Although the Golden Lucky Rabbit's Leg brought too much luck to Xia De, who successfully arrived at Huntington, not only allowing him to find Mr. Bernhardt but even introducing him to Miss Sylvia without much trouble, Xia De would not forget the negative characteristics of the relic.
The night before, when he was resting in the guest room at Garina Manor, he was still worried about what kind of dream he would have that night. Miss Jialinna then smiled and asked if Xia De wanted to rest on the sofa in her bedroom, but Xia De refused:
“That dream shouldn't be that dangerous yet.”
Staying at the manor was just for insurance; he wasn't too worried about his mind being twisted or even losing control due to mad rabbits. He was only concerned that the nightmares at night would affect his spirit during the day, thus delaying important matters.
But no matter what, Xia De still had to sleep. After washing up in the guest room's washroom, he closed the door and, with a flick of his wrist, turned the main gas valve next to the door, extinguishing the gas lamps on the wall and the gas chandelier above.
After climbing into bed, he stroked Mia, who was already lying beside his pillow, then pulled up the soft, smooth quilt and closed his eyes with trepidation. The curtains were not drawn, and the Moonlight of march shone into the somewhat empty room, casting a gentle glow on the pillow, yet not disturbing Xia De and Mia.
The quality of the beds and quilts in the manor was clearly better than those in Xia De's home. The soft and warm quilt quickly lulled Xia De into sleep, and the negative characteristics of the relic almost immediately took effect.
Xia De realized he was dreaming and saw countless pairs of rabbit eyes emitting red light in the darkness, staring at him.
His heart felt a little unnerved, because those were not ordinary rabbits, but rabbits like the illustrations in children's storybooks. They stood on two legs, their ears longer than their bodies, with rabbit heads on human bodies, and their mouths collectively made sounds like chanting spells, but even Xia De couldn't understand the meaning of those words, because it was just unconscious murmuring.
Those rabbits in the dream got closer and closer to Xia De, carrying mad emotions, wanting to drag the dreaming Xia De into the abyss of madness.
But in this deep dream, as the First Fire appeared at Xia De's fingertips, spreading through the cracks across his body, the faint glow of the First Fire radiated out as embers, and fiery red light points slowly drifted down from beneath his clothes.
The mad rabbits were intimidated by the firelight, hesitating to move forward, leaving only those pairs of crimson eyes watching him in the extreme darkness.
Xia De did not intend to counterattack in the dream; his thoughts in the dream were somewhat slow and chaotic. He just instinctively looked up, and then a bright light appeared again in the dark dream. A huge Silver Moon, as if breaking through the darkness above, appeared overhead. As the Moonlight radiated around, the vast, boundless wilderness unfolded around him.
Xia De stood on the field ridge, with the embers of the First Fire flickering on him, looking up at the Moon, and the surrounding rabbits, full of malice, seemed to have been assimilated by Xia De, forced to look up and gaze at the Moon with him.
The crimson glow in their eyes extinguished, turning into pure silver. Thousands of rabbits on the wilderness stood silent, illuminated by the Silver Moon, yet also seemed to be worshipping the Outsider on the field ridge.
And in reality, in the dim, quiet bedroom where the window was illuminated by Moonlight, Miss Jialinna in her nightgown and Tifa standing beside her watched Xia De and the cat on the bed. She saw Xia De sleeping soundly, and the Moonlight had somehow fallen on Mia's back, who was curled up like a cat ball, making her orange and white fur look even more lustrous.
“Shh~”
The Duchess made a shushing gesture to her maid, and after confirming Xia De was safe, she intended to leave. But she suddenly stopped, and with movements as gentle as possible in the darkness, she kissed Xia De's forehead:
“Good night, my Knight.”
With a rare blush on her face, Galina Cavendish turned and walked towards the door, as if worried that Tifa might see her expression.
The black-haired maid chuckled, wanting to follow her mistress. But then she turned to look at Xia De, placing her index and middle fingers together against her red lips. While winking her left eye at Xia De, she tossed her fingers towards him, then also left the bedroom in a good mood.
“Meow~”
Mia let out a soft purr in her sleep, wiggled her body to stand up, and groggily climbed onto the quilt on Xia De's chest to lie down. Suddenly, she rolled onto her back, exposing her belly, and with narrowed eyes, her four small paws flailed a few times, then her body tilted, and she slid back down beside the pillow.
And so, in his dream, Xia De watched the Silver Moon with countless rabbits all night. In the middle, he also dreamt of an inexplicable floral scent, and of himself being pressed down by a huge stone on his chest, but the dream became blurry after he woke up.
