Chapter 185: [185] Reality

Artie walked into the room, careful not to step on any of the bodies. “Knight commander, do you recognize any of these bodies?”

David walked deeper into the room, squatting down to observe them. After a few seconds, he stood up, a sombre expression on his face.

“These are workers that have been reported missing over the past two months.” He said in a lowered tone.

“Tell me.” He turned to Artie. “You said we needed to investigate this so suddenly. You knew about this didn’t you?”

Artie shook her head, strolling deeper into the room. “Eliron had a hunch something was here, but we did not know what to expect.”

David ran a hand over his face, letting out a shaky breath. “I am the chief knight, yet an outsider is the one who discovered this. I am ashamed of myself.”

“Don’t be.” Artie slowly shook her head. “Eliron is a different breed. Comparing yourself to him will only lead you down a dark part.”

“This… th-this is tied to the leak isn’t it? But why? What the hell is this?!” Duke spoke through gritted teeth.

He was the heir, meaning he was in charge of them. These were his people, and right under his nose they had been slaughtered like pigs.

Ash held his shoulder. “Calm down, Duke. This is not the time to get emotional, we must get to the bottom of this—”

“Hey!” Samuel’s voice rang from the other side of the room. “You guys need to see this!”

The normally aloof knight had a shocked look on his face, a certain degree of terror in his eyes.

“What is it?” David asked as he sprinted towards him, the others not too far behind.

When he saw the corpse at his feet, both him and Duke froze, tho words coming out of their lips.

To them, the corpse certainly had some meaning, but to Ash and Artie, it was just another corpse whose face had been ripped off.

“Pull yourself together David, what is the matter?” Ash asked, shaking his shoulder.

“That.. that is the butler, Cornelius.” David stuttered.

Something flashed in Ash’s eyes. “What do you mean? We saw Cornelius just a few hours ago did we not?”

The corpse here had clearly been decaying for a long time.

“He does not have a face, perhaps you are mistaken?” Ash asked.

“No, he’s right.” Duke scratched his head roughly, clearly confused. “That birthmark on his wrist, even the clothes… this is definitely him.”

“Shit!” Artie cursed. “If this is Cornelius, then who the fuck is attending to Yen?”

<•••>

Cornelius was walking down the hall, adjusting his hand gloves with an impassive look on his face.

Once he got to the door, he pushed it open and stepped inside, clicking the door shut.

In front of him, the silver-haired elf, Yennefer or whatever she was called, was slumped back on her chair, her head lolled to the side.

He walked closer and stopped when he realised her chest was rising and falling, albeit weakly.

“Hmm… it seems you were indeed a powerful priestess.” Cornelius had put enough toxins in that coffee to kill thirty adult men, and yet, she was somehow alive.

“No matter…”

He dug his hand into his suit and pulled out a sleek dagger, his finger gliding over the tip.

“The old ways are best.”

Cornelius walked towards her chair, taking his time. He stopped behind her, then grabbed a fist full of hair and licked his lips, a crazy grin on his face.

She was already at death’s door, all he had to do was send her on her way.

Without wasting a second, he jabbed the dagger right into her chest, repeatedly, his maniacal laughter filling the room as he continued, up until he was satisfied.

While Yennefer’s body slumped down to the floor, a pool of blood coating both the table and floor, Cornelius took out a white handkerchief and began wiping his dagger.

“Ahhhh~”

“It’s illegal to have this much fun on the job.”

As though on cue, not even a few seconds later…

Click!

The Baron walked into the room. “Lady Yen, how goes the—”

Pieter froze as he stared at Cornelius—at the white, bloodstained handkerchief in one hand, and a dagger in the other.

His eyes then moved to where Lady Yennefer was meant to be, only to see the white sheets of paper stained red, and a disfigured body lying on the floor.

“C-Cornelius… what happened??”

The Baron was unable to believe what he was seeing. Cornelius had served his father since he was a child, and he had served him from the moment he became Baron.

How was it possible that he would betray him?

