CH 11

“Child?”

It was Collen’s voice.

“Wake up.”

I raised my head.

“Are you okay?” Zion asked anxiously.

“I fell asleep.”

I grabbed my left arm. It was still unbroken.

“What day is today?” I asked Zion in a thin, trembling voice.

“August 9th. Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

From now on, my left hand throbbed and ached. I remembered my unconscious wanderings.

‘Chapter 7. Days of Duke Lewellton, The Fortune Teller Murder Case.’

Obviously, I memorized this chapter in detail.

‘Thanks to this, I know the truth of the case.’

It’s no coincidence that red-haired women were dying of heart attacks. Collen, the royal family and the police still couldn’t find a pattern, but now…

“Fortune Teller…”

“What?” Collen leaned over to me and asked.

The fortune-teller was the killer.

‘These women had nothing in common. Some are rich and some are poor… All these people died of heart attacks. There is only one clue is red hair. It wasn’t a coincidence.’

I couldn’t stop thinking.

‘Over the past few days, they have visited the same place. Fortuneteller’s house. This is the clue. That’s a common point to really pay attention to.’

I felt sick. My eyes began to water. No, I don’t want to die.

Fortune Teller. The woman I met today. She was the killer. If she dragged me into the alley… Then I would be dead.

I grabbed Collen tightly by the hem.

“Duke.”

Collen looked at me in surprise.

“What?”

“I think about those women who died of heart attacks.”

“Yes?”

“I suddenly had a strange thought.”

Jade and Zion both looked at me in surprise.

“Do they have nothing in common?”

Collen became interested in what I was saying.

“What do you want to say? Tell me more.”

“For example, maybe they went to the same place or something.”

“Why do you say that?”

I forced myself to smile.

“I still remember the days when I lived in the slums.”

“…”

“Noble men often came to visit us. Betting on boxing, card games and underground shops. On the other hand, noble ladies come to the slums for one reason only.”

“What is it?”

“To see a fortune-teller,” I whispered.

In poor areas there were many fortune-tellers who weren’t averse to making money.

“So, if they had something in common, then my imagination suggests only one option. All girls of any status would like to find one.”

“…”

“Which restaurant, wardrobe or store to go to is a matter of taste for everyone. However, when they want to know the future, they all gather in one place. In our slums. That’s what I heard.”

“…I see.”

Collen said as he stroked his chin.

“This is an interesting idea.”

Collen smiled. I couldn’t take it anymore. The pain in the left arm increased.

I was still nauseous. Zion held out his gloved hand to me.

“Lady, don’t hold back. It’s okay. Then it will become easier.”

So while Zion was saying this, I vomited into his palm.

‘You are very kind, Zion.’

Not that. I wish I had died.

At that moment, Jade touched my back.

“I think you’re hungry. You have such a pale face.”

Um? It was very strange. Why does he keep his eyes on me? I felt my head spinning.

‘Fortunately, I’m at Duke’s house. I’m safe here.’

I thought with my eyes closed. I felt that someone’s strong arms wrapped around me. I felt warmth in the air. And the smell of incense with a woody scent.

It was Collen.

He hugged me and lifted me into his arms. Collen was barely dressed.

‘No…!’

I could not stand the dizziness and fainted.

* * *

What do people call it?

Yes, shock.

Having lost consciousness, I continued to see changing pictures in front of my eyes. Girl, beggar from the slums, just the moment when ‘I’ die.

“What a beautiful hair color. Let’s start with the left hand.”

The woman came up and whispered to me.

No… I was scared. I even screamed in my sleep. Although my left arm was cut off, I remained conscious.

The woman continued and aimed at my right leg… Blood was spreading everywhere. I’d rather ask for help, otherwise I will die soon.

“No, help!”

The door opened, someone entered.

“Another redhead girl? But what a beauty.”

A man in a long black coat.

With a cold smile on his lips.

It was Collen.

“Sorry, I’ll finish it quickly and call a doctor.”

He whispered to me. The next moment, my eyes widened in surprise.

An arrow came from nowhere. And she went through Collen’s back. That was the end of it. It was all going to happen tonight.

‘Yes, that’s clear. This was the last episode I read.’

After reading the book, I died. I fainted while reading this book and was taken to the operating room. From where I haven’t returned.

The pieces of the puzzle formed a picture.

‘Yes, that’s it.’

My image in the hospital room echoes the fantasy in my dreams. Sick 15-year-old girl. The book that fell out of my hand.

Everything.

‘I can’t see the cover of the book…’

* * *

“Sister, look closely, I am making the first cut.”

When I opened my eyes, a large hand was on my forehead.

Collen’s hand. I felt devastated.

“Duke?”

“Are you okay?”

Soon Collen removed his hand and put down a cold towel.

“Can you come to your senses?”

Jade, who was sitting on a chair in the room, got up and walked over to me.

“What’s happened?”

“You fainted.”

“Ah…”

I woke up. It was already night. Zion gently wiped my forehead and said:

“You kept talking in his sleep.”

“I’m sorry.”

My heart thumped. Did I tell them something unnecessary? Jade took the initiative to explain:

“You asked for help and muttered that you are in pain. Has this happened to you before?”

“No.”

“Tell me everything as it is.”

I shook my head.

“I just had a nightmare. A very bad dream.”

Zion looked me in the eye and spoke to Jade softly.

“Master Jade, you have to go to bed now.”

“I know.”

Jade tossed him briefly, and didn’t even move. I felt that Jade was secretly concerned about me.

My head was empty.

Then there was a knock on the door. Zion opened the door. It was evident that the servant had given the documents to Zion.

‘That document…!’

Then he walked over to Collen by my bed.

“The Requested Investigation Data has arrived.”

“Already? It’s faster than I thought.”

There were only three sheets of paper. Obviously, if the memories I’ve seen are correct, then…

‘This is a report of redheaded women who died of heart attacks…’

In the book, Collen didn’t receive these documents in my room, it was supposed to be his office.

Zion sent a request to the police and the detectives guild. The answer came unusually quickly, in just a few hours.

‘Everything was supposed to happen tonight.’

Besides, I had just told Collen about the fortune teller before I remembered everything.

‘So you’re saying Collen will be hurt if she goes to see the fortune teller tonight?’

My throat was tight.

Now Collen will be able to find evidence simply by looking at the documents.

It was a step away from disclosure.

But when I pushed him to the fortune teller, at that moment I had not yet seen the second part of my memories.

‘All women who died of a heart attack were prescribed a ‘potion’ in the fortune-teller’s shop.’

It was a medicine that made their face very attractive to men. Of course, this was a blatant lie.

The body temperature rose, the cheeks turned red, and the skin became smooth. But this was only a temporary effect.

The fortune-teller deceived them. The medicine they drank was a delayed-release poison.

Collen shouldn’t go there tonight.

What was about to happen didn’t end with my severed limbs.

‘Collen will be seriously injured.’