Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 540 - 9 Another Face_1

Chapter 540: Chapter 9 Another Face_1

"Yes, you do have a lot of sins to answer for," a heavy footstep resounded from behind Pannis. A sizable figure emerged, casting a giant shadow that veiled Pannis, as it blocked the rising sun. The menacing shadow was accompanied by a voice of endless rhythm that was irresistible, "The adored hero, the deity-like leader, the Magic Swordsman, Mr. Kyle Wood, whose whereabouts have been unknown since the Return of the Dead incident."

"Oh, so you’ve recognized me, Freya." Pannis continued to kneel in front of the grave, gently wiping off the dust from the tombstone. His care was similar to removing fallen leaves from his little sister’s hair, "I figured it would be you who would first recognize me among all of you."

"Well, being Odin’s daughter, Christo’s student, and staying by the side of these two people who know your identity, if we hadn’t had any connection, it would be fine. But now that we do..." Freya revealed a mature smile that she had never shown before: "If I showed no doubts or suspicions, I would seriously question my intelligence."

"So today you finally found the chance to confirm your suspicion?" Pannis moved to the back of the tombstone and started cleaning it, "And then when I left the house early in the morning, you quietly followed me all the way here."

"You didn’t try to stop me either." Freya titled her head with an innocent smile, "You knew I was following you, so why didn’t you shake me off? It should be easy for you with your skills."

"What would be the point of shaking you off?" Pannis retorted, "Since you already have doubts, as we continue to spend time together, you’ll eventually confirm your belief. It’s simply a matter of sooner or later. So why should I bother myself with needless actions? Moreover, even if you know, it wouldn’t make a difference, as you won’t spill the beans to Catherine and the others. So, why should I be worried?"

"You’re so confident. Why do you believe that I won’t spread this?" Freya asked, looking surprised, "Women are the carriers of rumors, the enemies of privacy, and numerous secrets have been exposed due to women. So, brother, never trust that a woman will keep secrets for you, no matter how much the woman loves you."

"The Solo Charlotte, Act 7, Scene 2, good recitation." Pannis chuckled and shook his head, "But I’m not worried at all, because you’re not just a woman, you’re a smart woman. You know what you can and cannot do. Moreover, you have secrets of your own, don’t you?"

"What secret do I have?" Freya’s plump face stiffened, and she looked away, "Okay, how do you know about it?"

"The innocent Freya who adores poetry and literature, and only seems to immerse herself in a world of words, her understanding of the worldly things appears to be a blank sheet. Longing for love but innocent like a child." Pannis paused his cleaning, looked up at Freya, and chuckled, "Does such a woman really exist? Or has she ever existed in this world, even just for a day?"

"Lies are my cloak, disguise is my mask." Freya looked down, "I hide all truth deep in my heart and face this cold world with false pretenses. This is me, the real me."

"Agnes’s Death of the Mask, Volume 3, Chapter 11 of the Autumn Grass Collection." Pannis remarked with a smile that was difficult to read, "A bit harsh to use that to describe yourself, isn’t it?"

"It’s not harsh at all, doesn’t it fit perfectly?" Freya sighed slightly, "But I’m surprised that you knew."

"No matter how ingenious a person’s disguise is, there are always occasional flaws in our daily interactions." Pannis shrugged and didn’t comment, "Besides, it isn’t hard to guess. A bit of thinking would clear it up."

Freya stayed silent with a stern face as her only response. Pannis didn’t mind and laughed casually, continuing to speak, "A girl who grew up in the household of a city lord since birth, a girl so beautiful that the entire city admires her, a girl so clever and potential-rich that she ascended to Gold Rank at an early age, such a person would be exposed to much filth and evil, see through many hypocrisies and lies in her life. This is something you should understand better than I do."

"I’d rather be blind than see those hypocritical smiles, I’d rather be deaf than hear those sweet lies." Freya replied gloomily, "I’d rather choose death than struggle in this ugly and hideous world. Let it all burn, let everything join me in the roaring flames to meet our ends."

