Chapter 207: A Different Outcome
Maura covered her mouth tightly.
Her gaze wandered between her husband and the priest, and a thought actually popped into her mind—can a priest marry?
It was clearly her wedding being ruined, yet Maura felt no anger at all.
On the contrary, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
On the other side, William spoke again.
"From today onwards, men and women must share the household chores reasonably. During the busy farming season, women can shoulder a bit more..."
"Smiling and praising are the secrets to maintaining family harmony. Come, practice smiling now."
After a moment of hesitation, the commoners below the stage forced out smiles.
Their eyes were full of rejection, but their mouths had no choice but to turn up.
Such a scene was indeed very comical.
"Pfft—"
Maura couldn't help but laugh out loud. She hurriedly pursed her lips, yet couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth no matter what.
"Very good."
William nodded.
"You must remember today's rules firmly, otherwise..."
He grabbed the wooden doll and instantly crushed it into pieces.
"You should understand the consequences." William smiled slightly.
The formation of local customs comes from multiple factors, such as politics and culture.
Relying solely on this forced method of change might maintain it for a while.
But once the threat is gone, those "bad habits" are very likely to reignite and even intensify.
So William never thought about permanently changing the situation here.
Not to mention, this was only a "World of Memories."
Therefore, from beginning to end, William had only one purpose—to change Maura's "encounter in that moment."
And the result was exactly as he thought.
After the wooden doll shattered, the scene jumped again.
An open space outside the wooden house.
Several families were celebrating the joy of the harvest.
Ivo downed a whole mug of ale, his face flushed red as he looked not far away—Maura was snuggling in Antonios's arms.
He spat on the ground and then walked to the center of the crowd.
"Hey! Maura has an unknown secret!"
His voice quickly attracted the attention of the surrounding people.
"Anthony once told me that before they held their wedding, he had already... with Maura..."
Halfway through Ivo's words, a wine bottle suddenly flew out from the crowd.
With a crash, blood instantly flowed from his head.
The crowd screamed and scattered, revealing a priest standing among them.
William grabbed another wine bottle and slowly squatted in front of Ivo.
"Using someone else's secret to attract attention is a shameful act. For example, if I were to tell everyone about your liking for men, presumably you would also have complaints."
He deliberately raised his volume on the word "men," and the surrounding people instantly widened their eyes.
"You f*cking..." Ivo clamored and was about to stand up.
But in the next moment, his face made intimate contact with the dirt.
"Also, spitting on someone else's ground is impolite. I hope you remember that."
Ivo's entire face was somewhat deformed, and his nasal bone was even on the verge of breaking.
He couldn't make a sound and could only wave his arms constantly in the air, indicating that he knew his mistake.
Aside, Maura patted her chest with lingering fear.
Although Ivo didn't finish his words just now, she had already guessed the other party's purpose.
Fortunately, this priest had stopped him.
At the same time, Ivo's "Friends" finally reacted. They grabbed tools from the corner and charged toward William.
In the next moment, the scene in front of the latter changed.
"Pity."
William shook his head.
"If this bunch of guys had run a little faster, they could have successfully gotten beaten up by me."
He raised his head again. In front of him was a building painted with gray-white walls.
"House of Charity."
William narrowed his eyes, then walked through the gate.
At the same time, inside a prayer room.
"Maura, only you can help those children." Delia took out a parchment, her face full of pleading.
At this time, Maura had entered middle age, and time had carved deep trenches into her face.
"Okay, I can agree, but you must promise..."
Before she could finish, she was interrupted by a male voice.
"No, you won't agree."
Maura looked surprised, looking in the direction of the voice.
Delia also turned her head, a ruthless look flashing in her eyes, wanting to see clearly who had ruined her good deed.
Only to see a priest standing at the door.
But in the next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.
William used [Holy Step] to arrive beside Delia and took the parchment from her hands.
A full second later, the dean finally noticed the anomaly.
"You!"
Delia's eyes flashed with shock.
She completely didn't see clearly how this person got to her side.
To be able to do this, there was only one possibility—the other party was a Holy Clergy Member certified by the Church.
"This is not a simple contract, but a Demonic Pact."
William's tone was flat as he explained the origin of the parchment to Maura.
"From the very beginning, this guy just wanted to squeeze out the last bit of value from you."
He directly exposed Delia's conspiracy, and the latter immediately gritted her teeth.
Maura looked incredulous, staring angrily at this person who had once helped her.
"Hmph, you can't blame me. Such a large almshouse costs a lot of money just for food..." Delia snorted coldly.
"Save these meaningless excuses."
William interrupted the other party directly.
"You are nothing more than a 'black glove' used by certain people to amass wealth. You have brought nothing but pain to those mothers and children."
"So what if I am?" Delia narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps you are a priest with a Brand."
Her tone shifted: "But I want to give you a friendly reminder. Archbishop Saul of the Vatican has always been paying attention to this almshouse."
