Quadruple split.

Chapter 2867 Boy and Girl (Part 8)
"Uh?"

Cole, who couldn't sense any living presence in the room (in fact, there really weren't any living people in the room in the strict sense), was stunned for a moment, and it took him about five seconds to realize what had happened.

seem……

like……

perhaps……

perhaps……

possible……

After sensing my approach and hearing my knocking, the person inside deliberately went to the door... and locked it?

The person inside the door, barring any unforeseen circumstances, must be Rona Moonshine, the childhood sweetheart he's been secretly in love with since childhood, who had promised to go to "Gold Coins and Dancers" with him but failed to meet at the agreed time. She's been missing for over half a year, and was recently "resurrected" by his master. At this moment, she's the person he has a delicate and complicated relationship with.

In other words—

Lorna was indeed in the room perfectly fine, nothing unexpected happened, and she noticed my arrival, and then... locked me out?
"Lorna?"

Cole composed himself, then raised his hand and knocked on the door again, tentatively asking, "Are you alright?"

No one answered.

Click.

Cole tentatively turned the doorknob and found that Lorna's room was indeed locked from the inside.

"Uh, I didn't see you when I left today."

After confirming that someone was behind the door, Cole coughed lightly, his voice unconsciously lowering a few octaves, and leaned against the door, saying, "I'm a little worried."

No one answered.

"..."

Resenting his own lack of skill and strength, only able to sense the presence of living people and thus completely unaware of what was behind the door, Cole clenched his fist tightly and hesitated, "Um... are you going to rest?"

No one answered.

"If you're alright, knock on the door from the inside."

Cole pursed his lips and said seriously, "If I can't confirm your situation, I'll have no choice but to barge in."

After saying that, several strange-looking, awkward, and unremarkable metal tools appeared between his right fingers. These were the tool kits that the gentleman had personally crafted with mithril in his spare time, called "Innocent, Cute, Simple, and Kind Little Baby." In the eyes of players, these were high-quality, mass-produced items whose main function was to grant "Lockpicking Level +3" when held in hand.

Simply put, even if you have absolutely no idea how to pick locks, as long as the lock level in front of you is lower than the system's defined level [3], you can simply and brutally use this [Innocent, Cute, Simple, and Kind Little Baby] to force it open, and there are no barriers to its use.

On this basis, if the user is a thief and is proficient in lockpicking, this [Innocent, Cute, and Kind Little Baby] will make your lockpicking process incredibly smooth, greatly reducing the failure rate and lock destruction rate, and will also grant some additional bonuses depending on your lockpicking level.

In the hands of an NPC thief like Cole, who has been specifically trained by Mo Tan, this thing is a very useful lock-picking tool. Although it is not very effective against magic locks, if the opponent is a physical lock, Cole can open most doors with one hand while holding the [Innocent, Cute, and Kind Little Baby] item. Rona's bedroom obviously does not have any high-level anti-theft measures.

then--

thump.

After a brief silence, Cole heard a muffled thud, and for some reason, a chill ran down his spine.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the person inside hadn't knocked on the door, but rather slammed it hard against the innocent door between them.

"Um……"

Cole breathed a sigh of relief, then felt inexplicably nervous. For some reason, he suddenly had a urge to run away. He subconsciously swallowed and straightened up, saying repeatedly, "It's alright, it's alright. You should get some rest. I'll head back now. Goodnight."

Having said that, Cole, somewhat pathetically, turned around at lightning speed, his body stiffening as he hurried towards the stairwell, and then—

【!?】

The burning sensation, which had appeared countless times since tonight, caused Cole to abruptly stop in his tracks.

Although this young man is not as intelligent as the two aces, and his intuition is not particularly sharp, he possesses the qualities of "extremely strong resilience" and "extremely strong adaptability." Since Cole Shulen, who was repeatedly subjected to the high-pressure "persecution" by Mo Tan and Shuang Ye, did not die, he must have made great progress.

