[Gossipy Semel] Two Chapters Updated

[Gossipy Semel]

Du Wei had imagined many possibilities, wondering what exactly had been sealed inside this oil painting.

The "video" Semel had left behind with the magic array had already explained that this was a magical creature she had left behind.

Perhaps a ghost? A demon? Even if Semel had left behind a talking skeleton, Du Wei would not have been the least bit surprised.

Yet every one of his guesses had been wrong!

The one who stepped out of the painting was Semel herself!

Looking at the silver-haired woman in red before him, Du Wei took a deep breath and murmured, "I never thought... I never thought..."

"Never thought what?" Semel spoke. Her voice was just like it had been in the magical video Du Wei had watched: soft and lovely, with a faintly sensual huskiness.

"I never thought you'd seal yourself inside a painting." Du Wei gave a bitter smile. After all, he had experienced far too many astonishing things already. He quickly recovered from this shock and looked at the woman before him. "What should I call you? Great Master Semel? Or... my great-great-great-grandmother?"

Pfft.

Semel laughed. When she smiled, her eyes curved like the bright moon.

"Neither." The silver-haired woman looked at Du Wei, seemingly very amiable. "I am not Semel herself. I am merely... merely a copy."

Du Wei looked at her in confusion.

"Semel left me behind to guide her descendants... I am a magical creature that inherited part of her knowledge... More accurately, I am a spiritual creature. I have no body, no physical body... I am merely a shadow, an illusion." Smiling at Du Wei, she extended a hand and slowly reached toward his face.

Very soon, her tender white hand simply "passed through" Du Wei's head.

"See? My body is intangible, without a fixed form... I am only a fragment of Semel's memories that was copied down. As for my appearance..." She suddenly blinked. "I chose this myself. All my memories are Semel's memories—the memories of a woman. And Semel was the only woman I had ever seen... In a sense, I am Semel, only a fraction of Semel. So in the end, when choosing my form, I chose to meet you in Semel's appearance." At this point, this "Semel" looked at Du Wei and said softly, "My... master."

The gods bore witness: when she said the word "master," there was clearly a sly gleam in her eyes.

Du Wei immediately realized that this magical creature he had released was probably far from simple... and certainly not the sort that would obey him one hundred percent!

Not Semel herself...

That let Du Wei breathe a sigh of relief. He already had more than enough to deal with.

If he really had to add... a resurrected great-great-great-grandmother to the mix, that would be truly headache-inducing.

"Can you... change into another appearance?" Du Wei sighed. "The way you look now puts a lot of pressure on me... And if anyone else sees you looking like this..."

"Don't worry. You released me with the incantation, so I'm linked only to your spiritual power... Other people can't see me." She was still smiling.

"Then what should I call you? You need a name, don't you?"

"Semel." She thought for a moment. "I still like that name. Just call me Semel."

Du Wei could not help wiping away sweat... Still his great-great-great-grandmother, then.

"You can teach me Star Magic now, right?" Du Wei frowned.

This Semel had probably been shut away for too long. She now seemed curious about absolutely everything.

She was actually sitting high atop Du Wei's desk, her two pale little legs swinging back and forth right before his eyes. Good heavens, did she not know that the hem of her robe was not very long?

If she kept swinging them like that, there would really be a risk of revealing something.

A beautiful woman flashing you a glimpse of skin... ordinarily, that would be a very pleasant thing.

But if she looked exactly like your great-great-great-grandmother... then it was no longer pleasant... it was bizarre!

Joanna looked seventy or eighty percent similar too, but she was ultimately another person. Though they resembled each other greatly, her personality and everything else did not make Du Wei feel uncomfortable.

But this Semel before him did not merely look alike; even part of her memories had been completely copied from the real Semel!

"Enough, get down!" Du Wei could not help turning his head away. Then he walked to a corner of the study, took a blanket from the sofa, and tossed it over. "Put this on."

Du Wei had planned to spend the night in the study, and the servants had prepared the blanket for him.

