Swain let go of his grip on Charlotte, and the crow turned into a feather and scattered on the bed. Charlotte, who had regained her freedom, jumped up immediately, her back to Swain, touching the painting on her back.

"What did you draw on my back?" she tilted her head sideways, glaring at Swain.

"What can you see now?" Swain ignored Charlotte's vicious gaze as he walked over to his desk and put the pen away again.

Hearing Swain's words, Charlotte immediately closed her eyes and shouted, "I can't see anything!"

Although she wanted to go against Swain and do everything against Swain, her actions still did not go against Swain's wishes. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still see a variety of colors emerge.

"W-What is this!" Charlotte was startled, and the strange colors she could see whether she opened or closed her eyes, as if they had been painted on her eyeballs.

"There are many theories about the origin of magic. Swain sat down and looked at Charlotte with a calm gaze, "One of the theories is that magic came from the discovery of alchemists, and that the early Maud people were keen to classify everything in the world and explore the origin of the world from it. The famous sage Aristoro divided matter into four elements: water, fire, earth and air, which can be transformed into each other and form different forms of things, such as plants, animals, minerals, etc., which are composed of these four elements plus ether as an intermediary matter, which became the criterion agreed by most alchemists in the age of knights. ”

Charlotte didn't understand what Swain was saying, but even she had heard the name Aristoro. She knew that he was a very learned person, but what did that kind of person have to do with her?

"A lot of people think that magic is ether, and indeed, magic is an energy that can change the form and even the composition of matter. But the effect of magic is also limited, it can complete the transformation of iron into mercury, but it cannot turn mercury into silver, let alone silver into gold, it is like an incomplete fifth element. Alchemy is not entirely about refining gold, and the true master pursues the mysteries of alchemy in order to achieve self-perfection and achieve 'one for all'. In the theory of alchemy, people are incomplete at the beginning, but if they can combine the power of the ether and make up for the missing elements of people, then they will become complete people, just like the planets in this universe, our human body is a small universe, and the large universe of the movement of the stars will correspond to all parts of our human body, and after making up for the elements we are missing, we can reach the world of gods in the universe, so even if we are human beings, we can become beings like angels. With this pursuit, some alchemists discovered magic and believed that magic was the element we were missing, and that those who possessed it would have the same power as angels and could even ascend to heaven. ”

"But you're the devil!" Charlotte couldn't understand any completely incomplete theories, she could only understand the most superficial things that would appear in folk tales.

"You are right, this theory has been pursued by the alchemists of the last era for thousands of years, but none of them have reached heaven. Many of them were magicians, but they remained mortal until they died. The power of the magic face is indeed powerful, but it is not so powerful that it can be compared to that of a god. Sven picked up the book on the table that he had been reading all night and threw it to Charlotte, "The magic array I drew on your back is the magic school born in alchemy, this school is more suitable for people like you who have never been in contact with the magic path, as long as you have magic qualifications, you can use magic through the magic array." Read this book well, as long as you can understand the theory, then you will be able to know how to use the power of the magic circle on your back. ”

"I don't want it!" Charlotte slammed the book on the ground, and she and Swain stared at each other, their eyes cold, the shadow of hatred still not disappearing from her.

"Smack"

Swain snapped his fingers, and the magic circle on Charlotte's back ignited, burning Charlotte in pain. The little girl reached for it, but the heat spread to her fingers, burning the tips of them. She bit her lip and held back to keep herself from screaming, she didn't want to show her weak side in front of Sven.

"I told you," Swain didn't mean to stop the spell at all, still sitting upright in his chair, watching Charlotte's body tremble in pain, "It's punishment, the ink I used is mixed with my magic, you can't wash it off." And, as long as I want, I can make you feel the pain of cold or hot at any time, as I am now. ”

Seeing Charlotte's face turn pale in pain, Sven knew that she was almost at her limit, and waved her hand to stop the magic circle from emitting heat. Although the heat was enough to burn the little girl's fingers, there was no sign of burns on the skin on her back.

Charlotte lay on the ground, covered in sweat, apparently she had really endured it just now, and even bit her lip. She gasped for breath, and in less than a minute, she felt that all the strength in her body had been drained, and now she only felt a red light in front of her, as if it was some element that Swain had said, floating in front of her all the time.

Walking up to Charlotte, Swain picked her up. "After sweating so much, I have to take a shower again. ”

"Put me down, don't touch me......" Charlotte spoke in a weak voice, and she was struggling to speak now.

Swain wiped the blood from her lips and hugged the little girl tighter, not giving her a chance to break away. "Are you still learning?"

"Don't learn!" Although it took a lot of effort to pronounce the words, Charlotte still answered Swain categorically.

"The magic that killed me is in this book. ”

Charlotte's eyes twitched, and it was clear that she was shaken.

