Annie Yulian, standing at the door, was transparent. She wasn't wearing that very pretty wedding dress, nor was she wearing a veil, so the ligature marks on her neck were very obvious.
“A soul?”
For a soul to linger instead of moving on, it often requires some special conditions. A body affected by a relic is also a type of special circumstance.
The Lady at the door did not look at Xia De and Iluna, but sadly at Toby Yulian’s headless corpse on the ground. But unfortunately, this gentleman was only killed by the undead, and his soul did not linger.
Xia De also didn't know if he had moved on or been absorbed by the relic. But in any case, Toby Yulian had committed so many crimes just to see his sister again. Yet, when her soul truly returned, he himself departed.
“This is an ordinary soul.”
Xia De said. This kind of soul was similar to the soul of the person with illegal magazines he had seen die in the attic; even if left alone, nothing would happen, and it would leave on its own after a period of time.
But Iluna thought for a moment and still walked over:
“Do you want to say something?”
The seventeen-year-old girl asked seriously. Miss Annie Yulian's soul still seemed to possess some wisdom. She looked at Iluna, who was covering one eye:
“I… I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
Her voice was very gentle; she was probably a very gentle person in life.
“It’s not your fault. Now, please move on.”
Iluna said. Under the gaze of that strange eye, the soul was becoming transparent.
“I actually knew my brother had complex feelings for me, but we couldn’t be together…”
The fragmented voice seemed to be the final addition to this tragedy. Xia De didn't know what expression Iluna had.
“It’s not your fault.”
Iluna said softly. The seventeen-year-old girl seemed deeply moved by such matters:
“What’s past is over.”
“Brother died because of me too.”
Miss Yulian's soul seemed to want to cry, but unfortunately, unless one can manipulate soul power, normal souls do not have this function.
Iluna then took a deep breath:
“The boundary between the dead and the living cannot be broken; this is a fundamental rule of this world. Now everything is over. This is his sin. Please leave, Miss Yulian.”
“Is it destiny’s fault? If we weren’t siblings, if he could have told me, he…”
The soul looked at Iluna, and Iluna shook her head:
“We have no ‘if onlys’; we can only look forward. Depart; this story is over.”
She appeared exceptionally mature when handling such matters, at least more mature than Xia De had expected.
The brown-haired girl extended her left hand, which had been covering her eye, wanting to touch the soul in front of her. The soul scattered into specks of light at her fingertips, finally disappearing.
Iluna sighed and turned to look at Xia De, who was standing between the two corpses, seemingly in a poor mood:
“Detective, whose fault do you think this is?”
“Of course, it’s Toby Yulian’s fault. Even without that relic, he would have done other things.”
The Outsider had a clear understanding of this matter, which was completely unrelated to him, or at least he considered it so:
“I’ve seen many such tragedies in stories. Isn’t that how tragedies are?
Wrong people do wrong things, right people do wrong things, wrong people do right things, and even right people doing right things can lead to tragedy. But wrong is wrong. Toby Yulian caused this tragedy, that’s beyond doubt.”
“Good thing I didn’t let you talk to Annie Yulian just now, or she would have turned into an evil spirit.”
Iluna said, looking at the two corpses on the ground, a slight smile appearing on her face:
“But you’re right, this is a tragedy…”
She then lowered her head to look at the parchment scroll she held in her right hand, sighing softly;
“death, tragedy, these things really affect one’s mood.”
“Yes.”
Xia De was still thinking about telling this story to Dorothy as material for a novel.
Suddenly, he heard a whistle. Xia De looked up, and behind Iluna, the golden Destiny Ring spontaneously appeared in the steam mist. A faint Ling Rune gathered on the Destiny Ring, and the black-iron Ling Rune finally formed a new Ling Rune 【Tragedy】. Iluna Bayas's Four Ring with four Ling Runes was complete, and she could prepare to advance to Four Ring.
(Mia is running...)
“You look so listless, didn’t you rest well?”
It was Wednesday morning, and Miss Jialinna, sitting at Saint Delan Square Six, said this to Xia De with a smile.
Xia De sat on the sofa opposite the tea table, holding Mia. Tifa stood behind Miss Jialinna, while the other two personal maids who came with the Duchess were preparing tea.
“I had a nightmare last night.”
Xia De said, yawning and stroking the soft cat.
“I always thought you were very bold. What did you dream about?”
Miss Jialinna was very curious.
“I dreamed about a bride.”
Although last night's adventure wasn't particularly dangerous, the scene of the corpse bride sliding out in the darkness, clutching her head, indeed left a significant shadow on Xia De.
“Oh? A bride?”
The witch raised an eyebrow:
“Did you dream that at your wedding, you were killed by several girls in wedding dresses?”
Xia De thought about the scene and immediately shook his head:
“You might have misunderstood, it wasn’t me getting married, it was a corpse bride.”
He yawned again:
“I dreamed that corpse brides surrounded Saint Delan Square Six, and I kept running and hiding in this big house, but in the end, I was still found. Then I woke up.”
“Scared awake?”
Tifa took the tea tray brought by the maid, poured tea for both of them, and asked with a casual smile.
