51. Chapter 51 – Lily
Chapter 51: Lily
The first thing Ivars did when he woke up was to clean up his ritual field.
The white crystal pendant that had been smoked earlier was no longer pure. Aiwas ground it into a powder and placed it away for now.
After receiving the breath of the dream world, the spirit inside it was so mixed that the concept of “white crystal” was lost. It would only bring about failure in any alchemy or ritual that required the White Crystal.
But it is not pure trash. Its scientific name is “Secondary Dream Crystal”, and in alchemy and ritual, it has a very weak concept of confusing dream and reality.
If you inject two opposing magical powers into a single crystal dust, and then blend it with the leachate of the entire brain of an adult cuttlefish, then put it into a bottle of white wine. Finally, it is thrown into a bottle of white wine and distilled until only half of it remains, then you get three portions of forget-me-not water. Drinking one portion will make a person forget his or her worst sorrows like a dream.
–In the game’s main quest, after Yulia’s death, Ivars is in a state of grief and becomes visibly depressed and haggard. Under the guidance of Professor James Moriarty, Ivars’ adoptive father, the player uses the white crystal pendant that Ivars gave to his character as a memento after he progressed to the next level as the ingredient for the potion, which Ivars takes.
After drinking this magic potion, Ivars fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up again, he was significantly better.
It was as if that incident had not happened a few days ago, but a few years ago.
That was also the first time in the game that James Moriarty was involved in the main plot.
…… Now that it was up to Ivars to personally prepare this magic potion, it always felt like there was a subtle feeling.
However, now that Aiwas thought back …… probably from the beginning of this quest, it was implying that the old James had a fairly good level of alchemy knowledge. Because Forgetfulness Water was not a common magic potion. At least as far as Ivars’ impression was concerned, it hadn’t appeared in the main quests since then.
Only after cleaning up all the traces of the ritual left in his bedroom did Aiwas leave his room.
He spoke to the housekeeper of his home that his room could now be cleaned. The housekeeper, Mrs. Rowe, responded and called for Aiwas’ personal maid.
Generally speaking, servants didn’t need to follow their masters around all the time like followers; they were usually staggered with their masters while working. Moriarty Manor was, after all, in the White Queen District, and couldn’t be too big. But the main building alone has more than twenty rooms …… which requires servants to clean in real time.
Usually the Oswald butler would be contacted for external matters, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Rowe, would be contacted for internal matters. They were the easiest to find.
The former was the guardian of the Moriarty family, while the latter was merely a hired human housekeeper.
In other knightly families, there was no need for the master to specifically order them – they just had to leave their location, and the housekeeper had to immediately order someone to clean the place they had been in before.
But the Moriarty estate was an exception.
Because of the four owners here, Ivars rarely left the house after graduating from high school. Yulia was even less allowed to go out or go near an open window. Edward basically came back only one or two days a month …… Only James would go out versus come home from time to time.
Not to mention the arrangements for banquets and trips, there wouldn’t even be much household trash. The servants, apart from the customary cleaning of the rooms, just came together to gossip where the masters couldn’t see them.
Moreover, the servants all knew that the Moriarty family was a family of transcendentalists, and all of them were studying occult knowledge. The various books spread out could contain dangerous knowledge that would cause dementia or death if an ordinary person took a look at them; and the various things placed on the table on the floor could also be part of a ritual or a boundary.
Therefore, they would not go to the bedroom to clean up the garbage until the housekeeper said, “You can clean it up”. Even if they did, they would simply restore the original arrangement of the various objects and try not to move them.
“Good morning, Young Master Ivars.”
The maid with long flaxen curly hair who had been tending to the oil paintings on the side walked over and greeted him softly.
“Good morning, Lily.”
Ivars also greeted his personal maid in a friendly manner, “I have good news for you …… You can go to school as well.”
Hearing this, Lily’s eyes suddenly widened.
“…… I can go to school too?”
She was the personal maid who had been taking care of Ivars when he first came to the Moriarty family.
At that time, Ivars was six years old and Lily was fourteen. They had long since become acquainted.
Lily was usually responsible for cleaning Ivars’ bedroom, cleaning and changing his personal clothing, and accompanying him when he went out.
For reasons of safety, decency, and good looks, these valets were usually not exactly commoners, but rather the children of relatives or illegitimate children of other families.
Lily, for example, is the child of an old knight and a prostitute.
Her original last name was Drost, but she lost hers when she became a maid of the Moriarty family.
