Kittel's knees buckled when he saw the ancient beauty floating above Daphne's head. "Miss!" he cried out in anguish.
This confirmed the woman was indeed Roos. Webster hadn't lied - Daphne truly was Roos's reincarnation. The irony was palpable - Roos had been reborn into the very Dai family she once cursed.
"Kittel? Is that you?" Roos seemed disoriented, her gaze wandering unfamiliar faces until it settled on Kittel. Remarkably, she recognized him immediately.
"Yes, Miss! It's me, Kittel!" Overwhelmed with emotion, tears streamed down Kittel's face. Considering he wore another's body and centuries had passed, Roos's instant recognition made all his suffering worthwhile.
Yet Roos showed no joy. Instead, she asked suspiciously, "Kittel, why haven't you moved on to reincarnation after all these years?"
"Miss, how could I leave before avenging you? That beast David lived well and died peacefully. Now I'll destroy his descendants to settle your grudge!" Kittel's hatred burned as he spoke David's name, his desire to desecrate the grave palpable.
"Oh, you fool..." Roos sighed. "Past life's causes bear future life's fruits. What he did to me repaid a debt from our previous existence. Why cling to this obsession?"
Kittel froze, bewildered. How could avenging Roos be wrong when David had harmed her so?
Seeing his confusion, Roos waved her hand. A hazy vision materialized in the night air, revealing her and David's past-life connection.
The vision showed their previous incarnations as star-crossed lovers from impoverished families. When famine struck, their situation grew desperate - especially when Roos (in that life) fell gravely ill.
With no money for food, let alone medicine, death seemed certain for Roos's former self.
But David (in that life) made an unimaginable sacrifice - he became a palace eunuch. The compensation money saved Roos's life, though it meant he could never marry her. Her survival was enough for him.
Roos eventually married another, though she always cherished David's memory. She never saw him again - rumors said he'd been executed for some palace offense.
After witnessing this scene, we were all stunned. None of us had imagined such a twisted karmic relationship between David and Roos across lifetimes. Now we finally understood what she meant by "past life's causes bearing future life's fruits."
In their previous existence, David had sacrificed his manhood to become a palace eunuch to save Roos - an act of incredible devotion, exchanging his very lifeblood for her survival.
In this life, Roos's violation and death at David's hands repaid that debt. Had David not betrayed her, the bandits would have killed him instead. Thus Roos's suffering in this life balanced their karmic scales while also saving him once more.
The cycle was complete - David and Roos were now even, neither owing the other. The true victim was Kittel, caught in this karmic web, his obsession with vengeance becoming his undoing.
"Do you understand now?" Roos asked Kittel.
Kittel stood frozen for a long moment, then violently waved his hand. "I don't care! Past lives are past lives! That woman wasn't named Roos, wasn't my lady! And that David was worse than swine! I don't care about karma - I'll never forgive him! The Dai family must pay! My resentment cannot be quenched!"
"Fool!" Master Raul interjected sharply. "If you destroy the Dai family, what of Daphne? Your lady's current incarnation? Would you have her suffer too?"
This struck Kittel's weak point. He collapsed to the ground, eyes darting between Daphne and Roos's spirit above her. After a long silence, he suddenly laughed bitterly.
"Haha... Heaven, it seems I can never defeat you. Karma, love - I, Kittel, care nothing for them. But I cannot disregard her. Heaven... you win." His voice carried the weight of hard-won realization.
Finally, he knelt and kowtowed three times to Roos. "Miss, this useless Kittel failed to protect you then, and cannot repay your kindness now. If rebirth exists, may I serve you again as your lowest servant."
Turning abruptly, he glared at the Dai family. "Listen well! This is my lady's current incarnation! If she suffers any harm in your household, I will return as a vengeful spirit to claim all your lives! Understood?"
The terrified Dai family members nodded woodenly - even Mr. Dai feared this centuries-old ghost. What mortal wouldn't?
"Miss... I take my leave." With these final words, Kittel threw back his head. A dark vapor erupted from his mouth, shooting skyward before vanishing into the clouds.
The butler's body collapsed with a thud - now just an empty, lifeless shell.
Master Raul examined the body and declared the butler had died of a heart attack long ago - the corpse was already cold. When he wiped away the concealer powder covering the skin, corpse spots immediately became visible across the entire body. It was impossible to tell exactly how long the butler had been dead.
This Kittel apparently didn't just practice ghost-raising arts, but also zombie-refining techniques. After all, in ancient times those dark arts were far more potent than in modern days, when few still practiced such forbidden crafts.
"What loyalty," I sighed, shaking my head. "To linger in the mortal world so long just to avenge his mistress. He'll surely suffer for it in the afterlife."
Webster snorted when he heard me. "Hah! Just loyalty? Did you see how he looked at Roos? That explains everything. This Roos must be something special - David in his past life became a eunuch for her, and this Kittel refused reincarnation for centuries. A real femme fatale! I wonder who she'll ensnare in this lifetime..."
As he trailed off, Webster turned his head and "looked" straight at me, making me inexplicably nervous.
"What the hell...this blind guy can't be faking it, can he?" I muttered under my breath, increasingly suspicious he could actually see.
"Hey kid, watch your mouth. I may be blind, but these ears work just fine," Webster warned.
"Ahem...forget I said anything," I stammered, trying to cover my embarrassment.
Damn blind man. One of these days I'll rip off those sunglasses and see if he's really blind.