Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

Evelyn bowed slightly, giving a standard curtsy, and reluctantly forced a business smile as she said, "Miss Sulf, Madam is preparing a family dinner and would like to invite you to join us."

Tia asked blankly, "Evelyn, are you sick today?"

Evelyn's smile was about to fade when the bell on her wrist jingled again, and she immediately tensed up with a pained expression.

"No, no. Please get on the bus as soon as possible."

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Almost at the same moment Tia left the police station, Roman gestured to the officers outside the door, then closed the door and picked up the phone.

"This is Roman Williams. Yes, transfer me to White Sands Estate... Hello! Albert!"

A loud shout came from the other end of the phone.

"Wilson, sorry, but please answer the phone for me quickly! Tell Roman I'm struggling in the toilet, and I only have time to deal with a pile of poop!"

"Uh, oh! Brother, was I being a little too rude?"

"Hello, Sir, have you finished dealing with your matter?"

After a series of footsteps, Prince Wilson of the Navy picked up the microphone and greeted Roman in a gentle and refined voice.

“Damn Albert…” Roman burst into laughter in exasperation, but still managed to restrain himself and said:

"Sulph has already gone to Count Perric's residence. I had a brief talk with her."

"How is the situation?"

"Phew... better than I expected. There was no obvious bias in Sulph's words towards the Palace of Wisdom and the Iris. Of course, I said 'obvious.' According to the amendment to Article 147 of Charles's Charter of the Kingdom, the people of Ansu, regardless of their status, have basic freedom of speech."

“I understand what you mean. Although saints are not untouchable beings, we truly lack the ability, energy, and inclination to control a saint's likes and dislikes. I just want to ask, are you sure your judgment is correct?”

"I can guarantee this during this contact."

"Understood. May the Father of all things be with you, Sir."

Just as Wilson was about to hang up, Roman heard a middle-aged man groaning weakly in the toilet. Roman raised an eyebrow and said, "May the Father of All Things be with you, Your Highness. But did a man go into Albert's toilet? Why is he making such a fuss? I hope it's not an Iris Man, otherwise it would really damage the nation's dignity."

Wilson said awkwardly, "He hasn't been paying much attention to his diet lately, and the doctor said he has developed severe hemorrhoids."

After he finished speaking, Wilson quickly added a few more words, glanced in the direction of the toilet, and then heard Albert's furious voice.

"Roman dared to humiliate me like this, I'm going to challenge him to a duel!"

Toot toot~

As Wilson heard Roman's laughter through the receiver, he realized that Roman had hung up the phone.

He couldn't help but complain to Albert:

“Albert, my brother, behave yourself. You're thirty-six years old, not sixteen, and definitely not six. Besides, you were the one who insulted Williams first…”

Albert emerged from the bathroom, pulling up his trousers, and snorted, "Fine. I'll forgive that bastard Roman this time. Eleanor, isn't she in Newport? To be honest, she's been there too long..."

Wilson joked, "Maybe she has someone she likes? Perhaps we could bestow the title of Prince of Nurem. Although there's no precedent for it, it's a new era, so making an exception might not be a bad idea."

Albert glanced at his brother in surprise, then looked at him with a sense of relief.

Wilson took good care of Eleanor when he was young, but after graduation he spent many years overseas. He was not only the honorary minister and deputy minister of the Admiralty, but also the fleet admiral of the First Fleet. He didn't know much about the events in Silver Castle. As for Eleanor, he only knew about things like removing curses.

During this time, he was successfully transferred to the Navy Department, which gave him a much more relaxed job. However, he was also pursuing the daughter of a senator named Thessi, and did not pay much attention to Eleanor.

It's normal not to know.

Albert chuckled and said, "Well, you're right, Wilson. It is indeed a new era, perhaps we can break some precedents. Let her be."

Wilson scratched his head, not understanding what he meant, and was about to ask again.

Albert said, "Let's prepare for next month's banquet. We've spread the word quite a bit, and those wealthy people in the country are probably eyeing this newly grown piece of fat meat—the Great Icefield."

Chapter 448 Reunion

The sky over the Greater Bay Area was overcast in the morning, but as the sun gradually rose along the midline, the light and shadows pierced through the clouds, illuminating the golden surface of the Greater Bay Area.

The docks were crowded with fishing boats setting sail at dawn, while the hardworking maids braved the cold wind to buy ingredients at the port market and deliver them to the Mercury mansion.

The maids heard that there was a family dinner party today, and Lady Edwina had even sent Evelyn out to entertain Miss Tia Sulph, who was returning from Irisland.

The Mercury mansion was much more lively than it had been in the early morning.

