Chapter 88: 88

About a month after entering the jungle with Ivona, when she was already used to killing monsters and seeing gruesome scenes, Michelle received a message from Cold Flame, telling her that something had happened, and that they needed her help for a while.

So, they went back to the Archduchy. But as they were already quite deep inside the hinterland, it took them over a day to leave the mountains. Then, a few more hours to get back to the mansion. There, Kieran was already waiting, and, to the two’s surprise, Anastasia Helens, the Crown Prince’s mistress and Emperor Emeritus’s concubine, who was brainwashed by Michelle, was sitting by his side.

Michelle and Ivona went to change their clothes before going back to see Kieran and Anastasia. “What happened?” Ivona was quicker to ask than Michelle. Sometimes, she was quite impatient. But only sometimes.

“The Emperor sent a messenger, saying that some of the items confiscated from the Sloan family are missing. And the items are mostly rare artifacts.” Kieran quickly explained the situation to them, and Michelle frowned a bit. She thought about it for a while before glancing at Anastasia with a questioning gaze. She didn’t have to ask anything before Kieran answered her unspoken question: “I’d like you to revoke the brainwashing,” he said, his voice a bit troubled.

That made Michelle arch a brow. “What do you mean exactly?” she asked. “Do you want me to remove it completely and let her regain her full memories, or should I just revoke a few parts to give her back her will?” she tilted her head lazily.

The conversation between Kieran and Michelle was making Ivona highly confused. She didn’t know anything about the brainwashing, as she had never cared about Anastasia Helens, so she was quite surprised that Michelle could brainwash others.

But seeing how serious the two were, she didn’t ask anything, and instead focused her attention on Anastasia, trying to see traces of the brainwashing. But except for the fact that Anastasia wasn’t reacting in any way to the two talking about her, she seemed like any other normal person who didn’t intervene in the conversation because she didn’t know what was going on. From an outsider’s point of view, she looked the same as Ivona.

“Please, completely revoke the brainwashing, just don’t give her back her memories. Is that possible?” Kieran asked as he glanced at Anastasia next to him.

Michelle nodded a bit. “I can do that easily, but tell me, why do you want it?” she asked lazily as she stood up and walked over to Anastasia, putting the palm of her hand on Anastasia’s forehead. Then, she sent a wisp of her consciousness into her own dantian, soaking it in the dark element spirit energy, before sending the wisp into Anastasia’s brain. She erased all her memories except her name and age, and then revoked the brainwashing.

The whole process took a few minutes, while Kieran explained his reasoning. “The artifacts are suspected to be on the black market, and all three of us are known there, but Anastasia’s face is unknown in the world, as she has always stayed inside the Imperial Palace, so we can let her go there.”

That made Michelle raise a brow. She knew they could use the disguise masks, but since Kieran and Iona didn’t know about them, and Kieran had already cooked up a plan, she would let him proceed with it. Also, it seemed that the fact that Anastasia’s face wasn’t known to the people in the black market wasn’t the only reason for sending her there. Michelle was guessing that Kieran wanted all three of them to go there, too, each having a mission of their own.

“What will we do in the black market?” she asked straight on as she stepped away from Anastasia, letting her fall asleep on the couch. After having her brain messed with, her mind needed to rest for a while before it could function again.

Hearing that, Ivona perked up. “Can I go, too?” she stared at Kieran eagerly. She didn’t fully know what was going on, but she had already understood most of it.

Having expected Ivona to want to go, Kieran had included her in the plan, so he just nodded. “I’ll need you to go to the illegal auction house, and…” For a long time, the three discussed their plan until a short while before Anastasia woke up.

When Michelle said she was about to wake up, they left the room and ordered the servants to carry her to one of the guest rooms. The plan was about to start, with the first step being changing Anastasia’s identity. Her name and personality would remain, but with her memories gone, she would be a completely different person compared to who she was before.

The moment Anastasia woke up, she felt confused. She was lying in a soft bed, in a big, simple but luxurious room, but she couldn’t recognize the place. She didn’t know how she got there or what she was doing there. She didn’t even know where she was before she ended up in the bed.

Having perfectly calculated the time, Michelle entered the room a few minutes after Anastasia woke up. Seeing that she had indeed woken up, as she had guessed, a small smile tugged at her lips. “How are you feeling?” she asked as she walked into the room. “We found you unconscious by the gate, so we took you inside since it’s quite chilly outside.”

Anastasia frowned a bit as she sat up on the bed, rubbing her temples. “Thank you…” she nodded a bit. “But, who are you?” she asked as she glanced at Michelle. “And what’s this place, if I may ask?”

Michelle smiled a bit as she leaned her back against the wall. “This is the Grace mansion, and I’m Michelle Grace,” she spoke lazily.

“The Grace mansion?” Anastasia was still confused. “I don’t think… I’ve ever heard of that… I’m sorry…” she apologized.

But Michelle knew that would happen. “Don’t worry about that!” she smiled. “But, more importantly, who are you, and why were you unconscious by the gate? Did something happen to you? Do you need help?” she asked.

Anastasia frowned as she gripped her nose bridge. “I…” she groaned. “I… don’t remember…” she finally said after a while.

“Well… that’s bad…” Michelle mumbled. “Because since we took you in, people from the black market have been observing the mansion. You are either being hunted by someone, or you are someone important to them, and they are just guarding you from the shadows. Whether it is, we need to check the black market.”

Hearing that, Anastasia was shocked. “Black market…?” she frowned. She had no memories, but she had basic knowledge, so she knew that if she had something from an illegal place like the black market, she could get into serious trouble. If they were after her, it meant instant death, and if she was a part of it, if Michelle was someone who served the country, she could give her away to the Emperor and have her thrown into prison.

“Don’t worry!” Michelle could see her thoughts. “I don’t think it’s the second case, and if it’s the first case, you are safe here. The black market won’t dare touch her in this mansion. Just make sure you are either inside or, when you go for a walk, have at least one servant with you. The servants here can protect you without much trouble.”

Anastasia stared at Michele in confusion. “Just… who are you?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “How can you disregard an illegal powerhouse like the black market so easily?” she added.

But Michelle didn’t feel like answering that question and proceeded with explaining other things, more like manipulating Anastasia into carrying out their plan: “I’ll have the doctor check on you. When he says you are fine, I’ll send you into the black market in disguise so you can find out for yourself what they want from you. Also, don’t worry! I’ll send a friend of mine with you so he can protect you.”

Anastasie wanted to say something, but Michelle beat her to it: “Of course, you can reject my offer and not go there, but I won’t send my people to investigate why the black market is after you. At most, I’ll have them find out who you are and where you belong. Then, everything else would be up to you. I won’t force you into anything. I’m just giving you a path you can take, and if you don’t take it, I’ll leave you to take care of things your own way.” With that, she turned to leave. “Think about it while the doctor examines you…” she added as she walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, the Archduchy’s doctor entered the room and examined Anastasia, unable to find anything wrong with her, just that her body was strained after being unable to get a good rest, so he gave her some sleeping medicine to take the next time she slept and left.

Meanwhile, Ivona had sneaked into the black market wearing a disguise mask given to her by Michelle, so she could start preparing her part of the plan.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep