After listening to Annan's narration, Grand Duke Ivan sighed deeply.
His mood was a little complicated, and his right hand holding the scepter tightened slightly.
"Anya..."
Ivan whispered someone's name.
His eyes showed extremely complex emotions.
Sad? Missing? Calm? Open-minded?
Or maybe neither.
Even Annan couldn't understand such extremely complicated emotions.
That's the kind of look you can only have after spending most of your life, half buried in the loess, recalling the past.
Just looking at that look can make others calm down unconsciously.
"Are you sad, father?"
Annan couldn't help but ask.
Although Ivan was not responsible for any of this whole thing...it was just a tragedy caused by Lily's own clumsiness in the beginning.
But after all, Anya was looking for extraordinary wisdom to find a way to marry Ivan and change Winter before performing that ritual, and that was why Lily got into trouble.
After all, Ivan Coldong is old.
It is not surprising that older people look back on the past with regret.
Rather, it is because Ivan has had many successes in his life that the failures will be even more unforgettable...
Just like his two wives.
"Nolan Geraint..."
Ivan was silent for a long time, whispering the old crow's name.
"What?"
"If you see him again, remember to thank him for me."
Ivan said slowly: "Anya also told me... I hope that one day, I can see with my own eyes the passing of winter and the arrival of good harvest. She wants to see a blooming flower, even just a small one.
"...But I can't fulfill such a simple wish for her. I can't do it as well as Nolan. He made Lily live a happy life."
"But you are a very good prince."
"Indeed I am."
Ivan replied calmly: "But I am not a good husband."
When he said this, he looked deeply at Annan:
"...not a good father either."
"That's not the case."
Annan shrugged: "At least you are definitely not a bad father."
Grand Duke Ivan treated his children in a pure and free-range state without any management or restraint.
It can be seen from the copy of Wolf Kiss that when Annan was very young, he was brought up by his eldest brother Dmitri. Except for the Hand of Winter who took care of his life, it was basically his older brothers and sisters who stayed with him.
Together.
Only when I was learning Frost Swordsmanship in Annan, I was taught by the Grand Duke himself.
When Annan just woke up from the frozen water port, the oil of silence had not yet seeped out... so Annan's past memories were only temporarily sealed, but not completely lost.
At that time, the first thing Annan recalled was that Ivan was teaching him frost swordsmanship. From this, it can be seen that the "shared memories" between Annan and Ivan are probably extremely rare.
Given how busy Ivan is at work, Annan probably won't see him a few times a year.
At that time, Ivan's health was still good, and it was not like he had to lie in bed all year round now. He must have been running around everywhere... He should have been in that level three times without entering the house.
At least he could make the two brothers, Annan and Dmitry, even call Fufu over to gamble at home without even realizing that something had happened to their cubs.
After all, Ivan is the best Grand Duke in the history of Winter.
This is what all Winter people will admit from the bottom of their hearts.
No generation of winter can handle various affairs in winter better than Ivan. At least after the death of his first wife...or maybe before that, Ivan had already devoted his entire life to
Dedicated to the Principality of Winter.
It is normal to neglect your own family.
After all, his time is not infinite.
Of course, Annan said it lightly... After all, strictly speaking, this was not his childhood. When he arrived in this world, he already had an adult soul in his body.
And now Annan has completely forgotten what happened in his childhood. It can be said that he can stand and talk without pain - at least Dmitry and Maria will definitely be affected a lot by this.
At least their childhood won't be as pleasant.
However, they do have mothers who are relatively normal. Especially Dmitri...his mother seems to be a very gentle person. She can even melt the ice of Ivan.
...Perhaps part of the reason why Dmitry and Maria have always cared and loved Annan is because Anya passed away shortly after Annan was born.
Grand Duke Ivan was busy with government affairs and had no time to take care of his children. So the two brothers and sisters volunteered to take care of Annan.
It is said that the eldest brother is like the father and the eldest sister is like the mother. This is roughly the case.
...but I am afraid of being compared with others.
Compared with the Melvin family's style of simply treating their heirs as tools, the Lingdong family's style is already good and couldn't be any better.
"However, although Lily has a good life with Noah... it would be better to talk to Rasputin."
Ivan coughed lightly.
He raised his right hand, which was so thin that you could faintly see the shape of the bones, and handed Annan a hard card, like a greeting card or a business card.
After Annan handed it over, he pinched it gently with his hands - and found that there was a thin metal sheet sandwiched in the middle of the thick paper.
And it has an address and a name written on it.
"Vashka Rasputin... are you going to see him tomorrow?"
"He is the cousin of Anya and Lily...or cousin. He is also the patriarch of this generation of Rasputin. You can call him aunt, or uncle."
"……What's the meaning?"
Annan was a little confused.
Is this person a man or a woman?
"Rasputin is a keeper of secrets, so there are naturally many taboo rituals... Vasika performed a special ritual to merge himself with a female cat. So he would constantly change his body according to the phases of the moon.
Gender and physical characteristics.”
Ivan glanced at the copper calendar plate on the wall: "Now Vasika should be a female...may have some characteristics of a cat. After you see it, remember not to be afraid or rude."
...Cat lady, I'm afraid of a hammer.
Annan thought from the bottom of his heart.
"...However, is the frequency of Rasputin's people performing forbidden rituals...too high?"
Annan couldn't help but asked.
So far, all the Rasputin he had heard about seemed to have performed forbidden rituals.
Ivan shook his head: "For Rasputin, this is a normal situation - this is how the surname Rasputin came from in the first place."
The old man said slowly: "In Frost Language, the word 'Rasputin' is usually used to describe a person with bad conduct... It is not a good word."
Besides, it's not a good word... Ivan's words were too tactful.
That is a word that will be covered with an asterisk if you type it, and it can insult a person's character.
"...but why did Rasputin use this word as his surname?"
"This is called the 'Infamy Ceremony'."
Ivan replied: "Their purpose is to make others insult themselves unconsciously. In this way, they can easily get a commonly used effect 'Three Words of Curses'. This effect needs to be issued by three different people within one day."
Internal abuse'.
"This is also the reason why in the story, some ritual masters who have fallen into darkness will use cruel methods to do evil everywhere and leave their names behind... They are deliberately collecting insults, curses and hatred. If these are condensed to a certain extent, they can also
will be an influence.
"It causes weak villains to fall into nightmares and die... but it also strengthens the true villains."
To put it simply, he is just looking for scolding.
Annan thought.
"And this influence is a common influence necessary for many taboo rituals and rituals that curse others. Rasputin is a very traditional family of ritualists. They have multiple influence pools...and his own name is naturally one of the influences.
one.
"So they used the 'Bad Name Ceremony' to change their family surnames into this ancient insult. Although there are very few people who understand Frost Language, as long as they pronounce this surname, it can be regarded as an 'insult from the heart'
'.
"In addition to the name, they will also participate in large-scale events such as festivals, funerals, weddings, etc. The purpose is to do their best to gather influence.
"Almost all of these influences will be used to perform rituals before they expire. Therefore, every Rasputin will have performed at least one forbidden ritual. They will be more or less different from ordinary people. Although they all
He is a weirdo and behaves strangely...but when you succeed the Duke of Winter, Rasputin will be your best partner."
Ivan reached out and patted his three-color scepter, and said meaningfully: "Because they always need Winter's help.
"Remember this sentence. I can't reveal too much to you for the time being... but remember, don't let his bluff fall into place during your communication with Chief Vasika tomorrow.
"——You are the one who takes the initiative. You have the absolute initiative."