No Evil Lady in the World (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 147

Thud. A sound rang out. It was the glass Sediloi held clinking against the armrest. The dark opening of the empty, unlit fireplace seemed to grow larger and larger, turning into a pitch-black hole.

Suddenly, Sediloi recalled a childhood memory—the day the former Duchess, his mother, and Joslyn abruptly left the manor.

Until then, he had never feared the fireplace, but now he began to dread it. With the fire extinguished, he couldn’t bear to look directly at it, afraid he’d be sucked inside.

It felt as though he’d fall into that deep, distant, black void and sink into some place from which he could never return.

That strange phobia vanished as soon as his mother and Joslyn came back, as if it had never existed. But after Verbo and Liriya died, it occasionally resurfaced to torment Sediloi. It wasn’t the illogical terror of a child anymore; instead, it triggered an irritable compulsion.

Whenever the symptoms struck, Sediloi couldn’t extinguish the fireplace fire, not even in the height of summer at midday. And now, even with Ash right beside him, he felt that nervous fear gnawing at his toes.

Sediloi slowly let out a sigh.

“Yes, that’s right. As I said back then, I must make Joslyn confess the truth with her own lips. Otherwise, she’ll never willingly leave this place—the Valterminster manor. In fact, even if she does confess, I doubt she’d leave of her own accord. But at least it would give me a reasonable justification to pull her out.”

Ash shook his head briefly, his expression conflicted.

“Sediloi, I told you this back then as well—do you really think that’s possible? That woman is like a stubborn, malevolent spirit. When did your brother and sister-in-law die? How many years has it been already? You said yourself you didn’t even consider suspecting Joslyn until long after their deaths. Am I remembering correctly?”

Sediloi nodded expressionlessly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Didn’t I tell you that was where you went wrong? I know you’re still searching for that woodsman—or was it a mountain keeper?—someone who could testify. But do you really think that alone will be enough? Honestly? Do you truly believe she’ll yield to something so trivial? Or do you have other evidence you haven’t told me about?”

At Ash’s question, Sediloi grimaced as if forcing down bitter medicine and drained the rest of the liquor in his glass. He stared at the empty glass for a moment, then rubbed his tightly drawn eyelids.

“Ash, do you happen to know Blencon?”

Read full content of this chapter on r e d c a t t y . c o m