Semel's body flickered. Not only did the blanket fail to cover her, she instead "passed" out from beneath it, teasing him maliciously. "Oh, young man, my little fellow, why are you blushing? Don't you think I'm beautiful?"

"No, I just find this awkward..." Du Wei kept a straight face. "You are very beautiful, but I can't help seeing you as my great-great-great-grandmother."

"Hahaha..." Semel laughed delightedly, then suddenly winked. "That might be rather interesting too!"

Du Wei was already beginning to get a headache.

This Semel was not some mindless tool. She was practically a living person. After the real Semel created her, she had originally been only a copy of a segment of memory... But after being sealed away for nearly two hundred years, she had probably been pent up for far too long!

Perhaps when this magical creature was first created, her personality had been completely blank. But... after two hundred years, there was no doubt that some things had been "written" into it.

"Do you know, my darling, handsome little master?" Semel finally jumped down from the desk, but her body floated toward Du Wei like a ghost, amusement in her eyes. "For these past two hundred years, I've been living in this study the whole time! In this study, I personally witnessed so, so many things!"

Du Wei's heart stirred. "What things?"

Every generation of Roland Family ancestors had made major decisions here! Many important matters tied to the family's prosperity had also been decided in this very room.

Naturally... there must also have been many family secrets!

But... Du Wei was disappointed.

What this Semel spoke of was not any secret, nor any major event of the family...

Rather...

Gossip!

Yes, standard, garden-variety gossip!

For instance... some young master of a certain generation had once carried on an affair with a beautiful maid in this study. A certain generation's family head had once written love letters to his mistress at the desk in this study... Du Wei had even heard from Semel about his own "grandfather"—the current count's father, the family's previous head, a man considered stern and old-fashioned—who, after a banquet at the castle, had once brought two noble girls into this study for an utterly uninhibited gathering...

"I saw all of that with my own eyes!" Semel said, curiosity and excitement still in her gaze. "I also know that some 'forbidden' books are hidden on one of the shelves in this study. Would you like to look at the private collection your ancestors left behind, my adorable, handsome little master?"

Du Wei's smile became somewhat stiff. Looking at Semel's malicious grin, he sighed. "I'm not interested... Listen carefully! The only thing your adorable, handsome little master is interested in right now is... Star Magic. I want to learn the Star Magic Semel left behind. Understand?"

"Star Magic... Star Magic again..." Semel's expression suddenly darkened. "Why does everyone like learning magic so much... Is magic really that much fun?"

The mischievous smile vanished from the woman's face, and her eyes seemed heavy. "You want to learn Star Magic? Then I must remind you: don't regret it in the future! I'm telling you, if it hadn't been for Star Magic... Semel would not have died so early!"

Du Wei's heart stirred. "What did you say? Didn't Semel kill herself out of grief, following her husband in death after he passed away?"

"Sorry, this... is the one secret I cannot tell you." Semel blinked. "The command I was given was this: unless you learn Star Magic all the way to its final, most difficult spell, I cannot tell you about it before then."

Du Wei was already growing impatient. "Fine, I'm not that interested anyway. Can we start learning now?"

"Sorry, not tonight." Semel shook her head. "Star Magic differs from ordinary magic. We can't train here... Semel left that White Tower in this castle. From atop the White Tower, one can observe the stars most clearly; it is a very suitable place for training... This study is dark as night, with no view of the starry sky. It isn't suitable for learning Star Magic."

White Tower...

Du Wei frowned. "Does it have to be the White Tower?"

Semel thought for a moment. "Without the White Tower... then it would be best to find an open, quiet place where the starry sky can be clearly observed... The most important thing is that you must be able to see the sky."

Du Wei checked the time. "Then we can only begin tomorrow night... See you tomorrow night."

Du Wei did not intend to say much more to this "Semel"... After all, watching his great-great-great-grandmother hike up her robe, bare her calves, and run around in front of him really was not an amusing sight.