"Oh, by the way, has little Zaratul been secretly contacting you again recently?"
"How do you know?" Roselle looked at Lin Ruo suspiciously. He didn't deny it, only saying, "Are you monitoring me?"
"Why would I need to monitor you? It's something I could guess just by using my brain." Lin Ruo replied calmly. He indeed wasn't monitoring Roselle; he was just making reasonable guesses.
Roselle frowned, not saying whether he believed it or not, only saying, "What's the deal between you and Zaratul? I feel like you don't really care about him, but Zaratul seems quite afraid of you."
"Actually, it's a simple matter." Lin Ruo rested his chin on one hand, seemingly recalling something. He said, "My contribution played a part in the demise of Zaratul Senior, that is, Zaratul Jr's elder."
Roselle's eyebrows twitched, thinking to himself, no wonder Zaratul treats you like a mortal enemy; it turns out the reality is quite similar.
After pondering for a few more seconds, Roselle couldn't help but ask curiously, "Since he's an enemy, why didn't you just deal with him? Although I don't know what Sequence you are, an Angel-level existence, no matter what, is a significant hidden danger to you, isn't he?"
Because he didn't consider himself very familiar with Zaratul, and currently treated him as a gullible target he could exploit, as well as a cunning boy with ulterior motives, Roselle asked this question without any psychological burden.
Lin Ruo's smile paused. He seemed to have recalled something, then said with a normal expression, "There's simply no need to do so."
No need? I don't believe a word of it… Roselle frowned. He didn't believe a single word of Lin Ruo's obviously perfunctory statement.
However, he didn't press the matter, only saying, "Zaratul did look for me, but didn't say anything significant. He just shared some knowledge with me." At this point, Roselle even specifically glanced at Lin Ruo, his meaning quite clear—look how generous he is.
"It seems he wants to gain your favor." Lin Ruo directly ignored Roselle's gaze, just smiling. "After all…"
Hearing "after all," Roselle immediately looked at Lin Ruo, waiting for the rest of the sentence.
However, facing his gaze, Lin Ruo calmly put down his teacup, shrugged, and said, "Alright, I don't know either. Maybe he's crazy."
Roselle's eyes widened, and he wanted to curse Lin Ruo.
If you don't know, why are you pretending to be so mysterious!
Lin Ruo apparently didn't care about Roselle's attitude and continued to smile gently.
He could probably guess why Zaratul was approaching Roselle; there were nothing more than two reasons. One was the Sefirah Castle aura that clung to Roselle.
As someone who had been hanging around the Sefirah Castle for an unknown number of years, the Sefirah Castle aura on Roselle would not dissipate in a short time, even if he had already chosen the Cognitive Scholar pathway and lost the qualification to inherit the Sefirah Castle.
And the other reason was probably that Zaratul Jr saw an opportunity to advance to Sequence 1 in Roselle?
Thinking of this, Lin Ruo couldn't help but glance at Roselle, then said, "I know you won't stop contacting Zaratul because of my advice, and I believe that as an adult, you have your own judgment on things."
"So I won't advise you further. However, the next time you see Zaratul, please help me deliver a message to him."
"What message?" Roselle looked at him with curiosity and confusion.
"'Don't court death. Don't let the Zaratul Family end with your generation.'" Lin Ruo said with a smile, then stood up and said, "Alright, it's getting late today. I won't stay any longer. Anyway, you didn't welcome me in the first place."
Just as Roselle was pondering Lin Ruo's threatening message, he heard Lin Ruo's subsequent words and immediately said grumpily, "If you were just a normal guest, not here to rush a manuscript, I wouldn't be unwelcoming."
"But if I don't rush a manuscript, why would I come to find you?" Lin Ruo immediately looked at Roselle with a puzzled expression. "I'm not just idling around."
"Get lost!" Roselle stood up, almost picking up a broom to chase him away.
"Just kidding, just kidding! Next time, I'll visit you as a pure guest. I hope you'll welcome my arrival then." Lin Ruo smiled and waved his hand, his figure blurring. "Also, congratulations in advance on your wedding!"
Roselle watched him disappear, then immediately flopped into his chair, sighing in relief while muttering, "One by one, they all love to be so mysterious. Sooner or later, I'll hang all of you up and beat you."
At the same time, Lin Ruo, who should have left, appeared in a corner of the manor, smiling as he grabbed a cat by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.
"Didn't Zaratul Senior tell you that eavesdropping isn't a good habit? Especially when the person you're eavesdropping on is far stronger than you."
The cat, or rather, the cat-like marionette, instantly stiffened all over, yet was completely unable to break free from the hand on its scruff, unable to even sever the connection with the Worms of Spirit inside the cat. Moreover, Zaratul felt a sense of fear; even though his main body was half a city away, he felt as if he had been locked onto. It was as if what Lin Ruo was holding in his hand at this very moment was not his cat marionette, but his main body.
"But since you're eavesdropping here, then you must have heard everything I just said." Lin Ruo continued to hold the cat by the scruff of its neck with a smile, looking like an ordinary young man, making it impossible to imagine that he had rendered a Sequence 2 powerless with such an understated gesture.
"You discovered me long ago… You said it on purpose for me to hear." The cat marionette finally spoke, not with a meow, but with a slightly aged voice.
"Yes, I said it on purpose for you to hear." Lin Ruo nodded, with no intention of hiding it. His other hand patted the cat's head as if petting a cat, saying:
"Be good, Zaratul Jr. I have no interest in bothering you, but if you truly exhaust my patience, I won't show you mercy."
"Don't let Zaratul Senior's favor go to waste."
The cat marionette immediately bristled.
"What right do you have to say that? Father's death was the result of your and Mr. Door's schemes."
"Why can't I say that? I killed him because he harbored inappropriate thoughts and did inappropriate things. I also gave him a chance, but he left that chance for you." Lin Ruo said with an unchanging expression. He patted the cat's head one last time. "I don't owe him anything."
"Otherwise, the Zaratul surname would have disappeared at the end of the fourth epoch."
The cat stiffened again, as if all its courage had vanished with Lin Ruo's few words.
"Alright, go play. I hope our next meeting won't be in this kind of situation again." Lin Ruo let go, placing the cat marionette on the ground, his smile gentle and bright.
The cat immediately darted into the bushes, disappearing without a trace.
Lin Ruo, meanwhile, looked in a certain direction and chuckled softly.
Between him and Zaratul Senior, there was actually no story, no friendship, at most only simple collegiality. However, for some reason, Lin Ruo owed Zaratul Senior a significant favor. So, after Zaratul Senior did something he shouldn't have and fell into the trap set by Mr. Door and the others, Lin Ruo gave Zaratul Senior two choices. He could drop to Sequence 2 and survive, or exchange it for Lin Ruo's thousand-year protection of the Zaratul Family. Zaratul Senior chose the latter. It was probably because he understood that even if he survived that time, little An wouldn't let him off afterward. And now, a thousand years had long passed.