Mystery: A Spark

"Ahem, who doesn't know the famous and mysterious queen?" Arthur sensed something was wrong and immediately lowered his head.

"No, I can tell from your eyes that you are quite familiar with me, but I have never met you before, and I have rarely appeared in public in recent years."

"Can you tell me why this is?" Bernadette asked gently.

Good grief, are you a mind reader? You can analyze so much from just one look... Arthur felt numb.

He kept his head down, not daring to look at Huang Beibei again, afraid that she would discover something suspicious and then interrogate him.

"Madam, you've misunderstood. It's just that I feel you look somewhat like one of my friends," Arthur explained, making up a connection out of thin air.

“Where is your friend now?” Bernadette asked.

Where is it? In my dreams.

Besides, this is our first meeting. Is it appropriate for you to be so inquisitive?

However, Arthur didn't dare to directly retort, after all, he tended to follow his heart.

So, he could only...

“She has passed away,” Arthur replied, sniffling and with a touch of sadness on his face.

"Is that so? Please accept my condolences," Bernadette said calmly.

"Yes, I miss her very much, so I often mistake other people for her, which causes me a lot of trouble."

Arthur's face was somber, and he appeared very sad.

Those unaware of the situation might mistake his expression for that of someone who has lost their lover.

Bernadette scrutinized Arthur's expression, not believing a single word he said.

From the very beginning, she felt that the man's clothes were somewhat familiar, as if they resembled a character from a story her father had told her before.

Moreover, the young man's words and actions seemed out of place with those around him, as if he came from a different world.

Bernadette had only ever felt this way when she was a child, from her father.

Therefore, she stubbornly believed that the person in front of her was very likely related to her father.

He should only have three children, us. Could it be the offspring of an illegitimate child I don't know about...? Bernadette frowned.

“Tell us where you came from, or something that none of us want to see might happen here,” she said coldly.

She wanted to confirm this person's identity, hoping to get even the slightest bit of information about her father from him.

“Madam…” Arthur heard Huang Beibei’s words and wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere.

But at this moment, his reckless spirit caused him to utter a classic line commonly used in online battles.

"You're in a hurry."

At this moment, Arthur felt the Provocateur potion within his body undergoing noticeable digestion.

But at the same time, he also realized something.

That means he's finished.

Chapter 38 Abstract Bernadette

Bernadette's soft laughter reached Arthur's ears, making his heart sink to the bottom.

"Oh no, oh no, they're all laughing in anger..." Arthur thought sadly.

Am I destined to die here?

No wonder there isn't a single true god in the Hunter's Path yet; it's probably because most of them were killed during the Provocateur stage... Arthur felt that his previous statement was rather hasty, likely due to the influence of the Provocateur Potion.

He was already considering whether to hand over some of Roselle's secrets in exchange for his life.

For example, Bernadette would probably be very interested in the phrase, "The taste of a witch is really good."

Even though he wasn't an expert in pie charts, he could still hear three parts joy, three parts anger, and four parts nonchalance in Bernadette's laughter.

Wait, anger is understandable, but why is there joy? Arthur sensed that something was amiss.

Bernadette rose from her swing-like chair and walked over.

She said in a complicated tone:

"I originally thought you might be a descendant of one of my father's illegitimate children, which would explain why you knew some of the stories he told that only a handful of people knew."

"But unexpectedly, I made some unexpected discoveries."

Arthur: ...

What the hell is this about the offspring of an illegitimate child? If you had said you thought this way earlier, I wouldn't have uttered that incredibly hurtful word, "urgent."

“Madam, I was just trying to make a joke, you…” Arthur was interrupted by Bernadette before he could finish speaking.

Moreover, what she said completely stunned Arthur.

"Ji, Dian, Xiao, Le, Bang, Ying. Is that correct?"

Bernadette looked at Arthur with a calm expression and said.

She didn't actually know the deeper meaning of these six words; she had only heard her father mention them once before, so she was just using them to test the waters.

Moreover, she already knew that the young man in front of her definitely had a problem, and she even had a bold guess in her mind.

Arthur:......

