"Goodnight, Seraphina."

  Moments after she drifted off on my lap, a wave of exhaustion hit me. I struggled to maintain consciousness as the endless white void seemed to call out to me. Voices echoed around me, unrecognizable, yet strangely familiar.

  "Stand up."

  The command vibrated through the floor. I rose to my feet, my instincts flaring. I checked behind me, the girl was gone. I was the only thing left in this empty world.

  Then, the command came again.

  "Look up.”

  I obeyed. Above me, the white sky tore open, creating an oval shaped window into the waking world. Through it, I saw the High Priest muttering to himself. He anchored his hands onto Seraphina’s head, and a harsh orange light radiated from his palms as he began to shout an incantation.

  "Bless us, O All-Mother Dyssia! We have consumed the Old to inherit the New! Let your Golden Light pierce through this vessel of flesh. Strip away the veil and reveal the true color of her soul! We beseech you! Show us the Truth!"

  The High Priest screamed the final words, his voice shaking with fanaticism. With a blinding surge of orange light, he drove his magic down, ruthlessly enforcing his will upon Seraphina to crack her soul open.

  But nothing happened. The light flickered and died against her skin, as if swallowed by a void. The High Priest’s triumph melted into confusion. Why is she not reacting?

  A ripple of unease moved through the audience. The cheers turned into doubting murmurs.

  Sweat beading on his forehead, the High Priest jerked his hands back, sensing the crowd's judgment. He gritted his teeth and slammed his hands down again, forcing a second, more violent surge of magic into Seraphina.

  But just like before, the magic vanished into the void, yielding no response.

  Doubts began to ripple through the crowd.

  "Is she unharmed? Why is the High Priest's magic not working?" one voice called out.

  "Maybe she is still conscious," another muttered. "Perhaps the wine hasn't taken effect yet."

  "Or maybe," a skeptical voice whispered, "there is something wrong with the High Priest himself."

  The High Priest’s composure shattered. "YOU FOOLS!" he shrieked, spitting at the crowd before whipping back toward Seraphina.

  Sweat dripped from his face, And judging by his panic, this situation might had never even occurred before.

  He frantically rolled up his sleeves and placed both hands on her, shouting an incantation I didn't recognize.

  “Revela te ipsum, voluntate mea ligatus es, et voluntatem meam sequeris.”

  As he chanted, magical runes began to materialize, glowing in a crescent of deep red light that encircled him and Seraphina. The power was so intense that it generated a violent gust of wind, sweeping through the entire room.

  Then, something shifted.

  The window in the sky blinked. It morphed instantly, narrowing into the colossal, vertical pupil of an apex predator.

  Beneath my feet, the white landscape lurched violently. The "void" wasn't empty space. It was scales. Miles of white scales, now writhing and slithering as the beast uncoiled.

  The High Priest had wanted a reaction. Whatever he was doing... It was working.

  My body in the void faded away. When I opened my eyes in the real world, the first thing I saw was the High Priest’s face, twisted in terror. He was staring up, his skin bathed in a suffocating violet aura that now filled the room.

  The crowd had been decimated by the pressure. Children lay unconscious on the floor. Women were forced to their knees, men and even the soldiers clawed at their throats, choking for air. To my side my mother laid frozen on the floor, absolutely horrified and unable to move.

  I followed their gaze upward to see the beast. A massive white serpent with wings coiled. Its scales were pure white, tainted only by tips of blood-red.

  Amidst the chaos, only two figures seemed to remain unaffected. My father and Theo. They were spared by whatever this was, but they looked upon me with the eyes of men watching the end of the world.

  The High Priest began to mutter frantically, trying to reassert control.

  It was a mistake. The ancient words did not bind the serpent but enraged it. The creature hissed, and the violet aura flared, crushing the few remaining soldiers into the floor.

  With no other options left and his mind fracturing under the pressure, the High Priest prepared to pay the ultimate price. He widened his eyes, blood leaking from his nose, and screamed a final incantation.

  “Hoc est pretium meum quod mihi datum est... conscientiam meam commutō!”

  Only then did the beast calmed. The beast ceased its rampage and coiled inward, vanishing beneath my skin as if it had never existed.

  As the crushing pressure lifted and the room returned to normal, the High Priest stood frozen, completely bewildered. He uttered a single, trembling sentence.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  "Not... from this world."

  He whispered the words before bursting into frantic, hysterical laughter. Stripping and tearing off his ceremonial robes, he ran out of the hall like a raving madman, his cackling echoing behind him.

  My knees gave way. Just as I started to fall, my mother rushed forward and caught me.

  It felt as if my energy had been completely drained. I stared down at my hands, Seraphina's hands. I was definitely back in control of her body. I had endless questions as to why was my consciousness ejected earlier? Was the white void even real?

  However, I could only focus on one thing.

  The nobles were scrambling from the floor, dusting off their knees and fixing their clothes. But their gazes were locked onto me.

  But their eyes gave them away. I knew that look way too well.

