Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

Vanessa pushed the door open expressionlessly.

The girl put down her pen and quickly said:

"Remember to bring my breakfast..."

"Go drink seawater!"

"..."

--boom!

With a loud bang, the door was slammed shut.

Tia was lost in thought for a while, then dealt with a few urgent documents before going to the cafeteria to get her breakfast.

Although Vanessa was quite angry, the main reason for her anger was that she was not worried about scarcity but about inequality. It was like the boss was out partying all day and not working, while the employees were working hard. Anyone would want to hang Tia on a street lamp.

The work at the police station, on the other hand, was not as urgent.

Ansu is a country of order. While the police station wouldn't function without the chief, it certainly would function without Tia.

Since Tia is gone, we should choose someone to act as her substitute. Unless there is a major event like a pandemic, the director's job is not much different from that of an assembly line worker.

By evening, after Tia had finished dealing with the extremely urgent work of the past few days and called several relevant police chiefs to make arrangements for them, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

As the sun set, the police officers gradually left the police station, leaving only a few officers on duty.

Tia didn't linger; she went out, hailed a carriage, and headed to Earl Mercury's mansion.

When they arrived at Anne's house, Tia waved to the open cast-iron gate, called the gatekeeper over for a brief chat, and the gatekeeper hurriedly went to inform the manor's steward.

Soon, a maid led Tia along a cobblestone path, through gardens and fountains. Evelyn hurried to greet her outside the mansion's spacious and magnificent arched foyer.

Tia liked the Mercury family mansion quite a bit. It wasn't as ridiculously large as the royal White Sand Estate, where it took her more than ten minutes to walk from the gate to the villa. It was large, though, with its sprawling meadows and sentries making it intimidating. Nor was it like the church villa, which was cozy, but the green space was indeed smaller than a country vegetable garden.

The only regret was that none of the roses and wild roses that Annie planted in the flowerbed last year survived... When Tia walked over, they had all been replaced with shrubs like holly and privet.

According to what the maid said, Tia heard that Anne was very passionate about gardening, but just didn't have much talent for it.

Yes, this Annie is indeed not easy to raise and kill...

On the other side...

Evelyn ordered the two maids to go to Anne's bedroom.

The maids knocked on the door and said, "Young Miss, a guest has arrived."

"Um, I'm reading, don't disturb me. Evelyn and Mom can take care of the guests."

“Evelyn asked us to remind you that it is Miss Sulph from the police station.”

"...I'm getting a little tired of looking at this. Could you please prepare some clothes for me?"

Chapter 269 The Murkolli Family Feast

Tia always knew how to pick her time; it was neither too early nor too late, just in time for the Mercury family's mealtime.

Count Perric returned a little late because he had work at the naval base, and Tia arrived half an hour later before rushing home, looking travel-worn.

When he arrived home, his wife asked Evelyn to invite Tia from the living room to the dining table for a meal.

The maids carried silver platters and placed steaming hot food on the table.

Four people sat at the table. Madame Mercury was smiling as she instructed the maids to serve the food, while Earl Perricone gestured for Tia to take a seat.

Tia looked at Anne, who puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and refused to acknowledge her.

Tia scratched her head and sat down to talk with Earl Perric.

Although there were only four people around the table, there were several maids around. Evelyn opened two bottles of chilled sweet red wine and poured them for the four people in turn.

Count Perric didn't mention what Tia had been doing during this time, but he deliberately brought up the matter of Tia and Anne at Silver Castle.

He hadn't been to Silver Castle since arriving in New Orleans, so his knowledge of their time there came entirely from hearsay.

For example, church pastors.

In particular, the priests in charge of the storeroom and relics had to frequently travel between Silver Castle and Nuremberg.

However, these pastors' descriptions of "Tia Sulph," a major client of the Holy Woods, are somewhat inaccurate. Those who praise me do so because they want something from me, and vice versa.

The description was enough to make Count Perricone's head buzz.

"So, Sulph, the gift you gave to Pope Peter was really transferred to the Papacy?"

Count Perrick took a sip of his wine and asked with great curiosity, "And I heard that the Queen is going to award you a medal?"

Before she could finish speaking, Annie pushed her wine glass towards her.

