Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Edmund, who was momentarily stunned, thought the voice came from the old man in front of him, but he found that Favia's mouth did not move at all.

"Hello."

When the voice rang out again, the sailors in Marseille realized that the voice they had heard before they lost consciousness was not a hallucination, but something that truly existed... the terrifying thing—the dark shadow beside the old man.

"Um, this, what exactly is this...?"

Somewhat frightened, Edmund couldn't help but ask Favia, who seemed to know everything.

“You can think of it simply as a kind of superpower called magic. I’ll explain it to you in more detail later. In any case, you don’t need to be afraid of it.” Favia thought for a moment and then continued, “Generally speaking, people have both a good side and an evil side, right?”

"Hmm, that seems to be the case..."

"To put it this way, she is the part of my heart, my longing, my memories, my yearning; she is the very evil within me, the darkness I see before prayer, evil, and hatred; she is the existence I have forever lost in this moment, a fragment of my malice, a side I have stripped away. This is what the power called magic creates..."

Favia's words sounded to Edmund like a fairy tale, but he managed to gain a 'relative' understanding of magic, which he thought was the so-called magic, or the miracles passed down in myths and legends.

However, Favia's statement was actually a mix of the origins of Dr. Jekyll and Edmund's 'Heidi'. The reason he said it like that... was just something he said offhand, as if it were subconscious.

"So in other words, is this... the evil you?"

After gaining a slight understanding, Edmund cautiously inquired.

"Yes, that's why she's always stayed with me."

"I see......."

After learning that the dark shadow was the 'evil' part of the old man in front of him, Edmund breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps it was because Favia had made a good first impression on him that even the 'evil' part seemed pleasing to him.

In his view, even if he talks about boring topics every day, he will still feel happy naturally when he is with the person in front of him. It's an incredible feeling.

"It's getting late, you should get some rest. The guards will be patrolling soon, we can talk properly after they leave."

"Okay, no problem at all."

After Edmund nodded in response, the old man in front of him suddenly reached out his hand.

What's wrong? What are you trying to do?

Just as Edmund was thinking this, Favia looked up and smiled slightly.

"Oh right, I haven't had a chance to properly introduce myself yet. Hello, I'm Faria, a priest, and also the twenty-seventh prisoner in the Château d'If. I've been imprisoned for ten years."

In Edmund's eyes, Faria was a complete fraud.

A scammer? Trying to scam someone like me who has nothing?

After muttering this to himself, the gray-haired youth couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

However, to be honest, it really does seem like a fraud, a strange ability to be touted as magic, revealing its own evil nature...

Even so, the warmth of his palms was still unmistakably transmitted through his hands—

Very gentle and warm.

Then──

Maybe...maybe all of this is true, and maybe Father Faria has come to save me.

Naturally, Edmund Dantès couldn't help but think this, and couldn't help but say this:

“Father Faria, hello. I am Edmond Dantès, a sailor from the port of Marseille, number thirty-four of the Château d'If, and I have been imprisoned for six years.”

"...Hello, sailor Edmund. I am Abigail, the evil side of my brother Faria—Favier. I will be imprisoned for as long as my brother is imprisoned."

219: Igniting the Dark Flames of Revenge (5k5)

Late at night, after the jailers had stopped coming, Edmund, who chose to continue talking with Favia, felt that the old priest was an incredibly capable man.

Calling him a genius is not an exaggeration at all.

For example, it uses the light coming in from the window to determine the time, supposedly based on the Earth's rotation and revolution, and is more accurate than a regular watch and won't break.

To be honest, Edmund could barely understand supernatural abilities like magic, but he really couldn't understand this explanation.

As a sailor, he had only ever seen the sun rise behind the mountains and set into the Mediterranean Sea, so in his mind, he always thought that it was the sun that was moving, not the earth.

If someone had told Edmund six years ago that the Earth he lived on could rotate on its own axis and revolve around the sun, it would have seemed almost impossible, because he couldn't feel any rotation at all.

Although he couldn't understand what the old man was saying, every word he uttered seemed to be filled with some kind of mystery, just like the treasures he had seen during his voyages in his early years, which were worth pondering and thinking about.

In general, he is erudite, experienced, insightful, and far-sighted, and his aura inspires both awe and warmth.

Edmund's current understanding of Favia is this, and he also learns from Favia that he was framed by three people and sent to the Château d'If.

Edmund felt immense sympathy for this, wondering why anyone would frame such a learned old man.

At this moment, the sailor, despite having considered suicide, was still unaware that he too had been framed.

Upon learning of the priest's past, the young man, gazing into those incredibly sincere blue eyes, couldn't help but speak:

"priest."

"what happened?"

"Can I tell you about my situation? I really don't know what I did. I didn't do anything, yet I still suffered this disaster. I really want to know why."

"Is this so?"

"Please believe me, I really did nothing. I can swear on my two dearest people, my father and Mercédès."

Edmund took a breath naturally and unconsciously raised one hand, clenching it tightly in front of his chest.

Tell Faria your story, and he will surely be able to tell you something.

That's what he thought.

"Then please speak."

Favia gazed at the young man, and the depth in his eyes made Edmund's heart skip a beat.

The unease or fear swirling in her mind gradually disappeared like an illusion, and so she slowly began to tell her story.

