She Was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment [Unlimited] - Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Rose Manor (Part 11)

◎ We Did Argue ◎

The system’s announcement of Chen Lei’s sudden death caused the players still in the castle to pause, but none of them paid much mind. After all, they were all strangers acting only for their own benefit.

After Jiang Nan and Luo Ning left, Lin Jia casually broke off a rose and, as an afterthought, plucked a feather from a vulture on the ground before heading back. Su Yue saw what she did, but said nothing.

A gentle, warm breeze passed through, making everyone feel lazy and disinclined to move. The wind blew through the skirt of the woman standing in the sea of flowers. For some reason, her silhouette seemed to hold a hint of loneliness, and even her luxurious red gown appeared much duller.

Helianna gazed into the distance, but it was unclear what she was looking at, as if she were trying to see something through the romantic sea of flowers.

Coralie, standing beside her, noticed this and stepped closer. Her voice was especially gentle.

“Helianna, you look tired.”

Helianna turned her gaze to the person next to her and sighed softly. “Coralie, you’ve always been so gentle. Have we ever argued?”

Coralie’s expression subtly changed, though her smile remained. “We have.”

As she spoke, her peripheral vision unconsciously darted to the blooming roses surrounding them.

Helianna lifted a hand to rub her brow and shook her head slightly. “I don’t seem to remember. What was it about?”

A flicker of a hidden emotion passed through Coralie’s deep eyes, and her smile faded a little as she spoke. “We argued because you were so reckless with your own life.”

Helianna met her eyes, and the emotions within them stirred something inside her. Her heart, which had been silent for who knows how long, seemed to come alive. Even though she couldn’t feel it beating, she could fully sense the other’s love for her.

The flashes of chaotic images caused her head to throb, and her feet felt unsteady. Fortunately, Coralie was there to steady her.

“Are you all right?” Coralie asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

Helianna shook her head slightly to indicate she was fine, but Coralie was not reassured and was about to help her inside.

The setting sun was like bl00d, painting the sky a deep red. The horses slowly approaching in the distance caught their attention. The two people on horseback seemed to be on a leisurely stroll, but behind them was a cart piled high with flowers.

Helianna and Coralie fell silent for a moment. Their good upbringing kept their expressions from showing too much change. Their icy gazes fixed on the two women, and finally on the cart of roses. After a long pause, neither said a word.

The rule stated not to destroy the flowers in the flower fields, but the ones on the cart were clearly not picked from there, so they couldn’t be ruled as a violation.

Knowing that Jiang Nan and Luo Ning had left, the already idle Yan Xin had wanted to see them return, but she truly hadn’t expected to see them bring back so many roses.

Yan Xin watched the two dismount from their horses, a bit surprised. Seeing Helianna’s expressionless face, she thought they were trying to completely offend her.

Helianna withdrew her gaze from them and spoke with a hint of weariness. “I’m tired. Let’s go back.”

Yan Xin then watched with her own eyes as Helianna led Coralie back. As they passed her, she couldn’t tell if the host was angry or not.

“Where did you get so many flowers?” Yan Xin asked.

Also, although these flowers were equally crimson, they were not the same bl00d-red as the roses in the field. These looked like ordinary, normal roses.

“Someone gave them to us. There are too many, so you can take them if you need them,” Luo Ning said with a smile, but she didn’t reveal too much.

Yan Xin was suspicious, but she couldn’t exactly question them.

“Did you hear that someone died?” Yang Yi asked them hesitantly. She and Yan Xin had a good guess as to who had died, but the killer was definitely not Helianna or Coralie, since they had been watching Helianna for a long time.

“We killed him,” Jiang Nan said softly, glancing up at them.

“He was following us without a word, so we accidentally killed him,” Luo Ning said with a shrug, her tone light and her face smiling, as if she wasn’t talking about someone’s death.

Chen Lei had obviously followed them to get revenge, so there was no way he would have announced his presence. He hadn’t expected to fail and be killed in return.

Yan Xin, of course, didn’t care. She spread her hands and said, “It’s a good thing he died. One less competitor.”

After all, none of the people gathered here were good people. One more or one less wouldn’t stop the dungeon from continuing.

Luo Ning placed their things by the door and then held Jiang Nan’s hand as they went inside. As if she remembered something, she turned back to Yan Xin and Yang Yi, who were staring blankly at the pile of roses.

“Make sure to take a lot. These won’t last more than a few days.”

These were normal roses, unlike the ones in the field that held a life within them.

When Jiang Nan returned to Room 1, Luo Ning naturally followed her in, as if she had completely forgotten that she had her own room.

Jiang Nan was about to let her in, but she seemed to have noticed something. She reached out and stopped Luo Ning, frowning as she said in a cold voice, “Someone was here.”

Beneath the strong scent of roses, there was a faint smell of something burnt. But Jiang Nan was certain that someone had burned something in here.

With that thought, her eyes swept across the room. Everything was still as she had left it, and nothing had been moved. The person who came in must have been very cautious.

They burned something, but what?

Finally, her gaze fell on the container she had taken out earlier. It held the flower juice, with some unprocessed petal fragments still floating in it.

But Jiang Nan noticed that the already vibrant red color had now deepened. She walked over, carefully picked it up, and observed it for a moment, then saw a grey powder-like substance on the inside of the cup.

She sniffed it, further confirming where the burnt smell she was smelling came from.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Ning asked.