Anne stayed at Eleanor's suburban manor yesterday and didn't return home all night. She only brought Eleanor home this morning. They bumped into Tia, who was getting off Evelyn's carriage.

Before long, Lady Edwina beckoned the three children to the living room, saying it was a family dinner, but Earl Perricone was not actually there. In fact, it wasn't Lady Edwina who was entertaining Tia, but Anne.

Anne had simply learned from the Royal Guard that Tia had returned home, and she specially invited her to her home for dinner.

Seeing that Tia was alone, Annie looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Vera? Vera and Tia, you went back to the country together, right? Didn't you come with her?"

Tia said innocently, "She was injured before. I was afraid my treatment wouldn't be effective enough, so I took her to the church to have Aunt Isa and the church professionals take a look at her, just in case she has any aftereffects."

"Hey, Vera's injuries are that serious? Did you really give her proper treatment that night?"

"I feel like I'm cured."

Tia quipped, "Anyway, he's been lively and energetic ever since. But who knows, his cowardice and lechery are probably incurable."

Anne snorted a few times and retorted, "Tia, you have the least right to talk about Vera."

"I'm sorry~"

"Call my sister."

"Sister Annie~ want to call out a couple more times?" Tia asked, still wanting more.

Annie glanced at the boots on Tia's feet, the same pair she had given her, and immediately smiled and said, "I'll save them for later. I'd feel unworthy to have Tia, who's at Sequence Three, calling me 'older sister.'"

Tia said, "Everyone has their own expertise. Not to mention you, sister, if I wanted to learn anything about forging, I'd have to call you, Annie, my teacher."

"Forging hammer?"

"The conditions for promotion to Sequence Two. Sequence Three and above are actually all the same, with no significant differences. Especially between Sequence Two and Sequence Three, the only difference between these two sequences is the amount and depth of knowledge. Therefore, it is definitely necessary to learn from others' strengths and try to learn as much as possible."

Dongya had told Tia about the advancement from Sequence 2 to Sequence 1 in her nightmare.

Actually, the original proposer of creating three sequences for Sequence 3, Sequence 2, and Sequence 1 was somewhat of an attempt to associate them with sacred numbers and the number of pathways.

In reality, after Sequence Three, there is only one realm: Saint. Sequence Two is where one reaches the pinnacle of knowledge within their respective sequence branch, becoming a Saint. Jeremiah, the Great Prophet, and the Supreme Mage of the Empire are all outstanding examples of this.

The first sequence is something that can only be encountered by chance—it is the saint who ushered in the new era.

Tia even has some doubts about whether Sequence One even exists.

Like the previous Sequence One, "Pale Emperor" Solomon, it is also possible that it was later constructed under the impetus of his successors.

From the perspective of deep-sea research, saints represent the limit of humanity, signifying that humanity has achieved a balance between the soul, matter, and spirit, completed the sublimation from human to god, been fully accepted by the deep sea, and reached the level of "original man" in church scriptures.

But the road ahead is long and arduous, and Tia has no intention of stopping to learn and improve.

"That sounds a bit tiring." Annie isn't the type to study just for the sake of studying.

Tia said, "It must be tiring. After all, there aren't that many Sequence Twos to begin with. Jeremiah, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Great Prophets all studied for countless years. If I could fully comprehend ten secret texts, I should be able to achieve it quickly. But comprehending ten secret texts would take decades, right? It's a long and arduous journey, so I can't stop learning."

"I'll definitely need to ask Teacher Annie for help with my studies, or maybe you could help me connect with some important people to learn from, Sister Annie~"

"Then I'll help you!"

Anne shuddered with pleasure, thoroughly enjoying the conversation.

Eleanor, licking her ice cream, entered the living room from afar. Seeing Anne's flushed face, like a steam engine that had almost blown up the Pope, she asked blankly, "What are you doing?"

"Don't ask, little kids."

"Oh."

Eleanor continued licking her ice cream, then handed the cone to Tia and Anne, letting them each take a bite before continuing to eat.

Eleanor arrived, and Anne pulled Tia to the kitchen, first having the maids prepare the ingredients, then pulling Tia along to cook the dishes.

It's mainly a habit left over from 16 Crown Street. Habits become second nature and are hard to change now.

She's usually fine when she's home alone, but when Tia and Eleanor are both around, she instinctively wants a few people to cook together.

This can also be considered a way to win over people's hearts.

Anne thought about Tia's suggestion—perhaps it was called "trying to gain favor"?

Uncle Hoff, wearing a chef's hat, stood by, parched and helpless, watching as he was pushed out of the kitchen. Edwina, filled with grief and indignation, went out into the garden.

