Chapter 142: _Two Culprits

Words : 1094 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

Chapter 142: _Two Culprits "What could have possibly been the cause of her death?" Layla asked as I finally got to the body. I tilted my head, staring at it with dread. It was rotting, but I didn’t see any maggots or putrid flesh that would make me think she was dead. Instead, her body was shriveled up until her skin looked like ash, and her hair started falling off. She was also naked, curled up into a ball with her eyeballs wide open, and also shriveled, sinking into her eye sockets. "Poison." Kaelos suddenly mumbled, causing all eyes to turn to him. I raised an eyebrow at first until I followed his gaze and realized that he was staring at an empty vial clutched weakly in the maid’s hands. Oh, gods... "Anyone who’s not an official should leave this place and ensure no one outside the mansion finds out!" Kaelos yelled out with gritted teeth, turning around and glaring at the maids and guards standing several meters away. They all scurried, avoiding Kaelos’ wrath, while Caroline grabbed my arm and was about to lead me out of there. "You. Leave." Kaelos pointed at Caroline and gestured at her to go, before he fixed his gaze on me. "You. Stay." I fluttered my eyelids awkwardly but swallowed hard, glancing at Caroline and nodding at her reassuringly before she bowed and then walked away. "Her body isn’t giving up any scent that would suggest it’s rotting," Layla remarked just then, squatting to the ground and sniffing. "In fact, it’s devoid of any scent at all. No wonder the guards or maids didn’t notice her until now." "Could this be suicide?" Marcellus suddenly asked, causing me to glance at him. He seemed to have a calm expression and shrugged at me. "What? With her holding a poison in her hand, I thought that would be obvious?" I dimmed my eyes, and as much as I wanted to believe that was the case, my instincts told me there was more to this. ’Even if the poor thing committed suicide, why is she naked?’ Sirena commented in my head, and I couldn’t help but agree. Meanwhile, Layla shook her head with pity on her face before she got back on her feet. "She’s been defiled. Badly. This wasn’t suicide." My heart sank at those words. I knew it! "This was a premeditated murder that the killer poorly tried to make seem like a suicide," Kaelos said with a scoff, folding his arms in front of his chest. However, that brought a lot of questions to my head. The fact that her body was rotting without giving off any scents or smells reminded me of a poison... Without a word, I stepped forward and squatted, stretching my hand and gently picking up the small vial clutched in her shriveled hand. Her skin was so brittle that it felt like it would break from merely touching it. "Do you recognize something, Dessa?" Marcellus asked knowingly, but I ignored him, too concentrated on confirming my suspicion. I opened the vial and brought it close to my nostrils, sniffing it. It smelled of some familiar roots, but also had something sharp and nauseating. Like cyanide. And then there was something else... "Magic." I blurted out, my eyes widening with shock as I stood up with the vial clutched in my hand. I whipped my head to Kaelos and the others, who stared at me curiously. "Well?" Kaelos queried, sounding impatient. I drew in a deep breath before I spoke. "The poison is actually a magic potion that was made illegal by several covens on the continent because of how deadly it is. It’s called ’Ashrot’. It dries up the insides of its victim within seconds, luring in a painful death and making the body similar to inorganic ash." The eyes of everyone present widened while Marcellus whistled. "Well, damn. What exactly would witches need a deadly poison like that for?" He queried, but before I could respond, Kaelos snapped. "The main question here should be what the heck is an illegal magic potion doing in the possession of an ordinary maid?" There was silence after his words, and everyone was clearly clueless. However, the silence was shattered when a deep voice boomed from another direction. "She was bribed!" I turned my head in the direction of the voice and almost sighed when I saw Gamma Zane walking toward us. In his right hand, he held a simple-looking purse that earned an eyebrow raise from me. "Now’s not the time to show off your change in fashion, Gamma." Marcellus suddenly blurted, causing me to place my hand in front of my mouth to hold a giggle. It seemed Layla was also trying to hold in laughter, forcing the two of us to exchange subtle glances. By the goddess, we shouldn’t be laughing in such a situation! "How mature of you, Beta." Gamma Zane responded with a sarcastic smile before his face became stern again. He flung the purse to Kaelos, who caught it mid-air before looking through it. It didn’t take long for him to bring out a wad of cash containing one-hundred-dollar bills. "I found that in the dead maid’s room in the staff house. That’s twenty-five hundred dollars." Gamma Zane remarked, folding his arms in front of his chest as he got to our group. He glanced at me briefly, his eyes flashing with the usual disdain and suspicion, forcing me to look away awkwardly. "Where could a maid have gotten such money from?" Layla asked, scratching the back of her head. Gamma Zane scoffed before he spoke up. "I’m telling you, this maid was bribed to poison someone. Perhaps the Alpha King, or someone else." I saw him staring at me from the corner of my eye, causing me to gulp. ’Obsessed much?’ Sirena sneered in my head as if she wanted to claw her way out and give him a piece of her mind. However, before anyone could talk again, Kaelos spoke up with a somber tone. "So, she was bribed but then raped and possibly forced to kill herself and dumped here." He paused, his expression tense. "Whoever made her kill herself didn’t do it casually. This was a deliberate message." I furrowed my eyebrows at the thought. It seemed to make sense. But then... "Wouldn’t that mean we have two culprits in our midst? Both of them possibly at odds with each other?" Marcellus asked the question that had been slipping into my head.

Chapter 142: _Two Culprits

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