As for the specific extent of progress... even he himself doesn't know.

"Lorna?"

Cole slowly turned around, looked at the empty corridor behind him, and asked softly in the flickering candlelight.

The burning sensation that had been slowly focusing on his face disappeared the next moment.

A moment later, with a soft 'click', the door to the room in front of Cole was opened from the inside.

"good evening."

Dressed in a black dress, with an aloof demeanor and a black veil, the elven girl, Lorna Moonshine, Cole's childhood friend, slowly stepped out and calmly looked at Cole, whose forehead was constantly beaded with sweat: "Were you calling me just now?"

Cole nodded, sweating profusely, and said nervously, "Yes...yes, I have a feeling it's you."

"No."

Lorna shook her head and said calmly, "You only just realized that."

Cole swallowed hard, gesturing awkwardly with his hands, "Well... uh, how should I put it, I can sense something is different, but I can't see anything. It's happened... several times."

"Now you see."

Lorna lifted her skirt, slowly twirled in front of Cole, tilted her head, and asked, "Are you happy?"

"of course."

Seeing the other person's behavior, which was as cute and quirky as ever, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, nodded vigorously, and smiled sincerely, "I'm very happy."

Lorna blinked and asked again, "How happy?"

Cole paused for a moment, then said honestly, "I'm relieved to see you're alright, so I'm happy?"

"Um……"

Lorna lowered her skirt, stared at Cole for a full five seconds, and then suddenly asked, "Then why didn't you go in and check on me just now?"

Cole was taken aback again, and stammered, "Well... that's because you locked the door... Locking the door usually means you don't want others to come in and disturb you, right?"

"Ah."

Lorna nodded and then asked, "So, more than your own peace of mind, you're more concerned about whether I'll be disturbed by you?"

I don't think so.

Cole shook his head helplessly and shrugged. "If you hadn't responded just now, even if there was a possibility of disturbing you, I probably would have barged in anyway." "I understand."

Lorna tilted her head and confirmed, "So, more than whether I'll be disturbed, you need to be at ease yourself, which means... you care more about yourself than me?"

"Yes."

Cole readily agreed with this fallacy, laughing, "At least in terms of the outcome, I did choose the approach that put my mind at ease, rather than the trouble it might cause you. I'm sorry, Lorna."

"It's ok."

Lorna said calmly, then slowly walked up to Cole, looked up and met his eyes at close range, and added, "I don't hate it, and I don't mind, so you don't need to change it."

Cole's cheeks flushed slightly, but he didn't look away. He simply said seriously, "Even if you mind, I won't change it."

"I see."

Lorna's lips curved into a slight smile, one that Cole could easily catch. She then took a small half-step forward, bringing the two of them to a somewhat delicate and dangerous distance before continuing, "So, if it were Ai, would you be this selfish?"

"Xiao Ai?"

Cole paused for a moment, then instinctively said, "She'll take care of herself."

【! ! ! 】

Almost the instant those words left his mouth, Cole was plunged into extreme panic and regret. His pupils dilated abruptly, his back was soaked with cold sweat, his body tensed instinctively, and his gaze toward the girl was filled with fear and unease.

As we mentioned before, he was never a fool, so he knew very well that what he had just said was extremely, extremely, extremely bad in every sense of the word!

however--

"Yes, of course she can. Among us, besides Dave, Ai is the best."

Lorna picked up on this question quite naturally, seemingly completely oblivious to the sensitive information in Cole's previous statement that had caused him such unease. She simply continued the conversation by asking, "So, if you weren't sure she could take care of herself at the time, would you choose a method that might bother her, but would at least put your mind at ease?"

"..."

Cole composed himself, took a deep breath, and replied softly, "I will."

"Yes, you must remember your words."

This time, Lorna smiled visibly, then strode past Cole, saying without turning her head, "Let's go to the yard, I want to bask in the moonlight."

