Chapter 353: Take off your mask!

"It was never my intention, believe me. If it were up to me, you could rot in your prison for all eternity before I would give any care…. sister."

The room instantly turned dead silent after that sentence. Even Sarah, who could usually control her emotions, was looking completely stunned. Every eye was turned to the masked mistress still standing close to the door. 

'Interesting… I had a hunch that she could be anything but simple… Still, I was thinking that maybe she had some connection to the royal family or one of the Big Four (AN: The 4 Big Noble Families standing just below the Royal Family).' Aiden thought.

He also couldn't help but think about his master more. All the strange items, artifacts, and her secrecy… he had a hunch that she was also connected to the royal families in some way. Not to mention that she also seemed to be doing her hardest to control herself and her voice every time she spoke to the royal siblings.

However, if she and this masked woman were truly related to each other, then he wasn't sure about his first conjectures anymore.

Suddenly a light chuckle broke the ensuing, quite heavy silence in the small room. The masked lady's hearty giggle lifted the sudden pressure almost instantly. She walked to the window, looking out of it, just like she usually did in her own study, she only spoke after relieving herself.

"Oh my, such hostility still after so many years… Sister? I can't even remember, the last time you called me that…" She sighed, calming herself. "Still, you wanted me to remove this mask right? Are you sure you can accept what is lying underneath? Are you ready to witness the consequences of that night?" She asked looking at Number 3's dark, faceless mask.

"You see, even if you hide behind those emotionless rigid masks that your new Master provides your group with, you can't hide from my eyes, you should know that." She continued, her voice carrying a hint of confidence that Aiden just couldn't understand. He had many questions already in his mind but decided to stay still for now and just watch where all of this was going.

Number 3 remained stoic, not saying a word, but her attention was glued to the woman at the window.

The Mistress paused for only a few moments before going further.

"Tell me, dear 'sister' of mine… Are you truly ready to see IT? After all, this is the eternal reminder not just to myself, but to you as well. The results of that night that scarred not just my skin, flesh, and soul, but also you as well."

"Take it off." Number 3 was curt, her tone cold, rigid, distant. 

The mistress nodded, slowly reaching for the left and right sides of her demon-shaped mask, grabbing it with her hands. However, she didn't peel it off, but looked up and matched Number 3's gaze who was also holding the edges of her faceless, dark mask. 

As if understanding each other, they moved simultaneously, and took off their respective facial covers at the same time, revealing something that caused another wave of shock to spread in the room.

Even Granny, who stood by the sideline, sitting on a chair at the corner couldn't help but revealing a curious smile at the sight. 

'Heh, now this is turning weirder by the minute…'

Sara was already on the verge of collapsing, she plopped down on her chair with a face full of disbelief. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not. 

Could it be that this is all just a dream?

Lily and even Aiden couldn't help but be surprised when they saw Mistress's real face. After all, it was almost identical to Number 3's!

Well, apart from the fact that there was a huge, hideous scar going from the lower-left corner of her lips all the way through her nose and right eyes reaching above her right brows. She also seemed to be blind to her right eye, maybe as a result of the damage, maybe it was something else, only she herself knew probably.

Leaving that aside, she and Number 3's every other facial feature were matching. They looked like the exact copy of each other.

"So, what do you say, 'sister'? Do you like what you see?" The Mistress asked with a curious gaze and a thin smirk-like smile adorning her expression.

Number 3 took a couple of seconds, focusing mostly on the huge scar with an unreadable, complicated look. After a while, she sighed, as she responded with a strangely much warmer tone. Her previous coldness seemed to instantly vanish, replaced by this unfamiliar warmth that she previously only showed to Lily, Aiden, and Granny in private.

"You still haven't healed it…" Number 3 muttered.

The Mistress lightly shook her head, her smirk eased up, revealing an honest, strangely happy smile for the first time. She gently touched her own scar with her right hand, her slender fingers trailed at its edges as she spoke.

"Why would I? This is a reminder of the mistake we made back then. I will carry it forever. You may have moved on since then, but I will never do that." 

She heaved a heavy sigh, before continuing.

"I will never forget them. What we did, will forever stay with me as a reminder." 

For the first time since Aiden knew her, Number 3's body trembled as she listened to the Mistress's words. She clenched her hands, balling them into fists. Her usually stoic, expressionless face twisted and contorted as she tried pushing all the boiling emotions back down. 

Ultimately she seemed to be failing as her eyes began to turn hazy. Her expression began to twist into something akin to anger.

"How dare you…" She mumbled under her breath, her words were barely audible.

In the next moment, before anyone could ask, suddenly her own shadow started to shake, and transform, it began to grow in size, covering a circular aura around her body at first and slowly began to stretch out, gaining size. The air around her turned colder, heavier by the second as the strange and eerie aura began to slowly spread.

"How dare you… how dare you insinuate that I don't care…" She continued to mumble, clearly losing herself in the tumultuous rage of her own bottled emotions.

Still, despite the events, her counterpart, the mistress retained her smile, and simply leaned back on the windowsill behind her, not showing any signs of being afraid of her.

"What? Is it still that hard to listen to the truth? Hurts to hear it right? You left not just me, but them as well to die." 

Her smile vanished in the next second, turning into a gaze filled with curiosity as she asked.

"What do you intend to do now? Kill me, your twin just because I remind you of that day? Just because I'm the living reminder of what you did? Of what WE did?"

"Shut up…" Number 3 mumbled, barely audibly as the faint buzzing noise, the eerie sensation that continued to grow with her dark shadowy aura continued to spread, now growing twice of its original size.

Still, despite being barely audible, the Mistress seemed to be able to listen to it clearly.

"What? Why would I? You think you can scare me?" She suddenly stood up, as her own shadow also began to twist similarly to Number 3's and began to slowly increase in size. The same buzzing noise also began to surround him, however, unlike the cold presence that surrounded Number 3, the air began to heat up around her. The atmosphere around her began to change, a faint, hollow purplish hue began to make its presence known around as the eerie-looking shadow gradually gained power.

"Did you forget we are the same?" She asked Number 3 with a confident smile on her face. "You think that you are stronger now because you have joined Them? So what?"

There was no response for quite a while, Number 3 remained silent, as she focused all her attention on the look-alike, her supposed twin sister. Her strange shadow didn't grow any further either, it retained its current power for a while.

Still, just before she would have the chance to open her eyes, suddenly a bright golden light exploded between the two sisters, instantly pushing back both of the dark, ominous presences that continued to spread and almost immediately filled the room with a bright blinding illuminating luster. 

At the corner of the room, Granny who remained calm throughout this verbal fight nodded with a content expression on her face.

'Just as I expected… She is your son, my daughter…' She commented mentally, not moving an inch, shielding her eyes in the next instant as the light filled the room.

As the light slowly began to fade, both ladies' eerie shadows returned to normal, the strange air surrounding them was swallowed up by this new, third participant. 

As the silhouette slowly began to turn visible, the shock and confusion faded from Lily and even Sara's faces, replaced by a happy, and content smile.