radicalducati Chapter 161 Time Anomaly
Chapter 161 Time Anomaly
Chapter 161 Time Anomaly
"Um...-"
Laura responded softly to Aaron's greeting, bowing slightly at the same time.
Although the reaction was somewhat lukewarm, it at least shows that Lola is still Lola; she hasn't changed.
Aaron felt a sense of relief, let out a long breath, and a smile returned to his face.
Lola seemed a little confused by Aaron's series of expressions, and tilted her thin neck to the side.
Aaron looked Lola up and down. Apart from being dressed a bit thickly, Lola didn't seem to have anything wrong with her.
However, just to be on the safe side, Aaron still asked:
"Is there anything that's bothering you?"
"Yes," Laura nodded.
Aaron's nerves tensed instantly: "Where?"
"abdomen."
"abdomen?"
"Hmm," Lola nodded, "Hungry—"
Upon hearing this answer, Aaron's eyebrows relaxed again.
Aaron raised his right hand, and Laura understood, so she sat down on the stool.
Then Aaron found Harriet and asked her to make something for Lola to eat.
Harriet was alone with Cathy at that moment, and to be honest, Aaron didn't want to interrupt them.
Unfortunately, the kitchen was outside the library, and Lola hadn't been back for over six months, so he really didn't want to serve her cold, hard bread.
When Aaron brought Harriet and Cathy into the hall, both of them stared at Lola with curiosity.
Harriet walked out the door, while Cassie followed Aaron and sat opposite Laura.
After a moment of silence, Aaron asked:
"Are you starving?"
Lola nodded.
"Why didn't you eat something before coming over?"
"I ate," Lola replied, "but I accidentally took a little longer than usual."
"Really? How long has it been since you last ate?"
"I don't know," Laura shook her head. "It feels like a long time, but it also feels like a short time. I'm really hungry right now, so it's probably been about six or seven hours."
That was quite a long time, and Lola was already thin and small, so going hungry must have been very painful for her.
But what could possibly take up half a day of Lola's time?
But Aaron couldn't finish asking all his questions in a short time. He would talk about it slowly after Lola finished eating.
"That tall girl went to cook for you. You'll be able to eat in a little while."
Aaron noticed that Laura trembled unusually when she heard those words.
What word offended her?
Laura nodded immediately, and Aaron didn't pay much attention to it.
Instead, he continued, "But you're probably thirsty too, right? What kind of drink would you like? I'll get it for you."
However, Lola shook her head repeatedly.
"Aren't you thirsty?"
"thirsty."
"Then why did you shake your head?"
I don't drink alcohol.
"I see," Aaron smiled.
"What would you like to drink?"
"milk."
Milk? Aaron exclaimed:
"I didn't know you liked drinking milk."
“I don’t like drinking it,” Lola said, her eyebrows furrowing. “But Annie says drinking milk makes you grow taller. She says you told her that.”
Hearing this, and considering Lola's reaction earlier, Aaron couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
Haha, I never thought Lola would have height anxiety too!
Before Aaron could speak, Cathy suddenly asked a question:
"Mr. Mosley, does drinking milk really make you grow taller?"
Aaron's eyebrows: Is this kid also worried about his height?
That makes sense, after all, Harriet is tall, and Cassie probably just doesn't want to be too much shorter than Harriet.
"Not necessarily," Aaron replied, "but milk does provide nutrition and is beneficial for height."
Cathy excitedly stood up: "I want to drink milk too!"
To Aaron's surprise, the usually taciturn Laura took the initiative to encourage Cassie, whom she was meeting for the first time:
"Don't give up! Even though the milk tastes awful!"
"Yes!" Cathy nodded vigorously.
Upon seeing this, Aaron couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and shrug. What kind of short-statured duo is this?
He then got up and poured a large glass of milk for each of them.
Lola was lucky; milk spoils easily. If Aaron were alone, there definitely wouldn't be any milk in the library's beverage collection.
The milk in front of her and Cathy was bought by Harriet from town yesterday.
Lola picked up her glass and took a big gulp.
Judging from her furrowed brow, Aaron knew how much she hated milk; it seemed she was really going to great lengths to grow taller...
But Cathy's face didn't change much, indicating that he wasn't a picky eater.
After Lola finished drinking her milk, she exhaled a long breath through her nose and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. It was quite a feat for her. At that moment, Harriet finally brought out the food.
