Chapter 71 : 71 - Pushing the Cornered Cat
That same day, Aisana, Emilia's mother, had come to visit Visana, bringing along her nine-year-old daughter.
In a matter of moments, the mansion was surrounded by professional assassins—over 100 of them, some even hired from other countries. They stormed in, attacking anyone they came across, turning the place into a gruesome battleground.
Amid the chaos, Aisana, realizing the danger, hid her daughter Emilia under a chimney. Since Aisana resembled Visana, she used herself as bait to lure the assassins away, running to draw them toward her.
This gave Visana the time she needed to fight back.
She managed to defeat the assassins one by one, but by the time she had killed the last one, it was too late.
Visana found Aisana in a pool of blood, dying in her arms. In her final moments, Aisana made Visana promise to leave behind her life of assassination and raise Emilia as her own, giving her the love and care that Aisana could no longer provide.
At just 23 years old, Visana was devastated by the loss of her sister, a loss she blamed on her own actions.
To keep her promise, she took Emilia and fled to Camphrian City. Using her knowledge of poisons, Visana aged her appearance with wrinkles, making herself look like Aisana to protect Emilia and hide from their enemies.
"....I am sorry," Damien feigned guilt, appearing genuinely disheartened after hearing the story of Visana, understanding that he shouldn't have asked her about her backstory.
After all, now he couldn't help but feel greedy to have this woman by his side, given that she was the most helpful woman for him.
"I don't need your pity," Visana, unable to lift her head, could not see what expression Damien was making, but at least hearing his tone, she felt as if he were trying to show her sympathy, which she desperately didn't want, considering that she had done everything in her power to remain as silent as she could, and she had even studied business; this was not to gain pity from someone.
"I meant, I am sorry for Emilia, who is not even aware of her real mother's death," Damien said, shaking his head. Now that he had grabbed the rope which was attached to this woman's neck, he was not going to leave this place; instead, he was even thinking of making it tighter.
"Y-you, don't tell me..." Visana suddenly felt her eyes tremble, understanding that he was going to reveal everything to Emilia, making her feel anxious as she tried to lift her head, struggling to finally settle her eyes on him. But due to her weakness, her neck trembled as if any moment her head would hit the floor.
"Indeed, I am going to tell her everything if you do not follow what I say," Damien, looking into her eyes in a bold tone, declared, clearly showing a smirk.
"What do you want?" Visana gritted her teeth, knowing very well that after hearing about her tumultuous background, he would most likely use her to do more murders, which weren't unexpected since if she had been in his place, while having a weak position as the leader of the Raphael group, she would have done the same.
"I want you to help Emilia in handling the business," Damien, already aware of what this woman must be thinking, prioritized using her for now as a consultant to make Emilia somewhat helpful for him, considering how he could trust her, but not this woman. Since more than strength, loyalty matters. And if you can make that loyal person more useful, then it would be beneficial.
"Huh? What?" Visana was taken aback, looking toward Damien, who showed a smile at her, causing her eyes to tremble,, not understanding what this man was saying out of nowhere, acting all kind and merciful when just now he had tried to blackmail her.
"To tell the truth, I did all this just because I feared you would separate Emilia from me," Damien, with a straight face, lied.
"....." Visana, hearing Damien's confession, was slightly taken aback as he showed his genuine care for Emilia rather than wanting to use her. This made her inquire, "Emilia is naive, so she might not see through your hidden motives, but don't take me for a fool, Damien!"
"Tch, it's really not easy to fool smart people," Damien, hearing Visana's words, shook his head, showing how he found it a hassle to convince these types of people who use their brains more than they could afford. He moved toward her; due to all the vigorous motion, her body was now immobilized, and he placed one foot on one of her hands.
"Aughh.....! Y-you?!" Visana suddenly felt her right hand being crushed under his shoe, the hardness of his boot causing her to groan in pain, considering how using poisons on her had already corroded her body beyond repair. She had lost all her physique that she possessed nine years ago as a top assassin.
"So, instead of dealing with them, I find it much easier to kill them," Damien, looking down with a cold tone, threatened this woman while rubbing his boot on her fingers.
"Argh...! Damien! Do you think Emilia will forgive you after this?!" Visana was at her weakest, as she had already destroyed her own achievements and body in these nine years.
After the accident, she was even weaker than a normal adult, prompting her to use the Emilia's name, knowing well how Damien seemed to hold some value for her.
"Forgive? She will even forget about you once I reveal the secret that you killed her parents," Damien grinned, hearing this woman using his own methods against him, prompting him to feel amused as he was soon going to score a perfect win against this woman and corner her into helplessness.
"Bullshit! I didn't kill them! How dare you?!" Visana, groaning in pain, yelled as she felt, for the first time, regret over her decision to destroy her body. She considered how she would have been able to kill this man today if only she had been in perfect health. She tried to move her body, but it was all useless.
"Pfft," Damien sneered as, with a devilish tone, he whispered, "But who will tell Emilia this?"