Ryo felt relieved to know that his mother and brother were unharmed from the ambush on their way to his mother's family's residence. The knights also imprisoned the culprits they caught alive.
When the news reached the Duke, he was naturally furious and worried. Although he was reassured that his son and wife were out of harm, he was still furious because somebody had the nerve to harm his family.
Ryo was talking with Rei through the orb used for communication.
"How are you and mother?"
"I'm fine. However, Mother is still holed up in her room, not allowing anyone to enter, even me."
"It can't be helped. Everything happened so suddenly. Anyone in that situation would definitely be distressed."
"Anyway, how are you and father?"
"I'm fine as well and father… well he's probably distressed too and kept himself busy with work. I'm heading to the dungeons to see the situation and help if I can."
"Are you sure? You don't really have to do anything you know."
"It's fine. You're there with mother so I'll help father in your stead. I won't do anything that's beyond my capabilities so don't worry."
"Alright."
Then the call ended.
A few days have passed since the incident. Ryo sighed as he slumped lazily on the couch. He had been living a leisurely life ever since he was done solving Rei but a relaxed life was just too boring. He wants more excitement that's why he wanted to take part in the situation.
Although he said he would help, he didn't feel the motivation to do so. Staring at culprits getting tortured for information, witnessing his father vent his frustrations on them, he didn't really feel like watching. As he was contemplating things in his head, Zilthai approached him and bowed to him respectfully.
"Master, this information might be irrelevant to you but I think it would rouse your curiosity. The other culprit that was trying to escape, that was catched by your brother, this servant has finally seen their appearance. It was a woman that looked awfully similar to that fiend— Fumiko."
Ryo was listening with a bored look until he heard the last part. He tilted his head to the side as he tapped his finger on his knee with a slight smirk on his face.
"Alright, let's see just how awfully similar her appearance to Fumiko is." Ryo said and stood up.
"Yes, master."
When they finally arrived in the dungeons, the smell of rusted iron permeated in the air with a mix of urine and stool. It smelled awful and Ryo had to thank Zilthai's thoughtfulness for bringing him a handkerchief to cover his nose. The lights were dim, creating a creepy vibes as one trudged forth.
He could faintly hear the screams and pleads for mercy but he could care less. As he passed by the different cells, some contained prisoners who were barely breathing and some were empty. He stopped in front of an iron door that not even an adult vampire could push lightly.
There was a silver chiroptera attached to the middle of the door with it's red eyes glowing. It made one feel as if it was observing them and could see through their thoughts. Ryo bit his finger and blood immediately oozed out from the wound.
He pressed it lightly on the chiroptera's mouth and it suddenly opened its mouth widely and latched on his fingers. It greedily sucked the blood from his fingers and after a few moments, it's red eyes turned green.
The sound of mechanisms turning and twisting was heard but no one could see where it was coming from. Ryo retrieved his finger when the statue finally let go of him. A 'click' sound was heard then the door slowly opened, its gears turning noisily.
As Ryo enters, he can finally hear clearly the noise inside. The foul smell was more intense than it was outside. Ryo then pulled out a magical mask from the side and applied it on his face.
The foul smell was finally gone. His face looked like it didn't have anything applied on it at all since the mask was invisible. It also didn't cause him any discomfort as if he didn't apply anything at all.
He saw his father observing the interrogation with a glass of blood wine in his hand. Damien turned when Ryo walked towards him and stopped right beside him. Ryo greeted him respectfully and he nodded in turn.
"Has there been any improvements yet?" Ryo asked as he watched them torture the culprits.
This room contained anti magic runes and mechanisms that's why anything that uses magic will be nulled. That includes the abilities of the culprits.
Also, the silver collar attached to the culprits has it's special mechanisms where it lowers the pain tolerance. It also injects healing medicine to the culprit, allowing them to survive the torture.
They could also use the truth serum to be done with it all but his father wouldn't pass this opportunity to torture those who tried to harm his family. Especially now since his relationship with his wife is on thin ice.
His father personally whipped the culprits. His whip was covered with barbs that contained poison. Once the poison invaded the body, it would produce pus all over the body. The pus would pop itself and would produce a yellow hot substance that could scald the skin. The popping process was extremely painful and itchy.
Also, the poison could cause the body to bleed from it's orifices. Because of the healing mechanism from the collar, they couldn't die from it but just suffer. The unbearable itch and pain could make one crazy if they're not mentally strong.
