Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

She saw it clearly just now!

On that small single bed, Miss Tia Sulph and Anne were snuggled together, covered by a thin blanket.

Tia was leaning against the wall, fast asleep. Her delicate face was peaceful and serene in her sleep, but no one knew what she was dreaming about as a long drool was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

Annie snuggled close to Tia, her rosy cheeks pressed against Tia's loose hair, and some of the hair ended up in her mouth without her noticing. While hugging Tia's arm, her little feet restlessly hooked the blanket and pulled towards her, then slightly twitched when the door opened.

No wonder Mrs. Edwina made a point of having her come aboard with Anne.

When she was still on the ship, Anne dared to sleep with Sulph. If she wasn't on the ship, Evelyn didn't even want to think about what the two of them would dare to do!

so horrible!

For her own safety and future career considerations, Evelyn decided not to report the matter to the lady for the time being.

But there is one thing to say.

It's a little sweet.

Evelyn stood behind the door for a few minutes, not knowing what to say—bang bang bang!

She knocked heavily a few times, then pressed herself against the door and called out in a calm and respectful tone:

"Miss Sulph! It's already eight o'clock, are you up yet? We'll be at Golden Moon Bay harbor soon!"

Now there's movement inside.

Tia and Annie's groggy murmurs, followed by their frantic attempts to get out of bed, rang out one after the other.

Tia, still in her pajamas, opened the door a crack and said to Evelyn, "Good morning, Evelyn. I'm awake. Evelyn, go have some breakfast!"

"Okay, Miss Anne doesn't seem to be fully awake yet. Could you please go and wake her up in a bit? Thank you."

"It's no trouble at all."

Evelyn bowed respectfully and then left.

....................

....................

Anne had been yawning since she woke up in the morning and didn't seem to mind Evelyn's arrival, but her sleep was actually quite irregular.

The "Cannot Sleep Too Much" ability grants her the capacity to dive to 25000 meters underwater at Sequence 9, but it also comes at the cost of only being able to sleep four hours a day. Therefore, Annie's sleep consists of a combination of deep diving, dozing off with her eyes closed, and deep sleep.

Deep diving goes without saying, while feigning sleep is simply pretending to be asleep, a state of being half-asleep while remaining mentally alert, similar to meditation.

The final deep sleep is crucial; she will drink Tia's enhanced sedative potion to force herself into a deep sleep. Then, she will arrange a delaying ritual, using a ritual like "fire in the hearth" four hours later to forcibly awaken herself.

But last night was different.

She didn't sleep at all... because she was in such a hurry to leave the dormitory that she forgot to bring her tranquilizers, so she meditated for seven hours straight last night.

In other words.

When Evelyn came in, Anne was still quite aware of what was happening...

After the two woke up, they tiptoed to the restaurant for breakfast, and Tia took the initiative to bring them two cups of espresso.

"Annie, why do you suddenly want coffee? Are you feeling unwell?"

Evelyn walked over very conscientiously, bowed, and said, "Do you need me to go to the infirmary to get some stimulant medication?"

Anne looked around nervously. "No, no, I didn't sleep well."

Evelyn stopped there and didn't ask any further questions. Anne considered herself lucky to have escaped a confrontation, and once Tia brought over the coffee, she used her words to send Evelyn away.

After breakfast, the fleet led by the Madeline approached the port of Golden Moon Bay, north of the Iris.

By the time they entered port at noon, these fleets still couldn't reach Fogmoon City directly.

Although the Madeleine was only a light cruiser, its massive displacement of 6900 tons made navigation on inland waterways extremely difficult. Not to mention the small rivers in Golden Moon Bay, even the Broken Gold River, which runs through the entire Iris Flower area and serves as a Grand Canal, would be a question mark for the Madeleine's normal passage.

Therefore, after entering the port, they had to transfer to a carriage and be accompanied by knights from Saint Enggard to travel to Mistmoon City.

Anne had never been to Iris Bay before; her impression of irises came entirely from books. She was quite excited when she first arrived, but after looking around for most of the day, she became quite bored. This port was actually quite similar to New York Harbor, but much more underdeveloped.

There's nothing to see here.

On her first day in Irisland, Anne spent her time playing cards with Tia at the hotel. It wasn't until the knights of Saint Engard gathered on the second day that Tia boarded the carriage.

