Chapter 123: Icy Blue Suits Better

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Icy Blue Suits Better

Even without having met, just looking at the attire, Jeremy instantly knew the other party’s identity.

This was the representative dispatched by the Divine Temple this time, and also the future heir to the Divine Temple.

That white jade mask, aside from the function of concealing aura and appearance, seemingly also carried an additional layer of cognitive interference effect.

If he hadn’t directly seen him with his naked eyes, Jeremy was certain that relying solely on sensing auras, he wouldn’t have discovered this person standing there.

Clearly hailed as the holy light, the legitimate heir of the Divine Temple. Yet the feeling that person brought was like a block of ten-thousand-year unmelting ice. Behind the stunning beauty was an indifferent coldness that could not be ignored.

Jeremy had no intention of socializing. He retracted his gaze, as nonchalant as if he had never looked up.

His train of thought drifted slightly.

...As expected, silver hair still suits icy blue a bit better, huh?

But that guy probably wasn’t in the capital right now either.

Jeremy immediately pushed that thought aside.

Waiting a bit longer, the person on the balcony still showed no signs of leaving.

Originally just wanting to find a quiet place to sit alone, after this, Jeremy also extinguished the intention of lingering here to wait for the banquet to end. He planned to find another place to read.

On the way, he brushed past another person also wearing a mask.

The heir to the Magic Tower.

But his style of dress was much more casual: a pitch-black, tight-fitting martial arts outfit, the hood pulled down tightly.

If not for the Magic Tower’s runic crest embroidered on the outer cloak, Jeremy wouldn’t have recognized the other party’s identity either.

But it was merely brushing past each other. Their eyes didn’t even meet, let alone greeting.

Thanks to Sylas’s memories, Jeremy still roughly grasped the map of paths within the royal palace.

Following his memory, he chose a quiet and secluded pavilion, reading his book until there were only ten minutes left before the banquet ended, then closed the book, preparing to return to meet up with Atalai and Elwyn.

The current Emperor had a special fondness for flora, so in recent years, quite a few flower gardens and magical forests had sprung up in the royal palace.

The path back to the banquet hall required crossing a garden stretching out like a sea of flowers.

This place was quite far from the main hall, surrounded on all four sides by trees and flowers of all species.

It was also the middle of the night. Even with magical lighting, visibility was still cut to pieces.

Within the line of trees ahead, there seemed to be someone. The figure was obscured by branches and leaves, the shape unclear.

Jeremy cast a glance. The other party seemed to just be passing through, very quickly leaving.

He only managed to catch a glimpse of a back wearing a black cloak, walking hurriedly.

Initially, he didn’t pay it much mind either — until the wind carried over a scent of blood.

Unlike monster blood, this scent was clearly human blood. Mixed within it was a trace of a mage’s magical aura.

Jeremy’s footsteps halted.

Even within the empire’s royal palace, there were scenes of murder and body disposal?

Generally speaking, no one was bold enough to reach that level. But... there were exceptions to everything.

Jeremy had no interest in meddling in others’ business. Even if it truly was a murder and body disposal, it had nothing to do with him.

As long as he himself wasn’t dragged into it, it was fine.

He decisively changed direction and left.

After Jeremy was out of sight, the black-cloaked figure who had already melted into the darkness stepped out again.

He spoke to the person beside him: "Seems we were spotted. Is that okay?"

The other party’s voice was equally cold, but clearly female.

"It’s fine. That person who just returned to the Valmont family doesn’t seem like the type who likes to meddle in the world’s affairs either."

"This area has been abandoned for so long, everyone avoids it if they can. I didn’t expect him to grope his way here."

The two casually exchanged a few sentences, until the sound of bones being crushed into pieces rang out, then they simultaneously turned their heads to look at the woman wearing a black-and-silver mask standing in the dark corner.

Their tone immediately lowered a few degrees, full of reverence.

"Master, regarding the Crown Prince, it seems another faction is also targeting him. Does the plan need to be adjusted?"

In the dark side of the light, a pair of cold, white, slender hands were using their bare strength to crush a still-beating heart.

Blood dripped onto the gardenias blooming as white as early snow, dyeing the holy petals in an unmixable shade of red.

A cold voice rang out, as faint as moonlight veiled by mist, not stirring half a ripple:

"Proceed as usual."

The two bowed to accept the order: "Understood."

For the first two days of the banquet period, Jeremy attended fully. On the third day, he simply absented himself.

Atalai and Elwyn also had to handle official business in the West, so right after the banquet completely ended, they prepared to set off to return.

The two originally wanted to drag Jeremy back with them, to spend the entire vacation in the territory.

But he refused, while simultaneously suggesting they take Sylas back with them.

For the next few years, he would likely spend the majority of his time at the academy. Leaving someone in a coma in the capital alone, he couldn’t feel at ease.

As for his own reason for not wanting to return to the West, aside from the word "troublesome", there was nothing else.

Seeing his resolute attitude, the two didn’t force him.

After leaving behind another pile of gifts, they set off.

On the fourth day since they left, Raphael finally woke up.

This time, it counted as the shortest coma duration ever.

Right on the first day of the new year, Jeremy had dropped by to visit once, but the other party was in the middle of the treatment process so they couldn’t meet.

Hearing the news that he woke up, he intended to make another trip. Who would have expected the other party to proactively show up at his door.

He had probably also heard all the rumors about his background and the mystery surrounding his return — which had been spreading throughout the capital these past few days.

Towards Raphael, after the identities were laid bare, Jeremy purely treated him as Sylas’s friend.

No longer that awkwardly distant manner like when he was in Sylas’s body, constantly having to dodge all contact.

Raphael also showed no particular attitude towards this dizzying twist in identity. When he learned that Sylas fell into a coma to save him, he also didn’t vent a bit of negative emotion onto him.

His meaning was very simple, in short:

If this was Sylas’s choice, he respected it.

He already knew that all those years the child had lived in an endless pain. The current situation was perhaps the best solution the child could come up with.

He had no right to complain. But conversely, Sylas also had no right to strip away his feelings and his right to decide. Before the day the child opened his eyes, he would sequentially deal with every single person who had added a wound to the child’s body, while simultaneously working with the Duke’s mansion to find a way to shorten that slumber.

On this point, Jeremy was very willing.

One more ally was also one more fraction of hope.

The only thing was...

Jeremy looked at the pale complexion of the person sitting opposite him, asking: "Is your slumber illness currently still relapsing irregularly?"

"Yeah." Raphael’s eyelashes lowered, fatigue settling between his brows. "Before enrolling, even though I used a suppression spell, it couldn’t be completely sealed."

His condition was even worse than when they first met at the academy. Jeremy only feared an unexpected incident occurring halfway through.

But if even the Divine Temple and the Magic Tower were helpless, let alone others.

Clearly a fantastical magic world, yet the number of incurable diseases was still infuriatingly high.

Jeremy set the teacup down, his voice carrying a bit of concern: "The matter of taking revenge for my younger brother, my parents and I will handle it. You just recuperate properly. If you collapse, everything will only get messier."

Raphael gave a flat "yeah", also not knowing if a single word entered his ears.

Right before leaving, he suddenly said:

"If possible, after the semester starts, it’s best you change teams."