Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun had once lived at the Rose Manor for a while, and everything here was very familiar to him.

After entering, not only the garden and the courtyard remained the same as in his memory, but also nearly all the servants were those familiar faces from before.

The butler, the coachman, the gardener, the maids... and so on, Su Lun clearly remembered the name of every single one.

When the servants saw Su Lun, none of them treated him as a guest, but rather as the master of the manor.

As they used to do, they lined up on both sides of the path and bowed their heads in salute, "Sir, you have returned."

"Mhm."

Su Lun didn't feel any distance, and continued on his way.

Apart from Martina and Jessica by his side, the other four personal maids had already been waiting at the entrance.

As he walked over, several maids greeted in chorus, "Greetings, sir~"

They smiled as brightly as flowers.

A smile also appeared on the corners of Su Lun's mouth.

There was nothing strange about being served closely by the maids in his daily living routine.

As soon as he entered the door, Martina took his overcoat and hung it on the coat rack. The other maids also came forward to greet him, tidy his boots, clean off the dust from the road, and got the clothes from home to help Su Lun change.

Su Lun had only intended to visit Yekaterina; he hadn't planned to stay. But before he had a chance to say anything, the maids naturally took care of everything.

Just like in those days, they carefully attended to the master's daily routine.

Jessica, while helping with the clothes, asked with a cheerful smile, "Sir, would you like to rest a bit? If you feel fatigued, this servant can give you a massage. The young lady might take a little while to return."

Su Lun recalled the indeed memorable royal secret technique massages, but he also said, "No, I'll just sit in the study for a while."

Most of the time Su Lun had spent at the Rose Manor with Yekaterina was in the study on the second floor. That familiar environment was just as appropriate for waiting.

"Very well, sir."

Jessica responded with a smile and then led Su Lun upstairs.

The room, with decorations identical to those from a few years back, wasn't unfamiliar to Su Lun.

Jessica helped open the door to the study, and he, feeling very much at home, entered.

The maids brought hot drinks and pastries and then consciously left.

They all knew that their master had the habit of reading quietly.

Su Lun walked to the sofa by the window, and memories flooded his mind. He and Yekaterina had once quietly busied themselves with their own things by that window, spending a peaceful yet memorable time together.

The moonlight outside the window was pleasant, the wind rustled the leaves, creating dancing shadows on the walls.

This corner of the study always brought peace to one's heart.

Su Lun sat on the sofa he used to frequent, took a sip of the warm coffee, and cast a casual glance along the full wall of bookshelves.

On the bookshelf by the window, there were few alchemy books, mostly poetry and literature.

These too were Yekaterina's favorites to browse through in her free time.

She had the habit of leaving bookmarks in books she read.

Seeing the many new bookmarks, Su Lun knew that she, even after becoming the Imperial Emperor, had maintained her love for reading.

His eyes swept over, and suddenly, Su Lun's gaze sharpened.

With his current perspective, there were no secrets left in alchemy, and at a glance, he noticed a very special book on the shelf.

This purple and gold-embossed book was wrapped in the complete rules of the world, a very powerful cursed item, similar in nature to the "Death Novel: Netherworld" he had once obtained.

The name on the book cover was "Windmill Castle Towards the Sun."

Su Lun's expression suddenly changed, from sharp to gentle, as if he had remembered something.

"Sunflower Windmill," if he remembered correctly, was the steam castle where "Fick" and Yekaterina spent their honeymoon right after their grand wedding.

Unfortunately, the journey was cut short from the beginning due to the ambush and attempted assassination of the "Undead Demon Monk" Rasputin.

Now, looking at this journal, Su Lun felt moved.

He walked over, pulled out that journal, and with one flip, the scenery changed around him, and he had entered the world of the book.

...

The first page of the book read: It was a spring day when the mountain flowers bloomed profusely, under a brilliant sun. In the valley caressed by a gentle breeze, a steam travel castle was chugging along, puffing white smoke. On the light green lawn, a girl with flaxen braids and small freckles on her face was painting a spring-themed oil painting...

The words transformed into images, and the images suddenly came to life before his eyes.

Vibrant wildflowers bloomed expansively across the hills.

