The little slipper sat blankly on a wooden box, watching in a daze the surrounding White Blade Guards who were busy with treatment, dressing up, discussing, and making final preparations before departure.
Each of them was respectful to her, and even when they were most busy, they did not forget to clear out a resting place for her and ensure that she had clean water and food.
She is very sleepy.
But the fear and tension that invaded her brain all the time were like alarm bells, often waking her up from the edge of falling asleep.
This made her feel like she was living in a state of half-dream and half-awake.
But there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? The little slipper lowered his head and asked himself bitterly.
Isn’t everything I’ve experienced from last night to now a nightmare?
But myself...
The little slipper sniffed and touched his little face that had been wiped clean.
She sat alone on the wooden box and watched people coming and going.
Although the clothes she had just added were very warm, she felt that she had never been as cold as she was at this moment.
Confused and lonely.
Nothing to rely on.
At this moment.
"You are here."
A low sigh came.
Little Huitou turned his head and unexpectedly saw Thales walking over with a bitter look on his face.
The second prince, who only saw the stars, sat down on the open space next to her without any politeness.
"Tiles," the little slippery man was a little surprised, but also a little happy, "how do you..."
Thales was in a daze. He picked up a piece of bread from the plate in Little Slippery's hand, not caring about the angry look on his face from a member of the White Blade Guards in the distance.
"The food prepared for the Star People over there is very poor - the priests are also from the North." Thales casually took a bite into the fluffy bread - the bread offered to the temple was indeed different - and put half of his
His whole face was sunk in it, he groaned, and said vaguely: "Let me rub yours."
The little slipper looked at him blankly.
Thales gritted his teeth with all his strength and pulled his face out of the bread.
The second prince did not raise his head. He just chewed hard and stared at the half-cut piece of bread in his hand.
His eyes were confused.
Xiao Huantou looked at him like this, blinked his eyes, and for a while seemed to have forgotten a lot of his own troubles.
"You didn't stay with them," Thales swallowed a mouthful of bread without any feeling, feeling the feeling of his stomach being slowly filled, and pursed his lips at Nicolai and Michael who were discussing something in the distance.
: "They treat you badly?"
Little Huatou raised his head and looked hesitantly at the two people in the distance.
"No, they respect me very much." The girl shook her head and almost took off her glasses. She was so frightened that she quickly reached out to hold the bridge of her nose and said aggrievedly: "That's why I feel scared."
The embarrassed girl bit her lip: "You know, they were all there before, they all know..."
"It's not important anymore." Thales' words suddenly rang out.
The little slippery man glanced at the prince in surprise.
Thales was seen holding the bread in his hand and staring straight ahead, but his eyes were not focused.
He only chewed it occasionally in his mouth.
"No matter what happened in the Hall of Heroes," Thales narrowed his eyes and said bitterly: "Now, does it still matter?"
He shook his head indifferently: "After we escape this nightmare, none of this will matter."
Thales thought in a daze.
Only one thing.
We can escape the nightmare, but the nightmare will not let us go.
"Tiles," Little Slippery put his hands on his sides and leaned forward worriedly, "Are you okay?"
Thales came back to his senses and glanced at her.
"No," Thales lowered his head and sighed deeply: "I'm very bad."
The little slipper timidly smacked his mouth, looked at Thales, and blinked at a loss.
"Little slippery head."
Thales stared at the wooden box under the girl and stared blankly at her little feet hanging in the air.
"You know," the prince said absently: "Although I don't want to do it myself, I came with a mission."
The little slipper looked at him blankly, not knowing how to react.
"But I failed," he concluded dryly.
The voice was full of hesitation and pain.
The little slipper just nodded instinctively.
Thales suddenly laughed out loud.
"And now we have to run away, leaving a mess behind," his laughter was sad and lonely, which made the little slicker feel sad for a while: "and then run away in despair."
Thales listlessly put the bread he had taken two bites back on the plate, leaned back, and leaned his back against the wooden box where the little slider was sitting.