The sight of these culprits covered in pus and yellow substance made Ryo grimace in disgust. He held back his urge to hurl with difficulties.
"It's going well. Just having a bit of fun and we'll get down to business when I'm done. What brings you here?" Damien asked as he took a sip of his wine then sighed.
"I'm curious about that one prisoner but I couldn't see her here."
"Which one?"
"The Saintess. Or should I say the runaway ex-Saintess." Ryo said.
"How did you—" Damien asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"Elder brother told me that one of the culprits he captured looked awfully similar to Fumiko. I was just guessing but now it's confirmed." Ryo said then flashed a proud smile on Damien for figuring it out.
Damien couldn't use his ability here so he wouldn't know that Ryo lied in the first part. His expression eased and looked at Ryo with eyes filled with helplessness and doting.
"That's right. One of the culprits admitted that she had a hand in this so I was planning on interrogating her once I'm done with them." Damien said and the glass he was holding shattered.
The veins on his hand were bulging from repressed anger. Ryo was pensive for a moment then looked up to his father with a smirk.
"Father, why don't you let Mother interrogate her instead? To appease her grievances and who knows, it might just resolve some of the misunderstandings between you two." Ryo said.
"But this…won't this just agitate her more?" Damien asked with furrowed eyebrows, his whole body was tense once more.
"Don't worry, Father. I assure you, Mother would be pleased with this arrangement." Ryo said and gave his father a reassuring smile.
Damien didn't speak for a moment and sighed. He relayed the order to his men which made Ryo's smirk turn into a smug smile.
Although his Mother is a vampire and is naturally emotionally cold, she was still a woman. Any woman who had their husband seduced and bore their seed would make them hate the woman who seduced their husband.
In this situation, Damien was tricked, not seduced, so of course Katsumi's anger would be greater. Not only that, the bitch also attempted to harm her and her eldest son. That bitch was just asking for it. Ryo knows that Katsumi would also like to settle scores with that runaway ex-Saintess.
Ryo can't wait to see the one-sided big cat fight.
Ryo went back to his room and communicated with his brother through the glowing orb. Ryo told him about his talk with his father earlier and the arrangements. Rei expressed his doubts and concern just like his father and Ryo assured him that it'll work.
When the call ended, Rei stayed seated, lost in his own thoughts. After a few moments, he sighed and shook his head with a faint smile hanging on his lips.
'My cute little brother is maturing fast, it's not cute at all.'
Rei sighed once more as he stood up and went out of his room. He stood in front of his mother's door and knocked. There was no response as usual.
"Mother, the criminals we arrested are being interrogated as of the moment and…one of them was the ex-Saintess. She's currently locked up in the dungeons and the knights are awaiting your ord—" The door suddenly opened, startling him enough to pause.
"Let's head back. Tell your father to not touch that woman, not even a strand of her hair. I'll deal with her." Katsumi said, her eyes filled with repressed anger.
Although she was angry, she was still composed and elegant. Rei was shocked by his mother's enthusiasm but kept it inside.
"Alright."
…
Ryo watched as his mother's carriage entered the manor as if it was having a racing competition. He expected for his mother to be enthusiastic upon hearing that the ex-Saintess was here but he didn't expect that she would be this enthusiastic.
As Katsumi stepped a foot on the ground of the manor, she couldn't help but sigh. She was planning on coming back once she had enough time for herself but upon hearing that the ex-Saintess was here, she just couldn't help but come back home immediately.
She had so many unanswered questions that the ex-Saintess could only provide her an answer. She knows that Damien wouldn't willingly sleep with another woman besides herself but the pain it caused wasn't something that she could overlook.
She's well aware that Damien wouldn't betray her even if someone forced him to. It can only happen if he's physically and mentally handicapped. Nevertheless, although she had her assumptions, she still wanted to talk with that Saintess to clarify things once and for all.
As she headed towards the dungeon, she saw Damien waiting by the entrance of it. She stopped in front of Damien who was fiddling with a vial that contained a sparkling blue substance.
"I figured you'd need this while you deal with her." Damien said as he handed the glass vial to Katsumi.
As she received the vial, their fingers brushed past each other which made them gaze into each other's eyes. They maintained eye contact as Damien opened and closed his mouth, as if wanting to speak but didn't know what to say.
In the end it was Katsumi who broke eye contact and lightly coughs to dispel the weird atmosphere that they unknowingly formed.
