The Hooded Basted

We stopped, and Fate turned to look at us, her arms crossed. "So, may I ask what we were to discuss?" she asked, her tone sharp. "And might I ask how you know Luna?"

"She's a friend... well, a friend we knew as her guardian," Aurora replied cautiously.

"Art?" Fate questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, that's him. So, how do you know him?"

"He's my fiancé," she said plainly, picking Katharina up. "And thanks for finding Katharina. He would have killed me if I'd lost her."

Her words echoed in my mind.

Katharina looks so much like Art... is she?

"May I ask, is she another one of the kids he took in?" Lilith asked.

Fate shook her head. "Nope. She's his by blood."

We all fell silent, the weight of her words settling over us.

"Well," Lilith finally said, crossing her arms, "it's quite rude keeping a child a secret from your mother."

"No wonder he's so protective of the girls," Aurora added, and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

But I didn't get it. How are they not doing the math? Katharina looks about seven years old, which means... she was conceived when he was eight.

How could I forget? In this world, it's normal to be a parent at such a young age.

That fact should have settled in my mind by now, but the sheer weight of realization hit me like a sledgehammer. My stomach twisted violently, a wave of nausea overtaking me.

Shit, I can feel it—

"Bleugh!"

I doubled over, heaving up everything I had eaten that day. My body trembled as the putrid mixture splattered against the ground, forming a sluggish puddle of green and brown at my feet. My head spun, my vision swimming as the bitter taste of bile clung to my throat.

"Miss Rosalind, is everything alr—"

Before Princess Fate could even finish her sentence, something shot through the air with a sickening whistle. Chains.

The cold metal links pierced her eye in a split second, embedding deep into her skull. Blood erupted from the wound, warm and thick, splattering across my face. A crimson spray painted my vision red, hot liquid dripping down my cheeks, mingling with the bitter aftertaste of vomit.

A horrified scream ripped from my throat.

"Ahhh!"

But then—

Everything snapped backward.

The moment rewound as though time itself had unraveled, reality folding in on itself. My breath hitched, my body jerking as I was thrust back. Time had reversed—but how far?

[Master! Quickly! The attack could happen at any second!]

Aloy's voice rang in my ears, urgent and sharp, cutting through my disoriented state. No hesitation. No time to think.

I lunged forward, shoving Princess Fate aside just as the chain came hurtling from above. The air cracked with the sound of metal slicing through the space where she had just stood. Fate stumbled back, eyes wide, her breath sharp.

All heads turned upward.

The Hooded Bastard.

He was already on the move, sprinting across the rooftops, his dark silhouette blending into the dimming sky. His movements were fluid, precise—too damn fast.

But he wasn't fast enough for Miss Lilith.

Without hesitation, she leaped onto the rooftops, her form a blur of lethal grace as she gave chase. The air pulsed with tension, the fight far from over.

My heart was still racing, but one thing was clear—whoever was behind this, they weren't going to stop. And neither were we.