The Countess Lives Twice in the Apocalypse-Chapter 97: Ninety-six

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when the Countess opened her eyes and woke up from her seemingly restless slumber.

The sky is soft and faded blue that slowly brightens as the sun rises, the soft blue giving way to shades of pink, orange, and gold. The town below the beautiful canvas was slowly awakening, the flickering light of the torches in the windows flickering off as the residents began their day.

The sky turned from blue to pink and then to a vibrant yellow, the sun’s rays dancing along the rooftops of the buildings.

The town was bathed in the warm light, the soft glow of the sunrise shone bright against the mansion’s second floor, the light passing through the glass plane of the window of Jannah’s room.

Jannah sat up on the bed, her eyesight blurry with sleep and she raised a hand to rub her eyelids to get rid of the remaining sleepiness.

Once she was done, she blinked, letting her sense come back to her before she could start to move through the day.

Her eyes unconsciously shift to her legs, her instinct telling her to get off the bed and start helping her people around the town, but something was stopping her.

The little girl from earlier, Aria, has her arm around Jannah, a frown settled on her face, as if she was having a nightmare.

Jannah had brought the little girl to her bedroom after her confrontation with her mother. She couldn’t say anything else about her mother because she was too shocked and terrified from finding out that her mother was an accomplice.

The little girl had seen what those disgusting men did to her friends, she saw how they suffered, got played with, got taken out of the basement and never came back.

Jannah wanted to use the skill, Mind’s Eye, but she doesn’t want the little girl to relive those memories over and over again— it was said in the skill’s description that the victim and the user will experience the memory together.

What if the little girl experienced the same thing, but just didn’t want to say anything about it?

What if she used the skill and accidentally made the little girl relive her agonizing suffering all over again just when she finally got out of it?

Jannah doesn’t have a steel or stone for a heart.

She can’t bear to witness a child lose the shine and sparkle in their eyes just because they were forced to go through the same wretchedness by the skill given to her through the system.

She let out a sigh, her hand reaching out to caress the little girl’s head which made her nuzzle her head on Jannah’s palm.

Kirie. The Countess called out to the green haired lady, her hand still caressing and carding through the little girl’s brown locks, hoping that it would ease her from the nightmares.

A lovely morning to you, my lady! What can I do for you? Came an immediate response, greeting her cheerfully before asking the reason for the Countess contacting her.

Prepare my clothes now, I’m ready to start my work. Jannah said through the link, raising the little girl’s arm from her thighs and slowly slid off the bed, avoiding waking the little girl up from her slumber.

Yes, my lady. I will be there in ten minutes. Kirie told her, responding with the same enthusiasm from earlier before Jannah felt their communication link cut off.

Jannah waited for Kirie to arrive and when she did, she didn’t waste any time undressing and changing her sleeping garments with her white linen shirt, black riding pants, and her coat that was stitched by Lady Viola.

Kirie was already used to the sight of Jannah undressing herself and changing in front of her, but seeing that the Countess doesn’t seem to mind her presence even though she was quite open and stubborn in showing her affection made Kirie’s heart race.

The day barely started, but Jannah is already out there making people’s hearts race.

Somewhere inside the mansion’s second floor, Jeriel felt an unsettling chill run down her spine, making her snap her head towards the door with furrowed eyebrows, a puzzled expression on her face.

Did my sister start something entertaining without me around to witness it again?

All Jeriel could do was wonder as she dressed up to start her day.

With Jannah already done dressing up, she exited the bedroom and descended the staircase to go out of the mansion, briskly walking towards the small prison house to get answers from the woman.

"Go ahead and call for Duke Eulicies to come down here, tell him that I need him to do something for me." Jannah said, turning her head slightly to look at Kirie.

"As you wish, my lady." Kirie stated and lowered her head for a brief moment before she turned around to go back to the mansion.

The only reason why she sent Kirie away was because she needed to have a one on one conversation with the woman.

"It’s nice to see you awake." Jannah commented as she walked down the stairs and saw that the woman was already awake, glaring daggers in her way.

"Where’s Aria?" The woman asked, her voice laced with hostility.

"Somewhere." Jannah answered, using her skill, Elemental Wall, to create a small wall behind her that reaches only below her bottom and sat down on it, "I’m sure that she will enjoy watching her hands dangle in front of her."

Why was Jannah saying things as horrible as her words right now towards the woman?

"You monster!" The mother inside the cell screamed, struggling against the metal cuffs around her wrists that were put behind her, "You’re a heartless and ruthless monster! She’s just a little girl!"

"Who stole food that could have fed half of the people of this town." Jannah unceremoniously added to the woman’s statement, watching as her statements and horrible words stir emotions inside the woman.

"I told her to do it, she wasn’t the one who actually initiated anything!" The mother hissed, a desperate look crossing her eyes for a moment before it got replaced by resentment and anger.

"But she was still the one who stole those food, right? Not you, not anyone, but her. Just your little girl." Jannah said, her eyes squinting slightly as the woman began to shake violently, "You even said it yourself earlier, your life would have been much better if she wasn’t born or her little brother."

"I didn’t mean everything I said." She muttered under her breath, her voice trembling anxiously.

"How about this? I won’t cut off your little girl’s hands in exchange for information about those men from your town? Sounds like a good deal?" Jannah hummed out, offering the mother a better way out of the topic of her child’s chopped off hands.

However, to Jannah’s surprise, the mother’s face twisted into a scowl and with a tone dripping with venom, she said, "Why would I sell them off? Forget it, take my child’s hands. She’s useless until this moment, unbelievable."

Jannah felt her guts churning at the words of the mother, not liking the way she just changed her worries towards her children to being loyal to deceased men.

Wordlessly, Jannah stared straight into the woman’s eyes and chanted the name of the skill, Mind’s Eye, to look through the woman’s memories before Jannah decides her fate.

Darkness had consumed Jannah’s eyesight the moment she cast the skill, making her slightly nervous about what she is about to see and experience.

She expected for her woman’s greatest horror to be the husband’s betrayal, but no.

As soon as the darkness subsided, her face became pale with shock, her eyes wide and unblinking as she watched the horrific scene unfold before her.

Jannah’s body was frozen, her limbs locked in place as she was unable to look away and started to feel the same thing the woman before her was feeling.

She watched in unbelievable anguish as she witnessed the woman getting tortured and tormented, her heart breaking with each moment that passed— she felt sick to her stomach, her stomach clenching with horror as she felt the hands of men on her skin.

Jannah tried to look away, to shield her eyes from the sight, to reel away from the sensation of their touch, but she was unable to look away nor move away, her mind and body frozen.

Jannah stood there in horror, her eyes squeezing shut and her body shaking as she felt the continuous unwanted sensation of several hands touching every part of her body— reliving the woman who suffered unspeakable atrocities.

The Countess could hardly think rationally about what she was seeing, hearing, and feeling, her mind struggling to comprehend the sheer horror of the scene before her was just a skill casted by her.

Her heart ached at the thought of the agony the woman had gone through and she clenched her fists in helpless fury, her mind screaming, desperate to help, but powerless to act.

After what seemed like forever, Jannah was brought out of the woman’s memory, her eyes wide and heart racing, her body tense with fear.

What in the world was that? Jannah thought in horror, her eyesight blurry with unshed tears as she gasped frantically for oxygen.