Chapter 3

At midnight, the meeting hall was brightly lit. The flames of the eternal lamps flickered, illuminating the bowl of inky black water from the Morrow River.

According to tradition, the soul being eliminated had to be the one in control of the body and willingly drink the water from the Morrow River. Only then could the soul be separated painlessly and without sensation, returning to the river.

In my previous life, Lissy had been in control of the body.

Mom and Dad had summoned her repeatedly before she finally emerged and tearfully drank the bowl of water, leaving everyone heartbroken and yearning for her for the rest of their lives.

This time around, they were eagerly waiting for me to come around. Mom and Dad kept calling out to me.

"It's time, Romy. Come out and drink the water."

"Romy, come out."

But there was no response from the body.

My parents exchanged bewildered glances. "What's going on? Where's Romy?"

Frowning, Finnian snapped impatiently, "Stop sulking, Romy! Get out here."

No one on the outside had any idea that, deep within my sea of consciousness, I was already doing my best to come out. I wanted to take control of the body, drink that bowl of water once and put an end to everything.

But Lissy was far too attached to being in charge of the body. From deep within, she used all her strength to suppress my consciousness. She was like an impenetrable net, holding the body firmly under her control.

"Stop trying to take control of the body, Romy. Since I already spent most of the day in control, I don't wanna give it back to you."

With an innocent-sounding chuckle, she remarked, "Say, why don't we play a game, Romy? It won't matter if we let Mom and Dad call for you for a little longer. Let's wait until they start panicking before I let you out."

She pinned my soul down in a dark corner of the mind. I couldn't move at all.

When I still didn't appear, Finnian started getting antsy.

Just then, Lissy opened her eyes. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out, "Mom! Dad! Finn!"

Her voice was choked with sobs, her expression utterly aggrieved.

"Romy is upset because we ignored her all afternoon, so she's angry and refuses to let me have the body. It's okay. I've had plenty of fun today."

She raised her head and adopted a look of noble self-sacrifice.

"Just let me disappear instead. Let Romy stay."

Those words instantly ignited my parents' fury.

Dad trembled with rage and wagged a finger at my body as he shouted, "I'm so disappointed in you, Romelia! Even until the very end, you're still trying to use these underhanded tricks to force us to make Lissy give up the body to you?"

Mom also cried as she pounded on the table.

"So that's why you didn't cry or throw a tantrum today. You've been waiting for this moment, just to back us into a corner!"

Finnian's face darkened, his gaze turning vicious.

"Romelia, if you refuse to leave with some dignity, then don't assume we'll go easy on you."

He walked up to Mr. Hawthorne and said, "Mr. Hawthorne, since Romy is being so unreasonable and stubbornly refusing to give up the body, I suggest we use the rite of soul severance, the one reserved for souls who refuse to leave."

The moment he said this, the meeting hall fell deathly silent. The rite of soul severance involved using soulfire poison and silver needles to forcibly extract the soul from the body.

It was a punishment reserved for souls who hid in the depths of the body and refused to come out. Once the soul was exposed to air after being put through unbearable agony, it would disappear for good without even getting to return to the Morrow River for a chance to live again.

The elders gasped in horror. "Finnian, doing so would mean that Romelia's soul would cease to exist completely!"

Finnian's expression remained just as grim as he said cruelly, "That's the punishment she deserves. Since she's doing this to forcibly delay the ceremony, she should suffer the consequences for her actions."

He turned to my parents and continued, "Mr. and Mrs. Calder, if we drag this out any longer, the midnight hour will pass, and both souls will be damaged. For Lissy's sake, we can't waste any more time."

My parents hesitated for the briefest second, but after seeing Lissy, who was kneeling on the floor looking all noble and selfless, they nodded and declared angrily, "Let's do it. Use the rite of soul severance and force that stubborn girl out of there."