Mystery: Chaos Path

“Hopefully, I can successfully complete the ritual this time…” Bernadette sighed inwardly, the corner of her eye inadvertently catching a glimpse of a figure. She indifferently retracted her gaze, but suddenly paused.

Wait, that person just now?!

Bernadette abruptly looked towards the direction where she had just glimpsed the figure, but she didn't see any familiar figure.

“Did I see wrong? But…” Bernadette frowned slightly. Although it was just a fleeting glance, she was very sure that the shadow she had just seen looked extremely like someone.

—Her father, Rosell.

This sudden event made Bernadette stand up, her eyes scrutinizing the Kingdom Museum not far away. She wasn't sure what she had just seen, or if it was just a similar figure, or a product of some kind of illusion, or perhaps some kind of trap.

Bernadette was very clear that as one of the people who inherited the most of Rosell's legacy, there were many in this world who coveted the things in her hands. Even the Church of Steam and Machinery, although there was a certain tacit understanding between them and her because of Rosell and Bonova, she couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't have designs on her.

But after Bernadette pondered for a moment, she still came to the Kingdom Museum and entered the museum with the crowd.

The leading guide was vividly explaining Rosell's life story. This was naturally nothing new for Bernadette, who was Rosell's own daughter. After all, Bernadette only knew more about the inside story of the things the guide was talking about, and she had even personally experienced many of them.

Bernadette simply scanned the surrounding crowd, searching for the figure she had just glimpsed.

Suddenly, Bernadette's gaze paused. This time, she saw the figure, and compared to the last time when she only glanced at it, this time Bernadette saw it more clearly.

She saw a back view that wasn't necessarily familiar. The owner of the back view was standing in front of a certain display case. Because of the angle, Bernadette couldn't see the other person's face, but just the back view already perfectly matched her memory of her father.

Is it an illusion?

Is it a trap?

Or could it be that you've finally returned, Father…

Bernadette even felt a little timid at this moment. She wanted to quickly step forward to call out to the other person, to see who on earth the owner of this back view was, but when she actually took a step, Bernadette felt as if her feet weighed a thousand pounds.

Bernadette knew that she was afraid, afraid that this was just an illusion, a lie.

However, just as Bernadette was hesitating, the owner of the back view walked towards the corner and disappeared from Bernadette's sight in an instant.

Bernadette was stunned for a moment. This time, she didn't hesitate any longer and quickly chased after him, but when she ran to the corner and looked again, she couldn't find that back view again.

Bernadette instantly felt a great sense of loss. She bit her lower lip, finally suppressed the surging emotions in her heart, and began to rationally analyze the possibility that this back view was Rosell.

Frankly speaking, this possibility was very low. After all, if it really was her father, why would he be hiding from her like this?

But Bernadette had an intuition that told her—that's right, it was Him.

The tug-of-war between reason and emotion made Bernadette bite her lower lip again. She suddenly thought of something and returned to the display case where the “back view” had been standing, and was suddenly stunned.

Because a sticky note had been pasted on the display case at some point. Bernadette tore off the sticky note and saw an incomparably familiar handwriting, and the sticky note read:

“Although the clothes designed by Rosell are good, the little princess deserves something better. Don't let the past trap you.”

In an instant, all the tug-of-war disappeared. Bernadette covered her mouth with her hand, but her vision blurred at this moment.

Of course she recognized this handwriting, the handwriting that belonged to her father.

Bernadette looked down at the clothes she was wearing. It wasn't the current popular style, but the trend that Rosell had once started many years ago.

It wasn't that Bernadette was stubbornly unwilling to accept the trends of the new era, she just felt that wearing these familiar clothes seemed to bring her closer to that era.

In that era, Rosell hadn't fallen, hadn't become a tyrant, and she was still the carefree eldest daughter of Rosell, whose biggest daily trouble was how to avoid being crammed with knowledge by the Hidden Sage.

Bernadette suddenly ran towards the corner. She looked around, searching for a familiar figure in the crowd.

But no, there was nothing anywhere.

Bernadette had almost run through the entire Rosell Memorial Exhibition, but she never saw that familiar figure again.

Just as Bernadette was despairing, the wind sent a sticky note to Bernadette.

Bernadette grabbed the sticky note without any hesitation, and saw a line of words written on the sticky note:

“Look behind.”

Bernadette turned around almost immediately, and then froze for a moment, because she found that the environment around her had changed at some point. The people who came to visit the Rosell Memorial Exhibition had disappeared, and the place where she was was obviously no longer inside the Kingdom Museum.

But none of this mattered, what mattered was that a magnificent coffin had appeared behind her at some point, and there was a sign next to the coffin.

Bernadette's gaze turned to the sign, and her expression immediately became strange, because the sign read:

“Rosell is here, please awaken Him with the Fist of True Love.”

“…Fist of True Love?” Bernadette didn't know if this was a bad joke for a moment. Of course she had heard Rosell tell the story of the Kiss of True Love, Sleeping Beauty fell asleep because of the witch's curse, and had to be awakened by the Kiss of True Love.

But what the hell is the Fist of True Love?

Bernadette looked down at her hand, which was slender and powerful, and it was obvious at a glance that hitting someone would definitely hurt.

Bernadette then looked up at the coffin again. Although she thought it might be a bad prank, Bernadette still approached the coffin and gently pushed her hand on the coffin, and found that the coffin was even a sliding lid.

Bernadette looked into the coffin, and her breathing stopped, because she did see a familiar person.

This time it was no longer a fleeting glance, nor was it a back view, Rosell Gustav, her father, was really lying in this coffin, wearing even a whole set of formal clothes, looking very gorgeous.

Bernadette raised her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly as she landed on Rosell's neck.

There was no warmth, and no pulse. The Rosell in front of her was like a highly realistic mannequin, or like a corpse with time frozen, just lying there quietly, without a trace of a living person's aura.