"As long as you find it, you'll have a chance to kill me. ”

The little girl frowned, she was so reluctant to accept any favor from Swain. But she also knew that in her own right, if she didn't learn magic from Swain, she wouldn't have another chance to learn how to kill Swain.

"Of course you're thinking about it, you're only eight years old, and you still have a long life ahead of you. It's just that it's hard to say whether your hatred will be as strong as it is now in the future. ”

"I'll never forget!" she glared at Swain, her eyes determined even though her small brows were drenched with sweat.

"I'll see. Swain didn't care, he hugged Charlotte and left the room. When he opened the door, he saw in through the window and landed on Sven. Charlotte looked at Swain in the morning light, and at this moment, even with the wireless hatred of Swain in her heart, she had to admit that Swain didn't look like a bad guy just by looking at his appearance.

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Although she fell asleep late last night, the perennial routine still made Princess Celestia wake up early the next morning. She didn't sleep well last night, not because the bed in Midnight Fort was uncomfortable - she had been sleeping in the open for the past few days, and her life in Tiamat Palace was not too delicate, and Princess Celestia was still quite satisfied with the room conditions in Midnight Fort.

The reason why she couldn't sleep was what she had learned from Atropos last night. When Caterina lay in bed, she unconsciously remembered the underground library, and she also remembered that Swain couldn't sleep. She had imagined for a long time last night what she would be like if she had been haunted by the will of the whole society, and mysterious whispers had been whispering in her ears.

So, now the eldest princess can finally understand Swain's madness, but that doesn't mean she will agree with Swain's approach. In her eyes, Swain was not so much trying to get rid of his family's fate, but rather that he had been driven into a kind of madness by Atropos, and Caterina could faintly feel that Sven hated Atropos, and this hatred was also carried over to this society—she felt that Swain hated the society that created Atropos.

That's why he killed so many innocent people on the Vincent, in his heart, he may no longer agree with the norms of this society, he doesn't believe in the world that Atropos has touched. Thinking about her thoughts, Celestia walked into the dining room, and although she tried to get up as early as possible, she still woke up a little later than usual because of the sleepiness of last night.

"Hello, Miss. ”

Princess Celestia met Baron Deniz in the dining room, and although the old gentleman had a knighthood, he was more like the butler of Midnight Castle, and since arriving at Midnight Castle, Princess Celestia had been seeing him saddle Swain, and was very familiar with the affairs of Midnight Castle.

"Hello, Monsieur Baron. The eldest princess nodded at the baron, as Baron Deniz, his name would basically not be known to the eldest princess, but after all, he was so properly entertained, and the old baron has always been polite, the eldest princess naturally can't lose her royal demeanor.

Take a seat at the dining table, and the maid behind you ties a napkin for Princess Celestia. Sven hadn't come yet, which made Princess Celestia feel a little strange, and now that she knew that Sven didn't need to sleep, then he naturally couldn't get up late, and there was no reason why he didn't come to breakfast until now.

She looked at Baron Deniz, and was about to speak, but she remembered something else. Although the baron had always been calm and unfazed, the eldest princess was not sure if he knew who he was, and the baron only called her Mademoiselle, but never called her by her first name, or called her by princess. Although it seems that the Jericho family has full trust in this baron, and even shared Atropos's secret with him, the thought that Baron Deniz once surrendered to Michel VII made Princess Celestia feel a suffocation in her chest, and she did not trust her subjects too much because she was a royal education, especially after being disappointed in Swain once.

Baron Deniz also noticed the gaze of the eldest princess, he bowed slightly, and said respectfully: "Miss, I have sent a telegram to De Weide to report that you are safe, and I think that now your family should already know that you are in Midnight Castle and that you are safe." ”

This sentence dispelled the doubts of the eldest princess. "Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Baron. ”

"It's just a matter of duty. "Baron Deniz bowed again.

"Where is Count Jericho now?"

"Your Excellency Count has already had breakfast, and is now in the hot springs in the back mountain, and the little lady is there. ”

"Charlotte is there too!" Princess Celestia was taken aback, she knew very well what Charlotte's attitude towards Swain was now, and the two of them stayed together, which made her have to worry, "When did they pass?"

"Went early in the morning. "Baron Deniz did not tell Princess Celestia about Charlotte's clothes being torn, and he would never ask questions about the sovereign's personal problems, nor would he say anything about them.

"Then please lead the way, and I'll go too. Princess Celestia immediately put down her knife and fork and stood up. She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed now, if she had gotten up earlier, she might have avoided it.

"But you haven't finished your breakfast yet. ”

"It's okay to eat later. She didn't have any thoughts about her stomach now, she just wanted to hurry over and avoid any conflict between the two of them.

"Okay. Since the eldest princess insisted, Baron Deniz did not say anything more.

