Although Ch'en already knew that Talulah could not possibly be the heir Wei Yenwu worried about, when she thought of the name Kashchey, she still inquired with Jeanne about news of this person.
Her memory of Kashchey was still of that pale Feline (Phidia) who, on that rainy night, took Talulah away from the encirclement of Wei Yenwu and the Black Cloaks and was able to leave unscathed. At that time, the aura around him made Ch'en feel fear. Looking back now, it must have been a nearly non-human aura; the whole person looked incredibly eerie. Although she disliked Wei Yenwu, if he had to take a tough opponent seriously, Ch'en naturally would not take their state lightly. Even though she knew that fellow had died many years ago, the wariness of him had never disappeared from Wei Yenwu's heart.
"Kashchey? I know him. That guy is currently running between your sister and the Emperor, his work schedule is quite packed. Last I saw him, he was so busy his soul was getting a bit faint, but his spirit was good..."
Jeanne inwardly grumbled. Ever since that guy made contact with the Emperor, he seemed to have rejuvenated, enjoying his busyness day by day. It was even worse a few days ago; the guy somehow lost contact, and Talulah couldn't find him when she wanted to ask something, with his soul body sitting there like it had crashed. She didn't know why, but clearly, someone who hated the current Emperor so much before was now working for him day by day, working overtime so much he didn't even tease his own adopted daughter.
However, Jeanne knew that telling Ch'en her sister's adoptive father had recently turned from a noble into a corporate slave was not very realistic; it really broke a normal person's worldview.
"Duke Kashchey... I heard Talulah mention this person before. Talulah was quite... disgusted by, or even hated, that person and the knowledge he taught her. Besides, he was killed by your sister long ago; he can't stir up any trouble anymore."
Jeanne could only hide the soul state of that snake from the current Ch'en. If Ch'en found out Kashchey's soul was temporarily residing in Talulah's body, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. Compared to finding a way to explain to her that they had already neutralized Kashchey, it was better to temporarily not let her know this point, just treating it as if that guy was dead. In any case, no one in Lungmen knew the secret of Kashchey's immortality, so there was no fear of Ch'en reporting this to Wei Yenwu.
It was just that when Talulah met them in the future, that guy might discuss controlling her body to scare them a bit; that guy's mindset seemed to have developed some problems lately...
"That's good. Before, Wei Yenwu, kept saying she was very likely eroded by that evil ideology of Kashchey, and was always suspicious of your and Talulah's motives."
To Ch'en, if Talulah really hated that Kashchey so much, she naturally wouldn't agree with his ideology, nor would she become the next Duke Kashchey in Wei Yenwu's words. However, if Wei Yenwu heard Ch'en's current thoughts, he would likely laugh at her somewhat over-naive thinking. Wei Yenwu knew very well that the most dangerous thing about that guy was his ideology; he could make large numbers of people who hated him become his loyal followers and sacrifice their lives for him.
However, these things were not important to the current Ch'en. She was relieved to know that Talulah was doing fairly well. The only fly in the ointment was perhaps that Talulah became Infected? How good would it be if she didn't have this thing that made people feel desperate and was perfectly healthy?
"Talulah... does she still hate Lungmen? I mean, so many years have passed, and she has always been unwilling to have any interaction with us. How does she view this city now?"
Ch'en was no longer that child who didn't know anything back then. She already knew why that incident happened and naturally knew the truth about it. Ch'en believed that Talulah naturally had no good feelings toward this city. Her bumpy life for so many years could be said to have become that way because of this city. Now, she naturally understood what that feeling was like. If she were Talulah, she might also want to take revenge on this city and its master.
If possible, she didn't want to ask this question at such a time. Because this question was very likely to shatter her beautiful dream, and even cause the two people chatting right now to become enemies in the next second. But her responsibility required her to ask this question here. At this moment, she looked into Jeanne's eyes with utmost seriousness, wanting to confirm if what Jeanne said next was true through those eyes.
At this time, she naturally knew such things could wait to be asked until the two people were more familiar, so that the answer obtained might be more accurate, and Jeanne would have less defense against her. But she still chose to ask Jeanne so directly at this time, even if the outcome of this matter might be something she didn't want to see, and she could even accept the worst result now.
"How does Talulah view Lungmen? That fellow has never explicitly stated that. Allow me to think about it..."
Upon hearing Ch'en ask about Talulah's feelings for Lungmen and recalling Talulah's reaction when Lungmen was mentioned, Jeanne planned to ponder how to describe it...
Usually, Talulah rarely mentioned Lungmen and people other than Ch'en to them. Jeanne understood Talulah's life in Lungmen relying on those memories of hers. But looking at Ch'en's current appearance, one could tell how much she valued this matter. If the wrong thing was said, it was really possible that these two people, whose current relationship was quite fragile, would have more trouble.
If a phone call could be made to let these two talk face-to-face, Jeanne figured there would be no more issues between the two, but the problem was she had no way to contact that silly dragon right now.
"How should I put it... Talulah's feelings for Lungmen are quite complicated, right? Usually, when asked casually, she always finds an excuse to skip the question..."
Hearing Jeanne say this, Ch'en didn't know what to say. Did the meaning here mean she still had Lungmen in her heart, or that she already disgusted by it to the point of not wanting to mention a single word?
"However, she likely doesn't hate this city as much as you imagine, it's just that the situation in your family seems quite complicated, and she really doesn't know how to face it, right?"
The moment Jeanne finished speaking, Ch'en nodded in agreement. Her family situation was truly messy to a certain extent, especially Talulah's situation; no matter who it was, they wouldn't know how to handle it. Ch'en covered her forehead, expressing helplessness about these things. It seemed that her idea of wanting Talulah to return to Lungmen was impossible in the short term.
Jeanne, seeing that Ch'en might be immersed in sad emotions for a while, put the bag on her shoulder aside and then seemed to be searching for something inside. Jeanne remembered there were still a few letters Talulah wrote to Ch'en hidden inside. It wasn't that Jeanne secretly hid them; it was that Talulah stuffed them in when she didn't know where to put them.
However, Jeanne couldn't remember where Talulah hid them at that time. Even though the bag looked crooked on the outside, there were several inner layers sewn by Talulah, and some even Jeanne couldn't find. After searching for a while, Jeanne did indeed feel a few things that felt like paper in an inconspicuous place, hidden in a particularly hidden compartment.
Jeanne estimated that Talulah couldn't find a place to put these things, so she just hid them in Jeanne's bag. In any case, Jeanne didn't go far often, so this thing wasn't commonly used. Jeanne figured Talulah most likely forgot about this; her letters were already practically diaries, and she couldn't remember a few letters she just put away casually.
"You can look at this; these letters written to you are enough to prove what I said. Actually, your sister often writes letters to you, but in the end, she never sends them. The number of these things has reached the point where they could be published as a book."
Having said that, Jeanne took out those few sealed letters from the bag. The envelope was entirely blank, with nothing written on it.