After Aiwass woke up, the first thing he did was to clean up his ritual site.
The white crystal pendant that had been smoked was no longer pure. Aiwass ground it into powder and set it aside for later use.
After harboring the essence of the Dreamland, its spirit was so overly mixed that it lost the concept of "white crystal." In any alchemy or ritual that required a "white crystal," it would only lead to failure.
But it wasn't completely useless. This thing was scientifically known as a "Lesser Dream Crystal" which, in alchemy and ritual studies, had a weak effect of blurring the lines between dreams and reality.
If two opposite types of mana were infused into a portion of crystal dust, and it was mixed using the extracted fluid from an entire adult cuttlefish brain, then distilled into a bottle of white wine until only half was left, it would yield three doses of Lethe Water. Drinking one would make a person forget their deepest sorrows as if they were just a dream.
——In the game's main quest, after Yulia's death, "Aiwass" fell into profound grief; he obviously became depressed and haggard. At that time, under the guidance of Aiwass's foster father, Professor James Moriarty, players used the white crystal pendant that Aiwass gave to the player character as a memento to make this magic potion for Aiwass to drink.
After drinking the magic potion, Aiwass fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he was clearly much better.
It was as if those events had not happened a few days before, but years earlier.
It was also the first time in the game that James Moriarty took part in the main storyline.
...Now that Aiwass was preparing the magic potion himself, there was an odd feeling to it.
But now, looking back, Aiwass felt... perhaps from that quest on it had been hinted that Old James possessed quite impressive alchemical knowledge. Because Lethe Water was not a common magic potion. At least from Aiwass's recollection, it had never appeared again in subsequent main quests.
It was only after cleaning up the remnants of the ritual from his bedroom that Aiwass left his room.
He informed the housekeeper that his room could now be cleaned. Lady Rowena, the housekeeper, acknowledged and called for Aiwass's personal maid.
Generally, servants did not need to follow their masters around like a shadow; they usually worked at different times from their masters. Moriarty Manor, being in the White Queen District, couldn't be too large. But just the main building alone had more than twenty rooms... which necessitated constant cleaning by the servants.
Usually external affairs were managed by Butler Oswald, while internal affairs were taken care of by Lady Rowena, the housekeeper. They were the easiest ones to find.
The former was the Guardian of the Moriarty Family, while the latter was simply a human housekeeper for hire.
In other Knight Families, there was no need for a special command from the master— as soon as they left their place, the housekeeper would immediately instruct someone to clean the area where the masters had been.
But the Moriarty Manor was an exception.
Among the four masters of the house, Aiwass rarely left home after middle school graduation. Yulia was not allowed to leave the house or approach open windows. Edward basically returned only one or two days a month... Only James would frequently leave and return home.
Forget about arranging parties and outings; there wasn't even much in the way of household trash. Aside from the usual cleaning routines, the servants spent most of their time chatting in places where the masters couldn't see them.
And the servants all knew that the Moriarty Family was a Transcendent family and they were all studying mysticism. The various books laid out could contain knowledge dangerous enough to render an ordinary person foolish or dead with just a glance; and the various objects placed on the ground or on the tables might be part of a ritual or a barrier.
So they wouldn't clean the bedrooms until the housekeeper indicated it was "safe to clean." Even when they did clean, it was just about restoring the original place of various items, trying not to touch these things as much as possible.
"Good morning, Mr. Aiwass,"
The maid with flaxen curly hair, who had originally been tending to the oil paintings nearby, came over and greeted softly.
"Good morning, Lily."
Aiwass also greeted his personal maid kindly: "I have good news for you… you can go to school now."
At these words, Lily's eyes suddenly widened.
"...I can go to school too?"
She had been caring for Aiwass as his personal maid since he first came to the Moriarty Family.
At that time, Aiwass was six years old, and Lily was only fourteen. They had already become very familiar with each other.
Lily was usually responsible for cleaning Aiwass's bedroom, laundering and replacing his personal clothing, and accompanying him when he went out.
Considering safety, decorum, and appearance issues, these personal male and female servants usually didn't come purely from commoner backgrounds but were children of relatives or illegitimate offspring from other families.
For instance, Lily was a child of an old Knight and a courtesan.