The old baron led the eldest princess to the back mountain, Midnight Castle was quite large, and this older castle had a much larger land area than Fort Govellen. For castles whose main function is military defense, it will be difficult to defend because of a large area, and it will cost a lot of money and manpower to build fortifications that cover the entire castle. But for the Jericho family, their enemies are never armies, and no amount of ramparts and watchtowers are just decorations.

After about half an hour in the carriage, Princess Celestia came to the mountain behind Midnight Castle. The hill was out of the walls of Midnight Castle, but there were no nearby villages and was considered within the control of Midnight Castle. She followed Baron Denise up the hill, a hill that was not large, but the vegetation was so dense that it hid the hot springs on the mountain, and when she reached a flat area on the side of the mountain, she saw the hot springs surrounded by wooden walls.

"Charlotte, where are you?" said Princess Celestia walked briskly in, the spa had a lot of wooden buildings, and all the facilities were perfect. She walked into the hallway, where the layers of houses obscured her view, and Princess Celestia couldn't find Charlotte right away.

Charlotte, who was locked up in the bathroom by Swain, was surprised when she heard the voice of the eldest princess, she didn't expect the big sister to come.

"Sister, I'm here!" Charlotte didn't go out, she was still washing her body and didn't dare to open the door easily. Originally, she didn't want to listen to Swain, but Swain forcibly locked her in and asked the maid to take away her clothes, which the maid wouldn't give her if she didn't wash herself.

There was a rush of footsteps in the hallway, and Princess Celestia quickly ran in, leaving no one behind her. "Charlotte, are you alright!" As soon as she saw Charlotte, Princess Celestia didn't care that the little girl was still wet, and hurriedly hugged her.

"Hmm. Charlotte nodded slightly, now the only one she trusted, or the only one she could trust, was this sister.

Princess Celestia hurriedly checked Charlotte's body for injuries, and she soon saw the magic circle on the little girl's back. "What is this?" she caressed the strange pattern, feeling a little uneasy in her heart.

"It was painted by that person. Charlotte hung her head and her voice was low, "He made me learn magic and drew this thing on my back. ”

Remembering Atropos I saw last night, Celestia now has a bad sense of things like magic. Sven, who was full of magic, turned himself into a terrible monster, and those sages also borrowed the power of magic to leave such an almost curse-like seal, so Princess Celestia subconsciously didn't want Charlotte to have anything to do with magic.

"Let's wash it off. She took the towel and tried to wipe it off, but the ink on Charlotte's back didn't melt when it was wet, like a tattoo.

"He can't be a tattoo on your body, is he?" Seeing that the pattern could not be erased, Princess Celestia immediately thought of this possibility.

Although Charlotte hated Swain, she didn't speak ill of Swain at this time, because she didn't want to lie to Katarina. "No," she shook her head, "the man said that the ink was imbued with magical power by him, and it could not be washed off. ”

Hearing the word magic again, Princess Celestia couldn't help but frown, she really hated the word now. But she also knew that she was powerless in the face of the power of magic. "And how are you feeling right now, is there anything uncomfortable?" she asked, worried, for fear of what it would do to Charlotte's body.

"It's fine, nothing feels like anything. Charlotte shook her head again, "It's just that I can see some colors." ”

"Color. ”

"Hmm......" Charlotte lowered her eyes, not looking at Celestia's face, she also knew that Caterina didn't want her to be contaminated with these things, "maybe, it's the so-called magic." ”

The eldest princess's heart was even more uneasy, and she couldn't help hugging Charlotte tightly, deeply distressed by what happened to the little girl.

"Actually, there's nothing bad about it," Charlotte could feel the worry of the eldest princess, and she also stretched out her little hand to hug the eldest princess, comforting the eldest sister, "At least, at least I'm no longer useless......

Princess Celestia knew what Charlotte was really trying to say, and Charlotte must have felt that with the power of magic, she could compete with Swain, or even kill Swain.

"Charlotte, listen to me," Princess Celestia let go of her hand and looked at Charlotte seriously, "magic is definitely not a good thing, I know you have a deep hatred for Swain now, but I still have to say that Sven didn't start out like this, if it weren't for magic, he wouldn't be like this." It's because of these terrible forces that he will kill your family, this kind of thing is not power, it is a curse!"

Charlotte bowed her head and remained silent.

Seeing Charlotte's appearance, Princess Celestia also knew that she didn't listen to her words. The eldest princess let out a long sigh, and the worry in her heart still lingered.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Swain's voice came from outside. "Your Royal Highness, you are here too. ”

"What's the matter, can't I come?" Thinking of what Swain had done to Charlotte, Princess Celestia's tone was a little more resentful.

"Of course not. Princess Celestia could tell from Swain's shadow through the frosted glass, and Sven was shaking her head, "It's just that since you're here, please enjoy it." You're tired these days, and hot springs are the best way to melt away. ”