I turned back to the rest of the group, focusing on Soo Jinyoung and Moon Jiyeon.
First, I addressed Moon Jiyeon. "Have you read the contents of the journal?"
"Yes," she replied hesitantly. "I have a rough idea of what's written in there."
"Hey, give the journal," Soo Jinyoung interjected.
I raised an eyebrow but handed it over. "Alright. Break a leg."
Soo Jinyoung took the journal silently, flipping through its pages with an unnerving calm as she began studying its contents. Her expression didn't change, no matter the horrors written inside.
It was a stark contrast to Yoo Rin's earlier reaction.
How could she be so calm?
How could she be so composed?
Then it hit . Didn't she have the ntal Barrier skill?
I had a similar skill, but even then, I had been shaken. Was the difference in how our skills functioned?
Yes. It had to be that.
Shifting my full attention back to Moon Jiyeon, I asked, "Are there any other suspects? I don't want to jump to conclusions based on a single piece of evidence. Did you find anything about Victor?"
"Victor?" Moon Jiyeon muttered thoughtfully, with her gaze dropping as she tried to recall. "Ah, the son of that deceitful woman, yes. I did manage to collect relevant information concerning his character."
She retrieved a small notebook and flipped through its pages, reading aloud as she went.
"Victor Valont, the son of Elena and Simon, works as an assistant at his father's company. He's well-loved by all the family mbers and is often described as too nice, making him prone to being taken advantage of.
However, his relationship with Adrian and Iris appears more complicated than it seems.
With Iris, it's strained at best. He has no respect for her due to her… promiscuous lifestyle. They frequently argue, with Victor trying to correct her behavior and Iris shouting at him to mind his own business. They avoid each other unless absolutely necessary, only maintaining appearances in front of others.
As for Adrian, things are a bit more nuanced. On the surface, they get along well, but it seems Victor harbors jealousy toward him. Adrian is the most successful of the four cousins and has a close relationship with the servants, particularly Rosa, the maidservant. This likely fuels Victor's insecurities and jealousy, since he also likes the maidservant Rosa."
She closed the notepad and glanced at with a aningful look.
There was no need for her to say anything. Everything about Victor scread "suspect" in bold letters.
I chuckled dryly. "Isn't this fascinating? Two of the cousins seem to have an unhealthy fixation on Adrian."
A thought struck then, and my expression turned serious.
"Wait. What about the youngest one? The other cousin. What was her na again? Ah, Viola. That's it. Did you find anything about her?"
"Viola?"
"Isabella's daughter. She was there during the first mory, the family gathering in the dining room."
"You an the little girl?" Moon Jiyeon's eyes lit up with realization. "That's right. There was a child there. It's strange, I completely forgot about her. And co to think of it, she hasn't been ntioned in any of the fragnted mories. That's… really odd."
"If I recall correctly, she was mute. I doubt she'd appear in any significant mories. It can't be helped, though. I don't think her character holds much importance anyway."
Moon Jiyeon narrowed her eyes at . "Aren't your words a little rude? Are you really that heartless?"
"Huh? Isn't your words strange? How am I being heartless in this scenario? All I said was—"
"—that she wouldn't be in important mories because she's mute." Moon Jiyeon crossed her arms. "That's a cruel assumption, don't you think?"
I tilted my head, confused. Her words were indeed strange.
Was it really a cruel assumption?
No matter how I thought about it, there was no way that child could be involved in the murder.
But could this person actually see that?
As expected, even the High Priestess had her flaws. This wasn't the mont to let emotions cloud judgnt.
I sighed. "I think you're looking at the situation the wrong way."
"What do you an?"
"Do you honestly believe a child like Viola could kill Adrian or anyone in the household? Please, let's use logic here in this scenario."
"Well, of course not..."
I interrupted her midway and overwheld her with hard, logical reasoning.
"Of course you would say that. A child wouldn't have the strength or skill to commit such a brutal murder. To stab soone over fifty tis takes more than just will, It takes a significant amount of physical strength and endurance. Let's assu, for argunt's sake, that Viola was sohow involved. How would she, a child with less developed muscles, do it?
The only plausible scenarios where a child could kill an adult would involve a weapon—a firearm, perhaps, or an ambush. Maybe stabbing an adult while they slept or drunk. But even then, Adrian wasn't killed in his sleep. His body was found face-up, indicating he saw the killed and tried to struggle before he lost strength and gave up midway.
And no matter how strong-willed a child might be, the physical difference between her and Adrian would make it nearly impossible for her to overpower him, let alone stab him over fifty tis."
As I finished my explanation, Moon Jiyeon remained silent for a brief mont.
She uncrossed her arms, her expression turning more contemplative. Yet, it was clear she still harbored so skepticism.
Finally, she spoke more calmly than before. "I understand your perspective. I'm not necessarily saying she's directly tied to Adrian's murder, but aren't we being too quick to dismiss her entirely?"
