He seemed like someone who didn’t want to acknowledge the existence before him.
From his perspective, his mind had to be in turmoil.
The being that should have been offered obediently as a sacrifice had suddenly appeared so drastically changed.
Where should he even begin to ensure he could offer the sacrifice as desired?
Should he beat her more than usual, or should he devise a different strategy? He must have had much to consider.
However, Serena had no reason to care about his circumstances.
“Phaelynn Ashterton.”
Though she had steeled herself for this, merely speaking her name aloud made her heart burn with pain.
But she couldn’t stop here.
Her tightly bitten lips released a shallow breath.
“You killed Phaelynn.”
Serena mustered all her strength to display a leisurely smile like a butterfly over a spring flower garden.
That’s when it happened.
The screaming that had filled the study stopped abruptly, seemingly deafening him.
Bartholomew, who had ceased all movement along with his screaming, slowly turned around.
His lips, which had been openly displaying his emotions just moments before, sealed shut like a painting.
A chilling gaze, seemingly frosted over, turned toward her.
“…What did you say?”
“I already know everything.”
She blinked slowly.
Even knowing that what she held was a weakness significant enough to shake him, she couldn’t help her fingertips trembling.
Her instincts still feared him.
The suddenly changed atmosphere doubled her fear.
But she couldn’t show it.
The moment she revealed her fear, victory would turn toward him.
‘Stay calm.’
She repeated this to herself between her closed eyes.
The probability that he already knew Serena was aware of Phaelynn’s death was extremely low.
Even she had taken a long time to fully grasp its meaning.
Learning about Phaelynn’s death had happened long ago.
It was a time not long after Serena had received the Ashterton surname.
Olivia, who had doused her with holy water for quite some time under the pretense of purification, left the room after ordering Serena to clean up the aftermath.
Though called holy water, it was no different from being drenched. Serena, who had been blankly receiving it, became calmer than usual.
Perhaps that was why.
She did something she wouldn’t normally do.
As she wiped away the water that had thoroughly soaked everything—the carpet, bed, and vanity—she suddenly opened the vanity drawer.
It was something the usual her would never have done.
For her, being a good child was more important than anything else.
As a sacred sacrifice, Serena couldn’t engage in even the slightest improper behavior.
However, contrary to her imagination, the drawer opened incredibly easily, which somehow made it feel less real.
‘Did I really just open Mother’s drawer? Did I touch a place not permitted to me?’
Her sense of reality, lost due to how plainly it had occurred, slowly turned toward the contents inside the drawer.
And she saw it.
A letter Priest Bateron had sent to Olivia.
She could only think it was about her.
Her small heart, which had been obediently following the words of the two, began to beat violently.
What if the two had exchanged stories she didn’t know about?
They always cursed her, they always blamed her.
But what if there was even more vicious gossip written there?
It was such an innocent time.
A time when pleasing others was more important than protecting herself.
Such abnormal anxiety led Serena to do something she normally wouldn’t have done.
– Serena will be different from Phaelynn. Phaelynn’s vessel was too small to contain divine power. It’s not the Madam’s fault, nor the Count’s fault, nor mine. You could say it’s close to the natural order of things. A child who cannot contain immense divine power will inevitably kneel before it. So in a way, couldn’t we say that Phaelynn was also offered as a sacrifice to God? She closed her eyes after struggling so much.
Though the letter was adorned with various flowery language, understanding its meaning wasn’t particularly difficult.
What she was going through, Phaelynn had experienced before her.
That frail body ultimately couldn’t endure and crumbled, and she had taken that place.
Serena at that time was too young.
She was lacking, insufficient, and foolish.
She found comfort rather than anger after seeing such a letter.
In the fact that this unbearable ordeal hadn’t happened only to her.
In the fact that Phaelynn had failed before her, but she was still enduring.
Serena found solace in just such facts.
‘Stupid thing.’
Curses welled up as she found herself pathetic.
As she grew older, she naturally came to know the truth hidden behind the letter.
That the pitiful life of Phaelynn, who ultimately perished, could no longer be saved by anyone.
That Serena was also walking the path Phaelynn had walked, dragged along by the Count couple and Priest Bateron’s hands.
