The Secret Code of Monsters

Chapter 3 Ch.3 Ceremony

new…

Unlucky guy?

"My name is William, William Collins."

The woman was silent for a moment.

The gas lamp was unscrewed.

She seemed to be waiting for Roland to continue speaking, but so did Roland.

He didn't know how to face his 'sister', and at the same time, he was worried that the other party would say even worse words——

The two were in a stalemate for a while. Finally, the woman couldn't bear it anymore:

"Come here, come forward, let me see you."

Roland did not doubt that he was there and stepped forward - but within a few steps, he kicked the chair lying on the ground and threw himself forward.

With a 'thud', he hit the leg of the bed, his forearms burning.

There was another brief silence in the room.

"...You can't see?"

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Roland felt a little guilty in her voice.

Oh, fresh.

This was inconsistent with the 'Collins' he met along the way.

"As you can see."

Roland patted his sleeves and arms and stood up holding on to the bedpost. He was used to this.

But this ‘sister’…

"As I see it? As I see it, you probably won't be able to make this windfall."

She tried her best to sneer, panting: "And I didn't hear that I have a younger brother."

Roland's voice was very soft: "I haven't heard of it either. I still have family."

He squatted down gently, and then sat on the ground.

He tentatively told his story to the woman on the bed - she didn't say anything sarcastic, so Roland kept telling it.

Keep talking.

He kept talking until he received the letter.

A clueless, harmless bastard.

The difference between boys and girls - it's not about trying to seize family property.

He has no ill intentions, and similarly, he hopes not to become the target of ill intentions.

He just wants to live peacefully.

So, just like Yam taught him: he can't blame his 'father' or 'sister' - they at least... at least still 'remember' him after so many years?

This is a group of people whose moral character deserves to be praised.

"So, I'm here, Miss Collins." Roland guessed that perhaps his sincerity impressed the person on the bed - she stopped being sarcastic. "I'm grateful dad... and you."

"You don't need to flatter him in front of me." The woman heard the caution in Roland's words, and the sharpness in his words seemed to have disappeared, "...There is no need to flatter me, I don't mean to you-"

She wanted to say something else to Roland, but after the sound of leather shoes sounded, the two of them closed their mouths at the same time.

Someone came to the door.

"Master Collins, are you in there?"

Roland heard Nina's breathing suddenly become rapid.

"I'll come out."

He called out to the door, groped, and rose from the darkness.

"The housekeeper said, I will be there tonight -"

However, the person on the bed stopped talking.

…………

…

Lunch can be said to be extremely sumptuous.

There were many things on the table that Roland had never heard of or tasted.

Some kind of sugar (he guessed) and pudding with a soft and dense texture, juicy steaks, sweet drinks with a fruity aroma that lingers on the tongue for a long time, bread that tastes much better than the ones in the workhouse, it’s hard to tell what’s inside How many ingredients are put in a hot pie…

Colorful flavors exploded in his mouth.

At this time, the footsteps of the servants were like sounds of nature to Roland:

Every time the sound rang out, there was a new dish in front of him.

The most troublesome thing is the neatly arranged rows of knives, forks and spoons next to me, but their shapes are slightly different.

There are at least a dozen.

He couldn't figure out what it was for.

But don’t delay eating.

At this moment, the old Collins across the table was in great pain. He saw Roland eating and had no appetite at all.

This bastard actually uses a bread knife to cut meat?

This was treason enough, but in the end, he was going to drink the soup with the dessert spoon.

My fingers got stuck in the soup bowl!

How long do you have to endure living under the same roof with this rude, uneducated, low-class blind man?

A month?

Or two months?

"You have to teach him, Seth."

Unable to suppress his dissatisfaction, Thales Collins picked up the tablecloth and lightly tapped the corner of his mouth that had not been touched by food at all.

"As soon as possible. I don't want anyone talking about why the Collins family would let an animal be served."

He ignored Roland, threw down the tablecloth, pushed his chair away from the table, and went back to his room angrily.

The restaurant suddenly became quiet.

Roland put the apple slices on his fork horizontally into his mouth, chewing them happily.

His dusk-colored eyes blinked several times, never moving towards the tablecloth in front of him.

Take blood yourself…

Is it so important Mr. Collins?

After the meal, he was taken back to his room.

Seth told him emphatically:

He is not allowed to leave the old Collins house, he is not allowed to hang around in front of the gate, he is not allowed to do dangerous things on the balcony, he is not allowed... not allowed...

Not allowed.

Anyway.

He was allowed only limited access to his room, to Nina Collins's room, and to the ground floor and rear garden.

Then, the butler Seth handed him a metal needle.

The needle is very thick, and the needle tube seems to be engraved with some kind of emblem-like pattern - the pattern extends all the way, wrapping the entire needle tube.

Cold, hard.

It feels expensive.

"Money means nothing to the Collins family." Butler Seth put the syringe into Roland's hand with a meaningful meaning. "You need to do it yourself. Other servants can only simply guide you..."

personally.

"Sir. Is Miss Nina important to...Master?"

"Quite important," said the steward.

Roland recalled the smell of excrement and rancidity that filled her room.

Quite important.

"I see."

In the afternoon, I came to Nina Collins' room again. The woman still answered his knock on the door by smashing things.

Roland thought she was too weak. Maybe she was worried that the people outside the door wouldn't hear her when she spoke?

"I just want to smash it, little idiot."

To this, Miss Nina Collins replied.

"I assume you got that?"

"You mean, taking blood..."

"That's it. At night, do whatever the servant tells you to do. Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. I see that you are blind, so I know that you must be more curious than the average person."

Roland shook his head: "As long as it's good for you."

The room fell into an eerie silence again.

This time it took longer than ever.

Just when Roland almost thought she was asleep, the patient on the bed suddenly said:

"What if it will hasten my death?"

These words were obviously carefully considered and made the atmosphere a little tense.

Hasten death?

Roland was confused.

What's the meaning?

Could this be... murder?

how can that be possible? Why would Tyrese Collins do this?

Or, he doesn't know?

housekeeper?

servant?

Or the whole old Collins House...

But why?

Roland felt again that something was staring at him in the darkness.

"You're scared."

Roland raised his face, let out a long sigh, and rubbed his forearms with his palms. Those rare eyes were so beautiful and dazzling in the dim light:

"I do not understand what you mean."

Nina suddenly laughed, as if rubbing the head of an awl against an iron plate: "William Collins, you have to consider your life."

She said: "When you step into the old Collins house, your life and mine will be connected with that ceremony..."