Circle of Inevitability

In response to his sister's concern, Lumian shook his head and declared, "I'm fine."

He surveyed his surroundings and suggested, "Let us talk inside."

Upon reaching the stove, he briefly narrated his expedition with Ryan and the others. Lumian then advised his sister that if Madame Pualis were to attack them, she must surrender and betray the three foreigners without hesitation.

Considering the phenomena he had encountered in the castle, Lumian believed that the siblings could not defeat Madame Pualis. They were not even capable of handling the midwife.

Aurore listened attentively and couldn't help but chuckle.

"From a logical standpoint, your tactics are indeed the best, but why do I find it peculiar? It is as though I have become the villain in a story. Furthermore, I am not the principal antagonist—the charismatic kind."

"What is important is the consequence," Lumian stressed to his sister. "In your own words, one must endure the humiliation, bear the heavy burden, preserve the useful body, and wait for it to prove its worth in the future."

Aurore couldn't help but rub her forehead. "Have I taught you too many strange things?"

"Yes," Lumian earnestly nodded.

Aurore rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I understand. I will not confront Madame Pualis until the most crucial moment. When Madame Pualis noticed that the alarm had been triggered and attempted to leave, I did not stop her. I merely expressed reluctance and conversed with her for an additional minute. Right, please elaborate on the specifics of your exploration."

She seated herself at the dining table and listened intently, just in case Madame Pualis were to interrogate her in anger.

Lumian pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the dining table and expounded on the expedition's accomplishments and battle process.

As Aurore listened, her expression gradually became somewhat peculiar.

"What is the matter?" Lumian noticed his sister's abnormality.

After considerable deliberation, Aurore inquired with a strange expression, "There is a portrait of a man in Madame Pualis' bedroom, and he resembles her. It's suspected that he is her brother?"

"Yes, the three foreigners speculated that he might be a missing member of the Roquefort family named Pulitt," Lumian recounted Ryan and the others' statements, including Dandyism and the vast number of illegitimate children.

He added, "According to the three foreigners' investigation, there is no such person as Pualis in the Roquefort family."

Aurore nodded and exhaled.

"Then I am quite sure that my guess is correct."

Her expression remained peculiar, only growing more pronounced.

"What guess?" Lumian asked, perplexed.

Aurore gave him a sidelong glance before replying, "Perhaps Madame Pualis is actually Pulitt."

"What? That's absurd!" Lumian exclaimed. "One is a man, the other a woman, and Madame Pualis had two children!"

"Who's to say she gave birth to them herself? Maybe the administrator did it for her," Aurore countered, a sneer curling her lip. "And even if they are Madame Pualis's children, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. In the world of mysticism, anything is possible. Consider this: if Louis Lund can give birth to a man, then why can't Pulitt become a woman?"

"That may be true, but…" Lumian was still unconvinced.

Aurore gave him a sly smile.

"The reason I dare to make such a guess, unlike the three foreigners, is because I've heard something. Or rather, I've witnessed something."

"Do you remember which pathway neighbors the Hunter pathway?"

"Assassin," Lumian replied without hesitation.

He had been drawn to the name, which was undoubtedly cooler than Hunter.

"In our organization, uh—the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society, there was a man who was fascinated by the idea of an Assassin and chose that pathway," Aurore explained, her expression growing stranger by the moment. "At a gathering, he confided in us with a melancholy and troubled air that the potion an Assassin needs to consume after reaching Sequence 7 is called Witch."

"Witch?" Lumian had a sinking feeling the moment he heard the potion's name.

"Yes, Witch. In the world of mysticism, Warlocks and Witches are two entirely different concepts. You used to get them mixed up and call me a Witch from time to time. It was rather unsettling," Aurore said, taking the opportunity to enlighten him. "Drinking the Witch potion will turn you into a Witch. Acting as a Witch causes your body to undergo a complete transformation, turning you into a woman."

Hiss… Lumian took a deep breath, relieved that his first obtained characteristic was that of a Hunter.

Had he obtained something related to the Assassin pathway, he might very well have been lost to it due to his eagerness.

"What happened to the man who was considering it? Did he drink it?" Lumian asked, unable to resist.

Aurore replied with a smile, "He agonized over it for a long time. He didn't want to become a woman, but he also didn't want to stay at Sequence 8. Eventually, someone persuaded him, 'Life is short, why not give it a try?'"

"After that, I met him again at a gathering. No, he was already a her by then. She was already a woman by then. A beautiful and charming one at that."

"…" Lumian was momentarily speechless.

Aurore grinned at him and added, clearly enjoying herself, "In the future, should you reach Sequence 5 and find yourself unable to obtain the Sequence 4 materials for the Hunter pathway, you might consider the Demoness pathway instead. The Assassin pathway is also known as the Demoness pathway…"

Demoness… Lumian found the name "Assassin" bewildering.

The mysticism world was fraught with dangers!

He deftly steered the conversation back on track.

