Early on Saturday morning, the gloomy sky looked as if it was going to snow again. The purple-eyed girl walked through the slightly cold mist of the winter morning, tightening the collar of her coat wrapped in a scarf. At 7:30 AM, she appeared light-footed in Saint Delan Square.
Luvia's brown long boots stepped on the ground of the square. She turned her head to look at the center of the square. It was already winter, and most of the pigeons in the square, often spied on by Mia, had left the city to spend the winter further south.
Now there were only a few newsboys in the square waiting for passersby. The newsboys on the street could accurately distinguish who was a customer, so they did not approach Luvia.
Luvia, holding her handbag, paused at the bottom of the steps in front of Xia De's house, looking up at the second-floor bedroom window. Seeing that the curtains were already open, she knew Xia De must have woken up. She hummed a tune in a good mood, found the key to Xia De's house from her handbag, and naturally opened the door and walked in.
Closing the door, she tilted her head to look at the top of the stairs, then deliberately made some noise while going up the stairs. Even if Xia De couldn't hear it, Luvia believed that the keen cat would definitely hear it.
But when she arrived on the second floor and entered Room No. 1, just as she was about to greet Xia De, she discovered that the person sitting in the dining room was a beautiful woman she had never seen before.
At first glance, she seemed very mature, but when Luvia looked closely at that beautiful, unworldly face, she realized that her age must be younger than hers.
Ms. Sylvia, with a morning languid expression, held a teacup in her left hand and read a newspaper in her right hand at the dining table. The second page facing outwards of the newspaper was news about the Queen and Princess Margaret watching an opera at the Opera House. Hearing the sound of footsteps on the stairs, the woman with black bobbed hair turned around. She had never seen Luvia, but since the other party had her own key, she must be someone Xia De was familiar with:
"Good morning, madam, I am Emma Sylvia, a scholar."
The Great Witch introduced herself.
Luvia then understood the other party's identity. Although she was very curious as to why the other party appeared here so early, she also introduced herself:
"Good morning, madam, I am Luvia Annett, and I work at the Prophet Association. I am Xia De's friend."
She placed her handbag on the coffee table and then walked into the dining room.
Mia, lazily licking goat's milk, had furry pointed ears that looked translucent in the faint morning light. It turned to Luvia and meowed a greeting, then continued to eat breakfast.
Luvia still hadn't seen Xia De. She also sat at the dining table. After that, the two ladies did not have any further conversation.
A few minutes later, Xia De came out of the study with Ms. Sylvia's notebook:
"Ms. Sylvia, I have finished copying your notes, and then... Oh, Luvia, good morning, have you had breakfast?"
Ms. Sylvia did not stay long here. She took back her notebook and finished her tea, then bid farewell and left. Xia De saw her downstairs and only went back upstairs after her carriage arrived.
At this time, Luvia was already sitting on the sofa, holding the cat that had eaten and drunk its fill, but Mia didn't want Luvia to hold it. It liked to "stroll" around the house after a full breakfast. This cat was not lazy at home, otherwise, it would not have maintained its cute figure.
"This Sorceress, did she stay here overnight last night?"
Luvia asked when Xia De came up from the stairwell.
"Yes, we were discussing the paper last night, and we discussed it all night. Oh, and the power of space, Ms. Sylvia also knows Raglai's Leap. She believes that although the increase in the range of my Miracle is rare, it is not an unprecedented situation."
"If someone else said that, I definitely wouldn't believe it, but I believe it when you say it."
The purple-eyed girl could not hide her smile; she knew Xia De well:
"Have you finished your paper? Tomorrow is Sunday, aren't you leaving again?"
"We discussed until two in the morning yesterday to complete the final draft."
Xia De yawned and sat on the sofa with the teapot:
"Because it was too late, I asked Ms. Sylvia to stay in the guest room on the first floor overnight, and I treated her to breakfast this morning as a thank you."
He did not let Ms. Sylvia rest in the side bedroom on the second floor because the Great Witch was also an unmarried lady, and it was not appropriate for her to spend the night in the same house as a strange man. But if she slept on the first floor, there was no such problem.
"Luvia, you came to see me so early, is there any big news? Have you found the 'Invisible Man'?"
"How is that possible?"
Luvia shook her head and finally let Mia go. Mia quickly escaped from the sofa, not even going to Xia De, afraid of being caught again:
"I met that Miss Pa Wo you mentioned."
Xia De was startled, his action of pouring tea stopped:
"The Truth Society's Hexacle Arcanist? You really found her? Luvia, although I know your divination is very powerful, this action is a bit too fast."
"She was at the Lakeview Manor banquet, calling herself Mary Weite, the daughter of Viscount Weite. Viscount Weite is a real person, and that Sorceress must have had a reason to mention this noble. So I investigated with Viscount Weite as a clue, and found that he fell off his horse and was injured this spring, but later, after treatment, he was not paralyzed..."