As Su Lun entered, a gentle breeze touched his face, bringing with it the fragrance of wild blossoms.

Not far away stood the punk yet romantically styled Sunflower Windmill Castle.

Time was tranquil and leisurely.

There was a girl on a nearby hill, wearing a white dress and a hat, adorned with petite yellow chrysanthemums. She looked into the distance now and then, then intently returned her gaze to the canvass on her easel, focused on capturing something.

Suddenly, a breeze blew.

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

The long skirt fluttered lightly in the wind, and the young girl hurriedly held down her dress, but the wide-brimmed hat on her head, beige with a lace butterfly knot, was also lifted by the wind.

In her panic to catch the hat, her fingertips barely grazed it before the hat joyfully escaped on the wind, leaving her only grasping at a wisp of breeze.

In the blink of an eye, the wind carried the hat into the waiting hands of Su Lun.

As she turned her head, there was a girl with a big flaxen braid who, when she smiled with her shallow dimples, seemed like all the world's innocence and beauty were kept in that cheerful and bright face.

They exchanged a glance, and the girl, as if recognizing the person, greeted him with a brilliant smile, "It's been so long, Mr. Su Lun~"

When they met again, she spoke as if it were the old days.

Su Lun still clearly remembered that their first meeting was at the Star Inn in the Northern Blizzard City of Luying.

Back then, he had gone to retrieve his lost ring, meeting face-to-face with the seller at the inn.

At their first meeting, the girl with the large braid and freckles on her face introduced herself earnestly, "My name is Katyusha, a trainee 'Astrologer'..."

As if greeting a long-lost friend, there was a genuine happiness in the depths of Katyusha's eyes.

As she spoke, she held down her skirt and joyfully ran down the hill.

The girl rushed into his embrace, a delicate fragrance of youth entering his nostrils as she looked up at him, her eyes like the starry river of a summer night. Su Lun suddenly felt a familiar warmth surging in his heart, his lips also rising in a smile, "Katyusha, it's been a long time."

It seemed as though they had never been apart.

...

"Mr. Su Lun, may I include you in my story?"

"If I'm the protagonist, I don't mind."

"You're so greedy. But what if I want to be the protagonist in my story?"

"Ah...then let's write a romantic love story in it."

"I don't want that! Astrology tells me that I will be the brightest star in the future. Love, that superfluous thing, will only hinder the speed of my sword drawing!"

"Without experiencing a love that pierces the heart, how can one write a story that brings tears to the eyes?"

"Eh...that seems to make some sense. I'll tell you about our story after I figure out how to write it."

"..."

It turned out, she really did weave their story into a poem.

The law of this poetic world was not as complete as that of the Netherworld, but through poetry as a vessel, it recorded a complete love story.

There was a girl, plain as an ugly duckling, innocent, loving poetry, time, white clouds, the night...loving everything beautiful.

She traveled the entire continent as a minstrel, thinking she would be a solitary poet.

But along the way, she met a man named Su Lun, and that turned into the most romantic encounter of her life.

...

"Mr. Su Lun, it's been a long time. It feels like a very, very long time..."

"Yes, it has."

"..."

Su Lun and the girl with the large braid sat on the pedal of the Sunflower Windmill, enjoying the cool spring breeze and admiring the splendid blooming flowers on the mountainside before them.

Katyusha cheerfully swung her fair legs, as intimate with him as they had been back in the Emerald Holy Land, with no hint of distance between them.

She wasn't Yekaterina, lacking the empress's commanding presence of the Combined Empire.

She was just a kind, pure girl who loved poetry and life.

"Do you still remember why I bit you at the beginning?"

"Ah... I was drunk and blacked out then. It took me a very, very long time to remember."

"You nasty fellow, you actually took advantage of me at the time, and you even complained that I was too small?"

"Hahaha...after so long, you haven't grown much, have you?"

"Hmph? You try it, I have changed obviously, haven't I?"

"..."

Su Lun's current realm allowed him to see through any falsehood at a glance.

Even a world written in books like the Netherworld was visible to him.

But in this "Windmill Castle Towards the Sun," he was immersed, infatuated, desiring to linger in this world for a long time.

