ALL NOVEL 247. The Temptation of Immortality.
"Click~"
The sorceress suddenly stopped, turning her head sharply to look at Ianna, narrowing her eyes in warning: "Don't do anything unnecessary, Ianna..."
Ianna sighed, "Every child should have a mother and a father, that's a truth that existed even before the Lady came into being."
"Vera, don't you feel it's awkward? Why run away..."
"I said, don't do anything unnecessary!" The sorceress warned once again.
Feeling the magic in the air begin to vibrate, a dreadful pressure faintly pressed down on her shoulders. Ianna looked at the sorceress's ageless beauty, unchanged for hundreds of years, and shook her head.
"Is this the only way you can solve disagreements?"
The sorceress remained silent, staring at her eyes without saying a word.
"Alright, alright, I get it, I get it!" Ianna waved her hands helplessly. "I won't tell him about your relationship as mother and son..."
The pressure on her body instantly disappeared. But Ianna could feel the chaotic magic stir slightly when she mentioned the words "mother and son."
"You're really being unfair, Vera!" Ianna sighed again, rubbing her shoulders with both hands.
Vera glanced expressionlessly towards the sanctuary.
"Ianna, I've been very kind to you already."
"Those two incidents with the holy icon, I haven't settled the score with you yet!"
The old woman mischievously raised her eyebrows, sighing, "Didn't we settle that already?"
"I'm an old woman nearing the grave, yet I'm still being threatened and taught a lesson with chaotic magic. I'll probably have nightmares tonight..."
The sorceress gazed at Ianna's face, etched with the deep lines of time. She recalled the once smooth and fair complexion on this face. Even knowing that Ianna was habitually making excuses, she couldn't help but feel a bit soft-hearted.
"Ianna..." she sighed, the icy expression on her face melting slightly. "Why won't you use the potions?"
Her delicate hand, almost devoid of pores, caressed the rough but warm face.
"Anti-aging elixirs could restore your youth. The Verdant Sigh could at least give you another ten years of life, and there are others..."
Ianna, feeling the cold hand on her face, smelling the unique blend of orange and cardamom, was momentarily taken aback. Then she raised her right hand, placing it over the cold left hand on her face. Closing her eyes, she gently shook her head, interrupting Vera.
"Vera, I don't need those potions."
Feeling her left hand enveloped in warmth, Vera instinctively trembled and continued to try to persuade her.
"Since the Verdant Sigh works for you, it means Lady Melitele permits... at least doesn't mind her priestess extending her life, why..."
"Mother Vera..." Ianna interrupted her softly again, looking into the sorceress's eyes.
The long-forgotten title left Vera momentarily stunned.
"To age naturally is the greatest blessing Lady Melitele has given me..."
Ianna opened her usually squinted eyes wide, standing straight as she looked earnestly and resolutely at the sorceress.
Vera fell silent.
She looked at this familiar yet strange face with a complex expression.
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Ianna squinted her eyes again, hunching her back slightly, smiling as she held Vera's hand. "We're both stubborn people, we won't convince each other..."
"After eleven years, let's talk about something happy!"
Ianna's eyes were filled with kindness and warmth. But Vera could see that, in the same clear eyes as when she was younger, the resolve and determination had not diminished one bit. She was serious, and she was right.
Ianna, like her, was a stubborn person. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone eleven years without meeting, neither of them taking the initiative to contact the other.
If it weren't for Allen being troubled by the evil god, perhaps...
Looking at Ianna's frail, elderly form, her face full of wrinkles, and the faint, almost imperceptible aura of death.
Vera sighed in her heart and decided not to persist. Lowering her head, she began to think back on the past eleven years, trying to recall if there was anything worth sharing. But she found that, for most of the time, she had been struggling in a vortex of resentment, guilt, and avoidance...
The truly happy days were mostly during the half-year after Allen passed the Trial of Grasses.
So.
Vera began to tell Ianna about Allen's journey after passing the Trial of Grasses.
From pawning the mirage pearl she gave him to learn alchemy, to independently creating the stinky concoction that extended witchers' ability to breathe underwater, the "Killer Whale"...
From being the Drowner Slayer to hunting the Drowner King and the Cyclops, to becoming the youngest master witcher...
From being a regular apprentice witcher of the School of the Wolf, to convincing Sol to establish the Witcher Corps...
And his unique alchemical creations: heart extract elixirs, sword oils, potions, and more.
Though everything was about Allen, Ianna squinted her eyes and listened, seemingly quite absorbed. She watched as Vera's expression grew prouder and more satisfied, occasionally chiming in. The atmosphere between them was very harmonious. There was a garden surrounding the sanctuary, and no one was around at the moment.
The two of them strolled slowly, enjoying the full bloom of spring, talking about a certain witcher who was meticulously cleaning the sanctuary.
Vera had no reservations with Ianna and spoke openly about everything. She even mentioned saving Sadia, Henselt's death, the Conjunction of the Spheres, and the capture of the sorcerer Ban Ard and his return to Kaer Morhen. She also shared her concerns for the future of the School of the Wolf and Allen's future.
Ianna, upon hearing these nation-shaking events, didn't react dramatically. She simply listened quietly, occasionally offering words of comfort. It was like a normal family conversation between a mother and daughter who hadn't seen each other in a long time.
Just like that.
Two hours passed quickly.
"No wonder he's called the Child of Miracles! That kid really can stir things up!" Ianna couldn't help but marvel after hearing the stories.
Vera gave her a reproachful look, clearly saying: "How can an older sister say such things?"
Ianna giggled mischievously, linking her arm through Vera's.
"Though he does seem to stir up a lot..." Vera thought of the two troublesome sorcerers still in the dungeon of the ancient sea fortress, rubbing her forehead. It gave her a bit of a headache.
"By the way, Francesca, Mary, and Lysa—who's your favorite?"
Ianna's clear eyes, belying her old age, darted around as she curiously asked. Vera scolded lightly, "After all the important things we've discussed, this is what you ask?"
"Besides..."
"Aren't you quite fond of Lysa?"
"Just asking," Ianna shook her head lightly. "And just because I like Lysa doesn't mean I'll bind her. She's free..."
"She always has been..."
Vera smiled at that and casually replied, "As long as Allen is happy. Sol is no longer a part of the Henrietta family, there's no title Allen needs to inherit..."
"But Lysa is unlikely."
"Though I like the girl, it's clear they haven't spent much time together..."
"So it's Mary?" Ianna probed.
Vera smiled but said nothing.
....…
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