Chapter 1324

B80, who had been peeling grapes on the table, quietly turned to the side at some point and opened the pocket watch on its chest so Rita could see the time.

It was exactly 10 o'clock. There was a little over an hour left before she could leave.

Lynx Duke naturally noticed their small movements. She said calmly, "The way you entered here is special. If you want to leave, just use the same method you used to find me."

She didn't try to keep Rita.

As far as Lynx Duke was concerned, she had already learned everything she wanted to know.

Even within the Graveyard of Bones, she had heard the name BS Rita before. She had seen it often in Lightchaser's stories, and in the stories of certain gods.

And for Lynx Duke, there was no better way to understand someone than through a fairy tale.

Silence fell between them.

When Rita first met Lynx Duke, she had considered asking her for advice. But after going through that fairy tale and hearing Lynx Duke's explanation, she no longer wanted to ask.

Other people's stories had no reference value.

No one had walked her path before. Why turn back halfway just to ask about the past?

Lynx Duke suddenly asked, "About Starsea, don't you want my opinion?"

Rita shook her head. "You already gave it to me."

"What?"

"Kindness, justice, courage, optimism, sacrifice… those aren't fairy tales. A good ending is the essence of one."

Byme, QM Foolishness, Lynx Duke…

The ones buried here had all achieved the ending they wanted.

Byme wanted the Deceitful Bloom she believed in to live. QM Foolishness wanted to create meaning for her existence.

Starsea wasn't their ideal. Their stories were written elsewhere.

As for Lynx Duke…

Rita looked at her, a faint smile still resting on her lips. "The moment I appeared before you, the story called Starsea Lynx Duke was completed in your heart, right?"

A being who names a fairy tale after herself would never treat someone else's glory as her own story. What she wanted was simply the final echo of that past tale.

Just like that final line—

"Many years later, a being carrying a lantern entered her Graveyard of Bones."

A beautiful ending filled with endless possibilities and imagination.

Perhaps Wrathful Moon wasn't glowing for her own story. The moment she met Lynx Duke, it had already lit up. It was shining for that fairy tale.

Lynx Duke looked at the faint glow at Rita's brow, the smile in her eyes growing clearer. No wonder Lightchaser and Wrathful Moon were drawn to her.

Half-jokingly, she said, "Call me teacher, and I'll tell you where the King appears most often."

Rita shook her head seriously. "I already have enough teachers. I can't add more."

Besides, instead of wandering around blindly, she'd rather figure out the secret of Cat's Ideal.

Lynx Duke: ???

Lightchaser hadn't mentioned this.

Her smile remained as she asked gently, "How many teachers do you have?"

Rita looked at her suspiciously, shifting uneasily in her seat as a certain distant memory surfaced. But Lynx Duke wasn't her teacher… surely she wouldn't take over that role too…

Lynx Duke folded her hands over her knees and said warmly, "I'm just curious. It might make good material for a fairy tale. After being buried here, imagination is all I have."

This elf was completely different from Lightchaser. It felt like Wrathful Moon had been split in two—

The irritable part belonged to the teenage Lightchaser.

The moon belonged to the Lynx Duke before her.

Thinking about how she had gained a skill from the fairy tale and also received an upgrade for Wrathful Moon, Rita didn't feel like being evasive over such a simple question.

"Apache, Lightchaser, Cinders… Foolishness and Deceitful Bloom count as half each, and QM Rita is half too, since she didn't exactly volunteer… so, four and a half."

For a moment, even Lynx Duke's irritation froze.

Curious, she asked, "Why do Foolishness and Deceitful Bloom only count as half?"

Rita: "…It's a long story."

Lynx Duke said firmly, "Then tell it. Your smartest choice is to finish before my revival ends."

In an instant, pages of storybooks appeared all around them. Countless pages, each filled with densely written fairy tales.

From the corner of her eye, Rita even glimpsed one titled Brilliant Imagination, but it was immediately covered by another page.

She looked at Lynx Duke helplessly, knowing she was annoyed now. A bit guilty, she muttered, "Lightchaser doesn't get mad about this." Lightchaser was already beyond mad.

Lynx Duke nodded slightly, almost like a polite acknowledgment. "Then she must already be full of anger."

Rita: "…"

Giving up, she said, "In Divine Instruction, I was assigned to Foolishness. She did teach me properly, but it wasn't a formal mentorship, so she's only half."

Lynx Duke didn't comment on that standard. From what Lightchaser had told her, she had thought highly of Rita. Not everyone could forgive such a rough teaching style. She had considered Rita broad-minded.

But now it seemed that at times, Rita could be extremely stubborn and even harsh. She clearly cared a lot about whether someone's help was voluntary, genuine, and selfless.

That only made Lynx Duke more curious about Deceitful Bloom. Foolishness's case was simple, so the "long story" clearly lay elsewhere.

"And Deceitful Bloom?"

Rita pointed at the page titled Brilliant Imagination. "Is that Lightchaser's fairy tale? If you give me a copy to take with me, I'll tell you."

Lynx Duke snapped her fingers. A page appeared in front of Rita, folded itself neatly, and slipped into her collar. "Speak."

Rita quickly summarized her complicated history with Deceitful Bloom. The more she talked, the more annoyed she sounded, repeating, "I really don't understand!" so often it practically became punctuation.

Even so, Lynx Duke could tell there wasn't much real confusion in her tone.

"Not strange at all," Lynx Duke said, clearly amused. Her gaze drifted to one of the story pages. "She can't stand a life where nothing happens. Peaceful days, peaceful relationships… to her, they're like flowers without fragrance."