Chapter 151 - 150: Destruction and Rebirth

Chapter 151: Chapter 150: Destruction and Rebirth

*(Tears had smudged the ink, leaving dark stains on the yellowed paper)*

Why did I come to this place? This isn’t paradise at all, it’s hell...

September 7th

I’ve locked myself in my room for two days.

Bell came to see me. The moment he saw the marks on my face, he understood everything.

He didn’t ask many questions. He just held me and let me cry my heart out. He said, "I know your pain, Jasmine. Some people wear fine clothes, but their hearts are filthier than any beast’s."

September 28th

Again.

He’s becoming more frequent.

Mother... It’s as if Mother doesn’t know anything. Or perhaps, she’s just pretending not to.

All she does is complain that I look increasingly pale, and that my paintings have lost their ’spark’.

How could she possibly understand! All she cares about is whether my work will be praised at some high-society tea party!

October 15th

Tammy came looking for me today. Why is she always asking so many questions? "Jasmine, what’s wrong with you lately?" "Why are you always avoiding the Baron?"

What does she know! She lives in the sun. She has no idea what monsters lurk in the shadows.

I snapped at her and told her to stop bothering me.

She looked so hurt.

But what could I do? How could I tell her that the man who adopted me is devouring me, bit by bit?

She’s too close to me. She’ll be tainted.

Or... he’ll start targeting her, just like me.

October 29th

Tammy is dead.

They said she ’accidentally lost her footing’ while playing by the river.

Lies! Complete and utter lies!

It was him! It must have been him! That monster did it! Tammy must have discovered something! The last time she came to see me, she said she saw him lurking furtively outside my room! He killed her! To cover up his own crimes, he killed my best friend!

*(A large section here is frantically scribbled out. Afterward, the handwriting becomes wild, pressed so hard into the page that it tears the yellowed paper.)*

I hate him! I hate him! Why wasn’t he the one to die! Why did it have to be me and Tammy! I will kill him! I will make him pay for this with his blood!!

*(The last page, undated)*

Tomorrow. It happens tomorrow.

Bell once said that true art is born from destruction and rebirth.

Then, I will use the grandest destruction of all to create my final ’masterpiece’.

That monster, that cold accomplice, every silent conspirator in this manor—they will all become the never-fading pigments in my final painting.

...

Hesia silently handed the diary to Zoya, his gaze locked on Buton’s face, not missing the slightest flicker of expression.

"Do you know what’s written in it?"

"I... I know some of it." Buton’s lips were chapped, his rough fingers twisting together nervously. "I... I can’t read. I paid the bookkeeper at the town tavern to read it to me. But he only read a few passages, then... then he said it was the ravings of a madwoman, just filthy, dark fantasies, and he refused to read another word..."

His voice grew lower, full of helplessness.

"So do you think the contents of the diary are true?" Hesia pressed. "Also, what is your relationship with Tammy? Why did you issue the commission to investigate her cause of death?"

Hearing that name, Buton’s head snapped up.

"Tammy... She’s my daughter!"

His murky eyes instantly became bloodshot as his emotions surged. "She was the greatest pride of my life! Smart, lively, everyone in town loved her! They say she accidentally fell in the river and drowned, but that’s impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"My daughter grew up by the river. She could swim better than the fish in it!"

’So he’s Tammy’s father. No wonder he issued the request. For him, 20 Silver Scale is probably his entire life’s savings.’

"Jasmine’s diary also mentions the official story was that your daughter ’accidentally lost her footing’. So you believe what the diary says? You suspect the Baron killed your daughter as well?" Hesia tried to sort out his logic.

"I... I don’t know!" Buton’s expression was filled with struggle and confusion. "Baron Godric... he’s always been such a good man. He paid to have the water wheel on the east side of town repaired; every winter, he gives out food and blankets to the poor... How could a man like that... how could he do the monstrous things written in that diary?"

"When the bookkeeper read those parts, even I started to wonder... if I’d found the wrong thing, if someone had maliciously forged this diary."

’A renowned philanthropist?’

Hesia’s mind raced. A beloved philanthropist and the monstrous abuser from the diary—the disconnect between the two was jarring.

’The first possibility is that the Baron is an extremely clever hypocrite, using his good deeds to build a facade.’

’But is that necessary?’

’For a nobleman in this world, there are far more direct and subtle ways to get one’s hands on a helpless orphan girl.’

’The cost of such a charade is too high, and the payoff too low.’

’Unless... he’s on guard against someone he can’t easily crush with his power and authority.’

’Could it be his wife?’

Hesia recalled Jasmine’s description of her mother in the diary: a cold noblewoman who only cared about the ’spark’ in the paintings.

He looked at Buton again. "What do you know about Helena Split Shadow? What was her background before she married the Baron?"

The abrupt change in topic caught Buton off guard. He tried hard to recall. "Lady Helena... We common folk wouldn’t know the details about the nobility. I’ve only heard from town gossip that she’s not from around here, that she came from the distant Royal Capital. Before she married the Baron, I heard she was an Adventurer."

’An Adventurer from Forest Port City...’

Hesia mulled over this information.

’If that’s true, then it’s much less likely she comes from a traditional noble family.’

’Then could she be a powerful Professional?’

’But would a man with the depravities described in the diary be willing to marry a powerful woman he might not be able to control?’

’An abuser craves absolute control, not a bedmate who could turn the tables and kill him at any moment.’

’That’s not logical.’

’Although the conversation so far suggests the diary wasn’t fabricated from whole cloth, even if Jasmine did write it, it’s still just her subjective, one-sided account... It can’t be trusted completely.’

’I need to find more corroborating evidence, or find contradictions within it.’

’The diary says Jasmine and Tammy were close. That might be a good place to start looking for a breakthrough.’

"Jasmine and your daughter, Tammy—what was their relationship like? How did Tammy usually talk about Jasmine to you?"