Chapter 263: Sins of the Noble Mother

“Master, are you saying Aryan has been trapped in a dream for more than a month?” Lady Luisa’s red lips parted slightly, her face full of astonishment. “Everyone dreams. Why is it only my child who cannot wake?”

Roy studied the woman’s expression with care. Her surprise and shock did not seem feigned. It was as though she knew nothing at all of what had happened in the garden that night.

“Did we guess wrong? Was she never in the garden?” The Witcher’s heart sank. “No. For Lady Luisa to win Foltest’s favor, how could she not have some skill? She must simply be an excellent actress. That has to be it. The prettier the woman, the craftier, better at disguising herself. Looks like I still need an Axii.”

“My lady, you are right. A normal dream lasts at most a few hours. Young master Aryan’s condition is indeed highly unusual.” Letho pondered a moment, then spoke slowly. “By my past experience, there are three possible explanations for why he cannot wake...”

“Witcher, let us hear them...” The witch doctor at one side widened his cloudy eyes, openly interested. “What insight dost thou possess?”

“The first possibility is that, in his subconscious, Aryan does not wish to wake.”

“Why? Would that not simply be tormenting himself?” the Baroness asked, her voice trembling, her fingers clenched white.

“Perhaps he does not wish to face reality. In the garden, he may have witnessed something he found utterly abhorrent, something impossible to believe. So he chose to flee from it. No one can wake a man who is pretending to sleep.” Roy stared at the woman and caught a flicker of panic in those brown eyes.

“My child received proper knightly training. He is stronger than most grown men. He would never be a coward, never flee reality...” Luisa protested weakly, not noticing that the rose-colored nails on her fingers had sunk into her own palms. “It cannot be that...”

“Then let us speak of the second possibility. Apart from being the supposed culprit, Amos was also, perhaps, a master hypnotist of extraordinary skill. He planted a powerful suggestion in young master Aryan’s mind and thus cast him into this endless delirium.”

Letho took over as both the witch doctor and Lady Luisa held their breath without realizing it, their attention fixed on him.

“However, we had a thorough talk with the members of The Sea Scorpion’s Enigma. Judging from their answers and reactions, Amos possessed no talent whatsoever for hypnosis...”

“So you two believe that man was not the culprit?”

Luisa licked her red lips. The curves of her body had quietly gone taut.

“The Amos of The Sea Scorpion’s Enigma troupe, and Aryan too, are both innocent victims.” Roy’s tone was certain.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

If Amos was not the culprit, then who was?

The witch doctor’s curious gaze shifted back and forth between the Witchers and Luisa. He had the feeling that both sides were concealing something from him, and not the same thing either.

“And the third possibility?” Luisa asked at length, her voice hoarse, half her face buried in the corner the sunlight could not reach.

“The last possibility touches on certain secrets of La Valette Castle...” Roy cast a deliberate glance toward the witch doctor. “If possible, Lady Luisa, could we speak in private?”

The woman hesitated for a breath or two, then turned to the witch doctor with an apologetic smile. “Master Cecile, today’s treatment is finished ... please go first. Hill Vea will arrange lodgings for you, as before.”

“Two masters, is my presence so unwelcome?” The witch doctor listened, the wrinkles in his face deepening. “I showed you prophecy, and this is how you repay me?”

“Master Cecile, what follows is of great importance. We do not wish for you to be dragged into it,” Roy said sincerely, then turned to Luisa. “If you are displeased, we will explain afterward.”

Only then did the old man plant his hands on his hips, grumble under his breath, and leave the bedchamber. From the corridor came his shout.