Under Ivan’s explanation, Annan figured out what had happened then.
The Rotten Man and Dmitri played a total of three games.
The first two games resulted in a draw between the two parties.
The third game, which was the last game, was originally the game where Dmitri had the greatest advantage.
This was a gamble similar to a variety show.
The rules were simple.
Dmitri would choose one person to be his “assistant”. The Rotten Man would ask them two questions simultaneously – one about Dmitri and one about his chosen assistant. The requirement was that the two candidates had to know the answer altogether.
If the answers to these two questions were the same and neither lied, it would be considered a victory.
If the answers given were different, it was considered a failure. Once they failed, the “right answerer” would have to pay the price. In other words, the person would bear the curse of [No Heir], while the “wrong answerer” did not need to pay any price; if the two people had the same answer but lied, then the two of them would bear the curse of [No heir] together.
Hearing this, Annan understood.
This was a gamble that tested people’s hearts.
If both were right, the candidates would win. However, it would be a defeat if both candidates gave the wrong answer. Similarly, it would be a loss when only one candidate had answered correctly.
This was not a gamble that tested “tacit understanding” and “rapport”.
Instead, it was a test of “trust” — the standard prisoner’s dilemma.
In particular, Dmitri would appoint the assistant directly.
No matter how close a friend was, once they knew the price they might have to pay for being involved, they would probably bear animosity.
Instead, if it were a closer relationship—for example, “close relatives” such as Maria or Annan, he would not choose the person as his assistant.
Dmitri could not afford even the slightest possibility of failure, no matter how tiny the chance was.
So the other way around…
If a person was selected as an “assistant”, it was the equivalent of telling the person that he was a “replaceable friend”.
“Wait, something’s not right.” Annan suddenly realized the crucial problem.
—So, why Bella?
It was not surprising that a werewolf, especially a werewolf from the Winter’s Hand, was chosen as an assistant in the ritual. After all, the fundamental mission of the Winter’s Hand was to protect the blood of the Austere-Winter family. Taking risks and completing tasks were one of their responsibilities.
Anyway, the Winter’s Hand probably could not have offspring.
That was because they held too many secrets.
When the Winter’s Hand retired, they had to be watched daily.
Whether it was leaving their residence, grocery shopping, or interacting with friends, they would be under surveillance as long as they had contact with other people. Vacation was something that would not cross their mind. To leave the city, they had to get the mayor’s signature and be accompanied by three Winter’s Hands for the monitoring process. Only the group judged to be relatively safe and had made outstanding achievements in Winter’s Hand had this privilege.
Most of the Winter’s Hand suffered a bitter end. Their last mission was usually to guard the tomb of the Austere-Winter Family, preventing people from stealing the corpses with the deities’ blood. From then on, they would not be able to leave. The only good thing was that they could be buried with the people of the Austere-Winter family they guarded all their lives.
But needless to say, their families could not worship them either.
To be the new Winter’s Hand instructor and continue to work in Frostwhisper Province until death was considered their best ending.
To die on a mission was their greatest luck.
At least, they would become [heroes] and be remembered.
As Michelangelo once quipped: —[Winter’s Hand] were giants.
That was because giants were a race that “had no vision in youth” and “could not speak when old”.
They were not fighting for righteousness, nor were they required to obey the law.
First, they protected the blood of the Austere-Winter Family, followed by arresting and killing the designated targets by the orders of the Austere-Winter Family. Then, their next role in line was to punish the villains. Therefore, the Winter’s Hand was undoubtedly a “blind man”.
It should be the best choice to have Winter’s Hand as the assistant.
But the premise of this was that both parties should have a more thorough knowledge and understanding of the other party. Otherwise, even if the person did not take the initiative to betray, he would still fail if he did not know the answer to the question.
Then, Ivan Austere-Winter revealed a piece of shocking news, “Bella and Dmitri were a couple at one point. It even reached the level of discussion on marriage.”
At this point, Annan glanced at Dmitri again. He could not help but widen his eyes.
Brother?
Werewolf?
How did they match?
The noble eldest son of the Grand Duke fell in love with the lowly werewolf girl who had no parents.
Annan felt a story of at least 300,000 words emerge in his mind.
However, Ivan did not go too deep into this issue due to his concern about Dmitri’s reputation.
However, Annan already knew the end of the story.
“But in the end, Bella chose to betray?” He did not quite understand.
What is her goal?
Now that the two decided to get married, wouldn’t the outcome be the same if one of them lacked fertility? They could only choose to tide over the difficulties together, and this would be their last stand when they had no answer.
“Bella deliberately chose the wrong answer. As a result, Dmitri paid the price for his trust.”
“What happens next?”
“Then, the Winter’s Hand investigated Bella. Although this is a misfortune, it is also a good thing.” Ivan raised his head, glanced at Annan, and then at Dmitri, who lowered his head.
“If it hadn’t been for this incident, we wouldn’t have found out. Bella’s teacher, former Winter’s Hand’s [Thumb], Vladmir, had already betrayed Austere-Winter.”
“Betrayal to the Austere-Winter Family?” Annan murmured and repeated.
Then, he recalled.
If Annan was not mistaken, “Vladmir” was the “Thumb” who recruited Bella into Winter’s Hand in “Nightmare: Wolf’s Kiss”.
No wonder he asked Bella, “Are you loyal to the Grand Duke?” It was such a weird topic.
Loyalty without trial and training was meaningless and unrealistic unless the answer he wanted was not “loyalty”.
Instead, it was “disloyal”.
“What did they do?” Annan asked.
Ivan tapped his cane on the floor.
The Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke replied slowly, “They used Bella to steal Dmitri’s body fluids to create a curse vessel that can control and tame the Frost Beast without the need for ‘Austere-Winter’s bloodline’.”
Annan asked curiously, “So, how far have they completed?”
Ivan reached out, stroked the groove on the scepter, and replied slowly, “Unfortunately, they’ve succeeded.”