The Monster and the Witch

⚜︎ Ep 48: A Second Dagger ⚜︎

Carmine and Damian spent the night interrogating the nobles and Lord Brahm. In total, there were eight nobles and four wealthy businessmen interrogated; put in two adjoining prison cells, six people in each cell.

On purpose, they interrogated the prison cell next to Brahm's cell first. Damian caused quite a ruckus, causing the prisoners to shout in surprise and fear at his coming. At the same time, Carmine immediately whispered from behind bars to Lord Brahm, "You know, I can tell my husband to go soft on you if you tell us what the funds from the auction are being used for."

"Damian hasn't told me yet, but I'm guessing he has killed the Viscount of Lambaja on the spot," she continued to explain how Damian had taken down the man in purple silk straight at the auction after Carmine took the kids out. She did not pity the pedophile's death.

Brahm's face paled so much.

It didn't take long for the count to give Carmine everything she needed to know. So did the others who were caught.

Ah, no fun, Carmine thought, why is a man as stupid as the Count was made the leader of the funding operation of a political faction?

Carmine thought bringing down the Marquis of Tasikh's faction would be harder than this. But in not even two months, she had been able to catch the Marquis's right hand in Malakai. Since the Marquis was in another region, about a five-hour ride from Malakai, Marquis of Tasikh would not have had a chance to save Brahm in time. The cherry on top was that rumors about Brahm and the illegal auction of minors had reached all over the empire within hours. Marquis of Tasikh and his faction would surely benefit more in sacrificing Brahm and cutting off all ties.

It doesn't matter, she thought, At least all the weeds in Malakai have been pruned. 

The funding supply was successfully stalled. Carmine just had to plan their next move, looking for the next pawn to be toppled.

As soon as morning arrived, Carmine and Damian accompanied by Gael, Rohan, Baltaz, and Suay gathered in Damian's office. Everyone stood except for the Duke. But Ardan came and brought a chair with him. The old butler put it next to Damian's chair and then left the room.

"Carmine," Damian called out to her and pointed to the chair next to him. 'Sit down,' he said without saying.

'Are you talking to me?'

'Yes.'

Carmine sat next to Damian. She saw Gael smiling and wanted to ask what was funny, but Marianne had come to the room before she could ask. The girl said hello to everyone.

"How are the kids doing?" she asked Marianne.

The black bags under Marianne's eyes looked even thicker. Nights must still be treating her roughly.

"Many still have nightmares. And some still don't believe that they are free," Marianne said, "The latter would wake up in the night thinking Brahm would punish them. But I got them all reassured."

Carmine nodded.

"Marianne," Damian said, "I want you to coordinate with Rohan to identify each child from the missing children list. If their families are still available, we have to get them back. If there is no ..." he glanced at Carmine as if asking, 'What should we do?'

"If their family is no longer available, we can work with the orphanage owned by Lady Kalinda," Carmine answered. Lady Kalinda had the largest orphanage in all Malakai. It was her penchant for children that made her sympathize with Marianne in the beginning.

Damian nodded at the suggestion, then gave out a long sigh.

"We have worse news," he said. "It turned out that the funds from the auction were used by the Marquis of Tasikh's faction to fund their military."