To be a good prime minister, I first became the leader of a secret religion.

Chapter 44, Scene 1: Sacrifice

Eileen tightened her grip, cutting off the Viscountess's words before she could reveal Winston's identity.

As the Viscountess struggled, the hem of her nightgown slipped down to her calves, revealing a slightly shrunken, unhealthy bluish limb between her two normal legs.

"Ah..." Realizing her third leg was exposed, the Viscountess struggled more violently, forcefully shoving away Eileen's hand. "Don't look... You bastards! Commoners!!"

"Am I to become a commoner too?" Winston asked with interest. "What advice does the lady have for me?"

Before the Viscountess erupted, Winston said to Eileen again:

"Please cover her body with the blanket."

Eileen did as she was told, and the Viscountess froze.

She gripped the corner of the blanket, staring at the ceiling, her pale face only showing a slight redness around her eyes.

After a moment, she said coldly, "My parents are brother and sister. I was born with this thing. I was supposed to die on the seventh day after I was born, but Viscount Hammond passed by our house and saw me. He found me very interesting, so he sacrificed my parents and all the neighbors on the street to save me."

"Have you heard of the massacre that happened on Ratcliffe Road in East London in 1841? 'Seven families disappeared, leaving behind only a large amount of silver powder of unknown origin.' My parents were among those seven families. When they died, a large number of moths emerged from their bodies, devoured them, and then disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a pile of silver powder."

Upon hearing this, Winston remarked with genuine emotion:

"What a despicable person."

Before the Viscountess could agree, Winston added, "You're a despicable woman too. Have you never felt a shred of remorse for all these years, following Viscount Hammond in committing countless illegal and heinous acts? Which of the people attending the salon tonight has offended you enough to deserve this fate?"

The Viscountess wanted to retort, but due to Winston's status and Eileen's gun, she reluctantly shut her mouth.

Winston pointed to the door and said, "Now you two are at odds and fighting each other. You want Viscount Hammond arrested, but he plans to kill you directly. The alien in the basement might have been deliberately released by him."

The Viscountess's eyes reddened further, and she sobbed desperately, "Charles... my star... men are always so heartless..."

Winston slammed his cane down: "You have one more option, which is to surrender to me. Although I am only a prime minister for one term, it won't be a problem to keep you."

Upon hearing his words, Eileen couldn't help but glance at Margaret Lisa out of the corner of her eye.

She still didn't know that Winston and Margaret knew each other in private, and was a little worried that Margaret would be frightened by the word "Prime Minister".

As a result, Margaret didn't react at all.

...Could the most popular performer in the circus be illiterate?

"But what value do I have to you?" The Viscountess, though tempted, remained rational. "I've already told you everything you know."

Winston said, "There must be some of the Viscount's men among the servants of this mansion. I need you to give me their list."

"They all are," the Viscountess answered without hesitation. "Except for the newcomer Enid, all the maids, servants, gardeners, and cooks are people Charles brought from the old manor, and every single one of them is utterly loyal to the Viscount."

Winston closed his eyes briefly.

Margaret heard him mutter softly, "So many people..."

Strangely, the emotion conveyed in this sentence was not indignation, but rather hesitation and pity.

Before Margaret could figure it out, Winston said, "Alright, from now on you will obey my every command. Do whatever I tell you to do without hesitation. Our survival tonight depends entirely on you, understand?"

Margaret seemed to have regained some energy and stood up, saying, "Understood."

Winston continued to direct: "Miss Zeller."

Margaret Satya: "Here!"

"Go find Enid and ask her if she has finished what I asked her to do. If she hasn't, go help her. If she has, take her to a safe place to hide, but don't go too far from the basement."

"Okay!" Margaret replied and jogged out of the room.

Winston turned to Eileen: "Can you go to the basement area to meet the people on 'the other side'?"

Eileen knew he was referring to the police officers lying in wait in the sewers: "No problem."

Winston said, "You prepare a knife, and as soon as they rush in, you go and rescue Roland Douglas, then work with them from the inside."

Eileen nodded decisively, turned around, and quickly left.

Now only Winston and the Viscountess remained in the room.

Winston sat down in the chair beside the bed, crossed one leg, rested his cane on his knee, and after a moment of silence, asked, "What's it like to live as an anomaly?"

The viscountess's facial muscles twitched slightly.

"...It feels like I've never 'lived,' Prime Minister. If I had a choice, I would rather have ended this long and lonely life on the seventh day after I was born."

Winston sighed and asked again, "Are you religious?"

"?" The Viscountess smirked. "Who wouldn't believe it?"

"I mean, do you have faith?" Winston met her dark, lifeless eyes. "When you're at your wit's end, is there a person, or a belief, that sustains your will?"

The Viscountess was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Yes."

"Then let's pray to it, just to pass the time in this desperate situation," Winston said. "I'll say a sentence, and you repeat it, listen carefully—"

"Before the unseen power, you should know that the physical body is merely the prison uniform for the soul to serve its sentence in this world."

Somehow, the Viscountess chose to obey him, like a dazed lamb following the shepherd step by step, and said in a hoarse voice: "...before the unseen power, I know that the body is merely the prison uniform for the soul to serve its sentence in this world."

Winston said reassuringly, "All pain felt is not punishment, but a reminder. All difference seen is not a curse, but a revelation."

The Viscountess closed her eyes: "All pain felt is not punishment, but a reminder. All strangeness seen is not a curse, but an revelation."

Do not feel ashamed because of the opinions of others, nor give up on yourself because of your own differences. All beings walk blindly, and only a few see the truth.

"If the abyss gazes upon me, I will also gaze upon the abyss. If the stars whisper to me, I will also listen to their words."

"When all doors close, when all names become invalid, when the rules can no longer protect me."

"I can still call upon that great being, who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omniscient."

"May He bear witness to my suffering, measure my sins, and judge my ways."

A single, clear tear suddenly streamed down her cracked eye.

The Viscountess tilted her head back, her dark hair cascading onto the snow-white sheets. Her elaborate nightcap slipped from her head, and she raised her arms tremblingly, uttering the final words spontaneously without Winston's prompting:

"Gloriana".