Understanding was one thing; mockery was another. "My verdict? It looks splendid on the surface, but it's riddled with flaws. Look closely and the whole thing falls apart!"
With every adjective Annan added, Baron Kelly's face darkened. The worst part was that every flaw Annan named was real.
All the baron could do was protest, "So many people have come here, and none of them noticed a problem!"
"Who didn't notice?"
"The guests I invited!"
Annan looked thoughtfully toward the guests in the hall. They had clearly heard the argument, yet they continued numbly along the paths the baron had laid out for them.
"So you turned them all into marionettes?"
"Since they failed to notice, of course they became part of this masterpiece." After Annan's relentless criticism, Baron Kelly finally recovered a shred of confidence.
Annan promptly dealt him another blow. "Or is it possible... they noticed long ago and just didn't dare say anything?"
"No... Impossible!"
A crack seemed to form across Baron Kelly's body.
"If you don't believe me, why not ask someone who was there?"
Annan stepped onto the dance floor again and wrapped an arm around the waist of the young woman he had "guided" earlier. He looked back at Baron Kelly and raised an eyebrow.
Baron Kelly's face was dark as a storm cloud. He made a puppeteer's gesture, and the young woman in Annan's arms suddenly seemed to come alive, leaning weakly against him.
"It's all right. The nightmare is over," Annan said softly.
The fear she had bottled up gradually eased at the sound of his gentle voice. Annan asked her to speak her mind. She nodded, then looked at the demon-like man with terror in her eyes.
"I noticed as soon as I arrived... Something was wrong with everyone here. They