The night was deep, the layered clouds hid the moon. Above the Backlund Bridge, there was only darkness.
Klein had just “teleported” here. Before he could look around, he saw bright green pea vines falling from the sky, covering the area like a rainstorm.
They intertwined, quickly forming a forest that stacked up layer upon layer, its top completely out of sight.
Klein let go of his right hand holding down his top hat and skillfully walked upward along the path formed by the vines.
Before long, he saw a natural swing made of green plants, and the “Mystery Queen” Bernadette standing beside it.
Roselle the Great's eldest daughter had chestnut hair, wore a ladies' shirt with a lace bow tie, paired with a gray skirt that passed her knees, long leather boots, and a soft hat with fine black mesh veiling.
“You've grown much faster than I anticipated.” Bernadette's blue eyes, hidden behind the black mesh, reflected Gehrman Sparrow's figure.
Klein's expression didn't change as he replied: “Praise Mr. Fool.”
While saying this, he complained in his heart: This is called striving unceasingly and relying on oneself instead of others!
“The Mystery Queen” nodded slightly, her voice gentle but devoid of emotion: “I know why you wanted to see me.”
Before Klein could speak, she tilted her head slightly, looked at the vine swing beside her, and said in a tone as calm as a lake hiding a thousand undercurrents: “I feel that he didn't truly, completely fall.”
...Meaning, you think Roselle the Great didn't completely die? That he's still alive somewhere in this world, with a chance to return? Klein hadn't expected to hear such straightforward and explosive words at the start. Although he kept his expression under control, he didn't know for a moment how to respond.
At the same time, he noticed that Bernadette used “he” instead of “He” to describe Roselle the Great—whether in the ancient Feysac they were currently using to converse, or in everyday Loen or Intis, these were two completely different words.
This meant that in the “Mystery Queen's” heart, Roselle the Great wasn't an angel, but a father... Klein calmed down a bit and asked carefully: “Why do you feel this way?”
Bernadette withdrew her gaze from the vine swing and said in that still gentle voice: “In the final stage of his life, although he was crazy and radical, there wasn't a single thing he didn't plan well. I believe he must have made some preparations for himself.”
“You should know that in his later years, he attempted to cross pathways and seize the vacant 'Black Emperor' throne of a god, which required establishing nine pyramid-like secret mausoleums.”
“After he died in the White Maple Palace, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery joined hands to find eight such mausoleums and destroyed them one by one, but the ninth was never found, and no one knows where it is hidden.”
“If he had become the 'Black Emperor', then he could surely awaken and return from this mausoleum. If he failed, I think, there might be a possibility of resurrection through it...”
Bernadette's voice grew softer and softer until, at the end, it was ethereal and hard to distinguish.
So you aren't that confident either... It's more of an anticipation and a hope... Klein felt a swell of emotion hearing this.
Suddenly, he remembered a remark from the “King of the Five Seas”, Nast: Roselle the Great liked to stand in front of a row of French windows and gaze westward.
And from Roselle's diary, Klein knew that He had discovered an entrance to the Abyss in the Misty Sea west of Intis, found a primitive island, and believed it was full of strangeness and worth exploring.
Could it be... Roselle the Great built the last secret mausoleum in the Abyss, or on that primitive island? Klein thought for a while, then curved his lips slightly and said: “You seem to know quite a bit about the 'Black Emperor' pathway.”
He suspected that Roselle the Great leaving a “Black Emperor” card as a bookmark and using Bernadette's ancient Feysac name as the opening incantation was partly to convey the corresponding ritual to his daughter, but it seemed Bernadette had gathered this information from another source.
The part of the “Mystery Queen's” lips not covered by her hat's veil curled into a faint smile: “I've been investigating this matter for over a century, and to figure out the details, I endured the knowledge infusion from the 'Hidden Sage'.”
“It's obvious that you, and the 'Mr. Fool' behind you, also have a deep understanding of this... I've always been curious, why are you so interested in his affairs?”
Judging by the current situation, strictly speaking, you should call me uncle... It's very likely the Great Emperor and I were 'roommates' stuck together for years... Klein lightened his gloomy mood with this rhetorical complaint, replying in a flat tone: “You can pose this question to Mr. Fool.”
He didn't intend to tell Bernadette right now that the ninth secret mausoleum was likely somewhere in the Misty Sea, likely on that primitive island or in the Abyss. It was better and more appropriate for 'The Fool' to answer this.
“The Mystery Queen” wasn't surprised by Gehrman Sparrow's response. She cast her gaze towards the west, towards a place separated by a vast distance.