You Say That

Yulia, who was eavesdropping outside the door, suddenly paused.

The doors to the Princess's bedroom were quite thick, which made it difficult for her to hear clearly.

However, she seemed to have heard something vaguely...

"... I'll go with you to kill someone?"

Huh? What is my brother saying?

Yulia looked up in confusion and exchanged a glance with Lily.

The two exchanged a quick glance.

—Did I hear that right? —No, but it doesn't matter.

Lily nodded slightly, then shook her head and held up a finger to make a shushing gesture.

Yulia nodded, then pressed her ear back to the ground.

"What? What's wrong?"

David, who was standing upright with his arms crossed, noticed the sudden change in the two girls' expressions and became curious about the conversation inside the room.

However, Dad said that a knight must not steal.

Stealing money, stealing things, eavesdropping, or even stealing people are all unacceptable...

... But I'm really curious!

What are they talking about? Why does Yulia's expression look so complicated?

David's heart suddenly felt itchy.

Although I can't eavesdrop, is it alright to ask the person who is eavesdropping? "What exactly is Mr. Iver saying?"

"Knight" lowered his voice and asked quietly.

However, Yulia completely ignored him, as if she hadn't heard him at all.

Lily noticed his expression and considerately took a half step back, making room for him with a half-smile.

But the knight hesitated for a moment, then shook his head vigorously, bravely and resolutely rejecting the bad temptation.

—Although he regretted it immediately after refusing, at least for that moment, David was proud of himself for daring to refuse.

... That's what they say, but I'm even more curious now.

Just as David was still hesitating at the door, a gasp came from inside the house.

Because Isabel finally put down her paintbrush and turned around to see Iver.

As a result, she was so frightened that her legs almost gave way and she sat back down—

All that could be seen was Iver's wheelchair sitting alone in the distance.

Behind her, Iver was enveloped in black smoke.

It wasn't the black smoke rising from burning things; it was more like a reversed version of the white, freezing aura emanating from ice.

These plumes of smoke seemed to have their own consciousness, or as if they were showing off something—they transformed into black snakes of energy, coiling around Iver's body, emerging from his collar and wrapping around the back of Iver head, ruffling Iver hair.

The shadow beneath Iver was bubbling and boiling like a pot of soup, as if something was about to be formed but then shattered.

Upon seeing this, Isabel's first reaction was to be startled.

It wasn't that he was worried that Iver was trying to harm him... but rather that he was worried that Iver's mind had been controlled by some demon, which had taken over his mind.

She quickly realized that Iver was revealing a secret to her.

"Since you Isabel, are going to reveal your secret to me," Iver said softly, a slight smile playing on his lips, "Then I'll reveal my secret to you as well. That way we'll be even."

Although her tone was exactly the same as usual, for some reason... Isabel felt there was something sinister about her words.

As if in response to Iver's words, a shadow emerged from Iver's sleeve, a black snake-like shadow gently coiling around Isabel's slender, fair neck and lifting her head slightly, as if hooking her chin with a finger.

"Tsk."

Iver reached out and lightly patted his own shadow, which immediately shrank back.

Upon seeing this, Isabel immediately realized what was happening.

Could it be...?

Is Iver "Miss Aleister"? — She guessed right, Iver is indeed Aleister!

In an instant, all sorts of information converged in her mind. Those strange things immediately made sense.

No wonder, when she painted Iver's portrait before, she felt that the sunset suited him very well.

That fiery, intense red-purple glow was a reflection of Iver's inner world.

He was a born devotee and transcendent twin, a righteous demon possessed by the Shadow Demon... and there was no such thing as a "Miss Aleister" in this world! Thinking this, Isabel was instantly excited. She even forgot her previous fear and depression.

But she was also worried about Iver.

"This is the Silver and Tin Palace, surely no one will discover it?" She hadn't even considered the possibility of being murdered by Iver. The reason Isabel couldn't make friends was because she was too sensitive to the malice of others.

Even among the best of friends, malicious thoughts can occasionally arise. Although those thoughts are quickly dispelled by reason and never revealed... for Isabel, she can vaguely sense them the moment they arise.

If you know that the other person also dislikes you and is taking advantage of you, it's hard to ignore them or pretend you never knew.

It would have been better to know nothing from the beginning.

But she never felt that kind of affection from Iver.

There was no malice, no jealousy, no greed... The only thing that made her slightly uncomfortable was the occasional, almost paternal, but somewhat condescending "pity" that Iver showed.