He looked at the dim ceiling quietly, and vaguely made out the mural on it - in front of a white ball, three vague figures emerged from it.
This is probably a place belonging to the gods.
Thales thought absentmindedly.
According to the chief priest of Holm, the goddess of the moon probably doesn't care about these mortal disputes.
If only I could be like them and be indifferent to everything, that would be great.
Thales smiled bitterly, and then his expression relaxed again.
Little Huantou looked at him quietly without saying a word.
Like a docile kitten.
"You know," Thales continued to look at the ceiling, his eyes wandering, and his voice was ethereal, as if separated by a layer of veil: "Exter will probably use me to assassinate the king and send troops south - more than one Grand Duke
.”
The little slippery head nodded gently:
"Um."
Thales' eyes were blurred for a while, as if the figures of Araka and Sonia appeared, and the figures of the Fury Guards falling one by one appeared: "The Broken Dragon Fortress may be lost, and the Northern Territory may be lost, we can't stop them.
"
"Um."
"Many people will die," Thales seemed to see many more people dying, in abandoned houses, manors, on the streets, in the birch woods, in front of the fortress, and in Longxiao City - this made him feel even more tired and sleepy.
, "Die in war, die in famine, die in chaos, die in a world without order and reason."
"Um."
"Also, because of the incompetence and failure of the mission and the heir, the Bright Star royal family will probably face the most serious accusations and blows in history. The nobles are all looking forward to this opportunity." The prince said calmly, as if this was a trivial matter.
One pile.
"Um."
"And Lumba, Lumba will get everything he wants, no matter what it is." Thales put his head on his arms and said blankly: "He is the ultimate winner, based on our failure - you
You know, I once made wild remarks in his tent, mocking him for being despicable and cold-blooded."
"Um."
Thales sneered with unknown meaning.
"Little Slicker," his voice became deeper and deeper, "I failed - and there was nothing I could do about it."
"Um."
"I always thought I could do it," Thales smiled bitterly, remembering Gilbert's earnest teachings in Mindis Hall: "Although I'm not very smart, I'm not too stupid either, and there are Putilai and the others.
help……"
"Um."
Thales suddenly felt sour in his heart.
"But I can't do it," the prince said bitterly, as if his tongue held a huge weight: "It's too difficult."
Little Hua Tou jumped down from the wooden box, sat down next to him, and nodded slightly: "Yes."
Thales closed his eyes hard and exhaled a long breath.
Infinite depression and anger welled up in my heart.
"Not just Rumba, not just King Nun..."
"The self-righteous secret science department always wants to have everything in its hands..."
"The so-called father who is arbitrary and arbitrary never cares about other people's wishes and moods..."
"They catch me off guard every time," Thales rubbed his brows, as if he wanted to spit out all his dissatisfaction over the past month: "I really want to do something..."
"Um."
"Of course, they probably still blame me for being clever and ruining their plan," Thales then sneered and said sarcastically: "Of course, if it weren't for me, they would probably be celebrating their victory in a corner.
"
"Um."
Thales sighed.
"And I have neither the qualifications nor the position to accuse them," the prince said lonelyly: "Just like you, I am nothing at all."
"……Um"
"Stop saying 'um'."
"Um."
"Well, it seems you are indeed distracted."
"Uh-huh?"
Little Hua Tou raised his head as if suddenly awakened.
I saw Thales leaning on the wooden box and tilting his head, looking at the frightened girl with a helpless smile in his eyes.
Little Huantou lowered his head in embarrassment and stretched out his hands to cover his face: "Well, I just..."
Thales exhaled from his nose and smiled slightly.
"never mind."
He shook his head helplessly: "Okay, thank you for your considerate 'comfort', and thank you for patiently listening to me pour out my sorrows..."
But at this moment, Thales suddenly felt his shoulders sink.
He turned his head in surprise and saw the little slipper approaching him, opening his small arms, one back and forth, and hugging his neck tightly.
