Chapter 118
Chapter 118. A Game Beneath the Moonlight (6)
Having gift-wrapped The Lost Ancient Empire, Luo Nan took it back to the Duke Manor.
Everything in the manor was as usual—the gardeners were trimming the greenery in the small garden, while the maidservants attended to the household affairs.
Back in his own room, Luo Nan put away the book gift, went to the bathroom for a quick shower, confirmed he had left no trace of a woman's perfume on himself, then changed into a fresh set of clothes and came to stand before the full-length mirror.
"I heard orange peel can cover up that kind of scent. I've showered, but…… better safe than sorry."
"Absolutely cannot let Qili find out—if she does, she'll definitely report it to Father and have my credit card frozen!"
With this in mind, Luo Nan grabbed a tangerine from the fruit bowl, popped the flesh into his mouth, then peeled the rind and rubbed it all over himself. "Should be fine now—Qili shouldn't be able to smell anything."
With everything taken care of, Luo Nan formally came face to face with his reflection.
"Mm…… worthy of me, still as handsome as ever, as…… as……"
The words died at the tip of his tongue—Luo Nan found something off about the reflection staring back at him.
He strode quickly to the mirror and ran a hand over the unusual area.
"Why is…… the me in the mirror drenched in blood?" The Luo Nan in the mirror had his midsection steeped in vivid crimson; the pristine white shirt was stained blood-red, and even wisps of the raw, iron smell of blood curled into his nostrils.
Luo Nan pulled his shirt off and kept feeling around his midsection with his hands; the sensation at his fingertips was still perfectly normal—his own body didn't register even a trace of pain, chill, or drowsiness from excessive blood loss.
"Why is this?"
Beyond that—the Luo Nan in the mirror bore a face full of exhaustion and world-weariness, an expression that had no business appearing on the face of a young man.
"Is—is this me?" Luo Nan was somewhat dazed.
"Then who am I?"
"Am I not Luo Nan—Luo Nan von Medillion?"
"Why does the person in the mirror look nothing like me?"
"No—I can confirm, judging by the facial features and physique, the person in the mirror is me."
"But that expression…… and the vivid crimson on the midsection…… what on earth is going on?!"
"I need to……"
Knock knock knock—
A round of knocking broke Luo Nan's train of thought.
"Who is it?"
"Young Master, dinnertime has arrived—please make your way to the Small Dining Room on schedule." A steady, elegant female voice rang out; maidservant Pati spoke accordingly.
"Alright, understood." Luo Nan replied without thinking.
He left his own bedroom—but stopped in his tracks on the way to the Small Dining Room.
For some inexplicable reason, Pati's face rose to the surface of his mind, along with two trails of…… golden tearstains sliding down her cheeks.
Golden tearstains? What is that?
Some new cultural trend?
"Let's go take a look at Pati's room."
Creak—
Pushing open Pati's bedroom door, an impeccably tidy, spotlessly clean room met his eyes.
The bed had not a single crease, and had even been covered with a dust-proof film over the top—as though afraid of collecting dust.
"Why put a dust-proof film on it? Doesn't Pati have to pull it off to sleep every night—isn't that a bother?"
In Luo Nan's memory, though Pati's character was meticulous and she tended to her personal environment with great care, still……
Covering your bed with a dust-proof film every single day—even she wouldn't do something like that, would she?
"A dust-proof film over the bed is something you'd only see in a room that hasn't been lived in for a long time."
"But Pati goes back to her room to sleep every day, doesn't she?"
Luo Nan furrowed his brow—he had a nagging sense that something was off about the manor.
If the wound on his midsection and the world-weary expression on his face could be explained away as hallucinations, then the solid, real sensation he had felt when touching the mirror……
How was that to be explained?
"Young Master, what are you doing in my room?"
Seeing that Luo Nan still hadn't arrived at the Small Dining Room, maidservant Pati took it upon herself to come call him a second time.
"Oh, Sister Pati, I was just wandering around……"
Being caught red-handed having snuck quietly into Pati's room—honestly, Luo Nan felt rather embarrassed.
Though the two of them were in a master-servant relationship, Luo Nan rarely treated the manor's maidservants as inferiors.
Especially Pati Beckett.
"Young Master, please come to the Small Dining Room for dinner—dinnertime is nearly upon us." Pati said softly.
"Sure, I'll be right there," Luo Nan followed the maidservant out of the room, "oh right, Pati—your bed…… why is there a dust-proof film over it? Isn't that a bother?"
Luo Nan thought it over and decided to ask the person directly.
"Young Master, what did you say?" Pati appeared not to have heard clearly.
"I said, why is there a dust-proof film over your bed? Isn't that a bother?" Luo Nan raised his voice and repeated himself.
Clack—
The sound of high heels striking the floor ceased abruptly; maidservant Pati turned around, her beautiful, expressionless features staring straight at Luo Nan.
"Young Master…… what…… did you say?"
Two golden tearstains slid down from her eyes, and dissipated into the air.
!!!
Luo Nan's heart lurched violently; he stumbled backward, raising a hand to press against his wildly pounding chest—something in his mind seemed to explode.
He felt as though he had seen these two golden tearstains somewhere before!
Not now, and not in the past.
It was as if……
"Young Master, are you feeling unwell somewhere? Your complexion looks a little pale."
Seeing Luo Nan lurch backward, Pati's face showed a worried expression; she hurried to Luo Nan's side, lifting her head to observe his condition.
Luo Nan looked again at the maidservant before him—and found Pati's expression was one of concern, and there were no golden tearstains whatsoever on her face.
"Another false impression?"
"I'm fine—but I suddenly remembered something; I need to pop back to my room for a moment. Sister Pati, please help me explain to Father and Mother first—I'll be right there!"
With that, Luo Nan fled back to his own bedroom.
Shutting the door, Luo Nan reached into his pocket and pulled out his bronze pocket watch.
That was his Spatial Storage Magic Device.
'I must have had a hallucination. Let me first try using the Truth-Piercing Star Spike—I worked awfully hard to craft that thing.'
"Hm? Where's my Truth-Piercing Star Spike?"
Luo Nan carefully checked through every corner of the storage space in the bronze pocket watch—but having searched through every last nook, he found no trace whatsoever of that twelve-faceted cone.
"Hold on…… why did I craft the Truth-Piercing Star Spike?"
Luo Nan once again became aware of something wrong.
'Could it be that I have precognition abilities, and knowing I'd have hallucinations someday, I crafted the Truth-Piercing Star Spike in advance?'
He tried to forcibly rationalize this illogical situation.
'That would be an explanation……'
Luo Nan unconsciously reached out and felt for his personal defensive weapon, the large-caliber magical hand-cannon—the Silent Hammer.
With practiced ease he swung open the magazine and loaded six silver Armor-Piercing Rounds into it.
"Seems my talent for handling guns isn't bad—first time using it and already second nature, as if I've handled it thousands of times……"
Having loaded the Silent Hammer, Luo Nan tucked it back into the pocket watch and headed toward the Small Dining Room.
'Something keeps feeling off. Either the Duke Manor itself has something abnormal going on, or it's my mind that has the problem……'
'Forget it—gun in hand, heart at peace. Whatever demons or devils it might be, can they take a large-caliber Armor-Piercing Round from me?'
'Besides—Father and Mother's strength speaks for itself!'
'And at worst, Qili is also a formidable Supernatural Practitioner.'
Thinking of this, Luo Nan gradually relaxed.
'It'll definitely be fine.'