"Everything I saved from the drop in the crime rate I shared with Keyla to help her stabilize her fief, and it was more than enough." Jadon said.
"Or rather, it was supposed to be enough. How the entire Lustria’s budget to fight crime cannot be enough to keep the fraction of its underworld that moved to Ghishal under control is beyond us."
"Then there is a problem." Lith said. "Why did you try to keep it a secret from me?"
"Because we are ashamed of our inpetence, Lith." Kelia clenched her hands so hard that Lith heard them pop from under the fur muffler. "Dad ran Lustria like clockwork for decades while corruption ran rampant and the Kingdom was on the brink of civil war.
"He annexed Ghishal to our fief and laid such a solid groundwork for us before he retired that it barely needs maintenance. Yet what did we achieve? We have a Magus under our roof whose name is enough to make nobles and criminals tremble.
"The Kingdom is more peaceful than ever, and our fief benefits from your Trains and the new Warp Gate in Lutia. We have more than Father could ever dream, and yet we can’t keep a bunch of small-time crooks in line.
"We’re ashamed because we are failing our father, Lith. We are failing you."
"What do you mean?" Lith asked in confusion.
"The Kingdom may be peaceful, but everyone with an amulet and half a brain knows your life is not." Jadon shook his head. "The Lost City in Jiera, the Indech, your children, and now the kidnapping attempt your family had to endure.
"We are not stupid, Lith. We know that you must have your hands full with more problems than we can imagine. How could we ask you to add our inpetence to your burden and still be able to look at our father’s statue with our heads high?
"He would turn in his grave if he knew how badly we are doing." The Count sighed.
"I don’t claim I knew your father better than you did, Jadon, but I think you are wrong about this." Lith replied. "Rather than turning in his grave, Trequill would slap the back of your head and tell you that you should have called me when the problems in Ghishal started.
"Your father and I barely knew each other when he asked me to protect him, you, and Keyla. He knew it was risky, that I might have said no, and that Nana would have done a much better job than you, but he took that leap of faith because he cared more about you and Lustria than his pride.
"I’m not a kid anymore, and we’ve gone through thick and thin together, Keyla. Do you really think your father would disapprove of you for asking my help?"
"No, he wouldn’t." Keyla looked at the statue, hoping for a sign from beyond the grave that never came.
"I’m glad we are on the same page." Lith nodded. "Before we move inside your home to discuss your situation, there’s something I need to do."
He took a deep breath, letting the death energy of his Abomination side seep through the now-closed cracks in his life force and reach his eyes. Lith looked around with Death Vision and watched the Larks die dozens of times in a handful of seconds.
Poison and hidden blades were the most frequent cause of death, making him frown. Tier two spells were the next most probable cause, while death by old age was unlikely.
Lith had no idea what it meant, yet he hadn’t activated Death Vision to check the future of Jadon and Keyla. He was looking for someone he hoped not to find. Sadly, he was wrong.
The soul of Hilya, the former head chef of the Lark Household, was still there, standing near the spot she had died. Her expression was of utter disbelief. She had died so suddenly that she had never understood what had happened.
Over two years had passed since that day, yet Hilya was still confused and unable to move on. When she met Lith’s gaze, she waved at him out of habit, expecting him to ignore her as everyone else had until that moment.
Sadness and despair had blurred her features, taking away a part of Hilya’s humanity along with her hope.
So great was her surprise when Lith waved back at her that she flinched. She moved just one step back, but it was the first step after two years of inexplicable paralysis.
"Before you ask, I want you to know that I’m not indifferent to your fate." Lith spoke to empty air, making Jadon and Keyla exchange a worried look. "I didn’t act sooner because I hoped you would move on on your own.
"I wanted to spare you the blind rage that my touch inflicts upon those like you and myself, the pain of seeing your and Trequill’s final moments. I didn’t want to reunite with you just to lose you again."
Hilya was Lith’s last resort to convince the Larks to open up with him if everything else failed, and the reason Solus didn’t like his plan from the start. Turning her into a Demon was no longer necessary, but it was still the right thing to do.
He called upon the Void, and his head burst into a crown of blue flames. He called upon only one name and created only one chain with the sole purpose of breaking it.
Hilya heeded her name. She heeded the call and understood its meaning. She opened her arms, letting the black chain plunge into her chest, dragging her out of the limbo trapping her and into the physical world.
The connection forced Lith to relive the head chef’s entire life, while Hilya escaped the numbness that had dulled her senses until that moment and finally released the cry that her sudden demise had silenced over two years ago.
"Get down!" She yelled at the statue, mistaking it for the real Count Lark. "That madman is going to kill..."
Hilya froze, and so did Keyla and Jadon at the sudden appearance of a member of their family they believed lost forever.
"No, this is wrong." Hilya shook her head as everything she had seen and heard until that moment finally made sense. "He killed me. He killed everyone else and left Count Lark for last."
"Yes, he did." Lith nodded. "That man was Meln Narchat, my disowned brother. I’m sorry about what happened to you, Hilya. I should have stopped him. You, the Count, and the rest of the old staff died because I failed to stop him."
"You can see me?" The head chef ignored Lith’s self-recriminations and turned to look at him. "You can hear me?"
"Yes, and so can anyone else now." Lith pointed at Jadon and Keyla.
"Young Master, young Lady! Thank the gods you are alright." Hilya ran to them and smiled with deep joy as they followed her movements with their eyes. "Can you see me too?"
"Yes, Hilya." Jadon pinched himself and then asked his sister to hit him and prove it wasn’t just a dream. "I know this must sound incredibly stupid, but I need to ask. How do you feel?"
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