Although Isabel is somewhat timid at times, she doesn't really like being looked at with pity. It makes her realize that she does need to rely on others. But deep down, she wants to become strong.

"Wait a minute, Iver ..."

Isabel suddenly spoke up, "Don't speak yet..."

Even though she was in her own bedroom, Isabel peeked around like a thief.

When she saw the "window" that Yanis had drawn for her in the room, her gaze paused slightly, and her expression immediately became somewhat awkward and nervous.

—Is the teacher watching this?

The thought popped into her head.

But the moment this thought crossed Isabel's mind, she immediately felt as if someone was watching her and eavesdropping on her conversation. She felt uncomfortable all over, like wearing a sweater without underwear.

So she put on a stern face, gave Iver a serious shushing gesture, and then tiptoed slowly to the door. She listened intently at the door for a while, finding no sound coming from outside. Then she opened the door a crack and peeked around cautiously.

Thankfully, no one was there.

She then closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a sigh of relief.

"... Am I one of the first people to find out, Iver?"

Isabel jogged back, asking in a curious yet nervous whisper, "Will you get caught? Do you want me... to help you hide?"

"It's alright, Her Majesty the Queen knows about this."

Iver said briefly, "But not many other people know... for example, Sherlock and the others don't know."

"Remember to hide it for me."

"I will!"

Isabel felt her heart pounding, a thrill of having done something wrong, and answered earnestly.

In fact, if the Queen hadn't directly exposed Iver's disguise... he would never have revealed his identity as "Aleister" at this time.

He also wanted to take it out to tease Sherlock, David, and Isabel whenever he had free time.

Yulia and Lily both knew about this. Yanis had the ability and habit of spying through paintings, so she should know everything too. The bishop was a smart man, and Iver hadn't intended to hide it from the couple, so he should know as well.

The rest of the people probably didn't know about the relationship between Iver and Aleister.

For example, Edward, Sherlock, David, and Isabel.

Now that the Queen knows about this and hasn't reacted much, there's really no need for him to hide his identity. After all, if he were to explain things to them clearly, they would definitely side with Iver —this is mainly due to Iver's wicked sense of humor.

Iver has a rather mischievous personality and likes to play pranks on his friends. But he doesn't want to go too far and damage his friendships... so it would be fun to create a new identity and say ambiguous things to let the others misunderstand.

—I didn't lie to you on purpose; I was just telling the truth. It's just that the truth wasn't complete.

Now that Isabel seems to be in a bad mood, why not give her something to distract her?

The so-called "ultimate move" can't be held back for too long... it loses its appeal if held back too long. Especially since Isabel is quite clever, she might soon guess it herself, or the Queen might mention it to her.

If she knew about this first, and then Iver revealed the truth to her, it would be somewhat embarrassing and ugly. It's better to reveal the mystery now, which will bring some surprise.

Magic tricks are most effective when performed when the audience doesn't understand the principles behind them or even what's going to happen next.

—And the results were indeed very significant.

Isabel was no longer concerned with fear; her mind was now filled with thoughts of Iver and Aleister.

It feels like it has changed from a depressive, NetEase-like state to a gossip-watching state.

Now, exploring her past should prevent her from feeling sad and afraid, right? Although it might be a bit of a downer, curiosity and fear, excitement and sadness can balance each other out.

"In exchange," Iver said softly, "Now let me see your secret?"

"...good."

Isabel's expression softened slightly; her eyes were no longer as sparkling as before, but they were no longer as dull as they had been.

And just like at school, things returned to a relatively normal state.

Under Iver's watchful gaze, she used her key to open her drawer and took out a thick notebook.

"These are the diaries left by my family members."

She said softly, "From eleven years ago until now, there are eight people's diaries here."

"Were they all recorded in the same diary?"

Iver asked curiously, but didn't touch it.

He politely asked, "May I see it?"

"It's for you to see."

Isabel placed her hands on her knees and said earnestly, "Because this is the version I copied... I'm the one who wrote it."

She tried to sit up straight and said casually, "Of course, there's also my diary at the end. You don't need to read that part."

If you put it that way, then this matter cannot be described that way.

Iver thought to himself.

—I didn't want to watch it if you hadn't mentioned it, but now that you have, I'm actually starting to want to watch it.

Thanks to the three patrons for the donation from Tian Ze Lu, and thanks to the patron from Shandianyinlang~ I think I'm getting a bit of a cold... Chapter 2 will still be a little late, meow.