After temporarily having those Divine Advent Church members wait in place, Ciel returned to Lucy’s underground hiding place with Tara.
Everyone else was already waiting in the main hall. The candles around had all been lit. When Ciel returned with Tara, everyone’s gaze turned towards Ciel, who was walking in front.
Just now, Adele and Amy had learned about what had happened. Now, they were almost completely clueless about how to solve this problem.
At this moment, the only person everyone could rely on was Ciel—after all, she could always create some miracles that were almost impossible.
But among these people, Lucy was the most curious.
Because, it seemed only she knew that the person standing before her was not Ciel, but a “Subverter” disguised as Ciel, as she had worked with the other party once before.
“Avena, do you remember what happened at Thornesby Manor on July 7th?”
Ciel stood still, then looked at Avena and asked.
Avena recounted everything that happened that day, trying her best to restore everything she remembered in her memory from that day.
As Avena talked about the orchestra playing by the lake, Ciel interrupted Avena and asked, “Do you remember what the conductor of that orchestra looked like? You should know her, right?”
Avena knew Windsor. There was no reason for her not to know the Grand Princess. And with so many nobles present, it was impossible for no one to recognize her.
Avena narrowed her eyes, carefully recalling what happened that night.
Night, lake, orchestra, music… The scene seemed to replay in Avena’s memory. A “Psychiatrist” was good at excavating memories, even her own.
But when she tried to find the appearance of the conductor from the memory fragments, she found that this person didn’t exist in her memory at all… It was as if she had been deliberately overlooked by her own memory.
This discovery made Avena frown.
She would regularly purify her mind with a “Substitute Death Relic,” but she would only notice if her thoughts were distorted or changed. She wouldn’t remember things she didn’t care about at all.
Avena’s eyes glowed with dark purple light. She seemed ready to use her abilities.
“Avena, look at me.” Ciel said.
“Okay…” Avena subconsciously looked at Ciel.
Ciel scanned everyone present, then slowly raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Snapping her fingers wasn’t a necessary condition for activating her skill. It was for her to let everyone know that this was a dream.
After a crisp sound, the scene before everyone’s eyes instantly changed.
A gentle evening breeze blew. Beside them, there was the light of a bonfire and soft music. Nobles clinked glasses. The aroma of food and desserts filled the air.
They seemed to have been instantly teleported from the dark underground hiding place to a high-end outdoor banquet venue.
Avena slowly opened her mouth, her face full of astonishment.
This was not an ability a “Law Officer” could possess.
A “Psychiatrist” could make one person have this kind of dream-like illusion, but it could only work on one person.
But Avena looked around. It seemed that everyone else could also see the surrounding scenery.
Adele had even unknowingly picked up a large roasted chicken leg and was staring blankly at it. The light in her eyes seemed to have faded.
Amy was excited about the changes around her—it was the first time she had seen such amazing transcendent power. Lucy and Avena, after a brief pause, both looked towards the location of the orchestra.
Ciel followed Avena’s gaze towards the orchestra. The musicians by the lake were playing the piece with effort, and a blurry figure, with their back to them, was conducting the orchestra.
This was not Ciel’s dream. It was Avena’s.
“Avena, recall carefully.” Ciel stood behind Avena and said in a low voice.
Ciel wanted Avena to help her reconstruct the scene at that time.
At this moment, most of the guests’ faces were blurry—this was Avena’s impression of them. But no matter how blurry, they still had a general human shape, and their hair color could be distinguished.
But the figure of the conductor on the stage, with their back to the crowd, was unusually blurry. It had even reached the point where only a human shape could be discerned.
This was not normal. Even Avena’s immediate memory couldn’t fail to bring up a back view.
“She has transcendent items that can interfere with detection.” Lucy said.
“‘Ring of Obstruction’, I know this thing…”
“This was bought at Deton Group’s auction two years ago. I happen to know who the buyer was… because I was in charge of hosting the event. This is confidential information.”
After pausing for a moment, Lucy spoke, revealing the name.
“It was Forte who bought it… but I’m very confused. This item isn’t that powerful. Could it be Forte himself…”
“This is Forte? He was there at the time?”
Avena seemed to realize something was wrong.
“No, this is the Grand Princess.” Ciel shook her head.
“Grand Princess… Vitalis Cecile Augusta? Sister Vita?”
Avena’s face showed a hint of confusion.
She was familiar with this person. She had inherited Queen Vitalis’s name. Her middle name was a tribute to her godfather, Pope Cecile. Augusta meant “sacred” in Old Ansu language.
She was the Queen’s designated heir. The combined power of her name was much stronger than Windsor’s.
Ciel looked up at Avena. She seemed to know something about the Grand Princess.
“I used to call her that…”
Avena hesitated for a moment, then said, “When I was little, she often brought… Windsor, brought her to play with me.”
“But later, perhaps because she entered the transcendent world, we basically didn’t see each other anymore.”
Avena added, “That was when I was very young.”
“What about now? Do you know anything about her now?”
Ciel asked, “She seems to have witnessed the process of me killing the ‘Keyman.’ Not long ago, she told Forte about these things.”