Chapter 27
Cecile spoke kindly, yet with an authority that could not be disobeyed. In the end, the Count and Countess did exactly as she instructed.
Soon, Cecile’s stepbrother Linton and the servants of the O’Neill household gathered in Iris’s bedroom.
“Now, please tell us, ma’am. How can we break this curse? What must we do?”
Cecile deliberately delayed her response until Count O’Neill was nearly beside himself with anxiety, then finally spoke.
“The truth is, while I was alone with Miss Iris earlier, she briefly regained consciousness. And she told me something—something only I was meant to hear.”
“She woke up?”
Psychometry was a form of black magic, and Cecile, pretending to be a purification priestess, could not reveal that she was actually a black magician. Therefore, in order to explain what she had seen through psychometry, she had to lie.
Cecile gave a cold smile.
“Yes. The young lady told me about the ugly truth hidden in this household—that the Countess and her son have been abusing her.”
A heavy silence fell.
The Countess and Linton’s faces twitched in shock, realizing that a secret they had thought would never come to light had just been exposed. But it lasted only a moment. They weren’t amateurs—they had deceived the Count for years.
“You’re saying my mother and I abused Iris? Ha!”
Linton scoffed in disbelief.
“Are you insane, priestess? What do you know about our family that gives you the right to say such things?”
“I knew from the beginning that I’d be in a position where my sincerity toward Iris would be questioned.”
The Countess spoke with teary eyes.
“I didn’t want people saying it was because I was her stepmother, so I did my best—always treating both children as if they were my own, never showing favoritism… And now I’m being accused by someone I just met today!”
“Wait—what are you talking about, priestess!”
As the Countess began to cry, Count O’Neill intervened.
“That Maria and Linton abused Iris? There must be some misunderstanding. Maria did her best managing the household alone while I was away on long trips. And Linton is a good son…”
“Managing the household alone means she held all the authority in the Count’s name. Including over how the stepdaughter was treated.”
“Now listen here, miss! Do you have any proof?”
Linton shouted furiously.
“Do you have any evidence that my mother and I did such things to Iris? If anything like that happened, the staff would’ve known! Butler, head maid—speak up. Did anything like that ever happen?”
With the suspicion now aimed at them, the butler and head maid simply shook their heads, flustered.
Cecile let out a small scoff.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, sorry. I just… can’t believe how predictable you all are.”
Cecile coldly curled the corners of her lips.
“You people—why do you all sound the same? ‘Do you have proof?’ You say that only because you know there isn’t any.”
“What did you say?”
“You knew how to hit without leaving marks. That’s why even the doctors couldn’t detect it. And the Countess paid off the senior servants, like the butler and head maid, to make sure no one would testify.”
“Anyone can make up lies like that! So you admit you have no proof!”
Snap! A crisp sound cut through the taut air, instantly grabbing everyone’s attention.
Cecile had snapped her fingers and now pointed toward the unconscious Iris behind her.
“Of course I have proof. Miss Iris herself is the living proof. She remembers everything you’ve done to her. That’s why she was able to tell me the truth.”
“Is that true, priestess?”
At last accepting the situation, Count O’Neill asked with a serious expression.
“She really told you those things? That she experienced such unspeakable horrors…?”
“There’s no way that’s true, Father! Iris has been unconscious for days! And you’re telling me she just happened to wake up for a few minutes alone with that suspicious woman? That’s ridiculous!”
Linton protested, but Cecile didn’t even blink.
Her confident smile was so unshakable that even the shameless Linton and the Countess flinched slightly, losing their nerve.
“I can prove it.”
“What?”
To Cecile, the Countess and Linton’s thoughts were plain as day.
They were confident that they had erased all the evidence.
And yet, her demeanor was so convincing, it sparked fear—what if…?
Everyone in the room was now staring at Cecile’s lips, waiting for her next words.
She delivered them like a guillotine.
“The proof that Miss Iris spoke to me…”
“Count, a few days after the Countess passed away, you said something to your daughter. Do you remember?”
Her voice rang out clearly and commandingly, infused with a strange charisma. No one present could help but focus on her words.
“You told her, ‘Your mother hasn’t left you. She’s become your guardian angel and will always watch over you. She’s still watching us even now. And I, more than anything, will protect you. If we lean on each other and live happily, one day we’ll meet her again…’”
Drip. Drip.
Hot tears began to roll down Count O’Neill’s rough, gaunt cheeks.
Cecile’s words had awakened his memories.
The nights of deepest sorrow, after losing his beloved wife.
Nights so dark he thought morning would never come—but he endured them with his daughter.
How could he have forgotten, even for a moment, the words he had whispered and the vows he had made?
“My God… Iris. You endured all that in your little body… How could something like this happen to you…”
Tears streaming down his face, the Count hugged the unconscious Iris tightly.
“I said I’d protect you. I’m so sorry, Iris. It’s all because of your useless father… I failed to keep my promise. I’m so sorry…”
As the Count wept, the faces of the guilty turned pale as ash.
There was only one way for this stranger to have known what he had said to Iris two years ago.
It meant Iris really had regained consciousness—and told her everything.
(It was psychometry, actually, but… details, Cecile thought.)
While she mused, the Count suddenly raised his head, eyes blazing with fury. He shouted to the men around him:
“What are you standing around for?! Arrest everyone who had a hand in tormenting my daughter! At once!”
“My lord! It’s a misunderstanding! Please listen to me!”
“Master! Let me explain everything!”
“Ahhh, my life is over now!”
Chaos erupted. The guilty were dragged away by the men, loudly protesting even as they were restrained.
Cecile watched for a moment with a faint feeling of satisfaction—but she couldn’t linger long.
[Cecile! Time’s up. You’re almost out of mana!]
“Tch. I knew this would happen…”
Grumbling, Cecile strolled out of the mansion with calm, unhurried steps.
The entire household was in total disarray. No one had the presence of mind to stop her.
✦ ✦ ✦
Meanwhile, Linton was gasping for breath as he ran wildly through the mansion’s halls.
There weren’t enough men to arrest everyone, so the agile Linton had managed to slip away from the bedroom.
“Catch him!”
“Don’t let him get away!”
But he couldn’t run far.
This is all that damned girl’s fault! If she hadn’t run her mouth, none of this would’ve happened…
His rage toward Iris boiled over, and Linton ground his teeth furiously.
She was always most afraid of her mother’s keepsakes being destroyed, wasn’t she? Fine, then. Let’s see who goes down with who.
