“Cough, cough, cough… cough…” Bella’s face twisted with pain as she gasped desperately for air.
The suffocating sensation just now had utterly stripped away her arrogance and pride.
All that remained within her was terror.
She had thought this was just a game, but now realized her life was truly at stake—the man before her brought nothing but fear.
And everything that just happened forced her to accept one fact: this man before her was a follower of an evil god…
“Where has that arrogance in your eyes gone?” Charlotte gazed impassively at Bella, who hung suspended by chains.
“You… what exactly… are you…” Only now did Bella understand why her father wanted Charlotte dead before the Emperor’s banquet.
It would be a terrifying thing to make this man an enemy…
“Do you think you’re qualified to ask questions now?”
Bella was startled by Charlotte’s green eyes, gleaming in the night.
She began to tremble, and chose to obediently close her mouth.
At this moment, she nearly forgot she was a fourth-rank swordswoman… All she knew was that she might die here.
Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes, perhaps from fear, perhaps from the pain of suffocation just now.
“Don’t pretend to be weak. Next, I’ll ask you a few questions. Answer honestly—my eyes can tell if you’re lying.”
Charlotte’s words, in Bella’s ears, did not sound like a bluff at all.
After all, for Charlotte to kill Bella now would take no more than a spell or a single sword strike.
Bella nodded obediently, lips pressed tight, gazing at Charlotte with pitiful, pleading eyes.
That former pride had completely faded away from her.
“Who sent you here?”
“My father, Carl Ennis….”
“Why does he want me dead? I don’t think I have a grudge with your family, or even any conflicting interests.”
“I don’t know, either. I’m just a tool to carry out orders. My father has never treated me as a daughter… to him, I’m just a pawn to climb higher.”
“What’s your connection to the Aetherlan Divine Church?”
“I don’t… I don’t know… If there’s any connection, it’s between my father and them, not me.”
“Does the Duke of Ennis know I am a remnant of darkness?”
“He doesn’t know… If I hadn’t just witnessed your magic with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have known, either…”
When Charlotte mentioned the Divine Church, his tone clearly changed.
That calm, even voice now held countless threads of hatred.
This truly frightened Bella nearly to tears.
For the first time, she felt so powerless before a man, like a fish laid out on the butcher’s block.
Charlotte saw her reaction and, realizing she wasn’t lying, softened his tone.
“So, you came to kill me purely on the Duke of Ennis’s orders.”
Bella widened her bright eyes and nodded.
“Bella Ennis, age twenty-two, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ennis.
Since childhood you were kept like a princess locked in the inner chambers, never appearing in social circles.
Many people only know of your existence, but have never seen you.”
Charlotte recited the information he had obtained.
“I truly didn’t expect… all this secrecy was for you to do something like this.
Someone would really treat his own daughter as a deathsworn assassin…”
“That man is a beast! He only cares about himself! My mother even died because of him, and all those women he married, in the end only gave birth to a half-wit son—that serves him right!”
Does she truly hate her father this much?
Charlotte couldn’t begin to understand such resentment within a noble family.
His own family was far too harmonious—his three sisters practically raised him as a mother would, saving Charlotte’s own mother much trouble.
He didn’t expect that, even under such extreme fear, Bella could still utter curses.
Perhaps she was so agitated now that she spoke impulsively.
“You seem to hate your father a lot. Why not resist him?”
“You think I haven’t thought about it?” Bella raised her head to glance at Charlotte.
“I think every moment about killing him and inheriting the duke’s seat.”
“But he’s an Emperor-rank swordsman… General of the Storm Legion. In the East Territory, he’s the Emperor himself—I can only scheme in secret. He doesn’t care about me.”
“I’m only his black-gloved hand, doing dirty work for him, with no one to care about me. If I’m exposed, he can even use me as an example of righteousness, executing me for justice and showing off his benevolence…”
Bella nearly sobbed as she spoke.
“In the end, it’ll only be my idiot brother, dumb as a pig, who inherits the duke’s seat.
All I can do is ensure I survive in that family by doing these things…”
Charlotte looked at the girl who described herself as a delicate maiden, and felt at a loss.
