Chapter 174 "I've always been captivated by your beauty..."
“I did a lot of research after I got back and know a little bit,” Dale said. “His wife died many years ago, and his great-granddaughter was an employee at the Yale Library who retired a long time ago and now has Alzheimer’s. I visited her and asked her about her grandfather’s father, but she couldn’t remember anything at all.”
"How many children did this ancestor who traveled through time have with his wife?" I asked.
“There was a son.” Dale sighed. “This son later married and had another son, but he died in a car accident at the age of fifty, leaving behind a son who later married and had a daughter. Now, this great-granddaughter, who used to work at the Yale Library, is said to have met her grandfather’s father when she was very young. I read this in her diary.”
How did you find out?
"My first trip to another world was in the basement of the Yale Library, the same one you and the castle maid went to. I followed the clues and found a book written by a talented but unknown author many years ago. By researching this unknown author, I found the author's great-granddaughter."
“I remember you went to another world after you had a stroke and were in a coma,” I said.
"Yes, I had a stroke in that basement."
Two hours later, I arrived at the basement, where Dale was already waiting for me. She was squatting under the bookshelves, flipping through rows of books.
"Is this some kind of mysterious transit point?" I asked her. "A transit point between the modern world and another world?"
“Who knows, maybe.” Dale pulled out a book with a gray cover and placed it in my hand. “This is it.”
I took it in my hand and went upstairs to the reading room, where I spent the whole afternoon reading. Even in the evening, I was still not satisfied.
This book is a complete version of a book that the little maid in the castle once showed me. The little maid's book only told the story of the Elf Queen and the scumbag, while this book tells a complete story of another world. The story of the Elf Queen is placed at the end and added as a supplement. Obviously, the author came back and added this story to the manuscript, writing "supplementary story" on it.
The book begins by describing the structure of the other world, which is mainly divided into the Eastern Realm, Western Realm, Southern Realm, and Northern Realm. The descriptions of each realm are the same as what I know, and the author also describes the local customs and culture of each realm in detail, which are still the same as what I know. But I still finished reading it.
The book then tells the stories of the founding ancestors of the four realms. The founding ancestors of the Eastern Realm were half-beasts from another world, but they only turned into their original forms after death. They were cunning, beautiful, and the royal family all had silver hair.
The ancestors of the Western Frontier also came from another world, wild barbarians who loved killing and bloodshed, and were somewhat neurotic, seemingly similar to the current kings of the Western Frontier.
The ancestors of the Southern Territory were dark-skinned barbarians who once lived in a remote corner of this continent. The women were intelligent, while the men were foolish, but the men were strong and numerous. In the end, the country was founded by men, although the women behind them were the ones who governed it.
The ancestors of the North came from another world, a primitive barbarian tribe that once lived in the icy wilderness. They said that they experienced the harshest cold in their original homeland, but now they feel like it is springtime in the North.
These contents took up most of the book, with the last part being the story of the Elf Queen. I closed the book, went outside the reading room, and called Dalyn. "I just finished reading the book, and it seems similar to what I saw in the other world."
"That's why I didn't tell you about this book; I didn't think it was very meaningful. But I only mentioned it when you asked later."
How did you find the author of this book?
"I checked little by little, called the publisher, emailed the editor, checked on social media multiple times, asked the staff at Yale Library who specialize in organizing books, and even went to the publisher a few times. That's how I slowly found out the information."
"I'd like to visit the author's descendants tomorrow, is that alright?"
"I'm afraid that won't work. It's a high-end nursing home, and outsiders have to make an appointment a week in advance."
"All right."
A week later, I arrived at this high-end retirement home with the castle's little maid and Daisy. Everywhere was spotless, with luxurious wallpaper on the walls, high-end chandeliers emitting a soft, bright light, and thick carpets in the corridors. It didn't look like a retirement home; it was more like a luxury hotel.
A group of elderly men and women dressed in clean white, pink, and yellow suits sat at different tables playing cards and mahjong, while a few sat on soft sofas watching TV, and a few sat together writing and drawing, creating a peaceful scene.
We were led by the staff to a luxury room, which was filled with high-end furniture, and even the doorknobs had a luxurious and exquisite texture.
An old woman with completely white hair and wrinkles so deep that her features were obscured sat in a wheelchair, staring blankly out of a huge floor-to-ceiling glass window.
The female staff member greeted her warmly, "Mrs. Dole, a friend has come to visit you today."
