Cornflower Witch

Chapter 287 Three Girls in the Royal Palace
In the quiet prison cell, Kachis leaned against the wall, reminiscing about his turbulent life.

“I come from a declining family in Antioch, which may sound better than the average person, but the situation may have been worse.” He pressed his hand to his forehead, closed his eyes and recalled, seemingly ashamed to talk about his past, but this kind of recounting before death also brought a sense of relief.

“My childhood memories are mostly filled with cursing and beatings. Because our ancestors had brought glory to us, my family felt we deserved a decent life, but life was anything but decent.”

“I’m desperate to climb up, just to get out of this environment, but I’ve found that I also quite enjoy torturing others. I can vent my frustrations and do whatever I want. It’s really great.” As he said this, a chilling smile curved his lips.

"Of course I can't fail. Failure would mean certain doom. To keep my position, I need more trump cards and more ways to drag others down with me. I'm good at collecting information from the nooks and crannies and then finding the targets I want."

“With these strengths, I quickly gained the favor of King Atir and did many shady things for him, and my position rose higher and higher.”

"As you can see, I eventually restored my family to the rank of baron and even became a general."

He probably omitted a lot of things that are hard to think about in detail, but it's not very meaningful to ask about them now.

"How did you come into contact with the ritual artifacts and secret techniques of the 'Twin Serpent Cult'?" Hiltiya wanted to know this.

"The origin of that item was quite coincidental; I found it among the collections of a smuggler I had caught," Kachis recalled.

"That guy was very lucrative. He would say anything to save his life. I learned from him that this must have been dug out of an ancient tomb by some tomb raider and sold to a merchant as an antique."

“I have studied a lot of secret history, so I can naturally recognize this as the symbol of the infamous ‘Twin Serpents Cult.’ Now that it’s in my hands, I have no right to hand it over for nothing.”

"I found someone to help me look up the secret historical records in this area, and I gradually learned about its uses. I had also tried to use it to fuse with lower-level creatures before."

"I have certainly heard of the historically famous monster, the 'Cerberus,' and my ancestors even used it as their family crest."

"I believe this is a gift from fate or destiny, a hint that I will one day restore my family's glory."

"So I've always kept that dagger with me."

"Although outsiders think it's a cult item, power is something that works as long as it's useful. There's no such thing as evil or not."

After listening to his story, Hilti didn't get any more clues, just like the serendipitous encounter that Kachis had once had.

"Have you checked the current situation of the 'Twin Snakes Cult' since then?"

“I did do that. Around that time, His Majesty put me in charge of cleaning up spies and informants from enemy countries. I took that opportunity to look through a lot of sealed documents and history, and also asked around among people on the fringes.”

"The Twin Serpent Cult should no longer be found on the mainland. They have either transformed into an extremely secretive and low-profile closed organization, or they have gone to the depths of the Twilight Sea."

“Deep in the Twilight Sea?” Hilti was somewhat surprised.

“It should be severely affected by the ‘distortion’ there, and it should be impossible for normal people to live there.”

“You’re right, normal people can’t live like that, but the people in the ‘Twin Serpent Cult’ are not normal people.”

"In the final stages, they invented a method to fuse normal people with monsters, thus gaining the ability to live in the depths of the Twilight Sea."

“This kind of ritual will pollute consciousness and soul, causing mental derangement,” Hiltiya calmly analyzed.

“They don’t care. Do you think people who believe in cults are that rational and intelligent?” Kachis laughed mockingly.

"What they sought was power and immortality, and becoming monsters did achieve their goal to some extent."

After listening to Kachis's words, Hiltiya nodded slightly and then gave an instruction to one of the accompanying scholars.

“Write down what Kachis recalls about the ‘Twin Serpents Cult.’ If you provide enough useful information, I will propose to Queen Musa that the execution be postponed for a year.” With that, Siltiya stood up.

“Thank you for your mercy.” Karch, sitting in the cell, breathed a sigh of relief.

A year? In the past, he would have thought it was a short time, but now it seems like such a luxury.

……

After staying in White Cliff City for another two weeks, Hiltiya met Sophitina. Compared to two years ago, this intelligent young lady had matured considerably.

"Hi~ Tiya, long time no see." She was wearing a wide black sun hat and a black pleated summer dress, which accentuated her figure, making her comparable to Musa.

“After receiving your letter, my father and I discussed it for a long time, and he agreed to let me leave the woods and come to Legas for practical trials.” Sophitina blinked as she spoke.

“However, what surprises me is that you are known in this country as a ‘knight’.” She came to Siltia’s side and looked the girl up and down carefully, noticing her somewhat embarrassed expression.

"She's still about the same as she was two years ago, both in height and figure." Sophitina hugged Sylvia and felt her.

"Don't tease me." Hiltiya shook her head, replying with a hint of helplessness.

Her figure seemed to be fixed at 17 years old. She didn't understand why, and could only guess that it might be related to her family bloodline or the fairy blessing she received when she was a child.

"It's good that Sophitina is here. It's almost time for me to return to the woods. I may need to ask you to assist Musa with many things in Regas."

“I already knew from the letter, but I’m not very confident about this.” Sophitina released Sylvia from her arms and then helped her straighten her snow-white dress.

"No matter what, I'm going to be with a queen. What if she doesn't like my type?" Sophitina joked.

“Musa isn’t that kind of snob.” Hiltiya shook her cute head.

"I will take you to meet her later, and I believe you will gradually become familiar with each other."

For the next week, Hilti was handing over various matters to Sophitina Regas, and Musa accompanied her throughout.

One day, the three of them sat together on the viewing platform of the palace, enjoying afternoon tea and chatting about their interesting stories.

"So Tiya used to take care of a farm in the woods. No wonder she's so familiar with agriculture-related things," Mu Sha said with some curiosity.

"If that's the case, then Tia is younger than me." She had always thought that Hilti was the kind of girl whose actual age was much older than hers, but who could maintain her youth because she was a superhuman.

“Of course, if you think about it carefully, Tia is probably younger than all of us, like a little sister.” Sophitina covered her mouth and chuckled.

"However, her talent is far superior to mine. Just a few years ago, we were both at the second tier, but in the blink of an eye, she has left me far behind."

“This…” Hilti opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but found that no matter what she said, it sounded like she was showing off.

"Hehe, actually, I was in a similar situation to Tina a few months ago." Musa recalled those days of fleeing.

"Things are unpredictable."

With Hilti acting as a bridge, the relationship between the two gradually progressed to a more familiar stage.

Afterwards, Hiltiya slowly finished her work in White Cliff City. Although she was still a little reluctant, she had been away on vacation for too long. Even with the pampering of several elders in the woodlands, she couldn't go too far. It was time to return to the woodlands.

(End of this chapter)