Chapter 2350 Concocting <TOC> Chapter 2352 Cindy
Translator: SumTLMan
Wilderness of Dreams.
Angel appeared on the first floor of the loft where Nisi resided, nodding gently to Tulas and Mandara beside him before swiftly ascending to the second floor.
Upon reaching the second floor, Angel saw Iron Armor Granny and Nisi.
Besides them, there was an additional figure on the second floor: a somewhat plump and restrained wizard apprentice who, despite sitting, constantly bowed his head, displaying a nervous and uneasy demeanor.
“Granny,” Angel greeted Iron Armor Granny and walked over. As he passed by the slightly overweight male apprentice, Angel paused for a moment.
“Are you, Julington?”
Hearing his name called, a look of astonishment flashed through Julington’s eyes, which were squeezed into slits by his flesh, along with an indescribable complexity and embarrassment.
“Lord… you remember me?” Julington’s voice trembled slightly, not daring to meet Angel’s gaze.
Angel shifted his gaze away, murmured an acknowledgment, and then moved past him to sit opposite Iron Armor Granny.
On the other side, Nisi, who was sitting on a single sofa, looked over curiously: “How come, Angel, you know this apprentice?”
Being named again, Julington stiffened, his head sinking even lower.
“When I had just arrived at the Savage Grottoes not long ago, I met him once in Apprentice Town.” At that time, Julington had brought a few beauties over, attempting to forge a connection with Angel, who had just made his initial achievements in alchemy, by offering the beauties as gifts.
After being rejected, Julington seemed somewhat infuriated. During that period, Angel was worried about retaliation from Julington, especially since Julington was already a notable apprentice and rumored to be petty. However, it later turned out that Angel’s worries were somewhat unnecessary. Julington might have harbored thoughts of revenge, but with Sanders as his backing, Julington ultimately did not engage in any mischief.
Angel did not disclose these minor conflicts.
However, Julington’s display of fear and timidity probably stemmed from his concern about retaliation for past events.
In reality, Julington was overthinking; to Angel, the past incident was not even worth mentioning as a minor episode, and since Julington had not actually taken any action, Angel would not bother targeting him.
“Is that so? I saw his scared face and thought there was some kind of story where the roles are reversed, like in the novels, where you come back to slap his face… or something,” Nisi said with a tone of regret.
“I thought Wizard Nisi was busy studying the slab in the library of Initial Heart City. I didn’t expect you to have time to read those storybooks,” Angel said with a raised eyebrow, referring to the kind of novels with dramatic role reversals, which were essentially from the library of Initial Heart City, organized by Jon from Earth’s novels.
“Have you also seen those novels? They’re quite interesting, aren’t they?” Nisi shook the communicator in his hand: “The Tree Group development team even launched a Blue Vista project, saying that those novels might be uploaded to the Tree Group forums in the future. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Angel turned his head, not bothering to respond.
At this moment, Iron Armor Granny spoke up: “Alright, let’s end the digression here and talk about the main issue.”
During the conversation, Angel also learned that the so-called main issue was indeed about the two mission teams. And Julington was the representative of the team that went to the Feran Continent to search for the Mandevil family.
“Julington, please recount the details of what you mentioned earlier once again. This time, make sure it’s specifically for Angel.”
Julington nodded, opened his mouth adorned with large gold teeth, and recounted the entire process of their mission.
According to Julington, after their team set sail, it took them a week to reach the Feran Continent. Then, it took another day to travel to the Night Lily Kingdom, Ruito Province, Wind Chime County.
In Wind Chime County, they found the Mandevil family.
Out of caution, they did not immediately approach the Mandevil family. Instead, they split into two groups: one group secretly observed the Mandevil family’s manor, while the other group investigated in Wind Chime County for any unusual rumors about the Mandevil family.
The group that was observing secretly did not discover anything unusual, but the group that went to gather information indeed found two strange rumors.
These incidents happened thirty years ago.
In the castle of the Mandevil family, there lived a young lady from early on who was a distant relative of the family head. The servants all called her Miss Silver.
