Harmony's POV

I smoothly parked the car in the parking lot. “Did you get home safely, Melliza?” I asked after getting out of the car. I called to check if she had arrived home without any issues, as we had said our goodbyes after I finished my mission.

Melliza was almost a victim of my former target, which is why she was so grateful after I assassinated them. To Melliza, I saved her life, but for me, it was all a coincidence. I didn't set out to rescue Melliza, but whenever I needed her help, she never hesitated—that's the extent of our relationship.

“Yes, I just got home, Savina—” Before she could finish, I ended the call. I put my cellphone in the pocket of my denim pants and sighed.

As much as possible, I avoid getting too close to Melliza or anyone else because I don't want my parents to use them as a weakness. I don't want them to get involved in my situation.

“Oh! The birthday girl is here!” I stopped in my tracks at Ynnes's sudden shout. Ynnes is my fellow assassin.

I ignored her and walked straight inside. She followed me all the way to the locker room. I am currently in the quarters here in Quezon City.

“What's that? You didn't even clean your hands before coming here,” Ynnes complained when she saw my bloody hands. I ignored her and walked to the sink, washing the blood off my hands.

After I cleaned up, I left the locker room, but I was surprised by the sudden burst of confetti. My fellow assassins were there holding balloons, and in the center was Senior Jayro holding a cake. “HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY, PHANTOM DEATH!” Instead of being happy, I was irritated.

What do they think of me? A child? And one more thing, what do they think of themselves? Ordinary people? How ridiculous!

“What is this nonsense? Have you forgotten that we are not normal people? We are assassins. We kill people! So we have no right to act like our hands are clean—we have no right to celebrate...” I didn't continue when I saw their reactions. They appeared to have just awakened from a terrifying nightmare. “Stop this bullshits.” My voice was so cold when I said those words. I turned around and began to leave, but I had only taken two steps when my phone suddenly rang.

“Sis!” I slightly moved the phone away from my ear because of Savy's loud shout.

“Savy,” I said seriously, causing her to stop shouting. I walked outside because it was quite noisy inside.

“I'm sorry, sis. By the way, happy birthday!” I just shook my head at her giggles. She's my sister, and she is the only reason why I am still alive. She is the light in my dark life—my everything.

“Haven't you greeted me ten times already? Aren't you tired? Seriously, what do you need?”

“Hihi, my sister is so perceptive. Sis, can I read your favorite book now?” I facepalmed at what she said.

“Savy, how many times have I told you that you can't, right?”

“But I'm eight years old already, sis.” I'm sure she's pouting again.

“But still—” My eyes widened at her sudden scream.

“Mommy! Daddy! Ahh!”

“Hello? Savy?! Savianna, what happened?!” I suddenly felt a terrible anxiety, so I quickly got into my car and started it. “Savy! Answer me! What's happening there? Savy!”

“Sister! M-Mommy! Daddy!” she cried out, and then the call ended, so I drove the car faster.

F*ck! D*mn! Please don't let anything bad happen to my sister!

It took me thirty minutes to get to the village where we lived, and my worry grew as my car got closer to our house.

I pulled my gun out and held it tightly before getting out of the car. My chest was pounding rapidly as I passed through the gate and entered the first floor of our two-story house here in White Plains Subdivision in Quezon City. The dark interior of the house greeted me, but I didn't focus on that. I hurried up the stairs, but halfway up, I blinked repeatedly at what I saw.

Mom and Dad were lying on the cold floor, bathed in their own blood, and what's worse is that they were killed in a horrible way. Their bodies were mutilated, their eyes were still open from their severed heads, and if I were someone easily disgusted, I'd probably be throwing up right now. I slowly approached their corpses and sat down, silently crying because, despite the violence I experienced at their hands, it still hurt me that they passed away in this manner.

When my eyes opened after I had closed them, I stood up. I searched every room on the second floor to look for Savy and even went inside her room, but I couldn't find her there, so I walked up to the third floor. When I got to my room, I frowned because it was a mess. I was worried because my favorite book, which was covered in blood, was on the floor.

That's not Savy's blood, is it?

I walked to the other room since I was so nervous about that thought, but I didn't see Savy there. Instead, the glass door to the terrace caught my attention. It was open, and the thin white curtain was being blown by the wind. As I moved slowly in its direction, the fast beating of my heart caused me to feel as though it might burst.

As I got closer and pulled back the curtain, I desperately wished that my sister was safe, that she had escaped. But when the curtain was fully pulled back and I stepped out onto the terrace, the cold breeze brushed against my face because it was already two in the morning.

“S-Savy...” I felt like I was frozen where I was standing as I stared down at the patio floor. I blinked and seemed to lose consciousness because I could clearly see my sister lying on the ground, bathed in her own blood. My lips parted, and I didn't know what to do. Suddenly, I was afraid of blood, despite the many lives that ended by my hands—despite the many bloods spilled by my hands.

