Chapter 3471: Fletcher's Bedtime Stories

Garlina of course saw that it was not Dorothy speaking on the stairs:

"Leixia, if I really said with a smile that I wanted to stay, I would like to see what you would do."

She retorted unceremoniously, and Xia De said:

"Alright, isn't the relationship between you two already better? Why are you still like this."

He opened his mouth to make the decision:

"Tonight is Dorothy and Leixia's teaching time, this will not change. Garlina, see you tomorrow evening. Leixia, apologize to your aunt, she didn't intend to stay, you shouldn't speak like that."

The blonde and blue-eyed girl pouted slightly, but still said:

"Alright then—Aunt, sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Good night, have a good dream."

The Duchess was very satisfied with Xia De's handling method:

"That's right. Good night to you too, Leixia. Then see you tomorrow night, Xia De."

She said, kissed Xia De again, and then opened the door and entered the carriage parked at their door by the maid ladies.

After the carriage went far away, Xia De closed the door. "Dorothy" also walked down from the high place of the stairs, explaining embarrassedly:

"My aunt and I are just used to bickering, we didn't mean to quarrel on purpose."

"I know, you are all good girls. I have known you for so long, look, there has never been any conflict in the house."

Xia De said and turned around. Leixia hugged Xia De from the front and said softly:

"Isn't that because of you? You don't look very active, but who in the family doesn't know that you are thinking about various things in your heart? If you really get angry, everyone will be afraid."

Xia De smiled:

"Why do you say that? When have you seen me get angry at you... The last time you and Dorothy used a relic for soul contact and almost had an accident doesn't count."

"That time was our fault, and didn't you also use your red thorn whip..."

After the cat at the high place urged "Meow~" impatiently, the two didn't continue to linger in the foyer. Leixia held Xia De's hand and walked up the stairs:

"Anyway, this home has always been stable, you are the most important reason. Hmm... Dorothy and I are really inconvenient tonight, why don't you call Garlina back? I'm not joking, I'm not uncomfortable letting her replace me, this is Garlina owing me a favor."

Xia De held her hand and continued to walk upstairs. The outsider was not corrupted by that mermaid, and he was not a lecher, he didn't seek to have something happen every night. With the young ladies' sincerity here, he could already enjoy his sleep.

【There are four hours left until midnight.】

"She" said suddenly, and Xia De immediately agreed in his heart:

"Yes, I haven't used that black key all winter... Wait a minute, you are telling me this now, are you mocking me for being hypocritical?"

"She" smiled gently, so Xia De felt that "she" was mocking him.

The lessons continued that night. Leixia and Dorothy still remembered the "Reading Salon" last week and the pseudo-humans they encountered at the salon, so they didn't arrange any outings this week.

After they returned to the study, they first summarized last week's reading salon, and then Dorothy asked Xia De to comment on the adaptations of "Snow White" by different young ladies in the reading salon, and find the version he liked the most and explain the reason.

Of course, the writer lady, whose sublimation words were aimed at "Snow White," didn't spend this week idly either. Although she didn't go to learn magic spells related to this fairy tale, she bought interesting relics from Old John:

"Look at this."

After commenting on the "800-word appreciation" written by Xia De, Dorothy moved the suitcase placed at her feet to the desktop. After Xia De took away little Mia who was sniffing around, what appeared in the box was a thin booklet.

"Hmm..."

Xia De hesitated:

"Dorothy, this wouldn't be the original version of the 'Snow White' fairy tale, would it?"

The writer lady shook her head with a smile:

"Of course not. The story of Snow White appeared at least in the early Fifth Era and soon became a well-known fairy tale. Therefore, many fairy tale collections of the Fifth Era have included this story. The book in front of you is a fairy tale book of the Fifth Era. Of course, it is now a relic."

"The whisper element is not strong."

"Yes, this is a poet-level relic—*Fletcher's Bedtime Stories*. The name 'Fletcher' is written on the title page of the book, which should be the name of a child according to speculation.

This book contains nine fairy tales in total and is a printed reading material. According to the book information, its printing time is 2380 of the Fifth Era. The nine fairy tales in the book were all very popular fairy tales at that time, and the grammar and words used in the book are relatively simple, so this is a book prepared for children."

"Then what are the specific characteristics?"