The purple-eyed girl asked Xia De, reaching out and picking up a teacup, toasting Xia De:
"Guess what happened?"
"Truth Society?"
"Yes, the collusion between the Weite family and the Truth Society appeared at least three generations ago. Although Viscount Weite is not well-known locally, he is, after all, a noble of Tobesk, so he provided great help to the Truth Society's operations in the Tobesk area. I did not disturb them, but based on my own divination and some clues, I saw that lady in the city yesterday evening."
"Is she a Chosen One?"
Luvia can immediately determine the identity of a Chosen One as soon as she sees them; this is her unique ability.
"No."
Luvia shook her head slightly, while Xia De was a little disappointed. He had originally thought that Miss Pa Wo, who believed that mathematics would never be wrong, was indeed the Chosen One:
"Not a Chosen One, then is she a candidate with a lower ranking?"
Xia De asked again. In the Middlesburg incident, Luvia had met Priest Augustus through the traveler's travel door at the Sicar Inn, thus confirming that the Priest was one of the candidates for the Chosen One of death.
"Not clear yet."
Luvia still shook her head:
"I've known Priest Augustus for so many years, and it was only when the Chosen One was about to perform the ritual that I could determine his identity. Now, the Chosen One of wisdom and Knowledge has not officially appeared, and there are no traces of the Selected One Ritual. Currently, I can only determine the identity of the first candidate for the 'wisdom and Knowledge' Chosen One, and I need to keep a close eye on it."
Xia De nodded:
"Actually, paying too much attention to Chosen Ones who are not in the top position doesn't have much meaning. Joy Barton lost his qualification, but it was through countless impossible-to-replicate coincidences, plus he himself didn't value the position of Chosen One much, so the qualification was transferred to the second-ranked Sister Devlin. But even so, Joy Barton didn't die; his Chosen One status was stripped by death itself. Even after he failed, the subsequent three candidates surprisingly all refused to take this qualification. From this situation, it seems that making the first candidate for the Chosen One lose their qualification is no easier than directly killing the Chosen One."
Listening to Xia De's summary, Luvia nodded thoughtfully:
"The bad news is that it's difficult for us to change the epic of the sixth epoch prophesied by the whispering chapters; the good news is that the epic of the whispering chapters can be shifted."
"Just like your dream, the dream you mentioned after the Battle of Middlesburg where I didn't exist."
Xia De said, then carefully observed Luvia's expression, but unfortunately, Luvia didn't react much:
"However, when I saw her at 'Madam Wanda's Clothing Store' yesterday evening, my 'other self' told me that Miss Pa Wo is extremely dangerous and advised me not to approach her easily."
"But she can't even beat Tifa. If I hadn't wanted to avoid fainting again at Lakeview Manor, and instead gave my all to cast a second Lightning Spear, I might have made her sleep eternally on Schluch Lake on Tuesday night."
Xia De was not bragging; at that time, he was in a state of "divine power overflow" after absorbing divinity, which could be called the strongest mortal in the material world.
"She herself may only be Hexacle, but that book in her hand is very problematic. That is..."
Luvia hesitated for a moment:
"An angel-level relic (Tier 1) 'smolville code'. That book originated in the second epoch, written by a mad mathematician. Legend has it that the madman finally exploded into a pile of mathematical symbols, truly transforming himself into numbers. angel-level relics must never be underestimated. In the right hands, that book can exert an effect more terrifying than a Tier 0 relic."
"You can actually identify what kind of relic that is, and you even know the story of the second epoch. That's truly remarkable."
Xia De exclaimed.
He had asked many people about that large silver book, but even the two Sorceresses, even the old gentlemen of the Guiding Light Hermitage, did not know the origin of that book.
"Perhaps, it was her 'other self' who recognized what it was."
"Her" voice sounded in his ear, and "she" seemed to be guiding Xia De to explore Luvia's secret. But since Luvia didn't want to say, he wouldn't ask, just as Luvia never questioned the many mysteries about him.
"Since the Truth Society's Miss Pa Wo is not the first candidate for the Chosen One, we don't need to bother with her for now."
"Yes, next we need to wait for the appearance of the next 'Keeper', and then compare the next list with the Lakeview Manor list."
"Tonight, I will ask Princess Leia for a list of guests, but that list is very long, and the Church still hasn't finished checking everyone."
Xia De suggested, and Luvia nodded:
"Since you mentioned that princess... You see, I told you that being closer to that princess would be beneficial to our cause. If Yiluna always has to get this kind of information, it will eventually make her suspicious."
Glancing at Xia De, the purple-eyed girl hummed, then looked out at the gloomy winter sky:
"Knight, I'm not complaining about you. I said I knew you would do this. It's just, never forget what we are doing. Every decision we make, perhaps, will truly affect the historical trajectory of this world for tens of millions of years to come. What a great responsibility it is. How will future generations evaluate us?"
