Dagger to the Heart

I passed out for the longest time.

The agony of having my heartblood being taken out nine times was actually bearable. But this time, I felt like my life would be claimed too.

As the last Wisteria in existence, the blood in my heart was endlessly pure and a miracle essence to the rest of the world.

It was capable of even bringing the dead back to life, but I had only ten drops.

And with the ten drops all taken, I was now dying.

Suddenly, I had a dream of the moment I first met Cain decades ago.

It had already been centuries since I was taken in by the Bladelords when he was initiated. We felt a mutual attraction after getting acquainted, and fell in love.

While my mother warned me that I had a Bleeding Heart that was too innocent and vulnerable to deceit, I never believed her.

That was, until I overheard someone in the sect saying that they had taken me in just so they could claim my heartblood when they needed it… until Cain came at me with a dagger for the first time, thrusting it into my heart.

It was only afterwards that he told me that he had a childhood sweetheart—a mortal named Yvette.

She had given him a pill bestowed upon her by a sage so that he could gain transcendence and join the Bladelords, while she was left shackled by mortality.

Caught in disbelief, I had demanded at the time, "So you wooed me just for my heartblood?"

"Yes," he admitted to it boldly. "But I also truly fell in love with you. There's no way I can have a relationship with Yvette now either—all I feel is owing. Can you understand where I'm coming from, Crystal?"

At that moment, never had I despised my Bleeding Heart more than now, as I had understood and forgave Cain just because he begged.

Back then, I thought it was just one drop of heartblood anyway—I had ten, and it was no big deal.

And because I had kept telling myself that, my chest was eventually riddled with holes, as Cain would repeatedly take my heartblood for the strangest reasons.

Being run down by a carriage, her husband beat her half to death, and she almost killed herself after her husband died… there were times when I found the romantic relationships of mortals incomprehensible.

If she really loved someone so much, how were they able to marry someone else?

However, looking at it from another perspective, it was moving how loyal they were.

Nonetheless, it was after the ninth time Cain stabbed my heart that he proposed marriage.

I have heard the sisters of my cabal saying women who really fell in love were fools.

However, I remembered I was a fool ever since I fell for Cain, so I accepted his proposal.

And now, the Bladelords banished me—with my heartblood drained dry, my spiritual energies had mostly diminished, leaving me of no use to them.

When I left, I could hear my peers laughing at me.

"Just look at her—even her hair has gone white. She's not going to last a few years."

"How much more foolish can she get? Cain has already deceived her to no end, but she still agreed to marry him. And now, he ran away on their wedding night, thinking of her last drop of heartblood!"

"That said, he probably didn't know—he wouldn't be that cold otherwise."

"Who could tell? All men are the same. Only fools like Crystal Woods would believe in nonsense like love."

As I headed down the stairs, their voices faded into the distance until I couldn't hear them at all.

I never once looked back, because I was too ashamed to do so, remembering my mother's last words, "You're the last of the Wisterias. You must find good stock to revitalize the bloodline!"

The memory alone could make me hide. Not only did I fail to revitalize the bloodline, I was going to die.

I had failed my mother, and the Wisteria clan even more.

Sighing, I looked up at the skies as the thought suddenly struck me.

I wanted to see Yvette.