He still remembered being surrounded by red-eyed rabbits in the darkness, but he couldn't remember what happened next:
“Did I dream of Mia, and then the cat defeated the rabbits?”
He wondered suspiciously, trying to recall the dream again, but the details in the dream became even more blurred. Sitting up from the bed, he first glanced at the bright morning light outside the window, then looked down at Mia, who was sleeping curled up like a cat ball. He felt that last night's sleep was somehow more comfortable than usual.
Today was Friday, and naturally, breakfast was eaten at the Great Witch's manor. During breakfast, Miss Jialinna asked Xia De what he had dreamt about last night. When Xia De mentioned the strange floral scent, Miss Jialinna somehow smiled, but when Xia De asked, she said nothing.
“What did she do to me last night?”
Xia De asked in his mind as he lowered his head to spread butter on his bread with a silver knife.
“She” chuckled in his ear, and Xia De looked up at Miss Jialinna, who was sitting there. The languid Great Witch seemed to know what Xia De was thinking and turned to the maid beside her, saying:
“Tifa, go peel an egg for the Detective.”
Tifa's face immediately flushed, and she lowered her head without moving. Xia De also coughed violently, no longer daring to ask further questions.
The chapter fragment might be obtained soon, and Xia De naturally had to inform Luvia about this. Xia De took a carriage directly from Miss Jialinna's manor and arrived at Silver Cross Avenue just as the Prophet Association opened for business.
His appearance greatly surprised Vice President Mark, who had just arrived for work:
“You came even earlier than me just to get a divination from Annette?”
This diligent gentleman even took out his silver pocket watch and glanced at it:
“It's only 8:20 in the morning now; I even arrived early. Mr. Hamilton, you are truly diligent!”
He showed a very admiring expression:
“When I was young, to pursue my wife, I only sent a few love letters, chatted with her quietly outside her fence at night, and gave her a few pretty roses. Young people nowadays are truly amazing; young love is always so enviable.”
He said with a nostalgic expression.
“Mr. Mark, is there any news from the headquarters about the two Founding series rhode cards collected by the Association?”
Xia De hadn't forgotten about this, but Mr. Mark shook his head with some regret:
“I'm sorry, Mr. Schubert, the current President of the Prophet Association, even wrote you a letter to express his apologies. I'll give you the letter later. As for those two cards, I don't think we'll be able to get them in a short time.”
The other party's politeness was also related to Xia De's identity as the “Great City Player 1853 Champion”; he was now a hot promotional material for the Prophet Association.
Luvia did not arrive early for work like Vice President Mark but appeared punctually at the entrance of the Prophet Association ten minutes later. Fortunately, the Prophet Association did not have a clock-in system, and most Diviners were lazy, so their basic salaries would not be deducted.
By then, Xia De had already been arranged to wait in the divination room on the second floor. Luvia changed into her clothes in the association's changing room before coming to the divination room to find him:
“Xia De, you came so early, you're not asking me to watch an opera tonight, are you?”
She smiled and sat down, seemingly in a good mood this morning.
Xia De shook his head and briefly described Princess Margaret Anjou and the pink book, The Secret of Immortality. Luvia immediately became serious, not for the chapter fragment, but for that book:
“So The Secret of Immortality is in Cerces.”
“Is this book famous?”
“Yes, this is a method summarized by the Witches of the fifth epoch to keep their youth. It records information on various Miracles, spells, rituals, and relics. The most complete containment record of the youthful immortality leaf is in that book. The type of this book is very similar to the pink book you have, not in content, but in that both books are aggregations of extraordinary Knowledge for specific purposes.”
Luvia glanced at Xia De's cat:
“Time leaves its mark on all mortals, and even the Great Witches worry about their appearance aging. It is said that some people have truly obtained the secret of eternal youth through The Secret of Immortality. This is not a technique of applying pearl powder to the face, Xia De; no one would refuse the temptation of immortality.”
As she spoke, she touched her own face.
“Miss Jialinna asked Miss Sylvia to bring that book to the Council, probably not only because it is a relic of the Witch Emperor, but also because the Great Witches want the Knowledge within it. Luvia, your skin is really nice. So, do you need me to make a copy of that book's content for you?”
Xia De asked, and the purple-eyed Diviner immediately smiled:
“If it's convenient, I would be very grateful, Knight.”
The two did not discuss the chapter fragment further, after all, it was still just a fragment at the moment. A month had passed since the Middelburg incident, and the fourth Chosen One had not yet appeared.
---Extra---
PS: Thanks to reader @ Shidi for becoming the 19th Alliance Leader of this book. Thank you for your support.
