Chapter 54: 54

During the period of time until Cold Flame woke up, Michelle decided to finally try to master the memory manipulation skill she found in Rivenaar’s memories. And since she chose the annex as her cultivation space, she went there, as no one would disturb her there as long as nothing serious happened. She sat next to the cold Life Stone for two weeks or so when Nyxaroth contacted her using the contract. “Michelle, it seems the one you crippled was indeed the real Thomas Hillberg, as the sect leader has changed, and he went to live outside the sect. Should we go search for him?” he asked.

Michelle thought about it for a moment before answering him. “That might be a trick to fool us. Go look for him, but be careful. And one of you three should stay behind in the sect, in case Thomas Hillberg was hiding somewhere there.”

“Yes, Michelle!” With that, the connection ended and Michelle opened her eyes. She fully understood the method of the memory manipulation skills, but she needed to try it on someone. But she couldn’t test it on just anyone, as there was the risk of harming the person since she was planning to manipulate with their memories, so she had to think carefully who to use. Finally, she remembered the nine-year-old boy whom she placed on the throne. As the Emperor, he could probably let her borrow a few death-row prisoners.

So, Michelle walked out of the annex, went to change her clothes into something presentable and took off into the Imperial Palace. As the Emperor’s teacher, she had free entry into the Palace, and even the little Emperor told her personally that she could come visit him anytime she needed without prior announcement.

When a maid announced Michelle’s arrival, the little Emperor was with David Elether, his Prince Regent, in the office, so Michelle entered. “Teacher!” the little Emperor smiled as he stood up.

“Hello, Your Majesty and Your Highness!” Michelle smiled as she greeted. “How have you been since I’ve last seen you?”

The little Emperor quickly rushed over to Michelle to hug her. “Teacher, why did you stop visiting me for so long?” he pouted.

Michelle talked with the little Emperor and David Elether for a long time before finally asking about the death-row prisoners. As the little Emperor had no doubt in Michelle, he just called a knight and told him to lead her to the prison and give her the keys. So as evening came, Michelle walked down a damp staircase into a stinky and wet place filled with all kinds of criminals who were supposed to die after some time.

Walking along the cells, Michelle walked to the further-most cell, not minding the gazes of the prisoners on her, some surprised and curious as to why a young lady was in the prison, and some with lustful gazes after seeing a woman for the first time after being locked away. Some tried to talk to Michelle, but she acted like she didn’t hear them and just walked towards the last few cells.

Stopping in front of the last cell, Michelle’s gaze fell on a face highly familiar to her. Emperor Emeritus’ concubine and Crown Prince’s mistress whose name Michelle never bothered to remember. “Hi!” Michelle smiled brightly, like a happy little girl when she saw the miserable state the concubine was in. “Your Grace, will you help me with something?” she asked with a tilt of her head, looking like a naive little girl. At the same time, she shook her hand in front of the cell, letting the concubine see and hear the keys she was given by the prison guards.

The concubine clearly remembered how she used to think that after losing her memories, Michelle was just a naïve doll, but after Michelle killed the Crown Prince and even forced the Emperor to abdicate, the concubine realized how wrong she was. So when Michelle was smiling at her sweetly with the keys in her hands, the concubine didn’t dare move. She didn’t know if Michelle just came to make fun of her, or to really ask for her help in exchange for her freedom, but she refused to believe that what Michelle wanted from her was worth the freedom.

Michelle could read the concubine like an open book and her smile widened. “You have two choices, Your Grace!” she turned her back to the concubine and leaned against the bars. “Let me try something on you, and if it succeeds, I’ll let you go, or…” her smile turned cold as she spoke. She didn’t finish the sentence, but it was clearly a threat.

“Or what?” the concubine finally spoke up. She knew what Michelle was capable of doing if she didn’t listen, but she also knew that the something that Michelle wanted to try on her would be at least dangerous. Otherwise, she would have tested it on one of her maids.

