The room inside the Puppet God’s head was vast. In the past five thousand years, likely only the Faceless God had ever visited this place. Naturally, everything here should belong to him. Yet… a woman’s dress?
Resha and Salome stared at the dress, speechless. Guni squatted on the ground, looking at it. Suddenly, she let out a puzzled sound. “Eh?”
“What is it?” Resha asked.
“This dress. I think I’ve seen it before… Sister Debbie wore it,” Guni explained.
Hearing Guni say this, Resha and Salome also recalled something. Yes, Debbie did have a dress like this. However, as the young lady of the Anduin family and now the empire’s queen, Debbie had the standard luxurious style of a noble miss in her attire. She rarely wore a dress more than once. Even when adventuring with Ye Chui’s group, her clothes were the most flamboyant.
It was not strange for someone else to have a similar dress. But… Resha and Xilesi thought of another odd thing. This dress was in the unique style of the Tidal Empire. The tassels, pendants, and lace were all Tidal Empire fashion. It should only be popular there. Even if the Faceless God wanted to wear dresses, he could not leave the Puppet Graveyard. How could he possess such a dress?
“There are other clothes here…” Resha tossed the dress aside and began rummaging through the cabinet. “These are all girls’ clothes!”
“Sister Debbie has this one too!” Guni discovered something else in the pile and shouted loudly.
“This one Debbie wore too…” Xilesi said curiously.
For a moment, they looked at each other. Some clothes in the cabinet were completely unfamiliar to them, with styles not even resembling Tidal Empire fashion. But many pieces seemed like Debbie’s clothes. These clothes were also very new. Fashion on the Kastela Continent did not change as rapidly as in Ye Chui’s previous world, where trends shifted every few years. Still, clothes from a few years ago were easily distinguishable from current ones. The clothes in the cabinet were definitely from recent years!
“Debbie couldn’t have been here. These clothes don’t belong to the Faceless God either…” Resha concluded. She glanced back at the Faceless God slumped in the chair. His body was gaunt and tall. Upon closer thought, even if he had some strange hobby, he absolutely could not fit into the clothes here. Then there was only one answer. Resha’s eyes instinctively scanned the surroundings.
“Could someone else have lived here before? A girl with a similar build to Debbie!?” she guessed. Her gaze soon spotted something in the empty vast room. “There’s something over there!”
When the group first entered, their attention had been completely focused on the chair in the centre and the light screens showing outside scenes. They had not noticed other items scattered in the corners of this spacious room. Besides the cabinet Guni and Salome found, there were bedding for sleeping in other corners, a small table.
On the table were even knives, forks, bowls, plates, a kettle, and crystal glasses. This looked just like a living quarters.
Resha, Xilesi, Guni, and Salome could not help feeling chills down their spines. When Resha bent down to pick up the crystal glass, that eerie feeling intensified. Her face showed utter shock.
“What’s wrong?” Xilesi flicked her golden long hair and asked curiously.
“The water in the glass… it’s warm!” Resha said in surprise. She reached towards the kettle, lightly touched it, then withdrew her hand. “The water in the kettle is hot too!”
Resha turned to look at the Faceless God slumped in the chair. Her expression shocked, she said, “The Faceless God seems to have been asleep for a long time. But the water here looks like it was just boiled and poured… This room can preserve time, or someone was just here!?”
“No, impossible…” Xilesi suddenly let out a shocked sound, taking the crystal glass with both hands.
“What is it?” Resha asked.
“This glass… this glass is mine!” Xilesi said incredulously. “I auctioned it at the Lyons Auction House in Star Imperial City. I remember clearly. It belonged to an ancient king’s consort. It cost me thirteen gold coins. The chubby little noble bidding against me wanted to raise the price further but stopped when he found out I was Ye Chui’s woman. I remember it very clearly!”
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“Ah, when did you become little brother’s woman…” Resha exclaimed in surprise.
Xilesi waved her hand. “You don’t know how useful this identity is. Don’t worry about the details… The point is this glass was mine. One day it suddenly disappeared. I thought a castle servant stole it. I was quite upset. But how did it end up here…”
Xilesi differed from the other girls around Ye Chui. Debbie and Resha were still girls, while Xilesi was already a woman. She enjoyed her current “noble lady” status. In her free time, she liked visiting auction houses, coliseums, and other public places to show off, finding pleasure in it. She had little resistance to luxury items. This crystal glass was one of her former possessions. Now it appeared here?
“Are you sure?” Resha asked in surprise.
“This crystal glass has a chip here. It’s said to have been caused when that consort was executed by the empire’s queen in anger, smashing it on the ground. There couldn’t be a second with this exact chip, right?” Xilesi presented the evidence. “But how did my thing end up here…”
“This book!” Resha’s gaze suddenly fell on a book lying on the bedding nearby. She hurried over, picked it up, flipped a few pages, and stopped at the title page. It bore Resha’s name!
“This book is mine! Prince Geller gave it to me!”
“I remember it too. When we visited Prince Geller, you saw this book recording Ka!” Guni exclaimed.
“…He gave it to me. Guni, you misremembered,” Resha corrected quietly. The name on the book could not be forged. She looked at the cabinet. “So the clothes in the cabinet really are Debbie’s? There’s a thief who’s been stealing things from us all along and bringing them here? I clearly remember reading this book the night before we set off for the Tidal Empire… How did that thief do it?”
“That person… their identity must be extraordinary. Perhaps connected to the Gods Clan somehow… Always secretly following us?”
…
At this very moment, as Jarvis tried to release the soul magic array’s restrictions to let the Faceless God take over his…
It was a fine, sunny day. Autumn had arrived, the weather growing cooler. But today’s sunlight was abundant. The air was warm, even a bit hot. In the afternoon by the pool, the water was warm.
Splash.
A tall figure swam in the water. Tired from swimming, she climbed out, wiped the water from her body with a towel, stretched comfortably, and lay down on a lounge chair nearby.
In this world, pools, lounge chairs, and the skimpy swimsuit she wore were novel things likely only found at Ye Chui’s place. The girl had long black hair, somewhat wet and clinging to her fair skin. She picked up a glass of red fruit wine from the side table, took a comfortable sip. On the table were also neatly arranged fruits and a plate of snacks.
At that moment, sounds of arguing came from the castle. The undead head butler Dangini must have discovered missing fruits, snacks, and wine from the kitchen again and was scolding the servants.
The black-haired girl let out a pleasant laugh. She drained the fruit wine in her glass, stretched lazily on the lounge chair.
“My hard-found hiding spot has been discovered. Looks like I need a new place… I’ll have to restock my belongings. What a hassle. Hm, that Debbie has a similar build to me. This time, I’ll check the palace for something suitable.”
Under the warm sunlight, the girl closed her eyes, seemingly falling asleep. As the afternoon light gradually dimmed, a breeze blew, carrying fallen leaves. The girl’s figure had quietly vanished.
The next day,
