This feeling is really annoying.
"Do you know, you’re quite unbearable like this." Cicia stared at Angel.
Angel innocently replied: "Did I do something wrong? I even arranged your meeting with Popota."
Cicia remained silent for a moment, then scoffed lightly: "I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Also, I’m taking back what I said earlier."
Angel: "Oh?"
Cicia: "I previously mentioned, that nothing is eternal and nothing is predestined. I now retract the latter part of the statement, I hope some things can be destined."
As for what those "some things" were, both Cicia and Angel tacitly understood.
As Cicia concluded this sentence, her previously dark mood dissipated quite a bit. Credit, if spoken, must go to Angel; but Cicia was unwilling to admit that she was emotionally swayed by a little rascal, so she directly changed the subject.
"Returning to the topic, you asked me earlier why I favored the Black Earl. There is a reason for this." Cicia posed with an attitude ready for a long discussion.
Angel also appropriately fell silent, as if giving Cicia a great deal of face.
Cicia: "A long time ago... ten thousand years ago, to be exact, I was sent to Naraku City by the Prophet. For some unspeakable reasons, I made a friend."
The so-called "unspeakable reasons" were actually twofold: either limited by an oath or constrained by the Prophet’s mission.
Angel couldn’t judge which it was. As long as it didn’t affect the overall situation, he was disinclined to guess.
"This friend of mine had a very unique status. She had a very prestigious origin, but she was like a bird trapped in a cage, her life predetermined."
"She longed for freedom, yearning for a life outside the cage."
"My position in Naraku City was special, so befriending her did not face opposition from her family; in fact, they were quite happy about our friendship."
As Cicia spoke of the past, her gaze gradually turned misty: "Initially, we were both cautious of each other. But later, some things happened, and we became the best of friends..."
"After becoming close friends, I learned of her situation. Driven by compassion, I made up an excuse and obtained her family’s consent to take her out of the ’cage’ for a brief escape."
"To this day, I still don’t know if taking her out that time was right or wrong."
Angel hadn’t intended to speak, but as Cicia fell into silence, he interjected to lighten the mood: "Why do you say that?"
"Because she met someone outside."
To prevent Cicia from further brooding, Angel spoke again: "Up to this point, the story hasn’t mentioned the Noah Clan. So, should it be their turn to enter the scene?"
Cicia nodded: "Yes, it was a young wizard from the Noah Family."
"The rest of the story surely involves love and turmoil?" Though Angel said this, he had already largely guessed the truth: Cicia’s close friend was probably Margaret, the Warden’s daughter, and the young wizard from the Noah Clan was undoubtedly Augustine.
"As you’ve guessed, indeed, there was a strange attraction between them. There was love, entanglement, but no resentment," Cicia said calmly. "That wizard from the Noah Clan had an aura of mystery and was a person whose thoughts and actions were unpredictable. My friend was attracted to these qualities."
"Was it a one-sided secret love or a mutual pursuit?"
Cicia: "An interesting description. But no, neither. It was... a mutual secret love."
"My friend rarely got to go out, so I became their go-between. She liked Noah, but they’d only met once. She thought Noah only saw her as a friend, but I knew Noah was infatuated at first sight, constantly hoping I’d help pass messages. Yet I was aware there were insurmountable barriers between them."
Angel: "Did you pass the messages?"
Cicia nodded: "I did. Every time Noah wrote those love poems, I’d subtly guide him, making them seem less explicit."
Angel: "Even if they weren’t explicit, they were still love poems. Your friend didn’t realize?"
Cicia: "And what if she did? She hoped to escape the cage, but she also knew it was just a hope."
Angel: "So they kept exchanging messages?"
Cicia nodded: "Noah’s expressions became more blatant, but my friend became more reserved. Yet feelings are hard to hide, especially from a perceptive wizard. Noah could sense her feelings through her hesitant but lingering script."
"But at that time, neither he nor she had a way out."
Angel: "What happened after?"
Cicia shook her head: "I don’t know. I was just their go-between for a while. Then, I faced some inevitable decisions and chose an unforeseen path, becoming what I am now."
"Transformed into a box?"
Cicia nodded: "After becoming a box, I slept for many years. Only after my soul fully merged with the box did my consciousness gradually revive. By then, Naraku City was nearly at its end."
"Did you ever hear from that Noah ancestor and your friend again?"
Cicia curiously asked: "You care about their ending?"
Angel: "It’s not that I care about their ending. Think of it this way: if I told you some gossip involving your ancestors, getting you all interested, and then didn’t tell you the outcome, what would you do?"
Cicia: "...I’d probably be itching with curiosity."
Angel: "So, now you understand how I feel?"
Cicia: "I don’t know their ending. I asked the Wise Sovereign, who gave me an ambiguous answer. No matter how I pressed, the Wise Sovereign wouldn’t elaborate."
"That’s the gist of it. It was because of my friend that I met that Noah wizard. Although his talent for writing love poems was ordinary, he was indeed a very mysterious person."
Angel, who had helped Augustine with love poems, silently mused: His talent for writing love poems wasn’t just ordinary; it was quite ordinary.
Angel: "Mysterious? This is the second time you’ve described him this way."
Cicia contemplated: "He had an inexplicable aura about him. Hard to describe what it felt like. Moreover, he was quite knowledgeable, seemingly knowing everything. Once you visit the Noah Clan, it’s clear he was nothing like the rest of their fools."
"Mystery in his aura, mystery in his breadth of knowledge, and as a Prophet Wizard, I couldn’t see through him."
Angel: "It seems that this Noah ancestor harbored some significant secrets."
"Perhaps." Cicia looked at Angel: "Speaking of secrets, don’t you have secrets? What you know, can do, act, and think clearly doesn’t match your age."
Angel didn’t reply, but smiled silently.
Cicia genuinely wanted to know Angel’s secrets, whether it was about the Primeval Flame or the Baiyuanians he knew. But as Angel didn’t take the bait, she set it aside... Perhaps she could inquire with that Baiyuanian named Popota?
As for whether the clansman might be bribed by Angel, Cicia wouldn’t consider that much right now. Even if Popota was indeed bribed, she believed that those of the same origin and clan would be easier to approach than an "outsider" like Angel, making persuasion simpler.
"Even though this Noah was mysterious, I still learned a lot from him. I can say he was my second close friend in Naraku City."
"Thus, out of regard for my dear friend, I naturally show leniency to Black Earl, a descendant of the Noah Clan."
Angel looked enlightened: "So that’s how it is. However, the Noah ancestor probably never expected you’d show leniency to his descendant’s avatar, but kick his true descendant away."
Angel was referring to Vay, who was kicked out of this pitch-black space by Cicia at the beginning.
"Is that my fault? I’m not omniscient. How was I to know Vay was of the Noah Clan?" Cicia retorted irritably: "Even if I did know, I wouldn’t be lenient enough to grant passage for a mere ten Magic Crystals."
Angel mentioned Vay purely because he sensed Cicia’s emotions drifting into past memories, gradually sinking into melancholy.
Once Cicia’s mood turned sour, it would likely be difficult to ask anything further.
That’s why Angel brought up Vay.
Cicia was indeed easily distracted; Angel’s words immediately altered her mood.
Seizing the moment before Cicia descended back into gloom, Angel quickly asked: "By the way, speaking of the Noah Clan, I do have some questions for you."
Cicia asked puzzled: "I’m not too familiar with the Noah Clan. I only know a bit about that person."
Angel: "What I want to know might really relate to that person."
"Oh?"