At night in Kalliu Commercial Street, the moonlight illuminated the wooden signboard of a grocery store. The words on it had long been washed away by time and were blurred. Only the word "Grocery" could be vaguely seen.
A few candlesticks and the moonlight streaming in from the windows illuminated the interior of the store. Putting aside the dust floating throughout the room, the dazzling array of shelves was dazzling.
The goods ranged from fish hooks to carriage wheels. Looking at the goods, there were also potted plants, armor, blankets, and a lot of items with no apparent use. They were placed in a mess with no rules at all. It's like walking into a terrible second-hand market.
The shop owner here is called Henry, a big middle-aged man. He has a beard, a few scars on his face, and a turban on his head. His body is so fat that even his neck is not visible. His muscular ass sat behind the counter, undoubtedly becoming the most conspicuous presence in the entire store.
Suddenly the bell on the door of the store jingled, and a man who was clearly dressed as a noble man walked into the store. He wore a tight-fitting, wide-sleeved aristocratic dress with red stripes and black soles, which matched his red hair. He wore long black boots and loose black trousers on his lower body, and wore a cloth jacket on the outside. The expensive black coat looks extraordinary.
When Henry heard the doorbell ringing, he lazily raised his eyelids. After confirming the other party's identity, he immediately squeezed out of the chair, and the wrinkles on his face relaxed with a polite smile.
"Count Lauryn? I haven't seen you for a long time! Uh... I didn't expect you to come here in person. I wish I had greeted you at the door." Henry rubbed his hands in compliment, and his eyes almost became blurry. Sewn.
"It doesn't matter. The main reason I came to Calliu this time is to see my daughter. I just happened to take a look at this old guy like you." Count Lauryn waved his hand and fanned the dust in front of his eyes, and then continued: "My things are repaired. how's it going?"
"Oh, of course! Please wait a moment." Henry shook the bell on the counter and said to the ceiling above his head. "Has Mr. Lauryn's things been repaired?"
"Which Lauryn?" A young man's voice came from the attic above his head.
"That's the one I asked you to give priority to! Don't forget, Mr. Lauryn is our distinguished guest, so remember it next time!" After saying this, Henry did not forget to smile awkwardly at Count Lauryn, and Lauryn nodded to indicate that he didn't mind.
Not long after, a black-haired boy appeared on the stairs connecting to the attic. The boy was only fourteen years old, with deep black eyes and a charming color. The black hair on the back of his head was tied into a strand, and his smooth and fair face exuded a handsomeness and elegance beyond his peers. He only wore a Neat white shirt.
The temperament he displayed was no less than that of the gorgeously dressed adult noble. As he walked down the stairs, he wiped an exquisitely carved pocket watch with a handkerchief.
"The internal structure of this pocket watch is not damaged, but the escapement is broken. I have replaced it with a new one for you, sir." The young man's voice was clear and hearty. Laurian looked at him and raised his eyebrows, his attention already It's no longer the pocket watch.
"Henry, you didn't tell me that you had another son." The Earl joked casually.
"Son? Oh no, no, he is a student of San Carlo College just like your daughter. He just comes to my place to do a part-time job."
"Is there such a thing?" After hearing this, the earl put the fingers of his hands together and looked at the young man in front of him with interest. "San Carlo is an aristocratic school, and you don't look like those business kids who get paid to go to school. What's your name? Boy."
"Cesare." The young man responded calmly.
"What about your parents, Mr. Cesare?" the count asked.
"My father isn't here, my mother... died a long time ago."
I heard the count say a little apologetically. "Oh...I'm sorry, kid, but you have a last name, right? What's your last name?"
As this question was raised, even Henry, the store manager on the side, frowned nervously. Cesare was silent, as if he didn't really want to answer the question. After much hesitation, he lowered his head and replied in a low voice: "Hunyadi...my name is Cesare Hunyadi."
As soon as he heard Hunyadi's surname, the count immediately put down his hand, the corners of his eyes twitched inadvertently, and his eyes looked elsewhere intentionally or unintentionally. It was as if some switch had been touched on him, making old Count Ryan no longer curious about any of Cesare's secrets.
"Hunyadi...oh, yes, no wonder." There was a hint of embarrassment in his words. He took the repaired clock and fiddled with it briefly before putting it in his arms. It seemed that the topic he brought up finally made him uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
And such a reaction is not surprising to Cesare, as if his last name is a witch's spell, something that the world avoids talking about. Compared with his classmates at school, Count Lauryn's behavior of stopping the topic is enough to be called a mature and stable gentleman.
Although Cesare did nothing wrong, he still felt apologetic for the awkward atmosphere. He instinctively lowered his head and moved back to avoid the other person's sight. However, the messy and crowded environment in the store caused him to accidentally bump into the shelf, and saw a The bottle of perfume fell from the shelf. With quick eyes and quick hands, Cesare caught the perfume that had fallen into the air in his hand, and then breathed a long sigh of relief.
