Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Cold Murder

Chapter 346 – Cold Murder

Coumba was struck silent, her breathing becoming more and more difficult under the harrowing gaze of Theophane.

Once again, she deeply regretted the fact that she had allowed herself to be so easily manipulated by this woman.

There were many other ways to do what she wanted if she had taken the advice of the other Stormblessed in the Academy and asked for their help.

But the insatiable urge to possess Theophane just for herself made her act in such a way. A way unbefitting of her.

Now here she was, at the edge of the ladder, and she knew that there was nothing that could save her.

She gulped down a mouthful of saliva as she felt the tiger behind her readying himself to devour her whole.

She whirled her attention back toward Theophane and saw the deep, cold impatience blooming inside her eyes.

Coumba nodded weakly, heart pounding against her chest as she answered, "I...I will tell you." She rasped, the very act of speaking making her throat even sorer. "I will tell you what I know."

"Then start talking." Theophane said. "How do we enter?"

"It’s not...it’s not me who knows how to sneak inside." Coumba replied, and when she noticed a cold frown spreading across Theophane’s face, she continued rapidly, "It’s not me who knows, but another student!"

"How is that possible to begin with?"

"His family is the one that takes care of the weekly supply of food inside the Stormblessed." Coumba replied, breathing heavily. "After going there so many times and wandering around the house, he managed to find a part of the estate where one could sneak inside."

Theophane began to smile strangely. "And that man just told you, a Stormblessed, all of that?"

"He...he loved me."

"You like women, my dear." Theophane said, smiling even wider. "So either your taste changed not long ago, or you used that boy to manipulate him. Which one is it?"

"I...I am a noble. I am also a Stormblessed." Coumba said, desperation filling her tone as she looked at her with blue eyes tearing up. "You think my family will accept me if I reveal that I like women instead of men? I will be shunned and killed."

"So you used that boy as a cover while you secretly went after women in the Academy." Theophane deduced. "And it just so happened that the boy knew how to sneak inside. Aren’t you lucky?"

Coumba said nothing about her deductions. Not like she could, anyway. It was all true.

She had used him as a cover because of her shame and insecurity about accepting her sexual orientation.

"Who is that man?" Theophane finally asked the most important question.

This time, Coumba visibly hesitated, as if unable to give the man’s name.

Theophane sighed after waiting a couple of seconds before nodding toward Tiger behind Coumba.

"Do it."

BAAAAMMMM!

It was instantaneous.

One second, Coumba was still kneeling in front of Theophane. The next, she was sent flying away, her body blurring before crashing into the wall of the room with a resounding impact after a backhand from Tiger.

The entire left side of her face was now furiously bleeding, the strike so powerful that part of her skin had peeled away, revealing the fresh flesh underneath.

Coumba’s left eye was bleeding now, turning red within seconds. A resounding screech of pain threatened to erupt from her throat, but Tiger was already beside her.

His bulky hand snapped around her mouth, forcing her to swallow her scream as tears poured from her eyes like never before.

"Don’t make me crush your mouth." Tiger growled in a beastly voice, sending a current of terror through the woman’s body.

She began to force herself to calm down, only letting out faint whimpers. Tiger then dragged her back and placed her in front of Theophane, who had watched the entire scene with passive indifference.

"Let me ask you again," she said, looking at Coumba’s horrified face. "Who is that man?"

"Please...please don’t do anything to him." Coumba said, her voice fragmented. "He already suffered because of me! Please!"

"Who is that man?"

Coumba abandoned the struggle and finally answered.

"Ethan..." she whimpered. "A Second Year."

"I know every Second Year." Theophane replied, cocking her head. "But I have never heard of this Ethan. Are you lying to me?"

"I am not lying. He is better known as Crippled than by his real name." Coumba smiled brokenly, tears falling faster. "He is blind now. And he is blind because he loved me. But I never did. I...please don’t hurt him. Please...I beg you, Miss Theophane...he has already lost enough."

"That’s touching." Theophane said lazily. "I just don’t understand one thing. Why did he lose his sight because of his love for you?"

