Chapter 804 — Patty's Friend
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"So Patty is your 'now and then,'" Gao Cen said, and as he spoke, something Amber had reported earlier regarding the investigation in the Grantland came suddenly to mind. He could not help rubbing his chin with his fingers, a thoughtful look on his face. "According to those who once cared for Patty, she 'miraculously' pulled through the most dangerous stage; her final survival was inconceivable to professionals such as apothecaries. In all that... your hand was at work, was it not?"
"I did nothing," Selina smiled calmly. "Only, when she was in the greatest pain, I switched places with her.
"That crown had no effect of shielding pain or sensation at all. Apart from serving as a medium for an ordinary person to enter the dream world, its sole function was to swap me with Patty whenever she wanted to sleep—a fact that even she was unaware of.
"Of course, she no longer uses the crown now, nor does she need it. I know you gave her a magical device to aid sleep; for Patty as she is now, that thing is already sufficient."
Gaoyang did not conceal his surprise, nor his bewilderment: "So... when Patty falls asleep, the one in control of her body is actually you... Then who is it that accompanies Patty in the mental network?"
"Also me—merely a split-off avatar. But occasionally it is Wendy, Rachel, or Ariella."
"...What you have done for Patty does surprise me."
"To me, none of it amounts to much. I have died once, and that was far more painful than anything Patty has endured," Selina shook her head. "Besides, I am using Patty to calibrate my own mind, treating her as a kind of vessel. It is a fair trade."
Selina's voice fell, but there were more words she did not speak.
She knew very well that what she had done for Patty... was perhaps nothing more than a kind of self-consolation, a moving of her own heart. It had nothing to do with nobility, and could not even be called conscience—it was only so that, when she faced those mind-slaves... she could feel a little more at ease.
Gaoyang only looked quietly into Selina's eyes, and in a certain tacit understanding, neither of them put these things into words.
"Patty no longer uses your crown, and can no longer connect to the mental network," Gaoyang broke the silence. "But clearly, you are still able to roam the mental world without a medium. Will you still meet with Patty?"
"The mental network is very unsafe now, and it is good to keep Patty away from it," Selina said. "As for me... though I am still with her now, I do not intend to appear again. Let her take it as a dream from her childhood—like the 'green fairy friends' every child has when young."
"Green fairy friends" was a long-standing notion in many regions of the northern continent. People believed that the huge seeds dropped by giant trees in spring housed spirits, and that these "spirits" could soothe frightened children and help them fall asleep. Young parents would usually gather the fallen seeds of the giant trees in spring and carve them into puppets and the like as playmates for their children, and from this custom many stories centering on "green fairy friends" had grown, with the saying "every child has a green fairy friend in childhood" spreading far and wide across the northern continent.
And the evidence behind these legends had been confirmed after the Empire's First Druidic Research Center successfully isolated a harmless sedative component from the seeds of the giant trees...
A few somewhat scattered thoughts flashed through Gaoyang's mind, and he could not help shaking his head with a smile: "Patty has long since outgrown believing in 'green fairy friends.' You choose to fade from her sight because you do not wish to disturb the rest of her life?"
"She is recovering and will lead a more normal life hereafter. And a normal life has no need of a ghost from a dark cult standing at one's side at every hour."