Chapter 49 Want to meet in advance
Isabel breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes.
She covered her forehead and slowly woke up from the soft feather hammock.
"Awake?"
Janice, with her back to her, was painting in Isabel's bedroom. She said in a light tone, "How was your experience with this ceremony?"
Isabel turned around and saw a brilliant sunrise.
Above the sparkling lake, the rising red sun seemed to ignite the entire lake.
Below is red and gold, above is light blue and dark blue...
This strange and beautiful scene reminded Isabel of Mr. Fox's eyes when he resonated with the Path of Dedication.
"Well, why aren't you talking?"
After not hearing Isabel's response for a long time, Janice turned around curiously and jokingly said, "Did you fail to advance?"
"...No, it worked." Isabel said in a low voice.
"It actually worked?" Janice asked in surprise.
"Teacher Janice, why are you so surprised?"
"Because I did consider the possibility that you might fail in your advancement."
Janice casually twirled the paintbrush in her hand and tilted her head: "Why, you don't blame me for not telling you about the various precautions in the ceremony in advance?"
"...It's okay. Failure is also a kind of experience."
Isabel whispered.
"Oh."
The elf artist laughed, walked over and tapped Isabelle gently: "You're obviously saying bad things about me in your heart, you little fool."
Seeing this, Isabel stopped pretending.
She came over with a feeling of grievance: "Teacher, I think you still need to teach me some common sense. Otherwise, there's no point in failing unprepared... I've failed plenty of times."
This was essentially what Sherlock had said to her earlier, and now she was repeating it directly.
"Did someone teach you this?"
But Janice easily saw through the truth.
“…Huh? What are you—”
"Given your personality, you won't be so fluent or precise when speaking 'your own words.' You'll hesitate in your own judgment. As you just said—you've failed so many times. To the point where you lack confidence."
Janice sighed, leaned over and touched Isabel's hair: "Then do you know why I don't want you to succeed in one go?"
"……Why?"
"Because the advancement ceremony will fail sooner or later."
Janice patiently replied, "Whether it's a New Moon Ceremony or a Full Moon Ceremony, its essence is competition with others. The difference is simply direct or indirect competition. Since it's competition with others, there will always be winners and losers. Some people may always fail, but no one can always win.
"If you keep winning, the pressure will accumulate. That's why your first failure is actually a valuable opportunity. It can help you balance your mentality and stop being nervous."
“Why is failure an opportunity?”
Isabel pressed on stubbornly, "I want to win more."
Janice touched her hair silently and pinched her soft cheek lovingly.
The elf said seriously, "It's very simple, little Isa. Failing the first time you advance won't cause you any harm. It only takes time—you can participate in the ceremony again after half a month or a month. In other words, if you fail this time, you can still participate in the New Moon Ceremony again and experience real competition. Then, you can go back and do the Full Moon Ceremony and gain experience."
"You were deceived and defeated during the ritual. You were tricked into revealing your true identity and used like a prop—yes, these are indeed 'failures.'
"But at the same time, it's just a dream. Even if they knew your true identity, what would they do? You are the Princess of Avalon. What else can they do? This is your greatest strength, Isa. They can't do anything to you. Your failure is just a failure. It won't cause any irrecoverable actual losses.
"In a place where no one knows you, people won't care about your identity and won't show you any mercy. There's only brutal competition, survival, deception, betrayal... This will undoubtedly make you grow rapidly.
"You only need to pay the price of 'time' and participate in a few more ceremonies. You, a well-protected and noble princess, can be exposed to the undisguised malice of the people while ensuring your own safety. In my opinion, this is more valuable than the advancement ceremony itself."
Janice spoke a truth she hadn't previously said: "It's unfair to compete fairly against others who are prepared without knowledge or understanding. But the reality is often the same...you will be ambushed by those who are prepared when you are least prepared."
"...If that's the case," Isabel said in a panic, "Did I do something wrong by successfully advancing? If so, I won't be able to fail again next time, because failure will come at a real cost..."
Janice blinked at this.
She was a little slow to react for a moment, then couldn't help laughing.
"My little Isa, how can you be so cute——"
As if hugging a puppy, Janice shouted at the top of her voice and hugged the soft Isabel tightly in her arms.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness and affirmation. "What are you talking about, my little cutie? The fact that you were able to advance successfully proves that you are indeed excellent.
"You've done well. As for the next ceremony... you don't have to worry.
"No matter what means you ultimately used to win, it means you're at least not the worst. You were able to win without knowing anything, so wouldn't you be able to do even better after I teach you seriously?"
Janice soothed her softly, "Don't talk about that, little Isa. What is the characteristic of the path you chose?"
Although she looked like a sister who was only three or four years older than Isabel, she was like an elder.
“…Speaking of which.”
Isabel grumbled softly in Janice's arms, "You didn't tell me what to choose. I hesitated for a long time, and finally chose 'Singing Voice'."
"Increase the difficulty of chanting the magic song? That's fine too. You're a jack of all trades, so you can choose whatever you want. It's beautiful to follow your heart."
Janice raised her eyebrows. "Sure enough, you sang in your dream this time, didn't you? I thought you wouldn't even be able to find your teammates."
"That's still not the case—"
Isabel said stubbornly, "I can find my teammates. I found them right from the start!"
“Okay, okay…”
Janice smiled and tilted her head to look at Isabel. "How about I draw a picture for you to commemorate your first victory in the ceremony?
"Just the way you look now, the way you look—lazy, surprised, shy, just waking up, with a hint of confidence rising quietly like the morning light, and a cute little timidity..."
"……teacher!"
Suddenly, Isabel interrupted Janice: "I have one more thing!"
There was a hint of astonishment in Janice's pupils.
She couldn't help but smile: "What's wrong, my little cutie?"
Although she was happy that her student had gained confidence... she never imagined that Isabelle would progress to the point where she had the courage to interrupt herself after just one ceremony.
She became more and more curious about what Isabel had experienced.
But she respected Isabel. If Isabel didn't ask, she wouldn't ask - because she knew that if she asked, her good student would definitely tell her.
This wasn't good. It felt like I was using my teacher's authority to force her to reveal her secrets, and it lost the beauty of naturalness and tacit understanding.
"I remember, teacher, you said before... that you hope to invite Mr. Aiwass to the Temple of Silver and Tin."
Isabel couldn't wait to whisper: "Can we invite him earlier?
"I want to see what he's like now as soon as possible... and talk to him."
She had just held the baby Aiwass for four hours, and now she felt no fear of coming into contact with the real Aiwass. If she had been "a little bit excited" before, now she was "impatient".
The fear and alienation that one feels when making first contact with any stranger had completely dissipated in the previous four hours.
Thinking of this, she actually wanted to see Aiwass as soon as possible. It was like seeing a character from a story appear in real life. It was a wonderful feeling.
The strange situation where one is familiar with the other person but the other person does not know one gives Isabel a rare sense of security, which is exactly what she lacks in her daily life.
When Isabel sees Mr. Aiwass, she will whisper in her heart:
——Sister, I used to be your mother and sang lullabies to you!
I can only say it in my heart, because saying it out loud would make people feel impolite. But even just doing this will definitely make me laugh secretly in my heart.
That would be fun!
Hearing this, Janice raised her eyebrows with interest but remained silent.
(End of this chapter)
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