"April 9th. Just returned from Countess Warlian's masquerade ball. I suddenly feel an emptiness in my heart.
"A woman, a woman, another woman. Nothing but endless boredom, disgust, emptiness, and numbness.
"What joy is there in this life? Is the meaning of living every day just for this?
"I can't go on like this. I must break free from this degenerate state.
"Also, a reminder to myself: stop writing Arabic numerals in the date out of habit."
...Your Imperial Majesty, you actually reflect on yourself and act like a literary youth? This doesn't match the image I have of you! Klein almost raised an eyebrow.
His gaze moved down to the next diary entry:
"April 11th. Countess Warlian invited me to a private salon. She told me Lady Julia will also be attending.
"Ha, this conservative blonde beauty who married over from Loën is attending too?
"I can't wait!
"I've been fantasizing about what she looks like in bed for a long time. I hope her husband, Viscount Delien, doesn't mide."
Your Imperial Majesty, did you forget the diary you wrote the day before yesterday? Tsk, you're going back on your word, aren't you? Also, you made a typo. It's 'mind', not 'mide'! Klein couldn't help but throw out a couple of jabs.
"April 14th. I've been attending too many social events lately. I'm starting to feel a bit worn out...
"This is no small matter!
"Although I'm still young, I must take precautions against the risk of decline in this area. Restraint, restraint!
"'Archaeologist' has improved my physique and effectively enhanced certain abilities, but this is not its area of expertise; it's merely a side benefit.
"Continuing to advance in Sequence should deepen the changes brought by the previous potion. This is a direction to work towards.
"It is said that 'Apothecaries' can brew potions with few side effects. Perhaps I should consult a few of them.
"Also, I really must restrain myself. Indulgence only raises the threshold, making satisfaction even lower than normal.
"If I calm down and think about it, there are still many things I can do. Humans are always like this, bound by desires, unable to see what truly holds value. Why did I transmigrate here? What secrets are hidden deep within the starry sky above? Where does primordial consciousness come from? If self-cognition stems solely from consciousness, then who was I before this identity of Huang Tao? To whom does the most essential part of 'me' belong..."
Your Imperial Majesty, are you demonstrating to me what it means to be a 'wolf before the act, philosopher after'? Hey, even you worry about that sort of thing? I thought you had certain attributes permanently fixed... Good thing you didn't teach your children Chinese. Well, you probably didn't. If you had, what would they think reading this? Zaratul's prophecy that your eldest daughter, Bernadette, would turn against and betray you isn't without reason... Of course, not teaching them is more of a form of protection... Klein was successfully amused by Roselle's diary, but his expression didn't change at all.
Emperor Roselle's diary was for him both a book of knowledge and a collection of jokes.
With a thought, Klein flipped to the next page of the diary:
"October 2nd. Zaratul visited me again.
"He hopes that I, having entered the demigod realm, will fulfill my promise and help him steal that dangerous Sealed Artifact from the Church.
"It is a notebook from the Antigonus family of the Fourth Epoch. A Grade '1' Sealed Artifact!"
Seeing this, Klein's pupils constricted uncontrollably:
This must be the notebook that the Psychology Alchemists lost later on.
This must be the notebook that caused Klein Moretti's death, allowing 'me' to successfully awaken in this world by inhabiting his corpse!
This is the source of it all!
"So, it wasn't in the hands of the Psychology Alchemists from the start. Instead, it was sealed within what was then the Church of the Craftsman, later the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery. Zaratul, through Emperor Roselle, successfully stole it...
"Oh right. The Psychology Alchemist member inside 'Creeping Hunger' is very afraid of Zaratul, thinking he is an immortal, abnormal monster. Does this mean that Zaratul gained certain benefits from the notebook, but then had an accident, transforming from a 'human' who could communicate normally with Roselle into a monster, and that's why the Antigonus family notebook was lost later?
"Of course, it's not impossible that Zaratul deliberately made it go missing...
"Hmm... Because Zaratul became a monster, the Psychology Alchemists lost all their mermaids, forcing subsequent 'Faceless' to risk going out to sea? Rosago succeeded because he attempted to enter that sea which evolved from the Ruins of the Battle of Gods?"
One thought after another flashed through Klein's mind, making his heart exceptionally heavy.
He didn't conclude from this that the Antigonus notebook incident he experienced was closely related to Roselle, because the direction he had always guessed was the Law of Convergence of Beyonder Characteristics. Some subsequent details also aligned with this logic.
Does it all involve the high sequences of the 'Seer' path? Klein glanced out of the corner of his eye, taking in the silently extending, boundless gray fog.