“S-sis, hic hic...” I snapped back to reality when I heard her call me.

My eyes widened, and I immediately ran to where she was. I was speechless, and it seemed difficult for words to come out of my mouth.

“N-no...this can't be—” I examined her whole body and noticed the many stab wounds in her stomach, which widened my mouth even more. The tears that had stopped earlier started to fall rapidly, and I suddenly felt a tightness in my chest.

I shook my head. “No! No! No! Savy, no! This cannot happen!” I desperately tried to cover the blood flowing from the stab wounds she had sustained while continuing to shake my head.

“S-sis...I-I'm s-sorry, I read your favorite book...” she said with difficulty, causing me to freeze.

“N-no, Savy, don't leave me, please! I'll let you read that book as long as you fight, please! Not like this! Don't hurt me like this, please!” my heart felt like it was being crushed when a tear fell from her eye. Even though she was struggling, she brought her lips close to my ear and said something that wasn't clear to my hearing because I was continuously shouting.

“This is just a dream! This is just a nightmare! Please make this just a nightmare! I know I have a lot of sins, but please save my sister...she's the only one—save her! Have mercy; even if it's just my life you take, she's still young, and she doesn't deserve to die this early, so please don't take her!” I shouted while looking up, hoping that God would hear me.

But my world seemed to collapse when she suddenly fell into my arms after whispering in my ear, and she was no longer breathing. “Savy...” I was even more speechless and hugged her tightly. “SAVY! NO!” Tears flowed like waterfalls from my eyes while hugging my little sister.

Why do you have to torture me like this? You shouldn't have let me exist in this world if I am going to suffer like this.

My tears stopped, and I released Savy when I suddenly dodged and stood up because I felt a presence behind me that was about to stab me. When I faced it, I saw its bulk from the dark part of where it was; it slowly walked closer to my place, and from the moonlight, I could see its face. “Y-you? Saviah?!” My eyes were wide open, and I couldn't believe it.

“Sister, my dear sister.” From her serious expression, a foolish smile crept onto her lips.

“Why? Why you of all people? How could you do this? Why did you kill my parents, who gave you a name and a new life?”

“Oh my, oh my,” she uttered those words as if singing, “isn't that what you wanted? You've been wishing for your parents to die for a long time, haven't you?” My eyes widened, and I looked away. I couldn't deny that I had wished for that, but...

“That's why I made your dream come true. I killed them on your birthday! Isn't that fantastic?” My jaw tightened, and my palms clenched.

“But I didn't ask you to kill my sister too! You know...you know Savy is my everything, yet you killed her!”

“Oh!” My brow furrowed because surprise was etched on her face, and she seemed to be holding back laughter. “She was so noisy; I got irritated with her voice, and I also thought it would be a pity if she could be left behind, hihi—”

“YOU! YOU ARE A PSYCHOPATH! I WILL KILL YOU!” I didn't let her finish what she was saying, and I immediately approached her and strangled her. “Die! Die, you lunatic!” Despite my intense strangulation, she chuckled, which made me stop and furrow my brow.

She's totally a psychopath!

“How can you do it when you know you're about to die?” she said as my grip on her loosened, and my lips parted when I felt the knife sink into my chest.

I backed away while she took step after step, so as I retreated, I felt the terrace railings. “My sister—”

“D-don't ever call me sister! I'm not your sister! I don't have a psychopath sister!” I was able to shout that even though it hurt because of the knife in my chest.

Her face became gentle, and she acted as if she were hurt. “Whatever you say, we're sisters. And we shall always be together.” She pushed me down the terrace at the same moment she said it, but what shocked me was that she also threw herself.

While falling, I was looking at the dark sky, which is extremely beautiful right now. So many stars are shining. I closed my eyes.

Maybe I deserved to die this way. Maybe I deserve to lose a loved one as a result of my misdeeds, as a result of countless people who died at my hands.

But do I really deserve this? I just want to live a normal life like everyone else...if only I hadn't been born as the daughter of assassins—I might have been happy...

Eh? What is this I'm seeing?

I want to open or even move my body, but I can't; I feel like I'm floating, and most of all, I can see the galaxy even though I open my eyes or even feel my body.

“You brat! You even threw up your food!”

Huh? What's this? I can feel my body now, but—

I vomited and slowly opened my eyes only for them to widen when a strange place was revealed to me.

What place is this?

“I said, eat this!” As the woman said, she grabbed my jaw and forcefully fed me rotten food, causing my hands to move quickly and choke her immediately.

I saw the shock spread across her eyes because of what I did. I tightened my grip on her neck until her body was lifted into the air. “Y-your h-highness, t-the p-princess...”

Huh? Your Highness the Princess what?

“Wait, just now...what did you call me? 'Princess'?” I asked, frowning. I released him when I caught sight of myself in the mirror beside me.

What the...

I quickly approached the mirror, shocked by what I saw. “T-This face... whose face is this?”