The cradle

Looking at the man in the photo, Lya seemed to be thinking as she said, "We set off two days later than when we received the Request for Help in order to gather relevant intelligence."

"Madame Pualis ' full name is Pualis de Rocfoure, right?"

She paused for a moment before saying, "We investigated the Roquefort Family in the Dalege Region and found no one named Pualis."

In Intis, Women are not required to change their surname to their husband's after marriage, especially if their given name contains the character "De," indicating that they were formerly Nobles.

--The Intis "De" means "from" in English, and the surname that follows it refers to the original fiefdom.

"No?" Lumian was quite surprised.

He knew Madame Pualis had a problem, a big problem, but he never imagined she might even be a fraud!

Ryan nodded:

"In Dalege, the Rocford family is a large one, with many members, and even a provincial Member of Parliament. We are in a hurry and don't have time to conduct a more detailed investigation. We can only preliminarily confirm that there is no such person as Pualis, but a Men named Prit has been missing for more than a year."

"Prit?" Lumian asked, pressing the question. "What's his relationship with Madame Pualis? I think it's quite likely."

Ryan shook his head:

"Insufficient intelligence makes it impossible to make any speculations."

"What we do know is that Prit de Rochfoul adhered to the ' Dandyism ' most popular in Trier, fathered many illegitimate children, and was hated and loathed by many. This may be the reason why he had to leave or was forced to leave Dalege."

"Dandyism?" Lumian was somewhat unfamiliar with the term.

Aurora's subscriptions to magazines and newspapers were either geared towards Women and focused on stories, or primarily covered national affairs, with a few supernatural publications interspersed throughout, and they didn't really touch on men's fashion trends.

Lya chuckled and said, "Simply put, it's about being a stylishly dressed, elegantly spoken, and promiscuous playboy."

"The people of Trier really know how to play the game, packaging adultery into an ideology, an doctrine, a trend," Lumian exclaimed, adding a sarcastic remark.

When it comes to self-cultivation in adultery, one must always look to the people of Trier. What Parish Priest is but a child in the eyes of the people of Trier.

"In the past year, Trier has seen the construction of many Arcade." Inside a semi-underground two-story building, Aurora sipped her Marquis Black Tea and spoke to Madame Pualis, Naa La Yiza, and others about the latest fashion trends. "What are Arcade? They're like enclosing a street, covering it with glass, paving it with marble, and lining it with elegant and luxurious shops. During the day, light shines down from above, and at night, Gas Lamp are used. Horse-drawn carriages aren't allowed in. The most famous one is called the Opera Arcade Street..."

Madame Pualis, holding a white porcelain cup of black tea, listened with a smile as she gazed at Aurora with her bright brown Eyes.

"That sounds so appealing..." Naa La Yiza remarked.

It immediately evokes a sense of elegance, style, cleanliness, and brightness.

The main reason they were willing to accept the invitation to afternoon tea was because they knew what was most popular in Intis from Aurora.

After chatting for a while, the topic shifted to Aurora's works, focusing on her emotional life.

"Love is truly unpredictable and difficult to grasp..." Madame Pualis seemed to remark with a sense of reflection.

"So, this is why you're in Love with so many men at the same time?" Aurora couldn't help but think to herself.

Madame Pualis looked at her, a faint smile playing on her lips, and said with a touch of melancholy, "Sometimes, I get angry because he makes a mistake, and I wish I could kill him, send him to his death. But when he's actually facing death, I can't help but try to save him, and I won't even tell him. Perhaps, that's Love..."

Inside the master bedroom of the official residence of the Administrator.

"Perhaps Madame Pualis once fell in love with Prit, who believed in ' Dandyism, ' and had a forbidden relationship. Therefore, she was no longer mentioned by the family and could only marry someone casually. She also used her family connections to get him the position of Administrator of Cordou Village." Lumian made some speculations based on the stories and plots written by his Older Sister.

This could explain why Administrator Beaost had a relatively low status in the household.

"Possibly," Ryan replied simply, then added, "Continue the search, but don't try to open safes or anything like that, lest you trigger some kind of alarm."

Lumian and the others immediately dispersed and began searching other areas.

Despite Lumian's ability to observe subtle traces, even with the "Hunter's " skill, he still gained nothing.

The same applies to Lya and the others.

Left with no other option, they moved to places like the Study and patiently conducted their search.

As time ticked by, the four arrived at the end of the corridor. There was a closed room there, opposite which was an open sunroom, and next to it were stairs leading to one of the Tower.

After searching the sunrooms, Ryan turned his attention to Lya.

Lya raised her hand and touched the Silver Bells hanging on her veil, then walked toward the tightly closed Wooden Door opposite her, muttering to herself.

This time, none of the four bells rang.

Lya breathed a sigh of relief, grasped the Handle, and gently pushed the Wooden Door open.

