Chapter 2209: The Temporarily Concluded Story

Chapter 2209: Chapter 2209: The Temporarily Concluded Story

"Protect His Majesty!"

The strange spiderweb-like crack in the sky was growing larger, and the Royal Maids on the deck of the Wydon Ship immediately gathered around. However, Miss Violet simply waved her sleeve and made them retreat:

"Do I still need your protection?"

She took a step forward, and then everyone on the deck moved to the bow for a closer look at the abnormal spatial phenomenon in the sky. Meanwhile, the witch’s alchemy warship’s cannons began adjusting their direction towards the sky, with the glimmer of various rituals painting the azure sky in a spectrum of colors.

After a series of peculiar and cringe-inducing noises, the sky finally shattered into a black hole as if hit by something enormous. A wounded, glowing silver dragon then emerged from the hole, clutching a "small boat".

They moved at a lightning speed, yet upon exiting the hole, they seemed to lose power and began to fall. The dragon attempted to flap its wings to counteract the fall, but it wobbled unsteadily for less than five seconds before plummeting towards the sea along with the boat.

"This dragon is really..."

Miss Violet heard her maid whisper softly:

"So beautiful!"

"Indeed, very beautiful."

The Witch Empress also praised the dragon, matching her aesthetic sense, and laughed as she took another step forward. Without needing Helena’s intervention, the maids instinctively raised their hands to control the falling ship and the heavily injured silver dragon so that they descended gently like feathers from the sky, landing smoothly right in front of the "Wydon King’s Ship".

"Teacher!"

After the Radiant Messenger came to a steady halt on the water, Miss Teresa on the deck waved her hand and shouted excitedly. She still remembered she couldn’t call her "Aunt" in front of others, only "Teacher".

Maid Miss Maxim, seeing her master, immediately bowed respectfully from a distance. Professor Ivins, on the other hand, surveyed the scene and let out a long breath once he confirmed this wasn’t an illusionary realm:

"I didn’t expect to experience something like this before retirement."

He then first respectfully greeted Miss Violet before waving at the old professor behind the Witch Empress.

Having never seen so many witches at once, Miss Eles instinctively concealed her form. However, not many paid attention to her, as all eyes were on the dragon lying on the water’s surface.

The silver great dragon’s head faced right towards the bow of the "Wydon King’s Ship". Shard, exhausted, opened his eyes and immediately saw the familiar Witch Empress gazing at him.

Miss Violet raised her hand, casting a spell to prevent the surrounding sounds from escaping. Then she alone continued forward, standing at the edge of the deck, her trembling hand reaching over the railing to touch the scales on the dragon’s head:

"Shard, you’ve appeared again."

"I’m curious how you recognized me."

The dragon’s weak voice spoke, and the woman with pursed lips, filled with nostalgia, pointed toward the top of the dragon’s head:

"I recognized your cat. I didn’t expect you would allow your pet to stand on your head."

"What? Oh, Mia!"

Even in fine weather, the dragon’s body was adorned with dazzling silver light, now even brighter under the silver moonlight. Amid that light, those witnessing the scene gasped in surprise because the dragon vanished, and two cats, one silver and one orange, descended from the sky, caught by the laughing Miss Violet.

The wind tousled her long hair, the smile on her delicate face growing gentler. She lowered her head, asking:

"Is this your reward for our long-awaited reunion? I didn’t expect your transformation spell to be so impressive. I knew that someone as beautiful as you, whether transformed into a cat or a dragon, would be very beautiful... Speaking of which, is there an issue with your dragon transformation spell? Do you need my help?"

She could indeed see the uncontrollable nature of Shard’s transformation spell. However, while in her arms, sniffing the captivating scent of perfume, Shard, pushing away the playful Mia, had no time left.

The mission given by Tree Father was finally nearing the end point. All four fishing attempts were complete, and those lost in the Sea of Darkness had rediscovered themselves. As white mist began to rise around Shard, he was in no hurry to transform Mia back into a toy, for past experiences showed that when the time came, Mia would also be expelled from this time which didn’t belong to her.

"The transformation spell isn’t a big problem, I’ve found a solution."

The silver cat stood up earnestly in her arms, gazing into her worried eyes:

"I’m really sorry, I have to leave again so soon after our meeting."

"Why apologize to me? It’s my inability to keep you."

