"Come on, you two... what's with those looks? You act like I'm hiding some priceless treasure on me."
Veil rolled his eyes at the sisters scrambling over each other.
"And don't say I never gave you a chance. Serve me well enough, and who knows—if I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll let her go."
He looked down at Harvey with a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Serve you?"
Though older than Veil by a few years, Harvey had never even been in a relationship, let alone had any experience in that regard. Her cheeks flushed red with humiliation and rage.
"You're despicable!" she hissed, teeth clenched in shame and fury. Still, she didn't dare to refuse outright.
Veil shook his head with a sigh. "What the hell is going on in that head of yours? Seriously unhealthy stuff. I just don't like your attitude and thought it was time to take you down a notch."
Forced submission? That was never Veil's thing.
"All right. As long as you keep your word… I'll agree to it."
Harvey looked him in the eye, a solemn decision weighing on her expression.
"See? If you'd said that earlier, you could've saved yourself all this pain." With a sigh, Veil lifted his foot off her hand and casually scooped Blood Mandala up again, slinging her around his waist. He headed upstairs to rearrange the "plan."
From below, Harvey could see her sister suspended like a tortured prisoner. Her eyes widened with horror. "You can't do this! This is worse than killing her—it's humiliating!"
Blood Mandala clenched her jaw, stubborn as ever. "Don't beg him, sis. I'm not afraid of this bastard!"
This was nothing to her anymore. She had endured worse. Her body had long since adapted. Fear was a thing of the past.
Bang!
Veil stepped out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He strolled back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch like a king. He waved a hand lazily at Harvey. "Go get a basin of water. I want to soak my feet."
Harvey—prideful and unyielding—had never once taken orders from anyone.
Her instincts screamed to curse him out, to resist. But the reality of her situation sank in—her sister was still up there, behind that door, and even now, faint sounds leaked out that made her skin crawl.
Swallowing her pride, she turned silently and walked to the bathroom.
She rolled up her sleeves and returned with a basin of water, setting it down before Veil. Her fingers trembled as she lowered his foot into the water.
Hiss—!
The moment Veil's foot touched the water, he yanked it back with a wince, kicking the basin over. Water spilled across the floor.
"The hell is this?! Do you people wash feet with ice?!"
To be fair, Veil hadn't intended to nitpick. But Harvey… she was clearly a rookie at this. The water was ice cold.
"I-I'll change it."
Harvey was fuming inside, practically ready to erupt. But there was nothing she could do. Anger gave way to bitter regret.
How had she ended up in this nightmare? What terrible fate had led her to cross paths with this devil?
And her sister… why was she tangled up with this man in the first place?
It all felt like some finely spun web, tightening around her, trapping her. Even with wings, there was no escape.
Soon enough, she returned with another basin—this time, warm. She even checked it with her hand to be sure.
She cleaned up the mess on the floor, then knelt down again and gently pressed Veil's foot into the water.
"Haah…"
Veil let out a satisfied sigh, lit a cigarette, and took a long drag. He glanced lazily at Harvey below. "So, when did you and Mandala recognize each other again? Been over a decade, right? How'd you even know it was her? I mean, when you last saw each other, you were still brats fighting over candy. Did you just go off some mystical sisterly intuition?"
Harvey didn't answer. Instead, she asked coldly, "How much do you know?"
A cold chill ran down her spine. It felt like this man had seen through her—inside and out.
Their relationship had always been a secret. When her sister had gone missing, kidnapped all those years ago, she never told anyone. And her sister? With that icy personality of hers, she definitely wouldn't have either.
"There's no need to look so paranoid," Veil replied, amused. "If I want to dig something up, pulling a few files is no trouble at all. What you know—I know. What you don't know—I still know."
He flicked the ash off his cigarette. "Like that massacre years ago. One body was never found, right?"
"You know where it is?" Harvey's hands shot out of the water and gripped Veil's shoulders. Her voice was trembling. "Tell me—tell me where the body is!"
That missing corpse… it was her sister's biological mother. The aunt who had raised Harvey after she was orphaned. The only real family she had back then.
That woman had loved her like her own, always took her side—even during childish squabbles over snacks.
The mystery of her aunt's missing body had haunted her for years. She had combed through every record, reconstructed the crime scene countless times—but there had never been a trace.
Now, that same unsolved agony surged to the surface, shattering her composure.
