After cutting the lemon slices, squeezing out the juice and throwing it into the black teapot, and then mixing it with warm honey, the simple and crude lemon black tea was brought into the reception room - it stands to reason that the tea for the guests should be of a higher grade, but Douglas is the kind of physique who can't sleep in the middle of the night after drinking tea at night, and it seems that Melissa doesn't care much about these small rituals, so he skillfully mixes the small sweet water that is suitable for all ages, and even adds ice cubes to it.

100% master of tricks makes ice cubes by hand, after all, there is no refrigerator.

After Douglas brought the tea into the house, the work of pouring the water was robbed by Veretti.

The little girl in his family is very close to the neighbor's sister Melissa, after all, Melissa has helped her a lot in life and school.

However, after chatting a few words, Veretti could also keenly feel that Sister Melissa seemed to be a little distracted when chatting with her this time.

But in the room, apart from the two of them, there was only one Douglas who was sitting in an easy chair and drinking lemon tea.

It's not coming to me, that's ...... Veretti's eyes lit up like Russell's discovery of the New World.

Douglas, who was paying attention to the content of their chat, noticed that Veretti frequently cast his gaze, and had already guessed what the children were gossiping, and put down his cup a little helplessly, intending to save his reputation.

As a result, Melissa was more straight than he thought, and she patted the back of Veretti's hand a little apologetically, and said politely: "I'm sorry for Retty, although I would like to talk to you a little longer, but I have something to ask Mr. Douglas today." ”

Veretti didn't mind, but instead shook Melissa's hands and responded very seriously: "It's okay, since you have something to do, then I'll go back to my room to review my homework first!" ”

At the end of June, when many universities in Rune start recruiting students, Veretti has one year to graduate, but the last year of her nursing technical school is an internship, and if she can complete the progression, then this year can be completely saved.

Although Veretti started her revision a little late this year and may not be able to get the results she wanted, Douglas encouraged her to sign up for a few colleges that could be admitted by exams to get a taste of the atmosphere of the exam room – in short, mock exams.

Under the strong support of Douglas and the temptation of Melissa's college life, Veretti finally officially included "admission to college" in her life plan, and devoted herself more diligently to her studies.

Before leaving, Veretti thoughtfully brewed another pot of tea for the two, and this pot of honey was added to it, and it was slightly sweet. Douglas did his duty to help Melissa refill a drink, and by the way, straightened his sitting posture: "Sorry, there are no snacks prepared at home. ”

Usually it is the joint work of the hostess and the maid to prepare tea and snacks to entertain the guests, one at the expense of the other. Originally, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas hired Emma, a maid who worked part-time as a cleaner and cook, and after Douglas and Veretti moved in, Veretti taught Emma to read and write, which was enough to make Miss Maid get a more valuable job, and Emma officially resigned and left a few days ago.

Douglas, who was not accustomed to being served, felt quite relaxed about this, and had no plans to hire a new servant for the time being.

Although in the long run, one or two fixed servants are a necessary configuration for middle-class families in order to blend in with the atmosphere of the neighborhood, and even most people will feel that providing jobs for servants is a social responsibility, and even cleaning and cooking are self-sufficient and will only be criticized as a dime a dime and a dime.

But in short, it can be delayed for a day...... If you don't eat something like a snack, you won't die! Therefore, Douglas apologized justifiably and without psychological burden.

Melissa certainly didn't care about that. She tucked her hair behind her ears with her hand, and her bright brown eyes flashed with a sincere apology: "No, I'm the ...... I have taken the liberty of visiting you, and I have come to thank you, Mr. Douglas. ”

She and Yuval don't usually go to the East Side at all, even if they clash with the gang, but Melissa knows that Douglas still needs to be in and out of the East Side from time to time, and is most likely to be retaliated against.

Coupled with the fact that Douglas helped her save Marlene, the street girl, Melissa felt that she should always express her gratitude, there was not much she could do, that is, ask the teacher to create some simple and extraordinary items at a time, and wanted to ask Douglas if he had such needs.

"Just call me by name." Douglas scratched his chin and smiled nonchalantly, "I didn't do anything to be thankful for, did I?" Don't think about it, Miss Melissa, go back and get some rest, and forget all the unpleasantness. ”

"......" Melissa choked on what she wanted to say next, and she frowned a little disapprovingly, feeling that Douglas's statement was inappropriate.

