Leon stared at her own Daughter with a worried expression whilst many cheered, only acknowledging her ability and not her current expression. Leon couldn't help but be angry. Why wouldn't he? This was supposed to be one of her most important days in her entire life, and two people decided to ruin it for her.
Leon made sure that his bloodlust didn't leak out, and frightening Ena would be the last thing he would want right now. All he could do was watch in silence, make sure everything didn't get worse from there.
"What got you so uptight?"
Mairen appeared right beside Leon, with her champagne raised high on her lips. "Well, this is a surprise. I never expected her to have such an amazing ability to complement her background. Usually they'd be weak and have no worth whatsoever... She really does everything, huh?"
"What exactly are you people doing here? As far as I recall, you weren't the person to care about relationships if they don't have value."
"How mean... I just really missed my colleague, that's all, and since it was a special occasion, I thought I'd come by and greet you and your daughter."
"Get out... I won't repeat it; If I ever find you near this place again, I'll make sure you'll die this time."
"You're humor hasn't changed a single bit. If it were the good old days, Sayuri would've laughed with us right now."
Leon grabbed her by the throat, pushing her to the wall, giving her a disdainful look. Despite the large earthquake, no one seemed to notice, and they still had their eyes on his daughter. Leon's eyes sharpened—Right now, in Mairen's point of view, he resembled a lion showing hostility.
"I didn't want to make a mess since it was Ena's birthday and there were a lot of guests, but you're really making it hard for me to hold myself back now."
Mairen gritted her teeth, her smile still lingering, meeting his sharp gaze. She caressed his hand before a giggle came out of her mouth.
"And here I thought you were rotting away, but now I see, you still haven't lost your touch."
With the same hand that caressed Leon's claw-like fingers, Mairen snapped her fingers. In that instant, Arnold dashed through Leon's whole arm and tore it apart, disconnecting it from his body, making blood spray everywhere. His hand fell limp on the cold floor, letting go of Mairen's neck.
Leon did not react and only picked up his limb. His glare didn't falter once, but the same was to be said for their expressions.
"It's been fun, but there's nothing left for me to do here; now that I know little Ena's ability, the entertainment is gone."
Her footsteps felt deep, an illusion of tempo, as she went to Arnold's side.
"We'll meet again soon, and when we do, I hope you'll accept my hugs. Tata!"
With that, they disappeared; he no longer felt their presence linger in the region. He took a deep breath and sat on the floor. He attached his arm to his body, healing himself almost instantly. He took a good look at his own daughter before fixing the wall that had a dent in it.
He stood up and made his way to Ena, pushing through the dense crowd. Midway, a microphone appeared in his palm. He tapped it twice, making everyone divert their attention to him. He cleared his voice and fixed his poker face.
"Round of applause, everybody!" He quickly went in front of Ena, who still had her face down. "I always knew my daughter was special, the moment I first saw her as an infant..."
"I just want to say that I'm proud, and I'm sure Sayuri would've also been. Please be my guests, help yourselves, and spend the entire night as we celebrate this important moment!"
Leon controlled the crowd, every one of them cheering much louder than before. Leon eased their cheering until the lights returned to the party. They returned to their original tasks, chatting with one another and having a great time overall.
With this, Leon quickly grabbed Ena's hand and made his path forward to the stairs. Dragging her on his way, Ena tried to stop, but she couldn't. Many tried to strike up a conversation, but he would only turn them away as politely as he could. Each step felt like an hour, and each step Ena kept protesting.
But he never let her. Sometimes, you just have to say no, whether it be discipline or for their own good. Even if he didn't like it, he couldn't bear to see her daughter pushing herself for his own sake and the reputation of the family.
Many things had already happened; anymore would break Ena entirely. He didn't want to take that risk; even if she was knowledgeable or more intelligent, she was still a child—a child who had a fragile mind, and with that in mind, he continued forward. Until they finally reached the stairs, he gave her to Lisa.
"Hold her for a minute."
Lisa bowed her head. She took a glance at Ena's face and saw her pale expression. Lisa didn't know what had happened, but she didn't question it; she followed Leon's orders for now. Leon quickly dashed back into the ballroom, dragging Edith along with him, before giving her to Lisa as well.
"Take them to Ena's room. Don't let her out, and stay with them."
Edith was puzzled, but all she could do was listen and follow his orders.
Lisa opened the door and dragged Ena with her. After getting a distance, some of the other servants closed the door behind them. Any chance of returning was now nearly impossible. But she was persistent, she tried to pull her hand away, not allowing her to take her away.
"Let... Go of me! I'm supposed to be at the party!" Ena exclaimed.
"Lady Ena, we must obey your father's orders! It's for your own good!"
Ena only rebelled harder; she was slowly empowering Lisa. Edith, who didn't want to be a quiet spectator, joined in and helped Lisa.
