She Was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment [Unlimited] - Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Rose Manor (Part 13)

◎ Sorry, I have a bit of a strong grip ◎

In the quiet, pitch-black space, a candle suddenly flickered to life, its faint green light casting an eerie, ghostly glow on the narrow passage.

Hu Tian walked for a moment and felt a suffocating, putrid stench in the air, like the smell of many corpses that had been decomposing for a long time. He frowned hard and looked at the person ahead, who seemed completely unbothered.

“What is this place? Why does it smell so bad?” he asked.

The person ahead, Xu Hao, did not stop walking. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he said.

Hu Tian looked at him, feeling that something was off, but he hadn’t been with him for long, so he suppressed the feeling. He didn’t notice that in the eerie green light, the person in front of him had exposed fangs and a狰狞 face. The shadow cast by the green light was silently changing, gradually becoming less human.

Suddenly, a bird nesting in the darkness was startled by their footsteps and let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it flew over their heads.

Hu Tian was too slow to dodge, and a sharp feather cut him, leaving large and small wounds. The stinging pain made him frown and curse under his breath. “Why are these birds back again? They’re a real pain!”

But as bl00d flowed from his wounds, he suddenly looked around, staying on high alert. He only relaxed when he saw that there wasn’t a single rose in this place. He found it strange that in a castle covered in roses, there was such a “clean” place.

Soon, however, his doubts were gone, because the passage ended. In front of them was a huge, rusty cage. The foul smell was coming from inside it.

The cage looked like a custom-made birdcage. The stuff attached to it wasn’t rust, but more like dried bl00d. Inside, a man wore an expensive suit, a calculating, snobbish expression on his face. The strange man stared at Hu Tian and suddenly smiled. Hu Tian was unnerved and immediately spoke.

“Who are you?!”

The man opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, as if he hadn’t spoken in years. “I am Miss Helianna’s fiancé, Gabriel.”

Hearing this, Hu Tian looked the man up and down and sneered. “Why would Helianna’s fiancé be locked in a birdcage?”

The man, who called himself Gabriel, wore a pair of pristine white gloves as he stroked the dirty bars of the cage. He sighed and said, “That’s because Miss Helianna has been possessed by a demon. But I still love her. And around you are the witch doctors I found to exorcise the demon for her.”

Gabriel spoke passionately about his affection for Helianna and his self-righteous love.

Hearing the man’s words, Hu Tian finally looked around. He noticed that there were thirteen candelabras, and beside each one was a faceless, human-shaped statue wearing a large black hood. They had their heads bowed, and something sharp seemed to poke out from beneath their hoods.

Of the thirteen candelabras, twelve were lit. The remaining unlit one was missing its statue.

“Do you know what this place is?” Gabriel looked very pleased with Hu Tian’s surprised expression and suddenly asked.

Hu Tian pulled his gaze away from the statues and said dismissively, “Isn’t it just a place to lock people up?”

Gabriel looked at him and laughed softly. His unpleasant voice echoed throughout the confined space. Just as Hu Tian was growing impatient, Gabriel spoke.

“This is a cage I originally prepared for the beautiful Miss Helianna. I had hoped she would be like a canary, for me to admire. But I never expected the demon in her to be so powerful. And that Coralie is an ungrateful wretch. What a pity that this place had to be used on me instead.”

In his voice, there was no remorse for his plan to imprison Helianna, only hatred for having been outsmarted.

…

While others were left in the dark about the person taken to the second floor, a new, peaceful morning arrived.

The knocking servant went straight into the room as soon as a player opened the door. Before anyone could react, he walked out with the container for making perfume.

Lin Jia’s expression changed when she saw the person suddenly walk in. There was a stiff corpse still lying on the floor. However, the servant simply collected the container and left, not even sparing a glance for the body.

Lin Jia breathed a sigh of relief. She lived far from the other players, who were all in the front of the castle, so they wouldn’t have bothered to come all the way to her door to check. She locked her door immediately after leaving.

