Isabel suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes.
She covered her forehead and slowly woke up from the soft feather hammock.
"Are you awake?"
Yanis turned her back to her, drawing in Isabel's bedroom, and said in a brisk tone: "How was the experience of this ceremony?"
Isabel turned around and saw a bright sunrise.
Above the sparkling lake, the nascent red sun seemed to ignite the entire lake.
The bottom is red and golden, the top is light blue and dark blue...
This strange and beautiful picture reminded Isabel of Mr. "Fox"'s eyes when he resonated with the path of devotion.
"Well, why don't you say anything?"
Not hearing Isabel's response for a long time, Yanis turned back curiously and joked: "You won't fail to advance, right?"
"...No, it worked." Isabel whispered.
"Did it actually succeed?" Yanis said in surprise.
"Teacher Yanis, why are you so surprised?"
"Because I did think about the possibility that you would fail to advance."
Yanis turned the brush in her hand casually and tilted her head: "Why, don't you blame me for not telling you the various precautions in the ceremony in advance?"
"...It doesn't matter. Failure is also a kind of experience."
Isabel said softly.
"Ah."
The elf artist laughed, walked over and tapped Isabel gently: "You are obviously saying bad things about me in your heart. You little fool."
Seeing this, Isabel stopped pretending.
She came over aggrievedly: "Teacher, I think you still have to teach me some common sense things. Otherwise, there is no point in being defeated without preparation... I have failed a lot."
This was basically what Sherlock had said to her before. Now she copied it directly.
"Did someone teach you to say this?"
But Yanis saw through the truth easily.
"...Hey? How did you—"
"With your personality, when you say 'your own words', you will not be so smooth and precise. You will be hesitant in your own judgment. As you just said - you have failed too much.
So much so that your self-confidence is gone.”
Yanis sighed, came over and touched Isabel's hair: "Then do you know why I don't want you to succeed at once?"
"……Why?"
"Because the advancement ceremony will fail sooner or later."
Yanis answered slowly and patiently: "Whether it is a new moon ceremony or a full moon ceremony, its essence is to compete with others. It is nothing more than direct competition or indirect competition. Since it is competition with others, then there is
There will always be losers among winners. Some people may fail all the time, but no one can win all the time.
"If you keep winning, you will accumulate more and more pressure. Because of this, the first failure is a precious opportunity. It can make your mentality balanced and no longer nervous."
"Why do you say failure is an opportunity?"
Isabel stubbornly asked: "I want to win more."
Yanis stroked her hair silently, and pinched her soft cheek lovingly.
The elf said seriously: "It's very simple, little Isha. Because if you fail the first time to advance, you will not cause any loss to yourself. The only delay is time - half a month or a month later, you will be able to
Participate in the ceremony again. In other words, if you fail this time, you can participate in the new moon ceremony again and experience real competition. Then you can go back and do the full moon ceremony and you will have experience.
"You were deceived and defeated during the ceremony. You were deceived into revealing your true identity, and you were used like a prop - yes, these are indeed 'failures'.
"But at the same time, it was just a dream. What if they knew your true identity? You are the princess of Avalon, what else can they do? This is your biggest support, Isa
.They can't do anything to you, your failure is just a failure. It will not cause any irrecoverable actual losses.
"In a place where no one knows you, people will not care about your identity, and will not show any mercy to you. There will only be cruel competition, survival, deception, betrayal... This will undoubtedly make you grow quickly.
"And you only need to pay the price of 'time' and participate in a few more ceremonies, so that you, the princess who is well protected by people and has a distinguished status, can be exposed to people's hearts while ensuring your own safety.
In the unconcealed malice - in my opinion, this is more valuable than the promotion ceremony itself for you."
Yanis told the truth that she had not said before: "Without knowledge and understanding, it is indeed unfair to compete fairly with other people who are prepared. But the reality is often the same...
You will be ambushed by someone who is well prepared without being alert or prepared."
"...If that's the case," Isabel was a little flustered, "Did I do something wrong if I succeeded in advancing? In this case, I won't be able to fail again next time, because if I fail, I will pay the real price..."
Hearing this, Yanis blinked.
She didn't react for a moment. Then she couldn't help laughing.
"My little Isa, why are you so cute-"
Like hugging a puppy, Yanis shouted at the top of her lungs and hugged the soft Isabel into her arms.
Her eyes were full of tenderness and affirmation: "What are you talking about, my little cutie? If you can advance smoothly, that means you are indeed excellent.
"You've done a great job. As for the next ceremony...you don't have to worry.
"No matter what method you use to win in the end, it means that you are at least not the worst. You have been able to win without knowing anything. Then after I teach you carefully, won't you be able to do even better?
good?"
Yanis comforted her softly: "Stop talking about those things, little Isa. What are the characteristics of the path you chose?"
Although she looks like a sister who is only three or four years older than Isabel, she is like an elder.
"...Speaking of this."
Isabel complained softly in Yanis's arms: "You didn't tell me what to choose. I hesitated for a long time and finally chose 'Smart Singing Voice'."
"Would you like to increase the difficulty of singing the magic song? It's also good. Anyway, you are an all-rounder, so you can choose whatever you want. It is 'beautiful' to follow your own will."
Yanis raised her eyebrows: "Sure enough, you sang in this dream, right? I thought you wouldn't even be able to find your teammates."
"That's still not the case -"
Isabel said stubbornly: "I can find my teammates, I found them from the beginning!"
"Okay, okay..."
Yanis smiled, tilted her head and looked at Isabel: "How about I draw a picture for you? To commemorate your first victory in the ceremony.
"The way you are now, this posture - the laziness, surprise, and shyness of just waking up, with a little confidence rising quietly like the morning light, and a cute little timidity..."
"……teacher!"
Suddenly, Isabel interrupted Yannis: "I have one more thing!"
There was a hint of astonishment in Yanis' pupils.
She couldn't help but smile: "What's wrong, my little cutie?"
Although her students had gained confidence, which made her happy... but she never thought that Isabel would progress to the point where she had the courage to interrupt her in just one ceremony.
She became more and more curious about what Isabel had experienced.
But she respects Isabel. If Isabel doesn't take the initiative to say it, she won't ask - because she knows that if she asks, her obedient student will definitely tell her.
This is not good. It's like I'm using the authority of the teacher to force her to hand over the secret, losing the beauty of nature and tacit understanding.
"I remember, teacher, you said before... that you would like to invite Mr. Aiwass to sit in the Palace of Silver and Tin."
Isabel couldn't wait to whisper: "Can we invite him earlier?
"I want to see what he looks like now as soon as possible... and have a chat with him."
She had just held the young Aiwass for four hours, and now she felt that she was not afraid of coming into contact with the real Aiwass. If she was originally "somewhat looking forward to it", now she is a little "cannot wait".
The fear and estrangement you feel when you come into contact with any stranger for the first time have completely dissipated in the past four hours.
Thinking of this, she wanted to see Aiwass as soon as possible. It was like seeing the characters in the story appear in reality. It was a wonderful feeling.
This strange position of being familiar with the other person but not knowing her gave Isabel a rare sense of security. And that was exactly what she always lacked in her daily life.
At that time, Isabel wanted to say quietly in her heart after meeting Mr. Aiwass:
——Sister, I was once your mother and even sang you lullabies!
I can only say it from the bottom of my heart, because saying it directly will make people feel that I am not polite. But just like this, I will definitely make myself laugh secretly in my heart.
That will be fun!
Hearing this, Yanis raised her eyebrows with interest and remained noncommittal.