CH-110

110 Husband or Child, Which Do You Want?

When Shu Li pushed open the door, Viscountess Beverly was just lighting a candle with a flint.

Before the steward could speak, she met their gaze, and a faint smile appeared on her face. "What brings you here?"

The steward, still surprised, answered Beverly's question first: "Sir Shurik said he heard the Dowager speaking to him and wished to visit her bedchamber."

After answering somewhat dazedly, he then asked: "Madam Beverly, why are you in the prayer room?"

She replied: "The Dowager Sakelaine's passing was so sudden. Unable to sleep, I came to pray for her soul." As she spoke, her peripheral vision caught the young man beside her staring at her. Yet, at this moment, she could only look steadily at the steward.

The steward sighed at Beverly's words, about to offer comfort, when Shu Li glanced at the candleholder overflowing with wax and asked: "Were you about to leave?"

Beverly's heart tightened. "What?"

Shu Li stated frankly: "I thought you were leaving, which is why you extinguished the lamp. Then, hearing us enter, you lit it again for us."

Beverly inwardly sighed with relief. So it was because he noticed the change in light from the prayer room that he came in. She hadn't known how to explain her sudden, guilty act of extinguishing the lamp, but this man had unexpectedly given her a way out.

"I didn't expect anyone else to come by."

"Judging by the overflowing wax, you've been here a long time and lost track of time," Shu Li's voice was gentle. "Please, take care of yourself in your grief."

"...Yes."

After Beverly said this, she looked at the three people at the door.

They didn't move, which put Beverly in a difficult position.

She hadn't paid attention to the kind of successor group the knights had brought, and naturally hadn't noticed someone as young as Shu Li among them.

But now she realized the three of them were acting with this young man at the center.

He didn't step back, merely staring thoughtfully at the candleholder, while the steward and the other pale-eyed youth beside him remained silent.

The silence lasted two or three seconds. Beverly's heart pounded as she asked: "Is something the matter?"

"I find no fault to point out." Shu Li spoke calmly. "I am merely concerned that the Viscountess's method of prayer might be flawed, inadvertently negating her good intentions. After all, a prayer lamp should not be 'blown out'."

As soon as he said this, Viscountess Beverly's expression changed. She clearly realized Shu Li had seen through her slip.

A prayer lamp could be extinguished, yes – with a snuffer, or by pinching the wick. But it must not be blown out directly with the mouth.

This was a major taboo and common knowledge among believers.

Yet, flustered as she was, Beverly hadn't caught the subtle contradiction in his earlier statement. She had merely felt he was giving her an out and agreed.

These few casually delivered sentences made Viscountess Beverly tremble uncontrollably.

She had a terrible intuition.

The young man before her could surely see through the truth of the entire murder.

Shu Li noticed she understood his implication but remained silent. He simply said no more, turned, and left.

As the door opened, a draft of cold air extinguished the single flame inside.

Unhurried, he turned back and relit it.

When the flame reignited, his expression remained as tranquil as still water. And that composure, that calmness, was like a sharp blade hidden in a sleeve – inspiring not intimacy, but fear, discouraging any thought of disrespect.

Beverly stood frozen in place, as if chilled to the bone.

Shu Li paid her no further attention.

She definitely held a secret, but if she was unwilling to speak, anything forced out would only be diluted lies.

False information would only obscure the truth.

He had no expectations.

Stepping outside, the adjacent room was where the Dowager's body lay.

The bedroom was in an excellent location, facing the manor's courtyard. The white gauze curtains of the French windows filtered the cold white moonlight, creating an even hazier, brighter white mist within the room. From the doorway, one could see the velvet-like lawn, clusters of flowers, and the attic not far away, covered in heather.

Shu Li remarked: "The attic is visible from here too."

Kyle glanced at Shu Li beside him, secretly thinking this man was indeed very shrewd.

In front of the four of them, Shu Li had made a remark that invited speculation, yet offered no explanation, leaving the matter hanging uncomfortably.

For outsiders like them, it was fine. But for the steward, it was even more unsettling.

