The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness

88. Strange Tales Under the Moon (Part Four)

Before reading this chapter, please go back and review the previous chapter that was mistakenly repeated; it has been corrected.

I won’t make you spend more fire rolls, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

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“The Heart-Eating Siren… a stunning beauty wandering in the lower city, said to use her allure to seduce passersby and drunken men on bright moonlit nights, luring them to deserted places to extract their hearts and consume them.

The Shadow Butcher… identity unknown, characterized by wearing a loose black raincoat and wielding a bloodied cleaver…

The Sleepless Man… a bizarre figure roaming the depths of night…

The Lake Monster of the Glein River… widely rumored around the docks, said to be able to engage in battle with twenty fierce men at once.”

Celisia laid out the urban legends of the lower city she had investigated overnight, those blurry photos and vague information, one by one on the table in front of Lord Guen, a hint of mockery at the corner of her mouth as she said:

“These urban legends of the lower city are truly remarkable. Clearly, you only asked me to look into the Heart-Eating Siren, yet so many strange things have suddenly emerged.

Lord Guen, it seems that the lower city is rather lively at night.”

“Is… is it?”

Lord Guen wiped his sweat, his body trembling uncontrollably:

“They are just rumors, mostly stemming from vague whispers, they don’t mean anything, hehe… they don’t mean anything.”

“Really? So the recent reports of missing persons in the lower city are also just rumors?”

Celisia tossed another piece of information onto the table, which detailed the surge in reports of kidnappings, trafficking, and even human trading in the lower city over the past month.

“This…”

Seeing that document, Lord Guen’s face instantly turned pale, and he could only force out an ugly smile:

“There’s no actual evidence at the moment…”

“People have gone missing, of course there’s no evidence.”

“There are so many people in the lower city…”

“Lord Guen, you wouldn’t mean to say that since there are so many people in the lower city, a few missing doesn’t matter, would you?”

Celisia’s gaze suddenly turned cold.

“No, no, no… of course not, I just meant that there are too many people, making investigations difficult, and it’s only been two days; even if Your Highness is anxious, two days isn’t enough to uncover anything.”

Lord Guen’s voice was already tinged with a hint of a sob, feeling the terrifying pressure emanating from the girl, wishing he could just kneel down.

Unfortunately, the space in the carriage was too small; any slight movement on his part would instead seem offensive.

“There’s difficulty, but we must investigate, right?”

Celesia lowered her gaze, no longer paying attention to the terrified man before her, flipping through other documents.

She wasn’t here to accuse, nor did she care to.

The chaos in the lower district was far-reaching; it was not something a mere viscount could resolve.

Rather, his position was merely a result of being pushed up by those “benevolent” gentlemen above, convenient scapegoats for their own failures.

Otherwise, how could a mere viscount hold such an important position as the governor of the lower district?

“One or two of them, truly, are of no help at all.”

Celesia sighed lightly, unable to resist rubbing her temples.

The son of a count, murdered in cold blood.

Mysterious and perplexing urban rumors.

Frequent cases of missing persons.

The current lower district seemed to be brewing an unimaginable darkness, making even her, the third princess of the empire who could mobilize numerous forces, feel quite challenged.

The most important thing was that she sensed the higher-ups in the empire, those who truly held power, seemed overly calm about this matter.

Even if they looked down on the lower district, it was still part of Berland.

If something were to erupt here, it could spread like flames, reaching higher echelons, leaving no one untouched.

By then, it would truly be irretrievable.

“Or could it be… that there are more pressing matters consuming their attention, forcing them to neglect even what lies at their feet?”

Celesia suddenly recalled the recent invasion of the academy by the dark god. If these two matters… no, if this itself was one matter…

Then the horror of this situation might far exceed her expectations.

“How interesting, the death of a count’s son has led to so many troubles.”

Celesia’s slender fingers instinctively tapped against the window ledge, feeling the fatigue in her mind from overthinking, and she couldn’t help but start to miss the coffee loaded with sugar cubes back in the student council room.

At least it could replenish her with plenty of sugar, and it was delicious.

But now, there was no time to think about that.

Even if Berland might truly face some crisis, there was still someone tall enough to bear the weight. Since her father had said nothing, it meant he didn’t need his daughter, still studying at the academy, to help.

What mattered most now was finding the murderer of Tyke Rod, or else that count would become a troublesome issue for both the academy and for her.

“Let’s end our conversation here for tonight, Viscount Guen.” Feeling she had gathered no useful information, Celesia stood up, preparing to leave.

“Eh, Your Highness is leaving? May I escort you?”

“No need.”

Celesia rejected Viscount Guen’s intention to move with a glance, lifting the curtain and stepping outside.

