Chapter 3656: Tears of True Love

"Do you know? Xia De, this question of yours makes me feel as if I have returned to half a century ago. Once, someone asked me the same question. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't tell others about this."

Professor Manning put down the teacup, leaned forward, placed his elbows on his legs, and looked at the fireplace with an expression of "I have a story." Xia De took this sentence as "favorability reached the standard," so he asked with a smile:

"Was the other party a girl?"

"Yes, at that time my age was slightly older than yours, and I was also seeking a meager income job at a local university like the current Drut Giles. That girl was the daughter of the history department head at the time. She was still studying at school, but often came to find me to play.

One spring, the school organized everyone to have a picnic outside the city. She even brought me lunch specifically. At that time, on the grass under the tree, she asked me this question while hugging her legs while watching me eat. That spring weather was really good~"

Professor Manning's eyes flickered, and his face carried a smile:

"I told her I didn't know how to break the love spell, so she smiled and said a few sentences in ancient Gutir language to me. Later I found out that the meaning of those sentences was 'Love binds us together.'"

Professor Manning was not unmarried for life like Priest Ao Gu Si. Xia De knew that his wife had passed away, and his children were working in various parts of the northern country:

"This is almost equivalent to a confession. So what happened later? Is the ending of this story good or bad?"

Xia De asked, and the professor took off his glasses and wiped them with his clothes:

"Later, because of various reasons, we still missed each other. I think the love spell she recited back then didn't take effect after all. She didn't engage in research related to history later, but found a position in the city hall. I taught one of her children before I retired. She herself passed away due to illness in the spring three years ago, and I even attended the funeral."

The professor let out a long sigh and apologized to Xia De somewhat embarrassedly:

"I seem to have lost my composure."

"It's okay, I just feel this story is very regrettable."

Professor Manning laughed:

"Yeah, there are many such things on the road of life. Regret is the norm of life, so you must cherish the people who are still by your side now. Alright, let's get back to the topic. I have really studied love spells."

"Many years ago, I saw a stone slab in an ancient tomb where a couple was buried together. The stone slab told the love story of that couple and mentioned the matter of love spells.

The part about casting the spell was recovered by the Church, and I didn't see that part of the content. But I still remember the way to break the spell—【Lovers' tears water the flowers, the temperature of the soul melts the unmeltable ice crystal. The melted flowers will break the chains of love; the chains are the connection of the soul, but also the shackles of fate.】"

The professor didn't use Delarion language. In order to let Xia De fully understand the meaning of this record, he used the language belonging to the ancient text on the stone slab.

"Like poetry."

"Yeah, perhaps this has some metaphor, but this is no longer something that an ordinary person like me can understand."

The professor said to Xia De:

"Love spells cannot bring love. True love is the color of mortal souls that can only be born after two souls resonate with each other. I know you Ring Mages have various means, but don't try to use supernatural power to obtain love for yourself."

Xia De nodded:

"Professor, just rest assured. I am not that kind of person. But I have indeed encountered a woman who used supernatural power to obtain eternal love for herself."

"That story is also a tragedy, right?"

The professor picked up his teacup again, looking like he had walked out of the emotion just now. Xia De looked at the flames in the professor's fireplace, as if he saw Schluch Lake Island in the flames:

"The story hasn't reached the end yet, but this story can no longer have a good ending. Professor, is people's love always blind?"

"What is blind has always been just people. The human heart is fickle. There are many things that are actually under the guise of love. I believe in the existence of true love, but the so-called true love I have seen in my life can be counted on one hand."

He shook his left hand at Xia De:

"Love spells definitely do not bring true feelings. Just like that ancient language said, that is the shackles of fate."

Xia De talked with Professor Manning for a long time and didn't leave until 8:00 PM. He also said that after the things in his hand were solved, he would bring souvenirs from the southern island to visit the professor again. And when Xia De returned home, he unexpectedly found that Miss Miss Feilian was not there. However, under the paws of Little Mia, who was looking at the square outside from the windowsill, was Miss Miss Feilian's letter.

"Waiting for the pigeons to return? When the weather warms up, the pigeons in the square will fly back."

Xia De smiled and rubbed Little Mia's head. After checking the letter, he knew that Princess Lei Lei Qianya had something urgent to ask Miss Miss Feilian for help, so Miss Miss Feilian left home at 4:30 and would probably return at 7:00.

The writer lady let Xia De eat dinner by himself without waiting for her. Xia De glanced at the kitchen:

"Mia, do you object if we go out to eat?"

