Chapter 649: 127. Little Cake
“Hey, I said, don’t worry about Elizabeth.”
“Now, come with me to sneak some dessert.”
Faced with the smiling invitation from Renee so close, feeling a hint of fragrance from her fingertips and a coolness as if drawing in his body heat, Fisher blinked and couldn’t help but laugh,
“Didn’t you just call me a canary before? Don’t forget, I’m currently locked up in the Golden Palace.”
But before he could finish speaking, Renee suddenly squeezed his cheeks with force, pushing his face inward, forcing him to make a cute and comical pout. However, before it fully formed, Fisher reached out to stop her mischief.
“So, let me take you, this canary, to temporarily escape this cage, and let you taste the flavor of freedom. As for the owner of this so-called Golden Palace, she probably won’t mind, what do you say?”
Renee smiled and winked her right eye. Her act of feigning cuteness while appearing mature was truly something Fisher never tired of. He felt it had a unique flavor.
After thinking for a moment, since Elizabeth probably wouldn’t return until evening, it wouldn’t hurt for him to go out with Renee, who had come back with great difficulty. Although he seemed to have promised her not to leave the Golden Palace alone before Elizabeth left.
To correct that, he wasn’t exactly leaving alone; he was leaving with Renee, just for the record.
Thus, Fisher stretched out his hand and imitated her by pinching her pale cheek with a “smack,” gently pressing inward, making her appear aggrieved and pouting.
Her delicate red lips slightly pursed, the light reflecting off them made them look like they were covered with a layer of frosting. Seeing this made Fisher instinctively swallow, his mouth watering.
He blinked, instinctively lowering his head to seek out Renee’s lips, but the next moment, Renee, whose face he was holding, suddenly became ethereal, and in an instant, she appeared on the nearby windowsill, leaning against it, waving at him and softly saying,
“Over here, Mr. Canary.”
“…”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, initially wanting to say something, but in his peripheral vision, he caught sight of her back leaning against the windowsill with the sunlight pouring down, illuminating her shoulders and black hair, which even made her pink ears peeking out from the black strands visible.
Was she shy?
Having spent the whole morning with Elizabeth and also having seen the “battleship weapon” she kept hidden under the bed, Fisher for a moment forgot that Renee was still a naïve sorceress.
He smiled slightly, the sense of unfulfilled craving for delicacies somewhat subsiding, and a question came to his mind. He turned to look at Alicia, who was still sitting on the sofa and seemingly at a loss, and asked Renee,
“Can we bring them along when we leave? I’m afraid Elizabeth will come back midway and take it out on them if she finds I’m not here. If we bring them back together, at least I can take the blame.”
“Sure, but if we bring along two little light bulbs, you’ll have to compensate me.”
“What little light bulbs! I am the great book. Emhart.”
Renee smiled at Emhart, who was next to Fisher, causing his originally loud voice to gradually shrink until he silently flew over to sit beside Alicia, turning himself into a “light bulb duo.”
At that moment, Alicia was still confused by what Renee had said earlier about “abolishing the existence related to the chaos of life.”
Perhaps for a little girl who had just turned five, struggling between life and death seemed quite cruel.
At this moment, Emhart returning in a dejected manner was somewhat comforting, prompting her to quickly reach out and hug his sturdy body, obediently following Renee’s arrangements.
“Well then, let’s set off. It looks like Saint Nali has changed quite a bit in her hands. I haven’t been back for so long that I can hardly recognize it. I wonder if the dessert shop I love and the theater we used to frequent are still open.”
Renee nodded, then slightly waved her hand, and countless larks surged in from outside, enveloping the Golden Palace above, blocking the view from those monitoring below.
Then, amidst the many larks fluttering around, the royal chambers of Elizabeth quickly fell silent, and the few people who had just stood there were no longer seen.
At this moment, it was noon under the well-lit sun of Saint Nali, and Empress Elizabeth was still diligently working; everyone had a bright future ahead.
“Does it feel wonderful to be out of the Golden Palace with the sun and air outside?”
Noon happened to be the rest time for the Nali office workers who were laboring outside. Generally speaking, when Fisher was still here, noon was when they would go out to have lunch, take a nap in a rocking chair, and then enjoy afternoon tea.
