458 [85.8] Enacting Punishment

Felix played with Priscilla in the garden, smiling and indulging her every whim. Hank carefully stood in the shadows of the garden, catching Moni's eyes. Moni/Felix stood up, "I will be right back, 'Scilla. Play with Mother until I get back."

Priscilla's face fell, "No! Stay!"

Felix gently shook her hand off, "I won't be long, okay?"

"No! I want you to stay-"

The Duchess let out a tired sigh and tapped the ground, "Let's practice magic, okay?"

"No! I want big brother to play with me!"

The Duchess looked nauseous, "Such overpowering desire…"

Felix/Moni forced his expression to become stern, "Behave or else I won't play with you anymore today."

Priscilla sniffled pitifully, "O-Okay."

Rose nudged her, "Don't cry, Priscilla. Let's try growing flowers."

"But it's hard!"

"Yes… But wouldn't it be nice to give your brother a flower? Despite his harsh exterior, he really likes being given gifts like this."

"Harsh? Big Brother doesn't look harsh."

"...I'm sure he would love to get a flower from you. Do you want to give him one or not?"

Her face lit up, "Okay!"

Felix/Moni smiled at her and spun around. As soon as he appeared beside Hank, his smile started looking a bit more sinister.

"Well?"

Hank gulped, "Um… So I found an orphanage that Shafer has been involved in…"

"And? We already know that."

"W-Well I went posing as a possible adoptee…"

Felix/Moni glanced at Hank, "Okay?"

Hank fiddled with his hands, "I met the sweetest little girl… We had a two-hour conversation about novels…"

Felix/Moni blinked, "...So?"

"I want to adopt her!" Hank blurted out quickly, "I-I know I have to just stick to the shadows, but I feel so strongly about this! I have a huge book collection at home just sitting there untouched, and for years I have always felt this emptiness in my heart-"

Felix/Moni held out a hand to silence him, "Hank."

"Yes, Master?"

"Just adopt her."

"Really?! Are you sure, Master?!"

Felix/Moni sighed in exhaustion, "Why do you think I would care? It's not my life-"

Hank suddenly picked the child up and hugged him so tightly, Moni used the shadows to escape. "Don't EVER touch me."

"Ah! Sorry! I just got too happy!" Hank cleared his throat and stood upright, "Permission to go adopt her now?"

Felix/Moni waved him off, "While you do that, I am going to pay Shafer a visit."

Felix/Moni cast a glance at Priscilla. He watched her attempt to grow flowers, her face turning red from the effort. A small smile curled his lips, but before anyone could notice the genuine smile, he disappeared into the shadows.

The one called Shafer had a medium build with a scholarly air about him rather than looking like an evil mastermind. Late at night, he was at his desk humming to himself. If one didn't see the documents containing children's portraits and details, they would think he was reading something fantastical.

Moni spoke telepathically: <<Stay in the shadows. I don't want to bloody your hands.>>

A cloud of smoke poured out of Felix's mouth. Felix found the slithering feeling so uncomfortable, he wanted to pull the smoke back inside. Moni appeared out of his body, stepping out of the shadows.

His orange eyes brightened as his expression turned cold, "Shafer."

Shafer flinched in his seat, whirling around to see the man seemingly appearing from the shadows. He immediately jumped out of the chair and fell to his knees, "Master!"

Moni stared down at him without emotion, "You've been having fun lately, haven't you?"

Shafer's face paled, "M-Master? Surely you must be mistaken-"

A hand turned pure black wrapped around his throat and raised him in the air. Smoke billowed out from Moni as he sneered, "Mistaken? Did you really think you could hide that from me? Do you not realize who I am?"

Shafer kicked his feet midair, struggling to remove Moni's tightly clamped grip. His veins turned blue and his skin wrinkled as Moni consumed his mana. However, before Shafer turned into a prune, Moni tossed him to the ground.

Shafer weakly pulled himself to his knees and begged, "WAIT! WAIT PLEASE! I CAN GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!"

Moni stared down at him with cold eyes, "How could you possibly know what I want?"

"The girl!!! I finally found the girl!!!"

Moni paused, "...Who?"

Relieved to see Moni pause, he continued quickly, "The girl who gave you the mana that nearly cured you! I found her!"

Moni tilted his head, "Oh?"

Seeing Moni interested, he nodded quickly while groveling at his feet, "She was living at the Orphange for children who can't control their mana. I already got my men to bring her to the camp. I can bring you to her-"

Moni slowly bent down, meeting Shafer's eyes without blinking. Shafer gulped, too afraid to look away.

Moni spoke slowly, "Do you really think finding her will excuse you from pretending to be me?"

"I-I was just doing what you asked-"

"Oh? Did I ask you to use my name? Use my organization as if you owned it? Did I ever ask you to steal children from the slums and orphanages to use as cattle?"

"N-No-"

"You see, Shafer… If you really want to be me… Then you need to understand what it's like living as me."

Moni placed his hand on Shafer's shoulder.

Screams and cries pierced Shafer's mind, deafening him to any outside noise.

"WHY!"

"SAVE ME!"

"HELP!"

Shafer fell to the ground foaming at the mouth as he tried to rip his own ears off. The screams were so blaring, his ears started to bleed.

Yet, Felix who was standing not too far away, never heard a thing. He only watched as the man screamed in pain at the phantom noises.

Moni stood there watching as Shafer cried out in pain, trying anything to drown out the screams. He spoke emotionlessly, "This is what I hear every day. The worst part isn't those voices either."

He snapped his fingers and the screams disappeared. 

"It's my father who is always clinging to me… And he's not very happy with you."

Shafer screamed at the top of his throat, "MONSTER! YOU'RE A MONSTER!"

Moni raised his foot and slammed it down onto his head. Felix flinched and looked away, too afraid to see the result. Moni kicked the broken body into the shadows as if it were trash. He stared at the body without any trace of emotion and murmured, "...I'm not a monster."

He slowly turned to face Felix and realized Felix was now staring at him while refusing to look at the body.

His orange eyes dimmed as screams echoed in his head, unheard by anyone else.

In a low voice, he asked, "Are you afraid of me now?"

Felix slowly shook his head. His deep, dark brown eyes still staring at Moni with complete idolization, "Nope."