Part 5 The Red Priestess Chapter 100 A “Test”
The gentle voice seemed to resonate with Audrey’s deepest thoughts, making her resist just a little bit and feel that it came from her heart, her truest thoughts.
Hwyn Lambeth looked into her turquoise, jewel-like eyes, and spoke neither too fast nor too slow as he continued:
”Secondly, at the next feasts and balls, cease to be so resistant to the overtures of the several princes, and, in the presence of the Earl and Lady Hall, praise a few words.
”Remember the above words, which are the mapping of your subconscious mind, and then, forget that I have ever come to ever say these words to you, forget that there is an anomaly between such behavior and your original manifestation, and do not try to seek refuge and deviate from the key position of the High Mass of the Church of the Dark Night …… ”
Having said this, Hwyn Lambeth withdrew his gaze from Audrey’s eyes, and turned to hint up to Maid Anne and the others, so that they would not be surprised by their lady’s subsequent aberrant behavior.
Having dealt with these things, his figure disappeared into the carriage like that, without causing a single movement.
Ding bell!
Outside the window of the car was another bicycle driving by, Audrey’s slightly unfocused eyes immediately regained their vigor.
She glanced at the traffic on the street and gave a small “ouch”.
Then she turned back to Anne and the others, not too kindly:
”I forgot something, I have to go to Grayling’s first.”
At this time, the carriage had not yet left Queens, and was not too far away from Viscount Grelint’s residence, Anne and other servants did not feel strange and difficult, and hurriedly instructed the driver to turn into another street.
Busy until 9:40, Audrey arrived at Pacefield Street, stepped into the second floor of the Ruane Charitable Scholarship Fund, into his own trustee’s office.
Watching her personal maid Annie and the others either organizing the file shelves or preparing black tea with the water from the mountain spring she carried, Audrey, with her big golden dog Susie in tow, opened the door to the small lounge attached to it, as if she wanted to once again examine her face to determine if she needed help from the maids in touching up her make-up.
During this process, Audrey glanced at the keyhole and asked Suzie with a rather relaxed mind:
”Have I been acting unusually today?”
It was a habit she had picked up in the last few days, only since the disappearance of Hwyn Lambeth!
She knew that the blessing of Mr. Fool’s angel was not permanent, but could only last for a certain period of time, and she had no way to foresee whether or not Hwyn Lambeth would come to her, and when he would come, so she couldn’t pray to Mr. Fool in advance to make appropriate preparations. Therefore, based on her understanding of psychology, occult science and cautious attitude, she not only examined her behavior three times a day to see if there are any abnormalities, whether there are too many coincidences in the things that happened to her, but also specially instructed Susie to pay attention to her own state, to be her own mirror.
This was a precaution against being hypnotized and suggested by Hwyn Lambeth without realizing it!
Susie, the big blonde dog, sat crouched next to her and thought seriously and said:
”There.”
”……” Audrey’s expression with a light smile stiffened for a moment, and she was busy looking at Susie, waiting for her to explain.
Susie twitched her nose and glanced from side to side before continuing:
”You went out without a plan to visit Viscount Graylingt, but changed your route halfway there.
”You would have informed me of your general itinerary in advance for the past few days, and also said that you would discuss with me first if you added or changed your plans temporarily.”
After hearing Susie’s reply, Audrey’s expression had become grave.
She still didn’t feel that there was anything unusual about this matter, but this state was most unusual!
It gave her a near-certain judgment:
Hwyn Lambeth had come, just after she had gone out, and before she went to the Grelint mansion!
The other had already made the suggestion and hypnosis to remove all traces!
But he didn’t “tell” a dog to think that everything he saw was normal …… Audrey subconsciously had to let Suzie out so that she could ask the “Fool” for help. “Mr. Fool, but became hesitant.
Will my behavior be monitored by Hwyn Lambeth? Could he be sitting somewhere in this room, quietly watching me?…… No. If that were the case, he would have realized something was wrong when I asked Susie earlier, and prayed for nothing worse……. Even if he were here, he would have been able to see me. Even if he is here, Mr. “Fool” can find out, and I can promise future sacrifices and pray for a direct divine punishment. …… But why don’t I want to pray, or ask for help. …… Audrey stood there, her mind racing with thoughts. there, with all sorts of thoughts racing through her mind, instinctively wanting to escape.
This made her perceive a contradiction and discover a little resistance that existed within her.
From a psychological and occult point of view, she vaguely guessed something, and busied herself with dismissing the idea of asking for help, leaving herself in the kind of state in which she normally prayed to the Goddess but did not desire an answer.
This reduced her inner conflict by a large part at once.
Audrey became instantly sure of herself, first signaling Susie to go out the door, then looking into the mirror and hypnotizing herself very quietly:
”You’re not asking for help, you’re just doing your daily prayers ……
”You’re not asking for help, you’re just doing your daily prayers ……”
After many times in a row, the swirls in Audrey’s eyes that were light green and deep enough to attract souls slowly dissipated and her eyes returned to normal.
