Silvanus still couldn't understand the intense undercurrent between his "son" and Nick. When he saw the boy suddenly bury his head in his chest like that, he assumed the kid was frightened. He paused for a moment, but in the end still raised his hand and gently rubbed the boy's head, speaking softly, "It's alright..."

The boy seemed to stiffen slightly, yet eventually relaxed again—only his arms tightened a little more around Silvanus.

"Click… click…"

At that moment, a faint sound suddenly rang out. Silvanus instinctively turned to look. At some point, the small TV at the side had switched on by itself, and the news anchor had already begun delivering the day's report.

"…we have discovered a body in the forest. According to confirmation, it is the citizen T who had been missing for more than a month. What's noteworthy is that beneath T's body, we also found an incomplete skeleton. According to identification, the skeleton belonged to a woman who died more than seven years ago…"

The broadcast continued without pause, but at this moment the butler suddenly spoke up, like a machine that drew all attention toward itself.

"I believe that by being here, you already understand what you need to do. Our Master is searching for an outstanding heir. Only the most exceptional person will be able to leave with the enormous inheritance. However, great wealth also attracts many greedy people. To confirm that you are truly the ones who were invited, I will check whether your information matches the records I possess."

By now, Silvanus understood the meaning of those cards. He couldn't help thinking about the tall man and the petite girl who had switched seats. If that was the case, their information might not match.

If the information didn't match, what would happen?

Silvanus kept speculating, but clearly someone had no intention of participating in this "boring game."

"I don't know where this place is, but I have to leave! You're illegally detaining people!"

The one who spoke was a woman dressed neatly in business attire. Beneath her glasses was a pair of bloodshot eyes, and the dark circles under them clearly showed her exhaustion.

She had remained silent earlier because she hadn't seen the mastermind appear. Now that she had, she naturally hurried to demand to leave.

"You'd better call the rescue team to take me away as soon as possible, or just wait to rot in prison!" the woman warned fiercely.

But the butler's aged eyes merely stared fixedly at her. Under the flickering candlelight of the castle, his eyes seemed to glow with a strange, cold light. "You mean you were not invited to this place."

That's right—no one here had been invited to this place.

The woman felt that the butler was a little strange for saying such a thing, and it made her afraid. Yet it only made her want to leave even more, so she roared irritably, "Of course not! Didn't you people kidnap us here? Invitations, heirs, whatever—I don't know anything about that, alright?"

"You were not invited here, so why are you here?"

As he spoke, the butler walked toward the woman. His mouth kept muttering, his steps growing faster and faster, while he continued to mumble, "Why are you here… why are you here… why are you here…"

His eyes grew so dark that even the countless candle flames couldn't reflect the slightest trace of light.

Before anyone could react, the butler's hands—covered with sagging, aged skin—grabbed the woman's head and slammed it down onto the table.

"Bang!"

A loud sound rang out. Fresh blood splattered everywhere. Mixed within the bright red were fragments of bone and cloudy white brain matter that still seemed to twitch with spasms before finally going still.

No matter how calm Silvanus appeared, he couldn't help but shut his eyes tightly. His hand instinctively pressed the boy's head firmly against his chest. His heart pounded weakly, like someone about to drown desperately struggling.

"Thud!"

The woman's body couldn't even react. Not long after her head burst apart, her entire body swayed and collapsed to the ground. Blood continued to gush from her neck, staining the floor red like a small pool of blood.

The entire space seemed to fall into silence in the blink of an eye. Immediately afterward, a piercing scream rang out.

The girl sitting beside the woman who had just died shrieked hysterically. Tears streamed down from her wide-open eyes. One side of her face and her clothes were smeared with fresh blood and brain matter. The foul, metallic smell that suddenly rose, together with the gruesome scene right before her eyes, almost made her vomit.

"Shhhh—"

At that moment, the butler suddenly spoke. "Be quiet. I already said that my master truly hates noise. Or perhaps… one person isn't enough to make you all quiet."

It was a warning—and also a sign.

The girl almost instinctively covered her mouth, yet her tears kept falling uncontrollably. Her brows were tightly knitted in pain. Even though her head was still on her shoulders, she felt as if her brain were pounding violently, as though it might burst at any moment.

"Huek… urgh…"

In the end, she couldn't hold it in and retched, even though she tried her best to suppress the sound in her throat.

The expressions of the others weren't much better. At this moment, even the bravest person no longer dared to scream or make any noise.

The butler took out a pure white handkerchief from the pocket over his chest and slowly wiped away the blood on his hands and face. Then he smiled and said softly, "Only those who have been carefully selected can receive an invitation. How could someone who wasn't invited deserve to set foot in this castle!"

He shook his head, looking annoyed with his own mistake, then glanced at everyone present and asked, "Is there anyone here who didn't receive an invitation?"

After witnessing what had just happened, who would still dare to say anything? An ordinary person couldn't smash someone else's skull like crushing a cake. The fact that the butler could do such a thing proved that he wasn't an ordinary person either. No one wanted to become the second "cake."

Only then did the butler smile in satisfaction, his melodious voice sounding once more. "Very well. Now we will verify the identities of everyone here. If anyone has impersonated one of the chosen and entered…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but the fate of the woman earlier was already a warning.

The others quickly picked up their cards as well. Some people who had been confused, after receiving reminders in the comment section, hurriedly grabbed theirs too.

Only the tall man looked as if he wanted to die, his expression extremely ugly. As for the petite girl, she was trembling so violently she could barely control herself, tears falling uncontrollably.