Why did Dott Somi mention the riot?
It was true that many years ago, a tragic mine accident had resulted in hundreds of deaths among mine laborers. Since at that time the mine owner had only been willing to indemnify the losses for freemen, his indifference toward those underpaid refugee workers outraged the victims" family members, which had thus led to a huge riot in Silver City. Swarms of refugees had escaped from the mining area in a fury, looting and plundering every residence coming into sight. After an extensive pillage, the riot had finally been quashed by the knightage in the king"s city, and peace and order had been again restored.
That was the last time she had seen her parents. It was until she and her brother had been escorted to the old Gilen mansion that they had learned the death of their parents.
But now it appeared that it had not been the case, based on what the viscount had just said.
Nightingale did not expect she would overhear a completely different side of the story decades after the accident. If the viscount was indeed telling the truth, she would have to investigate something other than the relations.h.i.+p between Hyde and the Somis.
Nightingale exited the room quietly. She reached the bas.e.m.e.nt floor and turned on the Sigil of Listening she took with her.
The Sigil was initially to facilitate the communication between her and Roland in the event Roland wanted her immediate return. She did not antic.i.p.ate that she would use it on such an occasion.
"It did seem quite fishy," After hearing the account at the other end of the line, Roland replied. "So you want to stay at the mansion a little longer?"
"Yes, I plan to ask Hyde in person at night... Perhaps he knows something." Nightingale hesitated for a moment and then apologized. "I"m sorry, Your Majesty. I..."
"No need to apologize." Roland quickly interrupted her. "I"ll wait for you at the camp while you"re conducting your investigation. Don"t worry, it"s very safe in here. As long as I stay in, I"m not breaking the promise. You need to take care of yourself and stay safe. Don"t act rashly. No matter what you discover, you have to report to me every four hours."
Nightingale felt the warmth of Roland"s words wash over her. After a moment of silence, she replied in a soft voice, "Yes, I understand."
When the moonlight faded away outside the skylight, Nightingale left the cellar for Hyde"s room. She had confirmed the location of her brother"s room earlier. The slant of the moonlight indicated it was a quarter past midnight, a perfect time for her to take action, for most people were in a deep slumber at this hour, and even vigil guards sometimes dozed off in the dead of the night.
Hyde"s bedroom was on the first floor of the mansion close to the backyard, a place usually for servants or insignificant guests. This room arrangement further corroborated the testimonies of the two guards. It not only showed that Viscount Dott did not take the heir of House Gilen very seriously but also suggested that all the kindness the Somis had perpetrated in the past was feigned.
Due to Hyde"s low status in the household, the entire hall and the hallway were unguarded, which provided Nightingale ample time to escape in case of an emergency.
After entering the bedroom, Nightingale dragged her brother out of bed straight away. Before Hyde completely woke up and realized what had happened, he felt the chill of a dagger around his throat.
"Any screams, cries or wailings will bring you an instant death. You got it?" Nightingale whispered behind Hyde.
Hyde nodded immediately.
"Very well. Now turn around and look who I am."
Hyde soon submitted to Nightingale"s order. His pupils dilated instantly after he figured out who the a.s.sa.s.sin was in the dismal moonlight. If it was not because of the dagger to his throat, he would have shrieked.
But he managed to keep silent.
Nightingale slowly withdrew the dagger after making sure that her brother was tranquilized.
"Why... why are you here?" Hyde could barely suppress the tremor in his voice. "Didn"t you die a long time ago?"
The moment Hyde spoke, his words resurrected all the thin threads of her old bitter memories. For a second, Nightingale felt as though she were in the old Gilen mansion again. The revived pain of the betrayal from her own brother and the agony of being abused and used by her remote relatives blurred her vision and perturbed her mind.
This is the person who exposed the most tender part of her heart to vicious strangers.
Nightingale bit her tongue to let the smell of the blood disperse the mult.i.tude of thoughts in her head. She asked, "Why did you say that?"
"Because, because..." Hyde swallowed hard. "Timothy searched the entire king"s city and the surrounding towns. He announced that all witches were executed. But Veronica, I mean, sister... I don"t want you to die. I was shocked at the news at that time as well. I thought if you didn"t leave by yourself, you probably wouldn"t have been persecuted."
"Veronica..." thought Nightingale. It was a name she had not used for years. However, after years of self-improvement and personal training, she was no longer as gullible as she used to be.
The tremulous magic power inside her body had told her that the latter half of Hyde"s speech was a complete lie.
"Why are you with Viscount Dott Somi?"
"Well..." Hyde paused for a second. "After the death of old Gilen, there were constant disputes within the family. I didn"t know much about the details, but by the time I was about to inherit the t.i.tle, there were not much savings in the household. It was at that time that the viscount called on me. He basically didn"t leave me many choices." [lying]
"Did he force you to join the Somi Family?"
"Yes. He said if I didn"t agree, he would weed me out..." [lying]
"Then what"re you doing for him at present?" Nightingale asked nonchalantly. "Are you helping peasants?"
"No." Hyde gritted his teeth. "He"s just using me to sell Dreamland Water! There"re Rats disguised as peasants coming here to pick up orders. I didn"t discover his scheme until very recently!"
The first half was true, while the second was still a lie.
Nightingale found she was not annoyed but actually quite relieved. This was the exact feeling when she normally communicated with strangers. Lies and truth always went together, and people were always treacherous and weaselly. Sometimes, even a blood-related tended to be unreliable and deceitful. Ever since her awakening, Nightingale had been used to the caprice of human nature. Over the past few years, she had developed the ability to grasp the truth out of a bunch of lies through threats and coaxing while remaining unperturbed at the same time.
As such, she actually felt uneasy to speak with Roland sometimes, for the latter rarely lied to her.
Now, the Shadow Killer who had once made n.o.bles in the Central Region tremble returned.
"What"s your plan next?"
Hearing these words, Hyde suddenly prostrated to the floor and implored Nightingale, "Please help me, sister!"
"Help you?"
Hyde crawled forward. "I know I was wrong... but I"m your brother! The viscount never views me as a real n.o.ble. You"ve seen it. He puts me in this servant"s room. The renovation of the mansion is just to fool the public. If I continue to stay here, he would sooner or later kill me!"
"So you want me to get you out of here?"
"Get out of here? Then I"ll lose everything, won"t I?" Hyde shook his head in a fright. He then p.r.o.nounced his words through his teeth. "You killed old Gilen, didn"t you? I don"t know what ability you"ve employed, but you can easily get in here, so you must know how to enter his bedroom. Sister, kill him! Once he"s dead, I"ll have a chance to become a real n.o.ble of the Somi Family. After, after that, you can kill the other successors one after another. By that time, I"ll own this domain... and all the properties of the Somis!"
Nightingale looked into his eyes. When Hyde could no longer bear the awkward silence, she ventured. "Before that, I want to ask you a question."
"Sure, sure..." responded her brother instantly.
"Why did you betray me back then?" Nightingale stressed each word with due strength.