Toussaint is the country of fine wine and the home of knights in the world of The Witcher. If we ignore the problem of border bandits caused by the loose organizational and management capabilities of the ruling body in the Middle Ages, this small principality should be regarded as the closest place to paradise in the whole story.

In Beauclair, the capital of Toussaint, gossip about Archduchess Anna Henrietta spread like wildfire. It was said that the world-famous bard who had given a "solo concert" in the City of the Golden Tower had been living in the palace for a week.

In fact, this was not the first time that Dandelion had lived in the Beauclair Palace; moreover, for a young and beautiful noble widow who had been widowed for several years to openly keep a lover was, if not commonplace in that era, then it was also natural - the romantic news about the Archduchess should not have caused such a high level of heat.

The reason why the people of Beauclair have been discussing this topic for so long is not because they are ignorant or naturally fond of gossip, but because the story of the Archduchess and the bard is too tortuous and bizarre to be believed.

Many years ago, a bard who had just finished a concert in the City of Golden Tower swaggered into Toussaint with the title of the empire's most wanted criminal; the Archduchess, who was not yet a widow at the time, fell in love with him at first sight, and the two immediately became passionate.

The story up to this point is about the ill-fated relationship between a wealthy young girl and a literary young man.

Then one day, the husband of the Archduchess, who was rude, uncultured, uninterested, and philandering, but who was very much in line with the image of a medieval aristocrat, learned that he had been cuckolded. So he abandoned his mistress and angrily returned to Beauclair, declaring that he would chop the adulterer into pieces, cook the cut meat, and stuff it into the Archduchess's mouth. Dandelion got the news and fled Toussaint overnight, leaving the Archduchess to be forced to accept her husband's ruthless humiliation and abuse.

If the story ended here, it would probably be a tragedy of a pair of lovers who were not destined to be together and were separated by feudal etiquette.

However, the rude and brutal Duke husband was completely unaware of one thing: Toussaint was not his country, and the Grand Duchess was the only legitimate heir to the Kingdom of Wine.

Anna Henrietta was the biological daughter of the previous Grand Duke of Toussaint. Although her husband Raymond also came from a noble family in the Nilfgaard Empire, it was only after marrying Anna that he was awarded the title of "Prince", which elevated his identity and status to a higher level.

Although he used the power given to male heads of families at that time to suppress Anna Henrietta, Raymond's humiliation and abuse of his wife were unpopular; soon, the "prince" who "married into the family" suffered a stroke due to anger, and a few years later suffered a second stroke due to excessive drinking and sex, and died in the bed of one of his mistresses.

When Raymond died, almost no one in Toussaint was sad for him; and his wife Anna Henrietta, as a widow, took full power without hindrance and won the unanimous love of the subjects of the duchy.

Shortly after Raymond's death, Dandelion followed Geralt to Toussaint again; the widowed Archduchess immediately rekindled her old love with the bard, and Geralt, a witcher who was not welcome in many places, benefited from this and enjoyed warm hospitality at the Beauclair court for several months.

Do you think that the story has a happy ending of "lovers finally get married"?

What are you thinking?

It is no surprise that famous bards mess up everything except poetry and singing. When the Archduchess trapped him in Baroness Nico's bed, everyone thought Dandelion was dead and the gallows or guillotine had been erected for him.

If the Grand Duchess had not been soft-hearted and commuted the death penalty to deportation, it would have been necessary to trouble the world's supreme god of fate to come forward to rescue the person.

The expelled Dandelion followed Geralt's family north, and then encountered the alien invasion in the Mahakam Mountains.

So, do you think this story ends with the love-brained girl finding out about the scumbag and being heartbroken?
Bah! Dandelion came back a year later, and successfully asked for forgiveness from the Grand Duchess, and once again moved into the Beauclair Palace...

Can someone be forgiven if they are caught cheating on each other? Can someone be pardoned if they are sentenced to death?
The subjects of the Duchy of Toussaint, from top to bottom, only then realized that Dandelion, a notorious playboy, might, possibly, probably, probably, must be the true love of the Archduchess!

It is not surprising that aristocrats flirt with each other, indulge in extravagance and debauchery, but it is the strangest thing to find true love. So it is no wonder that the gossips on the streets of Beauclair can be spread for a week and still be hot.