Because Aaron emphasized the need to serve the food quickly, the food was relatively simple.
The main dish is heated bread, and the side dishes are fried chicken cubes and beet soup.
Lola wasn't picky; after all, people who come from the library generally don't have high expectations for the food here.
Compared to the four years Lola spent living in the library, she probably thinks that being able to eat this kind of food is already a feast.
Lola immediately picked up the spoon and began to eat heartily.
However, Lola's mouth is also small, and even though it is said to be "big," she doesn't eat very fast.
Meanwhile, Aaron and his two companions watched Lola eat from across the table.
Lola didn't seem to care; she was focused on eating.
Aaron planned to use this time to introduce the people in the room.
"Lola."
Upon hearing Aaron's call, Lola gently raised her eyes.
"The two of them will stay at the library temporarily, and their names will be Cathy and Harriet."
Aaron then turned to the other two and extended his hand to Lola.
"She also lived in the library, and her name was Laura."
Lola swallowed her food and then nodded slightly to the two people opposite her.
Seeing this, Cathy and Harriet nodded in response.
Afterwards, Lola continued eating.
"Speaking of which, Harriet—" Aaron looked at Harriet, "the room you're living in now used to be Lola and Anne's bedroom, and part of the dress you found in the room was hers."
Harriet's reaction was indifferent, while Cathy's expression was somewhat exaggerated:
"Mr. Mosley, I remember you said that the two girls were the same age."
"yes."
"You also said that Anne is a year older than me, so Lola—"
"She's a year older than you," Aaron nodded and smiled. "So you should call her Sister Lola."
Upon hearing this, Cathy's eyes widened as she stared intently at Lola's face, her expression one of utter disbelief.
Harriet, standing nearby, suddenly looked displeased and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"No," Casey shook her head, "I just didn't expect Lola to be older than me, even though she looks so small."
She's so cute; it makes you want to protect her.
Upon hearing this, Lola's hand holding the spoon suddenly froze, and the spoon head vibrated rapidly in the soup.
Aaron understood that it must have been Cathy's comment about "small" that provoked her.
Since she cares so much about her height, she probably feels frustrated and angry when someone younger than her calls her "small".
Harriet, on the other hand, left her post without permission, returned to her room, and slammed the door shut.
Aaron had never seen her behave like this before.
Although Harriet was not highly educated and could not be considered well-mannered, she had always been loyal to her duties and never left her post without permission since taking on the work of the library.
Aaron understood why Harriet had suddenly become so angry; it was simply because Cassie had said other girls were cute in front of her.
Seeing Cathy looking around in confusion, Aaron couldn't help but slap his forehead hard and shake his head repeatedly.
Offending two girls with just one sentence is truly something else.
In terms of not understanding women, one can only say that Cathy is indeed Henry's son.
Aaron vaguely remembered that Henry had always ignored Natalie.
If he had shown Natalie more care back then, she probably wouldn't have run away from the library, and he wouldn't have been gone for over a decade without ever returning.
Kay wanted to ask Aaron, "Mr. Mosley, what's wrong?"
Aaron shook his head: "Go find Harriet and apologize."
"Apologize? Why?"
"Don't ask," Aaron pulled Cathy up from the stool, "Go quickly."
Although Kathy was confused, she nodded blankly and then walked towards the bedroom.
Only Cathy can soothe Harriet's emotions, but Aaron might be able to put in a good word for Lola.
However, when Aaron faced Laura, she had already resumed eating.
Aaron was pondering how to begin when Lola suddenly pushed the empty glass forward:
"One more cup."
Since she asked Aaron to get up, she also made Lola a glass of milk.
When Lola returned to the table, she had already finished her food.
Judging from his expression, he must have eaten too much.
But she still held the cup and sipped slowly.
Aaron asked, "Are you angry?"
Lola shook her head, and only after swallowing another small sip of milk did she slowly say:
"But I'm not willing to accept this."
Height is something that can't be changed whether you're willing to accept it or not.
"It's so hot—" Lola suddenly murmured.
"You're wearing too many clothes."
“Everyone over there dresses like this,” Laura said. “And the library wasn’t this hot at this time last year.”
Aaron thought back for a moment, but he couldn't quite remember:
"It should be about the same, it's almost summer."
"?" Lola suddenly looked at Aaron with a puzzled expression.
"Hmm?" Isn't that right?
"Shouldn't it be winter now?" Laura said.
