“…So, as you can see.”
The conversation between Longjing Tea and Celecia sounded beside Elle.
Elle looked at the coffee in the ceramic cup.
She recognized what coffee was; it was the United Kingdom’s “Alpine Wine”, a specialty from Alpine Island. Without the need for Alteration Magic in the synthesis, the natural energy potion that kept sleepiness at bay and prevented one from falling into a nightmare was made.
In the Noah Kingdom, some old nobles would take it in small amounts — of course, only as a brain tonic, not a luxury to be consumed as a beverage. Whether it truly had brain-boosting effects, well, that remained to be seen…
The production of alpine fruit was limited. To make matters worse, it was only grown on one island but was in demand by many countries. Its price was even more expensive than the equivalent volume of silver.
Elle recognized the alpine fruit because Amos was given a small box when he was painting for the Viscountess of Roseburg. She even counted them. There were eighteen pills in total, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat any.
In the month when Amos showed signs of mental distress, Elle carefully roasted and ground the entire box of alpine beans, blending them with sugar, mint, and pepper. She then served them in multiple servings of drinks to Amos.
Perhaps the medicine worked. Amos’s spirits lifted considerably over those two weeks. Sadly, Elle had barely any alpine fruits left.
Thinking of her adoptive father, Elle was lost in thoughts.
What am I feeling now…
Is it nostalgia? Is it hatred? Is it love? Is it admiration? Is it fear?
Elle couldn’t tell.
However, she couldn’t forget what had happened.
At least…the period when her mother Clara was dead and Amos had not fallen into evil ways was indeed the happiest period for Elle.
Amos devoted himself entirely to loving and caring for Elle, even setting aside his work to look after her meticulously. He feared that the grief from her mother’s passing might sadden her or shorten her life.
However, Elle wouldn’t.
She had seen her mother use her to threaten and blackmail Joseph. She knew how limited her mother’s “love” for her was because she was merely a tool to extort more “love” from her biological father.
She had also seen how Joseph ruthlessly abandoned her and her mother and even used the Edict Spell to immobilize them… She was also filled with disappointment in her biological father.
It was after reading the mystic book that Joseph gave her that Clara became “the Spider Whisperer”.
Amos was obedient and never went where she didn’t let him be… but the same could not be said for others.
And when Amos didn’t notice at all, his sister unexpectedly “died” of illness. Clara comforted Amos while threatening Elle not to tell the truth.
Afterward, she dug up the body of Amos’s sister and destroyed the evidence — the evidence that she had peeled off a small piece of skin as evidence of a sacrifice to Black Widow.
Elle witnessed all this and she was scared of her mother.
That was a truly vicious woman. She had almost no love for her mother, only fear.
For Elle, who was still a young girl, both fatherly and motherly love came from Amos. Back in the day, although Amos was quite renowned in his field, he hadn’t yet reached that almost devilish prominence. Their life was comfortable and well-off, but not exceedingly luxurious.
For the most part, Amos had little work. Especially when Elle was still young, he was always by her side.
As for Elle’s mother, she continued practicing apprentice-level spells and traveling to distant lands to purify nightmares. But truthfully, she lacked the talent to be a true sorceress. Eventually, she secluded herself in her study, going through books thicker than Elle’s arm, and delving into ominous and terrifying rituals in the basement.
Elle was always a little scared when her mother was at home — she never dared to go to her mother’s study by herself, let alone the basement. Only when the mother needed a ritual assistant would she be taken to the basement.
Whenever she saw the bottles of poison and the carcasses of various poisoned animals, she worried that one day she would turn into a corpse… and Amos wouldn’t even know who killed her.
Clara’s death was not so much saddening her.
Instead, it made her feel a lot more at ease.
She didn’t have to worry about being poisoned to death one day while she could have all Amos’ love to herself.
And in this nightmare…
Upon waking, she saw young Amos.
He was still a painter—and a fairly well-known one at that. He was busy at work. He didn’t speak too much with Elle… Of course, if he talked a lot, Elle might not be used to it.
In that case, she might be reminded of Amos sacrificing her to the Venerated Skeleton and her watching Amos die hundreds of times in her nightmare.
Having “one encounter” was just right.
However, Amos told her that her mother would be home tonight, asking her to go back home early.
Elle didn’t want to go back.
She didn’t even want to see that woman.
Even though she was an angel now, she was still afraid of her mother.
Waking up in the middle of the night and imagining her mother standing at the foot of the bed could still send chills down Elle’s spine, making her break out in a cold sweat.
—I hope my mother never comes back.
However, did Elle have an attachment to her mother?
It wasn’t completely absent.
Especially after being immobilized by Joseph, her mother held her hand firmly and left silently. At least at that moment, her mother was the whole world in the frightened Elle’s heart.
When Elle tried her best to act silly and make her mother laugh while her mother was studying rituals and spells and when she saw her mother showing a relaxed smile, the happiness that arose in her heart was not false.
The relationship wasn’t based on pure hatred and fear.
Of course, Elle wouldn’t reveal the fear hidden in the deepest part of her heart. It was something that even she could not figure out and could not explain to others.
She hoped to see Amos again, but she was conflicted; she didn’t want to completely forget her mother, yet she didn’t even want to remember her name.
She hoped to quietly make the most of the day in this “world of the future,” but she dreaded the arrival of tomorrow.
If tomorrow comes, it means I have to see my mother again.
Elle thought about it and tightened her grip on the coffee cup.
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