So, it was enough for me to read how to remove them. I was not a witch. Even if I knew the spells, I couldn’t cast them.
I glanced through numerous curses, my brain working overtime. Fortunately, I had a good short-term memory. Once I was out of here, I would still remember them reasonably well.
I turned the pages and soon enough, I had reached the end of the book.
To my surprise, the last page was ripped and half of it was missing.
Was it possible to tear pages from the book?
I let my fingers wander over the edge of the page, and realized that it had indeed been torn off.
As I mulled this over, the picture on the incomplete page caught my eye. It was a huge depiction of black thorns that looked ominous. The top of the thorns seemed to be spinning around something, which I couldn’t tell from the incomplete page. It was just very strange.
Something was written next to the picture. “Souls and lives shall be sacrificed. Only the most sincere love can nourish and grow the complete black thorns.”
The rest of the explanation had been torn off.
The weirder something was, the more it captured my attention. There was definitely some secret that was hidden on the last page.
I tried to tear what was left of the page. To my surprise, I succeeded.
At this moment, Flora shouted, “Sylvia, come here!”
I hastily stuffed the page in my pocket and got to my feet to go to Flora.
I didn’t know what mechanism Flora had pressed, but she had somehow managed to open the door of a hidden compartment.
Numerous crystal balls were hanging from the ceiling, shining brightly.
The hidden compartment was inlaid with several grids, with a round button next to each grid. When the button was pressed, a box would pop out.
“Is this a kiwi fruit? How has it not decayed?” Flora studied the fruit in her hand with surprise and swallowed. “I wonder if it’s edible. I’m hungry.”
“It must be cursed. Don’t eat it.” I took out a dagger and poked it into the strange fruit. As I’d expected, it couldn’t be penetrated.
Flora tossed the strange fruit back into the box. She then found a variety of bizarre things in the other boxes.
Noreen seemed to have a love for collecting gemstones. Emeralds were visible everywhere. Even the curtains were studded with pigeon-blood rubies.
I walked up to an astrolabe, on which the changes in the stars’ positions were being automatically recorded. Every time the pointer returned to its original position, it would point in the direction of Pluto. I touched it carefully and didn’t find anything unusual.
“Sylvia, I’ve found something amazing. Come and take a look.” Flora waved at me mysteriously.
I walked to her and curiously asked, “What is it?”
She picked up a wooden box from behind her and said in a very cautious tone, “This might be useful to you.”
“Really?” I took the wooden box and saw a transparent gem pendant in it.
Sylvia’s POV
I took out the transparent gemstone and, to my surprise, there was a manual in the box.
The manual explained that the gemstone would be transparent when not in use. However, after the user dripped their own blood onto it, the gemstone would turn pale pink, and from then on, it would only be effective for this user. The gemstone would then become hot when someone who was related to the user by blood was within one meter of the user.
To put it simply, this gem could be used to recognize its user’s relatives.
I remembered that there was a simple mention of this gem in the book I had read just now. I was under the impression that it was a powerful tool, but it was just a low level magical item. Other than recognizing relatives, it was useless! Besides, it was easy to produce and didn’t cost that much. Such trinkets were easy to find in the black market.
Realizing this, I pursed my lips unhappily and put the gem back into the wooden box. “It’s useless.”
“What do you mean?” Flora picked up the box I had just set aside and shouted excitedly, “Aren’t you looking for your father? This could be helpful!”
I paused in my tracks. Flora had no idea that I had taken Edwin’s blood for a paternity test before I left the imperial capital city.
If the test result showed that Edwin was really my father, then I had no need for this gem.
But Flora looked so hopeful that I didn’t have the heart to refuse her.
“I guess I could hold onto it first.” I took the box from her and looked at the gem again. Suddenly, I felt a bit of wonder. How could this ordinary gem recognize relatives?
“Then you’d better put your blood on it already so that it’ll respond only to you! If something happens and it is stained with someone else’s blood, then it’ll really be useless.” Flora kept urging me persistently.
I felt helpless. “The pendant’s in its box. I doubt someone else’s blood will stain it.”
I knew Flora was just looking out for me. It was touching to see how enthusiastic she was to help me find my father. Before I met Edwin, Flora had even gone so far as to send sketches of the pattern on the piece of the cloth my mother had left to me to her pack, asking her father to help her investigate the matter.
“Why take the risk?” As Flora spoke, she grabbed my hand, and before I understood what she was up to, she bit the tip of my finger.
Flora had moved so fast that I wasn’t able to stop her.
Blood seeped out of the bite wound and dripped onto the gem. A few seconds later, the gem slowly turned pink, and there was even a vein-shaped pattern inside it.
Under the light, the whole gem glittered and glowed a warm pink hue. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Perfect! Put it on. It’ll help you find your father sooner or later; I just know it!” Flora hung the gem around my neck gleefully. “When we get out of here, I’ll take you to my pack. You’ll definitely meet your father there!”
Seeing her enthusiasm, I felt moved. I lowered my head to look at the gem resting delicately on my collarbone. I didn’t want to frustrate Flora.
Seeing her enthusiasm, I felt moved. I lowered my head to look at the gem resting delicately on my collarbone. I didn’t want to frustrate Flora.
Then, I thought about Edwin and had mixed feelings. Obviously, Edwin didn’t want to acknowledge me as his daughter.
If the paternity test report proved that he was really my father…
I couldn’t shake off the fear that he’d refuse to accept me. I didn’t want to experience rejection from my own father.
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