Chapter 786: The First Dreaming Experience
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
The woman had tawny long hair, her side-swept bangs clipping to one side, revealing half of her forehead. She had soft facial features, giving Roland an impression that the woman had a gentle and delicate character. Yet under the current circumstances, her exquisite beauty did not strike Roland but actually gave rise to his increasing suspicion of her being a ghost.
Apart from that, Roland also noticed that her gown was a little too shabby. A few stitches were coming out, and the cuffs and corners of the garnt were torn and ragged, as though it were picked up from a waste station.
"I, I heard you go out, so I wanted to check if the door was properly locked. When I turned around, however, I saw she was standing there!" Zero was ghastly pale, evidently terrified by the event.
The woman seed to also notice the commotion. As she raised her head and looked at the door, her expression changed abruptly.
Roland curled his hand into a fist in secret. He was ready to take the blow.
But what the woman said next completely blew his mind. The woman uttered an exclamation of surprise. "Your... Majesty?"
What?
Your Majesty?
"Um... you’re..." Roland tried to figure out what had actually happened.
"I’m Phyllis, Your Majesty. What’s happened here?" The woman was as puzzled as he.
"Phyllis?" Roland revolved a multitude of thoughts and questions in his mind rapidly "Is she the God’s Punishnt Witch in the castle hall? Why would she intrude his dream? Is this dream world now opening up and connecting to the other world? Where’s Anna? Why hasn’t she appeared?"
"Hold on, you know each other?" Zero realized sothing was wrong here. "What does she an by ’Your Majesty’... Are you role-playing now?"
"Ahem, she’s a... remote relative of mine." Roland suddenly realized that it was not the ti for him to stand in a daze. "As to the way she addresses , it was just a jape. We grew up together and it’s normal that she cos up with so particular nas."
"A relative?" Hearing that the woman was not so random ghost, the little girl soon slipped back to her usual bold, defiant manner. She started to beco more skeptical as well. "You just asked who she was."
Utterly unabashed, Roland shot back, "Did I? I only saw a crying craven who almost wetted her pants."
Zero reddened to her temples. "You, you liar!"
"Didn’t you just shriek? This lady was in the room earlier. You were just too occupied with your howork in your bedroom to notice her."
To Roland’s dismay, the woman soon took the implication. "Sorry, I... I didn’t an to startle you. I was in another room when His Majesty was leaving. I was about to say hello when you cried out and rushed out of the room."
Roland put a final touch to their improvised show. "I guess that was it. She asked what had happened. The truth is that you scared her. If I find a little girl scream like crazy when I get out, I’ll be as confused as she was."
"I... I..." Zero groped for words that did not co. She could not deny the fact that she did scream, for she was not in a habit of lying. Caught in such a dilemma, the little girl felt her eyes moist with tears.
Roland realized that was a bit too much for the little girl to bear, so he bent over and ruffled her hair. "Anyway, it was a miscommunication. Go back to study now."
He could not help feeling a twinge of guilt for Zero because he knew a child like her could not possibly see through the intricacies of guiles and subterfuges deployed by adults. Her life would only be complete after experiencing deception and lies of grown people, as this was an inevitable step, a ceremony she must receive, to inaugurate her adulthood and beco ntally mature.
Roland had thought Zero would run into her bedroom in tears, but she actually sniffed and dried her eyes quickly before kicking him hard in his legs. "Uncle, you such a jerk!" With these words, she rushed back to her room in a fury.
Roland twitched his lips. Her reaction was a little different from what he had anticipated, but... overall, she had learned the lesson.
"Haha." The woman who called herself Phyllis burst into laughter. "It seems you aren’t those common people’s mighty king here."
"But I’m the creator and ruler of this world." Roland gestured the woman to co in. "Let’s talk inside. I also have a lot of questions to ask you."
...
After half an hour, Roland was finally convinced that the woman was Phyllis.
She not only talked about Taquila but also about what she had experienced in the castle, as well as the fact that she used to disguise as a guide in "Black Money" under the na "No. 76". Moreover, she further corroborated her story by disclosing so details Roland had not been very clear about.
It was impossible to develop such a well-organized and logically consistent narrative by simply reading his mory. Roland was thus certain that the woman was not a sentient being automatically ford in this world.
Plus, the current body presented to him was exactly what Phyllis originally looked like.
Then the question was very clear.
Why would she enter this dream world?
Phyllis shook her head. "I don’t really know either... It was pretty late at that ti. The First Army just changed their shift. I was going to disconnect my body and have so deep sleep to restore my strength. When I woke up, I was here." She paused for a mont and then continued, "You call it... a dream world?"
"Correct. This is a world operating only in my dream, but I don’t know if this rule still applies now." Roland felt there was no need to hold anything back from her at the mont, for he had to find out the reason why Phyllis could enter his dream as soon as possible. Although Roland knew this complicated world did not exist in his head, it was still... pretty shocking to see soone co uninvited. After all, he was positive that the dream world was created precisely according to his mory. An intrusion ant sobody entered his mory without his permission.
Roland unfolded the ladder behind the door and put it next to the bed. "Perhaps we can do a small test to find out why you ca here."
"What’s this?" Phyllis asked in surprise.
Roland explained to her, "When I fall off the top of the ladder, the dream will co to an end. You can try it first to see if you can return to the real world. I’ll terminate the dream later. If both of us can successfully get out of here, you then wait for in the hall. I’ll be right back."
"Hang on... Your Majesty." Phyllis reached out her hand in an attempt to grasp him.
Roland was astounded at her behavior. It was definitely an act of extre insolence in Neverwinter. Could she have completely abandoned all her manners and customs learned over the past hundreds of years after coming to a totally foreign environnt? Roland thought that was very unlikely.
Phyllis asked in a low voice, "Could you... pinch ?"
"What?" Roland was stunned.
"With the greatest strength that you have, please." Phyllis rolled up her sleeve and presented her pale arm to Roland.
"I’ve confird that pain won’t end the dream."
"I just want to experience so pains... Please."
"Experience?" Roland soon thought of Agatha’s description of God’s Punishnt Witches and imdiately understood what Phyllis ant. After a mont of silence, he pinched the witch’s wrist with his right hand.
Phyllis clenched her teeth, yielding to an articulate moan of satisfaction. She trembled in such excitent as a thirsty traveler who had a delicious drink once tasted and long since forgotten.
It was after a long ti that Phyllis finally opened her eyes and exhaled a long breath.
"God almighty, I can feel pains again!" Phyllis looked like a completely different person, her radiant eyes fixed on Roland, glistening with exhilaration.
Roland spread out his hands. "You can do it yourself too."
Phyllis shook her head and suddenly went to her knees. "That’s different, Your Majesty. Perchance, this world is only a dream for you, but I would like to do anything just to stay in here. I’m afraid I would never be able to co back after I leave. Could you allow to dream just a little longer, at least for now?"
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