CHAPTER 139: A PROMISE REMEMBERED

It had been three days, but the villainess known as the Bloody Swan proved relentless. No matter how Beatrix felt the connection growing, the Swan would fight her way back, and with time, she was actually resisting.

On the third day, Beatrix took a new approach: changing the times of day she used the Curse of Pain and trying to deliver fast, multiple jolts of pain rather than three big strikes per day.

This type of shared trauma weighed on Beatrix just as much as it weighed on the Bloody Swan, but Beatrix had Matilda as an instant healer who would immediately relieve the pain and trauma.

Still, there was the psychological damage, which was difficult to mitigate. Beatrix was the one doing the torturing, and she had years of experience with this type of magic. This wasn’t the first time she had used that type of magic to torture someone, but it was certainly the longest. This put Beatrix to a true test, making her feel that even though she was doing it with all her heart, she was not getting any results.

This stressed her even more. If she were to prove useless now, she would not fulfil the promise she had made to Ian many years ago.

Matilda and Beatrix had several conversations over the past couple of days while staying at Matilda’s house outside the city. Matilda consistently asked Beatrix why she was pushing herself, but Beatrix remained defensive about the matter, sometimes even hostile.

Whenever she expressed anger toward Matilda, Ian would show his displeasure toward her. There was a clear distinction in how he treated Matilda compared with Beatrix. For Matilda, he always spoke softly, maintaining eye contact, and showing great attentiveness whenever she spoke. In stark contrast, with Beatrix, he consistently appeared pensive and hesitant to exchange words, even though she frequently approached him and affectionately called him "Dear Ian."

As for the reason she put her full tenacity into this project, it was something she preferred not to tell anyone, hoping that Ian still remembered the promise they had made when they were young.

"It was almost seven years ago..."

As Matilda sipped her tea, she frowned, overhearing Beatrix’s mutterings.

Seven years ago, Beatrix was ten years old; she was not allowed to be a sorceress. She was only a useless daughter who was meticulously educated in the liberal arts and scripture. Then one day, House Grayson, to whose heir she was betrothed, made an official visit to House Morgan, along with a hefty sum of money, in order to provide Beatrix with a Spellring and magic education.

A Morgan witch trained by the House of Morgan is rather rare, and in Beatrix’s case, it was a stroke of pure luck that elevated her position, winning her the favour of the former head of the house, Lord **Benedict Morgan**, the Chief Court Wizard of the Elgardish Empire.

During that visit, Ian and Beatrix met for the first time in an official courtship meeting. They were around ten or eleven years of age, and for the first time in her life, Ian told Beatrix something she never expected to hear.

"Once we grow up, I will need you by my side. Father told me that House Morgan sorcerers are great; I cannot wait to see you use magic and be like them. We will have each other’s backs and will be unstoppable together."

)

An ancient claim crushed and suppressed the hopes and dreams of a child for the first ten years of her life, dictating that all women of House Morgan must never grow into witches, lest it invoke disaster. This house lore dates back to the time of **the Saint-King, Arthur Pendragon**, as the family is considered to be descended from the great wizard **Merlin the Great** and Arthur’s elder half-sister, **Morgan Le Fay**. Morgan herself was the matriarch who founded the house, continuing the line of her father, **Duke [[Gorlois]]**.

This made it part of the heritage that while the men of the house inherit the wisdom and wits of Merlin, the women of the House would inherit the cunning, evil, and envy of Morgan Le Fay, who caused trouble for Saint Arthur on so many occasions, the most famous of which was supporting the rebellion of **Mordred** that resulted in the destruction of **Camelot** and Arthur’s departure.

In a way, the women of House Morgan had their own version of *original sin* going on, which resulted in years of suppression and fear, backed by much historical evidence that most female descendants of House Morgan who learned magic were all notorious witches.