‘Why couldn’t I understand you sooner? Why couldn’t I protect you?’
Belated regret held no meaning.
Back then, when she was young, leaving the room with the letter clutched to her chest had been an unconscious action.
Phaelynn, whom she had loved.
The petty sense of comfort that she might be a better existence than Phaelynn made Serena cling to the letter.
‘Who knew such disgusting weakness would be this helpful?’
The corners of her mouth, forcibly pulled up, trembled pitifully.
But she couldn’t back down.
“Kyle still doesn’t know, does he?”
At the smile masquerading as leisure, Bartholomew’s face contorted sharply.
Beneath his crumpled eyelids, a cold gaze passed over Serena toward his own wrist.
With an indifferent gesture, he grasped and pulled out the letter opener embedded in his wrist.
The blocked dark red stream of blood stained his shirt and dyed the white carpet red.
Ignoring the flowing blood, Bartholomew plopped down in his seat.
“What do you want?”
Though it would be a lie to say she didn’t feel chills at his creepy behavior, she barely maintained a smiling face as she looked at him.
Whatever he was thinking, his gaze was already fixed on the documents piled on the desk.
“Move me to the room in the corner on the left side of the second floor. That’s all I want.”
“Why?”
“I’m sick of the room I’m staying in now. That’s the only reason.”
At her firm answer, Bartholomew fell silent.
Because his gaze remained fixed on the documents, it was difficult to read what expression he was making.
“Not a desperate plea to not be offered as a sacrifice, not a pathetic request to do what you wanted to do one last time. Just to change rooms?”
He asked again while flipping through documents, having returned to his familiar demeanor.
Blood still flowed from his wrist where veins bulged.
“Isn’t that too trivial a demand?”
It was a strange tone.
Like he was actually concerned whether that was truly all she would request.
At his completely unexpected reaction, her entire body went cold, seemingly drained of all blood.
This situation was so absurd that no thoughts came to mind.
‘Is this what someone who has abused me all my life, who murdered my only friend, who calls himself my father, should say?’
The movement of her heart, which had been tense with fear of him, slowed with a thud.
A snicker escaped between her red lips.
“You’ve never once granted even that trivial request.”
“That’s because you’ve never made a request.”
It was a consistently strange answer.
The familiar ringing soon filled her head and rang through her brain.
She struggled to hold back her naturally furrowing brow.
There was no discomfort in Bartholomew’s movements as he flipped through documents.
“Tattling to Kyle about Phaelynn would be the biggest weapon you have, yet you’d use it for just that.”
After a moment of silence, he slowly propped his chin.
Soon, madness-filled green eyes stared at Serena.
“This has become a bit more interesting.”
His lips, which had been closed the entire time, opened greedily.
Then he smacked his lips like a beast that had spotted prey.
Bone-chilling goosebumps swept through her entire body.
At the same time, her body, having lost self-control, shot up from her seat.
And she picked up the letter opener Bartholomew had thrown on the desk and, without a moment’s hesitation, drove it into the back of his hand.
“Kugh!”
Though he had been so arrogant, he seemingly hadn’t anticipated this, as his entire face contorted in pain.
“Shut up, please.”
Her voice, spat out like grinding teeth, resonated through the heavy air.
Even though she had revealed the anger accumulated over a long time, Bartholomew instead began to sneer.
Like bugs crawling over skin, his laughter burrowed into her flesh.
* * *
‘D*mn it.’
Despite achieving the desired result, her mood was unbearably foul.
The vile smile that never left Bartholomew’s lips kept sucking her into an inescapable pit.
– I’ll do as you wish.
Despite her openly rebelling and revealing her hostility, he had accepted her request.
His laughter, showing his teeth like he were granting a favor, wouldn’t leave Serena’s sight.
– Isn’t that too trivial a demand?
His disgusting voice, nauseating enough to make her retch, circled her ears.
She had hoped he would consider it trivial.
Then he would let his guard down.
She had hoped he would think her request was foolish nonsense that required no vigilance.
However, once she actually faced Bartholomew, an indignation difficult to suppress rippled within her.
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Enlighten
Omg the whole family is crazy. And seriously I think the father and son wants to r*pe her. How could they off their own blood daughter like that? Again, omg.