Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 153 Follow Your Heart

A touch of azure blue painted the roof of Claire's residence. As Claire continued to delve deeper into Jessica's dream, the roof of the room was completely dyed the blue sky. The surrounding walls disappeared, revealing an empty manor.

In the manor, there is a slightly curved, uphill path with two rows of green trees planted beside the path. The green trees are intertwined and inlaid to form a row of green scenery.

Claire walked up the steps along the path and came to the bend.

I saw a residence, which was the old house in Claire's memory.

That was the old house where Claire and Jessica lived together when they were young.

Jessica, who looked younger than in real life, stood at the door of the house, looking expectant as if she was waiting for her child to return home.

Claire raised her hand and greeted with a smile: "Aunt Jessica."

Jessica's eyes flickered, she covered her mouth, then smiled and responded, "Claire."

Jessica's emotions were so intense that she couldn't hide her excitement. She kept talking, "You didn't lie to me. You really could come to see me on the first day of the month... So you really are in the goddess' kingdom now?"

"Yes." Claire walked closer and nodded, "I'm living a good life now, Aunt Jessica."

Jessica's nose felt sore, and she sighed, "This all feels like a dream."

"This is what I'm dreaming about." Claire carefully observed Jessica's state in the dream. She found that Jessica was still able to maintain a certain clarity of mind at this moment, which was why she was able to communicate so smoothly.

It was the strong desire to see someone that caused Jessica to maintain a certain degree of lucidity in her dream today, a bit like a lucid dream. However, after waking up, the scenes in the dream would still gradually become blurred, until she finally forgot most of the things in the dream.

After Claire thought about it, she explained the situation to Jessica truthfully.

Jessica didn't seem panicked after hearing this: "It will be vague, and I will forget a lot, but I will never forget the real feeling of seeing you in my dream."

Claire frowned slightly in confusion, she thought it was just Jessica's self-consolation.

Jessica smiled and said, "Because I anticipated this situation, I prepared some paper money by my bed. As soon as I wake up, I'll write down what happened in my dream. According to my experience, even though it's easy to forget everything in a dream, I can still remember a lot of things in the short time after waking up."

It really is...a simple yet effective method.

Jessica stepped aside to clear the doorway, revealing the furnishings inside the house, and asked Claire, "Do you remember this place?"

Claire smiled gently and said, "Of course I remember. There was a time when I angered my father, and it was Aunt Jessica who secretly took me in and hid me until my father's anger subsided. Otherwise, if my father found me, I would have been punished."

Jessica led Claire into the house, stepped onto the warm carpet, and sighed as she recalled:

"In fact, from the very beginning, your father knew that I was the one hiding you, and that I hid you in this manor outside the western suburbs. He pretended not to know because he didn't want to punish you... Your father has never been able to express his emotions since he was a child."

"But I know he's worried about you. Although he finally agreed to let the Goddess Church take your body, he was hesitant and in pain. If you're able, please take some time to visit him."

Claire, who also walked into the house, looked at the warm and memorable furnishings, and the beautiful moments of Claire's life here flashed through her mind.

After listening to Jessica's advice, Claire could only let out a helpless smile. "Even now, I still have to follow the Goddess's rules and cannot enter the dream of an earl at will."

In fact, Claire was unwilling to have more contact with Count Meazza. He was Claire's father, not hers.

She was close to Jessica in front of her, mostly because she had been taken care of by Jessica since she came here. In addition, after seeing those rare happy childhood memories of "Claire", Claire subconsciously had a good impression of Jessica as a relative.

Jessica didn't dwell on this topic for too long. In fact, she was still resentful of Count Meazza's final choice, so after she recovered a little, her attitude towards him was still quite cold.

She brought up this matter more out of consideration for Claire, hoping to resolve any grudges Claire might have about this matter, so that Claire could live more easily and happily in the Kingdom of God.

Now that Claire had clearly refused, Jessica naturally stopped talking about it. She even defended Claire, saying, "His personality, of hiding everything in his heart, is truly annoying. Even if he's misunderstood because of this, it's all his fault!"

"You know what? Claire? I recently joined a committee organization, a kingdom organization that can influence policy. Part of my family's business is in this field."

Jessica talked about her life recently and mentioned the conversation with Count Meazza:
"I know he actually cares about me and is worried that I might be deceived or bullied in such a complex organization, but he acts like he wants to use me to influence policy... He will never understand that this kind of dishonest emotion is also hurtful."

Listening to Jessica's words, Claire gradually recalled the figure of that woman. She could only say that the woman was indeed worthy of being Count Meazza's biological daughter, as her emotional characteristics in this respect were exactly the same.

After her experience in Omlight, Claire realized that the connection between her and the woman was probably more complicated than she remembered. There might be some hidden secrets that she still didn't understand.

But as Jessica said, dishonest feelings can also hurt people!

However, every time she thought about how to deal with her feelings for that woman, she always became confused. She wanted to take revenge on the painful emotions that she had inflicted on her - no matter what the inside story was, those painful emotions were real.

But she found that she couldn't let go of her feelings for that woman...

This feeling not only came from Ty Poslan's love experience with that woman - Claire was sure that nearly half of the memories belonging to "Ty Poslan" were false memories.

But as that false memory faded, her feelings for that woman grew stronger. Claire hadn't figured out the reason yet, but she couldn't avoid this feeling.

Thinking of this, Claire sighed slightly in confusion and said, "Aunt Jessica, if there is someone with a personality similar to Mei... my father, and now there is a chance to reunite with her, how should I face her?"