However, the two protagonists of the rumors obviously don't care; here they are, on the balcony high up in the palace, snuggling together again, enjoying the warm sunshine and overlooking the beautiful scenery of Beauclair.

The table was filled with Toussaint's best vintage wine, and the bard was skillfully strumming the lute; fine wine went with the good times, and beautiful verses were recited in the spring breeze.

"The wind and rain in the mountains are invisible, half a day is rainy and the other half is clear. Looking out from the clouds with a royal umbrella and red fur coat, the thunder and dew are all yours."

The beautiful sound of the piano accompanied Dandelion's singing, but the only audience member raised his eyebrows and pretended to be unhappy: "Thunder, nectar? Are you saying that my mood is changeable?"

The bard would never fail to answer such a simple question, and replied: "What I mean is that no matter thunder or rain, you are the most beautiful scenery in my eyes, and you are my dearest little weasel..."

The temperature between the two people rose rapidly, soon overshadowing the temperature of the sun; but just as their faces were getting closer and closer, and they could smell each other's breath, a very inopportune voice interrupted: "I'm sorry, both of you. Although I really don't want to disturb you, I have to talk to Mr. Dandelion."

The sudden voice startled the man and woman, especially Anna Henrietta, who quickly realized that the voice did not belong to anyone familiar to her. As a ruler, she immediately became alert, turned her head to look at the source of the voice, and the order to shout the guards came to her lips at the first moment.

But the order was not issued because the Grand Duchess saw an extremely shocking scene: a young man in strange clothes "walked" down from the air step by step.

It was not until the boy took the last step and stepped onto the balcony that Anna Henrietta regained her consciousness to speak. But before she could open her mouth, she heard Dandelion beside her say with half disgust and half fear: "Why is it you?"

"Do you know him? Who is he?" The order to call the guard came to his lips, but curiosity turned it into a question.

Dandelion looked hesitant. After a moment's hesitation, he turned his head and whispered something.

Anna Henrietta covered her mouth and exclaimed, "Mahakan Butcher?!"

"The Butcher of Mahakam?" Lin You's face was full of disgust. "The people in this world have no creativity in giving nicknames. Geralt is called the Butcher of Blavikan, and I killed a few more people in the Mahakam Mountains, so I'm called the Butcher of Mahakam. The problem is, I killed more people on the Temple Island of Novigrad, so why am I not called the Butcher of Novigrad or the Butcher of Temple Island?"

"In fact, you do have a title related to Temple Island, but it's not a butcher; they call you the Purifier of Temple Island." The bard was not as shocked as the Grand Duchess, and was still able to talk to Lin You calmly. "Purifier? What did I purify?" Lin You asked curiously.

Dandelion said, "The people of the Eternal Flame Sect said that you purified those traitors whose souls were polluted and whose faith was no longer pure. For this reason, they called you the Purifier, the messenger of the sacred fire that descended to the world to bestow divine punishment on the traitors. They also planned to build the largest statue of you on Temple Island, but it is estimated that it has not been completed yet."

"That's great! Now no one can tell whether those who were killed were purified because of their betrayal, or became traitors because of their purification." Lin You clapped his hands in admiration, "There are talented people among the one-third of people who survived!"

"Not only are there talented people, but one of the most popular new leaders is a vampire in disguise - this is what Geralt told me."

"What did that vampire say? What's the current situation of the Cult of the Eternal Fire?" Lin You continued to ask.

"I don't know. Many things were just mentioned by friends in casual conversations, and I only half understood them."

"But I came back this time just to find out about these things. You have to tell me in detail; you know what I want to hear." With the Grand Duchess present, Lin You only made vague hints in his words.

Dandelion understood; he didn't know what Lin You wanted to hear, but he knew who Lin You wanted to hear.

"I'll go over there and talk with him, and I'll be back soon." The bard did not forget to comfort his lover before following Lin You to a corner of the balcony.

When the two men stood still, Dandelion had replaced someone else.

"Welcome back, long time no see, my brother; well... you have changed a lot. The power of 'destiny' in you is many times stronger than mine, but most of it does not belong to this world?" The tone and emphasis of the Supreme God of Destiny's speech are very different from those of the bard, making it easy to distinguish their different identities.

