CHAPTER 66: THE CHAINED MAID

’What should I do?’ Agnes started to feel her mind going crazy when the voices coming from the room became more and more pronounced. Suddenly the voices vanished altogether.

Yet horrified Agnes stepped back when she saw Tessa’s feet hovering a few inches above the ground.

Stepping back, the red-haired woman shuddered because her back collided with a soft surface. She knew for certain that there was someone standing behind her.

Gathering her courage, she turned around only to see the familiar old butler standing there, holding a lamp before his face. "Dear guest, may I ask if you need anything?"

"Jarvis?" Agnes almost yelped in fear, but she forced herself to calm down by taking a deep breath. "You scared me—no! You have to help; something is wrong with Tessa."

"I apologize; that was not my intention." The butler seemed genuinely caught off guard by her response. He looked past Agnes, and his eyes widened ever so slightly, "young lady!"

There, right behind Agnes, Tessa was lying on the floor out cold.

"Oh lord." The butler panicked and rushed towards the young girl and picked her up flawlessly without even looking at the woman who was tied to the bed, screaming and writhing in agony and pain.

Just as the butler was about to run away with the girl, Agnes’s voice stopped him by asking, "What about the maid? Why is she tied up?"

She could not believe how someone could even treat a person like that. She even wanted to untie the maid herself, but something in the back of her mind stopped her from taking any action.

’Why do I feel so detached from her suffering?’ Even though her words sounded full of empathy, she felt nothing in her heart for the woman.

The butler turned around without stopping and said, "Miss, it is better if you stay away from that woman. She has caught the devil’s disease; there is no saving her."

Agnes instantly looked at the woman and noticed glowing red spots on her face. The maid only flailed harder, feeling the gaze upon her.

Devil’s disease: a very deadly disease that started in the era of gods and demons.

It was a plague that continued to spread despite the passage of time.

No one knew the origin of the disease; all they know is that anyone bitten by the infected person catches it.

Once bitten, a person does not have a chance to survive. They are doomed to die.

There was no cure for this plague, and the only way to tell if someone has the incurable disease is from the disgusting blob of mass that appears on their faces, just like it was on the maid’s face.

When the plague first appeared, the unrest in the world grew to the point where people slaughtered innocents just for having a deformed face.

"The church will send someone to take her away tomorrow."

The butler no longer waited for Agnes, as his first priority was the young lady in her arms. He took her away from the maid’s room, down the hall, from where Agnes came.

After a second of hesitation, Agnes followed the man into another room on the same floor with its lights on.

William, who was reading some papers in the room, stood up in panic when he saw his daughter being carried inside, unconscious.

His movement ruffled the papers and sent the chair he sat on tumbling backwards. But he cared about none of them. "What happened?"

The butler rushed the girl to the bed and placed her gently on it. "Lady Blackwell found her like this near Lady Herbert’s bedroom."

Hearing this, both Agnes and William paused in surprise.

’So I was close to the lady’s room.’ Agnes clutched her hand before her chest and wondered if she should tell the man what she had seen happening to her daughter.

But as she was thinking, Agnes saw William’s black eyes glowing with a green hue.

A shadow of a young boy wearing a pointy hat and holding a stick with two flames surrounding it appeared behind William.

The shadow of the sigil took her thoughts away from Agnes, leaving only one thing in her mind. ’The God of Pilgrims.’

"She seems alright, just unconscious." The man said with some assurance while taking a breath of relief himself.

"How can you tell?" Agnes finally spoke up with a worried tone. The images from before returned to her mind. "I saw her making some weird noises and hovering in the air before she passed out."

"How can you say she is fine?"

William exchanged glances with the butler, who subtly shook his head. He then turned to Agnes and said, "I have been blessed by the god of pilgrims, and I have the power to analyze what injuries or ailments someone has and heal them."

As he spoke, two orbs flickered on William’s body into reality. One was at the base of his spine, and the other one was right below his navel. Each orb emitted a different color: one red and the other orange.

’He has already completely awakened the two chakra points.’ Agnes already knew what he was going to say, but she acted as if she knew nothing about his powers.

"As for what you saw happening to Tessa..." the energy from his body faded as he turned to look at his daughter and whispered, "it was something else that was responsible for her state."

William turned and walked to the desk, holding the edge with great strength, making veins pop up on his hand and forearm.

"You should return to bed, Lazy Blackwell; Tessa will be fine." He spoke without turning, "Jarvis and I are here to take care of her."

Agnes knew there was something he was holding back from her, but she did not push. She chose to nod and back away. "Good night, Lord Herbert. Good night, Jarvis."

"Good night."

"Good Night, Lady Blackwell."

As her footsteps faded away from the room, William looked over his shoulder and asked, "Her condition is getting worse day by day."

"What did the people from the church say?" Jarvis asked, his voice more somber than before.

"They agreed to look at her in a week, but I worry..." William’s eyes drifted to the blue moon outside the window. "What will become of her in this time?"