Adryan could already imagine the kind of reaction his soul brother would have if he saw what he'd just done.
He could picture him standing to one side. His face was incredibly tense, eyelids pulsing. His glasses were slightly fogged, and one side was higher than the other. The hand holding his cane clenched so tightly that the knob splintered.
Being a gentleman, Klein would never do it, but Adryan would bet his left arm that the man had already imagined what it would be like to smash the cane against the back of his neck.
"Is this your secret method?!" The illusory voice of his favorite clown reached his ears, causing the smile on his face to grow until his eyes closed slightly.
'Of course it is. Were you expecting something else?' The redhead laughed to himself, giving a wink to the man's imaginary figure.
Had he gone with his real body, he wouldn't have been able to avoid a demigod's attention.
Unfortunately, Hunters Hallow didn't make him invisible in the physical world. For him, the best way to hide had always been to keep a low profile and not be seen. Something that, with his current identity, would be impossible to do. Upon entering the museum, Queen Mistyc would already have her eye on him, no doubt.
And that wasn't so much because of the movie he'd made, but because of the story he'd chosen for it.
The Three Musketeers was a popular tale in Intis—'created' by Roselle, of course—and the redhead was certain that, before this children's story spread among the population, it had once been the personal story of a certain little girl.
That was the main reason he hadn't used the original title 'Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers' and had opted for 'The Adventures of Mickey Mouse and Goofy'.
If he had used the original title, he would have received a surprise visit from a Bernadette with plenty of questions the very day the first ad appeared in the newspaper. At least with the other title, he was ensuring she wouldn't know what it was about until the film became popular. Which would buy him time to either get out of Lenburg or come up with a better script when it came time to answer questions.
With the aforementioned woman standing next to the soldier, it was time to put the script he'd prepared into action. Whose title was, 'Unknown Uncle: The Emperor's Lost Brother or a Deranged Impostor?'
At his words, Bernadette stared at him without moving. It was to the point that a statue would have more life if it were standing beside him.
'Is this how you imagined the conversation would go, Little Bernadette?' He might not be able to read her mind, but he'd bet she was, at the very least, confused.
As a Sequence 3 Clairvoyant of the Mystery Prier Pathway, she had surely 'peered into the secrets of fate' to determine the best moment to approach Harvey Wayne.
The name of this false identity only began to circulate once the movie became popular; by then, Adryan had already abandoned the role and handed it over to his soldier.
Consequently, Hunters Hallow no longer concealed it when Bernadette peered into fate. She must have obtained a result without anomalies and would have determined that the best time for contact was at the Memorial.
The emperor's eldest daughter took her time looking at him in silence; her veil beautifully concealed any emotions she might be expressing.
Somewhat tired of the silence, the man chuckled a little: "What's the matter? Has the cat eaten your tongue?"
A soft sigh seemed to escape her, but with her face covered, it was hard to tell. She turned her head back to the display, unperturbed.
"Your movie was interesting"
Despite the compliment, there was no respect whatsoever in her tone.
Being rejected like that only delighted the man even more; he felt his heart being caressed.
'She's like a mini Huang Tao! Respectful on the outside, cursing on the inside!'
Since no one seemed to even see her or hear their conversation—likely hidden by one of her abilities or an artifact—Adryan saw no reason to hold his tongue.
So, flashing white teeth in a big smile, he laughed in wonder;
"Hahaha, oh, Little Bernadette, I'm your uncle. No need to be so formal; we're family here."
"My father didn't have any siblings," Bernadette said flatly, turning very slightly toward him, "and you're far too young."
"Duh, obviously I'm way too young. Tsk tsk, looks like my niece has straw for brains, pointing out the obvious." Adryan-Harvey rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Honestly, I can't blame you. Having someone nearly two centuries younger than you tell you he's your uncle is really weird…"
Then, the man in the suit tilted his head slightly to the left and smirked.
"But we both know Roselle wasn't exactly normal, was he? Otherwise, why are you still listening to me?"
"…"
An imperceptible shift seemed to make the air vibrate, and the veiled Bernadette turned to look at him slightly.
"What are you to him?"
'Bingo~' Seeing that his bait had been taken, the man's dark eyes gleamed.
Maintaining the same smile as before, but accompanying it with a slight narrowing of his eyes. He leaned in a little closer and opened his mouth.
He didn't speak loudly or very quickly.
He whispered calmly and playfully, taking his time to share a secret that was meant to remain between just the two of them.
"We both come from the same place, which makes us fellow countrymen. Therefore, you are my niece."
"Fellow countrymen…" The woman repeated the words slowly, without emotion.
She remained silent for three seconds, returning to that state of a human statue.
"Very quiet, aren't you? " Harvey shook his head.
He tried to raise his hand to move the woman and snap her out of her trance, but his fingers barely trembled.
