บท 4: Chapter 4: The Diary of Emperor Roselle
"P.S. I'm editing this chapter as I read through it."
When Astella arrived home, the sky was already dark.
It was her first dinner with the housekeeper, Martha, since the "transmigration" occurred. Martha was a woman past middle age, with graying linen-colored hair coiled atop her head, and crow's feet stretching like fishtails at the corners of her eyes. Two pronounced lines framed her mouth, giving her a stern and serious appearance, much like the type of governess who would sternly instruct young noble ladies in etiquette, ready to tap their wrists with a ruler. In fact, Astella rarely saw her smile.
The dinner was simple but quite good by Ruen standards. The creamy mushroom soup was fragrant, the mashed potatoes were tender and mixed with green peas and red meat chunks, accompanied by a few tasteless boiled broccoli florets.
There wasn't much conversation during the meal. Given their ten years of living together—almost like family—the atmosphere felt somewhat distant. From Astella's memory, Martha rarely showed interest in her studies or much concern for her emotions. If she spoke, it was usually to give "instruction," while she managed the household with meticulous care.
Astella recalled that in earlier years, Martha would often braid her hair. Reflected in the dressing mirror were their faces—Martha's eyes lowered as she carefully braided Astella's hair, her expression solemn and focused, exuding a gravity that young Astella found hard to understand.
"Ms. Martha," little Astella once asked, staring at her own reflection. Her hair was a deep purple, as dark as the night sky, and after being oiled, it shimmered like smooth satin. Her eyes were pale gray, carrying an early-blooming sorrow that seemed to seep from that light gray hue.
"Will Mother not be coming back?"
"Miss Astella," Martha had said, "Madam will return. Until then, I will fulfill my duty to care for you."
And fulfill that duty she had—faithfully, for ten years.
Astella sighed inwardly.
Such a child was both easy and difficult to raise. She didn't cry or throw tantrums, and she was intelligent and well-behaved. But she kept everything bottled up, hardly ever opening her heart to others, making it hard to notice and address any emotional issues. No one knew how long she had struggled before choosing to end her life. If even one person had reached out to her, maybe the soul sitting here now wouldn't be a different one.
"Ms. Martha," Astella paused before asking, "What was my mother like, in your memory?"
Martha looked up at her. Astella's gaze wavered for a moment. Then, after a slight hesitation, she continued.
"You know, I was very young when Mother left. Now I hardly remember anything." She looked at the older woman directly. "But I don't want to forget everything, Martha, you understand? When I was little, I often felt so sad, wondering if Mother had abandoned me. Could you tell me, what really happened back then?"
Astella's words seemed to stir something in Martha. For a moment, the housekeeper appeared dazed, then her eyes filled with a complex expression.
Revealing just enough emotion to elicit sympathy from Martha—that was the approach Astella had chosen. Being a child who neither cried nor made trouble was all well and good, but as the saying goes, "a crying child gets the candy." Sometimes, if you don't cry a little, busy adults might never realize how much pain you're in.
"…I don't know the full details either," Martha began, after a pause, "but Madam was likely involved in some highly secretive matters. She maintained correspondence with certain relatives, though those letters were long since destroyed. She also kept in touch with some of her students—she used to be a university lecturer, after all. She inherited a great deal of wealth from her family, enough for the whole family to live in comfort for life."
Martha smiled slightly, a rare sight. "I once suspected Madam was the daughter of a noble family, who eloped and went into hiding here in Backlund. She went to the 'Help for Domestic Servants Association' and said, 'I'd like to hire a maid who can cook.' After choosing me, she said, 'Alright, from now on, you're our housekeeper!' Then she raised my salary to match the position. I was so overwhelmed at first, only to find that I was the only servant in the house and the tasks weren't much more than those of a common maid."
"I came from the countryside, didn't even finish church school, and yet I was lucky enough to learn how to manage a small household, earning a salary I never dared to dream of. Madam even gave me tips on improving my cooking… She had a remarkably broad perspective. Back then, I thought life couldn't get better, like I was living in paradise. Then one day, your mother handed you, a small child, over to me. She looked serious and told us to move immediately."
"She said, 'Essie, your mother loves you,' and then she never came back," Astella added. Her voice grew distant, as if she had slipped back into those confusing, sorrowful times, her mother's now blurry face drifting into her mind.
