"That's Annan's cat. You shouldn't have said that."
"I only told him it was a good opportunity."
Sienna and Aixue's exchange brought Annan back to his senses. He said nothing and quietly watched them argue.
The woman returned soon and handed Lily back to him with a helpless look.
"What happened?"
Once released, Lily leaped into Annan's arms. Olin Monte Montreal said to him, "Your turn."
"I..."
Vice Dean Boris's encouraging gaze left Annan unable to refuse. He handed Lily to Alice and went out with Olin.
They passed through several corridors on the way to the garden. Collections were the invisible line between true Noble and upstarts. Compared with many Noble families, the Reeves family had a history of its own. Even after selling off so much, it still had some treasures left, but they were nothing beside this Manor... The pieces displayed along the corridors seemed to breathe history.
Annan spotted a large oil painting on the wall. It showed a beautiful young Girl glowing with radiance, wearing a broad-brimmed hat. A dead Red Dragon lay behind her.
Annan slowed. "Is that you when you were young?"
"...That's our Old Ancestor."
Well, nobody was born old... But seeing that beautiful young Girl in the painting and knowing how aged she looked now was enough to make anyone sigh.
He kept following Olin, though she seemed a little colder now. Why?
They stepped out of the residence and crossed the Hardy Garden, where flowers still bloomed in winter. Annan and Olin Monte Montreal arrived before the Old Ancestor.
"Did you want to see me?" Annan respected her more than anyone except Teacher Mel.
"You just remind me of a friend. She was a Sorcerer too..." The Old Ancestor's hearing suddenly seemed a little better.
"Was that Sorcerer an Elf?"