He even harbored a thought in his heart to accompany the girl on a journey across the world, to complete that romantic adventure.

As they chatted, it seemed as if his thoughts entered a mysterious state.

Hazy, illusory, semi-real and semi-false...

Su Lun had always been pondering a question: Do people in low-dimensional worlds really exist?

Such as the characters in a world within a book.

The higher his rank, not only did the doubt remain unresolved, but it also became more unclear.

He couldn't deny it.

But he couldn't affirm it either.

This question, it seems, would only truly have an answer when one reaches the realm of the gods.

.....

No matter how thick a book is, there always comes a day when it is read through.

Su Lun couldn't bear to turn to the last page, yet it kept thinning out, one page at a time.

Images flashed through his mind like a slideshow, and he realized that each page contained traces of that girl, playful, lively, and adorable.

When he turned to the final page, the girl stood amidst blooming mountain flowers, smiling to herself, waving at him, "Mr. Su Lun, see you again."

Su Lun felt a moisture at the corners of his eyes.

Only upon parting did he realize the value of what he had.

In this moment, he fully comprehended what Fujiwara Hayato had left behind as the most precious thing in his novel.

The grand writer had penned down the story of his youth, waiting for that gray-haired girl to find it again, to see their original selves.

With ink, he had bridged the gap created by the passage of time.

From the moment they opened the first page of the book, they were acquainted again, as if no time had passed.

"Hello, my beautiful desk-mate, my name is Gustav, and I am pleased to meet you. My dream is to become a great writer, a great adventurer! Now, we are classmates."

"Hello, my name is Natasha~"

That slice of happiness was forever preserved within the novel.

When it was reopened, the story began anew.

Another fiery and romantic love.

With this thought, Su Lun also started from the beginning of his notes.

It was still that valley blooming with mountain flowers, a steam castle called the Sunflower Windmill, and a girl in a white dress with floral patterns, leisurely and intently painting an oil painting on the hillside.

The wind lifted her hat, and as she reached to grab it, she turned back to see the man who had paused at the roadside, and gave him a smile, "Long time no see, Mr. Su Lun~"

Su Lun also looked at her, his eyes also rippling with a smile, "Long time no see, Katyusha."

He saw the girl from his memories, time and again.

Over and over.

The world within this book was truly enchanting.

....

In the quiet study, Su Lun stood in front of the bookcase, carefully browsing through the poetry collection.

He was engulfed in a very mystical state.

Browsing through "Sunflower Windmill," he felt as if his world had regained something very important.

Something he seemed to have overlooked, now grasped in his hands.

Suddenly, Su Lun felt fulfilled.

He could view life and death with equanimity.

But now, as he was about to leave the alchemy plane, what he truly couldn't let go of were these most important people he had encountered in life.

Undisturbed, the moonlight spilled through the window, casting light upon his face.

And the slight upward curve of his mouth.

He smiled genuinely from the bottom of his heart.

But just then, there came a slight noise from outside the door.

The maids would never disturb him without summoning.

Su Lun glanced over, slightly curious.

At that moment, he saw a pair of arms white as lotus roots pushing open the slightly ajar door of the study, and then a small head poked through the gap.

It was a little girl with beautiful purple hair, pretty as a porcelain doll.

About four or five years old.

She looked at Su Lun in the study, her gem-like, rippling eyes full of unfamiliarity, yet she blinked curiously, sizing up the stranger before her.

Su Lun immediately recognized the little girl who resembled Yekaterina by seventy percent and couldn't avert his eyes.

Upon seeing the crystal pendant hanging on her chest, he instantly understood.

This was the space pendant he had once given to Yekaterina.

He had wondered why it was in the mansion,

It turned out... it was with her.

Gazing at her, Su Lun suddenly felt a warm surge in his heart, and his gaze softened.

The purple-haired little girl didn't seem to be shy by nature; she looked at Su Lun with her watery big eyes and finally asked timidly, "Are you Daddy?"

She asked uncertainly, then added, "Mommy said that only Daddy would come to the study."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun suddenly felt his eyes moisten.

For the first time across two lifetimes, he heard this address.

A strange feeling.

But it struck straight to the heart.

"Yes, dear."