Miss Silver was never favored by the lady of the house. There were rumors in Wind Chime County saying that Miss Silver was actually a mistress kept by Viscount Mandevil and had even borne him a pair of children. Only this status could explain why the pitiable Miss Silver was targeted by the lady of the house.
Initially, this was just a scandalous rumor in Wind Chime County, merely a topic of gossip. However, an incident later occurred that rapidly spread Miss Silver’s name throughout the county.
During an outing, the carriage Miss Silver was riding in fell off a cliff for some unknown reason. At that time, the coachman and servants all died from the fall, but Miss Silver survived. However, she became paralyzed. Except for her head, which could barely move, she lost all sensation in her limbs and was expected to live the rest of her life bedridden.
Up to this point, everyone still felt sympathy for Miss Silver. Just when she was about to enjoy her youth, she suffered such a tragedy.
But what happened later shocked everyone.
About two months later, Miss Silver’s paralysis mysteriously healed, and at the same time, Viscount Mandevil’s wife, who had always targeted Miss Silver, died suddenly.
Speculations abounded for a time.
Later, news came out from the Mandevil manor saying that Miss Silver’s paralysis was just a result of broken legs from the fall, which healed after two months. The death of the Viscount’s wife was due to natural illness.
People believed the first half of the statement but doubted the second half.
Many speculated that Miss Silver was indeed paralyzed, a condition rumored to have been spread to lower someone’s guard before striking back decisively. The carriage’s plunge off the cliff was also seen as a method to eliminate Miss Silver.
This “someone” refers to the Viscountess.
Thus, the melodrama of love and hatred within the Mandevil family became a popular topic of conversation at the time.
However, those who took a closer look at the situation would find inconsistencies. For instance, the initial rumors of Miss Silver’s paralysis were spread by a renowned doctor in the county, an outsider who, despite his concern for personal reputation, would unlikely spread false rumors.
Later, a task force investigating this doctor discovered that he had resigned and returned to his hometown without a trace, thirty years after the incident.
Another puzzling aspect was the Mandevil family’s silence on the rumors. Despite being a prominent family with real power in Wind Chime County, they allowed rumors of internal love and hatred to spread unchecked, which was odd. Even the most enlightened and benevolent nobles would issue a gag order on matters affecting the family matriarch’s reputation.
Yet, the discussion was not suppressed; it seemed almost intentional to disseminate this information.
Julington paused before adding, “Besides this, we’ve also heard a peculiar rumor about the Mandevil family, with Miss Silver still playing the central role.”
Fifteen years after the Viscountess’ death, Miss Silver, now better referred to as Lady Silver, had aged. She continued to reside in the Mandevil family castle, and past rumors had faded over time, with few remembering the events of the past. Everyone’s perception of Lady Silver had shifted from being an underground figure to a key power holder within the Mandevil family.
Aside from the old Viscount, Lady Silver held the highest status, and it was rumored that even the old Viscount would act on her advice——though the public remained skeptical.
Despite being a power holder, Lady Silver was quite low-profile, with little known about her by the county’s populace. Under normal circumstances, Lady Silver would age, die, and fade into obscurity.
Indeed, Lady Silver aged, died, but then… she was resurrected.
Fifteen years prior, servants from the Mandevil castle spread news that Lady Silver had contracted an unknown illness, frequently suffering from angina and vomiting blood. One night, her condition worsened, and despite the doctor’s efforts, Lady Silver passed away.
Lady Silver’s death didn’t cause much stir due to her usually low profile. However, three days after the news of her death, Lady Silver was alive again, causing a massive uproar. The rumor of resurrection swept through most of the county.
This time, the Mandevil family did not restrain the public discourse.
They quickly dispatched a large number of guards and knights, ostensibly for patrolling the county but actually to enforce a gag order. Anyone found discussing Lady Silver’s case was arrested for slandering nobility and thrown into jail.
Under the forceful control, public opinion was finally restricted.
At this time, the Mandevil family released new information, stating that Lady Silver was not resurrected from the dead but had fallen into a coma due to illness, and the doctors had misdiagnosed her. Later, a new cardiac authority was found, and Lady Silver was eventually saved.
