Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

Unable to trouble the "spy" who might be easily exposed, Iris had to take action herself.

She answered the call from Ernest, who told her the reward rules for the official exchange competition:

"There are a total of six games to participate in before the finals. The prizes in each game are very generous, and some are even comparable to the prizes in the finals. If you want to master more chips, you have to start planning from the first game."

His expression was very calm, and there was still no obvious ups and downs in his emotions.

Not to miss and seize the exchange game, this is something the two of them have known for a long time. He mentioned it to her in advance this time.

After Iris hung up the phone, she thought alone.

What he said is true. The prizes in each exchange competition are strange and practical. Judging from the experience of previous years, almost everyone will give their best from the first game.

The exchange competition gathers young elites from the mage circles from various countries. Most people do not have absolute confidence in their strength, so they do not need to make plans such as "pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger to amaze everyone in the final game."

There's no certainty whether you can even make it to the next game, so you might as well grab the benefits you can get right now.

The same goes for Iris.

She didn't intend to hide her strength anymore.

*

The Ramirez family.

"Miss Alexia skipped class again."

The pointed-chinned female teacher pushed up her glasses and continued without emotion:

"This is the third geometry class she has skipped this month, which has seriously affected the scheduled teaching progress."

As soon as Lucius saw the teacher's attitude, he knew that this matter could not be easily forgotten. He glanced at the empty desk and chair beside him without leaving any trace, and spoke politely and enthusiastically:

"Ms. Meev, I'm really sorry... Would you like some more desserts? Or a cup of hot tea? Don't worry, the young master has already gone to catch someone, just wait a little longer..."

The teacher's frown relaxed when she heard that Ernest had gone to catch the man.

If this Mr. Heir takes action, the naughty children who skip class will eventually be caught in despair.

Judging from past experience.

...Of course, we also said that it was "past experience."

This time, Teacher Mifu and Mr. Lucius waited and waited, but the study door was still empty, with no one in sight.

*

In the garden, a small figure climbed up the wall of the small garden by stepping on the branches extending outward from the trees.

She first tentatively stretched out a foot outside the wall, and after several attempts she found the right landing point. Then she carefully turned over, and climbed down the wall step by step, gently and cautiously, stepping on the floating blocks she had thrown in advance.

When her feet landed on the ground, the two braids of her half-length black hair shook frighteningly. She wiped the dust off her hands, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned around.

Then, her eyes met a pair of beautiful and calm eyes like amber.

"..."

"..."

Two pairs of very similar eyes are close together and look very harmonious.

"Good morning, Mr. Ernest."

The girl lifted up her fluffy and gorgeous skirt, blinked slowly, and said hello to him. It was obvious that the skirt was stained with dirt and stains while climbing trees and climbing over walls, which was enough to make her etiquette teacher, who was always dignified and decent, look instantly chapped.

Ernest looked at her smiling golden pupils and spoke in a calm tone:

"Good morning, Miss Alexia."

At this point, the girl had even thought about how she would start crying in a few seconds. She waited for a long time, but the other party did not make any move to take her back.

A glimmer of hope gradually lit up in her eyes.

Maybe the arrogance of that light was too obvious, so Ernest stretched out his hand to her.

The dazzling light in the golden eyes was extinguished in an instant.

This is about holding her hand and going home.

Alexia placed her hand on top of his palm dejectedly.

This time, the larger palm did not immediately curl its fingers to hold her hand. She felt a cool force flow down her arms along their overlapping palms, and then covered her body. After a while, , all the stains on her face and body disappeared.

The girl looked up in surprise, but Ernest had already withdrawn his hand, turned around and left without blinking.

Gone...really gone? ! !

She is free today!

Alexia cheered and ran away.

Although he was let go for unknown reasons, what if this guy regrets it later? That would be a big loss!

The girl lifted up the hem of her floor-length skirt and ran three steps at a time. Ernest could still hear the cheerful "thumping" footsteps from far away.

