Alice did not tell Evelyn about the situation. After returning home that evening, she prepared all the necessary equipment and medication for the next day.
The next day, at dawn, Alice, with everything packed, arrived at Nathaniel’s courtyard.
Today, she did not even seek out William first thing.
She still felt that William was too heartless.
Since William had told her to persuade Nathaniel on her own, that’s exactly what she would do.
Upon entering Nathaniel’s courtyard, Alice knocked on the door, only to find that no one answered.
It was already past seven in the morning, and according to Nathaniel’s usual routine, he should have been in the courtyard practicing his fitness exercises by seven.
It was common for the elderly to sleep less and get up around five or six to exercise.
“Call Evelyn.”
Alice didn’t know when William had arrived in the courtyard; she turned and asked, “Master, do you mean, let Evelyn come back and try to persuade Mr. Richardson together?”
She thought William had come to his senses.
William said indifferently, “Have her come over for the funeral arrangements.”
“Ah?” Alice’s eyes widened in shock, “How could that be? Even if Mr. Richardson refused treatment…”
“He’s dead, overdosed on pills.”
Alice stared at William, bewildered, and said, “If you knew already, why didn’t you stop him?”
With William’s abilities, he probably could have guessed what was happening. Since William knew that Mr. Richardson had committed suicide by taking pills, he certainly could have stopped him at the time.
But he did not do so.
William asked, “Why stop him?”
“Why?” Alice threw her medical kit on the ground, exclaiming loudly, “Wasn’t he your friend? How could you do this?”
William’s brow lifted, and he said, “You had better watch your tone. How are you speaking to your master?”
“I… I just think that you, master, are being too heartless.” Alice clenched her teeth, almost unable to restrain herself from declaring the end of their master-disciple relationship.
From their first meeting, she had been biased against William, but later, she came to realize that William was truly capable, and upon learning some of his secrets, her admiration as a disciple was joined by a touch of romantic affection that a young woman might feel.
But the events of today made her see that William could be quite heartless.
William’s brow relaxed slightly as he spoke in an even tone, “Nathaniel has reached an age where choosing to die also requires courage, and I respect his decision.”
Ordinary people can’t decide their own birth, but if something compels them to resolve to face death, then that thing must be more important to them than life itself.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, taking one’s own life is nothing but a source of grief for family and friends, but William knew that the old man next door wasn’t making this choice lightly.
He used to get up early every morning to exercise, all to look after Evelyn a little while longer. Therefore, the reason he chose to hide his suicide from Evelyn must also be because of her.
To ordinary people, life is precious, but to William, that concept had long since lost its significance.
He had no desire to die, after all, there were too many beautiful things in this world waiting for him to explore, and as long as he lived, there would never be a shortage of new experiences.
But he would never stop someone else from seeking death.
He hadn’t stopped Thane of Ravenwood from seeking death, and he wouldn’t stop Nathaniel either.
Alice still couldn’t understand what William called respecting one’s decision,as far as she was concerned, if it were a friend or relative of hers seeking death, she would definitely try to stop them.
But now that it had come to this, Alice had nothing more to say, she could only call Evelyn, to inform her of the death.
In less than three minutes, Evelyn descended from the sky and landed in the yard, asking, “What happened to my grandfather?” She couldn’t wait any longer, unwilling to come by car, and didn’t care about ordinary people seeing her flying in the sky.
Alice, looking at the gate, didn’t know what to say.
William instructed, “Go in and see for yourself.”
Evelyn pushed open the gate and rushed in.
Alice asked, “Master, should we go in?”
“You go ahead, I’ll stay out here,” William said, having seen too many partings of life and death. He slowly turned around, knowing only too well that Nathaniel’s death would likely have a profound effect on Evelyn.
Reincarnation with memories is indeed a complex matter.
When a person possesses two completely different sets of memories, their personality can easily change.
Nathaniel was probably the closest person to Evelyn in this world.
With his death, what would become of Evelyn?
Would she fully embrace the other set of memories and become someone else?
William was not sure if the memories she retained were entirely as she had written in her book.
Alice went inside for only a few minutes before coming back out.
Evelyn walked out of Nathaniel’s room in the afternoon, and when she appeared, William could clearly sense the cold desolation emanating from her. In that moment, it seemed as though the soul power within her had experienced a remarkable surge. Could it be the ritual of oblivion from Hades, the god of the underworld?
William frowned slightly,he knew that in the ancient era of myths, gods sometimes chose to sever mortal attachments to focus on augmenting their own powers. He vaguely recalled that Hades did indeed have a set of such mysterious rituals, but Hades himself had never truly cut off his affections for Persephone, often finding himself entangled in them.
Could it be that such a mysterious ritual was passed on to Evelyn?
As Evelyn slowly descended the stairs, her gaze finally fell upon William, and it seemed as if the air around them turned to frost.
She actually harbored the intent to kill William!
William could distinctly feel the murderous intent emanating from Evelyn.
“William, I’m sorry!” After saying this, Evelyn swung a fruit knife from her hand.
A full-powered strike from an intermediate Soulmancer at the peak of her abilities.
She was resolutely determined to kill William.
With a slight smile, William simply tilted his head to the right, and the fruit knife lodged into the concrete wall behind him.
“Evelyn, what are you doing?” Alice shouted, utterly clueless as to why Evelyn would suddenly attempt to murder William.
Evelyn’s eyes were moved, yet she clenched her teeth and said word by word: “Kill him! Sever the emotions!”
To enhance the effect of the ritual of oblivion, she must sever ties with her nearest and dearest, kill William!
William chuckled, “Am I that important to you?”
Evelyn remained silent, but suddenly she was three feet in front of William, her fist aiming straight for his chest.
If William were just an ordinary novice Soulmancer, this punch would surely shatter his heart.
Regrettably for her, the punch landed solidly on William, having no effect whatsoever, not even stirring a breeze.
William laughed, “If killing me is required to sever ties, then you’ll never be able to cut off these feelings in your lifetime.”
Disbelief filled Evelyn’s eyes. How was it possible? William was just a novice Soulmancer. Her full-force strike left him unharmed, a blow that could kill a grown elephant, yet William hadn’t even moved an inch.
His smile persisted, “I might as well remind you, killing Lucy before me would also be pointless.”
It was just the Underworld King’s ritual of oblivion after all, an outdated ancient magic, not even Hades himself could truly reach that state, to forever sever the entanglement of emotions. Evelyn would understand that one day.