Julington said, “These are the two rumors related to the Mandevil family. As for the specifics, we do not know. But I feel there is something wrong with this Lady Silver.”
Nisi replied, “You don’t need to feel it; she definitely has a problem… Continue.”
Before Angel arrived, Nisi and Iron Armor Granny heard the above from Julington. They had not yet heard what Julington was about to say.
Julington continued, “After observing the Mandevil estate for several days and noticing something unusual, we infiltrated the family. After some investigation, we did not find any extraordinary beings.”
“Inside the Mandevil estate, not finding extraordinary beings is quite normal,” Nisi said. “After all, wizards rarely stay in the realm of mortals.”
“What about Lady Silver?” Angel asked.
Julington answered, “She has died, according to the people within the Mandevil family, Lady Silver died of old age three years ago. However, what’s strange is that we didn’t find any remains in Lady Silver’s grave.”
No remains. This Lady Silver is indeed mysterious… Angel thought, “Wizard Nisi is right, due to various external factors, wizards rarely stay in the mortal realm. I personally think that this Lady Silver, who lived in the Mandevil family for decades, suffering from illness and coughing up blood, does not seem like an extraordinary being, but rather just a mortal.”
“However, various signs indicate that there is something wrong with Lady Silver. I wonder if Lady Silver knew an extraordinary being? And this being must have been very close to Lady Silver.”
“I remember you mentioned earlier that it was rumored Lady Silver had given birth to twins with Viscount Mandevil?” Angel looked at Julington.
Julington nodded, “Yes, what you inquired about is precisely what I was about to discuss.”
“Lady Silver gave birth to twins, the girl died at a very young age, but the boy disappeared suddenly at the age of twelve.”
“Disappeared?” Nisi asked.
“Yes,” Julington replied. “We checked the Mandevil family genealogy and found that the girl’s name was clearly marked as deceased, but although the boy had disappeared, there was no note of any kind about him, even though more than thirty years had passed. Other names in the genealogy had notes, but his was completely untouched.”
“After discussing within our team, we felt something strange about Lady Silver’s son.”
“So, we captured a descendant of the Mandevil family. Through some minor methods, we inquired about this individual named Angelo Silver Mandevil.”
“According to the information provided by this descendant, this Angelo appeared at Lady Silver’s funeral three years ago.”
“Clearly, Angelo is still alive. Based on some rumors and the various clues we found, we deduce that this Angelo might be an extraordinary being.”
In the dimly lit room, Nisi’s eyes flickered with a ghostly light as he posited, “It appears that a wizard is indeed involved… Could this Angelo be the same individual depicted in Totoro’s drawings?”
Lifting his gaze towards Julington, Nisi inquired further, “Another question remains: what does Angelo look like?”
After a moment of contemplation, Julington replied, “When Angelo attended the funeral, he was always cloaked in a black mantle. The descendant we questioned couldn’t make out his features clearly, only noting that he seemed rather youthful.”
“Oh, yes! On Angelo’s face, there was a tattoo of the number ’19’.”
The number 19! A tattoo!
Exchanging glances, Angel, Nisi, and Iron Armor Granny no longer needed to speculate; it was clear that Angelo was one of the culprits behind the cavern!
With the revelation of the other party’s extraordinary identity, the two odd incidents previously associated with Lady Silver were almost resolved in their minds, undoubtedly the handiwork of Angelo.
It was conceivable that the incident where Lady Silver fell off the cliff, leaving her paralyzed, was indeed true, but she was saved by Angelo.
The public speculation might also hold some truth; Lady Silver was harmed by the lady of the house, prompting Angelo to unhesitatingly kill the Viscountess for his mother’s sake.
Viscount Mandevil must have been aware of Angelo’s extraordinary abilities, or else he wouldn’t have allowed the slander against his wife to go unchallenged.
Lady Silver’s resurrection was surely Angelo’s doing as well.
However, it remained uncertain whether the funeral of Lady Silver three years ago was real or a facade, and whether she had truly died.
But these details were no longer of essence. The focal point now was this individual named Angelo.