When she passed by Room 1, she saw Jiang Nan standing at the door, her expression cool as she looked inside. Inside, Luo Ning had a firm grip on a servant who was trying to get past them. The servant was very strong, but he still couldn’t break free from Luo Ning’s hand. His pale face was expressionless, and he spoke stiffly. “Please release me.”

Luo Ning looked bored and sleepy. After a slow yawn, she said, “If you just rush in like that and mess something up, little Jiang Nan won’t be happy.”

She then smiled at Jiang Nan, as if she was being very thoughtful.

Jiang Nan, who had inexplicably been brought into the conversation, silently and cooperatively responded with a simple “Mmm.”

The servant’s thought process was sluggish, and he couldn’t process Luo Ning’s words. Just then, Coralie appeared and came to his rescue. “Dear Perfumers, this was my mistake. It was rude of me to intrude, but…”

She paused, her eyes holding a cold smile as she looked over everyone. She spoke again, raising her voice slightly. “But I still ask for everyone’s cooperation. My master was very unhappy last night, so she urgently needed to see your results.”

She was already using a firm tone, which showed how much Hu Tian had angered Helianna the night before. Hearing this, Jiang Nan looked at Helianna in the distance, but from her back, she couldn’t tell if she was angry.

Luo Ning lightly said “Oh,” and spoke with complete understanding. “So that’s why.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Luo Ning nodded and released the servant’s hand. But a bone-cracking sound echoed, followed by Luo Ning’s apologetic voice. “Sorry, my grip was a little too strong.” She said this as if she hadn’t meant to do it at all.

The servant, whose wrist was twisted at a strange angle, still spoke without expression. “It’s fine.” With that, he took the container and left.

Jiang Nan saw Luo Ning walking toward her, reaching out her hand to hold hers as she usually did. But Jiang Nan remembered the chilling sound of the bone cracking and subconsciously pulled her hand back. When she saw the other’s confused expression, she said calmly, “I don’t want to hold hands anymore.”

Luo Ning was puzzled but didn’t insist.

When the players sat down at the dining table, they realized that out of the original twelve, only half were left. Jin Hao, who had not yet appeared, was dragged out of his room by a servant. It was unclear if his wounds had reopened, but fresh bl00d continued to pour out, leaving a bloody trail on the floor. His face was gray, his body stiff. He had no signs of life, as if he had died a long time ago.

Coralie glanced at him and gestured for the servant not to drag the body toward the dining table. She then walked over to Helianna and said, “One of your perfumers has died. Do you need me to arrange for him to be handled?” Her tone was calm, as if she wasn’t talking about a person’s life or death.

Helianna turned to look at the body in the distance. She slightly narrowed her beautiful eyes, a hint of displeasure hidden within them. Her red lips parted, and she used her lovely voice to pass judgment on his fate. “A soul as filthy as that can only be useful through its body.”

Coralie understood her meaning and immediately gestured to the servant to drag the body away to be processed. The players watched the corpse being dragged away, a stark contrast to the beautiful sea of flowers outside. They all knew what would happen to him after he was dragged away.

Coralie nodded slightly to the players and said with an apologetic tone, “Please don’t worry. This is just a small accident. I’m sure it won’t affect your enjoyment of breakfast.”

After witnessing such a scene, even though today’s breakfast was much more abundant than the last, who was in the mood to eat?

“Little Jiang Nan, eat up. Don’t go hungry.”

A voice that was out of place in the eerie atmosphere rang out, filled with a sweet smile and a doting affection that she herself didn’t even notice. The other players immediately turned to the source of the voice and saw the mysterious woman holding a piece of toast, offering it to the seemingly frail, pale-haired girl.

Jiang Nan leaned back slightly, but not too far away. She saw Luo Ning’s enchanting purple eyes, in which her own reflection was mirrored, as if those eyes could only hold her. Luo Ning thought Jiang Nan was afraid to eat the breakfast here, so she winked and said, “Don’t worry, I checked. Today’s food is safe to eat.”

After all, there were no bird eggs today.

Jiang Nan shook her head silently and pushed the food back toward Luo Ning. “You don’t have to give me yours.”

