When the Villainess Died, the Male Lead Went Crazy

Chapter 117 (Part 2)

As Phileal spoke, tears fell pitifully, causing Duke Percival to relax his furrowed brow and offer him the handkerchief he had.

"Is my daughter safe?"

"Yes, she's safe. But she's inside there."

Duke Percival felt a wave of relief at the thought of seeing his daughter soon. Still, he was tense. There were things he needed to say when they reunited. He also intended to help Anais move on to her next life.

* * *

As Anais continued to be drawn deeper into the room away from Phileal, she sensed something was off. The skeletal remains were lined up, but what she saw was more than just bones. Familiar magic circles surrounded the skeletons.

These were the same magic circles she had seen before when they tried to save her. Although she had no magical power herself, Anais had learned enough about the circles and magic to understand the basics when dealing with wizards.

Moreover, she remembered this particular magic circle because it was unusual. It was designed for wizards' use, but the source of power for this circle was divine energy.

Though they represented opposing forces, it seemed that divine energy could be used like magic here. While this was theoretically possible, in practice, it was highly unlikely to succeed even after numerous experiments.

Yet, Anais had witnessed several successful attempts right before her eyes. She suspected that the person who drew this magic circle was certainly one of the priests of death, as most of the remaining priests were priests of death.

"What are these corpses?"

Moreover, the bodies were already skeletal. A dead person doesn't immediately turn into a skeleton. The body goes through a process of decay, undergoing many changes. Yet, all she saw before her were bones.

However, the neatly laid-out clothing meant that there had to be some recently deceased. They looked sophisticated, as if they were from the palace.

"Could it be...?"

In an instant, she spotted a torn piece of a dress and tugged on it.

"...!"

Anais realized that the dress belonged to the Empress.

As she glanced around, she noticed that all the dresses near the skeletons were similar. It reminded her of the many women she had seen wearing those outfits when she first entered the palace.

"But they said living sacrifices were no longer needed...?"

Anais felt confused.

Beyond the large magic circle, she spotted a small door. Wondering if there was nothing else to find here, she took one last look around.

But all she found were the magic circle, the bones, and the scattered dresses. She wasn't sure if heading to the small room was a wise choice, but with no other options, she decided to proceed.

She knew that touching the door would likely pull her in as before, so Anais took a deep breath and extended her hand. If she entered like this, there might be no coming back.

Yet, she couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. To overcome her fear, she reached out. As expected, she was pulled in without resistance.

When she went inside, she found herself surrounded by countless books. On the surface, it resembled a normal office. And right beside her was—

"A gate?"

Anais could tell that the gate had been used recently. It was clean, as if it had been polished daily, and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere in the room.

Moreover, there was no musty smell of accumulated dust in the air.

To understand where the gate led, Anais checked the most recently set coordinates.

Suddenly, an aurora appeared, and the gate began to activate.

"You've managed to crawl your way here."

To her surprise, it was Lilith who stepped out of the gate and addressed Anais.

"Lilith."

Anais felt the situation was absurd.

"What is this place? Didn't you say living sacrifices were no longer needed?"

"Yes, well. We no longer need them to restore Lady Anais's body, at least."

Just then, the gate emitted light again, and another person stepped through.

"Lewarren, you knew about this place too?"

"You're late."

Lilith glared at Lewarren with disdain before turning her attention back to Anais.

"Did you run away here after being abandoned by the Emperor? How pathetic."

"Lilith."

"What difference does it make that you came here? I just needed the sacrifices."

"Then those corpses are all..."

"Yes, they are the priests."

In a moment of rage, Anais shouted at her.

"You definitely told me there would be no more living sacrifices!"

"Do you think I would tell you the truth, Lady Anais? Why would I do that for someone so insignificant?"

"Enough, Lilith."

Lewarren interrupted her and approached Anais.

"We're returning to the palace."

"Are you insane? Let go of me!"

"Whether you like it or not, we need your body, Saintess."

"Let go!"

Lewarren activated the gate leading back to the palace.