“I won’t believe anything you say. That’s no excuse for you to try to kill me.
If you’re trying to win my sympathy, it’s useless.
You already know what I am—so I can’t let you live.”
Panic flashed in Bella’s eyes. “Wait! I won’t tell anyone about you!
It was Carl, that beast, who ordered me to assassinate you! I’m only following his commands.
I just want to live as an innocent noble lady, like any other girl. I haven’t even been in love yet… I don’t want to die…
I still have value. I can help you. I’ve actually already made a plan, I’ve been planning to kill Carl and take his place as duke for a long time!”
Charlotte was not someone who liked being manipulated. “What value do you have to me? Why should I listen to your plan?”
“I can… You want information about the Divine Church, don’t you!
I can tell you, there are many church organizations in the East Territory.
For the matter of your assassination, I can… I can compensate you!
I’m rich… women… status, whatever you want, I can give you!”
At this point, Bella was utterly devoid of hostility—even if she had any, there was nothing she could do.
The chains binding her showed no sign of loosening.
“Are you trying to bargain with a Marquis? Do I need your intelligence?
You can’t even prove the worth of your information. As for money, women, or status—have you forgotten that Floleen is my fiancée?
I can see you want to live, but you’ll have to offer more than that.”
Bella could only pour out all she knew about the Aetherlan Divine Church—a group of fanatics who worshiped the Goddess Aithera.
Although she disliked the Divine Church herself, the East Territory of the Empire did have many of their churches, which, under the Duke of Ennis’s tacit consent, had gradually infiltrated the Empire.
Charlotte pondered.
If Bella truly had ties to the Divine Church, then her coming to assassinate him would mean the Church had noticed something unusual about him.
Perhaps they’d already discovered the connection between the Mistmoon Family and the God of Memory and Mist.
But the Church wouldn’t be so foolish as to send an assassin carrying the God of Memory and Mist’s legacy to kill a follower of the God of Mist.
“It seems you really have nothing to do with the Aetherlan Divine Church. Where did you get your veil?” Charlotte asked.
“My father gave it to me.
A long time ago, people from the Aetherlan Divine Church made a deal with him…
They gave him a Sacred Relic called the Veil of Mist Concealment.
Its effect is to let the wearer’s existence vanish from the eyes of others completely.
So how could you see me…?
Do you also have a Sacred Relic?”
Bella truly wanted to die knowing the answer.
“You’re not wrong. I am a follower of an evil god—the one I worship is the God of Memory and Mist.
The Sacred Relic you used is a legacy of the God of Mist, so naturally I have a way to break it.”
Charlotte saw no point in hiding it.
After all, seeing the misty chains, Bella already understood everything.
“So you could see me from the very beginning?!”
Bella’s shame surged up again—she remembered her awkward attempt at making an entrance…
She had even imagined Charlotte fleeing in panic, but in the end—she was the one hanging here, beaten.
Charlotte looked at Bella in silence, seeming to consider how to deal with her.
Bella began to cry.
She shook herself desperately, the chains clattering around her body.
Now, she was desperately weighing her own value, hoping Charlotte would spare her.
“If you kill me in the Imperial Capital, your situation will only become more dangerous!
They could even use it as an excuse to investigate your family!
By then, no one will be able to protect you.”
Charlotte sneered, “Are you confused? Threats don’t work on me. Besides, if you dared to try to kill me in the Imperial Capital, why shouldn’t I dare to kill you there?”
The unspoken meaning: the Duke of Ennis may have power, but Charlotte has people backing him, too.
Up until now, Bella had thought Charlotte was a gentle and refined nobleman.
Now, she was certain—this man before her was absolutely ruthless…
The final straw in Bella’s heart broke.
“I… I still have my body… Don’t you like beautiful girls? I’m still pure, I’ve barely even been close to a man…”
“Are you a little too conceited?” Charlotte was at a loss, though it seemed Floleen’s rumors had finally made him realize his reputation wasn’t great.
“Conceited? Heh…
This is the only thing I have left to treasure in this world…”
Tears rolled down Bella’s cheeks, against her will.