But when he found that no one was happy for him, especially when he saw Henry's flushed face, Cesare's slightly raised corners of his mouth slowly dropped and he swallowed.
Go back upstairs to your apartment. Although Henry did not say it directly, Cesare immediately understood the sharp look. After bowing respectfully to the earl, he walked back up the stairs, and behind him came Henry's voice speaking to the earl.
"I think the rumors are mixed between true and false... Forget it, I have a few boxes of newly imported spices from the Sun Peninsula. I have been looking forward to sending you a box for a long time, and now you are here in person. ..." What followed were all flattering words. Cesare was not interested and stopped listening.
If the downstairs is a dirty second-hand market, then the attic can be described as a garbage dump where waste is accumulated. As soon as I walked up the stairs, I could smell the pungent musty smell emanating from nowhere. Looking at the crowded cargo boxes, I couldn't help but wonder about the source of the smell.
This is not because Cesare is lazy, but the space here is limited. Except for a workbench, a simple bookshelf, and a bed made of two short wooden boxes, there are hoards of goods everywhere.
Many boxes stacked to the edge may not be accessible unless the roof is lifted. If it weren't for the ventilation window that brought some fresh air, this place would be worse than a dungeon.
Sitting back at the workbench, the delicate pliers were spinning in Cesare's hands. He kept thinking about Count Lauryn's expression in his mind, and seemed to have made some decision secretly in his mind. He put down the pliers and pushed aside the pocket watch or music box on the counter.
"Sorry we're closed today." He whispered to the items to be repaired, then took out a half-palm-sized, mediocre-looking storage box from his schoolbag, opened the box, and quietly placed a Silver family ring.
Unlike most aristocratic rings inlaid with gorgeous and colorful gemstones, the surface of this ring is generally white with complex and changeable patterns. The family emblem pattern is carefully carved on the top of the ring, which is like a dark crow, embellished with it. The scarlet eyes shining strangely under the candlelight are the symbol of the Raven family, the Hunyadi family, a family with many scandals and criticized by the world.
Cesare carefully took out the ring and put it on the thumb of his left hand. Then he took out another notebook, most of which contained text and pictures about the ring. Each page was recorded by Cesare himself, recording daily research and new discoveries.
He took a deep breath and silently prayed for something in his heart. Then he focused on the ring and tried with all his strength to mobilize the thin magic elements in the attic. Without the assistance of a cane, such an attempt was extremely unstable and dangerous. It was risky, but Cesare had already found a trace of magic rules through constant experiments and reading a lot of books. Even though those folk magic books were not rigorous, their reliability was no different from fairy tales.
"Spit out your secret..." Cesare asked the ring through gritted teeth, and when the magic power gathered on his thumb, the ring seemed to respond. The raven's eyes were as weird as oozing blood, and the radiance seemed to have the ability to confuse people's minds, making everything around them blurry and unreal.
Cesare felt that the world was suddenly spinning. He closed his eyes suddenly and opened them again. All the lines in his field of vision began to twist and deform. He seemed to be in a vortex that was constantly compressing towards the center, as if he had eaten a poisonous mushroom. The reality and illusion are clear, and it feels like the brain is being deformed along with the twisted lines, which makes people feel sick and nauseous.
Cesare resisted the desire to vomit and tried to stay awake. It seemed that he had persisted to this point more than once. He stared closely at the center point of the whirlpool formed by the lines, watching a figure gradually converging. It vaguely looked like a woman, whose face could not be seen clearly, and seemed to be standing in front of him yet at an intangible distance. .
Cesare held on to his eyelids to avoid the dizziness, raised his hand and moved towards the familiar figure step by step. "Mom..." It felt so close, and I could already feel the reassuring warmth on that woman's body.
But at the moment when they were about to touch, an even stronger dizziness hit Cesare like a sap on the back of the neck, causing him to fall to his knees with a plop, and the figure in front of him instantly disappeared. It disappeared, and the surrounding lines returned to their original state. It was still the familiar attic, as if nothing had happened.
With strong will, Cesare covered his mouth and did not vomit. He just collapsed on the ground and breathed in the dirty air. He looked around. The dark attic was dead silent. It seems that Earl Lauryn has left early, and the store manager Henry has also left the store.
From Cesare's perspective, it was only ten minutes since he returned to the attic, but it seemed like several hours had passed. There were too many secrets about this family ring that he simply could not understand.
Cesare climbed up with difficulty, carefully took off the ring and put it away, then scrawled today's date and the word failure in his notebook. At this time, he felt as if he had just run around the city of Kalliu. His heartbeat was racing, his breathing was difficult, and he was exhausted physically and mentally. In addition, who knew what kind of damage this mysterious power would cause to his body. .
He shook his head to keep himself awake, then packed up his things and left the store, locking the door. Cesare was holding a bag in his right hand and a coat on his shoulder in his right hand. The bustling commercial street during the day seemed so lonely at night, and crows were hovering in the night with their sinister smiles. He had to arrive at zero o'clock. I had rushed back to the school dormitory, so I walked alone along the road until the figure disappeared into the night.
