Chapter 1001
Eivass: Mom?
After moving away from the classroom where Mia, the dream owner, was located, the number of people outside became noticeably sparser. On the vast playground, there were only a handful of four or five individuals, and everyone’s faces were indistinct, their movements extremely slow—even somewhat distorted.
They were all slender little girls, but their movements when walking were clearly unnatural. Their limbs were overly flexible, and they moved silently. They looked like unfinished animations, with even their fingers seemingly joined together.
“Where are we going?” Arsen looked at them and asked humbly, “Why don’t we ask someone?” He was clearly very knowledgeable about the secrets of dreams and the Dream Realm, and was now eagerly seeking knowledge. It was probably this studious spirit that allowed Arsen to master so many skills despite only having a primary school education.
Furthermore, daring to enter the Dream Realm to rescue Sherlock without any knowledge of “dreams” showed a certain impulsiveness and loyalty, which made Eivass feel a bit more favorably towards him.
Therefore, Eivass patiently answered his doubts: “It’s no use. We are not within the dream owner’s line of sight. In this situation, these people are merely empty shells.”
“…Huh, wait. Your Majesty the Pope…” Speaking of the dream owner’s gaze, Arsen suddenly realized, “That little girl… aren’t we taking her? Or should we go find her first?”
“You mean Abigail?” Eivass said nonchalantly, “She’s always been with me.”
“…Is that so? My apologies.” Arsen did not ask “What’s going on?” or “How did you do that?”, but simply admitted his mistake. This elegant man with a broad mind was not particularly curious about others’ secrets. This was probably why he had been able to work as a dangerous phantom thief in Iris and remain safe until now.
Eivass simply waved his hand without further explanation and said softly, “Also, please don’t call me ‘Your Majesty the Pope.’ I know that’s my current nickname… Some people use it to pay tribute to me; some want to boast about human achievements with it; and some use it to mock me. But, all in all, I was only an acting Pope for a month. Call me Eivass. Sherlock usually calls me that. You are Sherlock’s friend, and I am Sherlock’s friend… So we can be friends, can’t we?”
“…Hmm.” Mentioning this, Arsen’s expression became a little subtle. “Okay… no problem.”
“What’s wrong?” Eivass keenly noticed Arsen’s expression.
“Specifically…” Arsen cleared his throat and said seriously, “When he usually calls you, he uses a more intimate term. He doesn’t usually use Eivass.”
“…All right, I probably know what that term is.” Eivass said somewhat helplessly, “Probably something like ‘sly fox’ or ‘flirty fox’.”
“…Huh?” Arsen was stunned, wondering why there would be such a nickname, and quickly explained for Sherlock, “No.”
“What? No?”
“Yes, he usually calls you ‘my kind and close friend’.”
“Coincidentally, he calls you that in front of me too.” As he said this, Eivass and Arsen looked at each other and smiled, feeling a greater sense of camaraderie. This is how it is with “friends of friends.” When the person in the middle is not present, everyone can easily become familiar by just gossiping about him or sharing amusing anecdotes that happened with him.
However, Eivass remembered that Sherlock’s first close friend was actually Edward. After all, Edward was Sherlock’s first friend—especially a friend during his reclusive period, which made him his most cherished close friend.
But as they chatted and laughed. Eivass suddenly brushed past someone familiar. He paused for a moment. In that instant, Eivass felt his spine stiffen—a strange premonition made time seem to slow down and stop. He subconsciously turned back and saw the person’s face clearly.
That person’s face was different from the other “NPCs”; it was very clear. So clear that one could tell at a glance that Mia must have met this person in real life. And after seeing her appearance, Eivass had a strange hallucination—
“…Mom?” He murmured in a voice only he could hear.
Eivass had a good memory, especially after becoming an Extraordinary. During his first Ascension Ritual, Eivass had seen the faces of his biological parents. In Eivass’s opinion, his father was more handsome than him; and his mother had beautiful, shoulder-length, white-gold hair the same color as Eivass’s. Her posture was dignified and elegant, her face melancholic, her skin fair, and she wore a pearl-colored silk dress.
The girl who brushed past him resembled his mother by at least eight parts. Whether it was her face, eye color, hair color, demeanor… or that similar style of long dress. However, it was evident that even if Eivass’s biological mother, Annie Alexander, had not died, she should be in her forties now. But the girl just now looked even younger than Eivass, perhaps around fifteen or sixteen years old.
For a moment, Eivass had an absurd thought—could it be that his mother was reincarnated after her death?
However, that was impossible. Not to mention that mortals in this World were not qualified for reincarnation, and even if one took a step back… even if Annie became an Envoy and was successfully reincarnated, there was no reason she wouldn’t come to find Eivass.
Thus, Eivass immediately realized the truth of the matter: Eivass remembered that his mother, Annie, seemed to be a noble from Iris. When she went to study abroad in Avalon with Bishop Mathers’s wife, Mathers’s wife, Mina, fell in love with Mathers, who was her mentor, while her roommate Annie fell in love with her classmate Giulio Alexander. As a result, both of them stayed in Avalon, even abandoning their former surnames.
Back then, Eivass couldn’t understand it—being a “noble,” even if Iris officially no longer had nobles, it was an extremely comfortable living condition. Why abandon it? It should be known that Avalon before its founding was too conservative, closed, and backward, incomparable to the conditions in Iris.
Now, after truly arriving in Iris… Eivass gradually understood. For girls with conservative personalities and a preference for quietness, Iris was actually a living environment they could hardly accept.
This meant that this girl should be someone related by blood to Eivass’s biological mother—Her clarity indicated that Mia had a very deep impression of her. If Eivass could know who she was, it would be equivalent to indirectly knowing the origin of his mother!
…Although “searching for his mother’s family” was actually meaningless, for Eivass now, any information related to his parents was worth paying attention to. Eivass theoretically had an older cousin named Lisa, who was attacked and killed before he was attacked; his paternal family was wiped out. Even his grandfather Jacob, who was now an Envoy of the Ring Heavenly Envoy and still active in the world, had genuinely died once. The only relatives he might have by blood were possibly in Iris.
Arsen noticed Eivass’s gaze. “Are you very interested in her, Eivass?” he asked somewhat strangely and tactfully, “I can introduce her to you… but I remember you Avalon people are quite conservative… Is it okay with Her Majesty the Queen?” Clearly, Arsen thought Eivass had fallen in love at first sight. This was not uncommon in Iris.
“Do you know her?” Eivass also suddenly realized—since the girl was an acquaintance of Mia, Arsen, as Mia’s lover, should also know her! Then there would be no need to ask Mia; Arsen would know about this!
“Of course, I know her,” Arsen smiled, “She is my wife’s younger sister. She also likes me and is quite jealous… so she interacts with Mia. But I haven’t touched her, otherwise my wife would be unhappy… I am somewhat living under someone else’s roof, and I am clear about such matters. —Her name is Abigail de Vendome.”
(End of this chapter)