Think about it: the excuse Shu Li had fabricated for Beverly earlier didn't hold up to scrutiny. Who would normally pay attention to *how* a candle was extinguished? Yet, upon leaving, he had to add that remark about the improper way of putting out the lamp.

That comment, seemingly casual, was actually razor-sharp.

It almost directly exposed Beverly's initial feigned composure and revealed that the excuse she had awkwardly accepted was utterly baseless.

What was worse, even if others hadn't noticed, she had supposedly come for prayer. In her panic, she had forgotten even the most basic taboo.

To an outsider, this was grounds for suspicion, even if they couldn't articulate it.

But in the ears of the manor's steward, it was a story ripe for embellishment and endless retelling.

The steward, reluctant to remain in the same space as the corpse, hovered outside the door, his face pale as he waited.

Kyle glanced at the closed door, then turned to the young man beside him. "What did you mean by that? The part about the Dowager's spirit speaking, or the part where you exposed the Viscountess afterward?"

Hearing him speak so directly and frankly, Shu Li raised an eyebrow. "Both."

Kyle looked at him.

Kyle's tone was nonchalant. "Everyone has secrets, don't they? Pointing them out specifically just drags people into pointless disputes. Besides, there was no one else in the prayer room. If a believer wanted to meet a lover beneath a holy statue," Kyle added, his tone laced with mild mockery, "they'd at least have to cover their eyes with a black cloth to avoid the gaze of the divine, right? She didn't even have pockets on her, let alone a black cloth."

Shu Li listened without changing his expression, silent for a moment before speaking calmly: "She initially tried to hide, yet when we opened the door, she lit the lamp instead, attempting to confuse us with calmness. This shows she reacts quickly on the spot and has strong psychological fortitude. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared such a move."

He didn't think exposing the Viscountess would bring her any particular hardship.

Shu Li turned his head to look at Kyle, his voice low but carrying an undeniable clarity. "Furthermore, she is the only mistress here. If she dislikes gossip, she has plenty of ways to silence people."

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Shu Li continued: "The Book of Proverbs says, 'The spirit does not reveal all things, yet it touches the hearts of men, drawing believers back to Him.' If the Viscountess truly had no troubles weighing on her, it wouldn't have fallen to me to make that remark."

Kyle, who had been leaning against the wall, shifted slightly, soon falling silent as well.

In contrast to his own pragmatic, self-preserving cynicism, Shu Li didn't shy away from exposing others, proving he was neither ingratiating nor hypocritical.

"You think the Dowager's suicide is suspicious? What makes you think there's a problem?"

Shu Li replied: "The rope."

"Once the Dowager was suspected of being a vampire, who would have handed her a rope?"

The door had been locked from the outside with an iron bolt, a testament to the fear and ruthlessness of those who gave the order. How could she possibly have had access to anything beyond basic necessities?

"Furthermore, whether she was a vampire or not, she herself would know best. If she didn't believe she was one, why would she accept being confined to the attic?"

Shu Li had seen many psychiatric patients prone to outbursts.

Their rooms were always sparsely furnished. Anything that could be moved was taken away, leaving only the most basic bed and walls.

After all, for someone prone to madness, any object that could be lifted off the ground and held could become a weapon.

Yet the Dowager's bedroom, though simply furnished, was fully equipped.

She wasn't restrained with iron chains, and meals were delivered by hand, with servants freely entering and exiting.

These details clearly indicated that others did not perceive her as dangerous enough to warrant strict confinement.

There were simply too many suspicious points here.

Kyle caught on immediately and couldn't help but ask: "Even if such things are happening in this manor, what does it have to do with you? What benefit does it bring you?"

Shu Li, asked this question for the first time, countered: "Then why did you come out with me? What benefit does that bring you?"

Kyle: "..."

"Not everything needs to be valuable or meaningful."

Shu Li's gaze was steady. "I have no desire to uphold justice or play the hero for fame. It's just... since I've already noticed these details that shouldn't be there, seen the harbingers of suffering, I can't simply pretend I haven't."

But he also wouldn't speak out rashly.

"However, we won't be staying in this manor for long. I can't do much more. I only hope that after this evil deed is done, some seeds of goodness might be sown. Even if they are faint, they may one day blossom and bear fruit."

