crystal appeared before her eyes. A number floated on the crystal.
"365"
"Hmm, a year has passed. The time is about right. It's time to fish my daughter out~"
Looking at the number of days displayed on the crystal, Bai Xuerou's previously bored face broke into a smile.
She jumped off the rocking chair, put on her black high heels with red soles, walked into the room, and turned on the light. She looked at the woman leaning against the giant rose stem.
"Hey, I'm saying, today is the day our daughter wakes up. Are you still going to be so dejected?"
Hearing these words, a glimmer of light appeared in Yan's lifeless pupils, but it quickly dimmed again.
"Even if An'an wakes up, so what? You'll still do whatever you want to do... It's better if she doesn't wake up..."
"Pfft... Hey, hey, hey, when you were begging me to spare our daughter, you weren't like this. Now that I've done what you wanted, you're still dissatisfied. My anger has subsided after a year, but you're still wallowing in self-blame. Don't you think you're being too childish?"
Bai Xuerou lifted Yan's chin with her index finger, forcing her to make eye contact. Her gaze was full of mockery, as if ridiculing this woman's softness and powerlessness.
"What do you mean 'done what I wanted'? The An'an now might not even be the same person anymore. You call this doing what I wanted?!" Yan's pupils suddenly focused, and a wave of anger surged as she attempted to punch the black-haired woman's oval face.@@@@
"Hehe... Let's wait and see. Maybe I failed?"
Following the girl's line of sight, in the starry sky above, there was a girl dressed in irregular white clothes, curled up and motionless except for one finger pointing toward Earth, resembling a white swan.
At this moment, this girl was moving at an extremely fast speed toward a certain place.
Back at the mansion, Bai Xuerou directed her blood to the top of the rose. The blood flowed rapidly from her body like a small stream, dripping onto the tip of the rose.
"Awaken, White Night Witch—!"
With Bai Xuerou's loud shout, the rose emitted a strange red light. Gradually, this red light began to transform into white, covering the entire room.
As the world was enveloped in white, the previously blood-red rose turned pure white and began to bloom...
When the flower fully bloomed, the white light quickly disappeared, and vision returned to normal. At this moment, Yan was stunned by what she saw in the flower.
"An'an..."
Lying on the pure white rose was not the cute black-haired, red-eyed little girl from before, but a girl of eleven or twelve with snow-white hair, wearing a white lace-trimmed dress, with petal-shaped ornaments on either side of her forehead.
Yan quickly pushed Bai Xuerou aside and embraced Bai An'an.
"Mom... I was wrong..."
Perhaps sensing the touch she had not felt for a long time, Bai An'an regained a bit of consciousness. Looking at the blurry figure before her, she hurriedly spoke, still murmuring the words she had been saying since being confined, afraid of being locked away again.
Her every move and word pained Yan deeply. She gently held the barely seven-year-old child in her arms, constantly comforting her.
"Hmm, she still has her previous personality? Well, I'll let you have Bai An'an for now. Once she recovers, we'll continue with our plan, understand?"
"..."
Yan did not answer Bai Xuerou's words, only glaring hatefully at her retreating figure.
"Devil, someday, you will face divine retribution..."