"Dick, why are you looking so serious?"
Barbara had a faint smile on his lips, gently fiddled with the pair of exquisite silk gloves, and then placed them on the table, revealing his scarlet nails.
She lowered her head slightly and fiddled with her nails slowly and nonchalantly, as if she was concentrating on thinking about what unique and charming color she should apply to her nails next time.
"Dick, you have to know that I am Xiya's master, how could I harm her?" Barbara slowly raised his eyes and said softly,
"If you are really eager to know everything about Xiya and the ins and outs behind that prophecy, then please help me cover your surroundings now."
Dick was confused and frowned.
"This conversation between us can't be heard by everyone here, right? I need to cast a spell to block it and create a relatively private space."
Dick suddenly realized that he leaned lightly on the table with one elbow, turned slightly sideways, and blocked Barbara's opening and closing lips with his broad and strong shoulders.
Barbara whispered a series of obscure spells in her mouth. In an instant, she raised her head again, and her face regained its elegant and calm expression.
"Okay, now you can relax a little bit."
"I cast a spell similar to taking a photo. As long as others don't come close, all they see is the two of us chatting normally.
Now, you can ask me any questions you want to know without any scruples."
Dick gently pressed his temple with the index finger of his left hand, pondered for a moment and then said:
"I originally just wanted to know about the Xiya prophecy, but you mentioned her life experience. Forget it, I'll let you explain it to me in detail from beginning to end."
Barbara held a crystal clear red wine glass beside the table with one hand, gently shaking the ruby-like liquid inside, then brought the glass to his nose and sniffed, showing an intoxicated expression and said with emotion:
"Real objects can bring more wonderful feelings to people. Although my illusions can be fake and real, they still make people feel a bit unreal, lacking a touch of real touch and temperature."
After slowly taking a sip of red wine, he began to speak slowly.
"Xiya is an orphan. You must know this too."
Barbara put the rim of the red wine glass against his lips and stared at Dick through the shiny glass wall.
Seeing Dick's Adam's apple rolling slightly as he nodded, he continued to speak,
"When I was traveling around in my early years, I discovered her in a remote village in the Bacchus Empire.
The entire village was burned to ashes, and twisted heat waves steamed from the charred land. The rotten smell of sulfur and the sweet smell of burning flesh and blood rushed through my nose, and even the wind brought a burning sting.
The broken walls are crumbling in the wind, and from time to time you can hear the sound of wood breaking after burning, like the whisper of Nightwraith.
"Among these ruins, only one baby miraculously survived, that is Xiya.
She lay there alone, surrounded by deathly silence.
Not far from her, there was a piece of parchment with her birth date and name written on it.
Do you know why such a tragedy happened?"
Barbara paused slightly and stared at Dick closely. Seeing that he didn't speak, he continued,
"Because Xiya was only 8 months old at the time, the magic element of Flames in his body suddenly went berserk, and that powerful and out-of-control force burned down the entire village.
When I found her, there were two skeletons of a man and a woman beside her that had been burned to ashes." Barbara suddenly scratched the wall of the cup with his nails, and the harsh scratching sound made Dick's brows jump.
"You want to know what's the most ironic thing? The parents kept hugging each other until they died - pointing away from the cradle.
She unconsciously burned her fellow villagers and her dearest parents to death.
But even at the last moment of her life, her parents still did not forget to leave information about Xiya's life experience. How they hoped that someone would find and take away this poor child.
And at that time, I happened to be there.
I hesitated for a long time at the time. After all, according to common sense, even if children among the people have magic seeds, their magic power usually awakens when they are four or five years old, and Xiya awakened too early, and the Flames spell with the pungent sulfur smell was so powerful that even I felt trembling in my heart."
"When I saw her open her eyes as pure and bright as diamonds, at that moment, a strong sense of responsibility suddenly surged in my heart, and I made up my mind to raise her well and protect her.
Later, I modified some of her spells without authorization.
Since then, her communication with the Flames element has become extremely difficult, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that her sensitivity to the thunder and lightning element has increased significantly.
I thought at the time that this might be a good thing. After all, in the magical world, all mages who can master the elements of lightning are one-in-a-thousand geniuses."
"I also carved a mark on her body to observe her physical condition in real time. I believe you already know about this."
"You mean the bloody rose on her leg." Dick was a little surprised.
"It seems that you really understand." Barbara nodded gently,
"That rose is the spell array that I carved on her body when she was a child. It can monitor the fluctuations of the fire element on Xiya's body in real time.
In order to save you, Xiya forcibly used Lightning Strike Spell at Odinburg. At that moment, the balance in her body was completely broken, and the formation I set up before was also broken.
"That's when I went to Madigan for the second time. Madigan had been to Ravenstern City a long time ago.
Although I had some vague doubts about his words at that time, I still took them to heart.
So, I found him again, hoping that he could figure out a way to save Xiya. However, this prophet..."
At this time, Barbara shook his head helplessly, "While divining the fate of Xiya, the crystal ball burst in his palm, and the flying fragments reflected countless Xiya who were laughing maniacally in Flames."
"That's it."
"Madigan When the first prediction was made, no one paid much attention to it.
But after seeing Xiya going berserk in the town and camp, everyone connected it with the prophecy. Now some people still say that you are the most loyal lackey around the witch."
"Me?" Dick opened his eyes wide and pointed at himself.
"Yes, you are a person who can stay safe and sound under the witch World-Destroying Flames. What else can you be if you are not her lackey?" Barbara said with a teasing smile.
"This... guard, I'm quite willing to be."
"Okay, has our misunderstanding been resolved?"
"I have one more thing to ask."
Barbara nodded gently.
"What do you think of Luca, the new successor of Queen Meve?"
Barbara's eyes reflected the colorful light of the dome, "Vigo and I have some similar ideas, but I'm not as radical as him.
I won't hide it from you, even if Queen Meve encounters misfortune, I will continue to serve as a royal warlock and use this identity to slowly increase the influence of extraordinary beings in this world. Luca is a very good child, and I believe that under my guidance, Northern Kingdoms will be even better than before.
As for future matters, I will slowly observe in practice and make the most appropriate decision based on the actual situation."
"But that's not what Vigo said. He seemed very anxious. By the way, where is Vigo?" Dick's masseter muscles stretched sharp lines on his cheeks.
"Maybe it's in the summoning room, a room in the basement." Barbara's fingertips drew circles on the rim of the cup,
"But let me remind you that Vigo's strength... is more than just a warlock."
"I hate basements." Dick cursed secretly, then stood up.
At this time, Barbara gently snapped his fingers, and ripples appeared in the air. The false afterimages floating around shattered like stained glass, and everything returned to its original appearance.