I Killed Her!

"Child, you've suffered so much." Kaixi smiled faintly at the elderly woman. "Mother, my injuries are mostly healed. It's nothing now. The God of Order will watch over me." Richard chimed in to console her as well. "Yes, Grandmother, Mother is fine. She just needs a few quiet days of rest." Old Delon also stepped up to coax his wife. "What are you fretting about? Look at you, crying over nothing." The old matriarch held immense authority in the household; the moment she began to weep, everyone gathered around to soothe her. Only Karen remained where he stood. He could sense that she was not crying for her daughter-in-law, who had been wounded in a mission not long ago. The surge of emotion had overwhelmed her the moment she saw him. To conceal it, she had quickly taken her daughter-in-law's hand, pretending her tears were shed for Kaixi's wounds. Had she... Recognized him? Karen had originally been confident in concealing his identity, but reality had repeatedly slapped him in the face. Consequently, he had grown exceedingly sensitive to such cues. The rest of the Guman family might overlook such details, but Karen would not. Moreover, Richard possessed the ability to sense bloodline resonance, and it was hard to argue that such traits were not hereditary. The old woman finally ceased her tears. Dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, she turned purposefully toward Karen. "This must be Mr. Karen, isn't it?" "It is, Madam. A pleasure to meet you." "Good, good, good." The old woman gently brushed past her family and stepped toward Karen. "My eyes aren't what they used to be with age. Let me take a closer look." She took Karen's hand into hers. Her grasp was remarkably warm. "What a handsome young man. Truly good-looking." "Haha, Grandmother, didn't I tell you? Karen is very handsome," Richard laughed. "Did you know even that princess from Dark Moon Island who visited York City recently took a liking to him?" "It isn't just his looks. His demeanor is steady and composed. Look at you—what do you look like compared to him?" "I never meant to compare myself to him in the first place. I can't compete anyway." Richard was easygoing by nature; he never felt bitter about being outshone by another family's child. "Why couldn't you compete? What's there that can't be compared? How big could the difference between you two really be? It's nothing more than us spoiling you too much." "Oh, Grandmother, you have far too much faith in your grandson." "Hehe." The old woman patted the back of Karen's hand and asked, "Are you married yet?" Luxi spoke up at once. "Mother, Mr. Karen is already engaged." "Oh? Already engaged? From which family?" "From an ordinary family." "Ordinary or not doesn't matter. Is she pretty?" "She is." "Mm. And her temperament? Is she gentle? Does she have good sense?" "Very gentle, and she carries herself with great sense." "Good, that is good, that is wonderful." The old woman continued to gently pat Karen's hand, then asked, "Is life treating you well these days?" "It is, Madam. Work and daily life are both very pleasant." "Don't lie to me now. If anything is unsatisfactory, I'll have... I'll have Delon arrange things for you. After all, you saved Kaixi and Aisen. You are a benefactor of our Guman family." "Mr. Delon has already spoken to me about that earlier. Thank you, Madam." "Don't call me Madam. You're the same age as Richard and colleagues to boot. You can call me Grandmother just like he does." As she spoke, a trace of eager anticipation surfaced in her eyes. "Grandmother." "Ah, good!" The old woman broke into a beaming smile. She turned to Old Delon as if showing off. "I gained another grandson today; he calls me Grandmother! From now on, none of you are allowed to pick on him. Richard, do you hear me?" Richard protested aggrievedly, "Grandmother, you think too highly of me. Where would I find the ability to pick on him?" At that point, the old woman took a step back, signaling the end of the greetings and that dinner was about to begin. Still, she couldn't resist asking one more question: "Mr. Karen, what about your parents?" "They passed away when I was very young." "Oh." The old woman sighed and nodded. Then, as if realizing the impropriety of bringing it up, she said, "I'm sorry." "It's quite all right." No one found anything unusual in the old woman's behavior. Toward a savior who had preserved the lives of both her son and daughter-in-law, no amount of warmth and benevolence seemed out of place. Furthermore, because the others all held ranks within the church that were higher than Karen's, there were many things only the matriarch was in a position to say. Everyone took their seats and began to eat. The meal was served in a communal style, with shared dishes from which everyone scooped portions onto their own plates. Karen found the old woman's cooking to be excellent. Several dishes were authentic Wien cuisine, but she had tweaked their preparation, preserving their traditional flavor while enhancing the texture. The mushroom soup she had simmered was especially savory and delicious. Karen drank two bowls in a row. During the meal, Richard was sent by the old woman to summon Mr. Aisen from his room. Karen's uncle sat down first, then stood up, placed a small helping of every dish onto his plate, ladled a bowl of soup, and sat back down. He proceeded to consume the food on his plate strictly in order, finished by briskly spooning the soup into his mouth, wiped his lips, and said: "I am finished. Please take your time." He pushed back his chair, left the table, and fled the dining room as though escaping a disaster. "*Sigh*." The old woman let out a soft breath. Clearly, everyone was long accustomed to this. Even so, she looked at