The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 1136 Ch.1135 Elendira's Wonderful Adventure Part Four
Elendira can't remember where her life began.

What was her carefree childhood like?

As the midnight bells toll, flesh and blood are immersed in a smoke-filled dream, and when she wakes up, nothing in the world causes her unbearable pain.

Roland Collins's harmless yet alluring tincture of opium was like the pattern on that sticky card: the pupil opened the door to unconscious expectations in her soul.

Lakes and canyons within the castle, mountains snoring loudly. A four-winged bird, a rabbit scholar, a spider lady playing the piano.

When aimlessness becomes the goal itself, this mirror called fantasy reflects even more how foolish and tragic her pitiful life is: everything she sees is slowly melting into a poison that corrodes steel, leaking through the tightly sealed rusty iron box outside her heart.

However, she herself was unaware of this.

Just like a real opium addict, everything is difficult to detect before the craving hits.

"what is that?"

Like a wild girl on the plains, she was being dragged along by Roland. Deep in the densest forest, near the spring and where the greenery was most lush, Erendira looked up and saw strange fruits—heart-shaped, or oddly colored, of different kinds.

They were hanging from the drooping tails, swaying gently in the breeze that seemed to come from nowhere.

“A curse from the sea, a wondrous fruit,” Roland said, without conjuring up a new pair of shoes for himself. Instead, like Erendira, he went barefoot, cleanly and crisply kissing the soft grass on the cheek.

This pleased Elendira somewhat.

"A curse from the sea?"

What is that?
"It makes people unable to swim...it's practically a curse. But at the same time, it can turn people into flames," Roland pointed to the green filaments hanging above his head: "This one can turn you into a cloud of ice mist, that one will make you grow horns, and the other can make you like a wild beast..."

Erendira exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

"It won't work in dreams, miss. I mean, in this world, they can't grant the consumer all sorts of amazing abilities—but every single one of them tastes awful... Would you like to try them?"

Erendilla: ...

"No, no need, sir."

Along the way, Elendira had developed a more 'real' opinion of this handsome man: perhaps Little Candle was right, but rather than justice and bravery, she preferred to describe Roland Collins as 'joyful'—to be friends with someone like that…

You should be incredibly happy every day, right?
And isn't happiness the most important thing in the world?

In Elendilla's opinion, Roland Collins, the owner of the little candle, was incredibly wealthy.

"...I don't know if your friend will like me. The book says it's impolite."

"What's impolite?"

"I didn't send a letter first."

Roland turned around seriously and released Erendilla's wrist.

"Miss, you need to change your mindset."

"gentlemen?"

"That's the rule of the waking world. If it's the same in a dream, then what's the difference between the two?"

The story of 'Hero Collins' wouldn't be complete without his 'assistants'—a saintly lady who hides a dagger behind a smile, a reckless thug lacking in wisdom, and a taciturn, dark-skinned servant…

Although the little candle pile's evaluation wasn't entirely positive.

Perhaps because of Mr. Collins's penchant for punishing evil and upholding justice, Elendira's expectations of them were not diminished by the evaluation.

Shouldn't they be as free as Mr. Collins?

“We’re almost there.” Elendira had long forgotten how long she had been walking. She didn’t need to rest. As she passed through rows of bright or rainy corridors, foothills, and snow-capped peaks, her body miraculously felt no fatigue whatsoever—normally, she would have been dozing off by the afternoon.

"...Perhaps you should give me a pair of boots."

Elendira lowered her head.

The two metal legs were already covered in mud.

“Imagination is the beginning of everything, Miss Erendilla. It is born from hope and despair… Perhaps you have forgotten something.”

Before an arched brown walnut door, Roland suddenly turned to the side and whispered:

"Your 'friends' are not sharing the peace of the night with you."

He reached out and pushed open the door. With a creaking sound, memories flooded the girl's ears like a river flowing back to the sea.

She remembered.

she…

Her wheelchair.

There is no wheelchair, the self in the world of sleep.

How could she...?

Walking?
…………

……

The ingenious invention of the "invitation" was also to welcome guests setting foot in the Fairy Ring for the first time. Clearly, the members of the tea party had made ample preparations:
Rose had made the most exquisite and gorgeous long dress suit in reality (which was also the one she hated wearing the most), the layers of which were freshly ironed and flat, and the brooches on the collar of the dress were sparkling; Xander had her gray hair up in a bun, with a flower bud cut into the back of her head, and she wore a rare purple gemstone necklace.

Harida was dressed by Rose, and her beautiful eyes were better suited to a darker maid's dress.

There weren't a dozen or so silver forks laid out on the table, nor were they inlaid with a dozen or so gemstones. And those gemstones, in their dozen or so shapes, didn't have a dozen or so different meanings for people to interpret, evoking praise, shame, or flattery from guests—or, based on an analysis of the guests' intentions, for the host to choose a dozen or so different responses.

No.

Although they were dressed in gorgeous and luxurious clothes, they sat on wooden stakes with free-grained patterns, with the backrests covered with vines and moss that shimmered with emerald luster.

The wooden round table was also poorly cut, with rough edges and irregular broken corners still visible.

The table was set with copper, wood, and cream teacups, and forks made of golden honey. Plates of brightly colored dishes sat on the table, and a brown tinderbox sat on the corner—it even smelled of coffee beans.

Elendira was utterly astonished. She also worried that she had been in the 'room' for too long and would find it difficult to meet the 'requirements' for making friends among the ladies in the novel—more stringent ones, in addition to family background, education, father's career, and mother's social circle.

They even have very strict requirements regarding each other's appearance and daily attire.

But everything she saw completely put Elendira at ease.

“Good night, Miss Erendira. Welcome to… I think Roland has already told you.” As she rose and stepped forward, Erendira finally saw the speaker's face clearly:
She had short, curly black hair and a pair of beautiful, cat-eye eyes. The corners of her eyes, which were slender and narrow, always revealed a cunning and cleverness. Following down her slender, goose-like neck, more unforgettable features flowed into the abyss of Elendira's memory.

This is a frank and 'frank' lady.

“But I still have to say it again—after all, you were the first guest of the Fairy Ring…I tried to persuade Roland for a long time.”

She impatiently interrupted the gray-haired woman's etiquette, grabbing Erendilla's wrist and stopping her awkward and inadequate return greeting.

"Isn't this place absolutely beautiful?"

The giant python, which had been dozing on a few cow bone rivets, lazily raised its head and greeted her.

(End of this chapter)