"The angel of the Lord announced to the Pope, she conceived through the Holy Spirit", "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word", "The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us" - The "Three Bell Canon" instructs people to ring the bell three times a day and recite three prayers.
Such strict rules are mostly followed by dedicated monks and sincere pastors.
However, compared to the Agio family, who are closer to God, the McNew family is more willing to spend their own land to build three magnificent and huge bells in their courtyard to fulfill the commandments of the "Three Bell Canon".
The three bells are often built in a straight line in the McNew family courtyard, facing the same direction.
They symbolize different moments of the day, located at different distances from the villa in the courtyard. The three bells ring at different times of the day.
Even in the branch of the McNew family in Red Port, they do not neglect this custom.
"It's quite spectacular, isn't it?" Evelitte, acting as the driver, shook the reins of the two strong horses while looking towards the side of the road.
"Red Port is the domain of the McNew family. The lady is the aunt of the young lady... she is also a strong-willed woman."
"Even in this foreign and old-fashioned Red Port, she is still willing to uphold the tradition of the "Three Bell Canon"."
Evelitte nodded slightly, "The three bells built with the proud wealth of Red Port. Maybe they are the most magnificent and huge church bells in the whole Acadia."
The sound of horse hooves rang as the carriage traveled on the gravel road, passing one bell tower after another.
Turing sat at the front of the carriage, gently swaying her feet. Feeling the discomfort from the board through her skirt and the gap between her legs, Turing frowned unhappily.
"Quite romantic, isn't it?" Turing said in a calm tone. Despite the bumpiness of the carriage, her voice did not tremble at all.
"Madam is a devout believer." The carriage finally stopped its jolting and quietly parked at the door of the villa.
"But she tolerates me, a child of the demon. Do you know what that means?"
Evelitte glanced at Turing sitting in the back, only to find her looking out the window, lost in thought, as if she had not heard a word.
"It means that she is not afraid of you or Ochia, you know?" Evelitte dismounted from the horse and walked to Turing, bowing like a gentleman and extending his hand.
In a country where religion and power are not unified, does being close to the church mean being distant from the ruling power?
"Ah..." Turing didn't even look at Evelitte and sighed slowly. "Why do you all hold such animosity towards our family?" After finishing her sentence, despite her cold and distant demeanor, she still took the generous hand of Evelitte and stepped lightly off the carriage.
[Actually, I know very well. It's just that our family has been in power for too long and has become the target of jealousy.]
"You may soon find out why." Evelitte's telepathy was mixed with a harsh noise. Although Evelitte couldn't smile with his iron jaw, Turing could still sense a hint of amusement in his tone just now.
The heavy wooden door was opened by Evelitte's masculine and sensual arm with veins slightly bulging.
In the split second when the door cracked open,
The familiar, elusive fragrance of lavender, like the maids Turing used to see every day carrying trays and herbs - dignified, superior, natural and effortless - rushed towards Turing.
The bittersweet fragrance penetrated Turing's body without any resistance.
Like a tangible aroma, it seemed to penetrate Turing's body like a ghost. The terrifying roar grew louder and louder in Turing's ears.
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"Excuse me." Merka politely greeted. Even though the shop in front of her was surrounded by yellow tape in circles by the police, Merka still broke the taboo and walked inside.
"It's unexpectedly tidy," Merka gently touched the neatly displayed items, noticing that they were neither dusty nor out of order.
After confirming multiple times and checking the backstage warehouse, Merka concluded that the only change since their last visit was the absence of a few guns and bullets. The Witch's own staff and pipe were missing.
"Paying the whole price for just one person..." Merka had a chilling and ominous feeling when thinking about the price the Witch had set for that pipe.
"I wonder if there are any clues in the drawer." Although Merka believed that a thoughtful woman like the Witch wouldn't leave behind obvious evidence for others to deduce before leaving, there was still a slight chance of finding something by searching a bit more.
One by one, Merka flipped through the drawers at the front desk, finding neither money nor cigarettes inside.
The pitifully empty front desk symbolized the Witch's life. Merka only found a few notebooks used for records.
"The names written on them... are they customer information? Hmm, it's too detailed." Many names unknown to Merka appeared one by one in the Witch's peculiar notebooks.
Going beyond just recording names, the books also contained information about each person's gender, age, preferences, skills, and even personality traits and flaws. If someone unaware were to see them, they might think the Witch was an employee of a matchmaking agency.
"Judas?" Merka flipped to the last page and, although not finding the chef's name, saw another familiar name. The information recorded there was mostly accurate, even more so than what Merka knew.
"No more pages left..." Disordered information filled Merka's mind. Although they had made several guesses, there was still no crucial evidence.
Merka turned another page, reaching the back cover of the book. However, there they found some evidence that completely overturned their previous speculation.
"Merka, when you read these words, I guess I am already dead..."
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"Turing? Turing!" Raphael exclaimed angrily at Turing.
"Ah... I, I zoned out again?" Turing suddenly widened their eyes, as if startled like a little rabbit, looking around in confusion.
"Do you understand what I just said?"
"If you can't accomplish this, I can't trust you."
"And I can't tell you everything, you know." Raphael said seriously, looking nervous and anxious. Like escaping from a disaster, there were large beads of sweat dripping from Raphael's little face.
"I initially thought you were so timid. You would surely be controlled tightly by Oedipus."
"But I didn't expect you to have such courage, escaping from that guy."
"So I thought, maybe... maybe you could understand the real national cause, and maybe you could stand on the same side as us." Raphael was both flustered and anxious, looking all puffed up like a little girl, with a unique cuteness.
"But your memory should have been tampered with by Oedipus. The magic used should be a special programming magic from our family, otherwise, you wouldn't have inexplicably smelled the scent of wormwood."
"If I don't help you remove this magic on you, I can't convince everyone to believe you."
[What is she talking about? Is she saying that besides my mom's Blackdrop magic, there is another magic on me? Ugh, my head... it feels a bit dizzy.] Turing felt lightheaded and couldn't understand Raphael's words. So Turing took a deep breath, intending to clear their mind, but unexpectedly, the strong scent of wormwood filled their nose, nearly ten times stronger than what Turing had experienced when they first entered.
Suppressing the feeling of nausea, Turing looked around, seeing a dimly lit space and classical walls. There were no windows, and various strange objects were placed in disharmonious locations.
The cracked notebook lay on the water tank, while an elegant dried leaf butterfly perched on the edge of the tank, and of course... there was also the piano that Turing could never forget.
Nightmarishly, Turing remembered. The style of this piano strangely coincided with a certain image deeply hidden in Turing's heart.