"What are you doing!? Don't tell me you're also siding with them!?"
"I've seen how you reacted when you received your ability—you weren't happy at all! You looked more terrified than you did excited!" Edith replied.
Lisa had never seen Ena so rebellious before; just earlier, she was the kind of person who would listen and follow orders quietly without making any trouble, but she changed nearly instantly within the hour. What puzzled her even more was that she had her eyes on Ena the entire time, everything seemed regular until now.
Ena clenched her jaw, her eyes glowing in, radiating and consuming the other lights around her, outshining them in every way. In that instant, large spikes of blood gushed out from the ground.
The blood spikes continued to rise, pointing to Edith at a terrifying pace. Edith let go of Ena and used her hands to protect herself. Even more blood gushed out; this time, it was from a body. Ena stood in horror as the spike slowly impaled deeper and deeper into flesh.
Edith opened her eyes to see no harm, only to have her eyes fall on Lisa's body being torn apart by one by a spike. But as she looked closer, it wasn't just one, but six of them in total.
Edith fell to the ground, screaming in terror as she took in the sight. Many servants heard the screams and rushed to see what was happening. And there behold a scene a child should never have witnessed; they quickly ran to their sides, covering their eyes, but that didn't stop her whatsoever.
"What happened!?"
"I don't know..."
The servants talked to one another, their hands still covering their visions. Ena only stood... Stood... How many times had she stood like this? How many times in the past hour? Ena felt her throat getting heavy, and she fell to her knees before throwing up on the spot, her eyes turning bloodshot as she saw Lisa fighting to live.
Leon barged through the door, his eyes contracting once more.
"Dad...?" Tears slowly ran down her cheek as she met her father's gaze. Her vision started to blur, then she finally passed out on the ground. The last thing she saw was her father running toward her with his hand reaching out.
***
Ena woke up, and she immediately stood up, her entire face sweating as she took a look around at her surroundings. She was in her room. She felt a sharp pang of pain in the side of her forehead. She put her finger to try to massage it, then felt something similar to fabric.
Ena rushed to stand up, putting her feet on the ground. And almost instantly, she fell limp on the ground. She could feel her thighs but not her calves. A loud groan escaped her lips as the pain from both her head and her legs came in at the same time.
With her hand, she slammed it on the floor and dragged her entire body forward to the chair at her desk. With all her might, she pressed down on the seat and pushed herself upward—allowing herself to sit.
There, she looked deeply into her mirror and saw bandages on her head; blood was visible, but it wasn't spreading anymore. If anything, it looked like it had settled, dark and crusted. She also looked thin, her cheekbones practically showing. Despite that, she continued staring, trying to remember how he got that injury.
The only thing she remembered was hurting Lisa, getting dragged away from her father, and the deafening screams... Hurting Lisa.
'... Lisa!'
The realization hit her like a truck; her face went pale, and her hand swayed away from the desk, causing much of her makeup to fall and shatter everywhere—but she didn't care and hopped off her seat, but of course, she fell. She had forgotten that her own legs had already given out.
She planted her palm once more, but that was when she felt a stinging pain in her chest, just on her heart. She clawed her chest, her mouth drooling with saliva. Her eyes kept glowing like a flickering light.
Small, tiny orbs of blood were summoned throughout the entire room, changing forms at a constant rate. The door was opened roughly; many of the servants had heard the shattering of glass, and as they entered the room, they saw Ena coiled, breathing hoarsely, with many vibrant colors and shattered glass spread around her.
"Everyone, the young lady is awake! Call the doctors, hurry!" One of the butlers exclaimed
Many of them gathered. The same butler who had called out the others had stepped into the room, and as he did, an orb of blood turned into something sharp and shot itself at the butler's head.
The projectile hit the wall, creating a tiny hole in it—the butler who was shot had survived. His shoulder had a hand on it, the same hand that moved him just before he got hit.
"Don't step in so carelessly."
"Ah! Yes! Thank you, Sir Rafael." The butler bowed his head.
"Call the doctors, guide them here, I'll take care of the young lady, and why are there so many servants? Go back to your post." Rafael sighed.
Many of them spread out, while some stayed near because their shifts were cleaning. They were the first ones to hear the thuds and the glass breaking and warned the reported to the others. Rafael sighed and entered the room before closing it behind him.
***
After a while, Leon barged into Ena's room. The entire room was spotless, clean, and organized. Just in the middle of the room, Ena was sitting upright, while Rafael sat on one of the chairs. From what he heard, Ena attacked anyone who would enter her room, but Rafael still had his butler uniform in perfect condition.
He darted to Ena and saw her crying while she stared at the window, sobbing quietly. Ena turned to the door, her eyes watering and soaking her bedsheets.
"Dad... Is Lisa dead?"