Tia picked up Anne's glass, took a sip of the drink, and nodded, saying, "That's true, both are true. Uncle Perrick—Anne, it's not bitter, you can drink it straight without adding sugar."

Anne took the glass, stunned, and said, "An award?"

"Yes. I only found out recently. It was Eleanor... Eleanor wrote to me and told me that the Grand Police Department will hold its annual awards ceremony in August or September, around the time of the Queen's birthday, and I will be awarded a medal then."

"Hey, isn't awarding a medal a great reward?!"

“Anne, my little angel, that’s hard to describe!” Earl Perrick laughed. “The awarding ceremony is the highest level of all honors. Even a knighthood hasn’t been awarded in almost four years.”

Lady Mercury nodded and looked at Tia gently, saying, "But Sulph does indeed have a very good reputation. Last time I went to Silver Castle, not only the priests of the church, but even the professors of Saint Laurent praised our little Sulph quite highly."

Hearing these effusive compliments, Anne's face lit up with anticipation for the investiture. She swayed happily and blinked, saying, "Then Tia will be like Sir Roman, a knight of the Queen, right?"

"No, not at all. I've always been your knight in shining armor, Annie."

"I didn't agree!"

"How about a kiss on the hand as a gift?"

"Never!"

Anne suddenly realized something strange. There was no hand-kissing, but there had been many foot-kissing gestures. Ancient knights would kiss their monarch's boots to show loyalty; these two went a step further, not even needing the boots—a sign of even greater loyalty.

Hey, this knightly ceremony is quite old-fashioned. If that's the case, then Tia is indeed her knight... Hmm, conversely, it seems that it's also true that she is Tia's knight!

Mrs. Mercury's smile remained unchanged; she simply beckoned Evelyn over and whispered a few words to her.

Earl Perric couldn't help but cough twice. "Alright! Anne, Tia, both of you, quiet down and continue eating."

"Okay!"

"Uh-huh."

Perrick's expression softened, and he asked, "In any case, the awarding ceremony isn't until more than a month from now. Tia, could you spare some time during that time to teach Annie her extraordinary skills?"

“During this time…” Tia shook her head and said, “I’m afraid that won’t work. I have to go out to sea in the next few days.”

"Go to sea?"

"It's something that will happen in the next few days, and it's related to my promotion ceremony. I need to take a boat to Nan'an Suhai."

Perrick gripped his wine glass, frowning. "The thunderstorms in the South China Sea have made navigation difficult lately. Are you sure you want to go there?"

Tia said, "The Royal Navy's dreadnoughts have onboard chapels, so they can withstand thunderstorms for about a week without any problem. A week is enough time for me to complete my promotion ceremony."

"A dreadnought!?"

Peric was stunned, never expecting that Tia's plan to cross the thunderstorm was to go directly to the flagship!

The Mercury family was a naval family, so they naturally knew what dreadnoughts represented—these heavy battleships, which could be called sea monsters, were the core of the Royal Navy's various fleets, and the total number of dreadnoughts in the entire Royal Navy was only about fifty.

The dreadnoughts equipped with large shipboard churches are the true flagships, totaling only twelve. These church dreadnoughts are adept at resisting supernatural forces and creating favorable environments. In naval warfare, a single church dreadnought can make the entire fleet fearless against destruction and attacks from supernatural beings below Sequence 4.

With the combined efforts of a large fleet and airships, even Sequence 4, Sequence 3, and even Sequence 2 superhumans found it difficult to threaten Ansu's ships and protect their own fortresses and cities under their firepower.

And for a flagship of this caliber, apart from Her Majesty the Queen's permission, Peric couldn't think of any other reason why Tia could board the ship.

Having learned this, Perrick stopped asking questions.

When dinner was over, Tia was about to say goodbye and leave when Perrick glanced at the dark outside the window and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Isn't it unsafe for a girl like you to go out alone at this hour? Our Mercury family always has a bedroom reserved for guests."

"Sleep here tonight. Aren't you preparing to go to sea? I'll arrange a ship to take you to the Royal Navy base at six o'clock tomorrow."

That's great, I can even get a free ticket.

Moreover, Tia does indeed need the Navy's help.

It's impossible that the dreadnought came to Newport by ship; their patrol routes are fixed. Tia must have gone by boat. With the navy's help, things become much simpler.

