The Place Where the Sword Was Drawn

Hailla lived a quiet, impoverished life, pouring her heart into caring for her sickly older sister, Rethe.

Just the two of them, barely getting by but together.

Then one day, she came across Lian, collapsed and helpless.

And, as if fate had written it, she fell in love with him.

“I like being with you.”

“Then stay with me.”

But Hailla had sworn a life of devotion to her sister.

To the man who desired her, she said the one thing she should never have said:

“The person I love most in this world is my sister.”

“…”

“Abandoning her would be the same as abandoning myself.”

When she opened her eyes, she was already in an unfamiliar place.

“You told me not to run in the house. You taught me that, remember?”

“Don’t do this. I need to go home. This isn’t my home…”

Slowly, his madness began to unravel before her.

She had believed she could protect her only family.

She was foolish enough to believe it.

And then Rethe died.

Most likely by Lian’s hand.

—

“I might die.”

It was time to let him go.

“If you leave me, I might die…”

His desperate plea not to be abandoned was pitiful. But she couldn’t trust him anymore.

“Then die.”

He had to be punished.