Chapter 12: Who Deserved to Live?

"First Miss! First Miss!" The moment Elaine Hauk lunged as if to tear Murray Scurr apart, Hannah rushed in and grabbed her arm. "First Miss, your injuries haven't healed yet. You can't fight again!" "Let go of me!" Elaine snapped, glaring at her, but Hannah refused to loosen her grip. "First Miss, please calm down. You had an Energy Deviation just now. Young Master Murray saved you!" "What?" Elaine froze. She flicked a glance at Murray, then stared at Hannah as if she'd lost her mind. "He saved me?" Hannah nodded hard. "It was bad, First Miss. Really bad. If Young Master Murray hadn't gotten to you in time, you might have already…" Elaine went still. So it really had been him. Murray had driven her sister mad. He had betrayed her sister. He had even peeked at her while she bathed. And yet, when she'd been on the verge of losing herself, it was Murray who pulled her back. The contradiction scraped at her until she could barely breathe. Then a thought flashed through her, sharp as a blade. Back then, she had been… completely exposed. Elaine's face iced over. "How did he save me?" "T-This…" Hannah's mouth opened, then shut again. Saving a life excused anything, didn't it? But she knew her First Miss might not see it that way. "Elaine, listen. Let me explain." Murray finally spoke, his voice tight. "I got a map from the Zimmerman family. It showed an Ice Spirit Spring here, so I came to cultivate. After I finished, the water temperature started rising, and then…" He pulled out the map and gave a helpless, bitter laugh. The timing was so absurd it felt like fate was mocking him. Elaine stared at the map and blanked again. If that was true, then it really had been a coincidence. A ridiculous coincidence. "Fine. Say that explains this." Her gaze turned razor-cold. "Then what about you violating an innocent woman? My sister went insane because of you!" That, she could never forgive. Murray drew a slow breath. The memory of Marcus Scurr ripping out his Elixir Field surged up, followed by Jocelyn's vacant eyes, her mind shattered. Hatred roared through him until his fingers tightened around his sword hilt. "Elaine, it's a long story. I was framed." His voice stayed steady, but his eyes burned. "And if I truly were that kind of man… do you think you and Hannah would still be standing here untouched?" Elaine couldn't answer. She and Hannah hadn't been harmed. "Maybe you just had a moment of conscience," she shot back, refusing to yield. "Maybe you felt guilty toward my sister, so you didn't do anything. What you did is already known by everyone!" It was still only his side of the story. Deep down, she had started to believe him, but the fact remained: her sister had gone mad. That was the wound she couldn't let close. If Jocelyn hadn't broken, Elaine would never have taken such a dangerous path. She would never have cultivated that art. She would never have suffered an Energy Deviation like this. "Elaine, you'll learn the truth later." Murray's voice softened. "Tell me… how is your sister? What's she like now?" At the mention of Jocelyn Hauk, his heart trembled. In this life, the person he owed most was Jocelyn. "You still want to-" Elaine flared, but the look in his eyes stopped her. It wasn't pleading. It was something deeper, raw with pain, and it brushed against a place in her she hadn't expected to still be soft. Her lips pressed together. The cruel words died before they could leave her mouth. "Maybe… things really aren't what they seem…" "She's at the Martial House," Elaine answered at last, her face blank despite the turmoil in her chest. "A powerful expert is treating her, but we don't know the details." Murray nodded, a breath easing out of him. His gaze hardened with resolve. *Jocelyn. I'll come for you soon.* "There aren't any Demon Beast around here." He turned away. "Elaine, stay and recover. I'm leaving." He walked off without waiting, as if he feared staying a second longer would only deepen the misunderstanding. Elaine watched his lone back recede, and the frost on her face quietly melted. All she could feel from him was solitude, and something like relentless suffering. "First Miss…" Hannah spoke softly beside her. "Could Young Master Murray really have his reasons? He used to be such a righteous person." Elaine stayed silent. This time, she didn't snap at Hannah for calling him "Young Master." "I don't know what happened," Hannah continued, eyes following Murray into the distance, "but if he really was wronged… then he's too pitiful. It's like only First Miss ever believed him." Elaine bit her lower lip, her expression turning complicated. "First Miss! Young Master Murray is back!" Hannah's sudden cry jolted her. Elaine looked up and saw Murray returning, his steps quick and purposeful. "Elaine," he said, stopping in front of them, his face grave. "You'll know the truth soon." Elaine stared, confused. Truth? What truth? "Take your First Miss and hide in the Ice Spirit Spring. If I don't call for you, don't come out. No matter what." Both mistress and maid froze, not understanding a thing. "Move!" Murray barked, his voice hard enough to make Hannah flinch. She immediately dragged Elaine toward the Ice Spirit Spring and shoved them into cover. Clang! The instant they were hidden, Murray drew his sword and strode forward. "What's happening?" Elaine and Hannah crouched behind water plants, peering through the gaps, their hearts pounding with questions. Swish, swish, swish! More than ten figures burst from the forest and cut off Murray's path completely. "Who are they?" Hannah whispered, alarmed. Elaine's eyes narrowed. "They look like the Scurr family." "Then why are they trying to kill Young Master Murray?" "He did something unforgivable," Elaine said coldly. "It makes sense the Scurr family would hunt him." Hannah turned to her, stunned, as if to say: *First Miss… do you even believe that yourself?* Elaine gave a small snort. Even if Murray had been framed, even if he had his reasons, it didn't change the fact that he had seen her naked. He might have even touched her. She was still an untouched maiden, and by the twisted accounting of relationships, Murray was practically her brother-in-law… The thought made her bite her lip harder, but her eyes stayed locked on him. "Murray," one of the newcomers sneered as they advanced, "who would've thought you could rise again after the Family Head tore out your Elixir Field? And you even killed so many of our stewards!" Twelve Scurr family stewards. Three elders. Murray's eyes narrowed. No wonder they hadn't struck the moment they sensed him. They must have found the bodies of Steward Ketill and the others, then gathered everyone to wipe him out in one blow. He rolled his wrist, sword tip angling forward. Fine. He'd settle it all at once. "Marcus Scurr, that old hound, really thinks highly of me," Murray said, his voice like ice as he glanced toward the back. "He even sent the Fourth Elder and two other elders." "Murray," the Fourth Elder stepped out, his aged face twisted with murderous malice, "the family fed you for years. You should understand this much. You shouldn't be allowed to live." "Heh." Murray's laugh came out sharp and bitter. "I shouldn't live? Then Marcus Scurr and his son deserve to?" His sneer deepened, contempt cutting through every word. Without him, would the Scurr family ever have reached what it was? A pack of ungrateful traitors, telling him he didn't deserve to live. What a joke.