But due to her childhood experiences and deep-seated inferiority complex, an untouchable barrier had formed between her and the real world, causing her to be terrified of socializing. Consequently, she often controlled her main puppet, Angie, to be unrestrained and boisterous.
This revealed that Donna's heart truly yearned for the outside world, yet she lacked the courage to reach out herself.
Thus, she could only use the puppet Angie to experience the world in her stead. Therefore, one should not be deceived by Donna sitting quietly and properly in the corner; in reality, the puppet Angie running about was her true self and the manifestation of her inner feelings.
And finally, there was Salvatore Moreau...
A hunched fish monster, his hideous body concealed by a large black coat, resembling an old man over fifty years old.
His body trembled, his voice was exceptionally hoarse, his face was incredibly bloated, and his clothing covered his eyes.
A ring of bones was tied around his head, making him look very bizarre.
Moreau was arguably the weakest of the four noble lords; his simple ability to spit acid was far too ordinary.
Aside from being somewhat clever, he had almost no distinguishing features.
However, because the Salvatore family had been fanatical followers of Mother Miranda for generations, Moreau, despite being the weakest, was actually Mother Miranda's favorite compared to the other three noble lords.
Since Mother Miranda could trust Moreau unconditionally, she redistributed power upon her return to the village, handing most of it to him.
This caused considerable dissatisfaction among the other three lords, including Heisenberg, the potential traitor, whose rebellious actions were accelerated by this move.
However, the most eye-catching thing right now was not the four noble lords or Mother Miranda, but the man unconscious on the ground, wearing a green jacket and jeans.
Covered in scars with flaxen-brown short hair, it was undoubtedly Ethan, who had reached the village after enduring countless hardships.
Of course, besides that, the other groups of Lycans in the Cave Church were also indispensable; the caves above the church were packed with them.
They huddled in the caves, watching everything below, as the four noble lords held a much higher status than them.
The strict hierarchy kept the Lycans from acting out, but their rising and falling snarls couldn't be stopped, echoing continuously throughout the Cave Church.
"Roar—!!!!!!"
However, just as Lady Dimitrescu and Javier arrived, the previously quiet pack of Lycans suddenly began to howl madly, barking and baring their teeth at Javier below, who carried the scent of a living human.
It was as if they wanted to tear the living Javier to pieces.
It was no different from a stranger walking into a yard full of guard dogs; without cages to hold them back, they surely would have swarmed him in an instant.
"Alcina..."
"Who is this man? Why have you brought him to the church? Do you not know the importance of the council?"
At this moment,
Mother Miranda, standing on the prayer platform, couldn't help but frown and ask when she saw the outsider Javier standing beside Lady Dimitrescu.
Her power had briefly sensed Javier, but she found nothing unusual.
That was why she chose to question Lady Dimitrescu; except for Salvatore Moreau, the other noble lords were becoming increasingly audacious.
"Hehe..."
"Mother Miranda, perhaps he's just the lover of that big-breasted, brainless woman Alcina."
"After all, she's been lonely in her chambers for so many years; it's only natural she'd keep a few Pretty Boys outside. Don't blame her."
"Though... I wonder what kind of man in this world could satisfy such a massive appetite. She'd need beasts—cows, horses, elephants... No, I think those Lycans in the village would be just right!"
"Fight, fight...!!! Yes, just like that, start arguing, start fighting already..."
"This... Great Mother Miranda... please forgive their insolence..."
At their first meeting, Heisenberg did not disappoint Javier.
His sharp tongue was incredibly aggressive, infuriating Lady Dimitrescu the moment he spoke.
Her face twisted slightly in anger.
No wonder Lady Dimitrescu usually detested this wild monkey Heisenberg. Although he was somewhat pitiable, most of it seemed self-inflicted; he had a very foul and venomous mouth.
"Forgive me, my respected Mother..."
"I did not intend to defy your orders. This man is a human trafficker from Romania. Since you ordered the massacre of the village, the supply of blood in Castle Dimitrescu is running low. So, I came specifically to ask you: if you permit it, I will continue the trade; if you refuse, I can kill this man on the spot!"
Facing Mother Miranda's questioning,
Lady Dimitrescu dearly wanted to slap that foul-mouthed monkey Heisenberg to death, but she first adopted a humble posture to atone. Compared to Heisenberg, the task Javier had assigned was far more important...
Volume 10 Resident Evil Village, Revenge: Chapter 16 Oscar-Winning Actor
Without a doubt, the human trafficker excuse seemed very clumsy, but Lady Dimitrescu's acting was very convincing. Seeing Mother Miranda's displeased look,
Lady Dimitrescu decisively improvised, her expression turning fierce.
She threw open her gloved hand, and five sharp, sickle-like claws quickly grew from her fingernails.
