Chapter 204
The Ritual of Rejuvenation
Because Meg was present, Eivass did not go to the White Dance Shoe Club today. Instead, he left with Meg after class.
However, to his surprise, Meg eventually led him to Eivass’s own dormitory.
No. 14 Ronin Street.
Meg seemed to have a key to this villa as well.
Eivass wondered if it was the Head部长’s privilege or if Isabel had given it to her. Since Isabel hadn’t mentioned anything, Eivass assumed it was the former.
“Sit down, kid.”
Meg sat down casually in the living room, handing the bottle of wine she was carrying to Lily.
At the same time, the old woman asked casually, “Can you drink?”
“What kind of wine is this?” Eivass didn’t quite recognize the bottle.
“Fino Sherry, it’s not strong.”
Meg concluded, “It’s sweet.”
“All right.”
Eivass readily agreed.
Seeing Meg’s friendly attitude, he gradually let down his guard.
If the old woman had come to settle scores with him, she probably wouldn’t have offered him a drink.
Although it wasn’t dinner yet, drinking on an empty stomach wasn’t great for his health… But since it was sweet, it should be fine.
Lily skillfully poured wine for both of them, adding ice cubes. Then, she stood quietly behind Eivass with her hands clasped.
“Hey, you sit too,” Meg said with a smile to Lily. “There’s no need to be so formal with me, have a glass for yourself too—it’s okay with you, kid?”
“Of course,” Eivass nodded readily.
He certainly didn’t have any thoughts of “this is not according to the rules.” Rather, in private, he and Lily were quite casual.
Although Lily sometimes felt shy, she was actually quite happy about it.
But that was in private.
Now, in front of Grand Arbitrator Meg, she still felt somewhat uneasy. She wasn’t familiar with Meg and didn’t know if this was just a polite offer or if Meg genuinely meant it.
However, since Eivass had spoken, she had no choice but to obey her Master.
As Lily poured the wine, Meg took a sip and directly asked, “Listen, kid. What do you think of young Isha?”
Her hand trembled subconsciously, almost spilling the wine. Fortunately, Lily’s hand was steady, so it only wobbled slightly.
“She’s a very good girl… What’s wrong?”
Eivass hesitated before finally answering.
“Oh,” the old woman said lightly, “So when are you two planning to get married?”
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Eivass choked on his wine.
—Here it comes, the typical elder’s urge to get married upon meeting!
No, don’t you even have any preamble?
“This…”
Eivass laughed helplessly, “Let’s wait a little longer…”
“Wait? What’s wrong, do you have other girlfriends?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Really? [Tell the truth].”
“Really, I don’t,” Eivass replied firmly. “I’ve never had a girlfriend. Also, Head部长 Meg… Could you not use Word Spirit on me?”
“Oh, sorry.”
Meg nodded calmly. “I’m used to it. Since you don’t like it, I won’t anymore. After all, this isn’t an interrogation, just a talk.”
“…But you’ve never had a girlfriend? According to my investigation, your reputation isn’t like that…”
“Reputation is reputation, people are people,” Eivass shook his head. “Girls of this age often don’t understand why they feel fluttery. Perhaps it’s just a serious act of kindness, or a polite thank you with a pleasant voice, or close physical contact. But I believe they haven’t truly looked into their own hearts.”
“Oh, I see,” Meg said, crossing her arms. “You mean you’re the one being pursued, and you haven’t been successfully pursued—what kind of traditional rich young lady are you? So hesitant, it’s too hard to pursue. You’re not still a virgin, are you?”
“Ah, that’s not the case…”
Eivass drank his wine as if nothing had happened. Lily beside him also took a sip following Eivass’s movements, then coughed softly, choked.
Meg glanced at her, then suddenly realized, “Oh, right. You have a personal maid.”
“When did you two start?”
“Young Master was thirteen or fourteen, when he had just started his enlightenment. I was about twenty-two or twenty-three then.”
It wasn’t Eivass who answered, but Lily.
She said seriously, “It’s been like this ever since.
This is the duty of a personal maid. To prevent the young master from fathering illegitimate children outside… that would become a handle for the family. It’s also to prevent excessive desire in youth, being easily deceived, or neglecting studies.
In the end, it’s usually a family marriage. If he had his own lover before that, it would become very troublesome. Moreover, with Young Master’s personality, he easily attracts trouble. If he can’t control himself, things can easily go wrong.”
She blushed slightly at first, but then her expression became normal. “But besides me, Young Master hasn’t touched anyone else.”
“…Your Knight families really have quite the elaborate customs.”
Meg’s expression became somewhat complicated.
But this was normal.
Teenage boys were easily swayed by passion. She had been that age before, so she understood.
However…
Meg looked at Lily and asked with some doubt, “Aren’t you yourself an illegitimate child?”
“Yes,” Lily nodded. “That’s why I don’t want anyone to live a painful life like I did.”
“It’s unlikely, isn’t it? Although this little fox seems quite flirty, he’s probably not a scumbag like Charles.”