Even after five years away, though Nali had undergone earth-shattering changes, this habit remained unchanged, giving the current afternoon a busy yet pleasant ambiance.
In the hustle and bustle, the sorceress with a hint of fragrance pulled along a reluctant Alicia—although she verbally called Emhart and Alicia two little light bulbs, once they actually came out, she took great care of them, even asking them if there was anything they wanted to do.
Of course, the replies were all to let Renee arrange it.
“It’s mainly because you’re by my side.”
Upon hearing this, Renee smirked. In Fisher’s peripheral vision, he saw Renee’s toes in her black cloth shoes lift slightly off the ground, as if his words had lightened her burden.
“Well then, let’s follow Renee, our tour guide. I also want to take a look at the places you’ve been before.”
“The places I’ve been before…” Fisher pondered for a moment but suddenly felt there wasn’t much to go to. “It seems like I spent more time at the Royal Academy and Saint Nali University. In such places, people matter more than things; otherwise, I wouldn’t have insulted Principal Damien at graduation.”
“Doesn’t that sound like a good memory?”
“Hmm, it indeed was back then. But now it feels meaningless. The more I know, the more I come into contact with things, the mysteries I once sought and wagered everything on suddenly feel empty and meaningless. So, actually, Renee, I’ve always been curious, don’t deities have that feeling?”
Holding Alicia, Renee thought for a moment, then smiled as she said,
“Maybe they do, I don’t know.”
“…”
“Because you see, when it comes down to it, I don’t actually count as a deity at all. Whether it’s the Mother that humans believe in, or the false gods who oppose them, or the leaders revered by the stars, in essence, they are all another existence. Compared to my former self, I’m more like a sorceress with power but no means to interfere with reality due to my oath with the gods. Hence, everything I experience now is novel, so of course, I don’t feel that way.”
“I see.”
“Fisher.”
Just as Fisher nodded in understanding, Renee suddenly hesitated, as if she wanted to say something.
He looked up at her and saw her smiling at him, her words brewing for a while before she seemed to reach a conclusion or emphasis,
“So, once my former self dies, everything that existed with her will also vanish into ashes. Even if humans remember her, and the stars still revere her, not being there means not being there.”
“…”
Fisher blinked, recording this as essential knowledge for her infinite authority.
There were many secrets in the Spirit Realm, and he would need to search for pure souls for Raphael’s unborn child later. At that point, he might also be involved in it, so it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit more from here.
Actually, asking Renee to help find a pure soul for Raphael in the Spirit Realm was not impossible, but it sounded really bad.
Having a lady look for the soul of Raphael’s unborn child…
Such matters were best left for Fisher to handle later.
Right now, he just wanted to go out with Renee to have a dessert.
“Little Alicia, is there anything you want to eat?”
“Me? Anything is good.”
“What about little Emhart? Well, never mind.”
“Your mom!”
A frustrated Emhart began cursing in Alicia’s arms, while Renee covered her mouth and giggled like a true sorceress.
Though she said that, she still picked out suitable gifts for Alicia and Emhart.
First, she chose a recently released “Nali Mechanism Magazine” for Emhart. This kind of book recording knowledge about the mechanism was something Emhart hadn’t read before, which suited his tastes.
And the dessert shop that Renee frequently visited was still open. Her eyes lit up as she picked out some desserts for herself and Alicia, then they sat outside enjoying exquisite little cakes in small boxes.
Watching Alicia carefully place the small cake into her mouth with both little hands, Renee propped her chin, smiling, making Alicia think there were crumbs on her mouth, causing her little face to flush slightly with embarrassment.
Renee seemed to really like children.
When she encountered Rena among the crabmen in the Southern Ocean earlier, Fisher could easily see her fondness.
Emhart lay on the table reading, Renee watched Alicia, and Fisher watched Renee.
But the next second, it seemed that Renee already knew Fisher was looking at her. She turned her head to meet his gaze and asked,
“And you, do you have any gifts you want?”
“By the way, you’ve been in the Spirit Realm all this time. Where did you get the money?”
“From a lady’s little treasury, gentlemen need not ask~”
“You don’t seem like someone who would save money. Do you quietly take some from the bank each time you come to reality?”