The Droste family didn’t want a whore’s child to have a chance at an inheritance, and also felt that if she went to school with the Droste surname she would be doing a disservice to the Droste family’s honor. But it would be just as much of a shame to put her out there and let her live on her own.
Eventually the old knight then asks James Sr. to hire Lily as a personal maid.
This was said to be hiring a maid, but in fact, it could also be said to be a kind of surrogate child. Professor Moriarty treats her well too – even though the maid’s job prevents her from continuing her schooling, middle school level schooling is enough for her to grasp the basics. The family also provides her with a variety of books, to allow her to teach herself things that interest her outside of work. “Of course, it’s just to accompany me though. But you’ll have to sit in together as well.”
Ivars smiled gently and patted the wheelchair underneath herself, “I can’t have Mr. Oswald accompany me to school, can I? I’d be laughed at by my classmates that way, and I need someone to push the wheelchair.”
“What about …… that Mr. Wade? He can still protect you.”
Wade was the name of old James’ valet.
Ivars shook his head, “I’m not qualified enough.”
According to Avalon etiquette, only those with a high enough status could have a personal manservant, just as only a knight family could hire a manservant. Those merchants, wealthy people, and high-ranking civil servants who hadn’t received their armor yet could only hire maidservants. This was not only because of the manual labor required, but also because of the fact that the valet also served as a guard or bodyguard, and was responsible for protecting the mansion along with the butler.
The Moriarty family’s two valets belonged to James Sr. and his elder brother Edward. The valet of Edward’s was housed in his other house in the Red Queen’s district – he had bought an apartment near the Inspector’s House for the convenience of traveling to work. Only when he came home did he bring his valet home with him.
When he had gone to see Bishop Mathers before, he had been taken there by Steward Oswald himself, due to the fact that Bishop Mathers was of high enough status.
But it was impossible for the Oswald steward to take care of him every day.
Until Ivars could obtain a third level shadow affinity and was able to take full control of the Shadow Demon, or until the dark attribute mana pool was brought up to 50 points and a blank card was made to seal the Shadow Demon away, it was clear that he couldn’t leave his wheelchair.
It didn’t matter if he was in his own home. Or where no one else is doesn’t matter.
But even if the Shadow Demon is quiet and doesn’t do anything, as long as Ivas is standing on his own shadow, he is conceptually “linked” to his own Shadow Demon. Then his shadow will directly boil – become thick and solid, and constantly wriggling and smoking.
This is obviously going to happen. If you push the wheelchair yourself, it’s not impossible to walk, but it’s too tiring.
“…… Can I really?”
Lily was a little nervous, reaching up and clutching the hem of her coat, “My father …… that man said that he didn’t want me to go to school. And …… And even if I push your wheelchair, you’ll still be talked about by your classmates, right?”
She obviously wanted to go, but was afraid she’d get in trouble. Instead of trying to convince Ivars, she was trying to convince herself why she couldn’t go.
“Why yes,” laughed Ewas, “they can’t envy it. After all, I get to have such a pretty girl to go to class with.”
Of course, the real reason was …… that he knew Lily wanted to go to school so badly and had a thirst for knowledge.
Although theoretically he wasn’t qualified enough to be paired with a manservant, he was in a special situation after all. The school should be able to give special approval as well.
But Wade wasn’t interested in that, so he might as well give the opportunity to Lily. After all, it was also considered a sister who had been taking care of her since she was a child ……
In the original world line, Lily would die in a side quest three or four months later. A death that was insignificant and inconsequential.
It would be better to let her follow her to school.
These characters that don’t appear in the “plot” also have “unknown” possibilities in a sense.
“…… What are you talking about? You’re too kind.”
Hearing that, Lily blushed.
Despite being slightly more girlishly confident in her looks, she actually knew that this was Ivars joking and relieving himself.
The serious-faced housekeeper at the side couldn’t help but smile as well.
She was also clearly quite fond of this polite and somewhat introverted young maid, gently patting Lily’s shoulder and reminding her, “Don’t thank Young Master Aiwarth yet.”
“Thank you, thank you ……”
Only then did Lily respond and bowed deeply in a curtsy.
Her tears were somewhat uncontrollable, and her vision was a little blurred.
Because she realized that Ivars wasn’t just mentioning it casually or joking – but was serious.
This made her heart unable to hold back the joy she felt.
Even the entire world, which was slightly blurred before her eyes, seemed to shine brightly under the dawn.
(End of chapter)