Chapter 208: Lola The Witch

“Holy shit,” Lola blurted out, her voice a mix of shock and awe as she learned about the existence of the ‘World of Curses’ and ‘Curse Masters.’ Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she exclaimed, “I knew it—I’m a witch!”

The McSuile siblings exchanged glances, finding her fascination with witches oddly specific. A fairy or a unicorn obsession, they could understand—but a witch? Really?

“A talented witch at that,” Janice teased with a playful smile, unable to resist.

“Janice, don’t encourage her,” Jason cut in, his tone firm. “She’s an innate curse master. You have no idea what her emotions and thoughts might manifest during the awakening ceremony. You’re a curse crafter—you should know better than that.”

Janice shrugged, her expression softening as she glanced at Lola’s beaming face. “Still, seeing her so excited, I can’t help but find her adorable and want to spoil her,” she admitted with a warm smile.

Lola, caught off guard by their attention, felt her cheeks flush. She had always been invisible to her peers, but now, she was the center of attention. The mix of happiness and embarrassment warmed her chest as she was literally living her eighth-grade fantasy.

Just then, both Jason and Janice, who had been smiling at Lola’s shy and embarrassed reaction, abruptly lost their smiles. Their expressions turned serious as they sensed an intense surge of emotion radiating from her. Jason furrowed his brows and asked his sister, “What’s going on?” He couldn’t figure out why the negative energy compressed within Lola’s heart was growing at such an alarming rate.

“I think it has something to do with her innate curse master physique,” Janice replied, though uncertainty laced her voice. Despite her extensive research on curse masters as a curse crafter, Lola’s situation was unfamiliar to her. After all, there wasn’t much documented about innate curse masters—few ever survived infancy or childhood due to society’s intolerance to those who were different.

Noticing the sudden change in their expressions, Lola’s eyes widened in alarm. She had a guess what had caused their concern. “Oh no, it’s happening again,” she muttered, panic seeping into her voice.

Her mind flashed back to her first—and only—middle school sleepover. That night had started out perfectly: she’d had so much fun, made so many friends, and felt, for the first time, like she truly belonged. But just when she thought everything was perfect, things took a turn for the worse. She began to hear strange whispers—sounds that no one else could hear. Freaked out, she’d screamed in panic, scaring everyone in the house. Her classmates, confused and frightened, called her parents and sent her home. Afterward, the kids she thought were her friends began to bully her, call her names, and ostracize her. She became the town freak—and worse, her parents suffered because of her, that was when she learned if one person in the family suffers the whole family suffers. 

“No, no, no,” Lola whimpered, her voice trembling. She scrambled to her feet, bolted out of the living room, and rushed into the nearest room. Slamming the door shut behind her, she yelled, “Please, stay away from me!”

The siblings exchanged worried glances before slowly approaching the closed door. Jason clenched his fists, sensing the emotions inside Lola beginning to stabilize. Janice hesitated, then gently knocked on the door and asked softly, “Lola, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine now. Sorry, I—” Lola opened the door and stepped out, her voice faltering as the whispers in her head finally faded into silence. Her expression was a mixture of relief and lingering embarrassment. Before she could offer an explanation, Janice stepped forward with a warm, understanding smile and interrupted her, “Honey, don’t worry. We understand.”

Jason, less sentimental but equally curious, raised an eyebrow and asked, “How often do these… episodes happen?” He assumed it must be fairly frequent, triggered by moments of intense sadness or joy. But Lola’s response caught both siblings off guard.

“This is the second time,” she said simply.

“What?” Janice exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. For a moment, she studied Lola’s face, wondering if something deeper was wrong—or if Lola had simply never experienced such intense emotions only one other time until now. A pang of sympathy hit her as she imagined how lonely or controlled Lola’s life might have been.

Jason, skeptical and determined to clarify, asked, “You’re saying you’ve only ever felt this level of happiness once before in your entire life?”

“No, no,” Lola replied quickly, shaking her head. “I’ve been happy lots of times! Last night, for example, before the storm—when I was with Ace and his cousins. That was one of the happiest moments of my life. And… well, I’m always happy when I’m with my family.”

As she spoke, a soft smile lit up her face, and her voice softened with affection. She recalled the evening she spent with Ace and how he’d gifted her the cross pendant. That memory still shone brightly in her mind. But even that happiness, she realized, couldn’t compare to the quiet joy she felt on weekend nights when her parents, despite their busy schedules and financial struggles, set everything aside just to make the evening all about her. She knew her parents didn’t have much but when it came to love for her, her parents were the richest and most generous in the world. 

Jason opened his mouth to ask her to elaborate, but Janice suddenly stiffened, her eyes narrowing in alarm. “Wait,” she said, her voice urgent, “I’m sensing weak curse energy… from her.”

Jason frowned, confusion clouding his face as he followed his sister’s gaze. Janice’s eyes flicked rapidly between the plush in Lola’s hands and the pendant around her neck. She froze for a moment, her breath hitching before she whispered, almost to herself, “She just turned the pendant and the plush into cursed items.”

“How is that even possible? She doesn’t even have a trace of curse energy in her body,” Jason countered, his brow furrowing deeper as he activated his innate curse arts to scan Lola again. He exhaled in frustration, unable to detect anything unusual. “I don’t get it.”

Janice, however, had a clearer explanation. “Her emotional attachment to the pendant and plush must’ve influenced them. During that episode earlier, her innate curse master physique manifested subconsciously and turned them into cursed items. She’s a lot more powerful than I initially thought.”

“Great,” Jason muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Things just keep getting more complicated.” His voice carried a mix of irritation and concern. If the extent of Lola’s raw talent for curse energy—even before her officially becoming a curse master—became known to the world, it wouldn’t just put her in danger. His family might even disown him for handing her over to the C.I.B. instead of keeping her as a family retainer. The thought weighed heavily on him.

“This can’t wait any longer,” Jason said firmly, his tone laced with urgency as he turned to his sister. “We have to help her become a curse master now.”

Janice’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she said nothing as Jason continued. “Originally, I wanted to wait and let her innate curse physique develop naturally—let it grow to its full potential before it awakened. But now, we don’t have that luxury. We need to help her ascend as quickly as possible and hand her over to the C.I.B.”

His gaze softened slightly as he thought, ‘It’s not just for her safety—it’s for ours, too. If we try to recruit her as a family retainer, we’ll attract too much attention. The McSuile family’s already powerful enough as it is. If we amass more power, we’ll just make ourselves a bigger target. With Grandpa gone, we can’t risk upsetting the balance between us and the C.I.B.’

Janice nodded slowly agreeing with her brother, but her face had a mixture of foreboding and apprehension. “You’re right. The sooner she’s protected and in the right hands, the better—for everyone.”

“Good,” Jason said after seeing his sister was on board. He glanced at her, his expression serious as he asked her, “So, how do we proceed with this?”

Janice tapped her chin thoughtfully, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not sure. She’s got enough negative emotions bottled up in her heart to produce a knight-tier curseling. I don’t think the standard curse core initiation array formation would of enough help for her to help her condense a curse core and survive to tell the tail,” she said slowly, her voice heavy with consideration. After a moment, she added, “We might need to use the family’s advanced curse core initiation array formation. It should be powerful enough to condense all that concentrated emotion into a curse core.”

Jason’s jaw dropped slightly, and he stared at her like she’d just lost her mind. “Are you insane?” he shot back, his voice rising in disbelief. “That thing’s a torture device! It’s only meant for people who’ve hit a dead end in their growth—people who have no chance of advancing naturally and are desperate to squeeze out every last drop of potential. Instead of sending her there, we might as well kill her now.”

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