Led by Merka, Joan soon arrived at Othello's room.

Macbeth was lying on the floor, his lips completely purple, his chin ravaged and pockmarked as if splashed with acid.

"Sister, what should we do?" Merka's tone suddenly became much lighter, as if there was nothing they couldn't solve as long as Joan was there.

"Othello is dead," Joan said calmly.

Huh?

"He died by the river, with burns all over his body. There were signs of torture, but he didn't breathe his last until the killer used a knife. The forensic examiner said his willpower was beyond ordinary."

What is Joan talking about...

Othello, who was always reliable and could handle anything that happened...

Wasn't he joking and chatting with me just yesterday?

"The police haven't found the killer yet... but it doesn't matter, there could be many people who wanted to kill him."

Did I do something wrong? It must be my fault... It was my suggestion that led Othello to exchange his medal for money. It was clearly such a dangerous thing, it was all me...

"I used my connections and took his prosthetic eye from the hospital. This holy relic may suit you... Give it a try." Joan seemed emotionless, presenting one horrifying fact after another without embellishment.

"Sister... I can't... I can't do it." Merka finally couldn't speak or act like an adult anymore. The cruelty of reality made him panic like a child of the same age, pleading for mercy.

Joan took out a handkerchief from her bag. When Joan unfolded the handkerchief, two eyeballs were neatly placed on it. Whether it was an illusion or not, Merka felt that blood was even sticking to them.

"Merka, little Macbeth is about to die. Because of your fear. Do you know how this happened?"

"There are things in the world that can be solved and things that can't be solved."

"Because of your fear, you missed out on Macbeth's life, and later on many other lives in the orphanage. Do you think this is the same as what happened to Othello's tragic death by the river? Is it something that couldn't be helped?"

"Merka, sacrifice is the nature of this world."

"The integration of different national cultures, the rule of top-down power, and the succession of patriotic wars, these things haven't come about without sacrifice, more concise and important sacrifice."

"Somebody has to sacrifice, somebody has to bleed, somebody has to die in an untimely manner. That's what things that can't be helped are."

"As for your fear, it's only a small part of the pain of life."

"Feeling unfair or feeling angry. Even though it's pitiful, those are genuinely things that can't be helped."

Joan's gentle voice was like a warm blanket, making people not want to leave.

"But... Sister, using magic should easily cure Macbeth, shouldn't it? Even without me..." Merka's eyes started to hurt again.

"I have to go." Joan interrupted Merka.

Another bombshell.

"I might come back, I might not. But either way, I can't be in the Non-Smoking Area forever. You guys must have someone who can perform surgery, because you can't afford surgery for every child."

"That person is you, Merka."

"Maybe it would be better to train you a little earlier... but I've been really busy lately."

"I believe in your intelligence. As I said, there's a child abroad who can be a ruler at the age of seven, so Merka can definitely perform surgery at the age of six." The news that Joan was leaving hit Merka like a high-speed car, breaking him into fragments. Before he could even deal with his broken feelings, the urgency of the current situation overwhelmed his sadness.

Merka's eyes seemed to hurt even more intensely.

"Alright... I understand, come on." With determination, Merka stared at Joan as if he wanted to lock her appearance in his mind one last time.

On Joan's earring, a strange black gemstone accompanied her kind smile, emitting a mysterious light.

"Okay... trust me with your body." Joan approached and embraced Merka, her slender fingers gently reaching into Merka's eye sockets, extracting the original eyeballs.

Without anesthesia or sedatives, Joan replaced Merka's damaged eye sockets with Othello's artificial eye.

Watching Merka bite her lip in pain, Joan tenderly caressed her cheek.

"I used magic to heal the damaged nerves in your eye sockets. Now, try using the detection magic I taught you to observe the world." Joan moved in front of Macbeth, kneeling in front of Merka, "Carefully observe the texture of the muscles from the jaw to the dynamic blood flow, and the densely distributed nerves."

Joan took out a box of surgical instruments and an iron chin from her bag, spreading out the surgical tools in front of Merka.

"Come on... let me teach you step by step." Joan gently took Merka's hand and placed it on the surgical knife. The angelic smile gradually dispelled Merka's anxiety and confusion.

Enduring the residual pain in her eyes, Merka forced out a smile and nodded, starting the surgery on Macbeth's jaw.

--------------------------------------------

A week without enough food had passed. The children at the orphanage finally understood how difficult it was without Othello.

"Where did you get this?" Romeo held the still warm bread and asked Juliet in confusion. The latter's unhealthy pale yellow complexion revealed her malnutrition.

"Never mind." Even though Juliet didn't say it, her scars on her face were enough to give her away.

Holding the bread, Romeo remained silent for a while before finally speaking, his eyes flickering with a hint of reminiscence. "Juliet, lately I keep recalling the past. They say people often reminisce about the past when they are about to die..."

"Don't think about it." Juliet's voice, though weak, was calm and filled with strength. "There's nothing worth remembering about your past... the future is more important to us, right?"

"No, quite the opposite." Romeo raised his hand, showing the ring on his finger to Juliet. "I feel that my past is filled with warm memories."

Unlike many parents who, upon discovering their child had the Demon's Curse, would abandon them or send them to an orphanage, Romeo's single mother was a heavily indebted gambler.

Rough education, littered with empty bottles, and an empty fridge didn't kill Romeo. What killed him were the flashing symbols on the slot machine, the diminishing chips on the poker table, and a thoughtless remark from his mother's gambling companions.

"I heard some foreigners in Red Port are willing to pay a high price for children!" The scumbag and his friends were excited, and Romeo's fate was sealed - they planned to raise Romeo a bit more before selling him.

By then, Romeo had no choice but to tremble in fear at home.

But what arrived as scheduled was not his menacing father, but a blood-soaked little girl.

Romeo still fondly remembered the determined look in her eyes from back then.

Cute and handsome.

"I killed that scumbag. The only thing valuable on her was this wedding ring."

"Let's run away together... I will make you happy." Blood-soaked Juliet, like a young phoenix under the setting sun, clumsily and gently put the ring on Romeo, her words making Romeo faint with happiness.

The girl was Romeo's childhood playmate, and coincidentally, also a cursed child.

"Just didn't expect that, after everything, this ring would become a relic."

Romeo took off the ring from his ring finger and held it in his palm, offering it to Juliet. His face revealed its original grotesque appearance, without a nose or lips.

"You said you wanted to give me the beauty of an ordinary person... now I'll give it back to you." Romeo smiled brightly, "A wife must have a ring, you know..."

"I know that you've wanted to break free from the misery of the orphanage for a long time... I'm really sorry, it's me and Othello who have been holding you back."

"Being alone outside without magic would definitely be a limitation, but with this..." Romeo paused, afraid that he would start crying if he spoke again.

"...I can use this to earn some money." After hesitating for a long time, Juliet, who had accepted the ring, softened her sword-like eyebrows. She deeply kissed Romeo on the forehead.

"I will come back, soon."

Juliet probably never came back again.