Psssssss…
The whisper of snakes reached his ears; a fine layer of dust formed on his skin. The exposed parts of his skin began to turn a pale, sickly white.
The mere act of lifting a finger had become nearly impossible; he had practically turned into a statue.
'Oh?' In the smoke-shrouded city, Adryan sat on the edge of his chair, eager to see what would happen next.
The interwoven threads of the fishnet veil suddenly grew thicker and deeper, like black cracks.
In the blink of an eye, one of these black cracks opened, revealing an eye full of bloody veins. In the center of the eyeball was a deep pupil, and within it, countless tiny white worms were crawling and squirming
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Several black cracks opened one after another, and, one by one, the bizarre eyes covered the woman's face. They looked around without focusing on anything in particular, but the next moment, each one suddenly fixed its gaze on him.
"Do you have any proof?" she asked gently, with a hint of harshness.
The disgusting eyes reflected the face of a pale but calm Harvey Wayne.
"…"
For a second, the man in the black suit returned the gaze impassively, without blinking. But sooner rather than later, a smile formed on his lips.
Unfazed by the horrific sight, Harvey Wayne answered the question with just two words.
"故乡 (gù xiāng - Home)"
Pop!
All the eyes burst like bubbles, the cracks in the veil closing faster than they had appeared, and soon it returned to its normal appearance.
Not a second later, a hand grabbed the edge of the veil and lifted it, finally revealing the face beneath.
A face similar to the one found in several paintings at the memorial. Almost a mirror image of it, only of the opposite gender.
The resemblance was so striking that Adryan felt a little lost. 'She's the spitting image of her dad.'
It was obvious that a child would take after his parents, but it was as if her mother's genes hadn't even tried!
The blue eyes, which seemed to contain a deep ocean, focused entirely on him. This time, truly seeing him.
"How do you know those words?"
'I read them on a pirated page.' Responding in his heart, Harvey's smile grew a little gentler.
"I already said it, didn't I? I'm your uncle. It's only natural that I know these things."
"…" Bernadette fell silent again, her gaze lost in the reflection of the display in front of them.
At that moment, the strange dust and the paleness of the soldier's body vanished. And the mobility of his limbs returned.
The Reaper smirked and, seizing the opportunity, raised the hand he'd just recovered and brought it down on the woman's shoulder.
Thwack!
The action didn't even make Bernadette stagger, but it did make her turn to look at him very slowly. Her blue eyes suddenly deepened and sharpened.
At that look, the man in the black suit clicked his tongue playfully: "Hasn't anyone ever told you that you're a bitter woman?"
Flashing white teeth, Harvey pointed to his mouth: "Don't be so stiff—smile a little.
"I know, call me 'uncle.' That'll cheer you up. It's easy—repeat after me: U-N-C…"
For a moment, the woman's impassive, expressionless face tensed. But it passed just as quickly; she returned to her previous state, and the veil covered her once more.
The hand on her shoulder slipped right through her, as if her body had suddenly become an illusion impossible to touch.
"Have a nice day." Without another word, the woman turned and began to walk away with elegance.
A part of her head disintegrated into particles of light, like stars, which rose into the air and vanished into the void.
Upon seeing the stardust, Adryan felt Harvey's body wither away again, this time accompanied by a slight pressure on the back of his head.
Understanding what it was, he closed his soldiers' eyes, but not before uttering a few final words.
"You too, niece! Take care! Remember to brush your teeth before bed!"
Before her entire body disintegrated into stardust, Adryan saw, through the third-person view, how, for an instant, Bernadette's step faltered.
Fusshh
A breeze swept through the spot where the woman had been, carrying the stardust with it and scattering it into nothingness—a sight best left unseen in the middle of the night.
The remnants of the dust lingered for a moment; a soft whisper was carried by the breeze to Harvey's ears.
"We'll be speaking soon, Mr. Wayne."
'I wouldn't be so sure of that, Little Bernadette~' Singing in his heart, Adryan cut off his deep control over the soldier and returned command to him.
Harvey Wayne opened his eyes again, the broad smile shrinking to a slight lift at the corners of his lips.
"That's all for this exhibit. If you'll follow me, we'll move on to the next one," the guide said suddenly, already starting to move.
Elegantly, the entrepreneur smoothed his sleeve and walked away, unhurriedly, from the display of colorful Lego blocks and children's notebooks, following the rest of the group. Abigail Rhodes trailed behind him like a white shadow.
Leaning back in the beach chair, using his hands as a pillow, Adryan watched what his soldier was doing. The dazed expression on his "niece's" face reappeared in his mind.
"I wonder if Roselle was just as expressive—or even more so?" Resting his chin on his hand, the redhead critically reviewed what had happened.