Just as the girl's figure was about to disappear around the corner, Ernest stopped suddenly. After turning around, he only had time to see the light heels skimming the corner.

He stared at the small corner that had returned to its previous calm, lost in other thoughts.

They were all girls, but he had only heard such brisk footsteps from Alexia. As for Iris, most of the time her footsteps were heavy and light, powerful and silent, like a hunter with a shotgun approaching his prey in a blind spot. The so-called brisk footsteps that were occasionally heard were suitable for that age group, but they were also based on her deliberate intention - deliberately teasing people she disdained or hated, such as him, or deliberately teasing herself, teasing or provoking the emptiness and resentment deep in her heart.

He pinched his palm a little harder.

Why did he suddenly think about this? It was a bit too hypocritical. He didn't even know when he became a person who would hesitate at the sound of footsteps.

What does Alexia have to do with her? Soon they could never see each other again. Alexia is still young and will soon forget about this temporary visitor in her life and return to her original life.

Ernest took two steps towards the place he came from, then slowly stopped.

Can she really forget it so easily? Iris seemed very important to her. If she really died, Alexia would cry.

Children also have their own emotions and feelings. Maybe Alexia will never be able to forget her for a long, long time?

Then...if we just lock her up, if Alexia can see her every day, maybe she won't be so sad?

No, no, Alexia is different from the people he has seen in the past. Once the "slaves" in the cage and the "buyers" who are eyeing outside the cage sign a sales contract, both parties will be satisfied.

But Alexia couldn't even keep the kitten at home and prevent it from running around in the garden.

Her orange kitten... Iris once had one, too? After all these years, it should be dead.

Alexia was sad when her kitten was hurt. How sad was she when her ginger cat... and her parents died... at that time?

Seeing that his thoughts were becoming increasingly strange, Ernest pinched himself again.

Why did he think about these things? Hadn't he already discussed this with them? Gracia asked him to clean up the "extra things", so he had to do it. Everything else, everything he didn't care about, had nothing to do with him.

Yes, it has nothing to do with him.

Think of something else.

Alexia is going to look for Iris this time. They seem to be going to the amusement park with the old man who sells fake news in the dungeon...

Ernest's expression suddenly froze.

Why would he let Alexia stay with someone like that?

Is it just because Iris is here?

Perhaps it was because she promised him that she would not involve Alexia in their affairs.

It's ridiculous to say that he was about to kill her, but he still believed in her promise to take care of Alexia.

Maybe he could bury her somewhere with a better view.

Disguising it as an accident, Alexia won't be so sad...

Probably, this is the last time the girl who has been struggling for herself for so long goes out to play?

……

When Ernest returned to the study alone, Lucius noticed that he looked very bad.

Then he exclaimed:

"You didn't catch it?"

The geometry teacher couldn’t help but push up the frames of his glasses:

"What a terrifying life."

Although he knew she was talking about Alexia, he remembered Iris Adela when Lawrence challenged him with his life.

Dare to play tricks on him and Olivia Novello at the same time, she is indeed very courageous, and she is indeed formidable.

So arrogant and wanton, yet... vivid and alive.

He thought of the lives that he had taken with his own hands in the past.

When the hot fresh blood was flowing under his hands, he never thought that one day he would feel the so-called "life" and "freshness".

Perhaps it was because he had to repeat this process again, trying every possible way to break through a person's defense, looking for a weak point, piercing the warm flesh and blood with the sharpest weapon, feeling the other person's body temperature and vitality slowly dissipating under his hands, and finally becoming stiff and cold, just like those dead objects that had no vitality to begin with.

He suddenly realized that he couldn't imagine what that person would look like as a stiff corpse, never to speak or move again.

*

"Young Patriarch, is the final physical examination of the experimental subject scheduled for tomorrow?"

"Advance to this afternoon."

He said without hesitation.

In any case, this was something that had been arranged long ago and will not change because of anyone or anything. It was the same in the past and will be the same in the future.

……

probably.