Upon hearing this, Edwina couldn't help but laugh and said, "Mr. Hoff, please indulge Anne and Sulph's antics for a couple of days. It'll be good for you to rest for a while. By the way, Evelyn!"

Seeing Hoff leave dejectedly, Evelyn, holding a parasol, respectfully stepped forward from beside him.

Edwina said, "Well, you don't need to come to the naval base with me yet. There's an invitation in the study; leave it for Annie later, and then you can take a few days off too. You've been behaving well lately."

"Huh?"

"It's from Silver Castle, and they have some connections with Roman and the royal family. It should be happening in the next few days. Tia and Eleanor are probably going too. So let Tia and Eleanor stay with us for now."

Evelyn, stunned, said, "Then you..."

"This division of spoils has nothing to do with the Mercury family, nor do we care for it. Just focus on doing your job well in Newport. But you need to keep an eye on Anne and Evelyn. You're more than just a maid. After Lundell left, I treated you like my own child. Take good care of your sister."

"Okay, ma'am."

Edwina nodded slightly, breathed a sigh of relief, and then carefully examined Evelyn, making Evelyn feel uneasy.

The head maid, still shaken, said, "Madam, what happened to you...?"

"Evelyn, you're in your early twenties now, aren't you? You're not getting any younger. Is there a young man you like? Hmm, preferably a young man. We have so many girls in our family."

Chapter 449 The Giant's Purpose

After Tia had a hearty meal, she dragged Anne to conduct experiments on Eleanor, showing her the "transformation ritual" that she had mastered and improved.

The complete conversion ritual is a rather complex ceremony. But Tia has a degraded version—the "Hermesian aura" branded into her blood.

This is somewhat similar to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah's complete ritual involved a moth rising from the dead and emerging from its cocoon. The inferior version, however, was a transformation of the moth's appearance.

Tia activated her spiritual energy, and Annie saw that Eleanor's platinum blonde hair was growing rapidly, soon dragging on the ground, and her figure was becoming more and more slender and beautiful, but her adorable blank expression was something even Tia couldn't change.

Tia withdrew her spiritual energy, and Eleanor's condition gradually returned to normal.

Tia said, "The complete spiritual energy comparison ritual cuts off the part of the soul transformation. It can only extract the soul to transform the body unilaterally, and it cannot achieve the balance of the three sexes and perfect sublimation. What I just used was benign transformation. There is also malignant transformation. It will be very useful for dealing with enemies whose bodies and souls are not in harmony."

The complete version is almost like turning people into philosopher's eggs. Guardian angels are philosopher's eggs, the physical body and soul are sulfur and mercury, and the soul cutting and consciousness guidance are the neutralizing holy salt.

But it goes a step further than the Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone is an inanimate object; it doesn't need spirit, only the duality of matter and soul. But humans require the three elements of body, soul, and spirit.

Eleanor's focus was peculiar; she commented, "Oh, it would definitely be popular for plastic surgery and body sculpting."

That is indeed true.

Anne nodded repeatedly, "If you opened a beauty clinic, you could definitely make a lot of money. I bet all the rich people in Silver Castle would come looking for you."

Tia didn't seem to care much. The girl shrugged and said, "Existence and non-existence give rise to each other, and difficulty and ease complement each other. A more diverse approach is more in line with the balance principle of alchemy. Keeping spiritual energy constantly active is also a burden on my soul. Moreover, the transformation ritual itself comes at a price."

"But that's not the point. To be honest, I have no idea how to further improve the transformation ceremony. I'd like to take advantage of this banquet to talk to the Edith family. At the same time, I'll probably have to make a trip to the Great Icefield."

Anne nodded in agreement. The Edith family, as the founding family deeply involved in the church's large-scale industrial projects, was renowned in the field of commerce.

However, Tia was definitely not going to the Edith family to buy goods. Her purpose was to use the Edith family's connections to obtain some secret knowledge from Saint Engard and the Seven Seas, and to use their channels to bring back some secret manuscripts from Saint Engard.

After advancing to the third rank, some things become much easier, such as borrowing secret manuals.

Borrowing the secret texts from Saint Enggard is not difficult. The reason people never lend them is not because they don't want to, but simply because they cannot understand those lost esoteric languages.

Otherwise, Santis wouldn't have bothered to refine Star Antimony and delve into Nightmare to search for the secret text's legacy. Anyone who could understand it could simply take a trip to Saint Engard and return to immediately complete their advancement.

But when Annie heard that it was connected to the Great Icefield, she looked at Tia in surprise and said:

"Tia, are you trying to get a piece of the pie in the mining industry of the Great Icefield?"

"How could that be? I have absolutely no need for this kind of industry."

After a moment's consideration, Tia finally voiced her guess:

"I suspect that Avina might be in the Great Icefield."

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