Surviving As The Villainess
Chapter 98 - The Hidden Truth

That night, before the new year's gong rings and before the bomb explodes at the Elisien intersection, Karl looks very busy in his study.

Several times he flipped through the file and marked it with a red pen.

Before changing years, actually Karl hopes to spend time with his family but unfortunately the business affairs can not be delayed. Many business contracts are worth billions or trillions. Karl as President cannot play games in the face of the contract.

If until Castris Group is adversely affected due to its performance, Karl could not imagine as much as what employees would be affected. He does not want to make loyal and competent employees in the company suffer.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door from outside. On this floor there was only Karl's office and his secretary, Tian.

Hearing the voice, Karl immediately let in.

"Lake in."

"President, Mr. Eldo just called and wants to see you."

Karl stopped what he was doing for a moment. He looked a little surprised to hear that Eldo wanted to meet him. As far as her memory goes, Castris and Ravenray did not have a joint project within the year.

So why would he want to meet her?

"Tell him to meet tomorrow at 10am after the meeting is over."

"Sorry President, but Mr. Eldo insists on meeting right now."

"Right now?"

"Right, he's waiting in the waiting room."

Karl pinched his forehead slowly because he felt dizzy. Since Eldo was already here, inevitably Karl had to go straight to him.

He had no bad relationship with Eldo. Perhaps their relationship heated up a bit when Allen accidentally injured Liyuna in the past, but seeing the many documents he had to complete, Karl felt a little reluctant to meet.

"Then take her to my room right now."

"Understand."

Secretary Tian bowed his body slightly and directly exited the room. After that he immediately contacted the relevant party and asked him to come directly to the floor where Karl's work space was located.

Karl temporarily stopped his work. He took off the gold-framed glasses he was wearing and placed them on the table. After that Karl walked towards the sofa that was usually used to receive guests. He waited until Eldo came to this place.

Shortly after, Eldo arrived.

"Please sit down."

Eldo sat on the sofa opposite Karl so that the two of them could sit facing each other.

"What does the Chairman of Raven Group need to do here? As I recall, we don't have a joint project this year."

"Right, we don't have any joint projects this year. Earlier I wanted to apologize for coming without making an appointment first."

"It's okay, I happen to be resting. You want coffee or tea?"

"No need, I'll get straight to the point. What is Castris and Cerberus' relationship?"

Karl scrunched his forehead. He looked at Eldo with a questioning gaze trying to listen to what Eldo said next. But after a few seconds passed, Eldo did not say anything. He did not intend to tell Karl directly what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"As you know, four years ago my wife had a murder incident caused by Cerberus. The mastermind of this incident is hidden from the public and only known by some people, one of them is the Castris family because Cerberus left a message to you."

"Then?"

"I've been doing research for the past four years. I want to know why my wife was murdered and why they targeted her when, judging by the messages they left behind, it should have been Castris who should have been targeted."

Eldo paused his words for a moment and looked at Karl.

"Then I discovered a surprising fact." Further.

Karl narrowed his eyes at the words of Eldo. From the direction of the conversation that they had started, Karl already understood what he wanted to say.

"Then, what does this have to do with Castris. Our family can't possibly be connected to a criminal organization." Karl said it calmly. There was no significant increase or decrease in votes.

"True, it is impossible for a noble family like Castris to have a relationship with Cerberus. And yet-"

Eldo looked into Karl's eyes. The atmosphere that had felt so calm and friendly began to heat up a little.

"About 19 or 20 years ago, the Castris family had a terrible accident. That's a fact that's really happening, isn't it?"

"That's right, our family was once involved in an accident."

Karl confirmed the speech of Eldo. He did not try to hide that fact. Even so, articles and news reporting about the accident were almost non-existent as they were removed by the head of the Castris family at the time.

"There was a big news at that time but strangely, the news suddenly disappeared and dimmed just like that without any explanation. I'm sure the Castris family is trying to put a damper on the news with their power."

"Of course, it's not so much fun."

"I also understand how your family feels but I came across an old article about the accident. In the article it mentions the victim who could not survive the accident."

"That's right, our personal driver lost his life when the accident happened."

"In addition to the driver, there are other victims besides him, right?"

Hearing this, Karl looked at Eldo.

"Harrioth Aerian Castris, your sister also lost her life in the accident and that is the reason why Castris was so eager to bury the news regarding the accident. Castris doesn't want anyone to know if any of their family members died, does she?"

Karl was silent to the question from Eldo. He did not intend to confirm or deny this. That's why he just stayed silent.

About 19 or 20 years ago, the Castris family did have a major accident that almost took his life. In the news only mentioned that their driver who has lost his life, therefore can not be done further investigation because the Castris family closed the case peacefully.

But in the news, there is a lie. The fatalities that lost their lives in the accident were not only the Castris family's private driver, but a core member of the Castris family was also the victim.

Harrioth Aerian Castris, the younger brother of Karl who was 3 years younger than him. The accident occurred when Karl was 21 years old and Harrioth who had just turned 18 years old had not been introduced to the outside world. Not many knew that there was another son besides Karl in the Castris family. Many people think Karl is the only child but in reality he has a younger brother.

Unfortunately, his brother died in the accident. It has not even been introduced to the outside world. No one knows of its existence, it is like a shadow that never existed.

The previous head of the Castris family, the father of Karl was someone who was very strict. He made a very courageous decision by not making his son go into business when he was a minor. Therefore, Karl himself was only able to plunge into the business world when he was 18 years old and Harrioth, who was just 18 years old, had not had time to plunge into the world.

Although Karl did not respond, Eldo understood his attitude. That was why he did not ask further and continued what he had in mind.

"The connection between Castris and Cerberus, I think it started when your family was involved in the accident. Has your family been a target since then?"

"Eldo." Call Karl.

Eldo looked a little surprised to hear Karl call his name. They are people from the same world and have known each other in a lot of time. When Karl called her by name, it meant that he wanted to remove the formalities they had been doing all along.

Despite having known him for so long, Eldo still felt surprised by the existence of Karl's dead sister. He did not know that the head of the Castris family had previously hidden the whereabouts of his second son in the public eye. However, Eldo also realized that Karl himself was only known when he was 18 years old. Most likely, the head of the Castris family who had previously done just that.

"As someone who has known you for a long time, I will give you a piece of advice."

"..."

"Never touch the things connected with Cerberus or yourself that will bear the consequences."

"Is that why my wife was murdered?"

"I'm sure you know more than anyone. If it wasn't for touching Cerberus, your late wife would be fine."

"I don't understand. Since then I have been searching for the truth. My wife touched Cerberus just because of an accident. He did it out of concern for Allen who was involved in an incident with your daughter at Alkelan Lake. But why should he be killed? That's something that doesn't make sense."

"No matter who it was, Cerberus would wipe out an existence they considered dangerous. Cerberus targeted your wife and my family for different reasons. In the case of your wife, the late Madame Almera has touched something she shouldn't have touched. That's inversely related to my family's case. Cerberus, they're targeting Castris for hate."

Eldo was silent for a moment when he heard Karl's words. He looked so serious when he said that. Eldo also did not find any lies in his words.

"I'll rethink your advice."

TB