Chapter 53
Chapter 53: Miss Witch’s Pile of Blame Continues to Grow
“So… Celi, you really did meet Sera… is that right?” Charlotte gripped her steel pen tightly, her lips trembling slightly.
She hadn’t heard wrong.
The name that came from the girl’s mouth—Sera Fred—was that legendary Seraphim-class enforcer, her beloved and respected adoptive father, the regret of that night when she couldn’t hold on to the end.
Charlotte had already come up empty several times before, and this would be her closest approach to the truth.
“Yes, Sister Charlotte.” Funis was reluctant to put down her sweet milk, holding the glass and nodding gently. “Sera Fred, Uncle Sera. He was the one who told me your name, Sister Charlotte—golden curly hair and blue eyes, very hard to mistake.”
“I knew it was like this…” Charlotte pondered for a moment, then took out the Temperance Institute nameplate from her skirt pocket that Funis hadn’t found earlier. “What about this? Father’s… Sera’s nameplate has his name engraved on it. Did he give this to you?”
Funis looked down at the glory that had once belonged to her, a trace of loneliness and regret flashing in her eyes.
All lies.
The real Sera was actually sitting right in front of Charlotte, but Funis couldn’t just recognize her adoptive daughter like this.
This wouldn’t lead to a happy ending for everyone, because she was still under Cesya’s control—a succubus disguised as human, and a witch whose identity hadn’t yet been revealed.
Their positions placed them on opposite sides of a chasm. Funis could only interact with her own adoptive daughter through the mask called “Celi”—this was the only way she could still talk with Charlotte.
The lie wasn’t completely woven yet. Funis still needed to go against her conscience and make it all seem as realistic as possible.
“Yes, Uncle Sera gave it to me.” She nodded again. “He told me that if I could escape, I should take this nameplate to the church to find Sister Charlotte. He said you would ensure my safety.”
“Find me?” Charlotte was stunned. “But…”
Rubbing her temples, the golden-haired girl quickly regained her composure. She seriously grasped Funis’s small hands holding the cup. “Regardless of whether this was father’s request, I will definitely take good care of you—it’s my duty. But little Celi, big sister really needs your help right now, about father’s… Sera’s whereabouts…”
“But we were separated after that.” Funis couldn’t meet Charlotte’s expectations. She turned her head away, her voice much weaker. “I had no value anymore and was supposed to be abandoned… But Sister Charlotte, you were the one who saved me.”
“Value? Abandoned? What did the witch do to you?” Charlotte suddenly became agitated, unconsciously tightening her grip on Funis’s hand. “Where did Sera go? Why did I only find you alone?”
Those eyes that should have been as blue as a clear sky now seemed shrouded in clouds—her urgency and sorrow became that darkness, while her anger was the deafening thunder within.
“Sister Charlotte… it hurts…” Funis’s expression showed fear, her voice trembling.
Charlotte realized what she was doing and released the girl’s delicate arms. Prominent bruises appeared on those pale wrists.
She looked down at her own palms.
They were trembling too.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Celi… I didn’t mean to…” This usually proud and optimistic girl was now so anxious, and she—who almost never cried—actually had a hint of tears in her voice. “I just… was too rushed… Sera is my father… I must find him…”
Funis lowered her eyes slightly. She didn’t pay much attention to the injury on her wrist. In the silence, she took another sip of milk before quietly placing the glass back on the table.
She was Sera herself, not really a frightened, fragile little girl. Pretending to be scared was just to observe Charlotte’s reaction.
Honestly, it was somewhat disappointing.
Funis couldn’t just abandon Charlotte like this. If Charlotte learned of Sera’s death, this girl would probably be dejected for a long time. She wasn’t as strong as she appeared—she was still just a child, after all.
This lie still needed to be maintained. Sera needed to “live” a little longer for now.
“It’s okay, Sister Charlotte. Although I’ve forgotten my own parents, I can understand your feelings.” Funis smiled, sweet and serene, gentle and soft-spoken. “I’ll tell you everything I know, but I can’t guarantee it will help, since I’m just a useless child abandoned by the witch—what I know is very limited.”
Charlotte stared blankly at this angel-like girl before her, her heart churning with various emotions of sourness, guilt, pity, love, and self-reproach that she couldn’t describe.
She had underestimated the girl’s maturity. In the end, she couldn’t even compare to such a young child, showing her uncontrolled and irrational side to the victim she should have been protecting. Such impetuousness and immaturity would definitely earn severe criticism if Sera saw it.
“Thank you, little Celi~” Charlotte drew close again without any sense of personal space, pulling Funis into her embrace. “You’re so understanding—how could you be a useless child?”
Turbulent waves.
With her face buried in there, Funis could barely breathe. She had never noticed before how well-endowed her adoptive daughter was. In comparison, her own flat chest was truly pitiful—when rewarding herself in front of the mirror, she even lacked a place to lay hands.
“Because of the potion experiments and assassination training… I didn’t do well…” Funis managed to squeeze out a sentence amid the turbulent waves. “The witch would throw away the most useless children every so often, so it was my turn…”
How cruel.
Even Funis could barely stand listening to herself.
Miss Witch, here’s another black pot—I’m truly sorry!
“Potion experiments? Assassination training?” Charlotte thought of the dead Black Sword Salamander in the basement, the skilled posture when the girl gripped the sword hilt during her sneak attack, and the massive fire that destroyed all evidence. All the suspicious points suddenly had reasonable explanations. “The witch forced you to drink various potions and even taught you these killing techniques? My God… is the witch cultivating an army of extraordinary assassins? Could she be preparing some extremely dangerous plan?”
It did sound quite dangerous indeed.
Randomly consuming potions across different pathways and sequences would lead to madness and death, but after massive sacrifices, there would inevitably be one or two survivors. These survivors would possess extraordinary characteristics from multiple pathways, and different pathways’ extraordinary characteristics might even fuse to create entirely new, unheard-of extraordinary characteristics.
Combined with assassination training from childhood, if this were true, it might become a terrifying force capable of overturning the archipelago and continent.
The lie Funis had created to justify her background had unknowingly placed another huge pot on Cesya’s head. If such rumors spread, they might alarm the Pope sitting on the Mercury Cross throne in Vatican’s Holy Cathedral.
Miss Witch, do you know you’re supposedly this ambitious?
The pot grew thicker on top, higher on the back, and blacker with each smear. Randomly slandering Cesya’s innocence like this and forcing these things she hadn’t done onto her head gave Funis the feeling that retribution would come.
“Maybe, I don’t really understand these things.” Funis’s smile was stiff.