Super Righteous Player
Chapter 772 - 312 Dmitry and Maria (Combined)_2

Chapter 772: Chapter 312 Dmitry and Maria (Combined)_2

Compared to the New Year, the birthday of the contemporary Grand Duke may hold more commemorative value.

After Dmitry and Maria entered the house and saw that there was no one in the living room, they directly headed upstairs—this was the room that originally belonged to Grand Duke Ivan, which had now become Annan’s room.

The moment they entered the room, Dmitry felt momentarily disoriented.

For the decoration of the room had changed slightly... The two paintings that used to hang above the double bed were gone. Instead, a portrait of Ivan had been placed at the end of the bed.

There were still no jewelry adornments in the room, but a few paintings by the Paper Princess remained hanging in their original spots. There were documents still laid out on the desk, along with a few books on mystical studies.

In Dmitry’s eyes, his once naive and needy younger brother was now standing by the window, wearing somewhat eccentric asymmetrical clothing, exposing a left shoulder with strange magical runes, and holding the tri-colored staff symbolizing the authority of the Rime Duchy in his right hand, reversed, watching the flow of people outside the Grand Duke’s mansion.

At the moment Annan turned around upon hearing the sound of the door opening.

This fifteen-year-old boy suddenly overlapped with his father, Ivan Rime.

"Annan... Your Majesty."

The moment Dmitry spoke, he hesitated—for when he blurted out, he realized he didn’t know whether to call him Annan, or should refer to him as Your Majesty Annan, or perhaps Grand Duke Annan, or even just Your Majesty would be more appropriate.

As for Maria, she didn’t hesitate at all.

"—Annan!"

She took off her hood and called out without any hesitation.

Her delicate face revealed a simple and calm smile.

Even if one could not feel positive emotions, the anxiety, worry, and burning-like yearning in her heart were not at all fictitious.

At the moment when these negative emotions were dispelled, the spirit that had returned to the balance point still bore the most pure tranquility.

"Dmitry, and... sister."

Annan nodded to Dmitry, then looked at Maria: "Hmm... long time no see."

His voice faltered for an instant.

It was just for a moment, but he believed Maria might have already noticed.

Because in fact... this was the first time this cycle’s Annan had seen Maria.

Admittedly—it was a face very similar to Annan’s.

However, compared to Annan, whose smile clearly conveyed warmth, even a smiling Maria seemed much more indifferent... just like a still naïve queen, her ice-blue pupils devoid of any emotion.

Compared to Annan, Maria’s non-human attributes were evidently much more pronounced.

Annan only had barely visible dragonscales and that light white hair.

Whereas Maria’s hair color was as cold as ice.

Her smooth waist-length hair was now even shorter than Annan’s—the ends slightly tinged with blue in their silver-whiteness. Unlike Annan’s bluntly cut long hair, the uneven lengths near the ends were natural, giving a layered effect.

Slender and long dragon horns had already appeared on the sides of her head, and noticeable dragonscales emerged on her delicate neck, as well as on her wrists and ankles.

Her upper garment was a warm-looking fluffy sweater, covering past the middle of her thighs, paired with flat short boots and thigh-high black stockings. A milk-white loose coat with a hood draped over her, reaching down to her calves. From the outside, it was even difficult to distinguish her gender... this was also Maria’s way of concealing her identity.

It was a quite ordinary outfit, giving off a very friendly and warm impression upon first meeting.

With just one glance, Annan knew why Maria was dressed like this.

"I know, you don’t have memories of me in your heart right now..."

Maria tried to maintain calm, as if worried about scaring Annan, and spoke in as low a voice as possible: "But that’s okay.

"We shall become acquainted and know each other anew. If there is truly a sincere affection, it is like a name carved on ice... even if new layers of ice cover it, the traces will still be wrapped within."

Annan knew that neither Dmitry nor Maria had that tenderness in their hearts.

Their hearts were forged of ice. They would never feel worldly love, warmth, emotion, or joy... but even so, the love they provided to others was still utterly real.

—Even if they could not feel love themselves, they could still give love to others.

Feeling Maria’s profound affection, Annan took a deep breath.

He finally revealed a gentle and natural smile, "Sister..."

He referred to her in such a way.

"...nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Annan..."

Maria gazed at Annan and murmured, as if to herself.

"Alright, alright," Dmitry coughed, seemingly uncomfortable with the situation, "Your Majesty Annan... let’s discuss official matters first, then we can catch up."

He broke the silence with a direct question, "I heard that Cream Puff ran off to your place?"

"...wait, who is Cream Puff?"

Annan paused upon hearing this, then added, "Also, Dmitry. There’s no need to address me that way... When we’re in private, just call me Annan as usual."

"I could have sworn I mentioned this to you!"

Upon hearing this, Dmitry relaxed.

He scratched his head, and then Maria slapped his arm for the clearly impolite gesture.

"The humanoid Frost Beast... I heard you found her at Viscount Dorgoruki’s place in Flannel Province?"

"That child is called Cream Puff?"

Annan was somewhat surprised, but still stubborn about Russell’s naming rights, "I remember she said she didn’t have a name... I’ve already named her Russell."

"Cream Puff was her original nickname."

Knowing that the humanoid Frost Beast was indeed here, Dmitry breathed a sigh of relief.

He then explained, "As you know, according to our Winter customs, we do not name infants."

"She is a wolf person... During the stage when she had not yet received a name, she encountered an attack in the wild and fell unconscious outside a small barrier. The name Cream Puff was what we learned from her mother."

At this point, Dmitry sneered disdainfully, "But how a beastly infant, only a year old, ended up abandoned in the wild by herself... she didn’t say."

"—Hmph, but I know even if she doesn’t tell."

There could be only one answer.

It was that "Cream Puff’s" mother intended to abandon her.

Pregnant wolf people, or those with children, are often unwelcome in villages—this is an experience born of countless tragic lessons.

In order to secure more resources for their own children, they are fully capable of harming others’ offspring in their Berserk state, just like the cuckoo that pushes other birds’ eggs out of the nest, a racial instinct of wolf people.

But conversely, if they cannot suppress their Berserk instincts...

They can also "counteract" the trigger for those instincts.

Which is their own children.

Wolf women secretly give birth and look for opportunities to abandon their children in the wild, then enter a strange village. This is a new survival tactic for female wolf people.

"Only emotionless beasts could commit such heinous crimes against human nature," Dmitry said with a sneer, "Unwilling to kill their children with their own hands, they just drop them into the wild amid a blizzard—how is this any different from killing them? Such meaningless compassion..."

"Just a moment, Dmitry," Annan interrupted, seeing Dmitry about to start grumbling about the wolf people’s original sin, "I’m aware of Russell’s special value. But I don’t want you to take her for breeding... or any other unpleasant experiments."

"I have already promised to take good care of this child," Annan said.

"Hey, Annan, what do you take me for?" said Dmitry, his voice devoid of emotion, "I wouldn’t do such a thing even if you didn’t say so. She holds no particular value to the Rime family. I’ve been running around searching for her—just to prevent her from being captured by others and used for such purposes."

"I am doing this to protect the Winter Duchy, followed by protecting you, then the public... and incidentally, to protect her as well."

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