Chapter 35: I Have a Sister?

Chapter 35: I Have a Sister?

Since the founding of Cape Prison, there had never been a "visitation" schedule.

In ordinary prisons on the mainland, if a prisoner's family lived nearby, they could visit. But Cape Prison was isolated on an island, accessible only by boat. It was utterly impossible for family members to abandon their work and homes to travel such a distance for a visit.

The few "visitations" in history were either because the prisoner's family happened to live in a coastal fishing village, or because dignitaries came to visit relatives imprisoned for political reasons—which often meant the prisoner was about to be released.

Layman Vichard fit neither category, which made this "visitation" particularly strange.

There was no dedicated visiting room in the prison, so Layman was taken to an interrogation room. He wasn't surprised to find two Inquisitors waiting there.

"Layman Vichard, why didn't you mention you had a sister?" Aether said with a dark expression. Layman felt like he might draw his sword at any second.

"I didn't know I had a sister either!" Layman said sincerely. "I've lost my memory. I don't remember having any family, period!"

Nashel looked at him, half amused, half incredulous. "So is this sister of yours a fake?"

How the hell would I know! Layman thought. He knew jack about the original body's family. Never mind a sister—he wouldn't be surprised if a couple of parents popped up tomorrow.

He asked, hopeful, "Does she look like me?"

Nashel studied him. "Yeah, actually, a lot."

"Nashel!" Aether growled.

"I'm just telling the truth!" Nashel said, sidestepping away from him.

Just then, the door opened. Deputy Captain Edton strutted in, chest out, marching with perfect posture. He looked calm on the surface, but if you looked closely, his ears were red to the tips.

"Report, Your Honor the Inquisitor!" He snapped off a picture-perfect salute, his voice booming. "Prisoner 1154's kin has been brought in!"

He stepped aside. A petite young woman stepped forward from behind him.

The second he saw her, one thought hit Layman: She really was his biological sister!

The girl had the same silver-white hair as Layman. She had it swept back in a stylish updo. Her crimson eyes gleamed like the finest rubies. Her features were so much like Layman's—only a blind man could miss the family resemblance.

The girl lifted her skirt and gave a graceful bow to the three men, her movements elegant and refined, clearly the mark of a noble upbringing. She wore simple black clothes, but the fabric was top-notch and the tailoring flawless—definitely not poor folks' threads.

"May the light of God's abode forever shine upon you, honored sirs," she said, using the common greeting of the Dawn Church. "I am Livia Vichard."

Deputy Captain Edton didn't even dare glance at her. Poke his face, and it'd probably burst like a red fountain.

The two Inquisitors stayed composed and returned the bow in turn. Though her identity was uncertain, they showed full knightly courtesy to a lady.

Livia looked at Layman, and tears immediately welled up in her bright eyes.

"Brother!" She rushed to Layman and hugged him tightly, planting a kiss on his cheek. "It really is you! I've been searching for you for so long! Let me get a look at you..."

She cupped Layman's face. "Oh my god, you've lost so much weight! The prison food must be terrible, right?"

"It really is terrible," Nashel chimed in from the back.

Aether shot him a glare. Nashel ducked his head and shut up.

Livia pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away her tears.

Deputy Captain Edton was trembling, looking like he wanted nothing more than to charge forward, drop to one knee, offer her his sword, and swear to be her loyal knight forever—if only she'd stop crying.

Aether waved him off, signaling for him to leave. Now Edton looked like he was about to cry. He saluted and walked out mechanically. Layman could've sworn he heard a sob from the hallway.

"Miss Livia," Aether said politely, "are you certain this is your brother?"

Livia's eyes went wide in surprise. "Of course! How could I mix up my own brother? If you don't believe me, look at his back—there's a star-shaped birthmark."

Nashel immediately yanked up Layman's shirt. "Ah, there it is." His tone was disappointingly flat. If there hadn't been a birthmark, that would've been hilarious. Too bad there actually was one.

Aether wasn't surprised. "We're not asking these weird questions for no reason. Your brother has lost his memory and doesn't remember having a sister at all, so we had to verify."

Livia covered her mouth. "Amnesia!"

Her body swayed like she might pass out. She grabbed the table to steady herself.

"Oh heavens, how could such misfortune strike us? How many more disasters does our family have to endure..." she said, her voice thick with sobs.

"Miss, your brother was arrested and locked up as a heretic. Did you know about that?"