Richard. "Didn't your mother tell you to arrange a psychologist last time?" "Uh..." Richard didn't know how to answer. Karen had agreed to the matter and promised to bring the psychologist home with him today. Seeing Karen arrive alone, Richard had assumed Karen hadn't managed to find one or had forgotten, so he had deliberately avoided mentioning it. Karen set down his cutlery, looked at the old woman, and began, "Madam..." "Call me Grandmother." "Grandmother, I have studied psychology. I can have a chat with Mr. Aisen shortly." Richard stared in astonishment. "So that psychologist you mentioned, the one personally endorsed by the captain, was you all along?" "Yes, that's right." "Unbelievable. What else can you do?" "Richard, you should learn from your Karen." "Yes, Grandmother. I'll do my best to become as outstanding as my Karen, hahaha." Richard seized on his grandmother's phrasing to crack a joke. Karen stood up. "I've had my fill. I'll go speak with Mr. Aisen now." Luxi immediately objected. "How can we put a guest to work on his very first visit?" "But this isn't my first time here. Please, enjoy your meal." Before stepping away from the table, Karen looked at the old woman. "Grandmother, the soup was wonderful." "Hehe." Hearing that, the old woman smiled with genuine delight. Once Karen left the dining room, she turned to Old Delon. "You need to see to Karen's arrangements." Old Delon popped a piece of mushroom into his mouth, chewing as he replied, "He's a young man with a mind of his own, unlike Richard. He doesn't need outsiders worrying so much about him." "What do you know, you mushroom!" "..." Delon fell silent. The old woman looked toward Kaixi, intending to say something, but seemed to recall that her daughter-in-law worked in Sangpu City and had her network of connections there. Skipping past her, she looked at her daughter, Luxi. "Luxi, is there anything you can arrange for Karen on your end?" Luxi couldn't help smiling. "Mother, Karen is a member of the Whip of Order. What could I possibly arrange? Only Father holds that kind of influence." Kaixi offered, "Even setting aside our debt of gratitude, purely in terms of his age and personal capability, Karen is someone worth supporting." Hearing that, Luxi nodded in agreement. Dake spoke up. "How about transferring Karen to my Inquisition office? I can take good care of him and guide him properly." When he finished speaking, no one at the table responded. Dake lowered his head and silently sipped his soup. After a moment, the old woman said to Richard, "Bring Karen home whenever you have time. Since he likes the soup I make, I'll brew it for him often." "Grandmother, if you treat Karen this well, I might get jealous, you know." "It's only right, only right. For a child without parents to reach this point, how much hardship must he have endured? Every one of you..." The old woman's gaze swept over everyone present. "...is far more fortunate than him." Old Delon remarked, "I don't think so. Karen's calm and steady nature doesn't look like it was forged from repression." With that, Old Delon glanced once more at his son-in-law. Mr. Dake shrank his shoulders. What tortured him most was the occasional scrutiny from his father-in-law during these family gatherings—especially whenever the old man was citing examples. Life was truly hard. The old woman shot Old Delon a glare and scoffed, "Anyone else would have the right to say that, but not you." "I only meant that the boy is quite fine," Old Delon hastily defended himself. "Yes, Karen takes good care of me during missions as well," Richard quickly added. "And I feel he doesn't care about my family background at all." Luxi looked at Kaixi, hesitating as if wanting to say something. Kaixi glanced at the old woman, then at Richard, and finally let her eyes linger briefly on the seat her husband had just vacated. She lowered her head slightly and remained silent. The old woman took no notice of the exchanged glances around the table, murmuring to herself: "What a wonderful boy. I truly like him." ... Karen did not head straight to Mr. Aisen's room. Instead, he went to the washroom to wash his hands, gazing at his reflection in the mirror. As the person in question, he had clearly felt the old woman's unusual behavior toward him, though he possessed no tangible proof. However, whether she had truly "seen" through him or it was merely his own misunderstanding, Karen had no intention of offering an explanation. The existence of the Inmerlais family was a taboo within the Church of Order. There was no need to disrupt the Guman family's peaceful life on his account. To be fair, the Guman family atmosphere was rather pleasant. Though not quite as natural and unpretentious as that of the Inmerlais family, for a lineage of Jurists to maintain such domestic warmth was truly no small feat. From the perspective of their status, if the Gumans truly wished to, they could easily live a life of luxury comparable to Allen Manor. Shaking the water from his hands, Karen stepped out of the washroom and walked up to the study on the first floor where Mr. Aisen had "hidden" himself. *Knock, knock...* The door was opened by Mr. Aisen. "Mr. Aisen, may I come in and chat with you for a bit?" "All right." Mr. Aisen stepped aside, gesturing for Karen to enter. Once Karen walked into the study, Mr. Aisen said, "Sit." He then took the guest's seat, leaving the main chair behind the desk for Karen. Karen did not refuse and sat straight into the host's chair. "Madam learned that I have studied psychology and arranged for me to come speak with you." "Am I ill?" "Yes, you are." Mr. Aisen's hands gripped the armrests of his chair, his toes beginning to swivel restlessly from side to side. "Is my illness serious?" "Very serious." "But I don't want to be cured." "You might give it a try. I hope you can grant me a little more patience—if only for the sake of having saved your wife." "*Phew...