Aaron sensed something was wrong, and his scattered thoughts instantly snapped out of his mundane musings:
"Lola, what time is it now?"
Faced with this question, Lola finally moved her face away from the edge of the wooden cup.
Laura stared at Aaron's face for a long time before answering seriously:
"Winter—last night was a gloomy night on the permafrost continent."
Aaron certainly knew what a gloomy night was.
The inhabitants of the permafrost continent call the coldest day of the year the Night of Gloom.
Now, almost five months have passed since that day.
In other words, Lola's perception of time is flawed.
Once this situation occurs, it is by no means a simple event.
But Lola was completely oblivious to this, and Aaron only wanted to know one possibility:
"Lola, did you encounter any unexpected trouble in the Realm of Dawn?"
Laura sat upright on the stool, her chest not much above the table, and Aaron bet her heels were definitely not touching the ground.
After a few seconds of silence, Lola nodded.
Aaron frowned. "Tell me, what happened?"
Afterwards, Lola briefly told Aaron everything that had happened before and after she entered the Realm of Dawn.
After listening, Aaron fell into deep thought.
In short, Lola's entry into the Realm of Dawn this time was on a gloomy night a few months ago.
But when she came out, the weather was already close to summer.
However, Laura herself only perceived a change of six or seven hours in her body.
In other words, "Time flows more slowly within the Realm of Dawn, and from your description, you also experience the perceptual distortion caused by the temporal chaos, or rather, you are able to look directly at the past and the future."
Lola sat there quietly, without saying a word.
Perhaps they didn't understand what Aaron meant.
But Lola doesn't need to understand; as long as Aaron can figure it out, he can offer Lola advice to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
It can even be used.
This was also unexpected for Aaron, since it wasn't mentioned in the book.
Since it is not mentioned in the book, it means that the author of "The Knot of the Cloud Realm" was unaware of this situation or deliberately omitted it.
Understanding the underlying principles is by no means a simple matter.
Nevertheless, several guesses quickly surfaced in Aaron's mind.
However, Aaron would not allow his immature conjectures to enter Lola's mind.
The Mirror of Dew is an extremely dangerous tool, and Aaron must not speak lightly to avoid misleading her.
But one thing Aaron was certain of: "The Realm of Dawn has always been stable, but this sudden accident indicates that it's inextricably linked to the experiments you conducted back then. Lola, do not use any other supernatural powers in the Realm of Dawn without my permission."
Lola nodded.
Looking at Laura's face, Aaron emphasized:
I need you to promise me.
After considering for a few seconds, Lola finally said:
I promise you.
Aaron was relieved. After all, this girl was only a tiny little thing, but she had caused quite a few big troubles.
Aaron knew Draco wasn't lying when he saw her stiff left arm.
Lola is likely genuinely injured in the fight with Brownie, and her injuries haven't fully healed yet.
Of course, Laura wasted nearly five months of recovery time.
And that old wizard named Loloti was no ordinary person either.
According to Lola's description, the old wizard did teach Lola some new things, but he also constantly instilled his own ideas in her.
As for Old Deng's purpose, Aaron couldn't determine it for the time being, but he had to remind Laura to be vigilant.
At this moment, Harriet and Cathy finally came out of the room.
However, judging from Harriet's expression, her emotions were not completely calmed down.
The two did not exchange a single word as they walked toward Aaron.
Aaron raised an eyebrow and silently wished Cathy good luck. Women might be easy to fool, but they're not so easy to coax. Cathy, on the other hand, was completely clueless about lying.
Suddenly, Kathy asked Aaron:
"Mr. Mosley, how much longer until Henry finds his way here?"
"I don't know," Aaron shook his head. "You just have to be patient—but why did you bring this up all of a sudden?"
Cathy glanced at Harriet discreetly, then lowered her voice and whispered in Aaron's ear:
"I want to ask him if he has ever made Natalie angry, and if so, how he made Natalie calm down."
Ha, Aaron gave a wry smile. You'd better ask someone more reliable for advice on this kind of thing.
Aaron intended to persuade Cathy to give up the idea, but Laura, sitting opposite her, spoke first:
"Henry?"
Kathy looked up, her eyes wide:
"You know him too?"
Lola asked, "What's your relationship with him?"
Cathy puffed out her chest: "I am his son!"
Upon hearing this, Lola sat motionless for a moment, then turned to Aaron and asked:
"Aaron, may I kill him?"