Lucian’s words were nothing short of an accusation. The way everyone looked at Benjamin’s group shifted imdiately—especially the NPCs. They were like puppets without opinions of their own, easily manipulated.
Cocona could even guess what the NPCs were thinking but remained silent. Right now, it was Benjamin’s job to handle everything.
Benjamin stayed calm and spoke slowly: "Then perhaps I was mistaken. I sincerely apologize, Young Master Lucian, for this misunderstanding. More importantly, I’d like to emphasize that exorcists have their thods to avoid being influenced by demons. If you truly don’t trust us, then let us leave and invite more outstanding exorcists. Surely soone else would be more deserving of such a generous reward."
Lucian frowned at those words, lips curled in displeasure. He wasn’t happy. But before he could say anything, Madam William laughed and said, "It’s just a small misunderstanding—no need for it to affect our cooperation."
Lucian snorted coldly but said nothing more. Ever since he’d gained Eryon’s face, he had grown increasingly arrogant.
Leonard clenched his fists so tightly they trembled, but he didn’t do anything rash.
Finally, Mr William spoke up: "Even so, I hope that after tonight, you’ll give us a proper answer. After all, we can’t just leave our agreent hanging."
The NPCs nodded vigorously, their faces full of reluctant compliance. It seed a contract existed between these supposedly fraudulent exorcists and the William family—one terrifying enough to keep the NPCs in check.
The William family gave the exorcists one last look before leaving. As soon as they were out of sight, Leonard headed straight for his room, his back brimming with rage. Cocona rely shrugged without a word while Benjamin’s face turned grave.
The NPCs glanced at Benjamin’s group with hesitation in their eyes.
"If you don’t want to die, don’t do anything stupid." Benjamin left those words as a warning, then walked off, paying the NPCs no further attention.
anwhile, Lucian was also fuming: "Why do Mother and Father allow those frauds to roam freely? Those insects should be dead!"
Madam William replied in a calm tone, "It’s their fate. Sooner or later, it will catch up with them. There’s no need to rush—we must use them to eliminate Elena."
Lucian lowered his head at her words and said nothing.
Mr. William’s voice turned cold: "Elena is a monster. Rember that—and keep that mindset when you join for the divine offering tonight."
Finally, Lucian spoke in a low voice, "I understand." Without hesitation, he turned and walked away, leaving his parents behind.
Madam William looked at her husband and sighed. "He’ll understand your burden eventually."
"Let’s hope so. It’s all for the eternal prosperity of the William family," Mr William nodded.
Lucian returned to his room, frowning at the painting on the wall. Without hesitation, he called a servant in.
Almost the mont Lucian spoke, knocking echoed through the room, accompanied by the butler’s voice: "Young Master, did you call for us?"
Lucian responded in a low voice, "Co in."
As soon as the butler entered, Lucian pointed at the covered painting on the wall and said, "Take it to the storage room."
A look of surprise appeared on the butler’s face, but it was mixed with joy. At last, the young master listened to his parents and got rid of that ugly, ominous painting!
The butler quickly said, "Right away, sir!"
Without delay, he ordered the servants to remove the painting. At that mont, he seed completely different from the sluggish, timid figure he was around regular humans.
Lucian watched as the servants carried the massive painting outside. It was no more than two square ters in size, yet it took ten strong servants to have it. They moved with difficulty, so trembling, their faces drenched in cold sweat and fear. Their eyes remained fixed on the grey-white cloth covering the painting, terrified that even the slightest slip might cause it to fall—leading to consequences too terrible to imagine.
Lucian followed behind them. The butler noticed this but showed no reaction. Lucian was the young master of the castle, second only to Mr. and Mrs. William. As the favoured child of his parents, he was free to go anywhere in the castle. The storage room was no exception.
They soon arrived at the storage room at the end of the second-floor corridor. It was the only iron door in the castle, tightly locked and hiding unimaginable secrets...
BANG BANG BANG!
The door opened with a loud, echoing noise, releasing a cloud of dust and a chilling air that made one’s spine tingle.
"Set it down. I’ll take it in myself."
Lucian spoke up. The butler hesitated montarily but eventually had no choice but to obey.
The servants quickly disappeared. Without hesitation, Nerio looked into the darkness ahead, picked up the large painting and walked into the room.
The mont he stepped inside, the iron door shut behind him.
Only then did he see the whole interior of the room. From the outside, it looked like a small storage space, but the mont one entered, it seed vast, with beams of blue light shining down from cracks above and fine dust dancing through the air. In the distance, there was only darkness—no walls in sight except for the iron door behind him. It was as if he had stepped into an entirely different dinsion.
Looking down, the floor was covered in soone’s scattered belongings—paintings and dresses strewn across the ground.
But what caught Nerio’s attention most were the broken picture fras piled on top of one another.
He approached them and began flipping the fras without hesitation. All of them turned out to be family portraits. In every single one, aside from the smiling face of a young Lucian, Mr. and Mrs. William wore cold, joyless expressions. And beside Lucian, as always, was the grotesque, fish-headed monster.
Unlike the painting in Lucian’s room, in the ones discarded here, the monster’s eyes had all been either blacked out or slashed beyond recognition—erasing its presence.
"Huuuuuu~"
Nerio’s ears twitched. It sounded like he had just heard the wind. In an instant, his expression changed completely.
His eyes lowered as he gently touched the slashed-out eyes of the monster in the painting, his gaze filled with emotions too complex for anyone to decipher.
At last, he slowly set the painting in his hands down. He stared at the white cloth intently, lips moving as if to mutter sothing—but in the end, no words ca out. Instead, he turned and ran off.
In the end, the cloth was never lifted.
[I wonder what Nerio’s thinking. Is he planning to impersonate Lucian and fix things between the two siblings? Haha.]
[The "golden child" of the William family is about to betray them, and Mr. and Mrs. William don’t even see it coming!!!]
[Haha, this is getting so good. I can’t wait to see what happens next. A god who loves ssing with people like Nerio? Deliciously chaotic.]
[The humans probably have no idea the one god who could save them is siding with their enemy—haha!]
Lucian exited the storage room. Just as the iron door closed behind him, he seed to sense sothing. He narrowed his eyes toward the staircase but ultimately didn’t do anything. Instead, he smirked mockingly and walked away leisurely—as if waiting for the show to begin.
anwhile, on the lower floor, Vale’s eyes snapped open. Cold sweat covered his face, but his eyes shone with hope.
"The room at the end of the second-floor hallway... it holds a clue!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers