Chapter 618: Lily’s Love
“When I was very young, I was in a ritual no one knew about.”
Lily reminisced and whispered, “My sister Anya was an impressive person. She was diligent in her studies and fair-minded in her dealings. Even at a young age, she expressed her determination to save this country. I, on the other hand, could never utter such words… At most, all I hope for is to witness springtime once in my lifetime.”
“I want to know what ‘the chirping of birds and the fragrance of flowers’ means, what ‘bountiful harvest’ is. These words I’ve seen in books, but I don’t know their meaning.”
“But then… Sis, she had a big goal. She wanted to marry Grand Duke Ivan. At that time, she was only 14 years old. That’s a big deal, isn’t it?
“Because we didn’t know when Grand Duke Ivan would find a wife, my sister was anxious. She wanted to impress the Grand Duke, and it was tough to change the situation of the Austere-Winter continent alone. My sister had that talent, but she was too young.”
“My sister wanted to hold a forbidden ritual. She summoned Silver Sire and sold her ‘life after age 30’ to trade for 15 years of tripled wisdom. However, her parents could never find out about this ritual, so she had to collect the materials herself. I also helped her to collect them.”
“However, due to my clumsiness, I mistakenly took the three-year-old cedar branch into a three-year-old fir branch. I accidentally cut my thumb, too, staining the ritual knife with my blood, resulting in the failure of my sister’s ritual.”
“My sister is not a transcender. The price of failure is death. The curse ran rampant and destroyed my sister’s internal organs… I was a little fl.u.s.tered at the time, so I used my sister’s remaining material to perform the ritual again. Then, I successfully summoned the Silver Sire.”
Speaking of this, Lily showed a wry smile or perhaps a nostalgic smile, “My sister died not long ago. Silver Sire is indeed a fair deity. I used one-third of my life to save my sister. Then, I used one-third of my lifespan to grant my sister five years of doubled wisdom.”
“Fortunately, the two of us held the ritual secretly. Our parents didn’t find out about it. However, my lifespan is very short. If I stay at home, maybe… No, I will die faster than my parents.”
“I don’t want to see them mourn for me. Moreover, according to the book, I want to go to the place where the spring flowers bloom. I want to take a look at the legendary sea of flowers before I die…”
“It just happened that I met my friend, Euphe, four years later. She was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged for her by the Melvin family— ‘Old Crow’ Nolan Geraint. He was almost 50 years old, and Euphe was only 16 years old.”
“Besides this matter, Euphie was dissatisfied with the entire Melvin family. She felt they were treated merely as tools for carrying on the bloodline, where every aspect of their lives, even their basic needs, were arranged and controlled as if imprisoned. She was the sole resistor against these traditions, and perhaps it was for this reason that her family decided to marry her off to Noah… sending her far away to a place where she couldn’t be seen.”
“Count Nolan only hoped to get a child with Melvin’s bloodline. Melvin’s bloodline could give birth to a wizard’s heir… He just hoped to have a child with transcendent talent.”
“—Rasputin’s blood could do the same thing.”
“So Euphe and I made an agreement… When Euphe got married, I would leave a letter and pretend to run away from home. But in fact, I would marry Noah in Euphe’s shoes. Euphe would use my name and embark on the adventure of the underground world for me.”
Speaking of this, Lily showed a gentle smile, “I was nervous at first. I only wanted to fulfill my little wish and hoped my parents would not be sad for me.”
“Then I found out… Nolan was nice to me.”
“Although he was the count, he was Noah’s Intelligence Director and the father of two children. However, he was a gentle person.”
“He would remember my birthday and take me for a walk in the sea of flowers. When I cried, he would quietly accompany me, patting my back and hugging me.”
“I like Noah’s sea of flowers very much. The silver and purple ones are beautiful. Those are the flowers he took me to see. They are more beautiful than the ones I saw in the book or my dreams.”
“I also like Noah very much. It is a city with spring, summer, and autumn… It’s a place where girls can wear short skirts below the knee. I also hope that Austere-Winter can also bloom in spring one day. I want my sister to see that beautiful, silver-purple sea of flowers too.”
“Of course, it’s just a thought. It’s impossible to achieve it. My sister will become Grand Duke Ivan’s wife. Then, there is a war between Austere-Winter and Noah.”
If the war can be quelled one day, my sister may serve as the Grand Duke’s wife and go on a mission to Noah. By then, I’ll have the chance to meet her… and hand over this ring to her. If not…”
Lily showed a faint, happy smile that seemed to be shining, “If I am lucky enough where my sister, my father, and my mother are still around, please tell them that I am happy.”
“And… I’m sorry.”
She sat securely in the chair with her hands on her lap. She bowed slightly forward.
…I see.
Annan couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
He didn’t say anything; his gaze simply softened silently.
For some reason, his first instinct was to say thank you to Old Crow.
“The following segments are the secrets stored in this ring. Please search according to the catalog and record the part you need.”
Lily’s voice became rigid like a robot.
“Firstly: Three-eyed Crow, One-Eyed Crow, and Noah’s intelligence collection model;
“Secondly: Information on the Noah Kingdom’s counts and other n.o.ble families;
“Thirdly: The secrets of the ministers of the Noah Kingdom;
“Fourthly: Information about false deity, ‘Faceless Poet’;
“Fifthly: Ritual: Taboo Transaction and the occult knowledge it requires…”
Further down, there was knowledge about various rituals and information about the curses she collected.
Annan did not filter the information but chose to absorb all the knowledge.
Although a considerable part of this information overlapped with the information he already knew—such as the composition of Three-eyed Crow and the relationship between Faceless Poet and the Geraint family. There were still pieces of intelligence that Annan lacked.
The information provided Annan with the ability to help Kafni.
Then, there was little info regarding rituals. At least it wasn’t burdensome to the point that Annan could not bear the knowledge. After all, Annan’s soul was in the Silver Rank.
Annan stood there. After quickly absorbing all the knowledge, Lily suddenly said, “If possible, I hope you will go and see my son after absorbing this knowledge. His name is Don Juan Geraint.”
“This is the ring that Euphe and I made together. With this ring, he can become Winter’s Hand. I always feel that His Benjamin Benjamin is not that simple. He may not be able to take care of Don Juan until Don Juan reaches adulthood. If Noah is not doing well, I will give him this ring. He has half my blood. After becoming Winter’s Hand, he will be accepted by Grand Duke Ivan.”
“This is the last protection of a negligent mother.”
“If something has happened to him, this is a gift for you. Thank you for listening to me so much.”
“I hope you can forget me.”
After Lily’s last words, her virtual image disappeared before Annan.
The prompt regarding the information about this ring had changed again.
[Lily’s Love]
[Type: Ring/Talisman (Gold)]
[Description: It used to be Lily Rasputin’s secret ring and its knowledge has been completely extracted.]
[Effect: When equipped, the consumption of Energy Falteration School spells below Silver Rank is halved; when encountering a fatal attack, “Ritual: Precise Teleportation” is automatically triggered.]
[Price: The holder will suffer the “Winter’s Hand” curse.]
[Precise Teleportation: You will be immediately teleported to a pre-determined safe location.]
[Winter’s Hand: You must obey the orders of the “Winter Heart” holder.]
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