"My brother could never do such a thing!" Livia cried. "He's the kindest, gentlest person in the world—he wouldn't hurt a fly. You must have misunderstood him!"

"You're telling me you don't know what organization he joined?" Aether's tone grew colder. His knightly courtesy was gone, replaced by the cold, ruthless Inquisitor.

Livia bit her lip and said tremblingly, "My brother... he ran away from home a long time ago. He was a university student, studying folklore at Omod University. But his advisor kept putting off his graduation for so long that the pressure got to him and he had a breakdown. I had no choice but to take him home and look after him."

Layman was just as distressed listening to this. What a realistic story! He used to be a miserable college kid? Then going nuts made total sense.

"My brother's condition went up and down—sometimes he couldn't even recognize family. Sometimes he'd run out of the house and make a scene in the streets. I'm just a weak woman; I couldn't handle him." Livia said sorrowfully. "Then one day, he ran off again, and this time I searched for ages and never found him."

"Then how did you know he was at Cape Prison?" Aether asked.

"After my brother disappeared, I asked around everywhere. My family has some connections within the Dawnlight Knights. A knight told me he'd arrested a young man with silver hair and red eyes on a mission." Livia said. "That's a rare combo, so I figured it was probably my brother. After asking around more, I confirmed he was at Cape Prison, so I hired a fishing boat to bring me over."

She squeezed Layman's hand tight and looked earnestly at the Inquisitors. "He must've been tricked by the heretics! Please, I'm begging you two to have mercy and let him go! I'll donate everything I own to the church..."

"Miss, we will naturally investigate whether your brother is innocent." Aether said righteously. "We will also send people to verify what you've told us."

Livia asked urgently, "So my brother has to stay here?"

"For now, yes." Aether said. "Allowing you to visit is already an exception. After you've seen him, you should leave and go home. Won't your family be worried?"

Livia lowered her head and said softly, "Besides my brother, I have no other family."

Silence fell over the interrogation room. After a long moment, Livia looked up. "Could I speak with my brother alone for a moment? Please rest assured, I won't help him escape. I'm not carrying any weapons—you can search me."

She spread her arms. Of course, the Inquisitors couldn't possibly search a young woman. They awkwardly averted their eyes.

Aether said, "Miss, I sympathize with you, but this goes against regulations..."

Nashel suddenly stepped on his foot. Aether glared at him.

"Against regulations, but exceptions can be made." Nashel said with a smile. "Just half an hour. When the time is up, we'll come escort you out."

Livia was profusely grateful, nearly kneeling to kowtow. Nashel pulled his companion outside, firmly shut the door, and locked it.

Now, only Layman and his "sister" remained in the room.

Layman couldn't help but swallow.

The real trial was only just beginning.

***

The two Inquisitors left the interrogation room and headed underground.

There was another sealed room directly beneath the interrogation room. It had a table and chairs inside. Brass pipes ran along the walls, their upper ends buried in the stone, connecting to the room above, while the lower ends had funnel-shaped openings like listening devices.

Aether was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected the Cape Prison interrogation room to hide such tricks. The brass pipes could carry conversations from upstairs word for word to the room below. The Inquisition headquarters had similar setups; sometimes they'd put two prisoners together, letting them think they were alone and talk freely, unaware that every word was being eavesdropped on.

Nashel sat down beside the brass pipes and leaned his ear close.

Aether understood his plan. If the Vichard siblings had secrets, they'd surely exchange them when alone.

He crept over and sat beside his companion, listening intently.

A clear voice echoed through the pipes: "Brother, do you really not remember me? It's me, Livia!"

Then Lyman's voice: "I'm sorry, I truly don't remember. I took a bad hit to the head and lost my memory. Could you tell me about our past? Maybe it'll help me remember."

Back upstairs in the interrogation room.

Livia took a seat at the table.

"Alright, let me tell you about our childhood. Our parents died when we were young. It was just us siblings, looking out for each other."

As she chattered on, she pulled out a small, delicate notebook from her pocket.

She placed a sharpened charcoal pencil on the table, pointed at the floor beneath her, and had a mysterious look on her face.

Then she opened the notebook and scribbled a line:

"Someone's listening. Write back to me."

Lyman's eyelids twitched violently, and he cursed to himself.

Sis, are you starring in a spy thriller?

And the worst part is, I'm the spy?!

