The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 13: Sequences and Potions

Lumiang entered the old tavern and was surprised to find that the woman was already up, enjoying breakfast in her usual corner.

She had changed clothes again, now wearing a brown dress with a ruffled high collar paired with a dark velvet hat placed beside her, making her look as if she had just returned from an upper-class salon.

"Up so early?" Lumiang calmed himself and walked over.

The lady looked up at him and said:

"Is it possible that I didn't sleep at all?"

"Maybe." Lumiang wasn't unfamiliar with such a situation. After all, when a deadline was approaching, his sister Aurore often stayed up all night. He was just curious why this mysterious woman with unknown intentions suddenly mentioned it.

He glanced at the "table" in front of her and noticed that the food consisted of a cream soufflé with a few nuts sprinkled on top, an enticingly roasted muffin, a croissant, a cup of dark coffee, and a cat's tongue biscuit.

Quite an appetite... But these things don't seem like something Cordu could provide. Besides Aurore, maybe only the administrative officer's chef could make them... Lumiang sat down and casually remarked:

"All sweets."

The lady nodded seriously for once:

"Intis desserts are indeed delicious and varied. Even if you have some every morning, you could go a month without repeating."

After saying this, she took a bite of the cat's tongue biscuit, half-closed her eyes, and savored it for a moment before saying:

"This is one of the meanings of travel."

"You're not from Intis?" Lumiang seized the opportunity to ask.

The lady smiled:

"I'm from Ruen, but given the current situation, that's not important."

The country that, besides steam machinery, factories, a massive army, and maybe lounge chairs, mint sauce, fish and chips, and pure snake fruit beer, has no other special products? As a true Intis native, Lumiang immediately recalled the jokes people usually made about the Kingdom of Ruen.

He replied with a "hmm" and then said:

"I took care of that shotgun-wielding monster."

The lady sipped her coffee and praised him quite plainly:

"Not bad."

For some reason, Lumiang always felt that there was a strange emotion in her eyes.

In their previous interactions, he had a similar feeling, thinking that beyond the amusement and playfulness, there was some emotion hidden in her gaze, but he couldn't quite discern what it represented.

He continued:

"I got an abnormal deep red substance from that monster. Holding it makes me irritable and full of aggression.

"I think it's definitely something involving extraordinary power, but it didn't follow me into reality."

The lady smiled:

"After so many times going in and out, haven't you noticed that apart from your own state, nothing else can come over?"

"You said except for extraordinary items..." Lumiang trailed off.

He thought of the current soreness in his body, the injuries he sustained in the dream, and the corresponding memories that hadn't faded upon returning to reality.