Chapter 163 Rasputin's Inferior Ceremony

"...So that's how it is."

After listening to Annan's recitation, Grand Duke Ivan sighed deeply.

His mood was a little complicated, and the right hand holding the scepter tightened slightly.

"Anya..."

Ivan whispered someone's name.

There were extremely complex emotions in his eyes.

sad? miss? calm? Open-minded?

Or neither.

Even Annan couldn't read the extremely complicated emotions.

Those are the eyes that I can only have when I spend most of my life and when half of my body is buried in loess, I can recall the past.

Just staring at those eyes can make others unconsciously quiet down.

"Are you sad, father?"

Annan couldn't help asking.

Although this whole thing has no responsibility for Ivan... At first, it was just a tragedy caused by Lily's own clumsiness.

But after all, Anya is looking for extraordinary wisdom, to find a way to marry Ivan, and to change the winter will perform that ritual, and Lily will have an accident because of it.

After all, Ivan Rinwinter is old.

It is not surprising that older people recall the past with regret.

Rather, it is because Ivan has achieved many successes in his life, so those failures will be more unforgettable...

Just like his two wives.

"Nolan Geraint..."

Ivan was silent for a long time, whispering the name of the old crow.

"what?"

"If you see him again, remember to thank him for me."

Ivan said slowly: "Anya also told me... I hope that one day, she will be able to see with her own eyes the passing of the winter and the coming of the harvest. She wants to see the blooming flower, even if it is just a small one.

"...But I can't fulfill such a simple wish for her. I'm not as good as Nolan. He made Lily live a happy life."

"But you are a very good Archduke."

"I am."

Ivan replied calmly: "But I can't be considered a good husband."

When he said this, he took another deep look at Annan:

"...not a good father either."

"That's not so."

Annan shrugged: "At least you're definitely not a bad father."

Archduke Ivan is a pure stocking state with absolutely no management and restraint for his children.

It can be seen from the copy of the wolf kiss that when Annan was very young, he was brought up by his eldest brother Dmitry. Except for the hand of winter who took care of his life, basically his older brothers and sisters were with him.

Only when Annan learned Frost Swordsmanship was it 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 himself Frost Swordsmanship. It can also be seen from this that the "common memories" of Annan and Ivan are probably extremely rare.

Given how busy Ivan is at work, I am afraid that Annan will not see him a few times a year.

At that time, Ivan was in good health, and it was not like he needed to lie in bed all the year round now. He must have been running around... Roughly, he should have passed the house three times and never entered that level.

At least he can let the two brothers Annan and Dmitry, Xiong call Roof to take a bet at home, without realizing that something has happened to their cubs.

After all, Ivan is the best archduke in all the winter dynasties.

This is something that all Winters will admit from the heart.

There is no generation of Winter that can handle all kinds of winter affairs better than Ivan. At least after the death of his first wife... or maybe before that, Ivan has dedicated his entire life to the Duchy of Winter.

It is normal to neglect your own family.

After all, his time is not infinite.

Of course, Annan said 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 about his childhood. It can be said that standing and talking without back pain - at least Dmitri and Maria, will definitely be affected a lot by this.

At least their childhood won't be so pleasant.

However, they still have a relatively normal mother. Especially Dmitry...his mother seems to be a rather gentle person. It can even melt the solid ice of Ivan.

...Perhaps, part of the reason for Dmitry and Maria's long-term care and love for Annan is that Anya died shortly after Annan was born.

Archduke 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.

The so-called eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister is like a mother, roughly the same.

...but I am afraid that people are more than people.

Compared with the style of Melvin's family that simply treats children as tools, the Winter family's side is already good and can't be better.

"However, although Lily had a good time with Noah... it's better to talk to Rasputin."

Ivan coughed lightly.

He raised his right hand, which was so thin that he could faintly see the shape of a bone, and handed Annan a hard card that looked like a greeting card or a business card.

After Annan handed it over, he squeezed it lightly with his hand—and found that there was some kind of thin metal sheet in the middle of the thick paper.

And it has an address and a name written on it.

"Washica Rasputin...going to see him tomorrow?"

"He's Anya and Lily's cousin...or cousin. And 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 male or female?

"Rasputin is a keeper of secrets, and naturally there are many forbidden rituals... Wasika performed a special ritual to integrate herself with a female cat. So he will continue to change his own body according to the phase of the moon. Gender and Physical Characteristics."

Ivan glanced at the copper calendar plate on the wall: "Washika should be a woman now...May have some features of a cat. After you see it, remember not to be afraid or rude."

...I'm afraid of a hammer, catgirl.

Annan thought to himself.

"...However, the frequency of Rasputin's people performing forbidden rituals...isn't it too high?"

Annan asked involuntarily.

All Rasputin he had heard so far seemed to have performed forbidden rituals.

Ivan shook his head: "For Rasputin, this is a normal situation - the surname Rasputin came from the very beginning."

The old man said slowly: "In the Frost language, the word 'Rasputin' is usually used to describe a person with bad behavior... It's not a good word."

What's more, it's not a good word... Ivan's words are too euphemistic.

It was a word that would be covered with asterisks when typed, and could be abusive to a person's character.

"...but why did Rasputin use that word as a surname?"

"It's called the 'bad name ceremony'."

Ivan replied: "Their purpose is to let others abuse themselves unconsciously. In this way, you can easily get a common effect 'Three Words of Curse', which needs to be sent by three different people in one day. insults from the heart'.

"This is also the reason why in the story, some ritualists who have fallen into darkness will use cruel means to do evil everywhere and leave their names... They are deliberately collecting insults, curses and hatred. If these are condensed to a certain extent, it will also will be an influence.

"It will cause the weak villains to fall into nightmares and die... but also strengthen the power of the real villains."

Simply put, it's just looking for a curse.

Annan thought.

"And this influence is a common influence necessary for many forbidden rituals and rituals to curse others. Rasputin is a very traditional ritualist family, and they have multiple influence pools... and their own name is naturally an influence. one.

"So they used the 'inferior ritual' to replace their family name with this ancient insult. Although there are very few people who understand the Shuang language, as long as they pronounce this surname, it can be regarded as a 'speaking insult from the heart' '.

"In addition to the name, they will also participate in large-scale events such as ceremonies, funerals, and weddings, and the purpose is to collect as much influence as possible.

"Almost all of these influences will be used to perform rituals before they expire. Therefore, every Rasputin will perform at least one forbidden ritual. They will be more or less different from ordinary people. Although they are all Weird and weird...but Rasputin will be your best friend when you succeed as Archduke Winter."

Ivan reached out and patted his three-color scepter, and said meaningfully: "Because they always need the help of Winter.

"Remember this sentence. I can't reveal too much to you for the time being... but you remember, don't let him bluff in your communication with Patriarch Vasika tomorrow.

"—You are the one who takes the initiative. It is the absolute initiative."