"Fireworks at the wedding, Act Five. Sorry, I’m not very comfortable with comedies, forgot if this is the sixth scene or the finale. But you’re quite aware of everything, aren’t you? That’s smart of you." Pannis resumed his activity, started to tend to the tombstones again. "You’ve told Catherine and the others before, ever since you were born, apart from Odin and Christo, everyone else you’ve met had some ulterior motive, either for your family background or your beauty, just as annoying as flies. But is that really all there is to it? Lusting after your family fortune and beauty is simply a euphemism for countless shameless plots and dirty tricks hiding underneath. Do you think a pure, kind-hearted girl like a blank canvas, under the sole protection of an extremely busy father like Odin, could really make it safely through all these things? I find it hard to believe."

"I also find it hard to believe." After a long silence, Freya shook her head, "It’s impossible."

"Countering falsehood with falsehood, hypocrisy with hypocrisy." Pannis murmured, "In pain, we think we’ve matured, we think we’ve grown, but really, all we’ve done is smear ourselves with the same filth from this dirty world, making us as foul as the world itself. But is it the world that’s contaminated us, or is it us who’ve created such a filthy world?"

"’Eisvey’s Road to Revenge,’ Act Two, Scene Three." Freya couldn’t help but flash a slight smile at Pannis’s dramatic form of speech. But her voice remained grave, "It’s a complicated question, and I don’t have the answers."

"There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s up to you." Pannis said, "The next question is rather predictable, you, living in such a world where it feels like conspiracy and malice are everywhere, have actually met Catherine and the girls who treat you with pure kindness, no ulterior motives. You’ve finally found a safe haven, so you’ve been trying your best to keep playing the part of a naive, kind-hearted girl, just so they don’t hate you, right? You’ve spent over a year transforming yourself into what you are now so that even people close to you wouldn’t recognize you, so that you wouldn’t bring trouble upon returning to them, isn’t that the case? No, there’s more to it than that, I get it now - you deliberately caused the whole wedding incident as a reasonable excuse for your current disguise. Ugh, there wasn’t any chance involved when Wesker received that letter in the first place, was there? There’s no such thing as coincidence in this world. You purposefully made sure it would end up in his hands."

"At least it makes things easier." Freya replied with an ironic smile, "I don’t have my beauty anymore, nobody knows my social standing, and because of that those disgusting glances and voices eventually disappeared. And I now live happily with Catherine and the others. Although I have to pretend to be innocent and pure all the time, after more than a decade, I’ve grown accustomed to it. Sometimes, I even feel like I’ve deluded myself into thinking that I was originally this way, but I was simply lost in a complex environment."

"The highest level of deception is to deceive oneself too? But how can you be so certain that what you feel is only an illusion? Is it truly an illusion?" Pannis gave a mysterious smile and asked, "Do you think Catherine and the others are stupid?"

"Of course not." Freya raised her head abruptly, asserting in dissatisfaction, "They are genuinely kind-hearted, definitely not stupid."

"Catherine received a noble upbringing, and she is skilled at understanding human nature. Vivian is sensitive, and she sees right through emotions. Lina, who has survived in the darkest depths of solitude, holds a beast’s intuition and excels at perceiving human hearts." Pannis asked back, "If you think they’re not stupid, how could they not see through your disguise after spending each day together? Even if your disguise was flawless, could you really fool these intelligent people who have been by your side all this time?"

"I..." Stunned, Freya faltered, "I never thought about it like that."

"Of course you didn’t." Pannis stated, "You’ve just instinctively shielded your heart, fearing such thoughts. But in reality, you must have realized by now, right? They must have already known, they just didn’t say anything."

"But why?" Biting her lip, Freya asked anxiously, almost pleadingly, "If they knew, shouldn’t they despise me and leave me alone? Why would they..."

"Indeed, why would they cooperate even though they’ve been deceived by their closest friend who’s been putting on a false front all along?" Pannis blinked, a teasing smile emerging, "Take a guess, why would they do that? Then ask yourself this, is everything truly just an act?"

"Wait a minute." Pannis’s words left Freya in contemplation for a moment. Suddenly realizing something, her eyes widened as she spoke, "The topic has shifted to me, but weren’t we discussing your identity just now? Mr. Kyle."

"Heh heh." Pannis was unfazed at being caught out, having finished the last bit of his tombstone-cleaning task, he clapped his hands together, stood up, and proposed, "Let’s make a trade, the words I’ve spoken just now will serve as my offer." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote or purchase monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. For mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)