At these words, Kyle's eyes flickered.

Kyle admired Shu Li's clarity and envied his forthrightness, yet he also harbored a hidden worry: that this composed person before him might one day become his opponent, see through his identity, and corner him.

But he wasn't cornered yet. It was Shu Li who was stuck in a dead end with this murder case.

Shu Li had initially hoped to examine the clothing for any trace evidence.

But who could have guessed that within just a few short hours, the Dowager's body had already been redressed by the servants, her hair and makeup carefully arranged.

According to the steward, the old clothes and rope had been completely burned, and the attic room had been thoroughly cleaned at the Viscount's request.

Shu Li had hoped he wouldn't have to resort to performing an autopsy.

After all, his earlier pretext was that he heard the Dowager's spirit wanting to speak to him. To suddenly start undressing her corpse would be rather inappropriate.

He called the steward back and quietly asked for a few details.

As the steward listened, his eyes suddenly widened, and his voice trembled. "You... how did you know? Very few people are aware of this."

"I understand." Shu Li nodded.

The next day arrived as scheduled.

After the morning mist had cleared, the successor group once again set out on their journey to Levanci.

At the manor gate, the sound of hooves was light. Viscount Edmond even provided two large carts of supplies, which persuaded Shu Li to stay temporarily to preside over the blessing and prayer ceremony and attend the Mass.

"The ceremony will last three days, until my mother's burial."

"Once it is over, I will arrange for a carriage to send him back."

Viscount Edmond was well-known among the knights, and with the added gift of supplies, the commander of the successor group glanced at Shu Li once more before agreeing.

Accompanying Shu Li were clergy members the Viscount had invited from the local church.

To Shu Li's surprise, these clergy members were very warm towards the Viscountess. After talking with them for a while, he learned that the Viscountess was actually a distant relative of the renowned Aderik family.

Shu Li suddenly recalled that the mother of the 11-year-old musical prodigy transfer student, Caska, was also named Beverly.

Caska was also very close to Veronica.

Yet, during the census investigation, Caska's father was not named Edmond, and Caska had no brother.

The novel never mentioned this detail either.

Shu Li suddenly realized this was a very serious issue – it meant this person was already dead.

"Could your young master show me around? And please summon your mistress as well," Shu Li said to the steward.

By the time they arrived, they heard the maid's worried voice through the not-quite-closed door: "What's going on?"

As soon as Shu Li entered, he saw the child coughing incessantly in the maid's arms.

And on the floor, scattered around the toys, were pearl-like silver granules.

The maid paced back and forth. Shu Li watched her step on one of the silver beads, which instantly flattened—

It was spilled mercury!

"Stop right there! Don't move!" Shu Li shouted, then immediately ordered the steward to bring flour and milk.

The maid, startled by Shu Li, froze in place.

Shu Li walked towards her, pointing out the mercury on the floor. "You're wearing shoes, so that's good. Carefully avoid that pile of silver beads; they're poisonous."

Liquid mercury is not easily absorbed. The risk of poisoning from direct ingestion or skin contact is not as high as one might imagine, but it is still very dangerous.

If the weather gets hot and the mercury evaporates into vapor, then it becomes truly impossible to save someone.

In this era, there's no way to produce chelating agents for detoxification.

If either Fenean or Leslie were here, they could undoubtedly guarantee a full recovery. But unfortunately, Shu Li was alone.

"He's coughing because he ingested some. We'll use milk to neutralize the toxicity first, then see if we can induce vomiting with garlic juice or wormwood juice." Shu Li immediately took the child from the maid's arms. "He's not showing any hand tremors yet, so it's not a confirmed case of poisoning."

When Viscountess Beverly arrived after hearing the news, she saw Shu Li feeding the child wormwood juice. The barely two-year-old child was vomiting, his face flushed red, eyes full of tears.

The mercury-contaminated carpet beside him had been covered in flour, forming clumps that the steward was now cleaning up.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Shu Li's voice was cold as a knife. "Madam Beverly, are you still not awake?"

Did she really believe the Dowager Sakelaine came at night to drink the child's blood?

Could it be that she was trying to cover up someone else's mistake?

"Your husband or your child – which one do you choose?"