The surrounding scenery turned into white light, and all people and things slowly dissipated in this radiance.
The illusion was about to end.
Not far from Celitia, Sercis still stood in place, gazing at her for a long ti.
That gaze seed to cross the river of ti, seeing the other end of the shore.
That was a future already different from his own.
Sercis spoke in a low voice, his words reaching Celitia's ears from afar:
"Having walked the path you're on now, have you ever felt resentnt, have you ever regretted, and are you... able to accept it with peace?"
"I think perhaps I have many regrets."
Celitia only smiled faintly, her expression gentle and serene.
"But at this point, I no longer think about whether I regret such things.
Constantly looking at the past only brings unnecessary troubles.
I'm living well now, and that's enough."
She had lost much, but also gained much.
Thinking about it now, life was always like this, with too many imperfections and disappointnts.
But her own future had never been sealed off.
As long as she moved toward her chosen goal, soday she would find her own distant shore.
The white light beca increasingly dazzling, finally swallowing everything.
Vision was temporarily lost, nothing could be seen.
Her body felt light and floating, her feet had no sense of touching ground, as if drifting sowhere.
"Lily!"
A familiar voice called out anxiously, bringing back Celitia's slightly vacant consciousness.
Soone tightly grasped her hand, their palm burning hot, warming that cold and delicate hand.
"We should have successfully escaped the illusion. Are you alright?"
Ariel stayed close beside her, her body still tense, obviously not yet free from her nervous emotions.
Celitia comfortingly patted the back of Ariel's hand: "I'm fine."
The dazzling white light faded, the surroundings gradually darkened, and the nearby scenery reappeared before their eyes.
It was a pitch-black night sky with countless stars twinkling in the distance, like a brilliant galaxy winding and flowing away.
Scattered white light gradually condensed, forming into a palm-sized card before Ariel's eyes.
Ariel reached out to take it with confusion: "What is this?"
The card was very light, weighing only as much as a thin sheet of paper.
On the front was painted a woman wearing a crown, dressed in holy robes, holding a scroll, sitting regally in an ornate high-backed chair.
Above the image was marked the number "II," and below was written a line of elegant script.
Celitia read aloud: "The High Priestess."
"The High Priestess?" Ariel didn't understand.
No wonder she was confused.
The church used a council model with an Archbishop as head, composed of bishops and the Saintess—there was no Pope.
After carefully observing the card for a while, Celitia said hesitantly: "This should be a tarot card."
"Tarot card?" Ariel was even more bewildered.
Celitia didn't know how to explain for a mont.
The "gift of fate" ntioned in the note probably referred to this card.
However, this other world had no tarot cards. Her ability to recognize this card relied entirely on her knowledge from her previous life.
But now, they had actually obtained a tarot card representing "The High Priestess"?
If this was the goddess's gift, wouldn't that an...
Celitia's mind was in chaos.
But she understood that thinking about those things didn't hold much aning for her.
"In any case, this card is very likely the so-called 'gift of fate.'" Temporarily suppressing her many questions, Celitia said, "Keep it safe. Perhaps it will play its proper role at so critical mont."
"You're right," Ariel carefully put away the card. "I'll keep it safe for now and study it when I have ti."
With the generation of "The High Priestess" card, the starlight in the distance flickered gently, gradually forming into a mystical rune.
Celitia stared at it: "The rune has lit up... Is everything supposed to end now?"
Before she finished speaking, blinding white light rose around them again, surrounding them completely.
"Could there be another illusion?" Ariel was very nervous.
"It looks like it," Celitia sighed. "I wonder how many runes we need to light up before this can end?"
She paused slightly, suddenly rembering that since the previous illusion had been manifested based on so experience of Ariel's, then the next one...
Could it be based on so experience of her own?
Oh no, please don't let it be so experience she couldn't explain!
Celitia prayed silently.
The white light gradually dispersed, the feeling of solid ground returned, and when they opened their eyes again, they had arrived at the next place.
What t their eyes was a bedroom with two double beds in the center, wardrobes and desks fully equipped, and so cleaning tools placed in the corner.
Ariel looked around for a while: "This looks like servants' quarters."
Celitia's attention was drawn to the desk: "Look, there's a paper on the desk. Could it be a hint like last ti?"
Similar to the note from the wall crevice, this paper also emitted a faint glow, as if afraid they wouldn't notice it.
Walking to the desk, Celitia picked up the paper and read line by line.
Compared to the simple two lines from last ti, this paper's content was obviously much more complex.
[A noble lady is about to give birth, welcoming a joyful newborn.
However, under the shadow of intertwined infatuation and jealousy, a conspiracy is brewing.
The lady mistakes another child for her own, while losing her real child.
Whether to let this succeed, or destroy that conspiracy...
The power of choice is in your hands.]
Reading those lines over and over many tis, Celitia suddenly thought of sothing, her face gradually turning pale.
If this illusion was based on her own experiences...
Then could it be...
The story of when she and Sophia had their identities switched in the year they were about to be born?
Celitia's hand gradually tightened, crumpling the paper into a ball.
The deepest secret in her heart was being presented by the illusion just like that.
Clearly, even she didn't know the details of what happened back then.
Was all this the world's mory, or the goddess's observation?
Moreover, what did that sentence on the paper an: "The power of choice is in your hands"?
Countless speculations arose in Celitia's mind, and for a mont she was lost in thought for a long ti, standing like a sculpture.
"Uh, I guess the note ans so lady is about to give birth, but soone is jealous of her and plans to secretly switch her child?"
Ariel looked for a long ti and muttered, "What a strange illusion. I've never heard of such a thing. Lily, do you know?"
She turned to ask Celitia, and was imdiately startled.
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