Luo Ning was holding a piece from her own plate. Yesterday, she had given Jiang Nan the milk from her own place. She herself never seemed to eat. In fact, Jiang Nan had never seen her eat any food. At first, she thought it was because she was a picky eater or a neat freak. But later, she realized that perhaps Luo Ning was simply indifferent to food because she couldn’t feel hunger.

Hearing this, Luo Ning had no choice but to put the toast back on her plate, but she still didn’t eat it.

After hearing Luo Ning’s words, the other players realized that today’s food was indeed safe to eat. Lin Jia looked at Helianna, who was observing each container. Her gaze finally fell on the one at the very end. Due to the earlier incident, Jiang Nan and Luo Ning’s container was placed last. Lin Jia discreetly observed Jiang Nan, and when she saw her simply eating her breakfast without seeming to care about Helianna’s judgment, a flicker of an obscure emotion passed through her eyes.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass echoed through the room, causing everyone to turn their heads. They saw Helianna’s beautiful face twisted with anger as she stormed toward them. The sound of her heels was like stones hitting their hearts, causing fear and discomfort. They watched as Helianna approached the white-haired girl, her face somewhat distorted with anger.

“I hate the perfume you made!”

A strange aura raged around her. The crimson, bl00d-red roses climbing the walls felt her fury and became excited, as if they would soon be able to feast. The strong scent of perfume mixed with a bloody smell spread through the air. Jiang Nan frowned, but her eyes remained calm and sullen. After swallowing her last bite of toast, she slowly asked for the reason. “Why?”

Her attitude made Helianna even more displeased. Her face, as pale as a ghost, flushed slightly with anger. Her originally charming voice became sharp and grating. “I hate the smell of birds more than anything! Your perfume smells like birds!”

Jiang Nan knew her perfume had been tampered with, but she hadn’t expected it to be this. Even so, her expression didn’t change much. Instead, she glanced at Coralie and said, “But your butler seems to keep birds.”

The first day they saw her, Coralie looked like the master of those vultures.

Hearing her words, Helianna’s voice grew even sharper. “She would never! She’s just…”

Helianna didn’t finish her sentence. Her eyes subtly darted to Coralie.

[You have angered…] The system hissed a few times and then fell silent. After a moment, no other sound was heard.

Jiang Nan didn’t hear the second half of the sentence, but she could roughly guess what it was. This system was getting more and more buggy, always swallowing half of a sentence when it came to her.

Coralie walked to Helianna’s side and whispered to comfort her. After Helianna’s expression calmed down a bit, she looked at Jiang Nan and smiled. “Although you’ve angered my master, please don’t slander me.”

“As punishment, I will take you to the second floor tonight.”

After saying this, she continued to comfort Helianna.

“I will never betray you,” Helianna said, leaning on her shoulder, her tone now back to normal.

After Helianna and Coralie left, Yan Xin glared at her and said, “Why did you have to provoke her?”

Jiang Nan ignored the sarcasm in her eyes and said calmly, “I wanted a legitimate reason to go up and see.”

It was true. Only those who had Helianna’s permission or were being punished had the right to see the second floor at night.

Yan Xin, who was eating her breakfast, was suddenly choked by Jiang Nan’s death-defying words. After a few coughs, she finally swallowed and then pointed her chin at the person next to Jiang Nan, looking arrogant. “Hey, you, aren’t you going to talk some sense into your girlfriend? What if…”

Her words were blunt, and everyone present understood. But when the person involved heard the word, her eyes showed a hint of confusion. The moment Luo Ning was about to ask what that meant, Jiang Nan suddenly grabbed her wrist, and sensing her tension, Luo Ning did not ask the question aloud.

They were together all day, and even though they had separate rooms, Luo Ning always clung to Jiang Nan. In the eyes of others, the way Luo Ning and Jiang Nan looked at each other was far from platonic, which was why Yan Xin misunderstood them as a couple. Yan Xin thought that their initial refusal to acknowledge each other when they first came in was just a part of their playful relationship.