Meg cursed someone without hesitation.
Charles was Lily’s biological father. Charles Dross, who had murdered her mother, attempted to murder his own daughter… and didn’t even remember Lily’s voice.
“…It’s not just that reason,” Lily shook her head stubbornly. “Illegitimate children are always bad, it’s not honorable. It only brings misfortune to everyone.”
She was clearly very firm on this topic.
So Meg didn’t press further.
Meg turned back to Eivass. “So, you don’t want Isabel to cast aside her pride and status to pursue you?”
“I just feel that she doesn’t really know me,” Eivass said softly, holding his wine glass. “A large part of her understanding of me and her good feelings for me stem from our first meeting in her dream. Her perception and expectations of me might be misaligned… What she likes might not be me, but possibly just the ‘fox’ from the dream.”
These were things he couldn’t say to anyone usually.
He finally had the chance to speak a little, encountering Meg, a respectable elder who also kept her mouth shut.
In the dream, their relationship was that of intimate spouses, and she was also “Eivass’s mother.” Such an intimate and complex relationship could easily captivate a girl who had never experienced social interaction. It was like a dream come true, a destined lover from a dream.
“But to take advantage of her while she’s in a state of delusion is immoral,” Eivass said seriously. “Moreover, I’m not ready to get married yet. So please don’t bring it up again.”
Although he seemed like a player, he usually just flirted without commitment.
Because he was actually very cautious about relationships, worried that he might choose the wrong person, and also worried that the other person might choose the wrong him.
If he were to choose a lover, it would have to be someone whose personality and habits were most compatible with his, someone he confirmed truly loved him, and whom he loved enough to accompany him to the end.
If, after the relationship was confirmed, either party regretted it, or even felt a moment of unhappiness, Eivass would consider the relationship hasty and incomplete.
“…How peculiar, a perfectionist in matters of the heart.”
Meg had clearly seen it all. She pinpointed Eivass’s essence in one sentence.
She sighed, “Then he’s really not a good match… Young Isha has chosen such a difficult opponent for herself right from the start.”
“Not an opponent,” Eivass corrected. “In matters of the heart, the two sides are not competitors, but partners… You don’t have experience either, do you?”
“Hahaha, you sure have the nerve to say that, kid!”
Meg couldn’t help but burst into laughter at this.
She downed the wine in her glass in one gulp, leaving only the large ice cube to clatter back into the cup.
Watching Lily pour her more wine, she let out a burp.
“I’ve been young too,” Meg sighed. “But he passed away very early… in his early thirties?”
“Died in battle?” Eivass guessed.
“Oh, you overestimate him. He wasn’t that amazing.” Meg, using very vulgar dialect, simply and directly summarized, “He was out exploring and got too arrogant, so a dragon ate him. We had just gotten married then, and didn’t even have any offspring.”
…No, I think that’s more impressive than dying in battle.
Eivass thought.
How many people never get to see a dragon in their lifetime… Many young people now even think dragons are just a myth.
Eivass knew dragons existed, but he also knew they were extremely rare.
“So, I probably understand your thinking. I don’t think it’s right, but I don’t think it’s wrong either,” Meg sighed and raised her glass. “If only you were a morally corrupt philanderer. Then I could just tell Isabel directly. She might cry for a while, but that’s better than facing a dragon.”
“It’s not necessarily a dragon…”
“Heh, maybe not,” Meg’s gaze seemed to pierce through people’s hearts. She sneered, “Never mind that. What are you going to tell young Isha?”
“Let’s spend some more time together… at least help her advance a few more times,” Eivass replied. “Just relying on Sherlock might not be enough to help her—mainly, she might not listen to Sherlock.”
Sherlock and Isabel’s personalities were clearly incompatible.
Although Sherlock was loyal to the Queen, the fact that they argued so fiercely the first time they met in a dream, when neither knew the other, was proof. It was precisely because their identities were unclear then that their true attitudes were revealed.
Later, after Sherlock recognized “Lulu’s” identity, his attitude clearly changed.
But that was not good.
It wasn’t good for Sherlock, because he clearly didn’t want to take care of Isabel, and he even considered her a burden; it wasn’t good for Isabel either… because she was too emotional to understand Sherlock’s reasoning and plans.
Eivass could act as a lubricant.
He could befriend most people—as long as he didn’t hate them. If he hated someone, Eivass would only wish them dead.
“But I might not live that long,” Meg frowned, contemplating whether to give things a push.
At this moment, Eivass’s brow relaxed.
“This is simple,” Eivass said briskly. “Do you want to live longer? I have a way.”
“…To be clear, I despise Twilight and am an abandoned child of the Hourglass. The life-extending effects of the balance and the way of Twilight will not work,” Meg reminded him.
“I know,” Eivass nodded. “I have other methods. For example, the Ritual of Rejuvenation… breaking the chrysalis and becoming a butterfly.”
Chapter 2 will be released around 2 p.m.
My schedule is messed up again; I fell asleep at 4:30 last night (slams fist).