Jiang Nan thought for a while, then shook her head and put the container back. “Nothing. Someone probably just had too much time on their hands. In any case, Helianna won’t choose something that smells like this.”

Helianna would only choose what she liked. The contents of this container were basically ruined, but that also saved them the trouble of trying to tamper with it themselves.

…

Night fell, and the cold wind howled once again. The window, not yet closed, was violently battered by the wind, as if someone was relentlessly knocking. The lights flickered, illuminating a man wiping a sharp blade. The muscles in his sturdy arms were tense, showing a stark contrast to the calm on his face.

“What’s wrong with this damn light?!”

He swore loudly, causing the light to flicker even more rapidly. The short-tempered man picked up an object from the table and threw it directly at the light. The glass and lamp shattered instantly. The now-dark room was filled with the man’s angry curses and the sound of things falling to the ground.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. After three polite taps, a gentle but firm voice spoke.

“Lucky Perfumer, my master invites you to the second floor for a chat.”

The word “lucky” felt like a jab, a sharp mockery that pierced the man’s heart, making him even more irritable than he already was.

“I’m not going,” the man said viciously, gripping the life-saving blade in his hand. A yellow talisman and a Guanyin pendant had cost him a fortune in points. “Aren’t you supposed to be looking for that sickly wretch?!”

At the beginning, Helianna had said she would seek out Jiang Nan, but so far, nothing had happened to Jiang Nan at all!

Hu Tian knew that if he went up there, the conversation would not really be about perfume. He would likely die at the hands of the beautiful Helianna, and he was trying to use that as an excuse for them to leave and find another target.

However, the knocking sounded again from outside. It was as if they hadn’t heard the man’s refusal or answered his question. They just continued to repeat the same sentence.

“Lucky Perfumer, my master invites you to the second floor for a chat.”

“…”

The constant repetition was like a demonic chant ringing in his ears. In the darkness, it felt like the words were being whispered right next to him. Hu Tian finally couldn’t take it anymore. He gripped the objects in his hand and walked straight to the door.

But he was in too much of a hurry and couldn’t see the path. The shattered pieces of the crystal chandelier were scattered all over the floor. A large, sharp shard pierced right through his shoe and sank deep into his flesh, and bl00d flowed freely.

Hu Tian gasped in pain, sweating coldly, and limped to the door. He opened it for the person outside. The hallway light was dim, but it was enough for Hu Tian to see the female butler in front of him, wearing a fake smile.

Behind Coralie were two large, expressionless servants. They looked as if they were about to force their way in if the man didn’t open the door.

Hu Tian’s face was dark. He scowled and said coldly, “Didn’t you hear me? I said no.”

Coralie maintained her smile and bowed slightly. Her tone was one that brooked no refusal. “You do not have the right to refuse my master.”

Hu Tian’s face changed slightly. He suddenly reached out and stuck the yellow talisman on her body. He looked at her smugly, but when the talisman showed no reaction, his face suddenly turned pale.

Coralie looked at the new object on her body. She smiled as she took it off, folded it slowly, and put it away. “I like your gift very much.”

“You’re a person?! You said you’re a person!” Hu Tian squeezed his thick brows together and shouted in disbelief.

Seeing that he was about to retreat back into the room, Coralie didn’t get angry. Her smile looked eerie and sinister in the pale light. The two men behind her immediately stepped forward and grabbed hold of him.

“What are you doing?! Let me go!”

Hu Tian was strong, but facing these two servants was like running into reinforced concrete. No matter how much he struggled, it was useless.

Coralie watched as he was dragged out, then slowly answered the man’s previous question.

“You must be joking. Of course, I’m a person…” She paused, then looked at him and said seriously, “You don’t need to panic. This is your choice.”

Hu Tian was so angry he started swearing, but he couldn’t break free. “My ass! Let me go, or I’ll kill you!”

He had entered a dungeon, but he still thought this was the real world, where he could kill as he pleased.

Coralie laughed, a sarcastic laugh at his ignorance. “I’m just doing this out of necessity to prevent you from being unable to walk up the stairs.”

Listening to her spout nonsense, Hu Tian’s veins bulged with anger. But the jade pendant he was clutching in his hand seemed to give him some confidence. He stopped struggling and obediently followed them upstairs, his eyes growing more sinister and terrifying with every step.

The commotion in the hallway disturbed the others who hadn’t gone to sleep yet. From the doorway of Room 1, Jiang Nan stood silently, watching the people going upstairs.

Coralie gave her a small, apologetic bow. “Apologies for the disturbance. I wish you both a good rest.”

She didn’t just refer to Jiang Nan, but also knew there was a Luo Ning in the room with her.

A flicker of an imperceptible emotion passed through Jiang Nan’s eyes. She then returned to her apathetic expression and watched them go upstairs.

Luo Ning appeared behind Jiang Nan. She followed her gaze, and the things that were about to make a move upstairs instantly froze.

“Hello, beautiful sisters.” The door to Room 7, six doors away, opened, and a head peeked out. Lin Jia smiled at them.

“I heard a commotion. Can that guy who got dragged away come back?” Lin Jia asked them with a frown, her cautious demeanor making her look just like a frightened little rabbit.

Jiang Nan and Luo Ning looked at her at the same time and spoke, not realizing their words had overlapped.

“We don’t know.”

Lin Jia: …

She felt like she had acted innocent for nothing. These two were monsters who were impervious to charm or threats.