These were the diary pages Alger had spent a great deal of money and effort to obtain from the Church last week. He had originally intended to submit them to Mr. Fool over two or three gatherings, but with a crisis looming over him now, he couldn't afford to hold back any longer!
"Uh…"
If this had been any other time, Klein would have been overjoyed to receive so many diary pages at once. But…Emperor Roselle was right there. If he were to openly read his diary in front of him…wouldn't that be going too far?
Who knew how Roselle would react?
Wouldn't he explode on the spot?
And you, Mr. Hanged Man—saying all of this so loudly—I, the "Fool," hereby recognise you as the bravest man in the entire Tarot Club.
At that moment, Fors hurriedly chimed in like she was presenting a treasure. "Mr. Fool, I also memorised three pages of the diary this week."
She shot a quick glance at Xio. Xio immediately understood and stammered, "I…I memorised two pages as well."
Leonard, who had been "educated" by Klein last week, naturally already knew the so-called diary referred to Roselle's journals. He hurriedly said, "Mr. Fool, I also collected four pages this week."
Last to speak was Emlyn. "I have one page as well."
"…"
Klein's scalp tingled. He wanted nothing more than to slam his head onto the table.
Seriously? Did you all plan this? Are you messing with me on purpose? Normally, none of you ever manage to collect diary pages, but the moment Emperor Roselle shows up—suddenly you explode with motivation and bring nearly twenty pages at once?!
If Roselle pins me down and beats me to death later, none of you are getting out alive!
Sure enough, he immediately noticed Edward and Lilith trying desperately not to laugh. Audrey looked like she wanted to speak but held herself back. Bernadette, on the other hand, remained expressionless—as if this was all perfectly reasonable.
Roselle, who had been intentionally kept in the dark by Edward, asked curiously, "Diary? What diary?"
Klein silently wailed in his heart. If I had known this would happen, I would've confessed everything to him days ago!
Normally, Miss Justice would be the one to explain things to new members. But this time, though she opened her mouth, no words came out. Thus, Alger took on the "responsibility." Lifting his chin, he said, "Roselle the Great's diary."
"Mr. Fool is able to read the miraculous script His Majesty created and has always been very interested in His Majesty's diaries. Therefore, He has been asking us to help collect them." Alger paused before asking, astonished, "Mr. Emperor didn't know?"
"…"
"???"
Roselle froze.
He had always expected later transmigrators to be curious about his diaries. But collecting them like this? That truly exceeded his imagination.
Just imagine—those embarrassing stories he wrote in his early years being openly read by Klein in front of everyone, shared aloud like comedic anecdotes, letting the entire group laugh at his expense…
Ahhhh!! My century-long reputation—ruined!! Completely ruined!!!
The corners of Roselle's eyes twitched uncontrollably.
For Edward and Lilith, the sight brought tremendous joy. They couldn't help secretly hoping that Mr. Fool would immediately read a diary entry aloud to deliver the final blow to Roselle.
Klein felt both delighted and anxious.
Bernadette narrowed her eyes, thinking to herself: Serves you right.
"Good! Very good!"
Roselle cracked his knuckles, nodding repeatedly. After taking a deep breath, he looked toward Mr. Fool and asked, "Mr. Fool, may I trouble You to allow me to read those diary pages first?"
"!!!"
Alger was shocked.
Lady Strength had asked about the diary's contents before—but she had at least offered diary pages in exchange. Yet this Emperor dared to directly request them?
Even if he was a Blessed of Mr. Fool, even if he was the earliest member of the Tarot Club, wasn't this too bold? Too presumptuous? Too reckless?!
—And besides, could he even read that language?
This is bad. Mr. Fool won't get angry…right?
One must believe in the power of gods, but never in their mercy. This was a universal truth!
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Mr. Fool simply waved His hand. The dozen-plus diary pages materialised and drifted into Emperor Roselle's hands.
Then, with an unhurried smile, He added, "Go ahead and read them."
He leaned back in His chair and said casually,
"From today onward, all of you no longer need to collect diary pages for Me."
Before the crowd even processed the fact that Mr. Fool had handed the diaries over so easily, they were immediately stunned by this new declaration.
Why?
Why suddenly stop collecting the diaries?
Had Mr. Fool lost interest?
Or was there another reason entirely?
And what about the diary pages they'd gathered this time—would they still be worth anything?
Klein silently complained:
Why else? First, I don't need the diaries anymore—I can directly ask Roselle himself whenever I want information. And more importantly…I'm afraid he'll get angry and beat me senseless!
On the other side, Roselle quickly began flipping through the pages.
The first two entries discussed middle-sequence acting and digestion experiences—nothing to be said there.
Then came two pages from the early weeks after his transmigration:
"March 3rd.
Bored today. Nothing fun in this era. I wandered around the nearby towns, found nothing, returned home empty-handed. Whatever, I'll grind some mobs in the outskirts."
"March 4th.
Another extremely boring day. Grinding mobs again."
"March 5th.
I slept the whole day. Suddenly felt energised at night. Ah, how I miss modern nightlife…at least I could play on my phone, scroll through Tiktok. Well, can't be helped. I have to find something to do.
Mm! Time to grind mobs in the outskirts."
"March 6th.
Huang Tao, oh Huang Tao, you can't go on like this! You're a transmigrator—the protagonist of this world! You must find a way to accomplish something! Starting today, I must change!!"