Thales stared blankly at the little slipper who was so close at hand, and at her clean and fair face - only her big eyes in a pair of thick-framed glasses stood out.
"What are you doing?" he asked blankly.
Little Slippery's chest was pressed tightly against Thales's shoulder. Her expression was sincere and serious: "Comfort you."
"Comfort?" The confused Thales was slightly startled, and felt dumbfounded...
"This is what my mother did a long time ago." Little Slippery put her arms on Thales' neck with more force. Her expression looked particularly stubborn and serious: "When I was sick or hungry, my mother
She would hug me - I didn't want to, so she just hugged me from the side, from dusk to dawn."
Thales, who was hugged by her, narrowed his eyes: "Do you remember your mother?"
Little Slippery's chin pressed on Thales' shoulder: "Yes, but I don't remember clearly."
Thales looked at her serious expression and asked subconsciously: "What happened next? What happened to her?"
Little Hua Tou's body trembled slightly.
Her expression darkened.
"She sold me," the little slicker said with disappointment: "She was very poor. She went to work very early every day and didn't come home until very late at night with very little food."
"She has to sell me, otherwise," the little girl said silently, with a rare stubbornness on her face, "otherwise she won't be able to survive."
Thales sighed.
Nicolai from a distance saw this scene: two children clinging tightly to each other.
The Fallen Star frowned and stepped out.
But his shoulder was grabbed by a hand.
"They are just children." Michael, with an indifferent expression, pressed Nicolai's shoulder and shook his head slightly.
Nicolai looked deeply at his old colleague and said nothing more.
"So, this is your way of comforting me?" Thales smiled softly.
"I have a suggestion. When you grow up, you'd better get rid of this habit - you can't comfort people like this when you see them."
The little slipper nodded and said innocently: "Oh."
"Okay, let me go," Thales patted Little Slippery's hand and said with a smile, "before Nikolai rushes over with a knife."
Only then did the little slipper let go of the little prince.
"Well... don't worry about failure." She seemed to be uneasy about her comfort effect, and still murmured:
"One moment of victory or defeat, but a fleeting wave, a century-old chess game is the foundation of eternity."
Thales raised his eyebrows and chewed on this sentence: "Who said this...?"
Little Slippery's eyes lit up, and he seemed to be overjoyed that he had found a topic that interested Thales: "Your King."
Thales frowned: "Ours?"
"Um."
"The 'Wise Lord' more than a hundred years ago, Mindis Bright Star III," Little Huitou nodded, seeming to have entered the reading state with her eyes shining again: "After the nightmare bloody reign of the 'Red King' ended, the little slipper nodded
He ascended the throne, governed the country with superb political skills, and survived the Fourth Continental War."
Thales's heart moved.
Mindis III.
"I remembered that the reign of Mindis III was obviously later than that of Medir IV," Thales realized something in his mind: "But in the currency of the stars, Mindis's head is engraved on the silver coin, which is longer than that of Medir IV."
The value of your copper coins is even higher."
etc.
A wise king?
This name...
Both King Nun and Charmaine Lombard mentioned him invariably, with some sighs in their words.
On the way to the Northland, Putilai also mentioned that Mindis III was the leader of the cross-sea alliance with Suye - thus changing the shape of the continental war in one fell swoop.
"A century-old chess game is the foundation of eternity?" Thales murmured.
Thales turned his head sharply.
"Tell me about Mindis III," the little prince's serious expression seemed to frighten the little slipper: "What did he do to be called a 'virtuous king'?"
"After the Grand Duke Solon, the number of books in the library has increased very little, but," Little Slippery said timidly: "Although the Star Country calls him a 'virtuous king', but..."
"Among the famous three kings of the stars, the people of the North admire the 'Oath Keeper' Midir IV who is alone in the north, followed by the Renaissance King who expands the territory. On the contrary, they do not think highly of those who have not made much achievements in battle.
'Wise King', even the Northern People's "A Brief Summary of Political Affairs in 500-600 Years of the End Calendar" said that he was a weak king who compromised with the common people."