Family

After staring for a moment at the dark, illusory, unreal path behind the mirror, Cyril suddenly reached out and pressed his hand against it. To the touch, it was still a cold, smooth mirror surface.

The dark passage behind the mirror seemed not to belong to reality. An insurmountable membrane separated it from him.

"At a time like this, the mirror should count as a kind of wall, and an Apprentice specializes in all kinds of walls."

As he spoke, a layer of deep-blue ripples suddenly spread from his palm, echoing continuously across the mirror as they laboriously intertwined into an illusory door—a door connecting to the Mirror World.

The instant he wanted to reach inside and explore, a horrifying sensation that made his hairs stand on end suddenly arose. It seemed that something in the Mirror World had looked over.

He instinctively withdrew his hand and closed the "door" on the mirror.

"What a terrifying feeling. It was far more frightening than the gaze I felt at the Twilight Hermit Order."

"Though that was partly because the people in the Twilight Hermit Order bore me no ill will, merely curiosity and a desire to investigate, that shudder from the depths of my heart just now... Whatever cast that gaze from the Mirror World was definitely at least Angel-level."

"Is the Mirror World in this world really that dangerous? Those Demonesses travel through it all the time, so why are they all still alive and well? Could the one who looked over just now have been a Demoness?"

After muttering to himself for quite a while, he gave the mirror before him a wary look, then returned to his room with the mop and broom.

He had a feeling that, for some time to come, mirrors would probably leave him with a psychological shadow.

Having cleaned away the dust left by the tablecloth Painting Scroll, he had yet to rest when he heard the doorbell ringing outside the front door downstairs.

The people knocking at this hour were, without surprise, surely his older sister Beth Gray and his little nephew Thomas.

Cyril stiffly went downstairs to open the door. Whether in the past or present, on Earth or in this world, he had never been good at dealing with children.

Once he opened the door, two faces came into view: one adult and one child, one stern and one beaming.

The child, who was barely taller than Cyril's knee, wore a well-fitting child's suit, a silk bow tie around his neck, and neatly combed light-blond hair. He was dressed like a very young antique gentleman.

At that moment, with one little hand pressed to his chest and the other behind his back, he raised his chin and gave Cyril a slightly awkward bow.

"Good morning, Uncle Cyril!"

"Good morning, Little Thomas."

Cyril smiled and nodded at the little boy, then scooped him up in one motion.

Only then did he look at the other woman before him. Though she was still young, her expression was old-fashioned and severe. She wore light makeup that highlighted a mature temperament, as well as a black soft top hat draped with a half-length fine veil. Her facial features bore a forty-percent resemblance to his own.

Noticing his gaze, her already stern expression darkened further.

Cyril smiled unconcernedly and stepped aside to make room for them to enter. At the same time, he stroked Little Thomas's head and said, "Little Thomas won't even turn three until next month. There's no need to rush into raising him into some antique gentleman already. Children should look like children."

In his arms, Little Thomas, though still very young, already had a relatively mature mind and nodded in agreement.

Ever since his father, who was busy with work all day, had proposed discussing his education with his mother, he had been left with only one hour a day to play with toys. Even his favorite sweet tea and bread had been restricted by dietary rules and habits.

He was still half a month away from turning three!

"His father and I sincerely hope Thomas will grow into an outstanding young man like his Uncle Havan."

"When you and Havan were three, he was already capable of cleaning up the messes you made."

Beth shot him a glance, then entered the house with two servants carrying exquisite gift boxes.

Cyril: (╯‵ᗨ′)╯︵┴─┴

That's my biological sister. Don't get angry, don't talk back. I can't let next year's living allowance get cut.

Still, he could not help muttering softly, "Everything I did was careful training for Havan. Without me causing trouble for him, could he have become so outstanding in every way?"

Beth, walking ahead, paused. The stern expression she had deliberately maintained almost broke apart.

After composing herself, she turned and scrutinized Cyril's face from top to bottom before saying in a tone of disappointment, "In certain respects, Havan truly is inferior to you."

Before Cyril could speak, Little Thomas, still in his arms, spoke first. "That's right, that's right! Uncle Havan never plays with me!"

Beth turned her stiff face away and quickly headed for the kitchen behind the dining room. She always felt that if Little Thomas spent too long around Cyril, the elite education she and her husband had planned would go wrong. She needed to get Havan out to keep an eye on the two of them.

Meanwhile, above the Gray Fog, within an ancient palace that resembled the residence of a God of Giants.

Klein reclined in the high-backed chair at the head of the mottled long table, gazing at the crimson star representing Cyril amid the boundless gray mist.

For some reason, over the past two days, he had kept thinking of that fellow who recited the honorific names of deities and concealed existences as though they were a tongue twister. It was as if a voice in his heart urged him to pay attention to this person and establish contact with him.

"Is this a revelation from spiritual intuition, or have I been influenced by some unknown existence or power?"

After murmuring for a while, he manifested his usual Citrine Pendant in his hand and prepared to perform a divination first.

A few minutes later, Klein looked at the pendant in his hand as it rotated counterclockwise at a steady speed, and he relaxed slightly.

"I haven't been affected by anything unknown, and contact with him isn't dangerous. So was that feeling earlier a prompt from spiritual intuition?"

"Should I pull him directly above the Gray Fog, or be more cautious?"

After hesitating for a few seconds, Klein ultimately decided to be more cautious. After all, he had previously seen the other party in contact with someone suspected to be a concealed existence.

Having made up his mind, he immediately extended his spirituality and touched the faintly flickering crimson star deep within the Gray Fog.

Backlund, Empress Borough, inside a luxurious castle occupying a considerable area.

A beautiful blonde, blue-eyed young lady with a pure and elegant temperament sat quietly on a swing in the garden. Before her crouched a large golden-haired dog. One person and one dog communicated in such harmony and calm.

The next second, dense gray mist appeared in her vision. Before she could react, she saw a majestic figure, faintly discernible within the fog, looking down on her. At the same time, she heard its voice.

"One task: find him, investigate him, but do not alarm him."

"Take note: he has suffered a curse and has also had direct contact with a concealed existence. The danger level of this task is unknown."

"This task is not mandatory. You may abandon it if necessary. Under any circumstances, life takes priority over all else."

As the Fool's voice entered her ears, the gray fog before her surged, and a crimson light emerged, rapidly condensing into a vivid image of Cyril.

The young lady's clear eyes widened slightly. She quickly memorized every characteristic of the person in the image, then respectfully nodded toward the massive figure faintly visible in the gray fog.

"I understand. I will find this person as soon as possible, Mr. Fool."

She saw the figure within the fog seem to nod lightly at her, after which the surrounding gray mist rapidly receded, and everything soon returned to normal.

Under any circumstances, life takes priority over all else... Mr. Fool seemed to be a very gentle existence.

"Audrey, Audrey, what are you thinking about?"

The large golden-haired dog crouched opposite the blonde young lady spoke in a human voice.

Coming back to her senses, Audrey looked at the golden-haired dog and smiled gently.

"Susie, we're going out this afternoon. Before that, though, you need to go find Viscount Glaint first and have him contact Xio and Fors in advance."

"No problem." The large golden-haired dog nodded lightly, then revealed a humanlike thoughtful expression. "But didn't you say yesterday that you shouldn't visit Viscount Glaint too frequently lately? It would affect your reputation among the nobles."

The blonde young lady curved her brows and smiled softly. "That's why we'll be concealing our identities this time."