"It's only a matter of time before they join me in death! How do you atone?"
"I'm so sorry! I've been stupid, I have no proof. I threw away the poison and burned all her Ladyship's letters."
"Then burn yourself!" Lynna was then dragged by her dead roommates in the pit, only the flames put an end to her shrieks.
Zamon and Bisya kneeled too, going straight to the point.
"I can save your children!" Yelled the young maid. "I'm not stupid, I never trusted that b*tch as far as I can throw her. I kept all her letters, her orders, in case she broke her word! I keep them all under a loose board in the kitchen's pantry."
"As did I! Also, I know where she keeps hidden all her personal correspondence." The old butler rushed to add, fearing of becoming useless to his captor.
"She ordered the poison months ago! And there so much more to it! It's all in a secret compartment right under her bed. I swear, that's all that I know! Please have mercy of this old fool!"
"Magnificent!" Said the Count with his usual joyful and enthusiastic tone, clapping his hands in delight.
Suddenly he didn't sound otherworldly at all. The skeletons fell down like puppets whose strings had been cut, the fire went out and the Count came down to the ground with a thump loud enough to be heard.
"Was this all…" Zamon couldn't believe his eyes.
"A farce?" Poltus completed the sentence for him. "Yes, old weasel. I knew you were always up to no good." The traitorous servants were able to put a face to the old skeleton's voice.
"Jadon, Keyla, be a dear and go retrieve the evidence. At this point I can't trust anyone else." The Count's heirs came right after Poltus, nodding, before running back to the house.
Knowing he was doomed, Zamon still found the strength to watch into the open grave, finding out that everyone was still alive, just bound and gagged by tendrils of earth.
Thinking about what would befall to him and his family, the old butler was filled with regret. The long years of loyal service, the savings of a lifetime, all those careful plans for his retirements, shattered together with his hopes for a better tomorrow for his sons.
**************
Lith sighed with relief, he could finally come out in the open. If he could, he would pat his back by himself, the results had far exceeded his expectations.
Since Solus couldn't find anything in the remaining rooms, Lith had her follow Lynna day and night, taking note of all those she was the most in contact with, to round them up all together for the final act.
Which by the way, had been quite a hassle to arrange. To avoid blowing his cover, Lith could only resort to chore magic and spells up to tier three, like the Hoovering spell he had applied to the Count.
He had explained everything in detail to the Count, to avoid him being scared or surprised by the special effects he had in mind. Lith, off course, said he would move the skeletons with air magic, while he was actually using spirit magic.
The blood tears trick was an easy one, chicken blood that he prevented to clot with light magic, while using water magic to make it go down the cheekbones, pass behind the ear and through the hair to get an endless stream effect.
The single steps were easy, but keeping all those spells active at the same time, manipulating flames, blood, skeletons, had been quite exhausting, even with Solus's help. She had taken care of half the stage, but the mana she used was Lith's.
They were like two divers with a single oxygen tank.
The Count too was very happy with the result.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! I always knew that magic is awesome! Flying has been such a memorable experience. Not to mention their faces!" Count Lark was laughing like a kid after a successful prank.
"You should have seen their faces! Priceless! I never had so much fun in my life." He patted Lith's shoulder, covering him in white powder.
"Who would have guessed that old ghost stories from my books could be so effective. With a little tuning here and there, off course!"
"For being a goodie-goodie two shoes, the Count is quite a trickster." Lith thought. "Despite being so averse to torture, he had no qualms scaring so many people sh*tless. Guess he never heard about psychological torture and PTSD."
As soon as they got their hands on the incriminating evidence, Count Lark immediately used his communication amulet to contact the King's Bureau of Law and Order to submit them.
The night clerk assured him that they would move his paperwork on the top of the list, and that they would send royal investigators to shed light on the case.
Translated from the bureaucratic lingo, it meant that the Count's case would now take days instead of weeks. Lith wouldn't take any risks, not after showing so much of his prowess, so he had the Count make his whole family come to the estate the very next day.
He sent them also some clothes he had prepared beforehand. In such a palace, the lowest stable boy was better dressed than them, even if they wore their best suits.
When they arrived, one way or another, all the staff was assembled to see first-hand the mysterious woman who had spawned the Count's alleged fifth son.
They expressed much admiration for his mother's and sisters' beauty, and even Raaz received a lot of attentions.
When Lith sent Solus to check if the rumour had finally died out, she replied with endless laughing out loud and an unbelievable story.
According to her report, the household was now split into two factions.
The first one, that she dubbed #TeamLith, was leaded by Poltus, which refused to step back from his initial theory.
"Who would have thought that such an airhead like the Count could also be such a schemer? Not only he got himself such a beautiful and young mistress, he also had the smarts to choose a woman whose husband resembles him so much that he would never suspect the son isn't his own! That witch of the Countess can't hold a candle to such gorgeous woman."
The second one, #TeamRaaz, was leaded by Hilya. She was the head of the kitchen staff, first chef and also Poltus oldest rival in terms of both authority and gossip skill.
"Are you gone senile or what? The Count is too noble and chivalrous to cheat, even on such a treacherous hag! Clearly, he had an affair before their wedding, and Sir Raaz is the offspring of that love.
That means that not only he is the real Count's fifth son, but that the young mage and his beautiful sisters are all his secret nephews! That's why he cares so much about the boy, and why he has brought them all here now that the Countess is dead set to wipe out the whole bloodline!
How noble of him! He probably has protected them from the shadows all these years, to keep them safe from his wife's jealousy and ire."
Lith didn't know if to laugh or cry.
"How the f*ck did we come to this?"
"Sorry." Solus shrugged. "It seems that the Count's staff has the hobby of making everything related to nobles look sordid. Thinking ill of something makes even coincidences looks interesting, don't you think?"
Lith shook his head in desperation.
"Poor mom. She is just a forbidden love triangle away from becoming the main character of one of those chick flicks that were all the rage a few years ago on Earth."