Four Split Personalities

As for Frank, who appeared slightly hesitant due to being ’afraid of death’, he closely followed Double Leaf’s steps throughout the process, maintaining a distance of no more than two meters from the latter. However, he merely followed her without taking any rash actions, and even looked away deliberately when Double Leaf was reading, maintaining a fair degree of decorum.

Given that Double Leaf did not deliberately hide what she was reading, and in fact, made sure that Motan noticed what books she was looking at, the latter had a clear idea of the books she was examining. As he suspected, most of the books Double Leaf chose were related to magic knowledge, especially those concerning Epic Tier and below Middle Rank, hardly missing any book they passed.

Yet, judging by the girl’s increasingly disgruntled expression, Motan reckoned she had probably not found anything offering a breakthrough. Coupled with Double Leaf’s steadily increasing and pleasant complaints, progress clearly wasn’t optimistic.

This did not surprise Motan, as books like "Unveiling the Veil of Magic Power: Answers", "Half-step Epic Fraud", "Sublimation of Inferior Elements: 300 Experiment Records", and "Personification of Elemental Attributes: The Enchantress Edition", which could potentially assist the girl, had long been hidden by him. Therefore, even if Double Leaf spent twice as long, she would find it hard to pick out any reading that might reinforce her power improvement.

In short, unaware that the coward by her side had already meddled in advance, Double Leaf didn’t give up. Even if those books potentially helping her Epic Promotion had been set aside, she still lingered on this floor for nearly two hours.

In fact, despite her clear intentions, she was still willing to ’waste’ time on many unrelated books. Some had a critical nature with high realism, taking up over half an hour of her time, with their content seeming to be...

"Real-time records about the Hamilton Empire ah."

Cautiously catching the "Montas Clouds III" tossed by Double Leaf, Motan casually opened the table of contents, perusing its content at a pace no less than Double Leaf’s, said with interest, "If I’m not mistaken, the current Violet Empire in the Southeast Continent used to be the Hamilton Empire, and this book was... well, indeed, written in the Holy Calendar 8421, thus the reason why it ended up in the forbidden section."

Double Leaf clearly knew that Frank was a bard with real talent, so she wasn’t surprised by his feedback, only asking offhandedly, "Oh? So why is that?"

Because she only seriously looked at the parts about the young ladies, she was actually unaware of why this seemingly ’harmless’ book would be kept here.

"Considering its content, I think there shouldn’t be anything deemed ’taboo’ in this book, but for that era nearly a thousand years ago, its existence itself was considered ’taboo’."

Motan smiled mildly, gently speaking about "Montas Clouds III" in his hand, "During that century of around Holy Calendar 8350 to 8500, the entire Southeast Continent barely had any power that could rival the Hamilton Empire, and when this book was written, it was arguably the most prosperous and powerful few decades of that empire."

Leaning on the bookshelves with her arms crossed, Double Leaf lazily nodded, "So basically, a book like this slandering that empire was practically written for seeking death in those days?"

"Yes, how to say, although this series of books I’ve seen for the first time, its author Alice · H · Donks is quite renowned, especially after reading Lady Alice’s "The Black Maid’s Stopwatch," not poetry per se but far more memorable, I think saying she was among the most famous literati back then is not an overstatement."

Motan, filled with admiration, raised his head, paying homage to the lady who did not belong to this time and space, speaking softly, "And even back then, her influence was immense enough that even the Hamilton Empire couldn’t easily act against her."

Double Leaf clicked her tongue, surprised, "What do you mean? Was that lady a legendary strong person both literary and martial?"

Motan shook his head, "Not really. In my memory, Lady Alice until her final years was merely at the high-level mage stage, and even if she were a legendary rank strong, she wouldn’t pose much of a threat to the Hamilton Empire, brimming with experts."

"Then why exactly?"

Double Leaf frowned, threateningly said, "Say it fast, or I’ll set fire to your groin and roast your bird."

"Please, don’t do that..."

Frank evidently had little resistance to such crude talk, hurriedly surrendered, and then smiled, asking, "Then, Double Leaf, do you know why the Donks surname was famous in that era?"

Bang—

A brilliant spark exploded on Double Leaf’s middle finger.

"Ahem, in fact, Donks is the surname of the Hamilton Royal Family, and a name that only those of the purest blood from the direct lineage had the right to inherit."

Motan quickly unraveled the mystery, looking down at the author’s name on the book spine, "In other words, Lady Alice herself was a core member of the Hamilton Royal Family."

Double Leaf raised an eyebrow, "Then what? Was that lady pretty rebellious?"

"Rebellious isn’t the right word, but Alice · H · Donks was undoubtably a righteous person as reflected in her works, and this book..."

Motan narrowed his eyes slightly, lightly said, "Even though I only glanced at the content, presumably, there isn’t any deliberate slander against the Hamilton Empire."

Double Leaf keenly captured the emphasis in his words, "You said there’s ’no deliberate slander’?"

"Exactly, no deliberate slander. Lady Alice might have simply faithfully reproduced what she saw and heard, then conveyed her thoughts and knowledge."

Motan nodded, smiled softly, "However, these all-too-faithful things themselves constitute a desecration of the Hamilton Empire, because the dark side of that empire was so abundant it was chilling, especially the morbid Hamilton Royal Family, their brutality and selfishness were appallingly extreme, so..."

"Precisely because it’s overly true to reality, it became ’taboo’. Hmm, that makes sense, because just those few Chapters I randomly read were explosive enough."

Double Leaf answered casually, squinted slightly, "But..."

"Hmm?"

Motan confusedly looked at Double Leaf, tilting his head, "But what?"

"But you’ve probably only seen the table of contents of this book."

The gaze behind the lenses gradually turned sharp, as the girl looked meaningfully at the man before her, "So, why would you know the true nature of the Hamilton Empire?"

"Pfft."

Motan couldn’t help but laugh, shrugged, "Of course, it’s because when the rebels overthrew that empire, they exposed all those dark matters. After all, while this book surely was banned in the past, now that the Hamilton Dynasty has fallen, it’s no secret whatsoever."

Double Leaf paused for a moment, the coldness in her eyes suddenly vanished as if an illusion, then laughed too, "Haha, so that’s how it is, I was just thinking maybe Frank had sneaked into the forbidden section when I wasn’t aware."

Indeed, Motan, who had sneaked into the forbidden section and read the entire "Monsk Clouds" series, shook his head with a wry smile, "How could that be possible? Moreover, the reason I know so much is because... there are also some other aspects."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Those can’t really be discussed in detail."

"Why do you have to be so annoying?"

"I’m sorry."

"I don’t care. If you don’t tell me everything, I’ll roast your bird."

"Um... maybe I’ll tell you someday, and also..."

"And what?"

"I swore to myself, if I eventually had to mention certain things, I’d tell Diana first."

"Tch."

"I’m sorry."

"Scram! Such a bother!"

Chapter 1164: End

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