The blonde maid was completely oblivious to the anomaly behind her. All her attention had been firmly captured by the black briefcase in front of her.
She walked to the case, squatted down, and with a feeling almost like "winning the lottery," she unlatched the locks on the case.
"Click."
The lid slowly opened. A male corpse, curled inside, eyes wide open, with expressions of pain and terror still lingering on his face, appeared before her.
Although she was nominally a maid, she was, in the end, someone making a living on this pirate ship. She had seen plenty of blood and death before. So, facing the corpse before her, she felt not the slightest fear, but rather examined it with keen interest.
Looking at the corpse's grim expression, distorted by extreme pain, a genuine look of delight even appeared on her face. It seemed he had suffered no small torment before he died.
Serves him right!
She extended a finger and poked the corpse's cold, stiff cheek with a hint of disgust.
However, on closer inspection, he was quite good-looking. Deep-set eyes, a high-bridged nose—it was clear he was a typical Loenese.
He must have used this face to attract the Captain, right? This damned hussy!
The thought that the Captain might have used the same hand that touched her to touch this face made an uncontrollable flame, mixed with jealousy and anger, rise in the blonde maid's heart.
How should she dispose of this unsightly corpse?
She stood up and began pacing the room, thinking about disposal methods.
Throw him directly into the sea to feed the fish? No, that's too easy for him.
Or should she chop him up and burn him?
Just as the blonde maid was racking her brain, wondering which method would best satisfy her hatred for disposing of the corpse, Katarina's figure had silently appeared in the large full-length mirror behind her.
She did not immediately step out of the mirror, nor did she make any moves. She simply stood with her arms crossed, watching the interesting solo act unfolding before her with keen interest.
It was like admiring an interesting toy.
She had some impression of this blonde maid.
She was one of Tracy's most favored "toys," found when Tracy was at her most rebellious and eager to show her uniqueness. She was one of Tracy's "tools" to rebel against her and assert her individuality.
However, now that Tracy had been "corrected" back to the "right path" by that more interesting man, the status of this "tool" seemed to have plummeted.
From the blonde maid's jealous and malicious mutterings, Katarina quickly understood the situation—
The black case contained the corpse of Monqi Brando, the one who had completely captivated little Tracy. And this maid, oblivious to her fate, was now planning to destroy this "relic," which was incredibly important to Tracy.
"How naive, someone who doesn't understand love at all," Katarina commented on the blonde maid's actions.
To be honest, Katarina also felt a hint of curiosity about the man named Monqi Brando.
She also wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of person could make her daughter behave that way.
Hmm, now was a good time. If little Tracy were here, she would absolutely not allow her to touch him.
Just as the blonde maid finally made up her mind and reached out to close the briefcase again, intending to take it away for disposal, a strange, sweet, and peculiar scent suddenly wafted up.
"Hmm—?"
She instinctively took a breath, then suddenly her vision went black, her body went limp, and she fainted, collapsing onto the cold floor.
"Little Tracy, remember to thank me~"
Katarina slowly emerged from the mirror without making a sound. She came to the open briefcase and looked down at the corpse inside.
"It seems he was a very pure young man," she said softly, looking at the face, which, though distorted by pain, still showed faint traces of a delicate outline, with a hint of regret in her tone.
"What a pity, to die like this."
If he hadn't died, to have a young "love affair" full of taboos and temptations with such a pure young man, who seemed naive and had a hint of stubbornness, and to personally guide him, making him fall step by step, sinking into her charm—what an interesting experience that would be.
And if, by the way, she could give Tracy a cute little brother—the thought of Tracy's face, which might be completely twisted with jealousy, anger, and betrayal when she saw this scene, made Katarina's lips curl into a genuinely joyful smile.
This way, she could help little Tracy experience "despair" in advance to prepare for advancement, relive the taste of young love, and at the same time, add new blood to the cult—truly a beautiful thing that achieved three goals at once.
"What a pity, you died too soon."
Katarina extended her well-maintained, fair fingers, gently caressing the corpse's cold, stiff cheek with a hint of flirtation.
However, a moment later, the smile on her face slowly faded, and her brow furrowed slightly.
Years of experience, as well as her intuition as a high-Sequence Demoness, made her feel that—
This corpse seemed a bit off.
There were many strange, conflicting spiritual reactions remaining on the corpse.
Was ritual magic used for preservation? No, that's not right, that's not the main reason—she quickly saw through the disguise.
Although some time had passed, she could clearly feel that after death, this corpse had been artificially treated with very professional methods.
She no longer hesitated, reaching out and directly pulling aside the blood-stained, tattered clothing on the corpse's upper body.
Several scars, which looked like old wounds, appeared before her eyes.
As a very high-Sequence Assassin, she was extremely familiar with the human body and scars.
And these scars before her...
In her opinion, they were simply too "standard."
"Things are getting interesting."
After a careful examination for a few more moments, Katarina quickly found another piece of evidence.
Although this corpse's Beyonder characteristic had already been taken, through some extremely subtle, almost imperceptible spiritual traces remaining on the corpse, and certain muscle tissue abnormalities, Katarina accurately determined that this corpse, during its life, should have been a Beyonder of the Prisoner Pathway.
Over so many years, she was quite familiar with Beyonders of this Pathway.
Most Beyonders of this Pathway were Lunatics who indulged their desires, but according to Tracy's description, this young man named Monqi Brando was exceptionally pure in matters of love. He even required her equally inexperienced daughter to actively seduce him.
This behavior was completely unlike a Beyonder of the Prisoner Pathway, full of desire and impulse. Could he be from the "Temperance" faction?
No, that's not right. Katarina quickly shook her head, dismissing this guess.
This corpse's Sequence was very low when he was alive, at most sequence 8.
Under the active seduction of a Demoness of Afflictions of little Tracy's level, let alone a sequence 8, even a Sequence 6 member of the Temperance faction would probably find it very difficult to suppress the instinctive influence brought by the potion.
Moreover, Katarina's gaze fell on the corpse again.
Unlike the face, which looked rather delicate, the body of this corpse—did not seem very "pure." Years of alcohol erosion and a chaotic private life had left indelible marks on this body.
A pure, innocent face.
A debauched, weathered body.
Could it be… "How interesting," Katarina chuckled, looking at the blonde maid who had fainted on the floor.
"If I had arrived a little later, and the corpse had really been disposed of—"
"Should I say it's good luck, or bad luck—"
Katarina went to Tracy's bed and picked up the satchel that Tracy had authenticated as belonging to Monqi Brando himself. Her curiosity had been completely piqued, and some plans she had thought were thwarted now seemed to have a chance of being realized again.
"A pure yet clever young man," Katarina licked her lips, "I like him very much too~"