"So Madame Pualis is truly Pulitt the casanova."

Even an Assassin could transform into a Demoness. A path that enabled a man to bear children was likely to transform a man into a woman.

Aurore nodded warily and gazed out of the window.

"I suspect that Madame Pualis transitioned to a woman only after reaching a specific Sequence. She had to disappear to avoid discovery by the authorities. According to the mysterious lady, the power of a deity's boon can also be divided into Sequences.

"Her abnormal pathway would also include the ability to promote fertility, manipulate life, and control the undead."

Aurore deduced that she could manipulate life and control the undead from Lumian's battle with the midwife.

That was the same performance Madame Night, who looked like Madame Pualis, had showcased in Paramita with the undead chasing after her.

Aurore suddenly exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" Lumian asked cautiously.

Did his sister uncover another ominous truth?

Aurore scowled at her brother and replied, "At the afternoon tea, Madame Pualis said that love is unfathomable. She wished he would perish for his mistake, but when he faced death, she saved him and refused to tell the other party.

"I didn't comprehend it then, and I didn't dwell on it. Now, I wonder if she had an ulterior motive for saying that."

Lumian was equally puzzled.

"She saved someone? When did she do that…"

Suddenly, he halted and stared at Aurore.

The siblings remembered that Madame Night had saved them by distracting the undead in Paramita.

"But that was from the preceding cycle…" Lumian was about to reject it, but he couldn't.

He and Aurore exchanged a look and realized their eyes were filled with shock and dread.

If Madame Pualis was referring to that incident, it meant she retained some of her memories from the loop.

"It's impossible…" Aurore muttered to herself. "Never mind. Let's assume it's true. I'd rather overestimate our foe than underestimate them."

Lumian concurred. Then, he had a thought.

"Aurore, uh, Grande Soeur, considering that Madame Pualis might have been a man, did she fall in love with you?"

"I didn't do anything wrong. You were the one who spied on Louis Lund giving birth. Pualis is infatuated with you," Aurore riposted.

Lumian muttered under his breath, "Perhaps she believes that you instigated me.

"I don't usually associate with her, but I did once bring some people to see her having an affair with the padre. She teased me for it. You, on the other hand, discuss literature and trends with her occasionally. You even go to her house to borrow a pony."

"Huh…" Aurore's voice rose in disgust, "Then why was she trying to set me up with those awful men you told me about?"

Lumian paused before responding, "Maybe she's trying to discourage your interest in men and lead you to her instead."

"What kind of strange things have you been reading?" Aurore glared at her brother.

Not only could Lumian provide a rational answer, but he did it with forceful verve.

"Your novels. You wrote something similar in one of them."

"Is that so…" Aurore fell into deep thought.

After a moment, she looked out the window and said, "It's been a while, but Madame Pualis hasn't come after us. The cycle hasn't started again…"

"Perhaps she doesn't want to kill the foreigners. If an investigator sent by the officials were to be killed, it would cause even greater trouble," Lumian speculated. "And she doesn't suspect me, so she doesn't suspect you either."

The witness was dead, and no one else had seen him.

Aurore nodded and said self-deprecatingly, "I don't even feel like eating dinner."

Suddenly, Lumian had an idea. "What if we go to the castle?"

"Is the perpetrator returning to the scene of the crime?" Aurore laughed.

Lumian nodded.

"I want to investigate the castle. Madame Pualis doesn't suspect me, so I can go unnoticed."

"Oh, and I haven't picked any tulips yet. I can ask for a few under the guise of making fragrances."

Since Aurore and Madame Pualis appeared to be friends, there was no issue with Lumian's actions.

Aurore thought for a moment before saying, "We can try, but we can't be sure that Madame Pualis won't cause trouble.

"Yes, if you don't return in half an hour, I'll go to the edge of the village and trigger the cycle to start again."

"Alright," Lumian agreed.

......

As Lumian arrived at the administrator's castle once again, the sun had already set behind the mountain, painting the horizon with a red hue.

Passing through the garden, Lumian reached the open main entrance and approached a male servant.

"Excuse me, my Grande Soeur Aurore is creating a fragrance. Could I please borrow some tulips from Madame Pualis?"

The male servant, dressed in a red shirt and white pants, responded without any hint of suspicion.

"I'll inquire with Madame."

He quickly disappeared into the castle. Shortly after, he reappeared.

"Madame says you may go straight to the garden to pluck them."

She really doesn't suspect me? Besides, it's as if nothing happened… Nevertheless, he refrained from entering the castle and headed towards the garden to search for the tulips.

It was there that Lumian spotted the flowers and a lady's maid pruning a flowering tree in the shadows.

As he casually sized her up, his gaze suddenly froze.

The lady's maid was in her forties, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a pretty face devoid of wrinkles. She was none other than the midwife who had fought Valentine and the others and was eventually killed by Ryan!

Yet, here she stood, seemingly unscathed, her face shrouded in a shadow cast by the flowers and trees.