"His childhood friend, Naomi, ripped out his eyes after realizing he didn’t love her, but me." Coumba replied, hatred now appearing within her broken eyes. "He didn’t deserve it. And...he also lost the only person who accepted him. The only one he saw as a friend."

"You mean Coco Jones?" Theophane said, remembering that she had indeed heard about the death of that maid.

"Y-Yes."

"Coco was the maid of the one you just named, Naomi." She chuckled. "Should I assume she is the one who killed her?"

"Yes."

"So she ripped out his eyes and killed the only person there for him?" Theophane was becoming entertained. "This Naomi is interesting. Is that love, maybe?"

"L-Love?" Coumba couldn’t stop a deep sneer of hatred from scarring her face. "She didn’t love him! She simply sees Ethan as something she owns!"

"That sounds like love to me."

"No—!"

"Ethan, right? Or rather, Crippled." Theophane cut her off. "That’s the man who knows how to enter the Stormblessed estate, right? A blind man. A broken man. That’s the type of man I can deal with."

"Please don’t touch—!"

"One more question." The Seer said. "I have been feeling the gazes of quite a few Stormblessed around me lately. Students and teachers alike."

She smiled.

"Do you perhaps know why there is such focused attention on me? Not that I mind, my dear. I am used to it. But why?"

By this point, Coumba knew it was useless to try to defy Theophane. So she nodded.

"We have been ordered to monitor you."

"By whom?"

"The Patriarch." She replied, coughing blood. "That’s all I know. Only Teacher Charles might know more."

"I see." Theophane replied, not allowing any of her thoughts to show on her face.

She then fell completely silent, her mind going in all directions. After a couple of minutes, she looked back at Tiger and nodded at him.

"Clean all the blood and heal her wounds with a Healing Potion, except for the poison."

Tiger obeyed, and Coumba began to have hope.

In record time, the Third Year was completely clean, her wounds now healed. She looked like someone who hadn’t gone through torture just moments ago, except for her reddish eyes filled with fear.

After everything was done, Theophane stood up from her chair and approached her. She now wore black gloves.

Arriving close, she stretched out her hand, wrapped it around Coumba’s jaw, and forcefully pried her mouth open.

Coumba’s eyes began to widen.

"What happens when you melt someone’s heart and everything inside them with acid? You don’t know, do you?" She smiled. "Well, neither do I."

A vial appeared in her hand, its contents churning with a black and green substance that bubbled dangerously. It was already open, the scent so strong it was maddening.

"Let’s find out, my dear."

Coumba didn’t even have time to struggle before the poisonous acid gushed down her throat, and mind-blowing pain exploded through her body.

Theophane then forcefully closed Coumba’s mouth and watched her struggle, cry, and whimper as the acid destroyed everything inside her body.

Her insides became a mess as, one by one, her organs began to fail.

The Seer’s eyes were deathly cold, and as Coumba’s consciousness edged toward death, the hands of Vorn closing around her soul, Theophane’s voice echoed inside her mind.

"You are first. But worry not, the others are coming soon."

Coumba was dead.

Theophane finally let go of her mouth and looked at the mess she had created. She pulled off her gloves and stored them away.

She took out her phone calmly and searched Gossip Girl for a picture of Ethan. She found one rather quickly.

She smiled. "Quite famous, isn’t he?"

"What do we do with this corpse, Master?" Tiger asked.

Theophane took a blood vial out of her space ring.

It was blood she had specifically collected during the Opening Ceremony, when the students had returned from their battles with blood all over them.

This one, in particular, had a name written on it:

Sarah.

"Take this blood and soak the nails and teeth of this woman with it." She ordered, handing the vial to Tiger. "Then leave the corpse out in the open, in some random alley."

Tiger smiled coldly when he read the name.

"Are we attacking the Prince’s maid?"

"We are."

"Would they even believe it? The—!"

"It doesn’t matter." Theophane cut him off. "As long as enough people do, especially the Stormblessed..."

The Forbidden Seer smiled gently.

"...that’s more than enough. Now go. I have a cripple to learn more about."

—End of Chapter 346—