Dorothy then took the book out of the suitcase and placed it on the desktop, but didn't open it immediately:

"After flipping to different pages, there will be one of four voices: 'gentle woman', 'naive child', 'strong man', and 'aging old man', telling one of the nine fairy tales. When different voices tell the same story, although the direction of the story is consistent, the details of the story will have different changes.

The stories told by women are usually warm and very suitable as bedtime stories; the stories told by children are full of childlike interest, which is the fairy tale from the child's perspective; the stories told by men are realistic and rich in detail, making fairy tales like serious literature; the stories told by old people are always the most different from the original version, but they always summarize some truths."

Dorothy carefully placed the book on the desktop, but didn't open it immediately:

"Listening to these stories has a probability of obtaining magic related to the story, so the value of this relic is very high. I only borrowed it from Old John. It is said that this book belongs to the 【Apna Library】.

As for the negative characteristics, there is a very low probability that the fifth voice 'hoarse whisper' will appear. This voice tells the so-called dark fairy tale. Once it starts, it cannot be interrupted, which will bring very strong mental pollution to the people who hear the story. Ordinary people will probably go crazy if they hear it. Even if they didn't go crazy at the time, they would dream of the plot of the dark fairy tale every night for a few days, and then fall into madness."

"So, we are going to listen to those four different versions of the story to understand the different understandings of the story by people in the middle of the Fifth Era, right?"

But Dorothy shook her head:

"There are five versions. With your mental resistance, the mental pollution of this level of poet-level relic is not a problem at all. The stories we learned before were all positive and upward. Today, let's listen to what the dark version of Snow White tells."

"Dark fairy tales" are also an important topic among Ring Mages who study Enlightenment elements. The characteristic of such fairy tales is "darkness and cruelty," and sometimes the development of the story even abandons some logic for the sake of cruelty and darkness.

However, such stories can also accurately reflect the problems of the era in which the story appeared, as well as the twisted and perverted personality of the author.

Although the study of "dark fairy tales" is not mainstream, Ring Mages who obtain Enlightenment elements through stories will dabble in it to some extent.

It's just that Dorothy and Leixia belong to the type of girls who hate "dark fairy tales" very much. They believe that fairy tales themselves are beautiful, and deliberately distorting the beautiful and kind plots and characters in them to find so-called "truth" in darkness and cruelty is itself a mental illness and should seek hypnosis and drug treatment from Doctor Schneider.

Therefore, this time they were willing to let Xia De come into contact with "dark fairy tales," which Xia De regarded as a sacrifice made by the young ladies to help him. So he listened very seriously to the *Snow White* story told by various voices after Dorothy opened the book.

And to make the fifth voice appear, that is, to make this book slightly out of control, Dorothy also deliberately poured the prepared blood and the precious alchemy material "liquid pain" onto the book—the latter is a special substance that can only be produced by spirits, and it is the material closest to the soul after souls are strictly prohibited as alchemy materials in the current era. But even so, it took a full half hour for that low, hoarse whisper to finally appear successfully, telling a version of the story Xia De had never heard before.

"Meow~"

The appearance of the strange sound naturally attracted little Mia's attention. The cat immediately wanted to pounce on the book placed on the desk, and then was caught by Xia De and put on his lap.

The "dark" version of the *Snow White* story also began with the birth of Snow White. It's just that at the beginning of the story, that low, hoarse voice described in a strange tone, in great detail, a twisted and strange dark kingdom. The mental pollution that followed didn't have much impact on Xia De and Dorothy, but the content made them frown.

The story basically continued the dark and grotesque style Xia De expected. And before the story officially started, the low, hoarse voice also spent some space introducing the current situation of the entire kingdom.

If it were an ordinary story, it would probably use background stories to set the tone of the story as sad, happy, or sorrowful. But after listening to many details Xia De didn't want to recall, in the eyes of Xia De and Dorothy, the kingdom in the dark version of the story probably existed in the so-called demon's hell.

And after the background introduction finally ended, the story officially started. In the story, the general direction remained unchanged, that is, it continued the magic mirror Q&A, the princess entering the forest, the help of the dwarves, the queen's means, the poisoned apple, and the prince's situation. Xia De found that everyone in this story was a bad person, or rather, none of them were normal people in the general sense.

The king, the queen, and the dwarves all had their own different purposes, and even the princess and the prince had problems. ===== CHAPTER 3472 =====