Her gaze locked onto Veil, eyes glistening.
"So many years have passed," Veil shrugged. "Even if you find the body… what's the point? The dead don't come back."
Harvey understood, and quietly withdrew her hands.
"It's different," she whispered. "If I can find her remains, I have a chance to uncover the truth—to know who that monster really was!" She clenched her fists. "If you give me a lead, I'll do anything. Whatever it takes."
In that moment, all the fire she had once used to go against Veil… vanished.
This was her aunt. Her real family.
She just wanted to find her… to bury her properly… and to bring the one responsible to justice.
Even if it meant sacrificing her own life.
Veil let out a slow sigh, raised one leg, and gestured lazily. "You can help me wash, but you don't know to dry too?"
Her heart resisted. But the weight of that obsession—that need—forced her hands into motion.
She knelt beside him, quiet and submissive, and began gently drying his feet with a soft towel, doing her best to be gentle.
After drying his feet, Harvey quietly set the towel aside.
She bit her lip, suppressing the fury in her chest. Forcing her voice into a calm, even tone, she asked, "Are you satisfied now? Can you tell me what I want to know?"
Veil remained sprawled across the sofa, casually gesturing toward the wash basin.
Only after Harvey took the water away and gently massaged the top of his foot did he finally speak.
"Over a decade ago, in your aunt's hometown—back when you were living with her—there was a poor village nearby. So poor, in fact, that it didn't even have proper wells for drinking water. After the incident at your aunt's place, a 'kind-hearted' person donated several wells to the village. They've all been abandoned now. And under one of them… lies the body you're looking for."
Harvey's eyes widened in horror. "That's impossible… Why would it be there?!"
Veil shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe someone committed a grave mistake and tried to make up for it with good deeds. Maybe they feared divine retribution. Or maybe… they were haunted by the thought of ghosts coming to claim their life, so they tried to suppress it."
If you don't do anything wrong, you don't fear ghosts knocking at your door in the middle of the night.
But clearly, whoever did this… was afraid.
Having solved the mystery that had long plagued Harvey's heart, Veil slipped on his slippers and made his way upstairs. Right in front of Harvey, he untied the suspended Blood Mandala and lowered her to the ground.
"Unless there's something important," he said impatiently, "don't come wandering around here again. I don't have time to play games with you two."
The sisters exchanged a glance. Blood Mandala lowered her head in shame, and Harvey did the same. She swallowed hard, guilt and helplessness surging within her.
They had come here to confront the devil, and instead… she ended up washing his feet and serving him with care.
Humiliating didn't even begin to cover it.
At the entrance of the villa, Blood Mandala didn't utter a single word of complaint. She simply transformed into a shadow and disappeared into the night.
Harvey, dazed and numb, got into her private car and left at a crawl.
Back inside, Veil stretched out with a satisfied yawn, ready to enjoy a good night's sleep—when a familiar ding chimed from his phone.
He glanced at the screen. It was a message from Lyra.
"Veil, I don't know if you're free tomorrow, but would you be willing to help Carlin with another massage?
Carlin and her mother don't have your contact info. They haven't heard from you all day and are worried they might never be able to reach you again."
Veil tapped the screen with a smirk. "That snack street we went to last time? That was my first time there. I don't even know the way… And besides—"
Lyra replied quickly,
"I'll send you the location. Or I could come with you tomorrow if that's easier.
Of course, if you're busy, I completely understand. Just the fact that you helped once—I'm already extremely grateful.
Carlin is a sweet, kind girl. She's bright, and she has a good heart. But those legs of hers… they've always been a thorn in her soul.
After your treatment, she was so excited last night, she couldn't stop talking about it. But now that she hasn't heard from you… her hope is slipping again."
Lyra was never one for excessive words—neither in the original story nor in real life.
But for Carlin, she wrote paragraph after paragraph. It was clear—she didn't want Veil to stop halfway.
She wasn't just asking. She was pleading.
Of course, Veil wasn't actually too busy. He only said that to see if Lyra would speak her mind—to see if she would express desire… or even beg.
And now that she had?
He didn't drag it out any longer.
"Since you're the one asking, Miss Lyra, how could I refuse?
I'll rearrange some things and head over again tomorrow.
The earlier we start the daily acupuncture, the higher the chance of recovery."
Lyra's reply came almost instantly.
"Thank you! I'll treat you to noodles tomorrow!"