He swore that if he ever found Russell's grave, he would dance on it.

You say he could teach something else? He actually taught Bernadette about abstract literature from Tieba.

Is this something a normal person would do?

Arthur licked his lips, which were dry from nervousness, and, clinging to his last shred of hope, desperately tried to explain:

“Madam, I have always admired the Emperor greatly, so I often imitate his famous quotes. I heard this quote from somewhere else, and I don’t understand what those six words you just said mean.”

"Is that so?"

"That's right, ma'am."

“Let’s just say that then,” Bernadette said nonchalantly.

Arthur's heart sank.

If she keeps pressing this issue, it means she hasn't fully grasped Arthur's weakness and isn't entirely confident in determining Arthur's origins; she can only look for a breakthrough through this question.

However, Bernadette doesn't seem to care about this issue now, which means she has already decided in her heart that Arthur's origins are questionable and no longer needs to play games with Arthur on this matter.

Bernadette looked at Arthur, and a white ball of light appeared in her hand.

"I'm going to ask you the same question I asked before: Do you know the name 'Anduin'?"

Arthur didn't answer directly, but instead glanced at the ball of light in Huang Beibei's hand and asked:

"Madam, may I ask what this ball of light is?"

Upon hearing his question, Bernadette's lips curled into a mysterious smile.

What do you think it should be?

I think? I think it's just an ordinary ball of light.

But Arthur simply couldn't deceive himself, because given the current situation and this classic spell form, wasn't this clearly the "Detect Lies" spell from D&D?

Although this is a mysterious world, Huang Beibei's Path of the Mysterious Seekers possesses "fairytale magic."

What "Fairy Tale Magic" excels at is creating all sorts of strange and wonderful spells.

“Okay, I do know that name,” Arthur readily admitted.

Given that Bernadette learned some things from Roselle, and Arthur, disguised as Anduin, happened to run into Bernadette, there was no point in continuing to deny it.

Even if you have doubts about the spell and want to test its effectiveness, you shouldn't test it on a question with such an obvious answer.

"So, this name originally came from your hometown?"

"Yes." Arthur had overheard his conversation with Edwina, so there was no room for denial.

"Then do you understand Russell?" Bernadette asked, her voice tinged with excitement.

"I...don't understand." Arthur looked at the white ball of light in Huang Beibei's hand and denied it outright.

The ball of light turned red, and Arthur's last hope was extinguished.

Having no other choice, Arthur had to bite the bullet and say:

“Madam, as you know, the Emperor did many outrageous things in his later years. At that time, he was already an angel-level being. The fact that he underwent such a great change is something that neither you nor I can participate in now.”

Bernadette paused for a moment, then waved her hand, dispelling the ball of light in her hand.

"So, he really did become like that in his later years because he encountered some things, right?" she asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

“Yes, but my memory is incomplete right now, so I can’t tell you what it was,” Arthur replied.

Although Russell became almost as despicable as George III in his later years, there is still a chance to redeem him if one really wants to.

Because everything George III did was out of his own will; he wanted to become the Black Emperor purely for his own selfish interests.

Rosell, on the other hand, seemed to be influenced by something, and he forcibly jumped to the Black Emperor's path in order to get rid of that influence.

To put it bluntly, the Black Emperor was merely a means to an end for him.

If it weren't for some unknown factor, Russell might not have taken that risk.

Moreover, just looking at the achievements they left behind after their deaths, and the attitudes of other powers towards them, it is clear that George III was truly incompetent.

Roselle has been dead for over a hundred years, yet the Steam Church still frequently holds Roselle exhibitions everywhere, as if afraid that people will forget him.

But what about George III? Less than two years after his death, nobody took him seriously anymore; even the angel of his own family didn't care about him.

To paraphrase a proverb from Arthur's past life, such a person lacks the qualities of a ruler.

He simply didn't have the magnanimity to be an emperor, and he was no match for Roselle at all.

Chapter 39 Come to cheat, come to sneak attack

In Arthur's previous life, there were quite a few emperors in history, and people probably had their own standards for evaluating each emperor.