Write to her... about what? He didn't remember a thing!

Lyman took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

First, one thing was certain: this "sister" of his was no poor, innocent girl on a desperate quest to find her brother. She and Lyman Vichard must share some dark secret, one that drove her to risk coming into the lion's den to confirm his safety.

"Masterful Acting" could help Lyman tell if someone was lying, to a certain extent. He could tell that Livia's earlier words to the Inquisitors were half true, half false. But he couldn't tell which was which. Though Livia wasn't quite a "master of deception who never lies," she was still a hell of an actress.

Lyman had been arrested in the cult's lair. He was fairly certain the original owner of this body was indeed a cultist. Was Livia connected to the cult too? Did they send her?

Lyman knew nothing about any of this, yet he was really curious about what the cult was all about. Without understanding his own past, he couldn't sleep at night—it felt like the entire world was built on shaky foundations, ready to collapse at any moment.

Livia probably thought his so-called amnesia was a lie to save his own skin. So, should he come clean with her?

If he admitted he'd lost his memory, he'd likely never get any useful info out of her. But pretending not to have amnesia risked getting caught. One wrong word, and Livia would realize her brother had become a hollow shell, inhabited by a different soul.

Lyman thought for a moment, then deliberately said loudly: "I don't remember our parents. What did they do?"

At the same time, he scribbled with the charcoal pencil: "Why are you here?"

If he was going to fake it, he'd go all in! With "Masterful Acting" on his side, he'd fooled the Inquisitors—surely he could fool his sister too!

Livia began telling a story about a family outing when they were five, while taking the pencil to write: "I heard the branch got wiped out. You're the only survivor."

Lyman was shocked to the core. So Livia and the original Lyman were both cultists! And not low-ranking ones either, or she wouldn't have come looking for him.

What was even more alarming—the fact that a cultist had been captured was known only to the Knights. How did Livia get that information? Did their cult have informants within the Knights as well? Had the Knights sunk that low?

"The Knights somehow got wind of it and raided the branch," Lyman wrote. "I'm faking amnesia to fool the Inquisitors. Right now I'm planning an escape."

"Brother, do you remember going to university?" Livia said loudly.

"Not at all. What kind of place is Omod University?" Lyman asked.

Livia wrote: "Did the descent ritual succeed?"

What descent ritual? Never heard of it!

Lyman's head throbbed. He recalled the scene when he first woke up—all the cultists dead in one place. Were they in the middle of performing that ritual before they died? And what did "descent" mean? Given it was a cult, were they summoning some evil spirit?

Lyman steadied himself and decided to gamble. "The Knights interrupted it."

Livia's face darkened, clearly unsatisfied with that answer.

"How will you escape?" she asked.

"Digging a tunnel. I have allies in the prison," Lyman replied.

"Too slow!" Livia's strokes grew heavier. "The Stellar Conjunction has already begun—the descent ritual must be performed immediately!"

What was the Stellar Conjunction? Another unfamiliar term! Maybe he could ask his neighbor in the cell later.

"Can't rush it. The prison is heavily guarded," Lyman wrote.

"I'll help you. I have a pawn in Cape Prison. We move on the next full moon night."

Lyman was stunned. He'd been in Cape Prison for so long (well, not that long)—why hadn't this ally contacted him?

"Who is it? How do we escape?" Lyman wrote so frantically he nearly snapped the charcoal pencil.

Livia gave him a cryptic glance. "You'll know when the time comes."

Lyman grabbed the pencil and wrote: "Taking only me?"

Livia's face twisted with disdain. "What, you want to bring friends along?"

He actually did. Nikola aside, Lyman had promised Lunast he'd take him along. Luna had helped him plenty—he couldn't break his word.

Seeing Lyman's unease, a cold smirk curled at Livia's lips.

"Give up on those so-called friends of yours. Their lives aren't worth a damn—let them rot in prison!"

Lyman wanted to argue, but the girl gripped her pencil tightly, refusing him any chance to write.

"You're still as indecisive as ever."

After writing that line, she put away her notebook and pencil, acting as if nothing had happened, and continued loudly recounting their sibling stories. Lyman stared at her in silence, trying to imagine how the real Vichard siblings interacted. But he couldn't picture it at all.

A cold-hearted sister, an indecisive brother—had the sister always been manipulating the brother?