The cat stood up lazily and meowed. And when he finished dinner and stood under the street lamp on the side of Silver Cross Avenue looking at the street illuminated by the street lamp, he hesitated again whether to take Little Mia to Professor Manning's place.

Finally, he left the cat at home.

Today is Monday, and the old professor living in the university district naturally wouldn't have any outing plans at night. Seeing Xia De visit, he was very pleasantly surprised:

"Why, are you going to attend the private cocktail party of history professors at the end of the month? (Chapter 3547)"

Xia De shook his head:

"Someone asked me to deliver a letter to you. It's a folklore professor living in the Principality of Lagson. The other party encountered some problems when citing your work."

Professor Manning then let Xia De sit down and talk, and asked the servant to make tea:

"Why would you do this kind of errand?"

The old professor asked with a smile. Xia De hesitated for a moment and decided to tell the truth:

"I... have a very good relationship with the other party's daughter."

Professor Manning raised an eyebrow but didn't say much.

Professor Reinhardt stated his problem very clearly in the letter. After reading the letter, Professor Manning understood the other party's problem. So he let Xia De wait in the living room and went to the study to write a simple reply for Xia De to take back.

After sitting down again, Professor Manning said to Xia De, who was holding a teacup:

"Are you going to attend the cocktail party at the end of the month? It's this week. This time, the invited ones are the best batch of history scholars and folklore scholars in the country. Getting to know these people will be very useful for you."

Xia De knew Professor Manning was thinking for his own good:

"I'm really sorry, I've been very busy on Schluch Lake Island recently, and I'm not sure if I can spare the time."

"It doesn't matter, I'll give you the invitation. If you have time, go and attend."

"Since there is a cocktail party at night, then the daytime is lectures and seminars, right? What is the theme this time? Is it the same as the one before the Year-End Festival, still a discussion on northern folklore?"

Xia De asked while taking the invitation from the professor. Professor Manning said:

"This time it is sponsored by the History Department of Tobesk University, about the research on ancient tombs in the early Old Continent, focusing on the characteristics of royal tombs of various countries scattered in the north of the Old Continent before the Cavendish royal family unified the north.

You know, in the era of the unification war, the tombs of those ancient kingdoms were destroyed quite severely. Now once such ancient tombs are discovered, the official attitude is still more protection than excavation, so this topic mainly focuses on those tombs that have already been excavated."

Xia De nodded; this had nothing to do with his current encounter.

"Then Xia De, have you encountered any fresh things on that southern island? Although I have been to many places when I was young, I really haven't been to such a remote place. I have heard of the indigenous people called locals on that island; their lifestyle and customs are very interesting, right?"

There was nothing to do tonight, and Miss Miss Feilian wouldn't be home for another hour, so Xia De didn't mind chatting with Professor Manning. He held the teacup and talked about what he saw and heard on that island, talked about the grand occasion during the All Souls' Festival, and naturally didn't forget to introduce Professor Reinhardt again:

"Professor Reinhardt went to the island to study the folklore of the locals when he was young, and later married a local girl and settled there. However, that island is not peaceful at all now. I am still paying attention to the negotiations on the island. You know, war is approaching."

So the young man and the old man sighed at the same time, and Professor Manning also picked up his teacup:

"Although I retired, I often go to school to walk around. Most young people now are very extreme, and there are far more people supporting war than opposing it. When I was a child, I heard stories about the last North-South War from my great-grandfather. I didn't expect that I would experience war again in my old age."

The professor knew that Xia De had a good relationship with the royal family, but he didn't ask Xia De any questions about it:

"Have you encountered any difficulties recently that need my help? Old age makes it hard to sit at home. Besides using the knowledge and experience in my head to write memoirs, they should always be put to some use."

Xia De felt that Professor Manning's memoirs would definitely be very exciting and interesting if they could be written completely. However, he didn't want to talk about memoirs and the like in front of the old man, and then he thought of the afternoon's matter:

"Speaking of which, there is really one thing I need to ask you for advice. Professor Manning, have you heard of that kind of magic spell in stories that can force two people to fall in love?"

The professor raised his teacup again, looking like he had walked out of the emotion just now. Xia De looked at the flames in the professor's fireplace, as if he saw Schluch Lake Island in the flames:

"Of course I've heard of it. Whether it's ancient legends or modern romance novels, love spells are always very interesting plots."

"Then do you know how to break this kind of magic spell?"

Xia De asked again. In fact, he knew very well that Professor Manning couldn't give much useful information either; after all, the professor was just an ordinary person. But unexpectedly, after Xia De finished asking, the professor actually nodded with a melancholy face while holding the teacup:

"This, I might really know."

?? PS: It's double points, asking for monthly tickets!