The Witch Empress said, gently kissing the cat on the forehead:

"Though I’m not quite sure what you all went through, thanks to you, Teresa was saved this time. Otherwise, who knows what trouble that worrying girl would’ve caused. Return to your time and rest well. We will meet again."

She spoke the lines Shard usually said, smiling as she watched the silver cat push away the approaching orange cat.

"Then, farewell."

The three witches on the "Radiant Messenger" then came aboard here. Although they hadn’t seen Shard in his cat form, they recognized him immediately, as this cat was excessively beautiful:

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Mr. Hamilton."

The Professor and Maid said, while Miss Teresa looked at Shard in silence. Considering her aunt was present and she had already kissed his human form just now, she also spoke softly:

"See you next time, Shard."

The white mist had grown so thick that Shard’s vision was affected. Shard had thought Miss Eles wouldn’t appear, yet now she was also beside the Witch Empress.

Ignoring Miss Violet’s surprise, she finally summoned the courage to ask the cat:

"Can I have a kiss?"

She pointed to her left cheek, prompting Miss Violet to smile, Miss Teresa to pout slightly, Professor Ivins to feel somewhat gratified, while Miss Maxim showed no expression. The silver cat intended to take the chance for a last leap, but the orange cat seized its tail instead.

Both cats jumped almost simultaneously and in the next moment vanished into Miss Violet’s embrace.

"He’s... gone."

Miss Eles showed a wistful expression, looking down and sighing. Although Miss Violet didn’t know who the beautiful girl in front of her was, she still cheerfully said:

"Sometimes life is like that, just hesitating for a second can make you miss a lot of things."

The blue-eyed girl gently nodded, gazing again at the calm sea.

She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. Though long-desired "life" and "freedom" were now in her grasp, she felt more lost and melancholic than ever.

"Will I see him again?"

She asked softly again, and Miss Violet and Miss Teresa also looked toward the calm sea:

"You certainly will."

(Iluna praying...)

"Oh, Mia!"

In the mist-filled space, Shard caught the cat that fell onto him as he landed, then asked it with a stern tone:

"Who let you transform back on your own? Didn’t you know it was very dangerous just now?"

He didn’t blame Mia for attempting anything untoward towards his cat form, but blamed the cat for transforming back in such a risky place. In truth, Shard wasn’t sure whether the cat’s transformation happened before or after the Deity detonated the Light Orb that saved them.

But regardless, such behavior from the cat is definitely not to be encouraged, otherwise, it would dare do so again in the future:

"I’ll never bring you to past times again."

He said to the ginger and white cat standing on his palm. The cat’s amber eyes looked at him, and from its "innocent" gaze, Shard knew it hadn’t understood at all.

"Honestly."

Quickly patting Mia’s head, Shard finally placed it on his shoulder, with Mia purring gently. Then Shard looked at his own hands, noting that upon returning from the past, he had restored to his human form. This indicated that from Tree Father’s perspective, the irreversible Transformation Spell was considered an "injury" to Shard:

"Luckily, I saved a dose of Magic Potion. Emilia gave me only three, I used one last time, so I can’t waste the remaining two."

Looking ahead, ssh~ ssh~ ssh~, in the windless space, the illusory ancient tree connecting heaven and earth rustled its leaves. The ancient tree recorded the stories of time, with every leaf singing the song of time.

Gazing at the tree, Shard cupped his hands together and reached upwards. Within the continually rustling tree crown, two verdant leaves wobbled down, landing right into Shard’s hands.

The curious cat immediately went to see but, recognizing the leaf as something seen before, instantly lost interest.

Storing the leaves away, Shard found himself still carrying something unexpected. Two rolled-up canvases were positioned diagonally in his coat pocket; and of course, Shard knew what they were:

"The painting of the Dragon and the Ship?"

Indeed, this was the best souvenir from this journey, and while usually sentimental at such times, Shard felt not the least bit forlorn this time:

"So that’s how Miss Eles was born... Tomorrow is Saturday, I’ll go see her again."

In truth, there was some regret for not offering that kiss before leaving, but then he recalled something else:

"Yesterday at the cemetery, she asked for that left cheek kiss, but I refused, and she said I owed her two... so that’s what it meant."

With a smile on his face, Shard held the restless cat in his arms, nodded lightly toward the illusory great tree before him, and then turned to walk deeper into the dense mist.