Su Lun's face broke into a tender smile, and thinking, he opened his arms.

The purple-haired little girl, upon hearing the response, had her deep blue eyes shine like twinkling stars, suddenly lighting up.

Such a young age, yet already strikingly beautiful.

Her porcelain little face also instantly bloomed with a happy smile, hesitated for a moment, then scurried over and crashed into Su Lun's embrace.

Su Lun lifted the girl up, saw his own reflection in her eyes, and suddenly felt that this world really had more and more things making him reluctant to leave.

The little girl was overjoyed, as if she had gained the most precious treasure. It seemed she had a lot to say, chirping at a very fast pace, "Daddy, why have you not come home for such a long time... Mommy said you are a great adventurer, a hero, who goes to many places to defeat monsters, to maintain world peace..."

"Yes, dear."

Listening to her, Su Lun was overwhelmed with emotions, not knowing how to respond.

He wanted to shout out the little girl's name, but found he didn't know it.

Luckily, the little girl mentioned it herself.

Hearing Su Lun's response, she became even more excited, waving her little arms about, "Vivian also wants to be like daddy, to become a great adventurer and defeat monsters!"

Originally, all children liked to hear stories of heroes and adventurers.

But for a father, it seemed too hollow, too distant.

With thoughts racing in his mind, Su Lun watched the glossy purple hair cascading down and suddenly thought of something. He drew a symbol with his finger in front of him, and a crimson Nonagram Alchemy Formation appeared.

The little girl watched with excitement written all over her small face, "Wow~ it's the Nonagram! March teacher said, this is the most powerful alchemy!"

"Mhm."

Su Lun responded with a slight smile, knowing full well who this "March teacher" was.

He had discovered long ago that there was a ninth-tier practitioner from the darkness series secretly protecting from the corner of the room. If not mistaken, it should be the vice-commander of the intelligence department known by the codename "Black JOKER," March Creton.

The little girl was unaware that her mere mention of the name made the empire's strongest shadow guard in the shadows shiver and swallow nervously.

Between experts, a mere thought was enough to know the difference, and that difference was indeed vast.

The ninth-tier practitioner was well aware that the real terror was the one inside the room.

Without malice, Su Lun ignored the shadow, embracing the little girl with one arm, while with the other hand he threw a bunch of high-grade materials into the alchemy formation, then pinched the sorcerer's seals, and slowly a hairpin took shape.

This item, like the "Blessing of Celia" which his teacher had once given him, possessed attributes of blessing, protection, and luck.

Su Lun completed the creation, then with his hand as a pen, inscribed on the hairpin: "To my dearest darling—Vivian."

He held the sparkling hairpin and asked, "Vivian, I have a small gift for you, do you like it?"

The little girl in his arms had already been brimming with anticipation, nodding repeatedly, "Mhm mhm mhm! I really like it!"

Despite her eagerness, the court etiquette she had been taught from a young age kept her from reaching out to take it, instead tilting her head in an elegant manner, waiting for someone to put it on for her.

Seeing this, Su Lun's eyes were full of tenderness.

He reached out and personally placed the hairpin on Vivian's head.

The little girl was thrilled.

Oddly enough, just at that moment, there were footsteps outside the door.

Su Lun didn't need to look to know who had come.

The maid pushed the door open, and a stunningly beautiful face came into view. Purple hair cascading like a waterfall, clad in a gorgeous gold-thread emperor's robe—who else could it be but Yekaterina?

...

Su Lun and the returned Yekaterina exchanged glances.

Suddenly, two images overlapped in Su Lun's eyes.

She was not Katia.

But Katia was her.

Before he had the chance to say anything,

Vivian in Su Lun's arms had already excitedly called out, "Mommy, Mommy~ Look, Daddy's back!"

Yekaterina smiled gently.

Su Lun smiled too.

Just that one glance, as if nothing was said, yet it seemed like a lot was communicated.

Yekaterina blinked lightly, her eyes smiling, pondered for a moment, and then softly said, "Long time no see."

Hearing it, Su Lun too felt a moment of emotion, "Yes, long time no see."

The last time we parted, it was many years ago.

The next time we see each other, who knows how many years later it will be.

Or perhaps, never again.