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"Long time no see, Uncle Lin Ruo."
"It really is you!"
Hearing this greeting filled with surprise, Lin Ruo raised an eyebrow and responded, "Long time no see."
He then glanced at Saint Anthony in front of the desk, who stood up before he could speak, and said with a kind smile:
"Lord Lin Ruo, Your Highness Bornova, I still have some matters to attend to. Please, chat at your leisure."
After speaking, he left the study quite sensibly without waiting for a response from the two, and thoughtfully closed the door.
Once only Lin Ruo and the other two were left in the room, Bornova glanced at Klein behind Lin Ruo, seemingly curious: "Uncle Lin Ruo, who is this?"
"My student, Klein Moretti." Lin Ruo gave a brief introduction, then introduced to Klein: "Klein, this is Bornova Gustav."
Although they both understood, neither Lin Ruo nor Klein had any intention of revealing to Bornova that they and Roselle were fellow transmigrators, so after Lin Ruo's introduction, Klein hurriedly saluted Bornova according to the etiquette of a Nighthawk meeting an angel.
"Good day, Your Highness Bornova."
Klein didn't feel awkward about this. Although Lin Ruo jokingly referred to Bornova as their 'fourth nephew,' Klein was self-aware and naturally wouldn't treat Bornova with the attitude of dealing with a fourth nephew.
This was, after all, a proper angel.
"Student?" Bornova looked at Klein with some surprise. He then seemed to remember something, rummaged in his pocket for a while, and pulled out something that looked like a brooch, handing it to Klein and saying:
"I came in a hurry and didn't expect to meet Uncle Lin Ruo's student… Your name is Klein, right? This little trinket is called the 'Lucky Brooch.' After injecting spirituality, it can make you extremely lucky for a short period. The side effect is that you will encounter some misfortune for a period afterward. It can still be used for a year, consider it my greeting gift to you."
"Ah?" Klein was taken aback, obviously not expecting this. He didn't take the brooch Bornova offered, but instead looked at Lin Ruo, using his eyes to ask for the other's opinion.
Lin Ruo smiled and said, "Take it, don't disappoint his good intentions."
Although this thing was basically useless to Klein, since it was a greeting gift, he might as well accept it.
Anyway, it wasn't anything significant.
Compared to this… Lin Ruo looked at Bornova and said, "You've maintained your humanity quite well."
Compared to the description in the original story of him being like a puppet, the Bornova in front of him was obviously quite full of humanity.
Bornova was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Isn't that all thanks to you, Uncle Lin Ruo."
After speaking, he paused, looking at Lin Ruo with some doubt and a hint of inquiry, and said, "Uncle Lin Ruo, your condition… seems somewhat different from before?"
Obviously, Bornova wasn't an idiot. Even though the time he had been in contact with Lin Ruo from meeting him until now was extremely short, he still saw many things.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that Lin Ruo himself didn't intend to hide anything.
So, in response to Bornova's words, Lin Ruo simply gave a bright smile and said, "My condition is indeed somewhat different from before… Actually, I've lost a large amount of my memory. The reason I wanted to see you this time is to learn about some things related to my past through you."
As he said this, Lin Ruo also observed Bornova's expression, and saw a hint of shock in the other's azure blue eyes, which allowed him to basically make some judgments in his mind—obviously, unlike Old Man Pallez and others who had been notified in advance, Bornova hadn't been informed about his amnesia beforehand.
Although he couldn't rule out the possibility that the other party was acting, Lin Ruo would just assume that he really didn't know.
"Amnesia?" Bornova was obviously shocked by this, he looked at Lin Ruo repeatedly, and asked incredulously, "Who could cause you to lose your memory, Uncle Lin Ruo?" There was, however, a trace of imperceptible worry in that surprise.
"That's not important." Lin Ruo didn't intend to talk much about this matter. He looked at Bornova and asked, "When was the last time we met?"
Hearing this question, Bornova suddenly fell silent. After several seconds, he replied, "I haven't seen you since Father fell, Uncle Lin Ruo."
As expected… Lin Ruo raised an eyebrow, thought of his previous guesses, and continued to ask, "After Roselle fell, did I disappear and no longer actively participate in anything?"
"Yes, at least I haven't heard any news of you." Bornova gave an affirmative answer, paused, and seemed to hesitate for a moment, but ultimately said, "Uncle Lin Ruo, did Father really… completely fall?"
Lin Ruo looked at him and said, "What answer do you hope to get?"
Bornova met Lin Ruo's gaze without flinching, and said, "I hope he's alive."
Lin Ruo continued to look at him, suddenly smiled, and said, "Actually, I'm very curious, why do you still remain in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, when Roselle had already fallen out with the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery in his later years, hadn't he? As his son, why do you still remain in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery."
Lin Ruo was genuinely curious about this. If Bornova in the original story was completely like a puppet of Steam, then staying in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery would be understandable, but the guy in front of him obviously maintained his humanity exceptionally well, so why did he still choose to stay in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery?
Was his relationship with Roselle one of filial piety, or… one where the son smiled at the father's passing?
If it weren't within Saint Samuel Cathedral, Lin Ruo wouldn't have asked so bluntly, as there would be a certain risk. But since he was in the territory of his backer, Lin Ruo was naturally bolder.
Bornova was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Lin Ruo to ask this. He was silent for a long time, and finally sighed, saying, "This was Father's decision."
Roselle's… decision?
Lin Ruo raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, but not that surprised.
The relationship between the God of Steam and Machinery and Roselle was already quite complex, a tangled mess. And Roselle obviously already knew the truth about the Outer Deities in his later years, and knew that he was being corrupted. Under these circumstances, he would naturally arrange for the whereabouts of his children, and Bornova, who already had a close relationship with the God of Steam, being left in the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, didn't seem that surprising.
Of course, there might still be some exchange of benefits, some hidden purposes.
And… Lin Ruo suddenly became somewhat suspicious. He suspected that in this altered timeline, had Steam really broken with Roselle?
Although it seemed that way from the existing historical data, history was inherently likely to contain embellishments, and some things were difficult to judge from the surface. For example, the Rose Redemption of that year, if one didn't know the inside story, who would have thought that the original intention of establishing Rose Redemption was to save people and not to actually stab them in the back!
However, with too little information currently known, Lin Ruo naturally wouldn't jump to conclusions easily, but continued to say:
"Then why are you so certain that I know Roselle's situation?"
Yes, certain.
Through observation of Bornova, Lin Ruo was certain that the guy in front of him seemed very sure that he knew something about this, at least knew something before losing his memory.
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