Viola came home past two o'clock in the morning, expecting that Ezekiel and Elizabeth would already be asleep.
The house was quiet when she stepped inside. She slipped off her shoes carefully, not wanting to wake anyone, and moved past the living room with slow, tired steps.
That was when she saw them.
Ezekiel was still awake.
Elizabeth, however, was fast asleep on the couch, curled up beneath a thin blanket.
"You're back," Ezekiel greeted softly.
Viola paused.
"You still didn't go to sleep?" she asked, her brows knitting together in confusion.
He shifted slightly, as though caught doing something he had no proper excuse for.
"I was just making sure you were alright," he replied, his voice a little stiff. "So I could come get you if something happened."
The words sounded casual, but his nervousness betrayed him. It was obvious that was not the whole reason.
"But I'm glad you're okay," he added quickly.
Viola looked at him for a moment before smiling gently at his obvious concern.
"Thank you."
He nodded, then stood and carefully lifted Elizabeth into his arms. She stirred faintly but did not wake.
"I'll put her in her room," he said quietly. "You should rest now. You're probably tired from work."
"Alright."
Viola watched as he carried Elizabeth down the hallway, his steps careful and steady. Only when they disappeared into the dim corridor did she finally move.
After washing up, she headed to her bed. The exhaustion in her body was real, but her mind refused to settle.
She lay down and pulled the covers over herself.
He waited.
The thought lingered in her chest.
"He waited for me…" she murmured softly beneath the blankets.
A faint warmth spread through her heart.
---
Earlier that evening, both Elizabeth and Ezekiel had been on high guard. The tension between them had been thick and unspoken. Yet when Ezekiel turned on the television, Elizabeth had suddenly appeared and plopped herself onto the couch beside him.
It seemed she had grown tired of playing on her iPad and wandered out in search of company.
Ezekiel ended up cooking for her.
That small act had lightened the atmosphere between them. It was strange how Elizabeth's presence softened the sharp edges of everything.
---
Days passed, and the three of them continued living under the same roof.
Viola and Ezekiel would occasionally sit together in the living room together with their papers and speak quietly about their plans. Some days, Viola went to work. Other days, she arranged her documents in preparation for entering a guild soon. As an S-rank, no entrance test was necessary. She could enter any guild she chose without difficulty.
They split the house chores like any ordinary family would. One would cook while the other cleaned. They took care of Elizabeth's needs swiftly, tending to her like devoted parents, even though neither of them dared to define what they truly were to one another.
Viola had already secured identification documents for Ezekiel's new identity from Cain. She had also visited a former connection from her past life, someone who crafted custom firearms made from dungeon materials capable of damaging monsters. The weapon she requested was still in production, but everything was progressing smoothly.
Together, they practiced and memorized every detail of Ezekiel's new identity.
An accountant.
Unassuming, overlooked, and very ordinary.
It was the perfect disguise for infiltrating the Ozburn Group and collecting evidence.
They moved in the shadows.
Viola bribed several people involved in the recruitment process to ensure Ezekiel's entry would be seamless. She handled it cleanly, calculating every move with precision as she took advantage of other people's greed.
There were no loose ends.
No visible trails.
They planned everything carefully.
Now they worked side by side, almost like true partners.
They trusted each other.
Yet somehow, they still did not know how to be completely honest.
Beneath Viola's gentle demeanor and kindness, her thoughts wandered elsewhere.
Unlike Ezekiel, who focused solely on uncovering the real culprit behind the crimes pinned on him, barely sparing a thought for those who had killed him, Viola's priorities were different.
She was not satisfied with clearing his name alone.
She was thinking about the people who had hurt him.
In her room at night, long after the house fell silent, she would sit at her desk.
The dim light of the desk lamp cast a soft glow across her face as she opened what appeared to be a diary.
It was not filled with sentimental thoughts or daily reflections.
It was a record.
A list and pictures of four people, but you can say from the looks of it that it was a death list.
She stared at the names she had already gathered, her eyes calm but cold in a way no one in the house had ever seen.
The first name sat at the top of the page.
Charlotte Devounne.
A B-rank magician who had once worked in the same entertainment industry as Viola in the past.
5 Years ago, Charlotte's popularity had plummeted after the series she and Viola had starred in. Rumors spread afterward, claiming she had been a mistress of another actor, forcing her to leave the industry. She had since become a full-time hunter, the only work that could sustain her lifestyle, though it was far from the fame she once had.
Charlotte had long been a close associate of Clyde Zoric, a connection that had granted her entry into the Palladium Guild despite failing the entrance exam the same year Ezekiel had passed.
Viola let out a quiet laugh as memories of their feud from years ago resurfaced.
She thought of all the ways she could make Charlotte suffer. To humiliate her, to make her regret every action, every smug glance from the past. Viola had no intention of holding back.
Outside her room, the house remained peaceful.
Ezekiel had finished tucking Elizabeth into bed after she fell asleep again on the couch from watching dramas on the television. He returned to his own room, unaware of the quiet storm forming just a few steps away.
They were partners now.
They worked together.
They shared a home.
At least, for Ezekiel, he did not believe Viola was capable of doing anything unimaginable.
But while Ezekiel chased the truth to clear his name, Viola was preparing something else entirely.
Something far more personal.
Under the gentle mask she wore during the day, her resolve sharpened in the dark.
And Charlotte Devounne was only the beginning.
As Viola stared at the photographs spread across her table, her expression slowly darkened.
Her fingers hovered over one particular picture before she picked up a sharp red pen lying nearby.
For a second, she simply held it.
Then suddenly—
She stabbed the photograph.
The force was so strong that the pen snapped in half.
Red ink burst across the glossy surface, splattering violently over Charlotte's face, staining it in chaotic streaks of crimson.
Viola's breathing turned uneven, her grip still tight around the broken pen.
Her eyes were no longer soft or composed.
They were burning.
"I'll never forgive any of you…" she muttered under her breath.
The red ink slowly spread across the image, pooling over Charlotte's smiling face like spilled blood.
The room fell silent again.
Viola might consider everything but there are things she does not know…
[Name: Viola Silva]
[Alias: The Saintess]
[Age: Soul – 27 | Body – 24]
[Occupation: Hunter (Healer)]
[Rank: SSS]
[Personality:]
• Develops extreme hyperfixation on chosen targets or goals
• Unyielding and relentless once her mind is set
• Compulsive overthinker who dissects every possibility
• Perfectionist toward herself
• Obsessive toward a specific individual
• Emotionally compartmentalized
• Two-faced — capable of controlled cruelty while maintaining a saintly image
[Behavioral Note: Dual persona active]
[Status: Alive]
[Condition: CORRUPTED]
SYSTEM WARNING – CRITICAL
███ ERROR ███
███ ERROR ███
CORRUPTION DETECTED IN SOUL MATRIX
TRACE: EXPONENTIAL
███ ERROR ███
CONTAINMENT FAILURE IMMINENT
███ ERROR ███
FRAGMENTATION OF IDENTITY…
DUAL PERSONA INSTABILITY…
███ ERROR ███
CORRUPTION SPREADING TOWARD CORE SOUL
███ ERROR ███
███ ERROR ███