Fisher rubbed his chin, somewhat oblivious to the unromantic analysis, which made Renee pout in irritation but then quickly smile mischievously.
“What if I said I took it from the inner treasury of the Golden Palace?”
“…What?”
Fisher was momentarily stunned as he watched Renee playfully shuffle a stack of Nali bills in her hand, each one stamped with Elizabeth’s portrait, blurrily giving the impression that Elizabeth was looking at him through the money.
As Fisher was about to ask further, all he saw was her mischievous smile.
He instantly understood that the sorceress was teasing him again, so he followed her conversation and continued,
“Alright, since you want to pursue excitement, then it must be fulfilled. I’m preparing to buy a few pieces of clothing and a ring.”
“A ring? Is it for me?”
Fisher opened his mouth; he was originally talking about a ring for Valentina, thinking that Renee knew this, and would get angry at his words if he went along with her conversation.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Fisher’s words, her face flushed slightly, but her purple eyes sparkled, showing a shy yet expectant expression.
“…”
Looking at her, Fisher suddenly felt that his desire to say something like that earlier was too mischievous.
He became somewhat awkward, cleared his throat, and avoided her direct gaze, feeling somewhat embarrassed,
“…Using your money to buy yourself a gift?”
“What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you just say that the things we once valued now seem to have no meaning? For you and me now, this value has no significance at all, right? It doesn’t matter whose money it is.”
After finishing her words, Renee pointed at her red lips again, still gazing intensely at Fisher in front of him, asking,
“So, are you going to give me a ring, Fisher?”
This woman truly is…
Fisher swallowed hard, feeling as if Renee lightly pointing at her red lips was like a pointed arrow, with a sign above it reading “Please kiss here,” making him once again have the uncontrollable urge to kiss her.
“I want to give it to you.”
“Ah.” Renee tilted her head and seemed to ponder with some difficulty. “Then I shall accept it.”
After saying that, she looked at Alicia, who had already eaten the third small cake, completely oblivious to what Fisher and Renee were saying, seeming to only have eyes for the delicious little cake in front of her.
Although she was merely the adopted granddaughter of Teacher Heilson, she was truly no slouch when it came to sweet treats.
There were five small cakes in total, and she had silently finished three by herself. It was only when Fisher and Renee looked over that she realized she might have eaten a bit too much and turned slightly red, becoming shy about eating a fourth.
“Eat as much as you want. Only we two ladies like this kind of stuff; Fisher dislikes sweet things the most, so we’ll eat them all and drive him crazy.”
Renee patted Alicia’s head, even taking a red-pink small cake at the edge and putting it in her mouth, biting off half, enjoying it with an “Mmhm,” muttering,
“Mm, that’s the flavor, just as before.”
“Gulp.”
Alicia swallowed a mouthful, no longer polite, and reached out her little hand to take the last one, savoring it in small bites.
Fisher kept his eyes on Renee, and when she bit off half of the small cake, he noticed something and picked up a napkin from the table next to him, reminding Renee,
“Your mouth.”
“Eh, is there something on it?”
“Yes.”
Fisher nodded and slightly stood up, seeming ready to wipe her lips with the napkin, and Renee obediently tilted her head back, watching Alicia eat the small cake while waiting for Fisher to wipe her lips.
But a second later, a sudden warm contact came by her lips.
She was momentarily stunned before she turned her head, her face flushing, while Fisher had already returned to his position, wiping his own lips with the napkin, laughing as he said,
“Actually, I still like eating little cakes, thank you for the treat.”
“Fisher!”
Eating sweets, Alicia couldn’t see Fisher, so of course, she didn’t see him kiss Renee, a not-so-child-friendly scene. She just suddenly felt that her big sister, Renee, had turned red, while she murmured the name of her big brother, and beyond that, she was completely oblivious.
Meanwhile, on the table, only the disheartened Emhart lay motionless like a dead body, already lost all interest in reading.
You see, a light bulb only turns into one when it realizes that it shines, and Emhart was just like that.
He couldn’t taste the sweetness of the little cakes, feeling only the noise instead.
(Tomorrow there will be an additional 12,000 words. Thank you for your support, dear book friends!)
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(End of this chapter)