There were too many untold stories behind all this. He felt like he'd been drawn into some vast, dark vortex, bound by invisible forces, unable to break free.

The interrogation room door opened. Nashel and Aether walked in one after the other.

"Time's up, my lady," Nashel said with an exaggerated bow.

Livia's eyes instantly reddened. "Please, just give us a little more time. I still have so much to say to my brother."

Lyman glanced at her sideways, stunned speechless by her airtight performance.

"Though it's regrettable, people must part ways eventually." Aether made a "please" gesture.

Livia hesitated, then asked, "May I see the Warden?"

Aether shook his head. "The Warden is just the prison's administrator; he has no power to release prisoners. I'm afraid you're looking for the wrong person."

"Please, sir, just let me see him! I've got to try!"

Livia thought for a moment, then slipped a gold ring off her finger. "This was my mother's. I hear it's worth a good bit."

She pressed the ring into Aether's hand. The golden-haired Inquisitor recoiled as if he'd been burned by a hot iron and shoved her away.

"Miss, bribing an Inquisitor is a serious offense!"

His brows furrowed, and he was about to scold her, but seeing Livia's grief-stricken face, he swallowed his words and sighed.

"Since it's your mother's keepsake, keep it safe. You shouldn't be handing it off to just anyone. I'll arrange for you to see the Warden, but don't get your hopes up. As I said, he has no power to release prisoners either."

Livia thanked him profusely, then reluctantly took Lyman's hand. "Brother, I'll be staying in the fishing village across the water. If I find any way to help, I'll come back to see you!"

Deputy Captain Edton escorted Lyman back to the stables. The whole way back, Edton was distracted, stammering as he asked Lyman if Livia was married or engaged. Lyman gave him a cold, deathly stare, and Edton finally backed off. He suspected that in a few days, Edton would be calling him "brother-in-law"—just the thought was horrifying!

No sooner had they reached the stables than a group of prisoners slunk up with sly grins.

"Lyman, that girl who came to the prison today—is she your sister?"

"Damn, hiding a sister that pretty from us! Not cool!"

"You got any other sisters? How many you got?"

Lyman was about to shoo them off when he spotted Carlos's towering figure looming behind the crowd.

"You bunch of spineless losers, drooling over someone's sister! Never seen a woman before? Get back to your cells and go jerk off!"

Carlos bellowed, punching a leering prisoner right in the face. The man's nose gushed blood as he scrambled off. The others scattered like a flock of birds.

The guards in the distance glanced over but pretended not to see, going back to their idle chatter. They were happy to let Carlos keep order in the prison.

Lyman let out a sigh of relief. If Carlos hadn't shown up, he'd have ordered Fan Xing to bite them.

"Thanks," he said.

Carlos waved it off, like it was nothing. He stared at the main tower, lost in thought, and asked, "She really your sister?"

Lyman tensed up. "Don't tell me you're also—"

"No! Just asking!" Carlos said quickly. "I'm a married man; I don't even look at other women! I was just curious—thought you might be getting out, but here you are, back again."

Lyman smiled bitterly. "If family members begging could get prisoners released, Cape Prison would've been empty a long time ago."

He looked at Carlos, thinking that if the tunnel plan worked and Lunast escaped through it, that wouldn't be breaking his promise, right?

Honestly, he wanted to escape through the tunnel himself. Livia could get him out, sure, but that meant going back to the cult in the end.

The Holy Nation wasn't clean, but the cult was even worse. And that "Descent Ritual" sounded seriously messed up. Being a puppet of the cult—was that really freedom?

Lyman pulled the map of Cape Prison he'd drawn out of his pocket and handed it to Carlos.

"Carlos, how many days till the full moon?"

"Should be about seven," Carlos said. "Why, you gonna turn into a werewolf?"

Lyman lowered his voice. "Can we dig the tunnel out in seven days?"

"Look at my size—do I look like a dwarf?"

So that wasn't happening. But Lyman didn't give up, clinging to a sliver of hope. "Can I at least take a look at the tunnel?"

"Sure. Not today, though. Tomorrow afternoon, same time?"

"Alright," Lyman nodded. "One more thing—that Message Conch of yours, can I borrow it for a few days? I'll give it back after."

"Sure, we don't need it right now anyway. I didn't bring it today; I'll hand it to you tomorrow, okay?" Carlos said readily.

Lyman said, "No problem. Also, a friend of mine asked me to tell you something: when you're digging underground, you can never be without light."

