RAGNA POV...
I didn’t know—honestly, I truly didn’t know—what kind of catastrophe would unfold the very instant I lost that last fragile thread of sanity that was barely, desperately holding together, but one thing I was certain of, with a bone-deep, marrow-chilling certainty, was that it would not end in tears or scoldings or bruises.
It would end in blood, in screams, in a massacre so grotesque and unrestrained that perhaps, just perhaps, it was the very sa reason cursed children in the past had gone mad and torn everything apart without rcy.
Soon enough, the night swallowed the world whole.
The sky stretched endlessly above us, drowned in countless stars, each one glittering with a cold, indifferent brilliance, their silver light spilling like a pale veil over the long line of carriages and the scattered figures of cursed children outside. The starlight coated everything in an almost peaceful glow—so peaceful it felt insulting, as if the heavens were mocking the hunger twisting inside my chest.
Inside the campground, a circle of cursed children sat close together like siblings pretending the world wasn’t cruel, surrounding the crackling campfire as laughter burst out of them in carefree waves.
They shoved each other, teased each other, argued over nothing, their shadows dancing wildly behind them as the flas flickered. Compared to the hollow silence that had followed us ever since the black steel knights took us, this almost looked... lively. Almost human.
"Co," soone called out cheerfully. "So I can introduce both of you. This is Conny, part of our alliance group."
Conny stepped forward, smiling wide as if we were old friends reunited after years apart. "Nice to et you. I heard how you trashed Marcus like so kid." He stretched out his hand toward , confident, open, unguarded.
I stared at his hand.
I didn’t shake it.
I only nodded.
Because at that mont, I wasn’t hearing a single word they were saying. Not one syllable registered in my mind. All I could see—no, all I could feel—were their necks, tender and exposed, holding up their laughing heads so carelessly. Their hands, extended toward in greeting, were not gestures of friendship in my eyes.
They were offerings.
If I leaned just a little closer... if I opened my mouth just a bit wider... if I lost myself for even one heartbeat longer...
I swear I could almost feel saliva pooling beneath my tongue every ti another hand reached toward .
Reiner and Berthold noticed.
Of course they did.
They always did.
They must have seen sothing flicker across my face—sothing hungry, sothing wrong—because from that mont onward, they positioned themselves around as if I were both their comrade and a ticking bomb. Berthold stayed close, subtly blocking anyone who tried to get too near , while Reiner walked boldly toward the center of the circle.
"Okay, everyone! Sorry to bother you all, but please, I need your attention—over here!"
His voice carried farther than it should have, almost as if it had been slightly enhanced. Conversations died down. Laughter faded. One by one, all eyes turned toward him.
"First of all," Reiner began loudly, pointing toward with dramatic flair, "I would like to thank our vice leader, Ragna, for honoring us with his presence!"
Clapping erupted instantly—loud, enthusiastic, echoing across the campsite.
The sound stabbed into my skull.
I forced myself to stand. Forced myself to nod. Forced my lips not to curl back and reveal teeth that were aching for sothing far more intimate than applause.
"Okay! Now for our main topic!" Reiner waved his hand, cutting the clapping short.
"The respected black steel knights have decided to set up this small alliance to guarantee that every single one of us safely reaches our destination."
He straightened his posture, voice swelling with artificial conviction.
"Comrades, it is ti to unite. This mission is important. If we succeed... there might even be a chance to be cured of our monstrous nature and live a good life—without hate, without suffering."
Cured.
The word rippled through the crowd.
Reiner’s expression grew solemn. His usual creepy smile vanished, replaced with sothing almost grandfatherly—like an old man telling children stories beside a fireplace. If I didn’t know him better, I might have believed him.
But I knew.
He was lying.
He knew he was also lying.
And yet he continued lying through his teeth because there was no other choice.
Silence spread like smoke. The children’s faces shifted—so skeptical, so hopeful, so confused. I could see it in their eyes: mories of loneliness, of fear, of power that made others recoil from them.
So of them clearly enjoyed being cursed children. The strength. The abilities. The edge.
Others... others looked like they were imagining sothing else.
A ho.
A family.
Warmth.
In the end, despite their different thoughts, they all seed to circle around one single word that pulsed invisibly in the air between us.
Freedom.
Reinee saw it too. I watched his eyes gleam faintly as he realized he had them hooked.
"We are nearly out of the Great Desert," he continued. "This is our last journey—and also the most dangerous one."
The fire crackled louder, as if emphasizing his words.
"With the protection of the black steel knights, we will most likely be safe. But they want us to show our worth. To prove we can survive this dangerous stage."
He paused deliberately.
"Because when those knight lords are unable to manage..." His voice dropped lower. Colder. "We may encounter death. Like those who had their brains eaten by the golden desert zombie bees."
A shiver rippled through the circle.
"It could be . It could be you. Or does any of you want to experience such a bitter outco?"
"Definitely not!" a fat boy shouted suddenly, face flushed red before he awkwardly sat back down.
Reiner nodded gravely.
"Our motive is to first reach our destination. But the cruel screening of our worth begins now."
He continued speaking—carefully blending truth and honeyed deception, layering fear with hope, dread with false security. Even with so few details, the image he painted was enough to make several of them visibly tremble.
I could hear their heartbeats.
Fast.
Uneven.
Tempting.
"Relax, everyone!" Reiner puffed out his chest, raising his voice again. "That’s why this alliance was ford!"
He explained how we would take turns protecting the carriages—how it would appear as though we were assisting the knight lords, even if it was mostly a façade. He assured them that those unfamiliar with their demon abilities would receive brief lessons, and that the knight lords had prepared an arsenal so everyone could choose a weapon.
Weapons.
As if tal could protect them from .
Gradually, the tension eased. Murmurs replaced panic. Small groups began discussing among themselves, weighing fear against survival.
Finally, a collective decision erged.
"Okay. We all agree."
Reiner didn’t hesitate. He struck while the iron was hot, assigning minor missions, labeling certain children as promising elites according to the instructions given to him by the black knights.
And I sat there, smiling faintly, pretending to be part of it all.
Pretending I wasn’t imagining how easily I could tear through every single one of them if I just stopped holding back.
************
Inside a dimly lit carriage not far away, the heavy sound of boots struck against the tallic wooden floor—slow, deliberate steps echoing in the confined space.
"Originally," a deep voice muttered, tinged with faint amusent, "I had planned on forcing them to fight."
A pause.
"But this... this is much better."
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