Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1953: Long Asleep in the Cold Dream

"It’s so cold..."

At Green Lake Hotel, Angelina, holding a cat while watching the bonfire in front of her, suddenly nodded off and then woke up realizing that she had fallen asleep.

The Little Princess was truly exhausted today, the fear and nervousness causing her to unknowingly fall asleep by the bonfire. Upon waking up, she immediately felt an extraordinary cold around her. She opened her mouth to murmur quietly, only to find her breath turning into white mist, a phenomenon typical of winter:

"What’s happening?"

The cat in her arms remained nestled, appearing exceptionally warm amidst the unusually cold surroundings, where even the flame in front of her couldn’t provide any warmth.

Worried about the cat getting frostbitten, kind-hearted Angelina even considered tucking it inside her clothes, but Mia struggled and refused.

She looked around, the rain outside still pouring down, yet by the dim bonfires on the hotel’s first floor, she found herself alone. The temperature seemed to have dropped below freezing, with slippery ground and tabletops already covered in frost, making Angelina, still in her summer attire, feel even colder.

"Where did everyone go?"

She shivered and stood up, only to realize that doing so exposed a larger area of her body to the cold, making her feel even colder. Stretching her hand to touch the flame in front of her, she was startled to find there was no warmth at all, even when she fully immersed her hand in the fire.

She felt a chill not just physically but another type that seemed to penetrate her soul, causing stiffness and headaches while also dizziness. The Whisper Element made this seventeen-year-old ordinary girl feel severely uncomfortable. The only comfort was the cat still in her arms, preventing her from being completely alone.

She wanted to see what had happened around her, but as she tried to lift her legs, she realized her body had stiffened, making movement impossible.

She wanted to cry in grievance but remembered there was no sister, no Shard, nor mother here; even if she cried, no one would see her, so she held back. Pressing her lips, with red eyes, she looked around and then saw a figure in a tattered black robe walking towards her from the darkness at the staircase, reaching out a hand from within the robe.

For some reason, Angelina was immediately reminded of the Grim Reaper from the stories. Helpless, she tried to retreat, only to find her body growing even more rigid:

"Am I going to die?"

The young Princess thought to herself, remembering all the things she hadn’t done yet, her promise to help Shard take care of the cat, and how devastated Lecia would be if she died. Determined not to die like this.

She tried hard to control her body to avoid the hand reaching from the darkness but discovered the surrounding light growing dimmer, and the cold becoming heavier. Frost even seemed to form on her eyelashes.

Wanting to use all her remaining strength, she thought of throwing the cat away to at least let it survive. At this moment, the lazy cat, finally feeling a bit cold, suddenly issued a warning to the shadow ahead:

"Meow~"

Baring its teeth, it hissed fiercely. Seeing the shadow still approaching, the cat coughed a few times, and when it made a sound again, a small orange-yellow flame spewed from its mouth.

Though the flame was very small, hardly noticeable compared to the cold flames behind Angelina, it made her feel as if her rigid body and soul, sinking deeper into the darkness, were suddenly thrown under the summer sun.

The heat not only freed her from the negative state but also caused her to feel warmth.

The shadow in front immediately retreated. Seeing that its "intimidation" was effective, the cat, which often bullied the weak and feared the strong, became more spirited. It wanted to leap from Angelina’s embrace to continue charging towards the retreating shadow, fortunately, Angelina held it tightly.

However, as the cat continued to struggle mightily, she had no choice but to step forward, which made the shadow retreat more quickly, causing the cat to grow even more excited, enthusiastically yowling in tandem, meow~ meow~, the sound surprisingly melodic.

Eventually, holding Mia, Angelina cornered the shadow at the staircase. Just as she wanted to take another step forward, a hand pressed onto her from behind, afterwards Angelina by the fire was awakened.

Dazed, she opened her eyes seeing her beautiful aunt Galina Cavendish’s face filled with worry, looking at her.

Luviya and Lecia stood to one side, while Dorothy was draping a blanket over her, and the cat in her arms struggled and yowled, evidently feeling she was holding it a bit too tightly:

"Aunt, Miss Annette, did I... fall asleep? Oh! Aunt, you’re finally back!"

"A Scribe Level Relic [Long Asleep in the Cold Dream]. You were trapped by the relic, if not awakened promptly you’d eventually freeze to death in the dream. Don’t dwell on that cold dream, it’s over, it’s over."