Carlos was confused. "Isn't that obvious? How would we dig without light?"

"That's what I thought too, but my friend insisted something terrible happens if the light goes out."

Carlos scratched his shiny bald head.

"Are you saying there's some beast living underground? Like snakes or something?" he asked. "Animals fear fire, so that's why you need light?"

Lyman shrugged. He'd asked the dandelions about what was underground. Little Mouse had said there was nothing—just ordinary tunnels. The mice moved around in the dark all the time and nothing had ever happened.

"I'll pass it along to the others... Was that really worth mentioning?" Carlos muttered.

A commotion stirred in the square, whispers rippling through every corner of the prison. It turned out Livia was emerging from the main tower, escorted by two Inquisitors.

The prison was suddenly deserted. Prisoners dropped what they were doing and rushed over to gawk. The guards shouted at them to get lost, but they too stopped in their tracks, craning their necks with keen interest.

The legendary sister had donned a hood that obscured most of her face, so they couldn't see a thing. The prisoners were disappointed, but then they thought—since her brother was in the prison, the siblings must look alike—so they ran over to stare at Lyman instead, pointing and whispering as if he were a zoo animal.

Livia boarded the fishing boat she'd arrived on, escorted by the Inquisitors. With tears in her eyes, she begged them to look after her brother. Aether, with a stern expression, said they treated all prisoners equally. Nashel, grinning, promised he'd take good care of Lyman.

The boat raised its sail and drifted slowly away from the dock.

"So, what do you think?" Aether asked, brushing back his wind-tangled golden hair.

Nashel leaned against him lazily. "Nice boat!" he praised sincerely.

"I'm not talking about the boat!" Aether's forehead bulged with veins. "I mean that young lady today!"

Nashel said dramatically, "A brave lady indeed! Traveling all this way to this dreadful place to save her family—oh, what touching sibling devotion!"

"...You believe that?" Aether was surprised. Nashel was usually the most suspicious of Lyman Vichard.

They'd listened in downstairs for ages. The siblings had just been chatting about everyday things, recounting stories from their childhood. Unless those stories were coded messages, Aether couldn't detect anything unusual.

Nashel tugged at his hair. "Maybe I'm overthinking it? Lyman Vichard really is just an unlucky innocent? Is university really that easy to go mad in?"

"I've heard it's harder than the Seminary. Plenty of people fail every year." Aether shrugged. "I'll have the tribunal verify whether Omod University actually has this person."

"Ah, that would be splendid." Nashel narrowed his eyes. "Come to think of it, our Acting Captain Eton seems to have fallen in love."

Aether snorted coldly. "He's only met that girl once! Isn't that just pure lust at first sight? Absolutely ridiculous!"

"Oh? So you're not the love-at-first-sight type, but the slow-burn type?"

"Na-shel! We're members of the Holy Order!"

The Red-Haired Inquisitor burst into laughter, scaring a flock of seagulls into the air. He straightened up and gazed at the lone sail growing ever smaller on the sea.

***

Livia stood at the stern, staring at the prison's pitch-black silhouette against the sunlight.

"How is your brother?" the boatman asked.

The young woman said coldly, "That idiot brother of mine is still the same as ever."

"Is it absolutely necessary to save him?"

Livia snorted. "Though his brain isn't the sharpest, his body's a decent vessel. For my Lord's grand plan, his life must still be preserved."

"So, are the pieces in place?" the boatman asked.

"Everything's set. Seven days from now, on the night of the full moon, when the sun's power is weakest and the moon's power is strongest, that will be the moment to act."

The boatman grew uneasy. "The Holy Nation certainly won't take this lying down."

Livia closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter. As long as we perform the summoning ritual promptly, the lackeys of that False God are nothing to worry about. This Stellar Conjunction is a once-in-a-millennium grand alignment—the perfect opportunity for my Lord's return. If we miss it, we'd have to wait several hundred more years. The Black Sun Cult cannot afford to wait that long."

Cape Prison was already a faint shadow in the distance. Livia walked to the bow and sat down casually, letting the sea breeze tousle her hair.

"Once we're ashore, send someone to the Verdant Court," she said. "It's time to put some pressure on 'that person' and make him decide whether he wants to formally cooperate with us."

The boatman bowed his head humbly and respectfully. "As you wish, Your Holiness."