Book 4: Chapter 206: Reunited
Lilith gripped the black card so hard that it crumpled in her hands. Her eyes were glued to it as she tried her best to find any familiar traces on it.
ââPrevious lifeâ.
For most people, this was a nebulous term. For Lilith, it was merely a journey she had made before.
The train she took in her previous life had reached its destination. She alighted from it, left the station and took another train. That journey was now a distant memory that she would occasionally look back on.
Lilith did not even think much about this transition. To her, it was as if she had woken up from a nightmare and then embarked on a new journey with a new identity.
She had always thought that these two journeys were parallel lines that would never intersect with each other. That was until today, when the black card in her hands clearly showed to her that these two lines had quietly intersected at a certain point without her noticing.
âWhat⦠is this?â Lilith murmured, not knowing who she could ask this question to.
Apart from the characters that should have never appeared here in this word, the meaning behind them alone was mind-boggling enough.
âGuilty? Who? What sin have they committed?â
And the missing Thea and Brea, could it beâ¦
It was then Lilith recalled that powerful predecessor of hers from Corneliaâs dream who had transmigrated a thousand years ago. Logically speaking, she should be the only other person who knew the language Lilith used in her previous life. However, her whereabouts had been a mystery for a thousand years already. Although Lilith believed that this person would not die so easily, she still refused to believe that she would be so bored enough to pop out of nowhere just to pull a prank on them.
Then again, it was not completely impossible. What if that person was really that bored?
She threw a glance at Cornelia who was at the side. Sensing her motherâs gaze on her, the little girl immediately turned her head around and started babbling at Lilith with a silly grin on her face.
ââ¦â¦â
It seemed like the only person who had actually seen that fellow from a thousand years ago could not be of any use either.
âWell, s̲h̲i̲t̲.â
Lilith smacked her forehead in frustration. Her brain was too useless to put all these fragments of information into a clue. The harder she thought about it, the mushier her brain became.
How she wished Lesiah were here. If the princess were here, she might be able to find out some clues hidden among the pile of information presented to her.
Ugh, Lilith already started missing Lesiah during the first hour of their separation.
âEeeeyah.â
Little Corneliaâs childish voice pulled Lilith out from her thoughts, which had drifted off at some point. Lilith narrowed her eyes and quickly went to Breaâs bed to put away the card on it. Alert like a deer that had sensed an approaching beast, she straightened up and fixed her wary eyes on the door of their dorm room.
The sounds of hurried footsteps grew louder and louder. They seemed to belong to more than one person.
Lilith narrowed her eyes and glanced to the side. Cornelia seemed to have no sense of danger. Despite the unwillingness in her heart, Lilith still chose to protect the weaker of them two.
âEeeyah?â
ââ¦â¦â
Lilith smoothly grabbed the back of Corneliaâs collar in one fell swoop, then lifted the child in front of herself. She hid behind Corneliaâs back like the child was her shield and watched the door warily.
She felt no shame for her own actions.
Having Cornelia as her shield was quite reassuring. Even a weak and delicate girl would feel a bit more confident if she had the button to detonate a nuclear bomb in her hand when bandits broke into her house.
âOh no, oh no, weâre not going to make it in time!â
âUgh⦠If everyone wasnât sent home by the academy, we wouldnât have to descend the mountain just to buy supplies.â
âUrgh, that stupid chief disciplinarian. Why did he have to check the things we buy? This isnât a national border. Was he worried that we would smuggle prohibited items in?â
Lilith was slightly taken aback when she heard the two extremely familiar teenage girlsâ voices mixed with anger coming from the other side of the dorm door.
Theyâ¦
BANG!
A fair, smooth and long leg kicked open the dorm door. The cool evening breeze came into the room first, followed by two youthful and lovely figures, carrying two boxes in their arms each with a lot of other strange things draping all over their body.
âHurry! Set them up quickly! Lilith may return at any time now!â
âMm-hmm.â
In their panic, the two girls were completely oblivious to Lilithâs presence in the room. They got to work quickly while yelling at each other like there was no one else in the room.
The appearance of the two girls instantly made Lilith feel as though an enormous burden had been lifted from her.
âAhem.â
She deliberately cleared her throat to announce her presence to the two other girls. For the very first time, two pairs of eyes fell onto the delicate face of the third occupant in the room. When they saw the usual smile on that porcelain doll-like face, they froze for a moment.
Thud.
The cylindrical confetti popper in Theaâs hand fell to the ground. It rolled along the ground for a good distance before some sort of switch on it got triggered, causing countless colorful ribbons and confetti to suddenly sprung out from it.
The wind that came in through the window blew the ribbons and confetti up in a flash, causing them to then flutter around in the room like the rain of good fortune from the heavens.
The sound of the confetti popper going off immediately snapped the two back to their senses. Unbeknownst to them, tears had gathered in their eyes.
âIâm back!â
Lilith spread open her arms and smiled at them.
âLILITH!â
The two wept tears of joy and rushed into her arms, hugging her tightly.
Since the two girls were obviously much taller than Lilith, they had to force themselves into extremely uncomfortable positions by crouching a little just to fit in Lilithâs arms.
Lilith shrugged. âWhat are you two crying about? Do you have to act like I just came back from the dead when Iâve only been away for a few days?â
âBut⦠the vice dean said⦠He said that Lilith you have⦠been sacrificedâ¦â Brea choked.
For someone who could not even speak well under normal circumstances to form a coherent sentence in this state was quite a feat.
Knowing the pain of losing someone important, Lilith reached out and patted Breaâs head happily.
She then turned to Thea who was washing her own face with tears. With a smile, she said, âI can understand why Brea is feeling that way, but to think that youâll still worry that I wonât returnâ¦? Come on, if you continue to cry like this, the sun is going to come crashing down.â
Thea straightened up from Lilithâs arms while wiping her tears away. A dazzling smile bloomed across her face so brightly that it would outshine even the sun and moon.
âDonât worry about that. Havenât you already solved that for me long ago?â
Regarding Theaâs character inconsistency⦠I spent half a day re-reading volume three and finally realized a huge problemâI have forgotten to explain how Saintess Thea had momentarily lost her ability in causing disasters with her emotional fluctuations! ã_ã
This is not an inconsistency. In fact, I have already thought of this part from the beginning when I was constructing the outline. My loyal readers should have remembered that for some reason, I kind of took a break for a month or two back then⦠so⦠I ended up forgetting about this.
Boohoo, Iâm terribly sorry! Someone like me should be burnt at a stake as a sacrificial lambâ¦
Since I still have a bit of use to everyone, please forgive meâ¦! Thank you!
I believe everyone should have guessed the reason for the temporary disappearance of Theaâs unluckiness. Yep, it was because of the almighty black flame! This was also one of the conditions when the Pope agreed to let Lilith take Thea away.
I will explain everything in detail in due time! Letâs pretend this slip-up never happened, pretty please~
This incident is also a wake-up call for me that I should really write down my outlines. Brain is really unreliable for this kind of thing! ( â¢Ì¥Ì Ë â¢Ìॠ)
(I promise Iâll be extra careful from now onâ¦)