"Thank you, Ms. Martha," Astella said, "To me, you've always been an important part of my family."
Martha looked at her for a while, her expression complicated, but a faint smile broke through. "Miss Astella, you've changed a bit, haven't you?"
"Hmm?" Astella blinked.
"Sometimes, I forget how young you still are," Martha sighed. "Living with someone like me must be quite boring, I imagine. I've never been a mother and don't know how to love a child who's been left behind."
Family... My own kin are no longer here. I'm an awkward, dull person. But little Astella, I will watch you grow, attend university, find someone you love, and eventually, form a new family…
…
Dinner ended in a somewhat melancholic yet warm atmosphere. Astella retreated to her room, turned on the light. Warm yellow light poured in, while the crimson moon hung quietly outside the window.
Curled up in a chair, she took out Roselle's diary from her bag and began to read it carefully. After a quick glance earlier, she confirmed that what was called a "notebook" was, in fact, a diary written in simplified Chinese by the Emperor from another world.
"January 1st, the start of a new year. I've just completed the first of my 'Blasphemy Cards.'... These 'Blasphemy Cards' will have anti-divination and anti-prophecy properties. Some will be left for my children; the rest will go to those destined to find them!"
"I've always been the kind of person who returns kindness with kindness and enmity with vengeance. After my death, let the flood come for all I care! Hmm, this saying isn't my own creation."
…
"That organization is my last and greatest hope. I don't know if they'll support me or how they will."
…
The information Astella's mother left behind about the "Blasphemy Slate" was not detailed, though it didn't hide the secrets of Sequence 0 and the "Path to Godhood." According to Roselle's diary, the Orthodox Churches deliberately concealed these facts. This wasn't particularly surprising to Astella. What puzzled her, however, was that her mother's documents, which contained rich occult knowledge, made no mention of Roselle's "Blasphemy Cards."
"Perhaps it's because Mother's family declined at the end of the Fourth Epoch, while Roselle lived in the Fifth Epoch, over a hundred years ago..."
Astella also noted that Roselle had joined a mysterious organization and seemed to regard it as his final safeguard.
"This entry isn't dated, but we can infer that it was written in his later years. Sigh, as powerful as the 'Blasphemy Cards' sound, they're of no use to me. The mysterious organization he mentioned, though… that's much more intriguing. I wonder what it's called."
Turning another page, she saw that the entries weren't consecutive. She read about Roselle's arrival in this world, his accidental discovery of the occult and supernatural beings; his various romantic escapades that lacked any decency; the Law of Beyonders' Roles; and Roselle's regret over not choosing the "Seer," "Apprentice," or "Thief" path—this made Astella frown slightly, as she had "transmigrated" into the body of an "Apprentice," sparing herself the trouble of picking a path.
Was there some hidden meaning behind this? Could the powers of these three pathways be connected to our "transmigration" and might they even help us return? The Sequence 3 of the Apprentice pathway is called "Wanderer," and it's said to allow one to travel through the stars. Does this pathway govern space? And what about the powers of the Seer and Thief pathways? Could one of them control time? Hmm, that doesn't seem quite right…
Time passed slowly as Astella stretched lazily.
"Well, for now, it seems the Apprentice path might at least be related to going home. Step by step…"
"The more I read, the more I realize Mother's notes are worth more than gold for a rogue Beyonder. In fact, they're priceless… Heh, if I were the protagonist of this story, these notes, along with Roselle's diary, would probably be my golden cheat code…"
She flipped to the last page of the diary.
"December 16th. I've once
again made contact with that poor soul trapped in the depths of darkness, lost within the shadows."
"He calls himself 'Mr. Door' and is trying to teach me a complex and difficult ritual to help him return to the real world. He promises to grant me three wishes."
…
Astella's eyes widened, nearly stopping her breath.
Though her mother's notes only contained formulas for Sequence 9 to Sequence 5 of the Apprentice pathway, they didn't hide the names of the higher Sequences!
"'Mr. Door…'"
Astella softly repeated the name.
If her mother's records were accurate, she was absolutely certain that the top of this sequence had a name that perfectly matched this title.
—Sequence 0: "Door!"
---
Essie is Astella's nickname.
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