"I suppose you have a point," I conceded. "However, as I ntioned earlier, I don't believe she's crucial to the bigger picture. At best, she's just another victim of this house. We'll address her case eventually, but solving Adrian's murder takes precedence. Depending on who killed him, we might uncover the first piece of the puzzle that unravels the entire mystery."
"Do you think the murders are connected?"
"I believe they are. I already have a few theories." I gestured toward her notepad. "Mind handing that? I'll need to write it down to explain everything properly."
"Okay."
Moon Jiyeon handed her notepad and pen. I clicked the pen and began to write. I carefully inscribed two nas: Iris and Victor, circling them for emphasis.
The suspects' list included four nas: Iris, Victor, Rosa, and Luna.
After so consideration, I crossed Rosa off the list. If she had killed Adrian, her movents as the maidservant would have drawn imdiate attention. Her role as a servant in the household made such secrecy implausible.
Luna was also temporarily removed as a suspect, though her involvent remained uncertain. I would need stronger evidence to implicate her.
That left two plausible scenarios:
The Cri of Passion — Iris.
The Cri of Jealousy — Victor.
These were the scenarios I had considered before, and new evidence had only confird my initial suspicions.
Between the two, one of them had murdered Adrian in cold blood.
However, it was evident they hadn't acted alone. Committing such a heinous act without drawing attention would have been impossible, especially with Adrian's father, Dante, always vigilant over his son's whereabouts.
No, Adrian's disappearance would have been noticed imdiately, prompting a thorough search of the entire house. His body would have been discovered without question.
Could it be that their parents had covered it up, using the Darkness Witch as a convenient scapegoat?
Yes. That was likely what had happened, and everyone would have believed them considering how the Family Head, Reginald was found brutally murdered in his own study.
It was the perfect cover up.
However, one question remained. How was Adrian's murder connected to Reginald's murder?
Adrian's murder didn't necessarily an that the sa person was responsible for Reginald's death.
Of course, one could argue that the children's whereabouts were unknown during the murder, but that didn't necessarily imply they were involved in it.
According to the Fragnted mories I found on the Third Floor, all the children were in the Rose Garden above the Third Floor, while the adults were gathered in the Parlour.
Therefore, the person who murdered Adrian wasn't the sa as the one who killed the family head, Reginald.
I stopped writing.
Could it be that we were dealing with two separate murderers?
Moon Jiyeon studied my writing intently, then frowned, as if sothing had struck her as strange. It seed she had reached the sa conclusion I had.
"Wait... Are you suggesting there were two different killers?"
"It's possible."
"Then that would an we have an additional person to consider."
"That's also possible. But if that's the case, how were they able to move around the House freely without anyone noticing?"
"Indeed, It's strange."
"Can't you use your Divination to help us out here? I don't think we'll be able to reach a conclusion with the information we currently have."
"Tch. If I could, I would've already done so. I can use another thod of divination by asking a spiritual lifeform for assistance, but it's a dangerous form of divination."
Moon Jiyeon clicked her tongue once in displeasure.
I was familiar with the thod of divination she referred to. I believe it was called "Mirror Divination," where the practitioner used a mirror as a dium to communicate with spirits.
This thod was only used when there was insufficient data for standard divination. However, it ca with a significant risk: the practitioner had no way of knowing what type of spirit they would end up communicating with.
Malevolent spirits, in particular, were often drawn to this form of divination. Once you caught the attention of those troubleso entities, you might wake up with a hole in your chest.
It was really scary if you think about it. And Miyuki's attitude could easily provoke sothing similar to Mirror Divination.
What to do? What to do? We're barely at the first step, and we're seriously lacking information. Perhaps the fragnted mories we need were hidden on purpose by the House.
It was like soone had hidden certain pieces of a large puzzle. Without those pieces, the puzzle was impossible to complete, no matter how the remaining pieces were rearranged.
Simply put, we were stuck.
What was that term martial artists and cultivators use when they reach the limit of their cultivation? Ah, I think it's called a "bottleneck."
Our situation was similar to that.
Thud!
A sound echoed.
Soo Jinyoung, who had been silently reading Iris' journal, closed the book and looked at everyone. After a brief pause, she spoke calmly.
"I suggest we try to solve the Epitaph."
"The Witch's Epitaph?"
"That's the only option left, isn't it? Why don't we try a different approach? Sitting here and speculating isn't going to solve anything."
"I suppose so. But tell this first—do you know where to begin with deciphering the Epitaph?"
"We can always read it again, can't we? Maybe we missed sothing the first ti."
Rereading, huh?
Her words triggered a mory from the past. A particular mont resurfaced from the Sea of mories.
「 "Ah, don't you understand the importance of rereading? Read the story over and over until you fully understand it. Only then will its true beauty reveal itself." 」
Damn. Why did this character remind of that person?
At that mont—
Flick! Flick!
The lightbulb flickered twice before going out. Just like that, the parlour was engulfed in complete darkness.
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