CHAPTER 403: 0345 THE SECRET OF TREASURE FLOWER (PART 2)_1

[Name: Sin of the Precious Flower (Flesh, Life and Death)]

[Appearance: No physical form, exists only on the female human named Emma Alman]

[Ability: Flesh Sustainment (limited), Resurrection (limited)]

[Cost: None]

[File: After the execution against the Bauhinia Family concluded, Emma Alman, who became one of the dead, saw her daughter Ellie Alman, whom she had entrusted to her husband Leonard before the execution started, as she walked the "No Return Path."

Discovering that the daughter she viewed as hope had been killed even before her own death, the intensely enraged Emma Alman turned on the No Return Path, holding on to the bewildered soul of her daughter as they fell into the Realm of the Dead amidst the curses and disdain of nearly a thousand deceased Bauhinia Family members.

As the rules of the Realm of the Dead were briefly disrupted, a massive amount of unwillingness and resentment from the souls of the Bauhinia Family, whom Emma Alman shared a bloodline with and who died together, were absorbed in large quantities by Emma Alman’s rampaging soul.

Once the soul holding her daughter escaped the Realm of the Dead and awakened from her own corpse, Emma Alman, with a body stained by the blood of the Bauhinia, and a soul burdened by the curses of her kin, became one of the two sole inheritors of nearly a thousand lives...]

[Evaluation: An extremely powerful Anomalous Object, with virtually no usage cost for additional life, and when exhausted, will slowly replenish, meaning that unless her body is consecutively killed six hundred sixty-six times, she is immortal.

Additionally, when holding "Jewel Flower’s Woe" Ellie Alman, the effect of "Sin of the Precious Flower" will be enhanced, providing an additional capability of direct reunification after three hundred thirty-three soul destructions.]

[Contamination Value: 0.1]

...

[Sin of the Precious Flower]and[Jewel Flower’s Woe]...

After reading the astonishing length of the file on [Sin of the Precious Flower] and cross-referencing it with the documents he had Yisha retrieve, Leon fell into deep silence while looking at the little girl not far away who was eagerly pulling William and Melanie along, wanting to show them a bird’s nest.

He couldn’t find any record of a six-year-old girl named Ellie Alman in the Kingdom’s registry, her name only existed in the records of the Bauhinia Family rebellion, with the cause of death listed as accidental drowning.

This timid and shy child, although seemingly no different from a living person, had actually been dead for six years.

Besides the fraudulently recorded accidental death, little Ellie had no medical records, no school records, and no records of travel or sightings.

Aside from some children’s clothing occasionally purchased by Senior Emma, she was essentially a "nonexistent" person, even becoming transparent in sunlight due to the lack of an original body.

So, if he had guessed correctly, little Ellie’s true nature, combined with the soul of the original "Ellie Alman" and the unwillingness born from Senior Emma, was an Anomalous Object. If he were to actually reach out and touch her, the description of an Anomalous Object called [Jewel Flower’s Woe] would probably pop up.

"Although Ellie could grow up slowly like a normal child over time, I actually knew in my heart that she wasn’t the real Ellie."

Watching her daughter fearfully yet excitedly attempt to climb a tree under William and Melanie’s encouragement, Emma whispered tearfully,

"She didn’t have a real physical body, could grow without eating, could rest without sleeping, and didn’t even need to learn, gradually acquiring things children her age should know as she grew.

Although Ellie could eat and sleep normally per my request, from the moment she suddenly learned to draw without ever really leaving the house, I understood completely.

Although she had Ellie’s soul, everything she demonstrated was actually a projection of my expectations for my daughter, the real Ellie was no longer here, and the current her is merely an Anomalous Object born from my wishes."

After uncovering the fact she least wanted to admit, Emma, whose palm was bleeding, muttered with a trembling voice as if her heart bled too,

"Leon, I once wanted you to do me a favor but eventually gave up, do you remember it?"

"I remember..."

Upon hearing this, Leon nodded, a somewhat complicated expression on his face as he said,

"You wanted me to use the Black Goat’s soul vision to find the location of someone for you... was it Leonard?"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing the name that tormented her for a whole six years, Emma’s palms clenched suddenly, teeth grinding as she said,

"Leon, let me ask you, what does the records say about the Alman family rebellion?"

"The records..."

Recalling the content, Leon answered softly,

"The Bauhinia Family was in close contact with the Frost Plains Country Ashito, attempting to use warfare to overthrow the royal family, exploiting their control over the main trading routes to the Northern Border by betraying border intelligence of Laine County, Merino County, and Welsh County, causing the outbreak of the National War six years ago.

The Marquis of Gold Finch, Leonard, then an Earl supported by the Bauhinia Family, realized the gravity of... um... noticed the Bauhinia Family’s movements and voluntarily reported to the royal family, forcing the Bauhinia Family to hastily launch a coup, ultimately... um..."

"It’s fake!"

After Anna and the three children entered the garden, a flush of blood suddenly appeared on Emma’s pale face, her gentle eyes seemingly ablaze as she spoke with indescribable hatred and anger,

"It’s all fake! We indeed were dissatisfied with the royal family’s actions, but it hadn’t escalated to the point of needing a coup! Even though we were in close contact with the Kingdom of Ashito, it mostly stopped at business interactions.

Plus, Leonard was the one responsible for the main trade route to the Northern Border! Upon discovering the potential for the Kingdom of Ashito to invade, he directly concealed it and reported to the royal family, hiding it from the family!

Yet, even if that was the case, he had the gall to recommend the royal family deploy troops to guard against the Alman family, and preferably take control in advance, using the frequent interactions between the Alman family and the Kingdom of Ashito as a reason!"

At this point, Emma took a slightly labored breath, and then through gritted teeth continued,

"Due to the conflict over the prohibition of sales to the Kingdom of Heisen, our Alman family had been on poor terms with the royal family, even to the point of exchanging insults with the King in court. Upon noticing the abnormal movement of the Guard Army, it was impossible not to react.

My father speculated that the royal family wasn’t likely to act too aggressively over those conflicts and wanted to have someone investigate the royal family’s actions, and given that my maternal aunt was from the royal family and my husband was Leonard, he naturally became the first choice!"

"..."

"What happened afterward more or less aligns with what the records state."

Emma, whose blood color reached her brows, clenched her fists and spoke with hatred,

"After hearing the so-called ’news’ Leonard brought back, my father could no longer suppress the anxiety stirred by the Guard Army amongst the clan members, and could only be coerced into acting hastily.

Leonard, meanwhile, informed the royal family just before the coup began, leading others to detain my father and other key members of the family, and then... then..."

With her eyes seemingly reflecting the crimson of that fateful day, Emma, too distraught to continue, bit her lip with force and, looking at the silent Leon, tearfully asked,

"Leon, tell me, if I were you, in this situation, what would you do?"