The ritual room was silent.
For once, even Jessica wasn't talking.
The candles around the blood-circle flickered with a nervous light, as if they themselves were scared of what they had just witnessed.
Tabitha Walter—violet hair wild, eyes glowing with witch-light—slowly removed her blood-soaked gloves. Her lips trembled, not in fear, but in shock.
Regis stepped forward. No jokes. No lazy grin. His entire posture sharpened like a blade drawn from its sheath.
"Tabitha," he said, voice low and deadly calm. "Tell me everything. No skipping."
Tabitha inhaled.
"…Something is wrong with that boy."
Jessica flinched. "W–What do you mean wrong?"
Tabitha didn't answer her. Her eyes stayed locked on Regis.
Only on him.
"When I performed the Blood Manipulation," she began, "I was expecting the usual. A temporary shift. A fake noble signature. Something to fool the church's stones."
She raised one trembling hand.
"But the moment my spell touched his bloodstream… his soul reacted."
Jessica blinked. "Souls… react?"
Regis' expression darkened. "Only when they're aware."
Tabitha nodded slowly.
"Yes. And his soul was not just aware… it was watching me."
Jessica swallowed.
Tabitha's voice dropped to a whisper.
"And then… my spell accidentally connected to his soul for a moment."
Regis stiffened. "Connected? Tabitha… Blood Manipulation is not supposed to touch the soul at all."
"I KNOW!" she snapped, eyes wide. "That's why I panicked!"
She grabbed a chalk stick and drew several circles on the floor, desperately sketching what she saw.
"His soul… it isn't normal. It's not human, but also… not monster, not spirit, not anything I've ever read about."
Jessica's breathing grew shaky. "Is he cursed?"
"No," Tabitha said immediately. "This isn't a curse. This is something… sealed. Buried. Hidden."
She stared into the empty ritual circle again, her face pale.
"When my magic reached him, something inside his soul moved, as if it was protecting him. The moment it awoke—only for an instant—the entire Blood Manipulation spell changed."
Jessica frowned. "Changed how?"
Regis answered before Tabitha could.
"…it became permanent."
Tabitha nodded slowly.
"Yes. The blood didn't 'shift' like ordinary blood manipulation. It rewrote itself. Completely. Irreversibly. It turned into real Ironheart blood."
Jessica gasped. "But that's impossible! Even the High Priestess can't permanently rewrite bloodlines!"
"Yes," Tabitha whispered.
"That's why I'm terrified."
Regis stepped closer, eyes cold and sharp.
"Tabitha. Tell me clearly. What did you feel when it connected?"
She hesitated.
Then, for the first time since they arrived—
Tabitha Walter, the infamous Lunatic Witch of Northwood…
Looked afraid.
"…I felt something… ancient. Not evil. Not holy. Just… beyond us. Like a locked room with no door. A presence that refused to be understood."
The room temperature dropped.
Jessica hugged herself. "Alex… that boy… who is he?"
Tabitha shook her head.
"I don't know. And that scares me."
Regis' jaw tightened.
"The soul… you said it protected something inside him?"
"Yes. Like it was hiding a truth bigger than the host itself. His spiritual energy, his body, his soul—none of them match. It's like someone stitched different existences together… and sealed the real one."
Jessica whispered, "…sealed?"
Tabitha nodded.
"I don't know what is inside him. But I know one thing."
She placed a hand on the ritual stone, the symbol of the Ironheart family's bloodline shining faintly beneath her palm.
"That boy… Alex Ironheart… is no ordinary child."
Regis' face hardened completely—no jokes left, not even one.
"Tabitha," he said quietly, "can you tell if he's dangerous?"
Tabitha stared into the dim ritual circle, her voice barely audible.
"…I can't tell. His soul won't let me."
She turned to them one last time, eyes trembling with a mixture of fascination and fear.
"But whatever he truly is…
it is not from this world."