Lin You replied: "Something happened in the big world. I have been digesting these powers for the past few months, and today I have finally completed them all."

"I heard that the gods joined forces to 'execute' and deprived the Great World of its divine authority. It seems that you played a key role in this and gained a lot?" The Supreme God of Destiny sighed, with a bit of lingering fear in his tone. "Should I be glad that the demon hunter's worldview is in serious conflict with the Great World, and I have to adopt the special method of celestial sphere intersection to participate in the Great World plan. Otherwise, one day in the future, you will also do something to me?"

"No, if you had merged directly instead of using the celestial sphere conjunction, you would not have been born. Because with every story that merges into the big world, the power of the God of Destiny will be extremely reduced, so how could the Supreme God of Destiny be born?"

“You are now, aren’t you?” Dandelion asked.

"I am just fate. Among all the divine powers stripped from the will of the great world, only the power of fate is the weakest. I am stronger than you now only because there are enough stories of the great world's integration and the basic base is large enough. The gods will not allow a new supreme god to be born in the great world."

Dandelion teased, "The gods of the big world don't allow you to do this, so you came to this world to do experiments? Are you here to confirm the results of the experiment this time?"

"What's the point of making fun of me? The results of the experiment will be useful to you, right?" Lin You asked in return, "You should have noticed the changes brought about by the experiment, right?"

"Of course, I found out. Although it has only been a few months, the effect is significant. The people of the northern countries are giving you new divine power. Your previous guess was correct."

As he spoke, the eyes of the Supreme God of Destiny were empty; he was not looking at anything in the material world, but at another dimension - a realm that brought together the spiritual consciousness of all living beings in the world.

This area is adjacent to the "River of Destiny" where the body of the Supreme God of Destiny is located. It is invisible and intangible, but it gathers the most powerful spiritual power in the world.

More importantly, at this moment, there is a broad spiritual consciousness torrent connecting the spiritual realm and the long river of destiny. Others may not understand, but the Supreme God of Destiny will understand; the emergence of this torrent means that the collective will of mortals can have a direct impact on the realm of God for the first time.

"Because of your massacres in Mahakam and Temple Island, the surviving one-third of the church members established you as the messenger of the Eternal Fire and worshiped you; now, their act of worship has given you a new theocracy outside of destiny, the theocracy of the Holy Flame."

Lin You was also looking at the "River of Destiny" and said, "I can sense the power of the Flame God, but it's not very strong."

"It will become stronger and stronger. As long as no one destroys the belief and worship of you, as this belief gradually spreads, your new divine power will become stronger and more stable. One day, you may even become the material embodiment of the Eternal Fire." At this point, Dandelion couldn't help but sigh, "How ridiculous, a religious cult that came out of nowhere and metaphysicalized matter, and finally completed the retrospection and cycle from metaphysics to materialization and personification."

Lin You sneered: "Aren't most of the myths and religious worships in the world like this?"

"But in the past, such cycles could not be strictly speaking called cycles; because the two parts of the cycle were separated by the space-time dimension. One half of the cycle was in the real dimension, and the other half was in the virtual dimension, and they operated independently of each other."

"The past is the past, and the present is the present." Lin You disagreed, and reminded the Supreme God of Destiny, "The sign of the ultimate stability of the big world is that it does not rely on the real dimension to exist; in a sense, it will become another 'reality', a 'reality' that exists in 'illusion'."

"I know..." Dandelion nodded, his face full of worry. "I knew it the moment your experiment succeeded. But you have to understand that this does not mean it is a good thing."

"It cannot be simply attributed to a good thing or a bad thing. It can only be said to be an objective fact. Whether it is good or bad depends on the standpoints and needs of different people."

Dandelion asked again, "What is your position? Is it good or bad for you?"

"I don't know yet, but one thing is certain: when humans in the virtual dimension also possess the ability to 'create gods' like in the real dimension, the entire dimension will have to respond to this change."

When Lin You said this, his expression was not as relaxed as his tone. In fact, in his eyes, even the fate of the demon hunter world, which had no direct connection with the big world, had already begun to stir. (End of this chapter)