She chose to put it mildly and asked: "But reality doesn't change because of our ignorance. ”

"To be precise, reality doesn't change because of our emotions...... You and I are not to blame for all this, so don't be too burdened by that. To be honest, I was a little worried when I saw you visiting, that you would be more impulsive and frustrated, to the point of making irrational decisions like trying to enter the East End yourself, saving more people, etc., which would be very dangerous. Forgive my straightforwardness, if you have been hurt by this, I can't explain it to Mr. Benson. ”

Douglas said half-jokingly, half-serious.

However, seeing Melissa's state, he felt that his worries were a little unnecessary, and the neighbor lady seemed to have grasped the line between goodness and stupidity and did not fall into negativity.

Hearing the explanation, Melissa also understood Douglas's concern, and then pursed her lips embarrassedly, and just said, "Before that, I was comforted by a friend. She told me, 'May you still have the courage to love this world after seeing everything clearly'. ”

Douglas was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "I seem to have heard similar words somewhere, is it from the philosophical reflections of Russell the Great?" ”

Despite the slight confusion caused by the difference in language, Douglas immediately linked this sentence to a famous quote that went viral on the Internet before the crossing.

That's what Romain Rolland of France said, "There is only one kind of heroism in the world, and that is to see the truth of life and still love life"!

"I don't know, it's the first time I've heard something like that." Melissa didn't notice the subtle change in Douglas's expression, tilted her head, and thought seriously, "However, Miss Audrey herself has a lot of experience, and I want to believe that this is Miss Audrey's own perception, she has had a similar experience. ”

Then, she briefly paraphrased Audrey's words.

Hey, it makes sense based on that young lady's experience, but it's too familiar...... Douglas listened, and for a moment could not tell whether Miss Audrey had expressed her emotions in combination with her own feelings, or whether it was brought by the traverser.

Intellectually, he did not want to deny human creativity, thinking that sentences with similar meanings could certainly appear in this world, and emotionally he was eager to meet Miss Audrey for final confirmation, and tried to make his inquiry less abrupt.

“…… You've got a pretty good friend. Douglas sighed with emotion and praise, and said to Melissa, "I don't know if your teacher told me that it is quite important for extraordinary people to always pay attention to their mental state, so as to prevent us from being corrupted by extraordinary powers. Your friend, Miss Audrey, her speech sounds very professional, is she engaged in a profession related to psychology? ”

From Melissa's description, he learned that Miss Audrey had a good family, so he thought about his identity when he was engaged in philanthropy. And in this era, women from wealthy families often work in decent jobs such as teachers or psychologists, and there is evidence of such speculation.

Melissa first hesitated for a moment to answer the question whether Miss Audrey's privacy would be exposed, and soon realized that all the information of the Charity Foundation was public, and for Miss Audrey, these superficial positions were never private, but the best reputation of a noble lady, so she gave a brief explanation to Douglas.

Audrey. Hall? The Hall family, who are well-known in the financial circles of Rune, the largest shareholder of Beckland Bank, and hold the economic lifeline of the Kingdom of Rune?

Douglas was directly silent when he heard this, and almost dispelled the idea of touching the other party.

As an official Extraordinary, he knew that similar powerful nobles must have some knowledge of the Extraordinary World, and even if they were unwilling to take the risk of taking potions, they were likely to hire Extraordinaries to protect themselves, or obtain some protection directly from the Church. It is quite risky to rashly contact and use the information of the traverser to test Audrey.

And then, while his thoughts were divergent, Douglas suddenly discovered a blind spot.

That is, even if Melissa only has Sequence 9, she is a real extraordinary, and she is in a way that can strengthen her thinking ability.

Is it really so easy for such an extraordinary person to be soothed by a few words from ordinary people?

This Miss Audrey seems to be the youngest child of the Hall family, and she is still a woman, and will not inherit too important family positions, so she has the money and time to have more background to contact the extraordinary world......

Well, Miss Audrey isn't going to be an extraordinary person in the "audience" way, is she......

Douglas's expression moved slightly, and it took a lot of effort to hold back, not telling Melissa about this bold inference, but only learning a little about the Charity Scholarship Foundation in small talk.

His final decision was to take a closer look outside the Foundation on his own.

If Miss Audrey really is a "spectator", such an observation cannot be concealed from her.

It is further inferred that if Audrey had been a time-traveler, she would have been able to confirm what Douglas had in common with herself through various details; If not, then at most it will arouse the vigilance of the other party, as long as she leaves in time and does not take more drastic actions, there is a high probability that she will feel that she has just met other wild extraordinaires.

