Again asking me to compose a poem… Are you doing this on purpose?
Looking at Ebner's smiling face, Leonard's expression froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. He curled his lips into a smile as well, thinking: I may not know how to write poetry, but can't I recite someone else's? The same trick won't work twice on me!
So he straightened his posture and "sincerely" recited:
"Arise, countless voices of freedom!
A glorious day awaits you!
See the tyrant before us,
Raising his blood-stained flag…"
Hearing Leonard's poem, this time it was Ebner's turn to be stunned. He silently complained: I asked you for a poem celebrating my ennoblement, and you gave me verses praising revolution and hanging nobles? From the Marseillaise, no less?
Wait, no… In this world it's called the 'Hymn of the Republic.' Roselle wrote—no, plagiarized—it during the overthrow of the Sauron dynasty.
Thinking this, Ebner helplessly clapped his hands, interrupting Leonard's impromptu performance. Shaking his head with a laugh, he said:
"Mr. Leonard, while I personally don't mind Roselle's poem, and even think its imagery is rather fine… you really should consider the occasion."
As he spoke, he cast a sidelong glance at several policemen nearby. Their faces had darkened, and they were glaring at Leonard.
—As a monarchy, Loen hadn't outlawed Roselle's work, but reciting it in public was indeed improper.
Leonard now clearly realized this too, but instead of embarrassment, he felt smug satisfaction at finally getting revenge for the teasing he had once endured at "Fragrance Manor" in Bayam.
Carrying that strange sense of victorious pride, Leonard asked with feigned curiosity:
"Viscount, are you here to visit this private museum?"
This future 'Mr. Star' greeted me first thing, and after I deliberately teased him, instead of leaving, he kept trying to strike up conversation… That's unusual… Did Pallez notice something about me and tell Leonard to probe?
Could it be that in a previous life I knew Pallez as well? Hmm… The me of Rhine's era was aligned with the 'Black Emperor,' so having contact with Pallez wouldn't be strange at all.
As these thoughts churned, Ebner nodded slightly. He pulled out the newspaper with the museum advertisement he had bought last week and said with a smile:
"Because I happened to buy this paper and saw the museum's notice… I thought it was fate's guidance, so I decided to take a look."
Why does that sound so much like a charlatan's line? Leonard muttered inwardly. After cocking his ear and listening for two seconds, he relaxed, then said, "I see… I thought you might be here for Lady Filina."
"Lady Filina?" Ebner paused mid-step on his way to the museum and asked curiously, "Who is she?"
"So you truly don't know…" Leonard studied him for several seconds before giving a simple answer: "Lady Filina is the true owner of this museum. Everything displayed here was either bought or collected by her."
As for more details, he kept his mouth shut.
But that attitude was enough for Ebner to guess a few things. After all, he had only come because he had foreseen through "prophecy" that the "exhibition" would bring him some positive "development."
So this Lady Filina must have some issue—perhaps serious enough to draw the attention of the Red Gloves… Which explains why my sudden arrival caught the eye of Leonard, who's investigating.
"And pointing out Filina's name… One, to observe my reaction; two, to see if I know something useful, trying to get a lead from me?
"I must admit, Mr. Star is quite reliable when investigating Beyonder incidents… But his direction is entirely off…
"I'm just a 'charlatan' here waiting for fate's opportunity."
After grumbling inwardly, Ebner stopped exchanging pleasantries with Leonard and went straight into the private museum.
He had to admit, though this converted townhouse couldn't compare in scale to the Kingdom Museum on King's Boulevard, the variety of its collection was no less impressive.
From the Pale Disaster to the Twenty Years' War, from the War of the White Roses to Roselle's rise… relics of every era were displayed here. None were particularly valuable, but they gave a vivid sense of the weight of history and civilization.
They really are authentic… Just now, I heard the rather unskilled guide say most of these were things Lady Filina picked up from the antique market at bargain prices?
"If that's true, then her eye for detail and her store of knowledge are remarkable!
"And that's without my 'golden finger'…"
At that thought, Ebner's eyes suddenly narrowed. It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind, illuminating the endless darkness. A faint suspicion formed in his heart:
Could this Lady Filina be the last survivor of that experiment eleven years ago?
If so… then the dominant 'pollution' in her body is very likely from the 'Knowledge Moor'!
Her special ability—could it be something like the 'Golden Eyes' often described in novels from my previous life?
The "passive prophecy" that led me to buy this newspaper last week was actually pointing to this fifth survivor?
But how can something impossible to glimpse with "active prophecy" be revealed indirectly through "passive prophecy"?
No… it's not that "passive prophecy" is higher. It's that it forecasts the course of my own fate. It foresaw that doing so would benefit me, though what benefit exactly is impossible to know.
And since "passive prophecy" is uncontrollable, it's like the 'sudden whim' described in some xianxia novels—sometimes accurate, sometimes not.
After pondering for a while, Ebner lost interest in the exhibition itself. What he now urgently wanted was to meet Lady Filina and confirm his guess.
But things rarely went as planned. He waited until the afternoon, until the museum closed, but Lady Filina, the owner of the exhibits, never appeared.
Left with no choice, Ebner had to leave for now, resolving to investigate her later.
…
Meanwhile, Lady Filina, who had decided at noon to visit the museum, was stuck because of a traffic accident. Her carriage had been blocked on a street in Cherwood Borough for more than three hours.
"I clearly used up all the 'luck' I'd accumulated on today… How could something this unlucky still happen?"
Pulling back the curtain of her carriage, Filina murmured in puzzlement.
(End of Chapter)