Chapter 32
The calls of men and women mixed with a few sobs were quite creepy in this silent night. The old but strong gatekeeper looked at that...group of people with a complicated expression.
Common people have a stereotype that all nobles are indifferent, arrogant and cold.
It cannot be said that they are prejudiced. The gatekeeper has seen many nobles. Even if some of them do not have high status, they will put on airs and stick to their common standards of words and deeds when communicating with others. But at this moment... the gatekeeper has also broadened his horizons.
Everyone in the royal city had heard of the existence of the Duke of Lancaster, but no one would have thought that they were such nobles!
The gatekeeper seemed to suddenly understand why the man in the palace treated this family so favorably—which monarch wouldn’t like a simple-minded, wealthy thug?
On the other side, the short Elphis, who was squeezed in the middle by a group of tall people, felt that he was about to be squeezed into a meat pie! Several sword masters, don’t you know your own strength? ? ?
Afraid that he would suffocate by the time they calmed down, the boy finally broke the sensational scene awkwardly.
"Um...you guys are squeezing me, can you please let go?"
The moment the young man finished speaking, Tai Lung raised his powerful arm and pushed away everyone except his wife, "You are squeezing my son!"
Cynthia frowned and pushed Terran away: "Stay away from us."
The tall man opened his eyes like a pitiful puppy: "Honey, are you still angry with me?"
Elphis: "..." You guys chat, I'll go first?
He really wanted to leave. Not only was he embarrassed by the enthusiasm of these strangers, but most importantly, Elphis had already remembered who the woman in front of him was!
Isn't she the lady whom he had perfunctorily told three years ago that she and Winster were brothers? !
There were still obvious traces of tears on Cynthia's face, but this did not diminish the woman's cold and stunning temperament. She held her son's guilty face with both hands and examined it carefully to make sure she was not mistaken. Then the woman narrowed her eyes and spoke with a slightly chilly tone -
"What happened to your hair three years ago?"
The boy's eyes drifted away, and he said weakly: "It's dyed...with four-color flowers."
Cynthia was really angry and happy. With her previous violent temper, she would have taken action to deal with the person long ago. However, since she had neglected to protect the treasure, which had just been recovered, how could she bring herself to do that?
The woman glared at the boy sternly, then hugged her son who had finally been found.
Elphis had a strong premonition that this mother's temper seemed difficult to provoke. When she had had enough of him, it would be time for her to clean herself up...
Several people around asked, "What happened three years ago?"
Elphis, who was always calm and used to being in control of the situation, was unusually silent.
In fact, when he came, he still wanted to distance himself from the matter as much as possible, but after being hugged by this group of people while crying and laughing for a while, he just couldn't bear to speak, especially because he had a history of lying in that lady's mind, and she knew that she would not believe his lies again and would only accept the evidence.
When Cynthia was asked about this, she snorted heavily and told everyone about how she had run into her son three years ago and was fooled.
Everyone looked at Elphis in disbelief. They really couldn't understand why this kid would dye his hair for no reason. It seemed that he was deliberately misleading Cynthia not to doubt his identity.
The truth could not be told, and it was difficult to come up with a good excuse, so Elphis remained silent.
The boy was wearing a thin, plain beige pajamas. He lowered his head and held the hem of his clothes with both hands, looking restrained and at a loss.
When the child was just found, everyone's hearts were filled with love and pity. When they saw him like this, they immediately felt sorry for him and started introducing themselves to the child in an effort to get closer to him.
What made Elphis feel a little relieved was that there were not many members in this family and their names were very short. If he concentrated fully, he could still remember all the names at once.
Tai Lun touched his son's little head and said, "It doesn't matter if you can't remember. Just ask us if you forget in the future. Everyone in my family has short names, so it's not too difficult to remember them."
The boy nodded stiffly, and then recalled that they had just hugged him and cried "Phil", and he felt that it was no coincidence that the family's names were so short...
"My name is Elphis." I have used it for more than ten years and I don't want to change it again.
"You can use any name you want, as long as the person comes back."
"Al is also easy to remember!"
"I remembered it immediately."
Elphis's mood was exactly the same as Cynthia's, complicated and indescribable...
Because the children insisted on not asking for leave and continued their classes after daybreak, and it was not convenient for the parents to directly take the children home and make arrangements, the group stood here and talked for a while.
(The gatekeeper lying on the wall: eavesdropping on the secrets of the nobles openly)
According to Elphis's new aunt, although his father had no other advantages except his talent in swordsmanship, he still had many suitors due to his good family background. Among them, Winnie, a magic genius from a declining family, was the most persistent. Unfortunately, not only did his father not have the heart to pursue her, but after being pestered for too long, he just wanted to draw his sword.