The Red-Haired Duchess wrapped her in a worried embrace, patting her back. This made Angelina again wonder if she was still dreaming, remembering that her aunt had never embraced and comforted her like this before. Thus, when Miss Galina released her and asked if she was feeling unwell, she didn’t know how to respond.

"If this is a dream, it’s a good one, everyone is so nice to me..."

However, she didn’t forget the recent dream but instead had a deep impression of it. Although it was extremely cold at first, she didn’t recall nearly freezing to death. Perhaps, if not awakened, something even more unexpected might have occurred.

Taking the cup of tea handed over by Lecia, infused with a magic potion, she glanced around the first floor of the hotel, half shrouded in mist and half in light. Although it was still dark night and the rain outside continued to pour, seeing so many ladies here, and those who cared for her, she inexplicably felt a sense of comfort.

Angelina quietly looked again at the cat in her arms. Little Mia was once again dozing off; no one knew if she was truly asleep or just pretending. The Little Princess was unsure if the cat’s odd behavior in the dream was merely her imagination, as she didn’t understand why a cat would appear in her dream.

But soon she convinced herself while holding the soft cat:

"Do dreams and reality truly matter that much? What I believe to be true, that is the truth."

Wrapped in a blanket, snuggled by the fire, she comfortably sipped the tea. Amidst the crackling sounds of burning flames, she seemed to hear a voice whispering in her heart:

[Truth.]

"Miss, you’re back."

With water still dripping from her hair, Tifa came in from outside. The Duchess smiled as she looked at her Head Maid and apprentice:

"You’re back, hopefully not too late. You’ve done well."

Having taken care of Angelina, Miss Galina and Luviya, who had just returned from the second floor, briefly learned the current situation from Tifa. They found out that Shard had left fifteen minutes ago and that his friends, the doctor and the priest, had also set out not long ago to find him.

Miss Galina was more concerned about Shard’s current whereabouts, while Luviya cared about other matters.

While the Witch communicated with her apprentice, she privately sought out Lecia and Dorothy:

"Did Shard say anything to you before he left?"

The Red-Haired Princess and Blonde Writer exchanged a glance:

"Shard told us not to leave here easily."

Luviya pursed her lips, holding the last [Home Coin] in her hand, wondering whether she should perform a divination now to see if the worst Shard had prepared for tonight matched what she was thinking. But before she made a decision, Miss Galina walked over:

"Luviya, thank you for your effort with the divination method just now. You take a rest here; Shard needs help right now, and I’m heading out."

Luviya knew that even if she rushed over, she couldn’t be of much assistance, and while waiting here, she should soon be joined by other witches:

"Alright, I’ll check where Shard is now."

"Can you divine Shard’s location?"

The Witch asked curiously, and Luviya shook her head:

"Of course not, but he’s carrying my handkerchief with him today."

The Red-Haired Witch showed a teasing expression, which the purple-eyed diviner ignored:

"Although the divination might have some deviation, the general direction should be fine... Hmm? Didn’t he go to Edwards’ old house? Why is he at the shore now?"

"Then that’s the shore."

Saying this, she greeted the girls on the first floor and then directly darted into the rain.

Miss Galina did not doubt Luviya’s judgment; despite the direction she indicated being quite remote, she still forged ahead in the downpour.

As it turned out, Luviya once again proved her rightness. Just three minutes after leaving the hotel, the Red-Haired Witch climbed onto a tree, seeing a massive red moon rising in the distance amidst the mist in the darkness, only to swiftly plummet towards the lake surface:

"Shard..."

She swiftly approached in that direction, careful not to move quickly through the mist to prevent spatial confusion, thus taking a few more minutes to emerge from the woods by the lakeshore, watching Shard on the sands kick a giant snowball descending from the sky. The snowball immediately turned to solid ice, falling into the lake, followed by a violent explosion that shattered the shadows in the water before they reached the shore. Flesh and mech parts floated on the surface but were soon submerged by the surging monsters emerging from the lake.

Shard held a card in his hand, watching the scene seriously. The incessant water ghosts were a minor affair; the critical issue was the location of the "gate" that he perceived at the deep lake bottom. And at the lake bottom, a colossal entity akin to a whale guarded the place.