After I Died, My Companion Peeked into Heaven's Will for Me

With all my remaining strength, I sent out the paper crane. A searing pain tore through my chest as a demon’s arrow pierced through me, the agony spreading along with my blood.

The leader of the demons let out a cruel, mocking laugh.

“Heather Crane, you’ve finally fallen into our hands!”

But I didn’t have the strength to respond. I was dying.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

The next moment, I felt my spirit slip from my body, rising gently into the air.

The weight of my unfinished business bound me, too deep to enter the afterlife.

I couldn’t move on. Instead, I remained in the mortal realm as a wandering spirit, waiting until my unresolved feelings dissipated.

In my life, I had walked a righteous path, slaying monsters, protecting the innocent. My only regret was not divorcing Elias, not exposing Quinn’s deceit myself.

With that thought in mind, I drifted toward the Oracle’s Tower, eager to see when Elias would discover my death.

He wasn’t at home. He was holed up in his quarters within the tower.

Elias had lived a charmed life, praised as the greatest seer of his generation, his remarkable talent making him a legend.

Not only was he gifted, but he was also strikingly handsome.

Most of the disciples who joined the Oracle’s Tower did so because of him.

So when I told others that he had betrayed me, their immediate response was to blame me.

“It must be because you’re not pretty enough!”

“You’re lying! Elias’s such a good man; there’s no way he would betray you!”

And Quinn? She would put on her innocent act, her voice soft and pitiful:

“Why would Mistress think that of me… I would never do such a thing.”

Tears from a beauty like her easily rallied others to her side.

I had tried explaining myself over and over again, but no one believed me.

In the end, I stopped speaking altogether.

I became a laughingstock in the world of mages.

Elias looked down at me from his lofty perch, his gaze filled with disdain.

“What will leaving me accomplish? Do you really think anyone will support you?”

I had no words.

The man who had once been my closest companion now felt like a stranger, and a repulsive one at that.

He was the one who had pursued me, loved me, and ultimately betrayed me.

From that moment, I swore I would never shed another tear for him.

As my thoughts wandered, I glanced down at Elias.

He was currently drawing a divination sigil.

The sigil he was crafting could predict the future, revealing the closest brush with death so that one could avoid it. Such sigils were incredibly rare, and only a few could create them – Elias being one of them.

Ironically, as his wife, I had never received one.

He would spend all his energy crafting these life-saving sigils, only to give them to Quinn without a second thought.

As he worked on the sigil, a frown creased his brow, though I couldn’t tell what troubled him.

A paper crane fluttered by the window. Elias glanced up, but when he saw it wasn’t pink, he looked away, his expression dull.

He was waiting for one of my cranes.

Elias muttered to himself in frustration, “What’s Heather’s deal? It’s been seven days, and she’s still sulking? Honestly, if it’s that big of a deal, I’ll just apologize.”

So it had been a week since my death.

I almost laughed. If he really cared, he could’ve just used a sigil to find out where I was. What was he pretending for?

As for apologizing?

Sorry, but that ship had sailed.

“A whole week, and she hasn’t even returned home. Where could she have gone?”

He pressed too hard with his pen, smudging the ink and ruining the sigil. It was just like his heart – restless and impatient.

That sigil was wasted now.

I found myself eagerly anticipating how he would react when he learned of my death.

Abandoning his work, Elias left his quarters, and I followed him outside.

The entire sect was buzzing with excitement, as the selection process for new inner disciples was in full swing. Laughter and conversation filled the air.

As Elias wandered through the grounds, he seemed to relax without realizing it.

Then, a loud voice from one of the disciples reached his ears.

“I wouldn’t want to be Elias Herring’s student!”

Elias’s curiosity piqued, and with a sudden interest, he walked over and asked, “Why not? He’s one of the most powerful mages there is.”

Ever since Quinn had come into his life, Elias had stopped taking on new students.

All of his tenderness and care were now reserved for her.

What had started as a simple mentor-student relationship had clearly shifted into something else.

Perhaps it was because Quinn was a slow learner, and he needed to guide her closely.

Or maybe it was because she was beautiful, soft like a rose without thorns.

Of course, there was also the possibility that he had simply grown tired of me and needed someone new. Quinn, conveniently, was the easiest “new” thing for him to get.

The young disciple, unaware that the man before him was Elias himself, shrugged and explained casually, “Because he couldn’t even foresee the death of his own partner. If he couldn’t predict something as important as that, how strong can he really be?”

“What… what did you say?” Elias froze, repeating the words in disbelief, his face going pale as if drained of all blood. His lips quivered uncontrollably.

“That’s impossible! You’re joking, right?!” Elias stammered, as if hoping for reassurance.

The disciple, thinking he hadn’t heard correctly, repeated with a smirk, “His partner died, and he couldn’t predict it. That’s it. No joke.”

“Died? When?” Elias’s voice wavered, and without thinking, he grabbed the disciple’s shoulder with a deathly grip, causing the young man to wince in pain.

“A week ago! They’re even holding the funeral right now! What’s wrong with you?” the disciple spat, pulling himself free from Elias’s grasp, annoyed by the stranger’s intensity.

But Elias was no longer listening. His mind raced as his trembling hands began to draw a divination array. Symbols of power filled the air: Earth Clash, Hidden Bond, Mortal Break, Dark Void…

And then it confirmed the truth: death.

Desperately, he tried again, hoping for a different result. But the signs were unchanging.

I was truly dead.

The realization hit him like a blade to the chest, and Elias coughed up blood, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Of course. That’s why she hadn’t come home for a week.

Why she hadn’t sent any word.

Why everything suddenly felt so wrong…

Heather was dead.

How could she? How could she leave without saying a single word?

The disciple, now frightened, tried to make a quick exit. But before he could escape, Elias’s voice, cold and dripping with malice, stopped him in his tracks.

“Where’s the funeral?” Elias’s tone was low and dangerous.

“I don’t know!” The disciple snapped.

The next instant, Elias’s sword was at his throat, his voice chilling: “Tell me.”

“R-Ravenswood! It’s at Ravenswood!” the disciple stammered, his voice shaking with fear.

Without another word, Elias took off in a sprint, stumbling at first but quickly gaining speed, as if terrified he might miss something – something irreplaceable.