Chapter 879: Excuse For Betrayal
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Why did Dott Somi ntion 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 ti the mine owner had only been willing to indemnify the losses for freen, his indifference toward those underpaid refugee workers outraged the victims’ family mbers, 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 ti 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 sothing other than the relationship between Hyde and the Somis.
Nightingale exited the room quietly. She reached the basent 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 imdiate return. She did not anticipate 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 sothing." Nightingale hesitated for a mont 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 every four hours."
Nightingale felt the warmth of Roland’s words wash over her. After a mont 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 confird the location of her brother’s room earlier. The slant of the moonlight indicated it was a quarter past midnight, a perfect ti for her to take action, for most people were in a deep slumber at this hour, and even vigil guards sotis 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 arrangent 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 ti to escape in case of an ergency.
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 imdiately.
"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 assassin 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 ti ago?"
The mont Hyde spoke, his words resurrected all the thin threads of her old bitter mories. 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 sll of the blood disperse the multitude 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 an, sister... I don’t want you to die. I was shocked at the news at that ti as well. I thought if you didn’t leave by yourself, you probably wouldn’t have been persecuted."
"Veronica..." thought Nightingale. It was a na she had not used for years. However, after years of self-improvent 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 ti I was about to inherit the title, there were not much savings in the household. It was at that ti that the viscount called on . He basically didn’t leave many choices." [lying]
"Did he force you to join the Somi Family?"
"Yes. He said if I didn’t agree, he would weed 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 to sell Dreamland Water! There’re Rats disguised as peasants coming here to pick up orders. I didn’t discover his sche 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. Sotis, 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 sa ti.
As such, she actually felt uneasy to speak with Roland sotis, for the latter rarely lied to her.
Now, the Shadow Killer who had once made nobles 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 , sister!"
"Help you?"
Hyde crawled forward. "I know I was wrong... but I’m your brother! The viscount never views as a real noble. You’ve seen it. He puts 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 !"
"So you want 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 pronounced 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 beco a real noble of the Somi Family. After, after that, you can kill the other successors one after another. By that ti, 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 back then?" Nightingale stressed each word with due strength.
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