The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 514: Ivan Austere-Winter

Considering Annan was short of time, Dmitri did not plan to drag on further. He got someone to prepare a full-body cloak for Annan and escorted him into the subway.

Transportation in the Austere-Winter Dukedom was much more convenient than in the Noah Kingdom.

Annan found a subway station entrance without traveling more than one kilometer away.

They arrived in Frostwhisper Province in about two hours. After changing to another train, Annan followed Dmitri to the gate of the Grand Duke’s Residence.

“Isn’t this too fast?” Annan sighed.

This is surprisingly quick.

This is faster than Salamander. It reminds me of taking a bullet train for a business trip.

Dmitri asked in return, “Wouldn’t it be better to hurry up?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Annan shook his head, followed Dmitri, and asked in a low voice, “Where’s the werewolf?”

“Although I’m in no position to advise you, it’s best not to get too close to werewolves.” Dmitri took a deep breath and let out the hateful words from his mouth.

Dmitri did not look back but just kept walking in front of Annan.

There was a lot of information contained in this discourse.

Annan raised his eyebrows and replied bluntly, “So, Dmitri. What happened? This is already the second time.

“You know. I’ve forgotten all about the past.

“If you want me to be vigilant against werewolves, you should clarify your words instead of being so vague. It will only arouse my meaningless curiosity. Or do you want me to look into this matter deeper?”

The elder brother was not angry about having Annan reprimanding him.

He remained silent for a while with a strange expression on his face.

When Annan was thinking about whether what he said was too impolite, Dmitri sighed lightly and wistfully, “As expected of you, Annan.

“It’s your unabashed, straight-to-the-point tonality. That’s your style.

“Only after being reprimanded by you can I feel the sense of security that ‘I have done nothing wrong now’. You have talked to me so politely previously. I always felt that there seemed to be an extra distance between us. Now it looks like nothing has changed.

“I feel like you’re back.”

Annan had question marks surrounding his head.

Wait, brother.

Is there something wrong with you?

Is this the legendary masochism with the desire to be reprimanded?

—Shocked Annan.jpg

Given Dmitri’s words, could it be that I will scold him when I have nothing better to do in my first life?

Who is the big brother here?

“Dmitri has his reasons for not wanting to tell you.” At this moment, the voice of a middle-aged man who was somewhat weak but still calm came from not far ahead.

Annan raised his head and looked over there.

The middle-aged man had short gray and white hair combed to the back. Some traces of black could still be vaguely seen in his hair. At the same time, his hair had become relatively fine but still thick.

He had the same grizzled beard, gray eyebrows, and dark purple veins that had sunken slightly in his fair skin. It was evidence of perennial illness and debilitating health. The wrinkles on his forehead were shallow, but his smile lines were deep.

He had a slightly protruding back and was shorter than Dmitri. At this moment, he held a dark blue scepter with three support handles below it. It looked like a walking stick commonly found in hospitals that supported intravenous drip.

Annan raised his head subconsciously and met his gaze.

Those ice-blue pupils looked exactly like Annan and Dmitri’s.

But it occurred that its transparency was higher. Compared with Dmitri’s emotionless eyes, it was more similar to an infinitely calm ice lake.

Beneath the ice was a never-ending ice storm.

“…Father.” Annan whispered.

His voice was hoarse for some reason, but there was no hesitation in his tone.

Obviously, this part of memory had utterly dissipated and wiped out.

But there seemed to be something still flowing in the blood, perhaps the instinct.

He could not even imagine how ugly his expression would be.

Dmitri, on the side, nodded flatly and bowed slightly to show respect, “Father.”

Before Annan was this man, who seemed to be only 40 years old but had gray hair, eyebrows, and a beard. He was the Grand Duke of Austere-Winter, Ivan Austere-Winter.

Compared with the Young Henry VIII, the traces of time could be seen in Ivan.

“I’m glad you came back.” Ivan glanced at Annan and repeated steadily. “Just come back.”

His youngest son finally returned to the family, but no joy could be seen on his face. He did not smile gently, nor was he moved to tears. Instead, he stared at Annan fixedly as if he wanted to remember his current appearance firmly.

This was not because of the weak relationship between them.

The Austere-Winter family had been cursed by the [Winter Heart], and there was no “joy” in the family.

The kinship of the Austere-Winter family and the love born in the Austere-Winter family was a pure sense of identity that transcended happiness and blissfulness.

“Come in first, Annan,” Ivan replied calmly, his lips raised slightly, trying to make a smile.

This was already a very original smile.

However, Annan could still clearly see that it was just acting.

This was the gentle expression of an unintentional person just to reassure others.

It appeared like a lamp lit by a blind man in the night.

Annan took a deep breath and followed Ivan into the room.

Ivan’s skin looked good, but he was struggling to walk.

Holding a silver, black, and dark blue scepter, he walked slowly into the room. Annan glanced at it. Dmitri did not intend to reach out to help Ivan, so he followed Grand Duke Ivan and walked slowly into the room.

The Grand Duke’s room was much simpler and unadorned than Henry VIII’s.

There was no decoration of the jewelry. Only four or five picture scrolls that seemed to be painted by the deities were pasted in the room. A bookshelf filled with mystic books, a sofa, a long low table, and a taller desk with signed documents.

Besides that, there was only a double bed with only one pillow. Then, there were two woman portraits hanging above the bed.

The one on the left appeared to be a relatively ordinary black-haired girl with a gentle temperament.

She had long black hair, braided and hung over her shoulders. It was the same hairstyle that Annan saw when Annan was eight years old and Dmitri in “Nightmare: Wolf’s Kiss”.

There were some vague similarities with Dmitri’s appearance.

She might be Dmitri’s mother.

In the portrait on the right was a silver-haired girl who looked exactly like Maria and Annan. Her temperament was cold, but there were no scales on her face. She looked about her early twenties.

They seemed to be ordinary people.

At least none of them were the Austere-Winters.

“Bubble fruit tea. Your favorite drink.” Ivan opened the lid for Annan and said in a low voice.

Annan saw many fruit slices moving up and down in the soda water, and pale frost marks could be seen on the slices.

He sat on the chair curiously and took a sip.

The taste is not bad.

It’s like iced fruity sparkling water from a milk tea shop.

“Dmitri doesn’t want to go into much detail with you because he was the most direct victim.”

Sitting on the sofa, Ivan glanced at Dmitri, who was standing upright. He turned his head and explained to Annan, who was sitting on a chair while enjoying the drink.

“It’s back when you brothers gambled with the Rotten Man.

“A werewolf named Bella has betrayed Dmitri.”