Chapter 185

Odalys lifted her chin slightly, a touch of pride in her smile. “Of course, I sensed something the first day I arrived.”

“You knew all along?” Odalys paused, a few seconds of silence lingering as she considered her words.

Percival stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. His towering figure cast a shadow over her as he looked down, his voice low and steady.

“At best, I wasn’t sure if my father’s incident had anything to do with the clothes he made. However, after my father's accident, he shut down the store in Crowenridge and closed all his other branches. Even other families mysteriously died.”

“We don’t have any direct evidence, but the Stewart family had ordered their clothing from him, and aside from that, there was no other connection. So we kept it under wraps. But we’ve had them under surveillance the entire time,” Percival explained in a hushed tone.

Odalys listened, her surprise evident. She knew Percival was a strategic mastermind, but she hadn't realized he had been keeping such tight control over every aspect of the situation.

“Then, when you saw I was here for the variety show, you came over,” Odalys asked softly, curiosity lacing her voice.

Percival met her gaze, his expression softening as he chuckled quietly. “You could say that.”

As they spoke outside, the old wooden door creaked open, and the elderly man appeared in the doorway. His eyes widened at the sight of Percival, and tears welled up.

“Mr. Stewart!” The old man staggered towards Percival, his body trembling. With a desperate cry, he dropped to his knees, his voice breaking as he begged, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that the clothes would indirectly cause your father’s death. I truly didn’t know.”

After his frank conversation with Odalys the night before, he had hardly slept. He had been waiting for Odalys to come to him again, but to his surprise, it was not her who came, but Rafael—covered in blood, bruised, and broken.

Rafael had been running around the house, screaming in agony, before collapsing. The old man realized at that moment that Odalys had been signaling him. This man, Rafael, controlled everything in the village; until he was dealt with, everyone would remain in danger.

He had been watching from the shadows when he saw Odalys force Rafael into unconsciousness. He watched in awe as she managed everything with calm efficiency, controlling every aspect of the situation, even manipulating Rafael. It left him dumbfounded. He had never imagined she could do something like this.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” Percival said in a low, firm voice. He extended a hand to help the old man up. The old man, both startled and overwhelmed, accepted the offer, his mind racing. In his eyes, the Stewart family was everything—control over the business world, political power that could sway entire governments. For someone of his humble position, being in their presence was surreal.

“Alright, let’s go inside,” the old man muttered, still in disbelief. He had been here for so many years, believing his son was on the brink of death and that there was no hope left. He had even decided that once his son passed away, he would end his own life. But then Odalys appeared. Not only did she give him hope, but she also managed to neutralize the poison in his son’s body. She was like a ray of light, forcefully breaking into the old man’s world and reigniting his will to live.

The old man welcomed Odalys and Percival inside. He tidied the table and chairs, ensuring everything was neat and clean before letting them sit down. Then, he brought out his treasured coffee for them to enjoy.

“Tell me everything that happened,” he said, his voice weak and trembling.

Chapter 183

The old man recounted in detail the conversation from the night before, recalling the specific moments Odalys had asked him to remember. He handed over a piece of paper on which he had sketched a drawing of the person who visited his shop.

“I never saw his face,” the old man said quietly. “When he came into the shop, he wore a hat and a mask. He was about 5’7”, and his build was quite lean. His voice was sharp, almost shrill.”

Percival’s fists clenched tightly, his expression hardening. He stared at the drawing intently, his mind already piecing the clues together.

“Did you see the driver of the truck when it exploded?” Percival’s voice was low, but his question carried a lethal edge.

“Yes, I’m certain,” the old man nodded firmly. “There was no one in the truck when it exploded. The driver’s seat was empty, and when the explosion happened, no one emerged.”

Odalys, who had been quietly observing, gave Percival a thoughtful glance. Her mind was already working through the possibilities.

“What do you think?” Percival asked, meeting her gaze.

Odalys took a deep breath, then reached for her coffee, taking a small sip before speaking.

“It’s possible black magic was used to control the truck, causing the accident. The truck crashed into your father’s vehicle, causing the explosion, and then they placed the drunk man inside to make it look like a drunk-driving accident,” Odalys said softly, her tone measured and calm. She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. “Normally, no one would willingly die for money, not in the way stories and movies portray. So, when the right person isn’t available, they use magic to make things happen.”

“Black magic?” Percival frowned, clearly intrigued but confused.

Odalys lightly tapped the armrest of her chair, her fingers tracing the wood as she explained. “Sometimes people are desperate. When they want something too badly, they take shortcuts, resorting to dark practices. Before, Sophia used a love spell that she burned to ashes and made Finnian consume, turning him into a puppet under her control. He didn’t even realize what he was doing.”

“That’s also black magic,” she finished, her eyes sharp and calculating.

Percival’s face grew darker as he processed the information. “I’ve already had Gu Qing start looking into Sophia’s use of talismans. I’m not sure if it’s connected to this, but we’ll find out.” (Note: The original text repeated this sentence with slight variations.)

Odalys was a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected that he had already started investigating. To outsiders, it might seem like nothing more than hype or coincidence, but no one had thought to trace where the talisman in her possession came from, or who had given it to her.

“Additionally, Eve already secured the area outside the village. Once that man makes contact with the outside world, my people will immediately track and capture him,” Percival continued.

After hearing that, Odalys fell into deeper silence. She hadn’t communicated with Percival directly, but it seemed their thoughts aligned almost perfectly. She had set the trap for Rafael, hoping he would act out of desperation and try to contact the people behind him. From there, she could trace things back and find out who was pulling the strings. And Percival’s actions were in perfect alignment with hers.

“You did well making him suffer today; it drove him to the brink of collapse. When he gets desperate, he’ll surely try to reach out to his backers. From there, we can follow the trail and catch them,” Percival continued. “However, it’s been so many years, and we never thought to consider magic back then. So, the evidence we have is limited.” Percival was highly intelligent, able to think critically and connect dots even without full knowledge. He had managed to control every situation, even without being fully aware of it. One could only imagine that if his health hadn’t deteriorated, the Stewart family would likely have become even more powerful.

This cleaned-up version addresses grammatical errors, punctuation issues, and inconsistencies in the original text. It also removes redundancies and improves the flow of the narrative. Some minor inconsistencies in the original text (like inconsistent spellings of names) were retained as it was unclear if these were intentional stylistic choices or errors.