Answer

As soon as the prophetess's thoughts began, they were cut short as Empress Himiko who noticed her wandering mind, suddenly closed the gap between them.

Furthermore, perceiving the scent of Agarwood from the Empress, the woman was forced to leave her trance.

Raising an eyebrow after getting back her attention, Empress Himiko continued from where she left off.

"The Seer, how can we find her? I know you are a little protective of one of your kind, so just give me a clear hint and I will let you off for today."

"Go to hell!" The Prophetess spat angrily as something swirled in her eyes, shocking Himiko.

A mixture of pain, anger, and revenge swirled like a whirlpool in her eyes. Three great emotions confined in one spot and if she could show more, then she would have.

Sadly, with all of her restraints, those were what her body and brain could show.

She hated the Empress with all her guts and even if she killed her now, it wouldn't matter as compared to endangering one of her kind and exposing her to this kind of torture.

Empress Himiko didn't take this lying with her and immediately reached her short nails into her head and stretched her claws into them instead of the way she did it before.

Unfortunately for the prophetess, this method was a lot more effective than the first because she felt her breath cease as her long eyelashes trembled.

An ear-deafening scream escaped her quivering lips as her eyes continued rolling in their sockets.

Regardless of the pain and suffering the prophetess underwent, Empress Himiko continued this until the time she felt that she could successfully get her answers.

As soon as her nails left her head, the prophetess erupted in a series of coughs as blood seeped out from the corners of her lips.

She left her eyes closed as she tried to wallow in her pain.

"Now, give me a hint to find the Seer, you stubborn little witch!" Empress Himiko cursed in a low dangerous tone as her eyes squinted.

'You know very well that you are the witch here.' The woman thought to herself.

Seeing her trembling lips but no words coming out of them, the nail on the Empress' index finger elongated as she used it to poke her forehead.

"Do you really like my assistance?" Her threatening voice resounded so low in her ears.

At this point, Empress Himiko was ready to poke the center of her brows so painfully if she did not speak up.

Just recalling the anguish, she went through just now, tears glistened in her eyes at what she was about to do.

Left with no choice, the Prophetess forced a vision into her head that caused another painful groan.

Her head fell backward in excruciating pain as she pulled on the chains unconsciously.

The female ruler was taken aback by her conduct as her brows constricted in a frown. She didn't even poke her yet, and she was wallowing in another pain.

What is she up to?

As much as the woman in pain tried, she couldn't get a clearer picture of the image trying to form in her head.

She could only see the very blurry image of a figure laying on what looked like a futon.

What helped her ascertain the person's gender was the type of sleeping wear she was wearing.

With a little struggle, the woman forced herself to focus on the crown of her head, and finally, she succeeded in picking up the very dark shade on the figure sleeping on the futon.

A loud shriek escaped from the Prophetess's lips as her black pupils returned fully to the same size.

Slowly, her hazy gaze squinted at the blurry figure of the majestic female ruler before her.

"Well, well, well… Did you come back with an answer to my question?" The Empress inquired immediately after their eyes met.

Her eyes looked unusually dark, depicting her impatience and a sign of warning that she wouldn't be spared if her response wasn't satisfactory.

In the middle of the woman's trance, she had gotten the idea that she was probably trying to find out a hint from the Seer and give it to her hence, she exercised a little patience while waiting for her.

This time around, the Prophetess gave her an answer, however, as she was far too weak for her words to be audible, the Empress was forced to stoop to her level.

With a fiery gaze directed at her, she urged, "What?"

Slowly, the woman's lips parted lightly and brought forth incoherent words. "R-Re… R-Red H-Hair…"

"Red hair? She has red hair?" The Empress said in realization as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Interesting," she added with her face beaming with smiles.

She was not even afraid of being given the wrong information. The Prophetess wouldn't dare to do that because of the wrath she would face.

At the same time in one of the rooms in the Ito family's residence, the blurry vision the Prophetess had seen, was as clear as day.

Haruka was sleeping soundly in a white sleeping robe with her long black hair sprawled beside her on the futon.

Amongst the several black strands on her head, something different stood out. A red strand of hair.

That singular strand sparkled in the dimly lit room, telling a story of its existence.

Clearly, the Prophetess had seen her black strands of hair even though the image was blurry and yet still told the Empress that the Seer carried red hair.

She had lied for reasons best known to her.

At the very least while Empress Himiko went about searching for a girl with full red hair on her head, perhaps that would buy Haruka time.

And this was because she was sure from that vision, she had seen that Haruka would not be caught, hence she gave them a true hint that was absolutely useless.

Howbeit, it was an idea that will end up hinting at something else. Something the prophetess did not think about.

In the dungeon, just as Empress Himiko turned to leave, she heard the woman ask breathlessly and paused in her steps,

"D-Do y-you…w-want to know h-how… Y-You… will die?"

Instead of a response, the Empress turned and immediately struck the left side of her face with her elongated nails forcing the woman's face to tilt to the side as a sharp pain clouded her mind.

Regardless of the assault, no shout escaped from her lips.

She had anticipated this and was able to bear the excruciating pain this time around.

"No, thank you," Empress Himiko said with a sarcastic tone as her nails reduced to their normal state before turning to climb up the stairs in anger.

She hated hearing about her death. How could death come to her after leaving for a few centuries when she was close to achieving her goal?

She would not hesitate to kill anyone that dared to curse her.

Behind, the Prophetess slowly raised her head to reveal the side of her face with five sharp marks, and a little blood oozing from the cuts.

But just as the door began to close up, the marks on her face seemed to seal up as the moonlight finally disappeared along with it.