The old woman ignored us, but the female staff member didn't care and said to us, "You can stay here for half an hour."
After she left, the three of us gathered around the old woman's wheelchair.
Daisy said, "Do you remember me? I visited you last time and asked about your grandfather's father."
The old woman didn't even lift her eyelids.
I took out a few sheets of paper from my bag. On them were several portraits of people from another world, which I had drawn using AI. They described their appearances. After many failures, I finally used AI to draw faces that most resembled their real selves.
As the portraits were displayed before the old woman, her expression subtly changed. "This one," she said, pointing to one of them, "is Grandpa."
It is a portrait of Haya.
The old woman pointed to another picture, "Grandpa." A portrait of King Midian.
Her husband must be a king from the West. They both come from the royal family of the West, share a very deep blood relationship, and are quite similar in appearance and temperament.
"Where did your grandfather go?" the castle maid asked cautiously.
“My grandfather,” the old woman said, still pointing to the portrait of King Midian, then to Haiya, “is here.”
We looked at each other in bewilderment.
It seems we won't get anything out of her; she's completely lost her mind.
After leaving the nursing home, we resumed our respective daily lives. I was busy with my studies, the little maid in the castle was busy with her studies, and I don't know what Dale was busy with, but we were all busy with our own things.
As the end of the year approaches and the semester is about to end, my studies are very demanding. I'm working tirelessly on my thesis, and I barely have time to sleep.
That day, I was searching everywhere for research materials but couldn't find any. Suddenly, I remembered the Yale Library, so I went there to look for information. After searching for two hours, I found myself back in that basement room, almost as if by magic.
It was the same as before: narrow, quiet, and deserted. I sat under the bookshelf, originally looking through a book, but I fell asleep while reading.
I had only been asleep for a short while when I was shaken awake. The moment I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see it was the stunningly handsome Bernard.
His features remained exquisite, his blue eyes dark and deep-set. His long silver hair cascaded over his shoulders like shimmering satin, making him seem to glow.
I thought I was dreaming, so I pinched myself twice, but the excruciating pain told me that this was not a dream.
"You..." I couldn't speak.
"It's rare to see you in your world." He looked at me incredulously. "What's going on?"
"I have no idea."
"Where is this place?" He stood up, his long silver-blue robe trailing on the ground, and looked around.
"The library's basement."
What is a library?
"Let me show you."
I boldly took his hand and pushed open the basement door. For a moment, I thought he was a fake, that he would disappear as soon as I opened the door. But when I opened the door, he didn't disappear, and I realized that he was really real, that he was alive and well right in front of me.
My heart pounded, and I pulled him into the elevator. My heart raced even faster as the numbers on the elevator doors changed. He looked around curiously at everything inside, but didn't ask anything.
The elevator doors opened, and I led him to the library on the second floor. There were very few people today because of the heavy snowfall. As I led him past rows of bookshelves, he smiled and said, "This place is nice. I want to build a library in the Eastern Territory someday."
“Really? I feel that books are a luxury where you are,” I said.
"That's right, but that's precisely why we need to build it, so that more noble children will have the opportunity to study."
"That's a good idea."
A few people occasionally passed by us, stopping to stare in awe, and remained standing there even after we were far away. His clothes were completely out of place, but his beauty made everyone ignore them. He looked like a superstar, even more of a star than a star.
We explored the third floor, and even considered going to the fourth, but we couldn't make it. More and more people noticed us, and a few were even following us closely. His appearance was truly stunning.
I grabbed him and we ran quickly to a secluded corner. I took off my trench coat and draped it over him. When we came out again, it felt a little better. With most of his face and hair covered, fewer people noticed us.
We went back to the basement. He grinned from ear to ear, "So it turns out the people here are the same as the people back home, they both like beauty."
“Nonsense,” I said, “it’s the same everywhere.”
He suddenly hugged me, holding me tightly around the waist. "And you? Are you the same?"
"What's the meaning?"
Are you captivated by my beauty?
I was stunned. I wanted to yell at him, but then I heard him whisper in my ear, "I've always been captivated by your beauty."
I spat and shoved him away, but I pushed too hard and sent him sprawling to the floor behind the bookshelf. He let out an exaggerated "ouch," which I ignored. After a while, he went silent. I rushed over and was horrified to find that he was gone.
He disappeared in just a few seconds.
Only a few books that had been knocked off the bookshelf remained on the ground.
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Author's note: Guess when the female lead will go back?
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