"I…uh… Do you want me to accompany you there?" Damien asked, his face devoid of expression but his eyes held his expectations.
"No need. I can handle this on my own. I…I'll call for you when I need help." Katsumi said and entered the dungeon without waiting for his reply.
Damien blanked out for a moment and when he came to, Katsumi was already inside the dungeon. He looked down on his feet as a slight smile formed on his lips, his eyes held his repressed longing and joy. It seems although she was angry and distressed with himself, she still cares for him.
The knights who were following behind Katsumi witnessed what happened earlier between her and Damien. Although their faces were devoid of any expression, they were internally rejoicing since it seems like their Lord still had a chance to reconcile with the Duchess.
Although the Duchess looked like nothing could get into her eyes except her family, and seemed like a tough woman, deep inside she was someone with a soft heart, especially to her family. The knights were happy and anticipated the day that the Duchess and the Duke reconciled.
Katsumi walked forth for a while when she finally arrived at the cell where the runaway ex-Saintess was held. The incident that happened back then between the Saintess and Damien was the reason why she was now an ex-Saintess.
Saintess had to maintain their purity to keep the purity of their mana and to keep the connection between the Saintess and the God they worship. It was widely believed that only the Saintess could communicate with a God and relay the God's words to the church's followers that's why a Saintess was highly valued.
Because of the power they received from the God they worship, a Saintess can keep her youthful appearance until her death. A Saintess can only be appointed with God's approval that was sent through the prophets and the existing Saintess. If the will of the God is not followed, severe punishment awaits the sinners.
Since Saintesses had been living and absorbing mana with the highest purity ever since they were born, once they got contact with the mana that was generally absorbed outside the church, it would be as potent as poison to them. Also, because they have the highest purity of mana, anyone outside the church who happens to absorb that mana would only be poisonous to them.
The creatures from the dark regions ought to go to the temple as their meeting place with the creatures from the other side to maintain their peaceful relationship and discuss political matters. The temple is situated by the borders and keeps a neutral stance.
Since Damien had a closer relationship and position with the king, he was ordered to attend in the king's stead. That time, Damien was attending the said meeting as usual when he was suddenly poisoned and the Saintess happened to be present in the very same place as him and had to help him because she had a kind and pure heart.
She used her body to absorb the poison from Damien's body which contaminated her body with dark mana through the process. According to the report given to Katsumi, Damien was poisoned with mana containing the highest purity. The Saintess sacrificed herself to maintain the peace between the two continents and was pitied.
Although she gained sympathy from the majority of the masses, since her mana was no longer as pure as before, she was expelled from the position of Saintess and soon after, an oracle from God regarding the appointment of a new Saintess appeared.
Expelled Saintess are still kept inside the temple until they die since they can't really survive outside. They could only do so if they survived the poisoning. Katsumi was naturally distressed when she heard the news but she only believed some of it.
Even though she had never met the Saintess before, just based on the report she was sure that the Saintess wasn't as pure and innocent as she appeared to be. Also because of a woman's intuition.
Katsumi stood before the said Saintess cell. The ex-Saintess' foot was chained to stop her from escaping. Her golden hair was messy and her face was covered with dirt, she was no better than a beggar on the street. She wore a simple white dress that was now sullied by soil and mud. Her snow white skin looked sickly pale as if she was a dying person on her last breath.
Her knees were scraped and her feet also had a few cuts, probably from getting dragged carelessly. As Katsumi looked at the ex-Saintess' unsightly appearance, she couldn't help but feel a little bit indignant. Even if they clean the ex-Saintess up, Katsumi was still undoubtedly more beautiful than her.
'I can't believe my husband was able to stomach sleeping with this vixen.'
The ex-Saintess heard their movement and slowly looked up to meet Katsumi's gaze. She was startled at first but soon after, she was able to maintain her cool.
"Why do you want to harm me and my son? Is it for revenge for getting expelled from your position?" Katsumi asked with a cold expression.
Upon hearing those words, the ex-Saintess looked like she realized something, making her eyes open wide.
"Of course not! I never regret saving Damien so why would I need revenge!" The ex-Saintess denied it emotionally.
Her eyes were moist from unshed tears, looking at Katsumi with a wronged expression, making her look extremely fragile, like a little white bunny. Katsumi furrowed her eyebrows, clearly displeased when she heard the ex-Saintess call her husband by his name and not by his title. The patience she initially had, dissipated into thin air.
"Feed her this."