*" Hearing those words, Mr. Aisen suddenly exhaled a long breath, and his entire demeanor remarkably settled into calmness. Karen nodded to himself. In truth, the root of many people's social anxiety stemmed from a sense of bewilderment toward their surroundings. The gazes, expressions, and voices of those around them blurred their self-perception. For instance, standing idle in a crowded tram station would make one's palms break out in cold sweat, the chest tighten in panic, and the whole person feel utterly lost. Yet if given tools and told to squat on the bustling platform to repair machinery, such problems would vanish. They favored the most straightforward, practical mode of interaction. "Mr. Aisen, do you have any thoughts or secrets you'd like to share with me?" "I..." The muscles on Mr. Aisen's face began to stiffen. "If not, I will begin hypnotizing you. You will need to drop all mental defenses so that I may guide your consciousness." "*Phew*... all right." Mr. Aisen leaned back slightly and closed his eyes. Karen stood up, walked over to Mr. Aisen, and said, "Please enter a state of meditation. Then, treat my voice as the voice of your own inner self. Do not harbor any resistance." "Understood." Mr. Aisen's facial expression instantly turned relaxed and serene. Karen felt that this uncle of his was perhaps the most cooperative patient he had ever encountered. No superfluous chatter; he did whatever he was told, and the speed at which he entered meditation was exceptionally swift. "Please lower your head. You will see a path appearing beneath your feet..." "Now, please turn around..." "Step forward along the path you came from, and walk ahead..." "..." Karen proceeded to guide Mr. Aisen into revisiting his past. He suspected that Mr. Aisen's current state had been brought about by a specific traumatic event, as he certainly couldn't have been like this before. Otherwise, Richard's birth would have been impossible to explain. This was originally meant to be a lengthy process. From a purely clinical perspective, the success rate of hypnosis was never very high, nor was the likelihood of achieving meaningful results. It depended on the practitioner, but equally on the patient's level of cooperation. Mr. Aisen was unquestionably a top-tier "patient," cooperating with remarkable fluency. He responded swiftly to every question Karen asked, and what he "saw" and "heard" progressed seamlessly along the path Karen laid out for him. It was a pity the field of psychology could not keep "silent mentors"; otherwise, Mr. Aisen would have been the dream subject for every psychology student. ... "Now, reach out and push open the rusted, bloodstained door before you. Please do not hesitate..." "I have pushed it open." "Tell me, what do you see behind the door?" "I see... my elder sister." Karen's eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept his voice measured and calm. "Look closer. Look at her clothing, look at what she holds in her hands..." "I see she is in agony." "I see her lying on the ground, wailing." "I see her weeping." "I see her body rotting away." "I see blood streaming from her eyes." "I see her crawling toward me." "I see her pleading with me." "She says..." "'Little brother, please, I beg you.'" "'I beg you... kill me!'" *Is it a bloodline bond?* Karen furrowed his brows in contemplation. Did the old matriarch believe in the Church of Order? Or was she herself an adherent of a family faith system? Richard was able to sense the bloodline within Karen. Could Mr. Aisen have sensed the bloodline bond with his elder sister—Karen's mother? Such a connection would have been even stronger in the previous generation if inherited, and if the two siblings had been close since childhood, it would have deepened that bond even further. For now, Karen could only deduce this much. Had the death of his "mother" been sensed by Uncle Aisen, and that sensation had lingered in his heart ever since, turning into a nightmare that continuously spread until it reduced him to what he was today? Tracing the timeline, at the point when his "mother" and "father" were infected and subsequently killed by Diss's own hands, "Karen" was already a young boy, and Richard should have already been born in Wien. From then on, Uncle Aisen had been relentlessly tormented by the backlash of this bloodline power. Chronologically, the theory held. Seeing tears trickle down Uncle Aisen's face, Karen felt a pang of sympathy. Bloodline power could grant someone a stronger foundation, but at the same time, it brought its own side effects—the clearest example being the bloodthirsty aberrant demon clan. Karen felt at a loss. This was no longer an issue that psychology alone could resolve; it involved the bloodline itself. He could probably only attempt to alleviate it, though he had no confidence in how much relief he could offer. In any case, this session ought to come to an end. "All right. Now, step back behind the door, and then shut the rusted door before you..." Mr. Aisen remained silent. "Have you stepped back?" Mr. Aisen still did not speak. "Have you stepped back?" "I... have stepped back." "Good. Is the door closed?" "The door... is closed." "Good. Now turn around, and we will walk back..." "I want to stand here a little longer." "Across this door, you can neither see nor hear anything..." "Just now, I agreed to my sister's plea." "What?" Uncle Aisen opened his eyes at that moment, staring fixedly at Karen. His eyes were thoroughly shot through with terrifying crimson veins as he pronounced each word with chilling clarity: "I... killed her!"