As long as Mother Miranda nodded, Lady Dimitrescu would swing her sharp sickle-claws down hard upon Javier.
"Wait, Lady Dimitrescu, this is not the perfect cooperation we discussed...!"
"I can provide a long-term slave trade, and the quality will definitely not be poor. There are many vagrants in Romania; I can provide them all to you,"
"I can even lower the price of the slaves—no, free, they're free! Just spare my life, I beg of you...!"
Seeing Dimitrescu's improvisation,
Javier, acting like an Oscar-winning actor, followed up perfectly. His expression changed instantly, turning deathly pale with fear.
At the same time, his legs trembled as he collapsed to the ground. His hat happened to fall off, revealing his look of utter terror.
He quickly put on the typical cowardly and incompetent Merchant act, begging Lady Dimitrescu for mercy with snot and tears.
The acting of the two was very realistic, immediately creating a scene where a negotiation had collapsed and the buyer was double-crossing the seller.
It made one subconsciously view Javier as a reckless Merchant who dared to come to the village to sell slaves for a bit of profit, truly courting death.
Meanwhile, facing Javier's pleas, Lady Dimitrescu ignored him, stepping on Javier's chest with her massive high heel to keep him from running, then raised her black sickle-claws high, intending to give Javier a quick end.
After all, Lady Dimitrescu had already explained clearly just now that she brought Javier to the church council only because the castle's supply of living blood was insufficient, and since the villagers had been massacred, there was no fresh blood left to drink.
Thus, Lady Dimitrescu had privately contacted a human trafficker to buy slaves, but all of this was predicated on the consent of Mother Miranda, the true master of the village.
So Lady Dimitrescu brought Javier to ask Mother Miranda; if permitted, they would conduct normal slave trading, but if Mother Miranda refused, Lady Dimitrescu could silence him on the spot to prevent news of the village from leaking out.
This somewhat plausible reason, combined with the very realistic acting, indeed managed to blur the line between truth and lies. When Mother Miranda saw that Lady Dimitrescu really intended to execute Javier on the spot, her brow furrowed slightly, and her initial suspicion vanished. She opened her lips and said calmly:
"Forget it..."
"I overlooked your feelings. Though the ceremony is important, Alcina... and Heisenberg, your castle and factory do indeed still need living humans for research."
"The villagers have been slaughtered, and there are no more ready-made test subjects. In that case... this Merchant is yours to deal with. But remember, do not reveal the village's location. Understood?"
In the end, Mother Miranda, not sensing anything unusual about Javier, finally chose to spare him, as she had indeed forgotten about this matter.
As long as the ceremony to resurrect her daughter Eva was successfully completed, Mother Miranda, having fulfilled her wish, would no longer need to experiment on villagers, so the massacre was reasonable.
But Mother Miranda had forgotten about the two noble lords, Lady Dimitrescu and Heisenberg.
The former was a Vampire who needed living blood to survive, so a steady supply of living humans was essential.
The latter was the master of the Iron Factory, and Heisenberg also needed living humans to modify into his army of iron zombies.
Rashly slaughtering all the villagers indeed brought them no benefit, so privately contacting a slave trader was understandable.
Secondly, Mother Miranda forgot that if her resurrection ceremony failed and her daughter Eva could not be revived, she would ultimately have to return to the village to continue human experimentation.
Thus, slaughtering everyone in the village so hastily was indeed too reckless, even though she had one hundred percent confidence in using Rose's body as a vessel to resurrect her daughter Eva.
But regardless, she needed a backup plan. If... if an accident truly occurred, that would be the real trouble.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Mother Miranda agreed to Lady Dimitrescu's private contact with the slave trader.
After all, she would leave with her daughter Eva once the ceremony was finished, but the four noble lords would still be in the village. It was only natural for them to be confused by her order to massacre the villagers.
"Thank you... thank you!"
"I will definitely provide a long-term supply of slaves to the village. I won't leak the secrets here, not at all...!"
Hearing Mother Miranda's words of permission, Javier, having saved his life, decisively continued his performance with a fawning and grateful expression, kowtowing frantically in thanks.
He was as humble as could be, a posture that made the other three noble lords look on with disdain. Humans were humans, after all, as lowly as ever.
Among the three noble lords, Heisenberg, in particular, who was very much at odds with Lady Dimitrescu, clicked his tongue at Javier in dissatisfaction.
This Merchant really was terrified of death.
He had thought Javier was truly a Pretty Boy that the sow Lady Dimitrescu had recently taken a fancy to.
Heisenberg had wanted to use Mother Miranda's hand to kill this Pretty Boy just to infuriate his arch-enemy Lady Dimitrescu.
But it seemed that wouldn't be possible now, so he could only click his tongue in displeasure and continue puffing away.