He had thought the question would make him ponder for a long time, but he didn't expect to get an answer so quickly.
“Why…” Hyde paused, “Because you are a witch.”
The strings of magic did not vibrate. So that was it. Nightingale suddenly understood many things. Witches were the claws of devils, the embodiment of the fallen. Once someone became a witch, they would gradually lose their human emotions—such arguments were deeply rooted at the time. The moment they learned she had awakened, perhaps in his eyes, she was no longer a member of the human race, let alone a sibling connected by blood. The so-called betrayal was just a preemptive strike, a way to protect himself. Hyde probably still thought so now. It was because he completely believed his own judgment that he answered so naturally.
Afterward, Hyde said many things, such as how he was ignorant in the past and didn't know that these were slanders fabricated by the Church, and how he now deeply regretted it, hoping she could forgive him… But Nightingale didn't listen to these words. The thoughts surging in her mind were like a storm, making it difficult for her to recover for a moment.
So she shouldn't blame him at all, just because most people would make the same choice?
To him, he wasn't betraying his own sister, but a demon who would lose her humanity sooner or later? Since she was a demon, there was no trust between them, which could also be explained.
But… was that really the case?
While asking about Hyde’s affairs, her consciousness unconsciously drifted to another person.
That person was also a noble, and they hadn't even met once, let alone shared any blood relations. If betraying a witch was a matter of course, then he should have sent Anna to the gallows long ago.
He had neither fear nor hatred for witches, and his eyes were clear and easy to understand—even after she had threatened him with a bishou.
Scenes flashed by quickly, as if tracing back to the past, finally stopping at the moment before the heavy snow arrived.
Their first winter after they met.
“...I don’t think she’ll survive the Months of the Demons.”
“Why?”
“She said she wouldn’t lose to the demonic corruption, and I believe her.”
“You actually believe a witch? We are cursed by devils.”
“Is that so? I believe in you too.”
The sea of memory rippled with these words.
Nightingale took a deep breath, pulling her consciousness back to reality. "Wait here. If someone comes looking for you, do what you have to do, as if I never came."
“W-wait… where are you going?”
She tucked the bishou back into her waist and disappeared into the mist. "To complete what I must do."
...
Just as Hyde said, she could intrude into the bedroom of Viscount Dort. Sommer, and force him with a bishou to explain everything from the past clearly. Most nobles would be frightened out of their wits when they saw the gleaming blade, answering three questions for every one asked, only regretting that they didn't have two more mouths. And some of the more stubborn ones would also gladly spill their secrets after having their fingernails plucked off. She had already verified this many times.
If her parents' deaths were really related to the viscount, she would naturally make him understand what it meant to pay a blood debt in blood.
But Nightingale didn't want to do that at the moment.
Especially after experiencing the scene just now.
She was no longer alone now.
She had someone she could deeply trust and was deeply trusted by someone.
Compared to the past methods of Shadow Assassin, she wanted to try to solve this incident in another way—if it were Roland, he definitely wouldn't want to see her tainted with unnecessary bloodshed, right?
Crossing the Boundary of Mist, Nightingale flashed into Dort’s room. Several clusters of lightless black holes stood like ink-colored spheres in the black-and-white world. She didn't pay attention to the guards sleeping against the door, but aimed her gaze at a divine stone field next to the cabinet.
She slowly walked to the wall, and the fairly straight wall twisted instantly. The contour lines curved and shrunk, as if
a tuft of hair that had lost its nourishment, also exposing what was covered below.
Through the deformed outline, she saw details that ordinary people could never see—a section of thin metal rod was buried under this wall, one end connected to the cabinet, and the other end connected to the "black ball".
This was a very common secret mechanism.
Nightingale easily destroyed the bell hanging below the mechanism, and then pushed a seemingly ordinary book. Almost without making any sound, the secret door was opened.
The hidden box was inlaid with God's Stone of Retaliation, but this didn't stump her—before she came of age, the rat king that Old Gran brought had taught her the abilities that a qualified thief should possess. After years of honing, she had long mastered the skills of opening various locks with copper needles.
After opening three or four iron boxes in succession, Nightingale found what she wanted.
It was a recent ledger, which recorded the batches, objects, and quantities of Dream Water transactions—as she expected, nobles always liked to hide their important items in places they considered secret.
With this record, plus the goods in the mansion that had not yet been sold, it was considered conclusive evidence.
Nightingale returned to the basement and reported the entire process to Roland.
When the horizon turned white, the First Army, which had been ordered to come, had surrounded the mansion.
...
Three days later, Nightingale appeared in front of Hyde again. The latter had just been released from prison, and the haggardness and bewilderment on his face almost made him look like a walking corpse. It wasn't until he saw Nightingale that a trace of color appeared in his eyes.
Anger and hatred.
"Viscount Sommer was sentenced to hanging, and the remaining members of the family will serve twenty years of forced labor, and two fiefs will be returned to the kingdom—you told me to wait to wait for this result?" Walking into an empty alley, Hyde could no longer restrain his emotions and roared at her, "Taking everything from me and leaving me with nothing?"
"You should feel fortunate that you weren't regarded as a member of the Sommer family," Nightingale said calmly. "Compared to the viscount, at least you're still alive."
"That's just because you want me to continue suffering and watch me make a fool of myself! It was like this years ago, and it's like this now... After you killed Old Gran and left, do you know what kind of life I lived after that! I finally had the opportunity to obtain the Sommer family's territory, and I thought you would help me, but you ruined it!" Hyde clenched his fists and said, "I have neither a title nor a fief now. Are you satisfied now? You never forgave me, Veronica! You liar… All you wanted was revenge! I should have realized it sooner!"
As he spoke, his roar contained a hint of crying, and then he curled up and sobbed softly, "I have nothing... I have nothing anymore..."
Nightingale was silent for a long time before speaking, "That's right, I haven't forgiven you, and I never will—the closer the origin, the more unforgivable the betrayal." She paused, "But you are not without anything. At least I gave you freedom."
These words made Hyde, whose face was covered in snot and dirt, look up.
"Neither Old Gran nor the Sommer family, or anyone else, can restrain you anymore. From now on, how you live and what you can do is up to you to decide, instead of being manipulated like a puppet in the hands of others like in the past. Whether you think this is punishment or torture, hate me or resent me, it doesn't matter, that's your own choice—we will have nothing to do with each other from now on."
After saying these words, Nightingale turned and walked towards the entrance of the alley, disappearing from Hyde's sight.