Chapter 74: Being Cornered and Showing True Form

"Once Marquis Orlan finishes reading, escort Alicia out of here. Understood?"

"What?" Jisha looked at him in confusion. "Escort Alicia out? What’s going to happen?"

Her eyes drifted to Orlan, who was reading the documents with a tense, focused expression.

Nolan didn’t offer any further explanation. He simply shook his head with a calm, indifferent look.

"You’ll understand soon enough," he replied shortly.

Jisha pouted in frustration but didn’t argue. It wasn’t fear that held her back—it was the seriousness in Nolan’s expression. He wasn’t joking.

She didn’t know what was coming—but her instincts screamed that it wasn’t good.

As the servants, soldiers, Alicia, Alex, Nolan, Jisha, and the others looked on, Orlan’s expression slowly darkened, his features tightening with a cold, simmering fury.

His hand trembled as he gripped the documents, struggling to contain the storm of rage rising within him.

"How could this happen?" he muttered through clenched teeth.

He set the documents aside and opened the black pouch that came with them—then fell silent.

Inside were black, pentagon-shaped talismans made of glass.

At the center of each was a golden grail engraved with a star—an unmistakable symbol. And shockingly, there weren’t just one or two... but more than ten.

As a Marquis, how could he not recognize it?

It was the emblem of the most dangerous black mage cult: the Underworld Gate—infamous for their mastery of corpse summoning and curse magic.

At the time, when he hired mercenaries and mages to wipe out the black mages, he had no idea who they truly were.

But after a brief investigation, the truth emerged—they were remnants of the Underworld Gate, a group believed to have been destroyed by the Emperor himself years ago.

And just this afternoon, Nolan had warned him: the people who attacked him and his family were connected to that very group.

Nolan had even shown him one of the talismans found in the garden. It wasn’t just a random object—it was part of a larger magic formation.

Now, holding several nearly identical talismans in his hands, Orlan came to a horrifying realization: these things were everywhere—planted in every corner of his house.

When he pieced everything together with the documents he had just read, all the evidence pointed to one name—someone he had come to trust: Melissa.

Fury, betrayal, and a flood of tangled emotions surged within him, making his breathing shallow and his chest feel tight.

His eyes turned bloodshot as he stared at Melissa, who was already pale with fear.

"Melissa..." he called in a hoarse voice. "So all this time, you’ve been scheming behind my back? You’re the one responsible for the misfortune that befell Alicia and my wife?"

Facing his cold expression and the killing intent radiating from him, Melissa recoiled in fear, taking a step back.

"M-My Lord, this... This is all a lie! I didn’t do it!" She cried, shaking her head in denial.

The soldiers and servants nearby widened their eyes in shock at the accusation.

"Did Lord Orlan just say... Melissa is the culprit?" One of the maids whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

No one answered—but deep down, everyone had already formed their own conclusions.

"Lie?" Orlan sneered, then let out a chilling laugh. "Hehehe... Even after seeing all this, you’re still going to claim it’s fake?"

With those words, he slammed the talismans from the pouch onto the floor and hurled the documents at Melissa.

She stumbled back in panic, her eyes darting to the floor now littered with black talismans, each engraved with the golden grail symbol.

Papers lay scattered around her, and as her eyes fell on their contents, her blood ran cold.

They contained a meticulous record of her actions over the years—so thorough and precise that denial was impossible.

Every time, location and movement were documented with such exacting detail that no one could question their authenticity.

Melissa gritted her teeth and shook her head frantically, like someone on the verge of losing her mind.

"Lord Orlan, trust me!" She screamed, her voice cracking with desperation. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pleaded, trembling. "Please... my Lord... I didn’t do it!"

But Orlan showed not a trace of mercy.

His eyes were cold—burning with hatred and the raw pain of betrayal.

All this time, he had believed Melissa to be loyal and dependable.

Yet now the truth stood before him: the person he trusted most was the one behind his daughter’s curse, his wife’s suffering, and all the hardships he had endured through the years.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and pointed at her.

"Soldiers! Arrest her immediately!" he commanded.

At his order, the soldiers sprang into action.

They surrounded Melissa from all sides, swords drawn and aimed straight at her.

"Surrender, Melissa. It’s over," one of the soldiers said coldly.

Their expressions were hard, filled with righteous fury. Once, they had looked up to her with admiration—but now, that respect had turned to bitter contempt.

As loyal soldiers of the Caltheron family, they would never allow a traitor to walk free.

"Melissa!" Alicia cried out, tears brimming in her wide, terrified eyes.

Alicia was about to run toward Melissa, but Jisha quickly held her back, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Young Lady Alicia, you can’t go over there," Jisha said, her expression torn with concern.

"But... but..." Tears streamed down Alicia’s cheeks as she pointed at Melissa. "Melissa’s in danger! They’re going to hurt her! Wuuu~"

Jisha let out a quiet sigh, then glanced at Nolan, her expression troubled. The man remained calm—as if everything was unfolding exactly as he had planned.

This guy is seriously terrifying,

she muttered under her breath.

In the past, she would still occasionally underestimate Nolan. But now, she no longer dared to.

Behind that annoying, laid-back attitude was someone extremely dangerous and impossible to predict.

To make him an enemy... would be a disaster no one could afford.

In that moment, Jisha truly believed what Orlan had told her earlier—Nolan was nothing like the man people described in the rumors.

Meanwhile, surrounded by soldiers, Melissa stood frozen, her face ghostly pale.

She kept begging Orlan for mercy, but he didn’t even glance at her—his silence more damning than any sentence.

Then, something in her expression shifted.

The fear and desperation vanished, replaced by a chilling, twisted smile.

"Tsk. I didn’t think I’d actually get caught," she said, chuckling softly.

Her sudden change in demeanor made everyone freeze in alarm.

"Melissa...? No... that’s not Melissa!" One of the soldiers shouted in horror.

But before he could react, Melissa clenched her fingers—and in a flash, lunged at him, her hand piercing straight into his stomach.

"Argh!" The soldier cried out, gasping in pain and disbelief.

Looking down, the soldier saw Melissa’s hand—now transformed into a claw—buried deep in his stomach.

"Impossible..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Melissa yanked her hand free. The soldier staggered, then collapsed to the floor—lifeless.

Silence fell over the room. Everyone stood frozen, unable to comprehend the horror that had just unfolded before their eyes—even Orlan was momentarily stunned.

But a heartbeat later, he snapped out of it and roared, "Everyone, attack!"

The soldiers jolted into action, quickly raising their weapons and launching a furious assault on Melissa.

Terrified, the servants screamed and fled the room in a panic.

Nolan immediately turned to Jisha and shouted, "Jisha! Get Alicia out of here—now!"