She knew it was against etiquette, but the viscount, already trembling with fear, could only poke half of his disheveled face out of the carriage window, forcing a strained smile:

“Take care, Your Highness, and be careful on the way.”

Selisia ignored him.

She walked straight into the shadows.

The mist in the night stirred, and a man in a black trench coat appeared before Selisia, seemingly out of nowhere.

His complexion was pale, as if he hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time. On the chest of his trench coat, a strange emblem glimmered with a cold light in the moon’s reflection.

The emblem depicted a finger as sharp as a dagger, gently placed before black lips, symbolizing absolute silence.

The Silent One.

Selisia recognized the man’s identity at a glance and was not surprised by his arrival.

“The analysis results are out.”

The man faced Selisia, showing little respect, and said expressionlessly, “It is indeed the scales of a serpent man.”

“So the one who killed Tyke Rod was, after all, a cultist of the Moon?”

“Without a doubt.”

The man continued, “The rumored heart-extracting siren is very likely a serpent man; serpent men have an instinctive craving for the hearts of the opposite s*x.”

“Can we capture her?”

“Very difficult. In fact, we have been planning to capture that heart-extracting siren for six months now, but she is very cautious and has escaped us several times. Moreover, she suddenly ceased her activities two months ago, which has further increased the difficulty of our operation.”

“Two months?”

Selisia’s gaze grew slightly heavy.

Perhaps she was being overly sensitive, but this timing… coincided perfectly with the start of the academy’s term.

“So, in the end, there has been no progress?”

“No, in fact, we received this…”

The man suddenly produced a sealed metal box.

The box looked quite heavy, engraved with magical patterns, and Selisia recognized it as a very powerful sealing magic.

Seeing the man’s solemn demeanor, Selisia’s expression inevitably turned serious.

After a complicated authentication process, the box was finally opened, revealing… a letter inside.

Selisia’s lips twitched slightly, “What is this?”

“As Your Highness can see, this is a letter.”

The man donned gloves woven from mithril and picked up the envelope: “Five hours ago, it was delivered to the mailbox of one of our branches by a postal worker.”

“… Is there a problem?”

“Problem one, that branch has never sent out any letters, nor has it received any.

Problem two, there are still no clues regarding the sender; that postal worker has no memory of delivering a letter to that branch.”

Question three, Your Highness will know upon seeing it.

The man handed over the letter. Celicia paused in silence, still with a thin layer of frost clinging to her hand, before accepting the envelope.

She opened it.

Nothing happened.

Celicia quickly scanned the contents.

Then her delicate brows instinctively arched.

“This is actually a letter of accusation? And the target of the accusation is…”

“Indeed, that is precisely why I came to find Your Highness,” the man said. “As a fellow student of St. Maria, I believe you can deduce something from this. At the very least, we need to ascertain whether this letter of accusation is true.”

“If it’s true or not, can’t we just find the person and know?”

Celicia pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised her hand and beckoned with her fingers.

A sound of flapping wings suddenly echoed from the sky, and a white dove flew in from somewhere, landing on her arm.

“Help me find someone,” Celicia said coldly.

“Who?” the dove spoke in human words.

“Anna Carberlin.”

……

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“Have we cast our bait?”

Two figures, one tall and one short, stood on the empty, silent street, gazing up at the bright, full moon in the sky.

The moon, just past its fullness, remained so round, so bright, yet at the edges of its arc, there was a slight shadow of darkness, rendering it less than perfect.

Yet these two figures remained deeply entranced by the moon’s cold, serene beauty, unable to extricate themselves.

Until the shorter figure asked.

The taller figure said nothing, as if chewing on something, crunching, crunching, without pause.

“Ah, I see, has it already been completed?”

The shorter figure seemed to have received an answer. She raised her hands, as if to embrace the moon, her body, outlined by the tight leather, formed a stunning curve, like a serpent, enchanting and alluring.

“Then… let us begin.”

The shorter figure twisted, her tone solemn yet fervent, as if performing a strange dance, or reciting poetry with deep emotion.

“Ah, moon, please shine upon me.”

“I will tear apart all the hypocrisy of this world, bringing great truth to humanity.”

“I will watch for your descent, bringing supreme gospel to this world.”

“I will forge your new divine body with coldness and silence; the blood and hatred will become the brilliant gems upon your crown.”

“I will eventually dwell in your divine realm, for eternity!”

As the ritual concluded, the slightly shorter figure bowed her head once more.

Her face was enchanting, every frown and smile captivating the heart and soul.

“Let’s go.”

She said:

“Let us welcome the return of the divine heir.”

The taller figure smiled silently, his large hand wrapped in a black raincoat, grasping a writhing, twisted shadow, tearing off a piece and stuffing it into his mouth, crunch, crunch, continuing to chew.

“Delicious,” he replied with a grin.