Jessica looked at Claire in surprise. She hadn't expected that Claire, who had become so calm and composed, like a completely different person, actually still had this kind of worry in her heart:

"Although I would like to say that reconciliation is the only option without regrets, given your father's personality, there are probably many hidden secrets... Try to think more from his perspective and consider his difficulties and hardships."

“But—” Jessica’s tone suddenly changed. She sighed deeply and stood in front of Claire with a sharp look in her eyes.
"When I was really faced with this kind of problem, all I could think was 'Why?!'"

"Why should we put ourselves in the other person's shoes? Why should we consider the other person's hidden difficulties? Why should we forgive the other person's hurt?"

"Since he insists on hiding it, I will ignore the hidden secrets and fight back fiercely based on what I know now and the hurt I've suffered!"

That's why Jessica chose to give her brother, Count Meazza, the cold shoulder in the study before - he's such a grown-up, but he still can't even express his concern normally, and instead says hurtful words. This is a bad habit he's been taught!

What made Jessica feel pity was that after having such a father, Claire actually met a lover with a similar personality?
"So, Claire, the person you should be asking yourself is: What attitude do you most want to have towards him right now? Or, in other words, how do you want to treat him?"

Jessica's words made Claire feel as if she had cleared away the thick fog of emotions and found her true roots. "I think..."

But Claire found it difficult to speak out her true thoughts, as they were still contrary to her established values.

"I wanted to... hurt her. I beat her up before, but in the process, I actually felt a mixture of pain and pleasure... a sense of pleasure."

In Claire's mind, the idea of ​​"actively hurting the person you love" is distorted and abnormal, but ironically, this is her true inner thought!
This is a pathological emotion formed by the complex emotions of wanting to vent anger, the desire to possess the other person, and the deep love engraved in the heart.

Claire's answer left Jessica stunned. Although she wanted to guide Claire to vent her pent-up emotions so that she could better face this relationship.

But she didn't expect Claire to give such an extreme answer...

However, considering Claire's current condition, even if she were to meet that person, it would probably be a reunion in a dream.

As for the dream, no matter how much harm it caused, at least nothing would happen, and it could also help Claire vent her emotions. Thinking of this, Jessica said:

"Claire, Auntie supports your idea! If people like this don't suffer, they won't learn what 'respect' means!"

"To assume responsibility for everything is actually a form of escape!"

"Just go for it, Claire. Follow your heart!"

……

When I woke up from the dream, it was already dawn.

"Follow your own heart..." Claire sat up from the bed, chewing over these words. The only trace of worry and gloom that had accumulated in her eyes since she became a woman also dissipated at this moment.

Yes... Even something as outrageous as time travel has happened, and yet he is still hesitant in his feelings. It's just a more twisted kind of emotion, so there's nothing to be afraid of!

It was the woman who did something wrong, why should I be the one who is troubled?

Claire exhaled slowly.

"However... I can't reveal my true intentions during the meeting. With my current strength, even with Daly's assistance, I'm afraid I'll end up like last time and won't be able to subdue her."

"So this time, we still have to follow the established plan. By switching between the two identities, we can first gain her initial trust and find a way to establish a relatively stable communication channel. Then..."

After reviewing some issues that needed to be paid attention to in the formal meeting with Tessa, it was already dawn. Claire went to several fixed locations as usual to check the contact codes and saw the codes left by the hired detective Stuart.

"Viscount Press, whose whereabouts are stable, went to the Cragg Club yesterday. Unfortunately, it's a members-only club, so we can't continue to follow him."

In Stuart's office, Claire, who had changed her clothes, listened to Detective Stuart's report and ignored the hint in his words that he wanted to increase the funding for the operation.

Detective Stuart paused and gave a brief introduction to the club: "This is a members-only club. Only members and their companions are allowed in. Only one companion is allowed."

Claire asked, "What are the requirements for joining the Krag Club?"

Stuart, having done his research, replied, "You need recommendations from two members, and the membership fee is 50 pounds."

Viscount Press's trip to the Cragg Club was unusual, and likely meant to conceal some secret. Since this line of investigation involved Ty Perslan's hidden identity, Claire was quite concerned.
It's worth a deeper investigation, but if you want to follow up on this kind of club, it seems you have to spend a lot of money...

After purchasing the invisibility bracelet, Claire's cash was significantly reduced. Although she had earned some merit in the operation of killing Lanevus, it would be foolish to exchange merit for gold pounds.

I initially let Leonard take Lanevus's head because I didn't want to reveal my identity. But since I assisted Leonard in killing Lanevus, rounding it off, I can count it as me killing Lanevus. It's not too much to ask Miss Audrey for the 100 pounds reward, right?

Besides, the mission entrusted by Miss Audrey was "the whereabouts of Lanevus".

Claire, thinking about how to make money, said to Detective Stuart, "I'll give you an additional 100 pounds for this commission."

Claire took out six ten-pound notes and placed them on the table in front of Stuart. These were the few large bills Claire had on her. She said, "This is a down payment. I need you to find out what Viscount Press did at the club and who he met with."

Viscount Stuart smiled at the huge sum of money in front of him. He had actually already found a way to join the club. He responded confidently, "Don't worry, my lady."

……

In the East District of Backlund, Fors accompanied Xio in searching for a suitable rental house suitable for hosting a new round of Beyonder gatherings.

"Xiu, from what I understand, recognized Beyonder gatherings all have their own properties disguised as such, such as bars and clubs. And we actually need to find a remote, deserted rental house as a gathering venue... I really doubt you can make money by organizing this kind of gathering."

(End of this chapter)