"This should keep her in Lenburg for a while longer, even if the Memorial leaves early. Harvey Wayne has become someone with information that interests her. She won't abandon this lead so easily…"
Adryan hated beating around the bush unnecessarily. If he could avoid it, he would gladly do so. And that was exactly what he had done during his brief interaction with Bernadette. Avoiding beating around the bush in the best way he knew how: exploiting her weak spot to destroy her.
And he knew Queen Mystic's weakness quite well.
Her emotions might be mixed right now. But there was one truth that would never change.
Just as Roselle loved her daughter dearly, Bernadette was a daddy's girl.
Anything related to her father, she was willing to take risks just to verify it. Even if that meant risking her life. If it meant getting one step closer to discovering what had happened to her father, she would dive right in.
And he would take advantage of that.
Bernadette had always known her father was strange. She knew there was something that made him different from the rest of the world, but she could never figure out what it was.
Harvey Wayne would be an intriguing figure that would require a closer look as soon as his existence became known. Something that, after the pleasant conversation they'd had, would become a priority to investigate thoroughly.
It was quite likely that Bernadette would discover that Harvey Wayne hadn't existed until nearly four months ago and that he was a false identity, but would she be able to uncover for whom he was created?
"I wonder if the contacts of a pirate king, leader of her own secret organization, will be able to uncover the lie of an identity created with a goal of high interest to an Orthodox Church…" Resting his chin in his hand, Adryan shrugged.
Whether Queen Mistic managed to figure it out or not, it didn't matter. He already had her attention.
Recalling her last words, he chuckled a little. His scarlet eyes gleamed with a sharp edge.
"You're not wrong that we'll be in touch, but I'm the one with the phone, Little Bernadette~"
The woman hadn't left her messenger's contact information, so her idea of staying in touch was unannounced visits to his apartment in Astope Quarter or in his dreams. This way, she was in control of their interactions and could steer the course of their conversations.
Something she would discover was useless.
He already knew the incantation to summon her messenger thanks to the original story; likewise, even if she were to visit Harvey Wayne, she wouldn't get anything out of it.
His soldiers didn't share their knowledge unless he wanted them to. No matter how hard she tried, Bernadette couldn't get more out of them than what he had implanted in them or what they had learned on their own. Even if she tried to use them to track him down, Hunters Hallow would take care of that.
Of course, it wasn't as if he was trying to hide from her. He could do so if he wanted to, but that would only be detrimental to him.
If he had to face the Hidden Sage in the future, having Bernadette Gustav as an ally was something he couldn't pass up.
All he was doing was simply evening the odds a little for the future—and by evening them, he was tipping them in his favor, of course.
Seeing that the group had finally reached a special area of the memorial, Adryan turned his attention back to the screen on his arm.
It was almost like a library, lined with two-story-high shelves. There were ladders beneath them and aisles between them, leading to a three-dimensional book park. In the center of the row of bookshelves were desks, chairs, brass lampstands, and the like. They were all protected by glass and kept from coming into contact with the outside world.
The guide, William, stood in front of a specific section of this row, where there was a stack of manuscripts, all yellow in color.
With eyes shining like gems, William pointed to these manuscripts with one hand on his chest, "These are the records that hold the brilliant ideas that Emperor Roselle was unable to bring to life in his time. They show just how far human civilization is capable of reaching in the future!"
The stack of manuscripts wasn't spread out, so one could only see the contents of the first page.
It was a drawing of a rectangular object with a detailed description beside it: "This is a portable, miniaturized version of the telegraph. Through it, one can connect to the person holding the same device and receive and exchange information. You can even converse with them directly.
"This requires better positioning. I think we can boldly cast our sights to the sky. There are no obstructions in the sky, and it would allow for better transmission of signals."
Adryan didn't even bat an eye at the fact that the Emperor hadn't even left the idea of a cell phone; all his attention was on something far more remarkable than that.
'Why is his handwriting in the languages of this world so good while his simplified Chinese is so terrible?'
While complaining about the great Caesar's handwriting, the man's red eyes had already focused on one specific item on display.
It was the book detailing the Earth objects that Roselle had wanted to invent, but lacked the means to do so.
There was a bookmark inside, and on it was a depiction of Roselle dressed in royal Emperor's robes.
Upon seeing it, Adryan smiled. At the same time, Harvey Wayne, who was standing there, asked a question.
"Are all these books originals?"
The guide paused his explanation for a moment and nodded
"Yes, these are all the items from Emperor Roselle's study from back then. They include, but are not limited to, books, manuscripts, bookmarks, lampstands, ink bottles… Whatever survived various conflicts throughout history is found here."
'Well, I've done my part.' He finally turned off the screen, letting the golden dust settle on his forearm.
Drawing the sphere of light in his mind, Adryan left the City of Calamities and returned to his body.