  They were the eyes of men looking at a monster.

  In my previous life, I was hailed as "The Scalpel" A tool that excised the tumors of society. I saved the country multiple times, regardless of the terrible sacrifices required, yet people still looked at me with those same eyes.

  It is a curse I thought I left behind.

  Only Lyra had ever looked at me differently. She taught me that hands stained with blood could still be held with compassion. She was my redemption... and for that, they killed her.

  I felt a bitter laugh rise in my throat. Was I a fool to think reincarnation would wipe the slate clean?

  Perhaps there are no second chances for men like me. Perhaps, across all worlds and all lifetimes, my role remains unchanged.

  I am a monster.

  My eyelids grew too heavy to keep open. But before the world vanished, I caught one last glimpse of my father.

  He wasn't sitting on the floor anymore. He was walking toward us, placing himself between me and the nobles like a shield.

  A single tear rolled down my cheek, and then I succumbed to the darkness.

  Knock, knock.

  The sharp sound pulled me from the darkness. I sat up, the sensation was different. At first, I couldn't place the change, but then I realized. it was my mind.

  The fog had lifted. I could remember Seraphina's memories clearly now.

  Marin stepped inside, carrying a basin of water. She froze the moment she saw I was awake. I looked at her, expecting relief, but instead, I found her trembling.

  Ah, I thought, a bitter weight settling in my chest. So even you look at me with those eyes now.

  Marin set the basin on the nightstand with trembling hands, the water sloshing over the rim. She didn't say good morning. She didn't smile. She turned and fled the room as if escaping a predator, not a child.

  The room fell into silence. Marin, the girl who used to be bubbling with warmth and chatter, now looked at me and saw nothing but a monster.

  I forced my breathing to steady. I poured a glass of water and downed it, trying to wash away the bitter taste.

  It’s fine, I lied to myself, hardening my heart. It doesn't matter.

  I got out of bed and dressed myself. Stepping out of my room, my only thought was to see my father. I was still unsure of what exactly had happened. Why he was poisoned, when it occurred, or how I had been drugged into delirium.

  I had a mountain of unanswered questions, but the only answer I needed right now was whether my father was safe.

  I stepped into the corridor. The servants and guards pressed themselves against the walls as I passed, eyes averted, terrified to be near me. I ignored them. Their fear was irrelevant. I just needed to find him.

  I arrived at my father's chambers, finding the door barred by two heavily armored knights.

  They stepped forward to block my path.

  "Halt," one commanded. "No one is to enter the Duke's room without permission." His voice projected authority, but it didn't fool me.

  I could sense the fear radiating off them, trembling beneath their steel plates. Ignoring their warning, I tried to push past them

  .

  Then, they did the unthinkable. As I took a single step forward, they leveled their halberds at me, fully prepared to strike down a thirteen year old girl.

  I clenched my fists, staring at the sharp blades.

  "I just want to know if my father is alright," I demanded.

  But they didn't lower their weapons. They simply recited their orders again "No one is to enter the Duke's room without permission."

  I saw raw fear in their eyes. It angered me, but because I sensed no true killing intent behind their trembling, I called their bluff.

  That was a mistake. Fear makes men dangerous.

  Swoosh.

  The blade came down fast. My old instincts screamed, and I forced my weak body to contort, throwing my weight backward. The cold steel of the halberd bit into the skin of my throat, missing my jugular by a millimeter.

  I crashed onto the stone floor, gasping. I touched my neck and felt warm blood. I stared up at them in disbelief. They hadn't hesitated because I was a "monster," they felt justified in executing a thirteen year old girl on the spot.

  My survival instincts screamed into full alert. In all my time living as Seraphina, this was the first time my life was in genuine physical danger.

  Time seemed to dilate. I could see the guards shifting their weight in slow motion, preparing to strike again. I knew that if I didn't move immediately, I would die right here on this wooden floor.

  I prepared to roll, ready to exploit their openings-

  "HALT!"

  It was Mother. She marched toward us, berating the guards with a furious glare and ordering them to leave immediately.

  My primary reaction wasn't relief at being saved. It was suspicion, since when does Mother have the authority to command the guards?

  I pulled myself up from the floor. Ignoring the pain in my neck, I turned to the door, but my mother stepped in my path to stop me.

  "Stay back, Seraphina," she ordered, her voice sharp and authoritative. "I wouldn't enter your father's chambers if I were you."

  "Why?" I asked, my voice ice-cold.

  "Because," she replied smoothly, "he does not wish to see you."

  I paused for a second, but my resolve remained firm. I needed to see my father.

  However, she stepped in my path, physically blocking the door.

  "Trust me, Seraphina," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I am doing this to protect you." She knelt down to my eye level and pulled me into a brief, tight embrace.

  "Come to my solar instead," she suggested, pulling back to look at me. "We can have that wound on your neck treated."

  I wanted to push her away, but my body was weak and my mind was clouded by the day's trauma. Recognizing I had no tactical advantage, I went limp and let her carry me away.