Spoiler :

Author's Note: Here's part two of the first story in the collection, white lies. Sorry if you have trouble reading Jones' part as I tried to keep his unique character without making the text incoherent. I could perhaps make a translation of his words, tell me in the comments if you want to see a translation. Plus there are parts which are a bit violent below, with physical and mental trauma applied to some characters so reader discretion is advised.

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"Hehehe... Ah knew it. Dem fugitives be returning here soon after turning tails." I be thinkin' to meself as I snuck behind dem trio. Dey be busy wit breaking in as fast as dey could, so dem three ain't be noticing me trailing dem behind.

"Dis gonn be a shocker fer dat Hortus, once I get the proof dat magic exists... Ah, I can't wait fer his darnedest surprised face." Me voice leaked into the air as I couldn't control me excitement. I be feelin' like sum adventurer dat be sneaking into some stinkin' king's tomb fer dem riches.

"Gyaaaaa---!!!" Ah be hearing a loud cry of pain, feeling da shivers, I thought 'bout fleeing, but me curiosity be strong. No matter what the predicament be, I be bravin' them adversities.

As I slowly snuck towards da source of the sound, ah felt me pulse rise with a mix of fear and eagerness. Wit each step, I be feeling closer and closer to the mysteries behind dis mansion, which couldn't help but be fueling the flames in me heart.

But before ah reached the scene, I heard a loud sound from behind. 'Fore I could look back, a sharp pang of pain came from me neck, coarsin' through me body. The next instant, I had already lost me consciousness...

Oh, how ah regret me decisions... Pops, please fergive yer unfilial child.

Dem be me last thoughts before the darkness had taken over me.

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*THUD*

The young man's body fell down with a loud thud after I hit his neck with the hilt of my sword. Looking at his clothes, I recognized him as the son of one of our old gardeners, and a good friend of my nephew.

"Captain! We've subjugated the ones on our side already. What are your orders, sir?" A subordinate of mine told me that they had subdued the three invaders from before. Glancing at the unconscious body by my feet, I responded loudly.

"Tie them up and carry them into the tower." I spoke while hiding my emotions as I carried the youngster's body and walked towards the stone tower. What else could I do? I'm just a knight and the Duke is my lord. His words are absolute, as per my oath.

I can only hope to the heavens that this child wouldn't suffer a terrible fate...

With the boy in tow, I slowly made my way to my destination, as the overwhelming silence of the dun dusk made my heart quiver with every step.

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'The moon... How beautiful.' I bitterly thought to myself as I bathed on the moonlight through my only connection to the outside world. The window in my dark prison.

Brightly shining, even through the darkness that envelops it... Unchained, unbound, unfettered... Up above the sky, away from the sinful lands of this world. Unable to be touched by human hands, far from the darkness of these evil creatures... these blackhearted monsters.

As I broke my gaze towards the great light of the night, I looked down into the ground. Trees, flowers, shrubs... The dark green hue of the foliages filled my vision. Seeing the green grassy ground from above, I felt the sense of height in this stone tower.

'If... I fall from this height...' A dark thought loomed within my mind. I shook those thoughts away after glancing at the steel that bound my limbs.

I've already seen multiple people die with my own eyes. People fighting, heartlessly killing their own kind, all just to possess me. The daughter of this cursed bloodline. The last remaining child of Lastcry.

Remembering those meaningless bloodshed done to capture me, the desire-filled eyes of those ignoble nobles...

I let out a long sigh.

This is just the fate of the girl born with this ability, this curse that makes the living that she touches transform to crystal...

This is the just the destiny of mine, the fate of Seilil Lastcry.

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*Clink clink*

The sound of chains being unlocked reached my ears, soon after, a creaking noise resounded in the room, followed by the door opening.

After looking behind me, my brows furrowed in a frown. The man who entered is the last man I'd rather see. The one who ordered my imprisonment, Duke Eincrad Salaez Hilton.

"Hohoho... It surely has been a while since I've visited this... room." He stopped for a moment to look around before finishing his words with a look of disgust. I silently glared at this potbellied man with hostility.

"Hmph." He harrumphed at my stare before turning his head towards the door, "Bring them in." He bellowed with a commanding tone. Soon enough, some armored men brought in three individuals. The three men were bound and gagged with hempen rope and fabric. Afterwards, another man was brought in which wore a different clothing, but was also bound in the same manner.

"This is...?" The Duke looked at the fourth bound man questioningly. Before long, a woman wearing a dark grey maid clothing answered back.