Anne wanted to go too, but Evelyn, in the name of Lady Edwina, strictly forbade her from leaving the area within ten kilometers of the Royal Navy ships. She angrily ran off to the opera house in Golden Moon Bay to listen to the opera.

However, this opera was refreshing to her; it was actually a fantasy play. It told the story of a young woman named Christina who came to the capital of the legendary Hill Country. She was revered as the Shield of the Kingdom, and her background seemed to be that she was a member of the royal family of a rival country across the sea. After meeting various heroes and making a pact with the elves, she eventually overcame all obstacles and became the immortal High King.

The whole story is filled with iris-like freedom and romance, and the female protagonist even likes girls—it's a bit too much of a progressive development. Anne could only marvel at how worthy it is of the land of freedom.

I quite like the main character, Annie. Although she's a girl, she's incredibly brave and adorable in battle. It's just that I feel a strong sense of déjà vu about her.

Moreover, the protagonist Christina's love life is troubled; she's juggling several relationships. Not only did she have an affair with the princess of her homeland, but she also seduced many noblewomen in her homeland. Later, she arranged a marriage with a powerful lady in the Hill Country.

No wonder she's the protagonist of the Iris Flower story.

Unlike humans.

Chapter 305 Vera's Love of Sharing

On Tuesday, Tia arrived in Mistmoon City.

She had been in Fogmoon City for half a year and knew the city like the back of her hand. As soon as she entered the city, she went to the grand hotel in the castle district.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Hotel, Ms. Bernice heard the commotion downstairs and had a specialist from the Anti-Corruption Bureau take Tia upstairs.

At this moment, Ms. Bernice was not in a hurry at all, and even had the mood to brew ginger tea, but she was a little listless.

She then asked several female staff members to help Eleanor pack her luggage.

However, Eleanor did not agree, mainly because she didn't have much to pack and decided to let the commissioners help Vera—Vera was also going back home. She was originally going to take a research vessel back home, but she could hitch a ride on Eleanor's ship.

Vera was happy to take on the job of the ship's priest when a priest in Mistmoon City was willing to do it.

But when the agents arrived at Vera's bedroom, they found all sorts of outrageous gossip magazines and adult picture books, and worst of all, some of them were even signed by Elvira.

And the worst thing is...

Sister Isabella and the others, along with Tia, also arrived...

As soon as Tia arrived at Ms. Bernice's suite, she heard a series of mournful cries coming from downstairs. She scratched her head, wondering what had happened.

Bernice was still waiting for the agents to finish packing Eleanor's luggage when she saw Tia arrive. Just as she was about to exchange pleasantries, she exclaimed in surprise:

"Little Sulph, you've already reached Sequence 6?"

"What a stroke of luck. I'm so grateful to have someone help me."

"You mean Ulrich?"

Tia tilted her head and remained silent, trying to get away with being cute.

Bernice exclaimed, "Even if someone helped you complete the promotion ceremony, this speed is just too fast! A little over a year—I think that's how long? You've already completed the Sequence 6 promotion. If it were you, you probably wouldn't even have a chance at Sequence 3."

"It would be easy for Roman to advance to Sequence 4 after completing Sequence 5, but Sequence 3 will probably be very difficult. The heavy responsibility of the Anti-Suppression Bureau will probably fall on your shoulders in the future."

“I’m just following in the footsteps of predecessors like Ms. Bernice,” Tia said, not truly complacent. “Besides, I’m only standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Bernice shook her head, glared at Tia, and said, "Don't be modest. At your speed, even that old man Peter couldn't keep up with you. If I didn't know your background, I might even suspect that you're some kind of deep-sea spirit disguised as a human!"

That's hard to say.

Tia wasn't sure what she was, but according to idealistic rules, she figured it was definitely true that she was human.

After Bernice finished praising him, she said directly, "It's good that you got promoted, but you should be careful. Promotions that are too slow or too fast are not necessarily a good thing. Just be careful yourself, let's not talk about this for now."

"You know about Eleanor, right?"

"I have a general understanding."

“That’s enough,” Bernice insisted. “There’s a flaw in Eleanor’s soul, and you might not understand what that means. Eleanor’s soul is very different from ours; her soul has always been in the deep sea.”

Tia understands this, and even has a deep understanding of it.

For example, every time she tried to pull Eleanor into the deep sea, they would always arrive at that nightmare-like forest path first, where there were always various mysterious illusions pointing to unknown places.