It was a very spacious room with a rocking Baby Crib in the center.

The Baby Crib was made of brown wood and installed in a wooden frame. It was covered with a clean but slightly worn white cotton swaddle and was empty inside.

This was supposedly the nursery where Madame Pualis' two children used to live. Apart from the bed, there were no toys in the room, only scattered wheat, barley, rice, rye, oats, and other plants on the floor, which looked quite eerie.

Moreover, these plants are well preserved, as if they were only brought in a few days ago.

A faint light rose around Valentine as he entered the room and circled around it.

He quickly returned to the doorway and shook his head at Ryan and Lya:

"There's no sign of evil."

"Alright." Lya looked at Lumian, "Next, shall we go to the Tower?"

Lumian had always been curious about the Castle's two Tower, and he never expected to have the opportunity to "visit" them today.

Valentine left the strange nursery, Ryan gripped the Handle, intending to close the Wooden Door and restore it to its original state.

Just then, Lumian subconsciously glanced inside again.

The Baby Crib, made of brown wood, began to rock gently!

But the windows of this room and the floor-to-ceiling windows of the sun-dried house across the street were tightly closed, and there was no wind blowing in the corridor!

"This..." Lumian's pupils dilated instantly.

Noticing his unusual behavior, Lya also turned her body and looked into his eyes.

The Baby Crib was still swaying gently, as if an invisible, intangible baby was lying in a cotton white swaddle.

Subconsciously, Lya raised her right hand and pinched her brow, as if trying to relieve the fatigue in her eyes.

She was preparing to activate her Spirit Vision to see what was inside.

Just then, the four Silver Bells on her veil and boots began to jingle loudly and rapidly, as if they were about to explode!

Ryan's expression hardened, and he immediately gave a low shout:

"Get out of here!"

As he spoke, he rushed into the sunroom and, turning sideways, crashed into the floor-to-ceiling window.

He's trying to open a passage that leads directly out of the Castle!

Bang!

Ryan crashed into the French windows, but there was no sound of glass shattering.

The transparent faces of young children, some of whom appeared to be infants, were visible through the row of windows.

Their faces were pale and bluish, strangely frightening.

After being "bumped" by Ryan, they both opened their mouths and started crying.

Accompanied by the crying, the entire Third Layer of the Castle became extremely dark, and the transparent faces of children appeared on different walls and glass surfaces.

Some of them were crying loudly, while others turned their Eyes and stared blankly at Lumian, Lya, Valentine, Ryan, and the Ryan.

Just being stared at like that made Lumian feel her body turn cold, and she began to tremble involuntarily, her heart filled with fear.

The next second, Valentine was illuminated by a dark Golden light.

The light, like water, rapidly spread outwards in a ring, quickly enveloping Lumian, Lya, and Valentine.

A warm feeling rose up, and the chill in Lumian's body instantly dissipated.

He stopped trembling, his heart filled with Courage, and he pulled out the Iron-Black Axe with his other hand.

At the same time, Ryan seemed to have grown much taller all of a sudden, his clothes stretched to their limit.

A faint Dawn- like light began to appear Monday him, quickly coalescing into a full-body Silver-White Full-Body Armor on his skin and forming a broad, heavy greatsword of light in his hands.

Ryan raised the sword high and, like a Giant, cleaved it towards the floor-to-ceiling window in front of him.

Those pale, bluish-white faces of children screamed in agony as they swiftly turned into wisps of smoke under the giant sword of light.

But the Glass Window did not shatter; instead, more transparent faces emerged, tormenting Lumian and the others' ears and minds with shrill cries.

Who broke into the Castle?

A Women's voice rang out, its high pitch echoing in layers.

Almost simultaneously, Lumian saw a figure appear on the other side of the corridor, where people were coming up from the second floor.

She was in her forties, with brown hair and eyes, and a fairly good appearance with few wrinkles; she was the same woman who had "delivered" Louis Lund earlier.

At this moment, she was wearing a long Gray-White Long Dress and holding a huge pair of scissors that looked like they could cut off a human's head, as if she had just returned from pruning branches in the garden.

She looked at Lumian and the others, and said in a deep voice, "You should all die with the Book!"

Inside a semi-underground two-story building.

Madame Pualis suddenly paused, her expression Change slightly.

She immediately put down the white porcelain teacup in her hand, smiled at Aurora, and said, "I'm so sorry, I suddenly remembered that something needs to be done at home, and I have to go back immediately."

"Huh?" Aurora was startled.

Pualis stood up with a regretful expression:

"I had originally planned to stay after afternoon tea to continue our discussion about your work and the beautiful and radiant Love depicted within it."

"I welcome it," Aurora responded immediately.

"No," Madame Pualis shook her head. "That matter concerns my children."