After reading Salvatore’s reply, Annan still managed to fall asleep calmly.
Not thinking about anything during sleep, obtaining the greatest relaxation during the minimal relaxing ti... this was also a special talent. And Annan had mastered this talent.
Work when it’s ti to work, study when it’s ti to study, rest when it’s ti to rest, and entertain when it’s ti for entertainnt—the vast majority of people in the world can’t maintain "focus," or rather, maintaining focus itself consus energy.
This might be the biggest difference between Annan and them.
Annan’s mory wasn’t exceptional, and he had average motor skills; he wasn’t particularly smart, nor did he have extrely good luck. The talent he possessed, the only thing he could do, was the ability to remain calm and self-disciplined.
It was this talent that allowed him to enter this world, and even after losing positive emotions, still enabled him to beco the fearso "first cycle Annan" with solid reason and powerful actions. It was this talent that, even after Annan completely lost his mories of this world, allowed him to calmly walk the path he was ant to.
Using his strong ability for self-control to do what needed to be done... that was the talent Annan had.
He slept until eight o’clock when his biological clock naturally woke him up. His strong physical attributes ant that resting for just five hours didn’t leave him exhausted or with a headache like it would for most people.
After having breakfast, Annan explained to Maria and Dmitry that he might need to make a trip to Noah in the coming days.
"I’m not particularly against the idea itself," Dmitry said, frowning deeply, "but a rather troubleso issue is... what about your scepter of authority?"
"Leave it here?" Annan answered casually.
Dmitry imdiately objected, "Absolutely not, that would be completely contrary to what Father did. He transford into a dragon after transferring away from Frost Speech province, precisely to avoid disturbing your rule here.
"If you leave the tricolored scepter in Frost Speech province, then they might start to stir."
"But it’s also risky to go directly to Noah with the tricolored scepter," Annan said.
"Don’t you have a Curse Binding that allows you to transform?" Dmitry asked. "Can’t you transform into that... what’s his na... Giralda? If you take the tricolored scepter with you while transford, can you conceal it?"
Upon hearing that na, Maria’s pupils slightly shrank.
She looked at Annan, sowhat astonished.
She still rembered that forbidden ceremony in the Twin Towers... the "Overlap of Life and Death."
That should have been a sublimation ceremony.
"The Man in the Mirror" must have been born at that ti.
Soon, Maria responded, "Did you see the incident at Frigid Wight Tower in a nightmare? I see, so that’s why you’ve seen the nightmares of that... that man from the Soul Snatching School?"
"David Gerald," Annan added. "Unaware of my true identity, he once tried to attack ... and then he was killed by in return."
Maria had actually forgotten Gerald’s na... but that seed reasonable. Given Gerald’s level of disgrace, it indeed wasn’t worth being rembered by the Lady of the Storm.
"...I rember now." Maria nodded her head, a hint of mockery on her face, "He certainly got a harsh lesson from at the ti."
No wonder he looked like he had seen a ghost after recognizing my face...
Annan thought to himself.
"However, even if I could transform into Giralda, it wouldn’t work." Annan answered frankly, "I think you might have guessed already, this tricolored scepter is a Great Calamity Curio of Winter, and my Curse Binding cannot cover its effects. The reason I can’t part with it is that it is a seal in itself."
He revealed this secret directly to Maria and Dmitry—Zoya and Saul probably heard it too.
But it was fine, that was intentional.
Annan had no intention of keeping it hidden.
Considering his deliberate act of holding the tricolor scepter in reverse, combined with the "Reversed Inscription" he had once been granted, which caused the attributes of the Heart of Winter to flip, it was rather easy for others to guess this. It was rely a question of evidence.
And after the two instances yesterday when Annan "turned into light," the tricolor scepter itself did not change into light but instead, the crystal ball did. In fact, this could already serve as evidence.
To avoid aningless probing, Annan did not plan to keep hiding it from the upper echelons—furthermore, stating sothing that the other party roughly suspected could prevent additional trouble when dealing with it directly.
Besides, such information would not really spread...
The news of the "Great Calamity Curio" in itself was a piece of esoteric knowledge. As listeners, as long as they shared it with others, their own knowledge would be lost.
"Its effect can only be utilized by those with the Frost Speech bloodline. However, when you touch it, rember to do so in reverse, or it will destroy your sanity... Just like how I must interact with it, always in an inverted form,"
Annan half-truthfully said, "Not to ntion that it cannot be hidden by my Curse Binding... Even if it could, I wouldn’t do so.
"Even if others don’t know the true nature of the tricolor scepter, they do know that it is the symbol of the Duke of Winter’s authority. If the symbol of the Duke’s authority and the Duke himself both vanished, various problems could arise."
"In that case..."
Maria suddenly made a suggestion, "If you must go, let’s take the most formal route, shall we?"
"You an..."
Annan pondered.
Dmitry looked confused, "Which route? What formal route?"
"Submit a letter, and go on a diplomatic visit."
Annan quickly replied, "It just so happens... Noah’s previous king has also passed away. As the new Duke of Winter, it would be proper for to visit Noah and discuss reopening trade ports with Noah—say, reactivating Frostwater Harbor.
"That would indeed be a good thing."
Dmitry nodded.
With so concern, he said, "But I heard that Henry the Eighth was a famous tyrant. Nearly depleting the kingdom’s riches, he constantly strengthened his military forces... These troops don’t even participate in production nor live among the people, but are kept completely isolated.
"This trendous financial burden has impoverished all of Noah. If not for the diation of the Silver Baron church, perhaps Noah would have already erupted into rebellion.
"The war that he previously waged against us, although it ended sowhat inconclusively, nonetheless, showed their soldiers’ bellicosity—they long for victory, conquest, riches, and new lands.
"Had we not dispatched the Frost Beast Legion imdiately, we might have lost more than just Frostwater Harbor. Such a bloodthirsty tyrant makes worry that the children he has carefully grood... may also be similarly ruthless and bloodthirsty tyrants."
"...Pfft."
Annan finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
"What’s wrong?"
Dmitry was puzzled.
"Henry the Eighth could be considered a tyrant?"
Annan kept laughing and stived to hold back his laughter as he explained in a low voice, "Seeing you analyze so seriously... He probably really fooled everyone."
"Deception?"
"That’s right. Henry the Eighth is a child in a cup—his life fixed in place, rely existing as a ’relay product’ for continuing the royal bloodline, an unloved child in a cup.
"He had no desire whatsoever for the unification of the five nations."
Annan answered, "He behaves this way purposely to sabotage the Kingdom of Noah. To create enemies on all fronts for Noah, to imperceptibly drain Noah’s national strength... He let his offspring be hard by the corrupt, let them die in various conspiracies, allowed them to grow wildly and beco corrupt.
"These actions, if interpreted from another perspective, could all be clarified: he wasn’t training his offspring with cruel thods, but was seeking to destroy the kingdom, to take revenge on it—
"—to take revenge on the kingdom that, even before his birth, rely saw him as a breeding tool and temporary steward, commanding him to produce offspring, to work... commanding him to die when he shouldn’t have to."
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