Chapter 589 Soul Lamp
After Valerie grasped the real situation regarding her Great House of Caelestis, she realized how much of a sheltered life she had been living.
At the same time, her strong desire to explore the outside world dwindled. Even though she still wished to go outside, she didn't want her stubborn insistence to trouble her beloved family. The dangers lurking outside their family's territory were beyond her imagination.
Just as her grandmother had mentioned, her power as a Senior Witch was insignificant; it wouldn't cause any ripples in the vast world. She would not be able to count on it to preserve her life.
Thus, even if she managed to convince her grandmothers to let her out, she would have to rely on the power of the family's servants for protection, and even then, they would most likely not be strong enough to protect her from the dangers lurking outside.
After giving up the idea to venture outside, Valerie felt a pensive sadness welling up inside her when she thought about the fallen family members married outside.
Forget about their name and relation to her; she didn't even know of their existence even though they came from the same family.
Wasn't that just sad?
"Third Grandma, a Caelestis will forever be a Caelestis, even if they have been married outside the family. And their sacrifice must be remembered. Since everyone married outside had died, do we have a place to worship and remember them? I wish to pay my respects," Valerie sincerely requested.
Vera smiled with gratification as she approved of her granddaughter's character.
"We do," Vera nodded and said, "I can take you to our family's memorial hall later to pay respect to the dearly departed."
"However, I have to correct one thing; not everyone married outside the family is dead," Vera suddenly added shortly after.
"At the very least, your Ninth Grandpa's fourth daughter, Verity Weissman, which is to say, your aunt, Aunt Verity, is still living well in the Freedom Federation. Unlike everyone else, she was quite loved. As such, she was able to play a significant role in forming the Freedom Federation it is today."
"Furthermore, her son and granddaughter are also extremely talented individuals. Thus, her current position is quite untouchable. She is very safe," Vera added with a slight smile, feeling proud and a sense of loss.
After all, her niece's achievements, wealth, and power no longer had anything to do with the Great House of Caelestis after she was married away. Even if the person carried the blood of the Caelestis family, the person would only live for the Weissman family she was married into.
Furthermore, they had zero contact for two hundred years.
"Verity Weissman… Weissman…"
Valerie muttered with furrowed brows, finding the familiar. After a moment, her eyes widened in shocking realization.
"Isn't that the family name of Freedom Federation's current president, President Hugo?!" Valerie exclaimed with disbelief.
"Ah, yes… Aunt Verity's son, your distant cousin, is quite impressive, isn't he?" Vera calmly nodded.
Valerie's jaw dropped.
The shocking revelation made her stand on the spot blankly for quite a while.
During that time, Vera informed her older sister, Victoria, of the finalized preparations for the second team of elite servants, which was tasked to head to the Black Rose Kingdom.
Recalling the previous topics discussed, Victoria suddenly entered a period of deep thought before she decided to write a confidential letter sealed in wax and entrusted it to the second team of elite servants.
The second team of elite servants was tasked to deliver the letter to the Black Rose Kingdom's ruler as they carried out their primary objective.
"You want to borrow the Black Rose Transcendent Witch's power to discover the true motives of the Great Ratholos Empire's Chief Shaman, Sister? Would she agree?" Vera inquired.
"Mm," Victoria nodded, then suddenly shook her head.
"I don't know if she can do anything about it. But it won't hurt to ask. The more people know about it, the less burden we shoulder. Although I don't expect anything out of it, I still hope Queen Henrietta could do something about it."
"As do I, Sister," Vera expressed.
The Black Rose Kingdom appeared to be the center of the storm of changes in recent days. Given the borders between it and the Holy Knight Empire were no longer restricted, access to other countries in Pangea was also opened.
As such, it truly was worth asking for help, even if nothing may come of it.
After Vera finished her business with Victoria, she brought Valerie to the memorial hall, located in the most secure area underneath Black Dragon Peak. The entire underground area was fortified with defensive and complicated locking spells to prevent intruders.
It was also off-limits to regular family members.
As such, Valerie's curiosity was immediately piqued. She wondered why the memorial hall had such a huge emphasis on security.
What secrets were hidden within?
Naturally, since her Third Grandmother was willing to bring her to such a place, it didn't take long to learn why.
"Memorial Hall is divided into two areas. On your left are the rooms of the departed, and on your right are the rooms of the living," Vera casually introduced the place.
The Memorial Hall contained dozens of rooms. Each room was small and only had a few shelves holding a varying number of magic fire lamps, all with names inscribed on them.
Only after Valerie saw these magic fire lamps did she realize the importance of the place. These magic fire lamps were known as Soul Lamps, and they were produced to display one's life status.
Once bound by blood, one's Soul Lamp would continue to burn with a weak flame until they drew their last breath.
Although Valerie had no knowledge of ever binding a Soul Lamp, she had indeed found one with her inscribed name in the third room of the living. It had a weak, flickering blue flame.
Evidently, one of her grandmothers must have set it up for her when she was born.
"The fifth room is the one you are looking for, Valerie," Vera instructed as she witnessed her granddaughter heading to the first room of the departed.
However, Valerie shook her head and continued approaching the first room.
"Since I'm here, I have to pay respect to everyone and not just a selected few, Third Grandma. Not doing so would be a bit inappropriate," Valerie stated.
After Vera heard that, she smiled and no longer said anything. She simply watched in silence as her Second Sister's granddaughter entered each room to pay respect to the deceased one by one.
However, after Valerie entered the seventh room briefly, she suddenly ran back out with surprise, startling Vera.
"Third Grandma, one of the Soul Lamps in the seventh room of the departed is still burning! Was it incorrectly placed?" Valerie asked hurriedly, pointing to the seventh room behind her.
What?
"That's impossible. No one would make such a silly mistake," was what Vera said, but she still quickly strode into the seventh room to investigate.
After all, seeing how well-mannered Valerie had been after learning the truth, she didn't believe Valerie wouldn't randomly spout nonsense or play such an awful prank.
Upon entering the seventh room, Vera's gaze immediately fell on the sole burning Soul Lamp inside.
Although the fire of life was only a fraction of the size compared to Valerie's and every other burning Soul Lamp, it was undeniable that the Soul Lamp was still burning with the fire of life.
"The fire of life really is burning…" Vera muttered with a dumbfounded look as her gaze slowly shifted down to the inscribed name below.
The Soul Lamp belonged to Vivienne Caelestis, Victoria's fourth daughter and Valerie's Fourth Aunt.
"Does that mean my Fourth Aunt is still alive, Third Grandma??"
"No…"
"No?"
Valerie had asked with excitement, but Vera's answer immediately left her baffled with pending questions.
Her Fourth Aunt's Soul Lamp was still burning, but her Fourth Aunt wasn't alive…
Then what did the tiny fire of life imply?
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