Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 217 The Fist of True Love

"I hope I can complete the ceremony successfully this time..." Bernadette sighed in her heart. She caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye. She looked away nonchalantly, but suddenly froze.

Wait, that person just now?!
Bernadette suddenly looked in the direction where she had just glimpsed the figure, but did not see any familiar figure.

"Did I see it wrong? But..." Bernadette frowned slightly. Although it was just a glimpse, she was sure that the shadow she just saw looked very much like someone.

——Her father Russell.

This sudden incident made Bernadette stand up and look at the Kingdom Museum not far away. She was not sure what she had just seen. It might be just a similar figure, or a product of some illusion, or a trap.

Bernadette knew very well that as one of the people who inherited the most from Roselle, there were many people in this world who coveted what she had, even the Church of Steam and Machinery. Although there was a certain tacit understanding between her and Roselle because of Bonois, there was no guarantee that they would not target her.

But after pondering for a moment, Bernadette still came to the Kingdom Museum and entered the museum with the crowd.

The leading tour guide was vividly explaining Roselle's life. This was nothing new to Bernadette, Roselle's biological daughter. After all, Bernadette knew more about the things the tour guide was talking about than the other person, and she had even experienced many of them herself.

Bernadette simply scanned the crowd around her, searching for the figure she had just glimpsed.

Suddenly, Bernadette's gaze paused. This time she saw the figure. Compared to the last time when she only caught a glimpse of it with her peripheral vision, this time Bernadette saw it more clearly.

She saw a figure from behind that she might not be familiar with. The owner of the figure was standing in front of a display case. Because of the angle, Bernadette could not see the other person's face clearly, but the back alone was a perfect match for the father in her memory.

Is it an illusion?

Is it a trap?

Or, you are finally back, father...

Bernadette was even a little timid at this moment. She wanted to walk up quickly and call out to the other person to see who the owner of this figure was. But when she actually took a step, Bernadette felt as if her steps weighed a thousand pounds.

Bernadette knew she was afraid, afraid that this was just an illusion, a lie.

However, just as Bernadette was hesitating, the owner of the figure walked towards the corner and disappeared from Bernadette's sight in an instant.

Bernadette was stunned for a moment, but this time she did not hesitate and hurriedly chased after him. However, when she ran to the corner and looked again, she could not find the figure again.

Bernadette felt a great sense of loss in an instant. She bit her lower lip, finally suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, and began to rationally analyze the possibility that the figure behind her was Roselle.

To be fair, this possibility is very low. After all, if he really is her father, why would he hide from her like this?

But Bernadette had an intuition, and that intuition told her—yes, it was Him.

The tug of war between reason and emotion made Bernadette bite her lower lip again. She suddenly remembered something and returned to the display case where the "back figure" had been just now, and suddenly froze.

Because a note had been stuck on the display case at some point, Bernadette tore it off and saw an extremely familiar handwriting. The note read:

"Although the clothes designed by Roselle are very good, the little princess deserves better. Don't let the past trap you." In an instant, all the pulling disappeared. Bernadette covered her mouth with her hands, and her vision blurred at this moment.

Of course she recognized the handwriting; it belonged to her father.

Bernadette looked down at the clothes she was wearing. They were not the popular styles now, but the trend that Russell had started many years ago.

Bernadette was not stubbornly unwilling to accept the trends of the new era. She just felt that wearing these familiar clothes seemed to bring her closer to the past era.

In that era, Roselle had not yet fallen and turned into a tyrant. She was still the carefree eldest daughter of Roselle. Her biggest daily worry was how to avoid being crammed by the hidden sage.

Bernadette suddenly ran to the corner. She looked around, searching for a familiar figure in the crowd.

But no, there is nothing there anywhere.

Bernadette ran almost all over the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, but she never saw that familiar face again.

Just when Bernadette was in despair, Feng'er delivered a note to her.

Bernadette grabbed the note without hesitation and saw a line of words written on it:
"Look behind you."

Bernadette turned around almost immediately, and then was stunned for a moment, because she found that the environment around her had changed at some point. Those who came to visit the Roselle Memorial Exhibition disappeared, and she was obviously no longer inside the Kingdom Museum.

But none of this matters. What matters is that a gorgeous coffin appeared behind her at some point, with a sign next to it.

Bernadette looked at the sign, and her expression immediately became strange, because the sign read:
"Roselle is here. Please awaken Him with the fist of true love."

"...True love's fist?" Bernadette didn't know for a moment whether this was a bad joke. Of course, she had heard Russell tell the story of true love's kiss. Sleeping Beauty fell into a sleep due to the witch's curse, and true love's kiss was required to wake her up.

But what is the Fist of True Love?

Bernadette looked down at her own hand. It was long and strong, and one could tell at a glance that hitting someone would definitely hurt.

Bernadette then looked up at the coffin again. Although she thought it might be a bad prank, she still approached the coffin, put her hand on it and pushed it gently, and found that the coffin even had a sliding lid.

Bernadette looked into the coffin, and her breathing immediately stopped because she did see someone familiar.

This time it was no longer a fleeting glimpse, nor was it just a back view. Russell Gustav, her father was really lying in the coffin, even wearing a complete suit that looked very gorgeous.

Bernadette raised her hand, and her fingertips trembled slightly as they rested on Russell's neck.

There was no temperature, no pulse, and the Russell in front of him looked like a highly realistic dummy, or a corpse whose time had stopped. He just lay there quietly, without a trace of life.

(End of this chapter)