Later, Tyron fell in love with Cynthia at first sight and soon began to pursue her vigorously.
Seeing that her love rival was just a commoner, Winnie was not willing to accept this. She pestered Tyron and mocked Cynthia behind his back, adding more obstacles to Tyron's already difficult journey to pursue his wife!
Elphis's father became impatient and gave the man a beating, and the other party finally stopped.
Everyone thought that this bad love affair was finally over, until many years later, when Cynthia brought her son back to her hometown to meet her parents, and Winnie found an opportunity to steal the sleeping baby in the house.
What's even more cruel is that after she was captured alive, the Lancaster family asked the Archbishop of Light of the Holy See to cast an "evil purification" spell, which is actually similar to hypnosis in nature, and the results of the interrogation are highly credible.
But when they asked about the whereabouts of their children, the only answer they got was a river. As for the children?
——His whereabouts are unknown, and it is unknown whether he is alive or dead.
Everyone can see that Winnie may not like Terran very much. She has been coaxed and pampered by her family since she was a child. She has good looks and talents and has no shortage of suitors, which has developed a personality that does not like to be rejected.
Her entanglement with Terran was mostly due to her desire to conquer and his family background. She lost to Cynthia, whom she looked down upon, which made her feel jealous and resentful. Coupled with her paranoid nature, she did such a vicious thing to take revenge on the couple who made her unhappy.
Elphis sighed repeatedly after hearing this. It is true that it is better to have an enemy as cunning as a fox than to provoke a madman.
As for his parents, Cynthia blamed Terran for not handling the bad love affair well, and hated herself for being negligent and having her child stolen. She was too ashamed to face her family again, so after dealing with Winnie, she left alone to find her child. Of course, with Cynthia's personality, she would not analyze other people's thoughts.
As for Tailun, he had been away from home for many years, looking for a wife and a son.
The boy was hugged and pulled by several people to chat for a long time. He was not used to such close contact, but was too embarrassed to say anything. It was not until his body, which had not had enough rest, showed a signal of fatigue and he yawned a little that everyone reluctantly let him go back to the dormitory to sleep.
Linton pushed aside his family members and was about to send his brother back, but Elphis turned around and walked out of the encirclement, "Don't bother you, I can go back to the dormitory by myself." He was afraid that the strong wind would blow away his sleepiness.
Linton was feeling sad that his brother was being polite to him, when he saw the young man with wings of light on his back, taking off lightly and flying over the closed door with an elegant posture, and every flying hair was full of style... Oh, it turned out that he was not being polite, but showing disdain.
Kelly's eyes were filled with admiration. "As soon as my brother was born, I knew he was different from the other boys in our family! As expected..." He looks very impressive at first glance!
The appearance of his new family members made Elphis feel more difficult than the Holy See. Only simple things like learning and practicing could make him ignore these troubles temporarily, oh, and sleeping.
That night, Elphis was the only one who could sleep in the whole family. The others listened with great interest to Linton and Kelly talking about his outstanding deeds in Lise Town and the academy. If Elphis heard how his two brothers and sisters praised him, he would definitely be so embarrassed that he would knock out a magic fairy castle!
Since the recognition of relatives was successful, the next day, when Linton was not teaching students, he followed his brother openly. His strange look made the passing students who didn't know the inside story look at Elphis with sympathy - has he been entangled by a pervert?
This misunderstanding did not last long. The Lancaster family told everyone they met that they had found their missing child. With such a big deal, some prestigious families in the royal city quickly got the news and informed their own children who were still studying in Aurelion, reminding them that even if they could not establish good relationships, they should not offend others.
The students in Class 1 had just recently accepted the reality that they were outclassed by Elphis in terms of both grades and magic skills. Now, the other party had added a Duke's background to his status as a candidate for the Church. The poor children couldn't stand this stimulation and were all shocked!!
Fortunately, teacher Linton was not in the dormitory when Eugene came to deliver the meal.
He had been trembling with fear since he received the news last night, fearing that the family would hear how he usually spoke to Elphis and then come to deal with him!
It’s no wonder that he is timid. The Lancaster family relies on His Majesty’s favor and is truly the overlord of the royal city!
They are usually quite reasonable, but if you accidentally provoke them, they don’t care who you are and will beat you up first before doing anything else!
The sturdy young man who usually acted arrogant even when delivering food, this time, put his legs together, sat obediently, and asked the silver-haired boy opposite him with tears in his eyes -
"Do you have any surprises that I don't know about?"
