"Are you sure you're not jinxing yourself with those words?" Klein joked, but he knew the Angel of Secrets was confident he could get the Black Emperor card because he had seen a related future.
'However, I can't be careless because of this. The future isn't set in stone; if I become complacent, unexpected things might happen...' Klein reminded himself inwardly, while looking forward to the night's action.
What will the Card of Blasphemy be like?
...
That night—
It turned out that the Angel of Secrets' words weren't a jinx. After some trouble, Klein successfully obtained the Black Emperor card and safely returned to the Sherlock Detective Agency.
This wasn't particularly surprising. Although the security level of the Roselle Memorial Exhibition wasn't low, with members of the Church of Steam's Machinery Hivemind guarding it, the guardians weren't very high-sequenced Beyonders. They were more focused on other exhibits.
Moreover, Klein used the method of "summoning himself" to sneak into the exhibition hall in his astral form, then used his form as a tool to transport the bookmark suspected to be the Card of Blasphemy.
This was practically a dimension reduction attack for ordinary Beyonders. Even in the original work, Bernadette, who was already Sequence 3, couldn't stop Klein's spirit from returning after he canceled the summoning. This time, due to the influence of Lynn, Klein didn't even encounter Bernadette while stealing the card. The Machinery Hivemind members guarding the Roselle Memorial Exhibition were even less likely to stop him.
After returning with his spoils, Klein didn't rush to study the incantation to activate the Black Emperor card. Instead, he greeted Lynn, who was waiting in the living room, and sat on the sofa with him to witness Roselle and his daughter's touching reunion in the dream.
Klein admitted that although he sympathized deeply with Emperor Roselle's fate, he was still very much looking forward to witnessing the father-daughter reunion.
There's no way around it, the story was too compelling. Mr. Fool, although not as pure a fun-seeker as Lynn, had a bit of a mischievous side and naturally wanted to watch the drama unfold.
"I just thought of a question: If we're seeing his black history, won't Roselle become furious and try to kill us to silence us?" Lynn suddenly asked, rubbing his chin with a serious expression.
Klein was stunned for a moment, and the coffee he was about to sip was put down.
"Uh, probably not?" Klein said, though he was a bit uncertain.
He thought for a moment and said, "No matter what, the Angel of Secrets should ensure our safety."
"That's true. Although he's unreliable in other matters, he's very concerned about our safety," Lynn nodded in agreement, while simultaneously guiding relevant individuals into the dream space through the Angel of Secrets disguise hiding in a safe house.
They exchanged a few more words before the bubbles they each carried began to emit a soft glow.
Lynn and Klein exchanged glances. In the next second, they both leaned back on the sofa and fell asleep.
...
Meanwhile, Bernadette also closed her eyes in her temporary bedroom. When she opened them in the dream, she found herself standing in a garden surrounded by various blooming flowers.
Bernadette could smell the fragrance of the flowers and feel the breeze on her cheeks. She knew she was in a dream, even though every detail was incredibly realistic.
'Where is father?'
Bernadette instinctively began to search. Before she could turn around, a familiar voice called from behind her.
"Bernadette..."
Bernadette's movements instinctively halted. Despite having rehearsed the reunion countless times in her mind, she still felt an indescribable emotion surge within her.
Stiffly, Bernadette turned around and saw, just a few steps away, a handsome man with similar chestnut hair and blue eyes, a small mustache on his upper lip, watching her.
Bernadette's eyes reddened as she stared at Roselle.
Roselle's gaze had already swept over her, noticing her rather unorthodox attire. He couldn't help but frown and say, "Why are you dressed like that?"
This rather inappropriate remark for a father-daughter reunion moment left Bernadette in a daze.
In the past, before she and Roselle had their falling out, every time she attended a ball, he would ask a string of similar questions with the same expression and tone.
"Dad..."
Bernadette couldn't help but step forward and give her father a hug. This wasn't the mature behavior befitting the Queen Mystic, but at that moment, Bernadette was just a child who had been separated from her father for many years and finally reunited.
Roselle's body stiffened, having long forgotten the last time he hugged his daughter. He awkwardly patted Bernadette's head and whispered in her ear, "I'm back, Bernadette."
The warm father-daughter hug didn't last long. Although Roselle wouldn't have minded staying in this moment longer, Bernadette, being a mature adult, regained her composure and let go of Roselle, stepping back to quietly observe her father.
Neither spoke at that moment. Despite having many things to say, they found themselves at a loss for words.
"Ahem, although I don't want to interrupt your warm reunion, I must remind you that eye contact alone can lead to misunderstandings," Lynn's voice suddenly interrupted.
Roselle stiffened again, recalling a painful truth: tonight wasn't just a warm father-daughter reunion.
Coincidentally, Bernadette also remembered the embarrassing contents of Roselle's diary that she had heard during the day. She bit her lip and, after a few moments of hesitation, said, "Father, I have some questions about your diaries..."
"Haha..." Roselle laughed dryly, avoiding her gaze and stammering, "Bernadette, you— you need to understand, things aren't what they seem..."
"What do you mean, not what they seem?" Bernadette's expression turned cold, having previously doubted herself. Now she knew better, looking at Roselle and saying, "Father, if things really aren't as they seem, could you read your diary to me and prove it?"
At that moment, the warm atmosphere between Roselle and his daughter vanished completely.
(End of Chapter)
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