If normal people live in the real world and see things with their eyes, then Eleanor's situation is quite absurd. It's as if she's been in a completely confined space since birth, then wearing a VR headset to see the real world. Most bizarrely, she also seems to be playing a visual novel, able to see other people's affection levels and emotion panels...

Bernice continued, "A soul in the deep sea isn't so bad, but the problem is the location of her soul; it seems to have formed a void. I can't quite describe what it is, it's like..."

Tia continued, "A half-finished sanctuary?"

“A very accurate description, you are…” Bernice was surprised for a moment, then suddenly realized, “That’s right, given your relationship with Eleanor, you should have been dragged into the deep sea where she is.”

"But the problem lies in this sanctuary, which is being constructed and perfected at an extremely rapid pace. Once the sanctuary is truly formed, the false god Silver Door, which has sunk into the deep sea, will be able to resume its activity. Eleanor, or the next generation of cursed royals, will most likely obtain some knowledge from Silver Door that she should not have."

Bernice rubbed her forehead and said, "The worst part is that this sanctuary isn't even that deep. A dozen years ago, it was only around 35000m. Recently, it has risen to 28000m, a distance that can already affect reality."

Tia could understand Bernice's concerns about the risks and crises, after all, 28km wasn't a very deep distance.

The Twin Serpents' Plague Fortress is only 50km away, enough to allow an organization as large as the Twin Serpents to survive for over a decade. Add a Silver Door, and with two gods serving them, Ansu is truly blessed.

Bernice said, "Now that you've been there, there's something I need to ask you."

"Please speak!" Tia snapped to attention, adopting a righteous and duty-bound posture.

"There's no need to be so formal."

The old woman couldn't help but smile and said, "I can provide you with some medicine to temporarily enhance your soul strength. After you board the ship, go to Eleanor's nightmare for a check-up."

“Eleanor’s emotions greatly affected that nightmare, which is probably why her soul and the curse were somewhat calmer when you friends were around her.”

"If the nightmares exhibit any extreme or unusual characteristics, you must report them to me immediately."

Tia asked doubtfully, "Can't you do these things too?"

"No, I have another important task to complete during this time."

"Then leave it to me."

Tia nodded and did not refuse.

Exploring Eleanor's body wasn't a problem for her; the water depth of over 20,000 meters wasn't too deep for her. If all else failed, they could ask the Shrike, Branna, and Freya for help; after all, the water in Laurel Forest was about the same depth.

After Tia finished two cups of ginger tea, Ms. Bernice went downstairs with her, where Eleanor was already waiting outside.

Upon seeing Tia arrive, Eleanor stared intently at the bedroom in the distance.

Tia asked curiously, "Eleanor, what are you looking at?"

"Oh! Vera is packing her things."

"Huh? What's so interesting about that?"

Tia looked over and realized that Sister Isabella had also arrived. She had just come out of the bedroom with a peaceful smile on her face and was wearing a priest's robe, but the scabbard was loose, which made the surrounding anti-suppression agents shudder.

Look again.

Isabella was holding a bunch of strange little sketchbooks in her hands.

Eleanor said in a bewildered voice, "Her little notebook about not wearing clothes was confiscated by the nun."

"Huh? And then?"

"She was hit by the nun."

"It can't be that serious, can it?"

Honestly, it's not that bad. It's just that the girl in the picture book is drawn a bit too revealingly, and she's not even a real person. She's just a two-dimensional paper doll that Tia is familiar with.

It's clearly a masterpiece created by Vera through self-study in the Upside-Down Temple, following various books.

But those paper figures weren't quite exposed yet. Besides, Sister Isabella was of good character; Tia had never seen her discipline Vera with a stick.

Tia glanced at the paper figures in the picture book again...

She remembered that Vera's technique wasn't this good before; this improvement was too great. Moreover, the colors, lighting, and perspective all had the style of the Ansu Academy. This definitely couldn't have been learned by Vera from the Upside-Down Temple...

After Tia roughly figured things out, she looked into Eleanor's bright, innocent eyes and asked, "Eleanor, did you say something to Sister Isabella?"

After her brain went blank for a moment, Eleanor slowly read the data, then raised her hand and said:

"Oh. The nun asked me if Vera usually watches this kind of stuff."

"and then?"

“I told Sister Vera that she not only watches it herself, but also shares it with me so we can watch it together. She’s a very nice person.”