"March 7th.
Grinding mobs in the outskirts."
The more Roselle read, the darker his expression became. He quickly flipped ahead and discovered that the other entries were all the ridiculous diaries he had written in his early days—either about sleeping with several women in one night, or about back pain and wanting to ask an apothecary for tonics.
Worst of all…after experiencing the "taste" of a Demoness, he had become completely addicted. Not only had he actively gone looking for Demoness, he had ended up being "handled" by a Sequence 4 Demoness so thoroughly that he couldn't get out of bed for three whole days—and had even pretended to be ill in front of Bernadette, tricking her into worrying about him every day and taking meticulous care of him.
Holy—!!
Roselle felt nothing but pure relief.
Thank goodness he had intercepted the diaries in time! If Klein had read those pages in front of everyone, embarrassment would have been the least of his concerns.
If Bernadette found out…then…he would truly be doomed!
Panicking at the thought, he hurriedly crushed the manifested diary pages into powder with a swift motion of his hands.
Alger's heart nearly jumped out of his throat.
He almost blurted aloud, "Mr. Fool, look at him! He tore up the diary pages I offered You! Are You really not going to do anything?!"
The others who had offered diary pages all had nearly identical thoughts.
Lilith snapped her fingers lightly. The diary powder Roselle created immediately flowed like sand into her palm, reassembling into intact pages before floating neatly back into Klein's hands.
Roselle roared, "LILITH!!!"
Lilith hummed with feigned solemnity, "Mr. Fool hasn't read them yet. How could you destroy the diary, Mr. Emperor? Please be mindful of your status."
Roselle froze. "My…status?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he remembered—he had come to Klein's Tarot Club today fully intending to give Klein some face and, by extension, bolster Klein's image before the others. Yet just now, his actions were indeed rather inappropriate…
It really made him look like he had become a god and immediately started disrespecting his fellow transmigrator.
"Ahem."
He coughed and said, "Well, Mr. Fool…"
Klein glanced at the first few pages of the diary in his hand—and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Roselle, oh Roselle…your diary never fails to expand my 'understanding' of you.
Bernadette caught his reaction instantly. "Mr. Fool," she asked, "what price must I pay in order to learn the contents of the diary pages just now?"
Roselle's mind exploded.
He blurted, "There's nothing worth reading, truly, Bernie…just some trivial nonsense!"
Bernadette replied calmly, "Such as 'the taste of a Demoness was not bad'?"
"I…have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ahem!"
Klein cleared his throat and spoke in a light, almost casual tone, "Alright, Miss Strength. If you're truly interested in the diary, you may come to me after the gathering. As for now, let's leave the diary matter here."
Roselle glared at him furiously.
Oh good, VERY good. You're doing this on purpose. You're threatening me on purpose!
Klein continued, "Your Majesty, don't tease these juniors too much."
Your Majesty?
What Majesty?
Everyone was taken aback.
Klein smiled faintly. "I imagine all of you are curious as to why I suddenly stopped asking for Roselle's diary pages. It's not because I've lost interest…"
He paused, then gestured toward Roselle.
"It's because the man himself is now sitting right here. If I have any questions, it's far more convenient to ask him directly. Isn't that right, Mr. Emperor?"
"—or rather, Roselle Gustav, the Great Emperor."
"!!!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Alger, Fors, and the others felt their minds buzz violently.
What?!
Mr. Emperor is Emperor Roselle?!
How was that possible?!
Wasn't he supposed to be dead long ago?
How could he suddenly appear—and even join the Tarot Club as their senior?
Oh—right.
Hadn't it been mentioned before in a Tarot meeting that Queen Mystic believed her father, Emperor Roselle, had never truly died and had been searching for him for many years?
Now she had indeed found him.
That…was somewhat reasonable???
Wait!!
Then what had they just done?
They had just handed over diary pages—containing Roselle's secrets and private affairs—to Mr. Fool right in front of Roselle himself!
Even though Roselle's daughter, Miss Strength, had also previously offered diary pages to Mr. Fool, that was her.
Roselle himself surely would not feel the same way!
Who would willingly allow their privacy to be passed around?!
Everyone who had taken joy in offering diary pages a moment ago now felt equally uneasy.
Especially Xio, who glared resentfully at Fors—
The two diary pages she submitted earlier were ones Fors had specifically handed to her!
Fors hung her head low, looking exactly like an ostrich burying itself in sand.
Alger, however, was the one suffering the most. He had been the first to submit diary pages today—and also the one who submitted the most. And the reason he had done so…was to prove his usefulness in competition with Mr. Emperor, their "senior."
He now desperately wished he could dig a hole and bury himself inside.
No wonder Miss Justice had reacted that way earlier. She had known!
Leonard, meanwhile, suddenly felt everything fall into place.
No wonder when he was writing his diary before the gathering, the old man had said today's meeting might have "a good show" and told him to recount it later. It seemed the old man had known something behind the scenes.
That old fossil truly had no shame…
Emlyn, however, didn't particularly care.
Roselle the Great? Roselle the Great, whatever.
He's your human emperor—what does he have to do with us Sanguines? Besides, this diary was handed to me by the Ancestor. If Roselle has a problem, he can take it up with Ancestor!
…Although, since this was the "Father of Dolls," perhaps he possessed some rare dolls? Emlyn suddenly felt an overwhelming curiosity.
———
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