…I see.
Annan reacted quickly.
This was probably because Celecia had sworn allegiance to Annan and was subordinate to Annan.
Then, after Annan said to Celecia, “If you lie to me, you will betray my trust in you”, the [Angel’s Left Eye] that tracked and located the betrayer would start to take effect on Celecia’s words.
Although he learned unexpected information through the curse, Annan did not reveal it.
Annan simply shook his head slowly, adopting an expression as if he saw through the lies, and calmly said.
“I believe you haven’t fully grasped the situation… Since your sincerity is lacking at the moment, let’s have you cool off in the dungeon for a while, Celecia.”
Annan announced slowly.
He tapped his staff and signaled Zoya to adopt the second plan.
Zoya stepped forward tacitly, removed Celecia’s vessel, and put heavy handcuffs on her.
Zoya kept her vigilance and was ready to fight at any time.
However, Celecia didn’t resist or struggle.
Celecia didn’t launch a sudden attack on Zoya… She didn’t even take a second look at her removed curse vessel.
Instead, Celecia just slumped over.
It was just like a beautiful flower withering in an instant, losing its vitality.
Without saying a word, Zoya simply gestured for two Winter’s Hands to put Celecia into the dungeon.
Winter’s Hand did not reprimand, insult, beat, or torture this former colleague and traitor. They complied with the orders of the “Ten Fingers” and the Grand Duke, and they did not carry any emotions towards the mission itself.
This was the code of conduct of Winter’s Hand – turning yourself into a tool and freezing your soul. Only ten fingers are connected to the heart… Only the “ten fingers” and the “heart” can have the power to “think”.
Originally, Winter’s Hand had gradually forgotten this mission.
The rebellion triggered by Celecia made them recall it again.
Celecia naturally knew this too — if she didn’t resist, the two Winter’s Hands wouldn’t even glance at her. They didn’t even restrain her, just each pressed down on one of her shoulders.
Soon, she was imprisoned by the two personnel in the dungeon of the Grand Duke’s Residence.
Although it was a dungeon, it was relatively clean and not damp.
The dungeon had no chairs, no beds… but also no torture instruments, just a floor made of refined steel. It was just extremely cold, cold enough to make one’s feet go numb.
And the cold air was continuously creeping up through the steel plates.
Without saying a word, Celecia stood skillfully in the corner and leaned against the wall.
If she squatted down, her knees would tremble after a while, making it difficult to stand up. The right approach was not to sit or squat but to take a few steps after a while to dissipate the cold air from her body.
…She was very familiar with this place.
When she made mistakes back then, she would always be locked up here.
One level down from here was the place where “Wolf’s Kiss ritual” was performed. The person responsible for guarding the dungeon outside was the Winter’s Hand, who led the Frost Beast.
This was done to facilitate the use of the Frost Beast in interrogating the prisoners… Simply by walking a frost beast around the dungeon, all the positive emotions of those imprisoned were absorbed.
It was like having one’s scalp nibbled by a soul-devouring monster.
Without positive emotions to resist, it was especially easy to break through the prisoner’s mental defenses during interrogation. This, coupled with the Winter’s Hand’s standard spell that could freeze consciousness, and paired with Soul Snatch Magic, made it effortless to extract ample information.
However, using such methods would cause a certain degree of mental damage.
The Frost Beast plus the Faleration spell, plus the Soul Snatch spell… would break through the psychological defenses through continuous use. However, it would leave a heavy psychological trauma. Celecia’s identity was subtle. Grand Duke Annan would not use such rough methods on her.
So, Celecia didn’t give up yet.
She was just thinking about how to weave an exquisite lie.
A lie that was enough to fool Annan.
“Hu…” Celicia let out a deep sigh. The white mist in front of her condensed into frost.
It felt like an illusion.
She felt that the air was gradually getting colder…
“—Thoreau Nick.” A low, cold voice came from outside.
Even though it had been a long time since she last heard it, Celecia would never forget that voice.
“—Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!”
Suddenly, a light burst in her eyes. She immediately left the wall, leaping joyfully to the cell door in three big steps. She was like a little dog that, after its owner had been away for a long time, finally returned home and excitedly yelped and scratched at the door
She eagerly reached out and tightly grasped the cell door.
The chain of the handcuffs hit the metal cell door, producing a clear clanging sound.
The moment the cell door felt the pressure, the barrier activated.
The alarm sounded suddenly.
However, Celecia was already too preoccupied to care about that.
At that moment, she did think about…
How could the teacher appear here? Could this be some kind of illusion? Was this some kind of hallucination? Or was she in a dream?
The sounds she heard could be fake.
However, the emotions surging in her heart were by no means false.
Finally, she saw the man.
He was slightly different from the image in her memory.
He was a stern-faced old man, his face covered with centipede-like scars. The older scars were reduced to sunken, discolored marks, while the newer ones were still cracking and showing raw flesh.
He had a face resembling that of a pirate, further marked by terrifying, fierce scars. Yet, these features couldn’t immediately capture one’s attention because of his pupils – a mix of light blue, dark blue, purple, and yellow, resembling moonstone with their strange, gradient colors – which would instantly draw all the focus.
He was draped in a pure white coat, his strong physique even causing the shoulders of the coat to bulge, giving off an impression reminiscent of a ‘naval’ officer.
Despite considerable changes in appearance and the absence of the ‘Ten Fingers’ ring, he still held that cane in his hand… the one that gave young Thoreau Nick a sense of “home”, resembling a collar-like cane.
The old man calmly gazed at the stunningly beautiful girl locked in the dungeon.
She looked at him with a longing gaze, seeking affirmation and touch.
Yet, there was still not a trace of emotion in his pupils.
Everything was as before.
He looked at Celecia as if he were looking at the thin youth with freckles and a stooped body.
“It’s me, Thoreau Nick.” The old man said slowly and walked forward.
At this moment, Celecia, who was immersed in the joy of their long-awaited reunion, suddenly realized, “Teacher! His Majesty Annan is above, and the Winter’s Hands are there too… Master Zoya and Master Victor are both here! There are many other helpers… You… you better run away…”
She struggled for a moment, still hoping that Vladmir could escape from here quickly.
Although she didn’t know what Annan wanted to do, he wanted to see Vladmir.
And she also knew that Vladmir hidden’s deepest secret must never be revealed to anyone.
—She was the keeper of the secret.
She was the only secret keeper… the secret keeper most trusted by Vladmir.
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