Tia didn't refuse and agreed, going along with Count Perric's wishes.

Anne suddenly raised her hand and said, "I want to go too!"

Perrick said sternly, "Annie, what are you going there for? Sulph is going there to complete her promotion ceremony, are you going there too?"

Anne slowly lowered her hand and said awkwardly, "Can't I just go and observe?"

"Leaving aside the fact that the thunderstorms in Nan'an and Suhai are extremely dangerous, do you think your old man has the ability to send you to the Dreadnought?"

Perrick was annoyed.

This isn't even a question of whether he wanted to or not; he didn't even have the connections to get the Royal Navy's flagship to change its patrol route just to let a complete stranger board! Who knows why the royal family suddenly became interested in Tia Sulph!

Anne asked hesitantly, "Can I go with Tia before she boards the ship?"

Perrick gave his daughter a deep look and said helplessly, "Whatever makes you happy!"

Chapter 270 Wanting to Learn from Annie

For some reason, Tia didn't know why, but Count Perricone started retaliating by pouring her drinks in the second half of the evening. One bottle of expensive wine after another was served, and when the wine wasn't strong enough, he switched to brandy, a grape distillate.

This was potent, with an alcohol content of 40%. Neither Anne nor Lady Edwina could drink it, so only Tia and Earl Perricone were left to drink.

Unfortunately, the Count seems unaware that Tia is immune to alcohol...

Around 9 p.m., Count Perricone, drunk and disoriented, fell asleep on the living room sofa.

Lady Mercury had several maids carry the Earl to the bedroom, then rubbed her forehead and said to the bewildered Tia and Anne, "You're supposed to board the ship early tomorrow morning, and he's still in this state."

"Annie, Tia, you two wash up and go to bed first. Evelyn will take you to the bathroom; just ask her if you have any questions. If Perico doesn't wake up by tomorrow morning, I'll have someone take you to the ship."

"Thank you, Aunt Edwina!"

Tia thanked Evelyn and followed her to the bathroom to wash off the smell of alcohol.

After taking a bath, Tia didn't stay in the bathroom for long. After she came out, Evelyn brought out the clothes that had been prepared beforehand and let Tia wear them first. Her original clothes were taken by the maid to be washed and dried.

The clothes are from Annie. They don't fit very well. The size is okay, a little small but still wearable. The main problem is that they're a bit tight in the chest area.

However, since she only wore it for a short while, Tia didn't pay much attention to it. After returning to her bedroom, she asked Evelyn to arrange for someone to pack up the ritual materials she had left in the North Harbor District and bring them to her.

She wanted to have someone bring back a few ancient books, but then she suddenly remembered that Vera had sorted and categorized those ancient books and secret texts about irises and parchment scrolls and hadn't brought them back at all, and she realized she had made a mistake.

Those parchment scrolls and secret texts are quite important. Several of the parchment scrolls are related to Anne's sequence "Fire in the Hearth." Tia plans to project her soul onto the iris at night so that Vera can take out all the things, and then she will arrange for the crows to transport them to Ansu.

But before the meditation ritual and soul projection could be set up, the sound of the bedroom door opening could be heard.

Tia thought Evelyn had brought her the ceremony materials, but when she opened the door—

Annie pushed open the door, peeked in shyly, and whispered, "Tia, are you free?"

"Hey, why are you wearing my clothes?"

"My clothes were taken to be washed because they smelled too strongly of alcohol..." Tia wasn't planning on going to sleep either. She opened the door and said, "I do have some free time, but what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I want to learn! There aren't any powerful superhumans around Newport, so I definitely want to learn from this one I've finally met. Please, Teacher Tia!"

Anne put her hands behind her back, bowed happily, and her long golden hair swayed like waves.

Tia asked suspiciously, "Are you really here to learn?"

She said cheerfully, "Of course! But Dad is really something, knowing full well he can't drink that much. Now he's asleep, and Mom's taking care of him. Nobody will notice me!"

"..."

Your tone and wording don't sound like you're here to learn!

Tia let her in, and Annie darted into the bedroom, pounced on the bed, lay down, and took out the book.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a copy of "The Complete Book of Alchemy" published by the Iris Alchemy Society.

And the book cover looked surprisingly familiar.

Tia sensed something was wrong and said, "Is this Vera's book?"