"Some time later, I should meet your daughter Bernadette. Do you have anything you want me to tell her?"
Hearing Lynn's words, Roselle suddenly fell silent. A few seconds later, his voice was somewhat dry, "How is she?"
"From a material perspective, she's doing quite well. She's currently a Sequence 3 Clairvoyant and holds a significant status in the Beyonder circle. She's usually active in the Five Seas, known as the Queen Mystic, one of the four pirate kings of the Five Seas," Lynn introduced unhurriedly.
"Pirate King..." Roselle instinctively frowned, unable to imagine how his once adorable, beautiful daughter had suddenly become a pirate king.
Although a pirate king of the Five Seas is indeed a prominent figure in the Beyonder circle, aligning with Zaratul's former prophecy, it was still somewhat different from Roselle's original expectations.
However, after frowning for a few seconds, Roselle seemed to remember something and sighed, "Well, a pirate king is still quite free and won't be oppressed."
Roselle looked at Lynn again and asked, "Is she married? I mean, does she have someone she loves? If so, how does that person treat her?"
Clearly, as a father, Roselle was still very concerned about whether his cabbage had been uprooted by a pig.
Hearing Roselle's question, Lynn blinked and calmly said, "As far as I know, Bernadette is not married. As for whether she has someone she likes, I'm not sure. I'm not very familiar with your daughter. However, I did hear that Bernadette has a daughter named Cattleya."
"What?!" Roselle clenched his fists at that moment, his Sequence 0 mind conjuring up various melodramatic stories in an instant—like Bernadette being abandoned by a scumbag and having to raise her daughter alone, or the pig that rooted his cabbage unfortunately dying, leaving Bernadette to mourn while raising her daughter alone...
Just as Roselle was about to use his powerful fatherly filter to turn Bernadette into a poor little cabbage, he suddenly heard Lynn chuckle.
This immediately stopped all of Roselle's imaginings. He quickly realized and looked at Lynn, gritting his teeth, "Are you teasing me?"
"Not exactly, I just forgot to tell you that Cattleya is not Bernadette's biological daughter, but an adopted one."
"So, she's adopted..." Roselle breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Lynn's expression became serious, "But from a spiritual perspective, Bernadette isn't very happy. She's been searching for you and has never given up."
Lynn even thoughtfully added a "prophecy": "In the original history, she would even actively participate in a godhood-related event in the future because it was the Loen royal family's scheme to become the Black Emperor. Even without knowing if you were still alive, Bernadette didn't want the last hope of your resurrection to be cut off."
Roselle's recently relaxed expression stiffened again. He fell silent for a long time before saying somewhat dejectedly, "I'm not a good father."
This statement was not entirely accurate. Roselle might not be a perfect father, but he wasn't a terrible one either. After being corrupted by the Primordial Moon, he might have done many things that hurt his children, but before that, Roselle was definitely a qualified father. The post-corruption events couldn't be entirely blamed on him.
It could be said that the Mother Goddess of Depravity was extremely harmful.
Therefore, Lynn did not comment on Roselle's self-deprecation, only asking, "So have you decided what you want me to tell her?"
"...Just tell her to stop looking for me," Roselle said, his eyes seemingly focused on Lynn, but his pupils were unfocused, clearly lost in thought. "It's too dangerous. Even if I'm clear-headed now, it's still too dangerous here, and I can't be sure when I might..."
Roselle paused here, took a deep breath, and continued, "Just tell Bernie, she should live happily and wait for her father to come home."
"Is that all? Nothing else?" Lynn asked gently after listening to Roselle's words.
"No, there are things that are better said in person..." Roselle smiled bitterly and seemed to recall, "She must be very disappointed in me. She has always been particularly upright, almost to a fault... That's why we had a falling out back then. With her temperament, she could never accept what I did later..."
"Strictly speaking, that was the Primordial Moon, or rather, the Goddess of Depravity's fault," Lynn corrected.
"Yes, in this regard, I have to thank the Primordial Moon. The things I did later can all be blamed on her corruption..."
Roselle seemed to agree with Lynn's words, or perhaps he was being self-deprecating. He then looked at Lynn and asked, "Can I ask you a favor? Although I may not have the right, as you have already helped me a lot..."
The notion of salvation might still be an illusion, but Roselle knew his corrupted persona would explode. The fact that he was able to regain his clarity and his corruption had partially receded, giving him more time to breathe, was all thanks to Lynn.
Perhaps the latter only wanted to deal with the Goddess of Depravity and incidentally helped him, but this undeniably gave him substantial help.
"You're probably asking me to take care of Bernadette, right?" Lynn could easily see what Roselle wanted to ask and smiled, "Don't worry, I treat my own people very well. Since you will be working for me as 007 in the future, I will certainly take good care of your family."
Hearing "working as 007," Roselle's eyebrows twitched instinctively, some "fond memories" instantly awakened by the term 007.
Roselle, of course, knew what Lynn meant by this, nothing less than helping him taking over as the God of Steam. In that case, he would naturally be working for Lynn instead of the God of Steam in the original history.
Roselle didn't doubt that after he purged his corruption, he would still have to work for Lynn, which was the price for saving him, even if Lynn hadn't made it explicitly clear, he could understand it.
Roselle didn't completely reject this idea either. If someone saved him, it was only right to work off his debt. Besides, he might not retain his Sequence 0 status by then and would need a strong backing for a transition.
But Lynn's demeanor made Roselle suspect that he might be the kind of boss who would overwork him.
"Nonsense, I treat my employees very well!" Lynn interjected, clearly displeased with Roselle's malicious speculation.
"I wanted to ask earlier, but you sure you don't you really have mind-reading abilities?" Roselle couldn't help but retort before tentatively asking, "May I ask who my colleagues will be?"
(End of Chapter)
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