Chapter 35 – "Li Xi"
Li, Xi.
Aurore hadn't heard anyone call her that in ages; for a moment it felt like another lifetime, and she couldn't answer in time.
—"Li Xi" was the name Aurore had used back in the Outer Deity epoch.
Put simply, Ning Lu had borrowed a sliver of power from the Sefirah Castle to create, inside Lumian's dream, a deeper dream his subconscious couldn't detect.
To put it another way, the place where Ning Lu and the fragment of Aurore now stood was like a virtual machine running on a computer.
Without the Castle's power to isolate his conversation with Aurore, anything in this dream-of-Lumian that startled Lumian would make his mind snap the instant Ning Lu uttered those secrets.
When that happened, whatever a startled cat looked like, Lumian would look like it too.
Aurore's pupils trembled. "You know my name from before I transmigrated… who… who exactly are you…?"
"You don't need to know. For you, knowing wouldn't be a good thing." Ning Lu didn't answer; he kept steering her thoughts.
"Besides, once you leave here you'll forget everything we said, retaining only a faint impression in Lumian's mind and your own subconscious."
"I'm… already dead?" Aurore drew a deep breath.
"…I remember what happened now, Mr. Ning Lu. I won't pry into your identity; I only want to know what you intend to do."
—As a soul fragment, Aurore's mind still possessed a certain logic, yet her true state was worse than any vengeful spirit.
"I can use some power to mend your soul." Ning Lu, following the method the Celestial Worthy had taught him for restoring soul fragments with the Sefirah Castle, told Aurore:
"You know you're only a shard sealed inside a Seal, at risk of vanishing at any moment; you also know how your brother feels about you—he's like a moth chasing fire, doomed either to burn in the flames of 'resurrection' or to mutate into a Monster warped by obsession."
"But I can offer you an easier option."
"I'll link your soul to the Seal with a special force, re-shape the past-you from your fragment, make the past-you whole again, let the past-you truly come back to life."
In return, I want your brother to call me godfather, and I'll need him to do certain things for me in the future—unfortunately, even if I told you what's coming, you might not believe me, but I'll make Lumian's future 'luckier' than what he was originally fated to endure."
Ning Lu opened his hand. "So give me your answer; the area I've created can't last long."
"…Do I have a choice?" Aurore lowered her gaze and gave a self-mocking laugh.
"My current state is no different from death; could anything be worse than death?"
Ning Lu thought for a moment, recalling Stiano and his teacher, Medici and the future Lumian.
"Hard to say."
Aurore: "?"
Still, she didn't hesitate long; she exhaled in resignation.
"I agree, Mr. Ning Lu… no, Mr. Ning—Ning should be your surname, right? I really envy you, being able to walk this world with your old name…"
As she spoke, thick regret filled her tone. She fell into a long silence, then whispered,
"Since we come from the same place, may I ask a favor… please try not to hurt my brother, not to hurt Lumian?"
"I have nothing to offer for this condition; it's simply my plea."
Ning Lu answered without hesitation:
"I'll do my best."
The grey mist around them gradually thinned; Aurore's gaze turned from bright to bewildered again. She parted her lips, a smile appearing on her face.
"Where were we… ah, Mr. Ning Lu, Lumian and the others will be here soon. Once the Blessing Parade ends, we'll go kill the Parish Priest?"
Ning Lu watched her transformation, a faint, inexplicable sorrow welling up inside as he slowly nodded.
"All right."
—In his eyes, Aurore now looked like an NPC locked to a fixed route.
Watching a once-vivid person turn into this in front of him stirred indescribable feelings in his heart.
The two of them waited quietly inside the house for Lent's events to unfold. Before long, noisy voices drifted from the distant field path.
Aurore's attention snapped into focus. She whispered to Ning Lu, "Hide fi—"
Halfway through, she turned and twitched her mouth—Ning Lu had vanished the instant she'd spoken, running off like a gust of wind.
After handing the jar of animal fat she'd prepared to the spring sprite Ava—who looked drained and dazed from the Blessing Parade—Aurore asked cheerfully, "Mind if I join you?"
Ava blinked; her previously pale face regained its color, a flicker of wariness crossing her eyes before vanishing as she smiled happily:
"Of course I don't mind."
She'd worried the radiant Aurore might steal the spotlight, but then she remembered:
She was already the spring sprite; there was no need to fear this generous lady snatching her Lent benefits.
It was the simple thought of a village girl.
"Good, then let's go together." Aurore kept smiling and crooked a finger at Lumian, who hurried to her side and declared loudly,
"I thought you didn't want to join the Blessing Parade, Aurore?"
Amid the surrounding laughter, Aurore rolled her eyes. "I changed my mind."
After the brief interlude, the Blessing Parade continued—everyone was used to the way the siblings behaved; it was hardly news.