The butler cocked his head to the side. “Still having a hard time figuring it out? It’s it pretty clear?”

Baron Pieter swallowed. “So the leaker…”

“Ding ding ding! Yup, that was me!” The butler laughed. “Although, that pesky elven lord had to get in the way. I would have been long done with my task if not for him.”

“Your task? What do you mean?! What is your mission in Kingsbridge?!” The Baron shouted.

The butler gave him a blank, annoyed stare. “Well since you’re about to die, I guess I’ll indulge you. Right before I rip off that tongue of yours.”

He pointed the dagger at him, a strange smile tugging at the corners of lips.

“Well, my goal is simple you see, my plan is to spread the undead curse through the city.”

“I have to admit, infecting the queen was pretty easy, but that was the only curse I had. What I needed to do was use her to spread it to everyone else.”

“But Kingsbridge is large. It would be hard to visit all the distant villages and towns, you know?”

The Baron’s eyes widened in realisation. “So the reason you advised me to organize a ball…”

The butler clapped his hands. “Bingo! You’re a smart boy aren’t you? What better way to spread the curse than infecting all the nobles and having them carry it to their towns?”

Now the Baron was seeing the full picture. His brother Marcus and his son Duke had just been pawns in his grand plan.

The moment the baroness was freed, she would go on a rampage, biting and cursing other nobles as well…

Since the curse took some days to manifest, they would not know until they were comfortably at their homes.

In less than a week, the entirety of Kingsbridge would be a hub for the undead.

“You’re a fowl beast! Is this how you repay my family for all we’ve done for you?!” The Baron spat.

“Thank you for the compliment.” Cornelius bowed. “Now if you don’t mind—”

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, Cornelius appeared right at his side. The Baron stared at him, wide eyed, his mouth partly agape, but no words coming out.

Blood splurted out of his slit neck as he fell to the floor, grasping at it to stop the bleeding.

“Good night Baron.”

“Ek-E-Eliron… he’ll… find you!” The Baron managed to say, the blood gurgling in his throat.

“Hmm? It will be a hundred times more difficult now, but by the time he comes back, there will be nothing left of Kingsbridge.”

“Oh?” Cornelius raised a brow then kicked the Baron’s body. “It looks like he’s already dead.”

Clap Clap Clap!

??!

The sound of clapping began to emanate from the walls around Cornelius, each sound morphing with the next, twisting to form tunes that ate at his mind like a curse.

“Ugh!” He staggered back, staring at the walls, his dagger clutched firmly in his palms.

“Who is there?! Show yourself, come out now!”

’A demon? A god-tier adventurer??’

The room suddenly flickered as though it were a dream. The Baron’s body vanished, and the dead elf disappeared as well, leaving the room empty.

Cornelius turned around, his eyes wide in shock as a buzzing sound continued to fill his ears.

And then the room went dark. Night black, not a flicker of light to be seen anywhere.

“What is this? What sorcerery is this?!” He screamed into the darkness.

Crunch!

The lights suddenly turned back on, the sound of the clapping resuming.

“An evil scheme, a betrayal of trust, a plot to ruin an empire…” a deep, authoritative voice rang out, echoing through the space.

“Wonderful, simply wonderful. I know people who would pay good money to see this.”

Slowly, Cornelius turned his gaze to the source of the sound, sweat gliding down his face, his eyes widened to the point they nearly popped out of his head.

Seated on a sofa at the other side of the room was the elven lord, Eliron.

He sat cross-legged, a fox spirit lying on his laps and scratching her ears as she watched him. And by his side was…

The girl he had just killed.

Yennefer was snacking on a pack of cookies, as she watched him.

“His vibe is a little too pg18 though. Too distasteful for my liking.” She shrugged, muttering through mouthfuls.

Cornelius swallowed his saliva.

Worse of all, standing next to them was the Baron, Pieter who stared at him in sorrow, and his daughter Cassie who shook her head in disappointment.

“W-what is this?” Cornelius asked, unable to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

Eliron laughed.

“This is the reality I have carved out specially for you, oh little, foolish boy.”

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