Mia stood in front of the window, facing the mist outside, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
She had heard Lovene's murmur, and her vigilance toward the mist outside was stretched to its limit. No matter how bizarre this mist was, she would protect Lovene.
This was her resolve.
Lovene withdrew her gaze from the mist and looked back at the territory annals on the bookshelf, the doubt and unease in her heart growing ever stronger.
“Even leaving the sea god aside, the territory has developed for so many years, so why has the Viscount Oswell family withered away instead? By Marcus's generation, only he and his daughter are left.”
This was very strange.
The Oswell territory seemed prosperous enough to them, certainly ranking near the top among viscount domains. Such a noble family would typically have numerous members.
Yet today, even including Lady Elena, there were only three members in the Oswell family. This was clearly abnormal.
The air seemed to freeze after she spoke. Amid the scent of old paper mixed with mustiness, a faint, elusive trace of fishy saltiness gradually drifted in.
It felt somewhat like a sea breeze, yet also like dried blood.
“Come... Come...”
Lovene's body suddenly tensed.
The voice appeared abruptly in her ear. Even when she listened closely, she could not discern the direction it came from.
She lowered her voice, her lips moving cautiously:
“Did you hear that?”
Mia turned her head, her face full of confusion. “Hear what?”
Lovene fell silent for a moment. The voice rang out again, clearer and closer this time, as if someone were whispering right against the back of her neck.
“...Come... Come... I will give you everything you wish to know...”
At that moment, she felt as if she had plunged into the deep sea. A damp chill enveloped her body, and her breathing slowed down significantly. Even everything she saw before her eyes turned the deep blue of the ocean.
And in the furthest distance lay a lightless darkness.
Within that darkness, something seemed to be watching her. There was no emotion in its eyes, resembling a high-and-mighty deity looking down upon ignorant, mortal beings.
Lovene's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
“Your Highness!”
Suddenly, a deep voice echoed from the depths of the sea. Like a sword, it severed the connection between Lovene and the monster, causing her to snap back to reality from the deep ocean.
Her vision gradually cleared. Lovene found that Mia was holding her hands, restraining her. Standing directly in front of her was the window on one side of the study.
At some point, the window had been pushed open a crack. A wisp of cold mist drifted in through the gap like a gray-white snake, wrapping around her fingers before quickly dissipating.
She yanked her hand back and took two steps back.
“How strange. When did I walk over here...?”
Her heart leaped as she suddenly recalled the maid's warning—if you hear whispers, close your eyes and cover your ears.
If Mia hadn't been here, she might have truly opened the window, walked out, and vanished forever into the thick mist.
This mist was indeed far too bizarre.
Lovene quietly stepped further back into the study. Before she could calm her racing heart, the door was gently pushed open, and a little girl carrying a lantern walked in.
She wore an expensive princess dress. Her skin was extremely pale, as if she hadn't seen the sun in a very long time, and several red splotches on her face were exceptionally conspicuous, looking quite sickly.
Looking at the red splotches on the girl's face, Lovene suddenly recalled the figure peeking from the corridor yesterday—Dorothy, who had been quickly ushered away by the maid.
“Who... are you?”
Dorothy approached them, her voice barely a whisper.
Lovene knelt down so they were at eye level. The hem of her holy robe trailed on the floor, gathering a bit of dust. “My name is Lovene. I am the Saintess of the Church of the Morning Light.”
“Saintess...”
Dorothy repeated the word, seemingly not understanding what the title represented.
“Yes.” Lovene softened her voice. “Did your mother not tell you?”
Dorothy shook her head.
“Mother hasn't been in a good mood lately, so we haven't spent much time together.” Saying this, she stared straight at Lovene. “Are you here to... purify my father?”
Lovene's fingers curled slightly.
“Who told you that?”
“I heard it myself.”
Dorothy said, “The man you brought with you. He said you came to purify Marcus. I heard him.”
The study fell silent for a brief moment. Standing behind Lovene, Mia's gaze swept from Dorothy's face to her hands and back again, her hand never leaving the hilt of the sword at her waist.
“Many people have come before,” Dorothy continued. “Priests from the Church, emissaries from the Holy See, and some people wearing black robes who came from who knows where. They all said they could purify Father.”
“They brought holy water, holy relics, and that kind of... that kind of glowing stuff.”
She traced circles in the air with her hand, as if trying to describe it, but in the end, she lowered her head and clutched her skirt.
“But none of it worked. Father is still sick, and he still can't get out of bed. Sometimes he screams. He screams so loudly that the whole lord's manor can hear him. Mother locks the door and won't let me in, but I can hear him.”
Lovene wanted to reach out and pat Dorothy's hair, but the girl dodged her hand.
“Later, someone told Mother not to try anymore. They said Father was no longer human, that he was a monster and should be executed.”
“Mother refused. She drove that person away, but then others came later and said the same thing Ehren.”
“I don't know if you think so too.”
Dorothy raised her eyes to look at Lovene again. Within those dark gray pupils lay only a deep, eerie calm that even the light from the lantern could not illuminate.
She took a step forward.
“You're here to kill my father too, aren't you?”
As those words fell, a gust of wind rose in the study.
A salty, damp odor welled up, and the light inside the lantern suddenly died. A strange, squelching sound echoed in the study, sounding as if something were crawling on the floor.
The skirt of Dorothy's princess dress gradually swelled. To Lovene and Mia's astonishment, several blood-red tentacles wriggled out from beneath her skirt, pointing straight at them.
These tentacles did not look like they had suddenly grown, but rather like they had been curled up there all along, finally allowed to stretch. On their undersides were suckers resembling those of an octopus, constantly secreting mucus.
“Dorothy?”
Lovene asked, her voice tight with tension.
“You... you will kill my father. I... I have to protect him.”
With a trace of confusion and trembling, Dorothy clutched her head. Immediately after, the tentacles behind her shot forward like arrows, lunging fiercely toward Lovene!
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