"Ha...!" Ashok’s long sigh filled the tense silence, more telling than any words could be. The Duke’s heart raced, each beat growing more frantic as he watched Ashok, desperate for any shred of clarity.
Finally, Ashok spoke, his voice low and heavy. "You know... It’s hard for me to currently explain the entity inside your daughter’s body, fighting with her for control. Just consider it something... something far worse than anything you could imagine—far worse than witches."
Ashok met the Duke’s gaze, his eyes dark with a mix of sorrow and regret.
Ashok’s answer was the last thing anyone in the room had wanted to hear. The words hit the Duke like a physical blow. His face went pale, his jaw tightening as a deep, consuming sense of devastation washed over him.
’Will I lose my daughter, just like my wife?’
’Should I have wielded a weapon from the start instead of chasing after wealth?’
Once strong and resolute, the Duke’s heart began to crumble under the weight of his thoughts.
’I failed as a husband, and now… I’ll fail as a father too’
’I am a failure.’
Negative emotions slowly crept in, insidious and consuming, spreading through his heart like a poison. His mind, once sharp and clear, began to cloud over with despair. He was trapped in the growing tide of hopelessness, unable to escape.
Even with all the artifacts adorning his body, they offered no defense against the collapse within. The very things that once made him feel invincible now seemed utterly useless in the face of his own emotional unraveling.
"Old Friend. I understand the burden you carry, but you must remember—there is still hope. Your daughter still fights. She needs you now more than ever." The head Butler gave words of support because he couldn’t watch the Duke slowly breaking from within.
’Yes! This is what I wanted to see. Fall Deeper in a despair.’ Thought Ashok his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
The Duke’s posture, once unyielding, began to slouch, the weight of his own emotions pressing him further down. His eyes, once sharp and determined, grew dull with time even the words of the Head Butler were not working.
’Only living in the darkest of the night does someone understand the value of the sun... but those who live in its light every day don’t value it.
I will be the light that pulls you out of this darkness but by making sure you will never forget the cost of it. You will never forget Duke, who held you to the dawn in the depths of the night.
Because everything is within my hands’ thought Ashok as a small smirk formed on his lips which disappeared right after.
As Ashok’s mind drifted in the shadows of his dark thoughts and the Head Butler continued to offer his steady counsel to the Duke, an important question came into Cassius’ mind, who was watching everything from the side.
"Wait!" Cassius’s voice cut through the tense atmosphere, sharp and precise. He stepped forward, his gaze focused intently on Ashok.
"According to your words, the witch had to kill someone to acquire the body, not considering the process... but how come her powers suddenly shifted from soul possession to transferring another entity inside the Young Miss’s body?"
The Duke’s brow furrowed, his exhausted mind suddenly snapping to attention. The Head Butler, who had been offering quiet support to the Duke, also paused, his eyes narrowing as he processed Cassius’s words.
Both of them realized at once that there was a slight inconsistency in Ashok’s description of the witch’s powers.
They all turned their gaze toward Ashok, expecting some form of explanation, their eyes sharp with suspicion. But Ashok didn’t flinch. His composure remained intact. Then suddenly-
CLAP!
CLAP!
CLAP!
The sound of Ashok’s hands coming together echoed through the room. He was clapping, slow and deliberate, as though praising a child for a job well done.
"I am truly astonished," Ashok said, his voice laced with a mix of amusement and mock admiration. "That even someone like you can think of a difference like that. Well done!"
Cassius, still on edge from Ashok’s mocking praise, pressed further. "What do you mean by ’someone like you’?"
But Ashok, unfazed by the question, simply gave a dismissive wave. He didn’t answer, instead turning away as if the inquiry had never been spoken.
Ashok spoke again, his tone shifting to something far more serious. "The answer lies in the Witch’s way of killing."
The Duke’s brow furrowed deeply at the mention of the witch once more. His mind was struggling to keep up with the strange and conflicting pieces of information that Ashok had been revealing.
"What do you mean the way of killing?" he asked.
"If the Witch killed someone by taking their heart out or by beheading them, and then used her powers to possess their body... Do you think the missing heart and the head will regenerate?" asked Ashok answering with a question.
"They can use potions." retorted Cassius.
"It seems your brain is back to being dead," Ashok muttered, the words dripping with condescension.
"Do you truly think someone who is considered an enemy of the world, hiding from the eyes of all, will be rich enough to acquire high-grade healing potions?"
Highest Grade potions are only available to nobles And not every noble is as... open-minded as your Duke. Not every noble would accept a witch as a wife, let alone turn a blind eye to what she truly is. Any other noble house would have started a war upon discovering a witch."
Ashok, ever with his overwhelming charisma, once again found the weak points in his audience and skillfully aimed his words at them, striking where it hurt most. His eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction as he watched Cassius fall silent.
"The Witch had to kill someone in a way that didn’t harm the body physically but still brought death. So, a mental attack." Said the Head Butler instantly deducing the witch’s method.
"Yes. The Witch uses a mental attack. After all, she is the sole disciple of Great Witch of Mind." Answered Ashok.
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The Duke’s eyes widened in disbelief. "But that’s impossible! My daughter wears artifacts that make her immune to all kinds of mental attacks."
"It seems hearing the words of the Sword Saint has caused your mind to regress," Said Ashok, his voice dripping with mockery as he observed the hateful glares thrown in his direction. His words flowed freely, unfiltered, as he spoke whatever was on his mind.
"Did you forget that the witch was pretending to be your daughter’s maid?" Ashok continued, "The witch must have assisted your daughter during her baths, changing clothes, and many such intimate moments. Those are the times when your daughter would have removed the artifacts.
Now, don’t tell me that your daughter didn’t take baths or wear artifacts twenty-four hours a day. That will be… quite a unique fetish." Ashok finished and the Duke did not know how to answer to that.
The Duke stared at his daughter, his gaze filled with a mix of hopelessness, and a growing sense of guilt.
"But that still doesn’t answer the main question. How come the witch placed another soul in the body? And even if she could... wasn’t the trigger to kill the owner of the body? Then how come is the Young Miss..." Cassius trailed off, his words hanging in the air, thick with discomfort.
The unspoken question was there, clear as day, but he couldn’t bring himself to finish it, especially under the Duke’s intense glare.
In truth, Cassius wasn’t wrong. If the witch had killed the Duke’s daughter and placed another soul inside her, then technically, she should be dead, her body overtaken entirely. The entity, whatever it was, should have taken full control.
Yet, that was not the case. The witch’s possession wasn’t absolute—there was a battle being waged within her. That means that the Duke’ daughter was alive.
Ashok, who had been watching the Duke’s daughter. His tone was measured, almost clinical. "You are not wrong, Sword Saint. The witch technically did use a mental attack on the Duke’s daughter when she was not wearing her artifact. And the attack was also successful," he said, his eyes still locked on the girl, lying motionless but clearly still breathing.
"Something unexpected took place which neither the Witch nor her master who made the entire plan was able to predict." Ashok’s words lit a small ray of hope in Duke’s heart.
The Duke’s eyes widened, a flicker of hope igniting within him for the first time since Ashok had begun explaining the horrors his daughter faced.
His voice trembled, barely a whisper, but filled with desperation. "What... what do you mean? What happened?"
...
Dear Readers,
I am extremely sorry for not uploading yesterday, I had some heath issues yesterday but I will make sure to compensate for yesterday’s chapter soon enough. There was also a slight glitch when I upload the chapter(a previous version was uploaded) but it was corrected minutes after.
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