Al felt relieved.
His engagement with Nayala was finally and officially canceled.
The heavy weight that had clung to his shoulders like a dark shadow was finally gone.
He took a deep breath and was about to leave the venue—
Until a pair of gentle hands held him back. His mother's.
"Stay with us tonight, dear," Sandra said softly.
Al turned his head and saw her smiling, though a flicker of tension still lingered in her eyes.
Nearby, Edward sat quietly, watching the now-lively stage performance.
Al sat back down.
For the first time, he truly felt like he belonged—seated with his real parents at the main table, watching the crowd cheer and celebrate.
His urge to leave slowly faded.
But then...
A cold wind began to blow.
Not strong, but sharp enough to bite through the skin.
The leaves of the grand trees rustled softly, creating a faint but unsettling sound.
One by one, guests began to sense something was off.
Suddenly—
The lights went out.
Silence.
No one moved.
Everyone waited for the electricity to return.
But time passed, and nothing changed.
Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.
Grumbles. Whispers. Nervous complaints.
Edward instructed his staff to check the power.
But minutes went by... and no updates came from the guards or servants sent to investigate the source of the blackout.
Though there were many people in the garden, the atmosphere quickly grew tense.
Mild panic began to spread.
Some guests screamed. Others whispered about strange shadows.
Even the hired musicians lost the will to perform. A few of them deeply regretted taking the job tonight.
Now, the only source of light was the moon hanging above, its silver glow barely illuminating the Virellano garden.
Edward felt a deep unease creeping in.
He stood up and ordered, "Everyone to the center! Bodyguards—form a perimeter around the guests!"
The guards quickly obeyed, surrounding the party guests in a defensive circle.
Others rushed to the western sector of the estate to inspect the power grid.
Far away, a wolf's howl echoed in the distance.
AAAAAAGH!!
A female servant screamed hysterically, pointing toward the trees.
"I... I saw something white behind that tree!"
Then she collapsed on the spot.
Other guests began to panic.
Some cried. Others claimed to see strange shadows flickering through the garden.
A few even started losing their minds in the chaos.
The celebration had become a scene straight out of a horror story.
Edward clutched Sandra's hand tightly.
Al's sisters huddled together, Vianna paling in fear.
Al, however, simply sat quietly, staring at the dark sky.
He seemed unfazed by the chaos around him.
Meanwhile, David stood behind his mother with a faint smirk, hidden in the shadows.
Good. It's finally happening.
Even if the cancelation cost me more than that orphan brat, after tonight... he's finished. Hehe... he thought.
But what David expected—
Was not what happened next.
Amid the rising panic, Nayala suddenly screamed in agony.
"AAARGHHHHH!! WHAT IS THIS?!"
She staggered forward—
And vomited blood in front of everyone.
Both the Valendra and Virellano families rushed to her.
Even David, who had been smiling earlier, turned pale.
He clearly saw a white shadow circling Nayala, then slipping into her body.
W-What?!
That wasn't supposed to happen.
Nayala wasn't the target!
David froze.
His gaze locked on Al—still calmly seated, as if nothing unusual had occurred.
No…
Did Nayala give the wrong hair strand that night?
Did she accidentally offer her own instead?! David panicked.
He ran behind a tree and called Rudi.
"Rudi! Stop the ritual! You've got the wrong target!"
"What?! That's impossible!" Rudi shouted back.
But when Rudi told Daraka—the shaman—what happened, the old man flew into a rage.
"This ritual can't just be stopped! It's already begun! The only way to end it now is if the target's soul breaks... or dies!"
Rudi relayed that to David.
David's panic deepened.
"That's Nayala! My fiancée! If she dies, I'm done for!!"
Meanwhile, Edward—realizing this was no ordinary incident, but something spiritual—contacted his most trusted shaman.
Soon, a middle-aged man arrived.
He looked more like a professor than a mystic—clean, composed, and elegant.
His name was Rangga, a spiritual expert who had served the Virellano family for over twenty years.
"Mr. Rangga, please. I believe she's under some sort of spiritual attack," Edward said anxiously.
Without needing more explanation, Rangga nodded and unrolled a scroll of talismans.
He placed his hand over Nayala's head—
And immediately, dark purple energy began to manifest—visible even to the naked eye.
Everyone gasped.
It was clear Rangga was no ordinary man.
"A high-level curse," Rangga muttered.
He then sat cross-legged before Nayala and began a cleansing ritual.
A glowing magic circle formed beneath them, shining in hues of blue and violet.
As energies clashed—
Two entities began to emerge from Nayala's body.
One was a woman in tattered white robes, her face hidden behind long hair, blood dripping from her lips.
The other—
A lion-headed being cloaked in black and brown robes, its large, round eyes calm and powerful.
The elder members of the Valendra family stood up in shock.
"That's... Barong!" one of them cried.
"The guardian spirit of Vali Island and the Valendra bloodline!"
Most of the Valendra family dropped to their knees in reverence.
But sadly—
That Barong was only a fragment, a spiritual imprint implanted in direct descendants as a protective force.
It slowly faded.
Before disappearing, the Barong looked directly at Al—his gaze aligned precisely with where Rangga sat.
"You there... you could defeat it easily... if only you moved," he said softly.
Then, he vanished.
Everyone assumed the words were meant for Rangga.
Meanwhile,
The woman in white began to rage.
---