"Milord, that is the son of old Carley. He was caught snooping around in the premises of the tower when the guardsmen had captured the three trespassers." The glasses wearing maid answered the query quickly with a calm expression.

"Tch, didn't I tell you to make sure no one would go near this tower unless I allowed them so?" He angrily stated as he swung his hand towards the maid, causing the maid to stumble.

"I, apologize... Milord." The maid responded as she laid on the ground. The pitiful maid fell to the floor from the hit, her glasses cracked from the impact when it flew. Soon after, a bearded knight had helped her up.

"Fine, enough. Make sure this doesn't happen again. Tsk, if only he wasn't the son of that fogey who saved my father's life back in the days, this child's life would have been forfeit. What would the masses think if the son of my old coot's benefactor died under my territory's protection." The Duke grumbled his annoyance, before looking back to the three bound men. Looking at the pitiful situation of the three, he smiled in schadenfreude.

"Fred... Gouge their eyes out." A heartless command was spoken. 'What...?' I couldn't comprehend his words... Although I've seen many deaths, most of them were swift and precise. A bloody task like gouging eyes, I've never seen one in my life. I look horrifiedly at the monster wearing the skin of a man, the heartless Duke.

"Yes, Milord." My face paled at those words. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the inevitable doom that would soon fall on the trio.

"Mmmph! Mrrmm! Mphhh!!!" Their dreadful shrieks reached my ears. I shivered at the thought of the sounds they would've made if they weren't muffled like that.

When silence had finally taken over the room, I slowly opened my teary eyes. On one corner of the room lies three corpses with a stab wound in their chests. On the other, was a terrified young man with widened eyes filled with disbelief.

Seeing me, the Duke broke into a smile which I could only describe as feral. His next words then instilled a greater fear to me than ever before.

"Child of Lastcry..." He spoke, with a voice which I felt like it was something no longer human. He slowly inched closer to me, which caused me to back myself into the cold, stone wall.

Once he reached an arms length away from me, he spoke once more.

"Won't you please... Turn these into crystals?" He whispered to me eerily. The next moment, 6 squishy objects fell into my lap, as red pungent liquid stained my clothes. Trying to escape reality, I didn't want to believe what was just passed to me.

Those three pairs of orbs... staring straight at me. Nausea drilled into my mind, as an urge to vomit filled my thoughts. Looking at the demon incarnate smiling in front of me, how I wish everything was just a dream.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Wh...y." With my final ounce of strength, I hoarsely muttered with the voice that I haven't used in years. I felt as if my heart was being gripped by an invisible force, as I looked into the devil's eyes.

Tears began to fall out of the eyes which I thought that couldn't cry anymore... My heart screamed in protest, with a voice that I know... would never reach anyone.

A plea for help... to free me from this wretched world, this cursed fate.

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I couldn't look at her anymore... This pitiful child. It was all my fault, but what else could I do? I'm just a puppet, the hands of my Lord. I cannot disobey him, else, who knows what he might do to my family. If he so wished to take my life, I can do nothing else but grudgingly sever it with my own hands.

His words are the law. His words are absolute... But seeing this traumatized child becoming like that, because of my own actions, gives me an extremely suffocating sensation.

'How could this monster do that... to his very own daughter?' I inwardly thought the words I can never say to the face of this man.

It was almost seventeen years ever since this child's mother gave birth to a child she'd never wish for, a child that was forced into her body when her purity was forcefully taken away by the evil Duke.

When I asked that girl who was even younger back then, compared to this child, about what she wants to do with her child... She broke into tears. Although I thought she cried because she never wanted to bear the shame of giving birth to that man's child, she said otherwise.

What she was sad about was giving birth to a girl who would suffer like her. She didn't wish for her daughter to experience the unspeakable things she lived through, all because of their bloodline. How she couldn't even help her daughter nor touch her directly because of her curse, torn her heart to shreds.

Even more so, because her time was nearly up... How she wouldn't even be able to help her child grow up, or watch her life, gives her a type of pain that I could only imagine.

Thinking about how this girl might end up like her mother, causes my heart to ache. Though I wanted to help this child, in front of the Duke's commands, what could I do?

"Aha... Ahahahaha! Yes! Yes! My lovely little orbs!" The Duke's maniacal laughter echoed in the room. "Quick, quick! Take my lovelies away from that vile witch's grasps!" The crazed man said almost fanatically. Understanding the situation, I moved to comply to his wishes.

When I reached close to her, she looked at me with dead eyes... begging, tearful eyes. Her hands fell limp and her face pale. I took the white crystals from her lap and spared her a final glance to look at her trembling body with sadness before returning to the Duke and giving him the crystalized eyes of the three poor criminals.