That was about Edmond Dantès's last voyage, telling how the old captain who entrusted him with the message died, how he returned to Marseille to see his father, how he fell in love with Mercédès, how they got married, how he was arrested, tried and temporarily imprisoned in the courthouse, and finally, how he was imprisoned in the Château d'If.

Before meeting the priest, everything was a blank for Dantès; he knew nothing, not even how long he had been imprisoned.

After Edmund finished speaking, Favia sighed softly.

"Do you know? There is always malice in this world."

"Are you implying that I've offended someone? But I never argue with anyone, and I don't do anything wrong..."

“There was also pure malice involved.” Favia shook her head and continued, “You yourself said that you were about to be promoted to captain of the Pharaoh, right? And you were married to a girl, weren’t you?”

"Ah."

"If neither of these things goes smoothly, then who can take everything from you? Who wouldn't want you as captain of the Pharaoh?"

"No, the crew all like me. If they had the right to elect their own captain, I believe they would definitely choose me. There is only one person who dislikes me a little. I once had an argument with him and even challenged him to a duel, but he refused."

"What's that person's name?"

"Danglar, he is a guard."

"If you were the captain, would you keep him in his position?"

"No, because I often find that his accounts don't match up."

"That's right. So tell me now, when you had that last conversation with the old captain, was anyone else present?"

"No, it's just the two of us."

"To put it another way, is it possible that someone overheard us?"

“...Ah, I remember now, when the captain entrusted the things to me, Danglars happened to be passing by there.”

“In that case,” Favia continued, going on and on, “where did you put the letter when you received it?”

"It was tucked into my notebook, and since it was too big to carry around, I put it on the ship."

"Where did you put this letter before you got back to the ship?"

“I’ve been holding it in my hand the whole time.”

"So when you return to the Pharaoh, everyone will be able to see you holding a letter?"

"Yes."

"Is Danglars one too?"

Edmund nodded, indicating that was indeed the case.

"What is Danglars's handwriting like normally?"

"He has beautiful and fluent handwriting."

"What did the handwriting look like in that anonymous letter?"

"It leans slightly backward."

“Looks like it’s a disguise.” Favia smiled. “Wait a moment.”

After he finished speaking, he removed his finger, dipped it in homemade ink, and wrote a few words on a small piece of cloth.

Edmund looked at it and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "This handwriting is exactly the same as the one on that letter of denunciation..."

"The instructions were written with the left hand."

"why?"

"Because the handwriting of those who write with their right hand is different from that of those who write with their left hand, while the handwriting of those who write with their left hand is all very similar."

"Father, you're really amazing..."

"So, do you still remember what the letter of denunciation contained?"

"Please allow me a few minutes to think," the gray-haired youth said, concentrating on recalling the contents of the letter from six years ago. After a dozen seconds, he continued, "The letter reads: 'I am a supporter of the monarchy and the Church. I am reporting to you that Edmond Dantès, the first mate of the Pharaoh, arrived this morning from Smyrna via Naples, stopping at Ferraijo. He was ordered by Murat to deliver a letter to the traitor, and by the traitor to deliver a letter to the Napoleonic Party Committee in Paris. Evidence of his crime can be obtained upon his arrest; the letter is either on him, in his father's house, or in his room on the Pharaoh.'"

"Actually, it's easy to guess what happened, but you're too kind to think that way."

"...Is that really true...?"

Edmund looked dejected, probably because he never expected to be framed like this.

"Then let's continue."

"Oh, okay, okay."

"Who wouldn't want to see you and Mercedes get married?"

"Mercedes' cousin Fernand likes her... but he's not that kind of person, and he doesn't know the contents of the letter either; it's probably just a misunderstanding..."

Favia didn't say much to Edmund, who still harbored illusions, and continued to ask:

"Do Fernand and Tanglar know each other?"

“I knew them. The day before my engagement, I saw them sitting together in the pergola. They were very affectionate. Danglars was making good-natured jokes, but Fernando looked pale and angry.”

Are there only the two of them?

“There was another person with them, someone I know well, and who most likely introduced them. His name is Caderous, a tailor, but he was drunk at the time… Wait, wait, how come I never thought of that before! On the table between them, there were pens, ink, and paper. Oh, could they have been planning that?”

Edmund clutched his head and shouted.

“It seems you already know, Edmund,” Favia said with a smile. “What else would you like to know?”

After these several conversations, the sailor was now completely in awe of the priest before him, and therefore eagerly continued to ask:

"Father, explain to me why I was only interrogated once, why I didn't go to court, and most importantly, why I was convicted without going through proper procedures?"

"Okay, so first, who is the person interrogating you, how old are they, and what is their attitude?"

“Gerald de Villefort, he was very young, only twenty-seven or twenty-eight. When he read that letter that framed me, he was very agitated. He seemed unable to bear the misfortune I had suffered. He burned the letter in front of me and said that for my own good, I shouldn't tell anyone about the letter to Monsieur Noirtier, and that he would definitely help me…”

“Do you know, Edmond,” Favia waved her hand, interrupting the young man, “that there was a man named Noirtier de Villefort during the French Revolution”.

"What... is wrong?"

Edmund was puzzled as to why the priest suddenly mentioned someone with a similar name.

No, Villefort... could it be—