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"I am merely here to visit my granddaughter, a right that is mine by virtue of being her grandfather."

"You are unworthy of being her grandfather. Now, leave at once!"

The escalating argument caused the girl, her cheeks still plump with baby fat, to lower her gaze, while the observing miss puppet mirrored the reaction almost exactly.

"Before that, don\'t you think you should ask Venna for her opinion?"

Hearing this, the little girl hesitated for a moment, then hopped off her chair, scurried to the door, and peeked her small head out into the hallway, issuing a tender call:

"Grandfather..."

At the end of the hallway, by the stairs, the two disputing figures turned their heads in unison, the handsome man looking distressed, while the benevolent old man wore a smile.

"Venna, grandfather is here to take you for your studies. Would you like to come with me?"

In Ravenna\'s violet eyes, a bright light initially shone, but upon seeing her father\'s gloomy expression, it silently faded away.

Clutching the doorframe, she hesitated for a long while before finally shaking her head.

Thus, the expressions of both the man and the old man froze for a moment, almost as if reversing, except that the old man named Eileen quickly regained his composure, smiling and nodding, "Then I shall visit you another time... Ah, I almost forgot the gift I bring each time I see you."

He tapped the ordinary-looking scepter he held, and a dodecahedron materialized in front of young Ravenna. The girl carefully reached out to catch it, and then heard Eileen say, "This is a little toy I thought of these past few days, crafted with some thought. Enjoy it, Venna."

Young Ravenna, curious, played with the dodecahedron, discovering it could twist and connect at will, quickly morphing into bizarre shapes under her manipulation. Attempting to twist it back by memory, she found its interior housed a more intricate automatic mechanism, requiring the infusion of ether to organize.

The girl quickly became engrossed in play, her beautiful violet eyes fixated on the toy, her slightly chubby hands deftly twisting and turning. She looked up joyfully and said softly, "Thank you, grandfather."

The old man smiled, waved his hand, and turned to walk down the stairs.

The man beside him showed no intention of accompanying; instead, he briskly approached the young Ravenna, crouched down before her, and inquired softly, "Venna, why do you no longer wish to accompany... to accompany your grandfather to study?"

The little girl ceased her play with the toy, lifting her gaze to her father: "Because it would displease mother and father."

"..." Leiden opened his mouth to speak but no expression of joy emerged in response to her words.

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His expression grew complex as he asked, "So... you still wish to stay with your grandfather, is that it?"

Young Ravenna, still unable to grasp her father\'s current emotions, tilted her head in confusion before replying honestly, "Yes."

Leiden fell silent for a moment, then let out a weary sigh.

Observing his demeanor, Ravenna pondered for a moment before extending the dodecahedron towards Leiden: "Father, a toy."

The diminutive and endearing girl blinked, simply wishing to offer her beloved object to her father.

Leiden, gazing at his daughter presenting the toy with both hands, was momentarily transfixed, a profound tenderness welling up in his eyes.

He reached out to embrace Ravenna: "Thank you, Venna."

He smiled, as if to show Ravenna that his spirits had lifted considerably, and began attempting to twist the toy back to its original form.

However, within less than a minute, the smile on his face stiffened.

Ravenna, looking up at her father, tilted her head slightly and after observing for a while, reminded him, "Father, the piece your left middle finger is pointing at, press it in, then move it to the upper left corner, shifting away the right column, perhaps, em... it might require the infusion of ether... a standard unit?"

Leiden, upon hearing the reminder, remained motionless.

It wasn\'t until Ravenna called out to him with a hint of unease that he came to his senses, returning the toy with a forced smile.

"... Sorry, Venna, your father is too clumsy."

How could a four-year-old comprehend subtlety and concealment? The young Ravenna simply tilted her head in confusion and said, "But I think it\'s quite simple to revert it back, and it seems it can transform into different shapes too..."

Muttering to herself, she fiddled with the toy while walking back to her room.

Leaving the ordinary man, caught between a genius father and a monstrous daughter, standing alone in the corridor.

Ravenna observed all this with a serene gaze, and upon reflection today, she could somewhat understand the suffocating feeling that Leiden experienced. However, in her view, no one was to blame but Leiden\'s mediocrity.

And while mediocrity is not a sin, to harbor envy for talent because of it is contemptible.

In her eyes, her father was just such a contemptible man.

The monochrome world of memory shifts rapidly, with spaces merging and reconfiguring, objects dissolving and blending together, accelerating the flow of time within memories, imparting an icy, eerie sense of absurdity...

Meanwhile, Ravenna found herself inexplicably recalling these fragments. If this signified the restoration of her memories, shouldn\'t the recollections of Ansel be foremost?

These memories had not faded; each detail was vividly clear. Why, at this moment… did she reminisce about these?

Miss puppet gazed at the increasingly detailed imagery, at the moment Eileen presented her with the dodecahedron, she realized the exact point in her memories it represented.

Soon, she saw herself, the young Ravenna, lying on the lawn basking in the sun while tinkering with parts.

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