Chapter 163 - 89: Secret

Chapter 163: Chapter 89: Secret

!

After a brief moment of shock, Jennifer stumbled back two steps, her expression a mixture of surprise and terror.

She looked at Lilia, at that... exquisite face she had just seen resting peacefully inside the sarcophagus, and a chill shot through her.

Her lips trembled as she called out, almost in a whisper, "Your... Your Highness...?"

"Don’t worry," Lilia said. "I’m perfectly normal. I haven’t been possessed, nor am I some Demon’s incarnation in the Mortal World."

"N-no..."

Jennifer explained awkwardly, "That’s not what I was thinking."

For a split second, she had indeed been suspicious, wondering if Lilia might be a Demon or something similar...

But on second thought, Lilia had spent all these years at the Royal Court, and since leaving, she had never been out of Jennifer’s sight. There was even a member of the Church’s Holy Order in Lilia’s retinue.

If Lilia had any connection to Demons, it was impossible they wouldn’t have noticed by now.

To show that she really wasn’t afraid, Jennifer took two steps closer. "According to our theory, this... Demon... has probably been here for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. After all this time, it’s not that strange for two identical faces to appear... right?"

As Jennifer spoke, she snuck a glance at Lilia’s reaction.

After three or four seconds,

Lilia nodded. "Indeed."

"See!"

Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. "So all that talk about possession and reincarnation is just nonsense... By the way, Your Highness, what should we do with her? Should we just leave her here, or..."

’What should we do with her?’

’That’s a very good question.’

Lilia didn’t answer right away, instead falling into deep thought.

The truth was, she had just lied.

She didn’t think it was normal at all for a Demon from a thousand years ago to look identical to her. Although she didn’t believe in theories like reincarnation, possession, or incarnation, the Demon lying in the sarcophagus did seem to be related to her in some way.

It wasn’t just because of their identical appearances. The moment Lilia first saw her, a memory had surfaced in her mind.

It was a completely fragmented memory, flashing through her mind piece by piece.

Some were just empty scenes: a crimson sky, a bizarre castle, a river from which Demonic Qi constantly seeped...

Others were disjointed images: countless Demons lined up before her, Demons fighting and slaughtering each other in endless, chaotic conflict...

Of course, most of the memories were of events that had happened in this very stone chamber.

Lilia saw Victor in many of these fragments.

He seemed to have found this room long ago, discovering the Demon that looked just like Lilia.

He hadn’t told anyone, nor had he thought of destroying her. Instead, he had reinforced the surrounding Concealing Array and disabled the attack protocols set by the Spirit Vein’s master.

The rest of the time, he would just stand beside the sarcophagus, watching her quietly.

Suddenly, Lilia broke free from these memories that were not her own.

Her mind was a complete mess.

Like Jennifer, she had no idea how to deal with this Demon.

From Jennifer’s perspective, since Lilia had no connection to her, the safest course of action was obviously to destroy her immediately. After all, she was only asleep, not completely dead. If a High-level Demon were to suddenly awaken and appear in Navia, it would undoubtedly cause massive casualties.

But from Lilia’s point of view... ’She might not be completely unrelated to this Demon after all. If I rashly kill her, I might suffer some kind of consequence.’

Victor must have thought of this as well, which was why he had been guarding the Valgipps Mountain Range all this time.

’...That’s right.’

’Victor must know something, that’s why he’s been guarding this place!’

It was the same in the last cycle, too.

He had stayed in Navia County and never left, right up until Lilia reset... It was most likely related to this Demon!

’Was it because this Demon has my face that Victor was unwilling to tell me this secret? Did he think I wouldn’t believe something so bizarre could exist in the world, or... were there other considerations?’

’Whatever the reason... I’ll find out by asking him!’

Her resolve hardening, Lilia ordered Jennifer to guard the area and ensure no one came near.

The news that a Demon dug out of a sarcophagus had the same face as the Royal Princess was simply too shocking.

If more people found out, it would undoubtedly cause a panic.

As for Jennifer’s suggestion to dispose of the Demon, she currently showed no signs of waking. Acting rashly might instead provoke her revival.

So, Lilia told them to lie low and investigate in secret for now. It wouldn’t be too late to act once they had uncovered the truth and the Demon’s identity.

Jennifer was convinced.

After arranging for guards to be posted outside the stone chamber, Lilia left the Valgipps Mountain Range and headed straight for Victor’s residence.

It was two in the morning, the dead of night.

Everyone was sound asleep.

But the matter was urgent, and Lilia couldn’t be bothered with social etiquette.

She rushed directly into the courtyard of Victor’s residence and knocked on his door.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

There was no answer.

Lilia frowned and knocked three more times.

Still, there was no response from inside the room.

As a High-level Mage, Victor’s senses were far sharper than an ordinary human’s. Even if he were sound asleep, it would be impossible for him not to hear the knocking.

The only possibility was that he was currently engrossed in an experiment, having sealed his laboratory with sound insulation magic to avoid any outside disturbances.

If Lilia had come to see him for any other reason, she might have turned around and waited until tomorrow. But the sleeping Demon in the sarcophagus was like a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment.

At a time like this, Lilia couldn’t afford to waste even a few hours.

So she simply summoned her Magic and blew the door open.

"Victor?"

Lilia stepped inside, searching the room for the familiar figure. "I’m sorry to disturb you like this, but I have something urgent..."

Before she could finish her sentence,

Lilia suddenly smelled the thick, overwhelming scent of blood.

Her pupils contracted. She glanced around before quickly running deeper into the house.

The closer she got to the living quarters, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Lilia threw open the door, which slammed against the wall with a dull THUD.

Her eyes widened as the scene inside the room came into view.

She walked forward, step by step, until she stood before Victor.

"Victor...?" She knelt down. "What are you..."

The young man before her was bare-chested and kneeling, his almost-white blond hair cascading over his strong shoulders, stained with fresh blood.

Palm-length silver nails were driven into his vital points—his shoulders, chest, and abdomen. Blood trickled from the wounds, dripping onto the floor and spattering like red plum blossoms.

There were no signs of a struggle in the room.

And Victor was conscious.

Which meant... he had driven those silver nails into himself, one by one, with his own hands.