Elphis paused chewing and said, "No more."
There is nothing else except that you not only bring me food but also money every day. But this is not important, so I won’t talk about it.
In the eyes of the students, Elphis was top-notch in terms of talent, strength, family background and appearance. He was also not arrogant or overbearing, so he was respected by the children of the nobility and was also loved by the common people.
People in other classes were not familiar with him, but in Class 1, even though Elphis was still lukewarm towards everyone, he was showing signs of becoming the leader.
——
"Al, are you going to the tower too? The teacher hasn't congratulated you on reuniting with your family before. How have you been these past few days? Is Linton a bit annoying?"
Eli ran into Elphis on the road and exchanged a few friendly jokes with him.
The boy smiled and said, "My family is very nice to me, but Brother Linton is a bit noisy. Maybe the teacher can help him apply to teach more classes."
The road ahead was not long, and the two parted ways after chatting for a while.
Eli turned around and squinted his eyes at the young man's back - why doesn't the little guy look very happy? That's the Lancaster family...
Many people in the royal city knew that Her Majesty favored this family, but few people knew that the Lancaster family's position in her heart was probably even greater than her own family...
Eli knew some secrets. His Majesty's success in taking power was inseparable from the help of the Lancaster family. Even now, the two sides still have a close relationship and there is real affection between them...
I just don't know whether His Majesty will isolate Ai'er from the competition out of love, or will use this closeness to help him win the position of the Holy Son...
The Vatican did not react much to matters related to Elphis and the Duke's Palace.
Bishop Edgar was simply happy for him, and Abner seemed to have the same attitude as before. However, there were two archbishops of noble birth who took the initiative to visit Elphis at his residence for the first time to show their concern when Elphis returned to the Vatican again. This made Elphis very confused. He had already risen to the position of archbishop. It could be said that if he did not cause any major trouble, he would be independent of the powerful class and have an extraordinary status. Why did they still care about his identity even in this situation?
It was unclear what the other people in the Vatican thought. Elphis hadn't seen them for a long time, but he was also happy that others didn't come to see him.
——
After the recognition, life was uneventful. Fulfilling and smooth days often passed quickly. A few months passed, Elphis had gained a lot, and Aurelion was about to take a long vacation.
After strongly refusing the company of several family members, Elphis embarked on the journey back home.
The world is vast, and he has never had the opportunity to travel around, so he will not stay in Lise Town for the entire holiday. He just came back to see if Grandpa Kavin was doing well and whether everyone had encountered any difficulties. In a few days, he will go traveling and gain some experience.
The pride of the town was back, and the boy was naturally welcomed warmly.
Elphis chatted with everyone in the tavern for a long time, and used large-scale healing techniques to cure some of their minor illnesses and pains. Ensuring that the workers at his planting base were healthy both physically and mentally was also one of the purposes of returning home.
It was not until night fell and the whole town fell into a deep sleep that Elphis had time to go to the small cave.
There was no need to search, the boy holding the lantern found out as soon as he entered that the box he had left behind half a year ago was gone.
Was it taken away by a kid who came in to play? Or...
Elphis believed that it was Winster who came back and took away the small wooden box that was specially left for him. After all, apart from that child, who else would be so meticulous as to clean a wild cave so cleanly?
He didn't know how much importance this place, where he had only lived for more than a year, held in Winster's heart. He just thought, what if Winster regarded Lisai Town as his home and would come back to take a look...
With this idea in mind, Elphis hid some money here, thinking that the child would definitely hide here when he came back. Regardless of whether he was willing to see them or not, he could just take the money and use it to buy clothes and food.
After confirming that the things were taken away, Elphis finally put down the worry that had been on his mind all the way. He walked back slowly, thinking that he had mentioned his talent and whereabouts in the letter, and asked the child to go to the hotel in the royal city to send a message to find him if he had the chance. He didn't know if he would come...
If I can't wait any longer... Elphis thought, then I can just give up this younger brother.
I didn't even bother to leave him a letter to let him know about my recent situation. What a heartless person.
Lying on the wooden bed where he had slept for more than ten years, the young man, who had returned from a three-day journey and had been dragged to chat for half a day, soon fell into drowsiness.
But inspiration always comes without any hesitation, it doesn’t matter when.
The young man suddenly opened his eyes, and thought of a tiny possibility. He immediately dragged his tired body up from the bed, walked to a corner of the room where a low cabinet was placed in his straw sandals, moved the cabinet open, and pried up a stone slab -
As expected, something was placed in this small pit that had existed for many years.
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