William raised an eyebrow.
He didn't expect to hear news from the Vatican here.
"Saul... sounds familiar."
He quickly remembered.
The Saul family was the first force to establish the Kingdom of Israel in the Holy Land. It had been passed down for over a thousand years, and its status was extremely noble.
This dean obviously intended to protect herself with the name of the "Holy Clan."
But William just smiled slightly.
Since this was not the real world, the threat was like air to him.
Seeing the priest opposite him stunned, Delia thought her strategy had worked.
She was just about to ask the other party to return the parchment, but then felt a tightness around her neck.
And aside, Maura also felt her back collar being lifted.
The scenery in front of them rapidly reversed.
When Maura could see clearly again, they were already standing outdoors.
"Where is this... Ugh."
She just opened her mouth and smelled a foul stench, hurriedly covering her nose tightly.
William dragged Delia to the edge of the septic tank, pressing her head above the liquid.
"Tell Ms. Maura what you have been doing here." His tone was cold.
Delia held her breath, her face desperately leaning back.
But the force on the back of her neck made her unable to move.
Left with no choice, Delia could only say: "By doing this, aren't you afraid Archbishop Saul... Mmph!"
Before she could finish, her face made intimate contact with the contents of the tank.
"This is not the answer I want." William's face was calm.
Delia let out an extremely tragic scream. She couldn't believe this guy actually went through with it.
Feeling those things in her mouth, she completely yielded.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Please don't do this."
Only then did William pull her up: "You only have a few minutes."
Delia's body trembled. She didn't even care to wipe the filth off her face and confessed the fact that she had drowned those children.
Maura's eyes widened, unable to speak for a long time.
She never expected that these guys were even crueler than she imagined.
They actually threw living infants into the septic tank, just because they were weak and sick and couldn't fetch a good price.
"My... my Flora."
Tears soaked Maura's eyes. Her heart ached, not daring to imagine what her daughter had gone through.
"I have kept records of all these things. They are placed under the floor tiles in the west corner of the dean's office."
Delia confessed proactively.
"This is my means of self-protection."
William sneered: "It seems you don't completely trust that Archbishop Saul either."
Delia remained silent. At this time, she only hoped that after saying these things, the other party would let her off.
"Do you... not have children of your own?" Maura cried out, sobbing.
Delia didn't dare to meet her gaze, turning her head away: "The world is like this; eat people or be eaten."
"It seems you have long had this realization. That makes things simple."
William said, looking aside.
"Ms. Maura."
Maura raised her head upon hearing this; her face was already covered in tears.
"A strong and upright person, even if they possess the ability to 'eat people', will not use it. This is the important reason why humanity has been able to continue."
"But beautiful qualities should only be reserved for those who respect them."
"Dealing with this kind of scum, they should personally experience the pain others have suffered."
As William spoke, he lifted Delia by the collar and casually tossed her into the center of the septic tank.
The latter frantically waved her arms, but not only couldn't find a handhold, she also let more filth rush into her stomach.
A full few minutes later, the dean sank down.
Maura's face showed some unbearableness.
But thinking of the encounters of her daughter and the other children, she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
"I know you are in pain, but the truth of the 'House of Charity' still needs you to reveal it to the world," William said.
"Thank you, Father William." Maura suddenly called out William's name.
Immediately after, the scene in front of the latter changed again.
When he opened his eyes again, William had returned to that void space.
Maura's figure had disappeared, replaced by two other spirit bodies trapped by chains.
"This is..." William raised an eyebrow.
Galway Courthouse, Ireland.
Today there was a special lawsuit.
A local historian, Catherine Corless, claimed that her sister had entered a relief agency called the "House of Charity" after becoming pregnant.
But later, her sister's child died bizarrely.
The agency claimed the child unfortunately died early because of a weak body.
But after Catherine dug deeper, she found that there were far more similar deaths than just this one.
She had found a notebook belonging to an internal member of the "House of Charity."
The person was named Maura O'Toole, who was also one of the victims.
According to the notebook's description, the "House of Charity" operated under the name of relief but actually engaged in human trafficking.
They took in young girls with unexpected pregnancies, forcibly took the children away from their mothers after birth, and then sold them to people in need.
Regarding this accusation, both the Irish government and the Church denied it.
After this tug-of-war lasted for several years, the local authorities finally agreed to a public trial.
But they demanded that the owner of the notebook—Maura—testify in person.
However, this lady had already lost consciousness several years ago, leaving only a body that relied on machines to sustain her life.
In the waiting room, Catherine looked solemn.
She looked at the hospital bed next to her.
Maura's aged face had not changed at all.
She couldn't imagine that these politicians and church members would actually push a severely ill old woman into court.
Such an absurd trial was actually happening in reality.
But when Catherine turned her head back, Maura's finger twitched.
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