When he held the six orbs, he raised it and look at it with eyes glimmering with worship. Full of adrenaline and shivering with excitement, he ran downstairs without any warnings, leaving the rest of us slacked jaw by his sudden impulsive behavior.

Sighing, and regretting certain decisions I had in life, I ordered my subordinates to dispose off the corpses and untie the trembling Jones after giving him a stern warning at how nothing he saw must leave his mouth.

After the rest of them had already left, I followed suit, but not before giving one final glance towards the young girl that was chained up in her own corner.

Oh Selia... How I hope I can lend a hand to your daughter at least...

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"Haaa..." A sigh leaked out my mouth after I had once again recalled the image of that girl strongly imprinted in my memories.

I shook my head to put those thoughts in the furthest recesses of my mind. Having no drive to do anything but wallow in self loathing, I decided to walk around the vast property. I encountered a few fellow workers whom I greeted a bit awkwardly as my thoughts were floating someplace else.

As I was thinking about how I would spend my time, I saw from the corner of my eye, a familiar figure. It was Jones, who was actually working properly for once! He was plowing the fields near the border of the Duke's property, near the fortified stone walls.

Seeing him, I decided that it would be a good idea to talk with him to drown the dark emotion that was looming within me. For once, I would really like to be affected by his cheerful attitude and eccentricity.

"Hey Jones! Ugh, yesterday you left really abruptly. I even had to do your--- What's with that expression...? Hey, did something happen?" I called out to him, but after hearing my voice, his face suddenly paled. Seeing him act like a frightened animal is really unusual, if not strange.

"N-no! I, I dunno nothin'! I swear! A-Ah'm sorry, I dunno, I dunno, I swear...!" When I tried coming closer as I was becoming worried for him, he began hysterically shrieking incoherent words while repeatedly shaking his head with his hands covering his ears.

"H-hey...!" I tried reaching out to him, but halted my arms in the end. Seeing his frightened expression, I don't think I can do anything to help him right now.

Soon enough, the old Carley noticed Jones' current state, he dropped what he was holding and quickly rushed over to his son's side and tried to calm him down. It took a while but after Jones did calm down, he became silent, perhaps even too quiet especially compared to how talkative he usually is. He couldn't even look at me in the eye without quickly averting his gaze towards the ground with a fearful expression.

When I asked Jones' father about what happened, he frowned and told me not to ask about it anymore. Jones left afterwards to return to his room in the worker's quarters while supported by his father. I could see him still pale and was trembling quite a bit as he left.

What... was that... what on earth happened to that guy?!

I spent the rest of the day working with a confused mind.

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Just what was that from earlier...

"Haa..." I let out an audible sigh as I finished up cleaning my workplace and returned my tools in the shed. While I was lost in my thoughts, my legs have subconsciously brought me to the sleeping quarters.

Us workers live under one roof, our sleeping quarters. Each of these small rooms had a bed which fits half the whole room's size. Beside it was a desk with a lockable compartment where you can place your personal belongings inside and a candlestick holder on top of the said desk. Each room was the same with one another, with only a thin wooden wall separating each.

As I lay my tired body, I heard a soft dreadful voice from beyond the wall. The voice sounded familiar, yet felt strange. It came from my neighboring room, Jones'. He seemed to be muttering incoherent things, which sounded anxious, if not afraid.

"Hey, are you alright?" I spoke with a low voice, with a sound that isn't too loud nor too soft, just enough for him to hear my words without it reaching the other rooms. It was already the dead of the night and people are tired, wanting to do nothing else than just sleep.

*Gasp*

I heard a surprised gasp after the words left my mouth. It was followed by a stifling silence, before a shaky voice responded.

"H-Hortus...? That you?" Jones' voice reached my ears, though it was hoarse and was rather soft. I could still understand his question through his tone, so I answered with an affirmation.

"Yeah..." I responded gently, fearing that he would be like earlier again if I were to act brashly.

A long silence sprouted between us again which went on for a while before he broke the ice with a determined voice.

"T-the tower. Never go near the tower... Never---!!" He told me with a voice that sounded like he was warning me about something. Something terrible. Something better left unknown.

Afterwards, he became quiet once again. I was baffled by his words, but I left him alone as I have no clue as to what I could do to help him. All I know is that, everything I want to know, the answers to all my questions can be found inside that tower...

The truth veiled within the darkness of secrets, like the moon hidden in the dim of the night, the dark lies.