Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 546 - Chapter 546 Chapter 547 Home of Lucy

Chapter 546: Chapter 547: “Home” of Lucy Chapter 546: Chapter 547: “Home” of Lucy Crown Street, at the edge of the Upper City District of Light Breeze Harbor, there lay a mansion shrouded in mystery at its deepest end–number 99 Crown Street.

This was a distinctive three-story building with a pointed roof that bore the strong architectural hallmarks of the northern City-States, in stark contrast to the elf-style houses commonly seen in Light Breeze Harbor. It featured a dark roof coupled with a striking white facade, and towering windows with intricate patterns and solemn lines. The mansion was flanked by spacious gardens that were quite rare in the City-State, planted with all sorts of bizarre plants and shrubs that nearly no one could name.

Many knew of the mansion’s existence, yet almost no one knew its details, for its owner rarely appeared in public. On ordinary days, only a few silent servants tended the garden and the house, and when night fell, as the lights within the mansion lit up, some eerily terrifying shadows would appear in those lights–

Some insisted they saw the servants, who maintained the house by day, shedding their human skins at night to become creaking puppets and tin men, moving back and forth throughout the house. Others claimed they were drawn to inexplicable whispers when passing near the estate and later found themselves inexplicably transported elsewhere. There were even those who said they had seen the plants in the mansion’s front yard turn into dark thorns that enveloped the first floor of the entire house in an instant as the sun set, resembling a prison.

From there, a myriad of bizarre rumors spread. In some of the wildest speculations, gossips alleged the house imprisoned the resentful spirit of a lady, and a curse from the mansion’s basement had transformed its original servants–turning them into tin men and puppets without consciousness or memory when night descended.

However, these tales were eventually proven to be nothing more than the odd flights of fancy of overwrought bystanders–and in the City-State upon the Endless Sea, similar gossip and speculation were always in abundance.

The aberrations and corruption brought by nightfall made people nervous and prone to seeing the mouth of a windy cave or an empty house with strange noises as dens harbouring impurities in the darkness. The protectors of the City-State dealt with many reports involving Transcendent matters each day, and inevitably, there were such “false alarms” from overstressed nerves–generally, as long as this state of tension did not cross the boundary of “psychic pollution,” there’d be no problem.

After all, mere anxiety wasn’t enough to truly “create” anything in the darkness; it was much better for citizens to remain vigilant than to have no response when genuine Transcendent contamination actually occurred.

As for the true owner of the mansion…

“The Witch of the Seas” had long grown accustomed to the fearful gazes and frightful comments that surrounded her. To some extent, she had even actively spread some of the rumors about 99 Crown Street herself.

“I need a place to rest in the City-State after all; constantly being at sea can wear on the nerves, and I’m no exception,” Lucy said as she returned to her “home” in Light Breeze Harbor and approached the window, looking out at the quiet entrance, “but I dislike dealing with people–finding a truly undisturbed spot in the City-State is difficult, even the more remote areas are crowded, so it’s better to stir up some scare to deter the curious from loitering at my doorstep.”

“Why not consider learning from Tyrion?” Duncan, who was curiously inspecting the furnishings of the big house, responded to Lucy’s words offhandedly, “He found a deserted island in the Chill Sea as a base for the Mist Fleet, and he doesn’t have to worry about being disturbed for a century…”

Lucy turned her head, “Then to secretly watch stripteases at home and get caught by Dad?”

Duncan coughed awkwardly twice, “Cough cough, don’t talk about your brother like that–say it to his face next time.”

Lucy: “…”

A twitch flickered at the corner of Miss Witch’s eye–she wasn’t even sure if she liked her father’s current personality, but she knew she needed some time to adjust.

However, she quickly composed her expression, “I can’t do what he does. Claiming an island means building and managing countless facilities, commanding a fleet, keeping up everything from logistics to external communications, and I don’t have the brains for that–it would encroach on the time I need for research, and just maintaining the ‘Brilliant Starship’ already takes all my energy.”

Footsteps approached from the side, and a servant dressed in a black and white uniform came over with a tray, bearing a heated towel and a cool drink to relieve travel fatigue. Bending slightly toward Lucy and Duncan, the servant’s face displayed a stiff, corpse-like smile while sounds of clockwork and gears ticking echoed from within.

