Chapter 179: Love
As they started walking, Destiny Lady also descended from the sky and landed in front of them.
Meanwhile, commoners, a group of leather armored soldiers, and even Storm Wizard Hudson and his mage squad started to follow Charles's group.
"What do you want?" Without minding the stalking group, Charles sized her up and down and asked.
"Mr. Oswald, I came here to give a proposal." Destiny Lady adjusted her red robe and spoke calmly.
"Proposal?"
"Yes, I heard a piece of news that Churches forbids any Rank-4 or Rank-5 mage from participating in the successor mission." Destiny Lady said.
Meanwhile, Charles smiled lightly and continued to walk.
He had long known about this news, but he didn't put much thought into it.
In truth, he was planning to finish this mission using Charles's identity.
"How are you going to let Rhea complete the mission?" Destiny Lady wore a startled look as she took a step back and asked before tagging along.
"Why should I tell you?" Charles didn't even look at her face and retorted.
Meanwhile, Destiny Lady was at a loss for words.
Only then did she realize that she was now acting more like a kid.
She soon regained her calm look and spoke.
"I can help you-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Charles suddenly paused for a moment and cut her off.
"I don't need your help, lass."
An awkward smile appeared on Destiny Lady's face.
At that moment, Charles turned his head and stared at her with a deep look on his face.
"You are still after Charles, aren't you?" His tone turned cold as ice.
Meanwhile, Destiny Lady's heart sank.
Although she was good at predicting others' fate, she was a terrible actor.
Charles saw through her inner thoughts within a few seconds!
Before he could say another word, Destiny Lady raised her hands and spoke with a serious look on her face.
"I need your grandson's help, Mr. Oswald."
This time, it was Charles's turn to be surprised.
"Why do you need Charles's help?" He couldn't hide his curiousness and asked.
"I'm searching for a certain individual for the past five decades, Mr. Oswald. But whenever I try to search for that person, the fate strings would severe on their own and completely disrupt my divination-" She suddenly paused for a moment as she noticed that the old man was actually frowning.
Before she could continue, Charles raised his hand, touched his chin, and spoke with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Not only that 'person' hid the information from his Inner World, but he also erased his presence from the world, huh… No, he most likely manipulated the fate strings and acted more like an invisible man… Hmm, that means the person is higher level than you… Most likely a [Deceitful Man] class Mystic."
Once he finished his words, Destiny Lady's face was filled with shock and confusion.
"How did you know that person is a male?" She couldn't help but ask.
A mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"Your age must be above 100, but you acted like a young girl when you talk about this person. In truth, you actually relaxed your guard more than three times and didn't even hide your emotions. Whenever you talk about him, your heart also started to beat abnormally faster. This happens when you talk about a person you love most." He deliberated for a moment and then added.
"It's not your parents or your siblings… The possibility of this person being your friend is also very slim… That left with one choice and that is your lover. Is it one-sided love? That is also possible. Then, loving the same gender is a taboo in this religious world, so that person is not 'She'."
Charles responded calmly.
At this moment, Destiny Lady was genuinely amazed by his analysis and tersely acknowledged his words.
"Yes, he is indeed a [Deceitful Man] class Mystic when he left. But a change occurred a few days ago. When I was doing normal divination, I saw that person… In that vision, I saw him shivering all over and he was staring at the dark sky filled with monstrous clouds and lightning. He sat on a small boat and appeared lean and weak. H-He is clearly dying. There were many wounds on his body and his brown hair appeared messier…" As she explained more about the vision, her voice turned softer and emotional.
At that moment, Charles felt that his head started to ache.
By the time she thoroughly described that vision, he heaved a deep sigh and asked.
"You deeply love him, aren't you?"
Destiny Lady's body trembled all over.
She slowed down her footsteps for a moment and soon nodded her head.
"Yes. Before he left, he told me to forget about him if he didn't return after a decade. But I couldn't." A complicated expression appeared on her face.
On the other hand, Charles frowned a bit and asked.
"What this has gotten to do with my grandson?"
Destiny Lady shook her head and spoke vaguely.
"I have no idea about it, Mister. But by the end of the vision, the surroundings turned blurry and showed your grandson's appearance to me."
At that moment, the Holem's Crown spoke in Charles's mind.
'A dying soul's last wish, huh. Even I encountered such vision through a dream when I lost my wife. Tell her to face the reality and move on.' Its tone contains a trace of sadness, pity, and grief.
'But why did I show up in her vision?' Charles still felt something was off about it.
'How would I know? Wait… Maybe her future is with you?' The Holem's Crown suddenly said something absurd, causing his lips to twitch.
'Impossible. I don't have any place for love in my heart.' Charles instantly refused to believe such nonsense.
'No, lad. You told me something about Love and Care emotions in one spell model, right? Why not love her and gain those emotions?' The Holem's Crown persisted.
'Love… That would turn into my weakness.' Charles shook his head inwardly and continued to walk.
But the Holem's Crown's following words caused Charles to stop his footsteps.
'You don't have to love her, lad. Create a second consciousness, put some love and care emotions into it and change that consciousness into a unique 'Charles.' Then, let it switch position with your original consciousness and let it interact with Destiny Lady for some time. If this method didn't work, you can just think of this incident as a simple play. But if this method succeeded, not only your success rate to Rank-up your main class would increase, but your incarnation would also achieve some breakthrough and might lead a normal life.'
Those words echoed more like a devil's tempting words in Charles's ears.
'But… Isn't it more like betraying my own self?' He felt somewhat affected by it.
'It's not betrayal, but giving a true life to your incarnation.' The artifact gave a better excuse.
'I will think about it.' Charles said.