She then raised her hands, interlocked them against her mouth and nose, and chanted in a low voice in the ancient Hermetic language:
”Fools not of this age …… I may have met Hwyn Lambeth ……”
In her words, she made no mention of wishing for help, but merely described what she had just discovered.
After waiting for a while, a crimson glow surged before Audrey’s eyes, flooding her with a tidal wave.
Horrifically, her thoughts became clear, and an image flew through her mind.
It was Hwyn Lambeth, sitting just inside the carriage, just across from her, dressed in a black three-piece suit;
That was the old man who admonished her sentence by sentence in a gentle voice;
It was the demigod of the “audience” whose light blue eyes seemed to hide endless wisdom and swirls of light.
At the same time, those words once again resounded in Audrey’s ears, making her completely remember everything that had happened before.
When the crimson light disappeared, what appeared in front of her eyes was the mottled ancient bronze table, and the mysterious figure sitting on the top high-backed chair, shrouded in gray and white mist.
In the midst of the emotions of fear, horror, and panic that came over her, Audrey stood up, lifted her skirts, and curtsied to the great being:
”Thank you for blessing me, esteemed Mr. ‘Fool’.”
Klein nodded gently and smiled approvingly:
”You handled that well.”
Hearing these words, Audrey suddenly became relieved and less frightened, she sat down and calmly described her encounter in full.
As a “Fool”, Klein couldn’t directly discuss with Miss “Justice”, help her analyze and give her opinion, but could only smile and say:
”This is a test of fate for you.”
A test? Only by passing this test will I have the qualifications to become a demigod and protect the people I want to protect in the complicated situation of Bekrand? “Justice” Audrey interpreted Mr. “Fool”‘s hint and nodded seriously:
”I see.”
Without further ado, Klein said with a half-sigh, half-smile:
”Go back and meet it.”
Audrey was about to express her gratitude again, when a deep red color already leaped up before her eyes, and everything she saw became blurred.
In an instant, she was back in the real world, but no longer forgetting or ignoring anything.
A test? Does it mean that I have to solve the danger originating from Hwyn Lambeth while ensuring that my secret is not exposed? Even if I cause the death of Hwyn Lambeth, I won’t be suspected by the Psycho-Alchemy Society afterwards? What should be done …… Audrey looked at the unusually beautiful blonde girl in the mirror, her head slightly tilted and glanced diagonally across the room.
There was a large lounge in that direction, belonging to those trustees who didn’t hold office within the Foundation, and just nearly ten minutes ago, when going up the stairs, Audrey had seen Mr. Dawn Dantes in there.
……
Above the gray mist, Klein tapped his fingers on the edge of the long, stained table, analyzing what happened to Ms. Justice and Ms. Judgment last night and this morning:
”This isn’t right, Adam sent the ‘No Dark Cross’ to me through Ms. Judgement and Ms. Magician, how could he not know which existence is behind them? which existence is behind them? What else do I need to try and find out?
”I thought last night that the investigation of Ms. Hugh was purely a King’s Faction operation, just a secondment of the Psycho-Alchemy Society’s Middle Sequence Extraordinaires, and that Adam had not shared the ‘Fool’ with the King’s Faction or the Magician’s Cult for some reason; after all, K still wants me to feed back some information ……
”But now it seems that this trial also has a part of Adam’s will ah, otherwise Hwyn Lambeth would not have been involved in this matter at all, even for the ‘Twilight Hermit Society’, a saint is quite valuable and important, not so easy to be abandoned and sacrificed ……
”What does Adam want to test? To test whether Ms. ‘Judgement’s’ actions were based purely on her own factors, or whether the will of the ‘Fool’ was attached to it?
”If the ‘Fool’ gets the ‘Cross of No Darkness’ and understands that the king’s secret is related to Adam’s plot, but still insists on letting his subordinates investigate, that would be making an enemy of the ‘Twilight Hermit Society’. ‘ as an enemy ah, and Adam is aware of the true identity of Gelman Sparrow, the Dependent ……
”But, with Adam’s ability, don’t even need to try to find out what, directly to the ‘judgment’ lady side a sit, listen to her heart, can grasp the real situation, there is no need to bother so much trouble ah ……
”Unless k has left Berkland, or, based on some avoidance, does not dare to enter this metropolis again, and can only be investigated through his men ……
”My warning to Ms. Arianna, to the Church of Darkness, took effect, and Adam sensed the danger of a divine descent?
”The probability is like this, k although it is clear that Gelman Sparrow is related to the ‘Death Consul’, but should not have noticed that something is wrong with the Artificial Death, even the Artificial Death faction of the Spirit Order has not yet discovered this, so, coupled with the bonus of the hidden authority, k does not know that the goddess will not be able to for a very long time Godfall ……
”When we deal with Hwyn Lambeth next, we must make sure that Ms. ‘Justice’ is set aside and not suspected.”
Klein had just thought of this when he saw Miss ‘Justice’ Audrey enter the Councilor’s Lounge through the corresponding prayer point of light, looking for Dawn Dantes.
He was busy collecting his thoughts and returning to the real world.