“You and Tyrion excel in your respective fields,” Duncan took a drink from the tray, then curiously inspected the ‘butler’ who appeared indistinguishable from a real person at first glance. However, a closer look revealed an unsettling incongruity, evoking a psychological fear. He casually spoke to Lucy, “Before I saw you both again, I heard a lot of rumors about you. They made it seem like you were distant siblings, almost antagonists. It turns out the rumors couldn’t be more wrong.”

“After all…the split of the Exiled Fleet was a major event a century ago, and not just anyone could find out what happened in the wake of that event. They only know that the ‘Brilliant Starship’ and the ‘Sea Mist’ headed off in opposite directions to the ends of civilized society, which inevitably led to them imagining…a whole array of dramas.”

Lucy said this and shook her head with a complex expression.

“After you… left, my brother and I had a few brief reunions,” she said, her eyes turned towards the window, speaking softly as if to herself about the past that others couldn’t know. “By then, Homeloss had completely vanished from the real world, but we could still feel that you were ‘alive.'”

“In the vicinity of the border, as night fell, on the routes you once explored, the moment our minds relaxed a little, we would ‘hear’ your voice, that irrational, malicious, and destructive roar echoing from the depths of the world, struggling to rise up as if desiring to tear through the barrier between reality and Subspace…

“Many times, at the dim twilight of dusk and dawn, we saw you and Homeloss–that ship would surface from the darkness, moving towards us like doom, leaving death in its wake.

“However, later we realized that only we could see that scene; it existed solely in our sight, in our thoughts.

“Subsequently, my brother deduced some patterns. He discovered that it was because of ‘our’ presence that attracted your ‘gaze.’ The closer Tirian and I were, the stronger this attraction… Do you know? Just like with lights, when two are gathered together, they shine more brightly. Tirian and I, we became the ‘lighthouses’ guiding you back from Subspace to the real world…

“Therefore, we separated, increasingly farther apart–Tirian went to the northern border, and I kept sailing southward. When there was half a world between us, we finally stopped seeing your phantom, and when we were even further apart… we could no longer hear your howl.”

Lucy took a gentle breath, as if a burden had been lifted, as though her words had been held back for a century and her breath delayed for a hundred years.

Duncan listened silently by her side, uncertain of what to say–he knew that the ‘witch’ was reminiscing and discussing someone else, and he shouldn’t feel burdened or regretful over her tale. Yet, for some reason, he found it hard to remain indifferent. Uncontrollable emotions, which he wasn’t even sure were his, welled up inside him. After a long silence, he could only sigh gently, “You both have had a hard time.”

“Actually… it wasn’t too bad,” Lucy said with a smile, gently shaking her head. “In the first ten years, we missed you deeply. Even when we heard those voices or saw those visions, unrealistic thoughts buzzed in our minds, wondering if you truly followed the ‘light’ back to the real world, maybe everything could be alright again.

“In the following ten years, as the terrifying disasters caused by Homeloss’ frequent approaches to the real world increased, we began to feel afraid. Coupled with a sense of ‘responsibility,’ my brother and I started searching for a way to truly and completely exile you.

“A few years later… our ‘exile’ seemed to take effect. As fear gradually faded and nostalgia crept back in, Tirian would occasionally bring up the old days. We were very careful not to mention your name or Homeloss, yet we couldn’t help but discuss those great routes and the memorable voyages…

“And in the last thirty or forty years, everything that could be discussed had been. We finally stopped mentioning Homeloss, and it seemed like all had passed. Even in official documents of most City-States and the sailing logs of captains, Homeloss had become a ‘historical term,’ a legend–consequently, the dread surrounding Sea Mist and Brilliant Starship seemed to have decreased substantially.

“And then, you appeared–the news brought by the Oak from escaping the storm reached Plunder City-State… Do you know? Tirian didn’t sleep well for three whole days after receiving the news.”

She suddenly laughed, as if for the first time in a century she laughed with such ease.

Her silver hairpin, shaped like waves and feathers, swayed with her laughter, emitting a warm glow.

Duncan sighed softly.

But just as he was about to say something, a scream suddenly came from the direction of the living room, interrupting their conversation.

It sounded like Nina’s voice.

Duncan and Lucy quickly exchanged a glance and turned to run towards the living room.

As they were halfway there, they heard Nina’s voice filled with shock and annoyance–

“Them! Why! On the pancakes! Put beans–”