TDATD

LXXVl-80

☆ ★ ✮ ★𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊☆ ★ ✮ ★
ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 76

Fortunately, Judith soon fell asleep.

After a while of soothing her silver hair, which lay messily on the sheet as evidence of her restless thrashing, Derrick sensed a familiar presence outside the bedroom door. It was the same presence he felt by the reception room window before the commotion started.

When Derrick slowly turned his gaze, he saw black smoke seeping through the door crack.

"Commander, I've brought her."

When the smoke took human form, two people stood awkwardly in the bedroom. Derrick glanced at Lucas and then turned his attention to the one he had brought. The woman standing next to Lucas looked noticeably tense. She respectfully bowed and greeted.

"Commander, I am Anna Tene from District 2, here to meet Commander Derrick Maximillion."

Lucas, ruffling his hair as if wanting to be recognized for his efforts, spoke up.

"I had to make a deal. I couldn't even imagine bringing her here. It means I'll be running around like hell for a while."

Grumbling, Lucas noticed his superior's rare stern expression and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"She's the second most proficient in mental manifestation magic in our sector after Hannibal. She's also well-versed in curses. She should be of help."

"Please do."

Anna had a rough idea why Lucas had gone to such lengths to bring her to the human world. On the way here, he asked her to check if a human was cursed. She could guess that the emaciated woman behind the commander was the human in question. She had witnessed the commotion in the drawing room with Lucas.

Derrick rose from the bed he was sitting on, revealing Judith, who looked deathly pale in her sleep.

Anna approached the bed and extended her hands over her. Soon, black light seeped from her palms, slowly enveloping Judith like a swamp. It was as if she was sinking into an abyss, and Derrick couldn't take his eyes off her.

Anna concentrated with her eyes closed. As she moved her fingers like a conductor leading an orchestra, the black magic surrounding Judith fluctuated wildly.

After observing for a long time, the magic dissipated like smoke in an instant. Anna, whose eyes had turned red from using magic, turned to Derrick.

"It's not a curse."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. Magic is affecting her, but it's not draining her life energy."

Indeed, neither Vincen's nor Sylvia's actions met the criteria for a curse.

"It's not a curse, but it seems she's under a brainwashing spell that amplifies certain emotions."

"A brainwashing spell?"

According to Anna, one of the Hannibals had cast a spell on her when they met, not a curse.

"Yes. Has she shown any strange reactions recently?"

Anna asked sharply, like a keen doctor. Derrick recalled the scene from a while ago. Her desperate struggle, as if rejecting death, and her harrowing confession about fearing not him but his eyes.

"She seems to be having hallucinations. And... she's afraid of red eyes."

Remembering Judith's terrified face as she screamed, Derrick's heart sank.