The agreement for Beatrix to learn magic was not only a breach of a near-millennia-old tradition, but a desperate act by the Morgans, who were facing financial difficulties and leadership problems when Lord Benedict stepped down due to his disinterest in leading the house in favour of his son, **Lord Albert**, the current provost of the Royal Academies.

All these heavy-weight problems weighed heavily on Beatrix’s petite shoulders, making her more eager to prove herself not only as a competent witch, but also to the ones who believed in her before her own family: Ian and his family.

Yet despite all she did, Ian barely spoke with her the past few days, always flocking around Matilda, speaking with Matilda, looking at Matilda, caring for Matilda, running after Matilda, seeing nothing except Matilda—always Matilda, always Matilda, always Matilda.

"Dear Ian," Matilda blurted, causing everyone in the room to look at her.

She was someone of few words, barely saying thank you whenever she was offered something; now she was taking the initiative to speak.

The one spoken to, Ian, was perplexed, as something about her did not feel right. It was like that time three days ago when she walked into the room.

"Yes, Miss Morgan."

She tried to force a smile, but even that failed; she regretted not practising smiling, even in front of a mirror, something she would surely practise later on, but right here and now, she needed to do something regarding this feeling that was growing within her, a thousand times more bitter than any torture she had ever inflicted on the Bloody Swan.

"I call you with endearment as your fiancée, dear Ian," she said, and finally managed to pull out a smile. "Would you please try and... match it with something?"

"Oh!"

Her words were spoken publicly, defying her reclusive nature, and causing her a lot of stress in the process. However, she needed that courage in order to get Ian back.

"I am... not sure, Miss Morgan."

Ian seemed a bit uncomfortable with her request, but just as he revealed so while scratching his head, the smile she had put on found its way out of her facial expression as she returned to neutral.

Still, her eyes were somewhat out of sync with her synced expression, as they displayed a very suppressed violent urge to do something...

"Alright."

... something she may regret.

"Sir Ian," Beatrix spoke once again. "Can we speak in private, then?"

Ian looked through the room and saw no one other than Ronald Morgan sitting in a far corner and Edmond Black, hiding his face with a book and in deep rest. While he was the only one conversing with Matilda at the moment, Beatrix’s request made him unsettled.

"I am..." He opened his mouth to talk, before pausing and looking back at Matilda, then back at Beatrix, trying to look and sound reasonable. "I understand there is something on your mind, but we can talk later. I think it is rude to be guests for Lady Matilda and..."

"The commoner girl will see herself out."

Beatrix’s words caused a sudden electricity in the atmosphere as Matilda awkwardly supported herself on the armchair and awkwardly smiled. Ian and Matilda were surely stupefied, but Ronald and Edmond only looked up blankly at the scene.

"You can take all the time you want, Lady Beatrix. I remember that I have something to take care of."

"Lady Matilda, wait..."

Ian almost wanted to walk after Matilda, but as he turned away from Beatrix, she held him gently by the side of his face and turned him to face her.

"Don’t worry, Sir Ian. The commoner girl seems to be busy," she said, and then turned to Ronald, who was watching everything from the side: "I assume you don’t need my permission to run along, brother."

"Wha..."

Ronald short-circuited for a second, but Beatrix looked coldly at him.

"Our host has just been kicked out of her own drawing room. I assume it is your turn to act politely."

Hearing her speak that way, Ronald looked between her and Ian before immediately seizing the opportunity open for him. As for Ian, he simply watched Ronald leave as Beatrix finally took her hands off his face.

The fiancée he was avoiding for some time now seemed adamant on conversing with him. Ian opened his mouth to speak, but before a single word could escape, Beatrix gently placed a finger on his lips, shushing him. Her eyes, filled with a fierce, unyielding resolve, met his. This conversation, the one she had waited for, the one that would finally make him see her, would happen now. And no one, absolutely no one, would interrupt them. A faint, almost imperceptible hum began to fill the air around them, an incantation of absolute privacy.