As for the case where Miss Audrey is not a "spectator", it is even simpler. But Douglas now habitually imagines things in a complex and bad direction, so that he can make a strategy in advance and not be too passive.

While chatting, Melissa finally remembered the main purpose of her visit, and did not allow Douglas to continue to divert the topic, and firmly expressed her thoughts: "In any case, Yuval and I have caused you trouble with their actions. Well, being indebted to others all the time is not conducive to my mental health. ”

As she spoke, she also made a joke about the current place.

No, only Yuval is a nuisance, you don't count...... Seeing that Melissa was very persistent, Douglas helplessly hooked the corners of his mouth, and also took a step back: "Okay, but you also know that I can borrow seals from the church to use, and I don't need anything at the moment." When I need it, I will definitely trouble you to help me with this, and as a friend, I also hope that you can think of me as soon as you have difficulties. ”

Unless Melissa's teacher could pull out something extraordinary stronger than "wriggling hunger," Douglas felt like he had no desires.

And Melissa has taken care of Verittido, and he hasn't had time to say anything yet, so he can get along well after making friends.

At this point, Melissa's purpose was initially achieved, and a smile of pure joy appeared on her face, and then she turned her head to look at the wall clock on the wall, and then politely got up to take her leave.

Douglas sent people out of the door, and in less than half a minute, Melissa returned to the detached building next door safely, closed the door and turned around, and saw Veretti open the door of the room and poke out her little head and look at the door from the cloister on the second floor.

After being discovered, the little girl tried to correct the expression on her face, but she still couldn't suppress the curiosity and smile in her tone: "We didn't talk for long." ”

"There's nothing worth talking about for so long." Douglas looked up at the little girl and raised an eyebrow, "It's rude to speculate on others." ”

He wasn't worried about Veretti overhearing something extraordinary, the "master of tricks" had a good ability to illusion, and he had predictively masked the sound of talking to Melissa in advance, and it was completely enough to guard against ordinary people.

"I know ......"

Veretti pursed her lips, saw that Douglas had no intention of talking further, was silent for a moment, then lay down on the edge of the cloister and looked down at her guardian, and asked, "Then, does Douglas have a favorite person now?" ”

Douglas, who had just sat back in his easy chair to eliminate the rest of the tea, coughed twice and looked up again, a little amused and a little dazed: "No, I'm not interested in that kind of thing." ”

At the same time, he answered in his heart, even if he is interested, he is also sexually interested, and I don't know how to implement it!

However, the little girl did not seem to be satisfied with this answer. She bit her lower lip a little cowardly, and just looked at Douglas for a moment before she said seriously: "When I am admitted to the university, I will live in the student dormitory, and you will have time to pursue the lady you like." ”

Douglas frowned when he heard this, and almost blurted out: "It means that you don't want me if you are admitted to college?" ”

Veretti: "? ”

What is this brain-clogging perspective?

"That's not what I meant......," she instinctively replied, then looked into Douglas's eyes and fell silent.

Those eyes were a pale gold that she was very familiar with, and felt a little unfamiliar.

The memory of the first time she met these eyes was blurred, she only remembered that it was the only bright presence in the gray and foggy world, and she only remembered crying and reaching out her hand, praying frantically in her heart that someone would answer.

And then the light came near, came, and stopped for a long time.

So much so that when she noticed that the eyes began to look farther away, to the places where she couldn't see clearly, Veretti instinctively felt a sense of unease, but could not pinpoint the source of the unease.

She could only turn to Douglas himself, wanting to seek an answer from him.

Then Douglas himself defeated her with that strange brain circuit.

Veretti suddenly laughed out loud in anger, grinning and threatening: "When I graduate from college, when I find a job, when I can support myself, I don't want you." ”

"That's fine." Seeing that Veretti had a sense of self-reliance, Douglas nodded with satisfaction and gave a thumbs up, "First of all, it's important to be admitted to college!" It's too early to get rid of me. Go to bed early after reading and don't get too tired. ”

The little girl nodded, did not speak, turned back to the room, sat at the desk and stared at the spread out books illuminated by the dim gas light, and the sheets of paper full of notes, and after a long time, she grabbed the dark red round-bellied pen again, and returned to studying, more serious and more focused.

The future is too far away. But now, she can still catch it.

And where Veretti couldn't see, Douglas watched as the door of her room closed again, and the smile on his face faded, becoming a little tired and helpless.

"Sorry, I really want to go home......"