“No, I was woken up by Mia; it wanted breakfast.”
He recounted what happened last night, then took out the letter Iluna had sent this morning. Unfortunately, Iluna's vacation was ruined; now their team needed to investigate the origin of that marriage contract.
“That’s truly remarkable. From the description of its specific characteristics, this can be considered one of the most dangerous types of Secret Keeper Level relics.”
The Dawn Church has records concerning the Secret Keeper Level relic “Ancient Lowenstein Marriage Contract.” This was a contract that appeared in the second epoch. There is a great divergence between the Church and Saint Byron's Comprehensive College regarding its prototype. The Church believes it was a contract of an ancient Old God Church, while Saint Byron's Comprehensive College believes it was a marriage law code of an ancient kingdom.
Miss Jialinna examined the letter and said with a smile:
“You see, writing the names of two living people on it can make them love each other forever; writing the names of a living person and a dead person can break the boundary between life and death; and writing the names of a human and a non-human can actually…”
“What?”
Xia De asked curiously, holding Mia. He had only read halfway when Miss Jialinna arrived, so he hadn't seen the latter half of the letter.
“The information open to the Church is definitely incomplete. I bet this relic can be used as the core of a god-summoning ritual.”
Miss Jialinna closed the letter and returned it to Xia De:
“Writing the names of a human and a non-human, writing the names of two deceased individuals, or writing more than two names will all cause the relic to go out of control. You were very lucky not to encounter an out-of-control situation. But out of control doesn’t mean the 'being together' effect won’t manifest. How interesting, could this item truly have been a contract signed by the priests or priestesses of a certain god in the third epoch when they joined the Church?”
Xia De recalled Miss Felianna’s words once again—never underestimate the effect of a relic, and don’t be misled by its superficial characteristics.
“What if I write ‘another me’?”
Xia De proposed an even bolder idea. Miss Jialinna looked at him in surprise, unable to comprehend how he came up with that question:
“‘Another me’ isn’t a true name. The true name of another me is ourselves. And writing two of your own names has no effect.”
Xia De nodded knowingly, and for some reason, the word “Suren” popped into his mind.
After discussing last night's events, they finally got to the purpose of Miss Jialinna's visit: she had come specifically to give Xia De a new time key.
Knowing that Xia De could truly travel through time, she was very much looking forward to Xia De being able to meet Miss Felianna again.
The time key the Duchess found this time corresponded to the fifth epoch, 3014, which was 12 years after Xia De met Miss Felianna in the Thousand Tree Forest. Miss Felianna would still be young at that time, because Saint Byron's Comprehensive College was established around 3050, and according to records, the founder, Mana Feilianna, looked about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. So even after 12 years apart, the Miss Felianna Xia De would see should still look the same as before.
Miss Jialinna handed the key to Xia De, and Xia De took the key and held it in his hand:
“But I can’t guarantee that I’ll definitely meet The Lady again.”
“It doesn’t matter. Trying them one by one, you’ll eventually have a chance to meet her. Acquiring time keys isn’t simple, and especially keys for specific time points. But as long as there are pounds, they can always be found. I can’t guarantee the frequency of providing you with keys, so I hope your luck is better.”
The Duchess said, sizing up Xia De, and then reminded him:
“There’s no rush with this matter; you can take your time. You don’t need to wear yourself out.”
“Safety first, I understand that. But how do I pay for these keys?”
Xia De held out the key in his hand to the curious cat. The cat didn't see what Xia De had gotten and thought it was food. But when it saw the key, it lost interest; it had seen such things in Xia De's hand before.
“When you meet Miss Felianna, just ask her a question for me. You don’t have to be so polite with me; you’re different from others in my heart.”
The Red-haired Duchess said casually, looking at Xia De teasingly. Tifa, standing behind her, also smiled.
“That won’t do. Asking a question is simple, but each key is very precious… I have a notebook here with Miss Felianna’s handwriting. You can copy a part and take it with you.”
Xia De had already flipped through the notebook almost twice; there was nothing in it that only he should know.
“Oh?”
Miss Jialinna narrowed her eyes slightly:
“You have something like this? Detective, do you know how valuable this is?”
“Just don’t show the contents of the notebook to anyone other than you and Tifa. You don’t have to be so polite with me…”
Xia De looked up at the witch, repeating her words:
“…you’re different from others in my heart.”
The witch stroked her smooth chin, meeting Xia De’s gaze.
Time seemed to stand still on this leisurely morning. The dust motes in the air solidified, sunlight shone on the maids’ dresses, the cat’s eyes fixated on the teacup on the table, and the fine hairs on its cheeks trembled uniformly.
The young man opposite, sitting on that old-fashioned long sofa, had a smiling look in his eyes, reflecting her own image.
The years were good, life comfortable. For a moment, Jialinna Cavendish, who considered herself experienced in “affairs of the heart,” actually believed that she had been moved by a simple sentence.
“But I said that too.”
She also returned Xia De’s smile.
But no matter what, this vivid, truly unsettling scene was bound to become one of the most important memories in the witch’s life.