Understanding what the concubine was thinking, Michelle was highly satisfied. If the experiment succeeded, it could be useful to keep the concubine alive after changing her memories. “Or I’ll skin you alive!” Michelle said lazily like she was speaking about the weather, her voice carrying through the prison to the ears of all the death-row prisoners. They were all shocked that someone who sounded so naive, could say something so cruel and disgusting so nonchalantly.

When the concubine heard Michelle’s voice, she shuddered in fear. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being skinned alive, but she knew that if Michelle made a threat like that, the thing she wanted from her would be even worse. “I won’t do it,” she said after a while.

Hearing that, Michelle smiled brightly and turned back to look at the concubine. She unlocked the cell and entered, walking straight towards the horrified concubine, who had barely picked up the courage to say no.

As she walked, she spoke with a gentle smile, her voice sweet and innocent: “Unfortunately, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to give you a choice!” Michele’s purple eyes narrowed and reflected the light of the torches. The sweet and innocent voice was the complete opposite to Michelle’s stance and actions: “I’ve chosen you as my experimental subject, so you will do it whether you like it or not.” With that, Michelle grabbed the concubine by her wrists and pinned her down on the ground, pressing her knee to the concubine’s chest to keep her still.

“Let go!” the concubine shouted as she tried to struggle, but Michelle pressed her knee harder against the concubine’s chest, making her gasp for breath and shut up.

Michelle placed her hand on top of the concubine’s head and closed her eyes, her other hand still holding the concubine’s wrists in a dead grip. Slowly, the spirit energy within Michelle’s dantian moved and went into her brain for a while, absorbing some information, some memories. Then, Michele guided the spirit energy through her veins to her palm and inserted it into the concubine’s head.

At first, the concubine showed no reaction, before suddenly starting to trash around, screaming in pain. Michelle frowned and retracted the spirit energy back into her body as she stood up. The concubine then stopped trashing around and screaming and lay weakly on the ground, traumatized. She had never experienced such pain before. Michelle stared at her for a while before walking out of the cell and locking it. She walked through the prison hallway for a while before her gaze landed on a young man.

As far as she knew, he was locked up for three years already, because the date of his executions was never decided, but even after living knowing that he might not live to the next day, he was still in good physical shape and his eyes didn’t lose their shine. “What were you locked up for?” Michelle asked coldly, not having a smile on her face like when she spoke to the concubine. She dealt with different people differently.

The man stared at her for a long while silently before answering. “For killing a nobleman’s son and raping his wife,” as he spoke, his voice dripped with venom and hatred.

Hearing that, Michelle lifted a brow. “And, did you? What did you really do?” she sneered as she continued questioning.

The man was slightly surprised that Michelle knew that the reason he was locked up wasn’t what he really did. “I’m innocent,” he said.

“I’m not asking that!” Michelle shook her head, her eyes cold. “I can guess that much. I want to know what you did to anger your master that he would frame you for murdering his son and raping his wife. How did you get under your master’s skin?”

Hearing that, the man was confused. “He just needed someone to take the blame, so he chose a random servant who was competent enough to do it.”

Michelle rolled her eyes. “What foolishness…” she sighed. Then, she spoke up again, her voice harsh as she lectured: “You are a cultivator. Though a weak one, but a cultivator. Cultivators are valued and never just framed for random murder or rape. You had to offend your master or someone he respected so he decided to get rid of you. He is probably the reason why you weren’t executed yet. He wants you to suffer here, waiting for the day when the guards suddenly come and tell you to go to the execution grounds. He wants to shatter your will before killing you.”

Listening to that, the man went silent, his eyes darkening with even more rage. He already hated his old master for framing him since he was locked up, but after knowing that his master actually chose him for a personal reason, the man was even more enraged.

Seeing that, Michelle arched a brow. “Don’t hate your master just yet. Do you even know why he hates you? Maybe you are the jerk and deserve to be here.”

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