Cole immediately turned and followed, then said with a somewhat subtle expression as they walked, "Moonlighting and stuff, I think it's nice too, but I only went to the Countess's place once, and..."

"fine."

The Mage's Eye, perched on Cole's shoulder, spun around once and cheerfully said, "I've got everything figured out. You don't need to come to me specifically to report. Just compile it into a written report for Evie later."

Cole: "...?"

"what happened?"

The mage's eye on his shoulder spun around again, and he said lazily, "I don't trust those lackeys of the Caeves family. Is there anything wrong with them deliberately conducting 24-hour, uninterrupted, indiscriminate, and comprehensive surveillance throughout the manor?"

Cole gave a wry smile and said helplessly, "No."

"However, I have always been known for my gentleness, thoughtfulness, kindness, tact, and high emotional intelligence. So, for one reason or another, when the two of you get together, my Mage's Eye will set up a blind spot around you. In this way, I will neither see nor hear you."

The mage's eye, remotely controlled by someone, fluttered up and down like a moth, and said cheerfully, "After all, I have been pure and chaste since birth, and I cannot stand those sour and filthy lewd acts."

Cole: "...Ms. Futaba!?"

"Anyway, that's it. I'm going to remove the Mage's Eyes around you. I'll resume surveillance once you've separated. Oh, and by the way, because I've set up warning and detection barriers in all the bathrooms, guest rooms, and bedrooms, I won't be able to see or hear you when you're in your private spaces. Bye."

After saying that, the Eye of the Mage nimbly left Cole's shoulder, spun around in mid-air a few times, and then switched to stealth mode, as if it had evaporated into thin air.

"moon."

While overhearing Cole and Futaba's conversation, Rona completely ignored the latter, simply walking slowly into the courtyard, looking up at the bright moon in the sky, and saying softly, "It's beautiful."

"Yes."

Cole casually took off his butler's coat and draped it over Lorna's thin, delicate shoulders, then looked up at the moon in the sky: "It's beautiful."

"I'm not cold."

Lorna tightened the coat Cole had draped over her shoulders and said in a flat tone, "Compared to someone like me who no longer needs body temperature as a necessity for life... or as you would say, a 'half-finished Eternal,' you, an ordinary person, are the one who needs to keep warm more."

"You're right."

Seeing that Rona had no intention of returning the clothes and that her expression was much simpler than before, Cole nodded gently and said, "But it's not easy to change many habits, and coincidentally... I only feel at ease this way."

"OK then."

Lorna casually replied, then asked, "The clothes smell nice, what perfume is it?"

"It's [Obsession with Wormwood]".

Cole smiled and said, "Although I don't really like perfume, it's often unavoidable for work. This is my favorite of the 'business perfumes' that you recommended. The top notes are guarana, sweet sage, and northern hibiscus; the middle notes are rose and patchouli; and the base notes are amber, fennel, and sandalwood."

Lorna nodded slightly, pulled Cole's coat sleeve into her hand, and said in a calm tone, "It's a very nice perfume, it smells wonderful, and the name is lovely too. Where did you buy it?"

"It wasn't bought; the gentleman mixed it himself."

Cole turned to look at the girl's somewhat absent-minded profile and explained softly, "The gentleman is always good at bringing surprises to others, as if nothing can stump him. However, I did learn how to blend this perfume from him. If you like it, I'll go to Brother Cholera's place to borrow some tools and blend a bottle for you."

"Yes, it's definitely a flavor I really like, and it's also a name I really like."

"A mad love for absinthe? Actually, the gentleman gave it three names based on the top, middle and base notes of this perfume."

"Oh?"

“I’ve been wearing it all day, and what you’re smelling now is the base note… that is, the ‘long-lasting’ stage, so its name is now ‘Absinthe Passion’.”

"What about the other two?"

"If we're talking about the middle tone, sir, we'll name it 'The Thief Rose'."

"What about the top notes?"

"The top notes are called..."

"what?"

"【The Road to the Underworld】".

Chapter 2858: The End