Her original surname was Drost, but she lost her surname upon becoming a maid of the Moriarty Family.
The Drost Family did not want a courtesan's child to have the opportunity for inheritance rights and felt it would damage the Drost Family's reputation if she went to school under their surname. At the same time, letting her fend for herself outside was also considered shameful.
In the end, the old Knight entrusted Old James with the task of hiring Lily as a personal maid.
This hiring of a maid could also be considered a form of foster care. Professor Moriarty was very kind to her—even though working as a maid prevented her from continuing school, a junior high level of education was enough for her to grasp basic knowledge. The family also provided her with various books so that she could self-study the subjects she was interested in during her spare time.
"Of course, even though you're just accompanying me, you'll have to sit in on the classes too,"
Aiwass said with a gentle smile, patting the wheelchair beneath him, "I can't possibly ask Mr. Oswald to go to school with me, can I? That would certainly make me the laughingstock of my classmates. I need someone to push my wheelchair."
"Then... what about Mr. Wade? He can also protect you."
Wade was the personal manservant's name of Old James.
Aiwass shook his head, "I'm not yet qualified."
According to Avalonian etiquette, only those of a sufficiently high social status were entitled to have personal manservants, just as only Knight Families could hire male servants. Merchants, upstarts, and senior civil servants who had not yet been knighted could only hire female servants. This was not only because many physical tasks required male servants, but also because personal manservants doubled as guards and bodyguards, responsible for protecting the estate's security together with male butlers.
The two personal manservants of the Moriarty Family belonged to Old James and his older brother, Edward. Edward had placed his personal manservant in another house he owned in the Red Queen District—for convenience of commuting, he had bought an apartment near the Supervisory Court. The manservant only returned home with him when he visited.
When he had visited Bishop Mathers, Butler Oswald had personally escorted him because Bishop Mathers held a high enough status.
But Butler Oswald couldn't possibly take care of him every day.
Until Aiwass gained a third-level Shadow Affinity, could fully control the Shadow Demon, or managed to accumulate 50 points of Dark Attribute Mana to create a Blank Card to seal the Shadow Demon away, he clearly couldn't do without a wheelchair.
At his own home, it was fine. Or it wouldn't matter in places where there were no people.
But even if the Shadow Demon remained quiet and didn't make trouble, as long as Aiwass stood on top of his own shadow, he conceptually "linked" with his Shadow Demon. Then his shadow would visibly boil—becoming dense and solid-like, writhing, and emitting smoke.
That was clearly asking for trouble. And moving his wheelchair by himself, although not impossible, would be too exhausting.
"...Can I really do it?"
Lily was a bit nervous, her hand clutching the hem of her dress, "My father... that man said he didn't want me to attend school. And... even if I push your wheelchair, won't your classmates talk behind your back?"
She obviously wanted to go, but feared she might cause trouble. Rather than persuading Aiwass, it was more like she was convincing herself of why she couldn't go.
"Why would they? They would be envious if anything," Aiwass laughed, "After all, I have such a beautiful girl accompanying me to classes."
Of course, the real reason was... he knew that Lily wanted to go to school very much, she was filled with a thirst for knowledge.
Though theoretically he was not qualified to have a male servant yet, his situation was special. The school should be able to make a special approval.
But Wade was not interested in this; it was better to give the opportunity to Lily. After all, she had been looking after him since he was small, almost like an older sister...
In the original timeline, Lily would die in a minor side mission in three to four months. Her death was insignificant and trivial.
It would be better for her to come to school with him.
These characters who did not appear in the "script" also held a kind of "unknown" potential in a way.
"...You flatter me too much."
Lily blushed at his words.
Despite some girlish confidence in her own looks, she knew Aiwass was joking and comforting her.
The stern-faced housekeeper couldn't help but smile as well.
She obviously had a good impression of this polite and somewhat introverted young maid, gently patting Lily's shoulder and reminding her, "Don't forget to thank Mr. Aiwass."
"Thank you, thank you..."
Only then did Lily react, bowing deeply in gratitude.
She could hardly control her tears, her vision blurring.
Because she realized that Aiwass wasn't just making an offhand suggestion or joking—he was serious.
This filled her heart with joy.
Even her somewhat blurred vision of the world seemed to burst into bright light at dawn.