Thelma's eyes opened slightly, and she took the delicate box in surprise.
She first looked at Thales who was smiling doubtfully, and then opened it gently.
"This is……"
Thelma saw clearly what was in the box and raised her head in surprise.
"When I wrote a letter to China last year, I asked Gilbert and the others to have it made by someone else. It was brought here by Putilai today," Thales winked proudly and grabbed the contents of the box:
"You know, the level of craftsmen in Xingchen is relatively good... I followed their requirements and measured the curvature and thickness of the lenses. I hope there won't be any big mistakes, and I also prepared several pairs of spare lenses..."
"If there is a mistake, I have to re-grind the lenses. Hand-polishing is very expensive..."
Thelma took a breath and looked at the obviously finely crafted item in Thales' hand.
"Introducing... pince-nez!"
Thales smiled and picked up the new pair of glasses in his hand that were completely different from the one on the girl's face.
This pair of glasses is very strange. It has no ear frames at all, and only has a chain attached to one side of the frame. The frame is very slender, and the nose pads are also slightly strange.
Thales skillfully stretched out his left hand, stroked one side of Thelma's forehead, and removed the big and heavy black-rimmed eyes from her face.
It's like I've practiced it hundreds of times.
But Thelma just stared at him blankly and allowed the prince to take off her glasses without any resistance. She didn't even care that her vision was greatly affected.
It felt like I had experienced it hundreds of times.
Thales excitedly played with the new glasses in his hand, pressed them on the bridge of the girl's nose, and lightly touched the soft skin on her face with his fingers: "Like this, using a little air pressure, clamping the nose, it can stabilize it
Glasses, no need to put on your ears!”
"Then put this chain in..." Thales grabbed the thin chain at one end of the glasses, lowered his head, and tried to find a pocket on Selma's body to put it in.
But he discovered to his embarrassment: there were no pockets on the girl's body, and the only open space was on her chest, which was tightly bound by the coat and corset...
"It's okay if you don't let it go." The second prince looked away awkwardly and put the chain into the other person's hand.
Putting on glasses without ear frames for the first time, Thelma reacted and opened her mouth in surprise.
She carefully held the small new frame, shook her head, as if she was afraid it would fall, then raised her head and looked around.
Thales observed the new image of the Grand Duchess: the nearly transparent pince-nez freed Thelma's face from the torture of black-framed glasses. At this moment, the girl blinked with confused eyes, losing her former rigidity and seriousness.
She looks quite cute and cute.
Thales blew out a sigh of satisfaction, picked up Selma's old pair of much-worn glasses, and smiled.
After a few seconds, the girl finally got used to her new glasses.
"Thank you." Thelma lowered her head, seeming a little embarrassed.
"You're welcome, I've wanted to say it for a long time," the prince said with a smile: "As the leader of this land, wearing those black-rimmed glasses always looks a little unserious and looks like a frog, haha."
To his expectation, Selma's performance was very calm, with neither excitement nor excitement, nor curiosity and doubt.
But...
"Hey, Thales." The girl held her glasses blankly and stared into the distance.
Thales raised his eyebrows: "Huh?"
Thelma raised her head slightly.
Thales noticed that there was some redness around her eyes.
No way.
It's just a gift, are you so moved?
Thales, who was most afraid of seeing people cry, felt his heart skip a beat.
"Tiles," Thelma said softly: "Do you still remember that day six years ago?"
Thales narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"The day we first met."
"That night, that early morning, that morning."
Her voice was ethereal and vague, as if coming from afar.
Thales frowned, remembering the past.
That night.
Nun, Rumba, the bloody crown, the newborn Grand Duchess.
"Of course," his words became serious unconsciously, and he looked directly at the girl in front of him: "How could you forget that kind of experience?"
"Because of you, Thales," Thelma looked at him seriously: "I became the Grand Duchess."
"Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today."
Thales was slightly startled and was about to speak, but Thelma just shook her head, and her red eyes made Thales speechless for a while.
He only felt a heaviness in his chest.
only……
Why mention this?
"You said," Thelma sniffed, with a faint nasal voice, and a slightly sad look from behind her new glasses: "You will always be by my side, and you will face it with me.
You can……"
Thales' lips slightly opened.
"Ah," the prince took a deep breath, remembered his previous words, and subconsciously showed a reassuring smile: "I will always protect you."
Thelma said nothing.
She just looked at the prince quietly.
The emotions surging in his eyes made Thales quite uneasy.
The two just looked at each other quietly.
After a long while, the dull atmosphere was finally broken by the girl's laughter.
However, this laughter did not seem so happy to Thales.
"Thank you."
"I'm sorry," the girl said with a touch of disappointment, "It obviously has nothing to do with you... I shouldn't have kicked you today."
ah?
Thales opened his eyes wide at first, and then touched his head in confusion.
Today's Selma was beyond his expectations.
The prince could only smile awkwardly with doubts.
"It doesn't matter," Thales sighed softly and shook his head helplessly: "Who told us to be friends."
"Like you said: life and death."
Speaking of this, Thelma trembled slightly!
The Grand Duchess raised her head suddenly, as if she had made up her mind.
"Tiles!" Thelma exhaled, her words stagnant: "Today's political hearing... that..."
Thales felt something: "Huh? What?"
But at this moment, Thelma's eyes suddenly dimmed as she looked directly at Thales.
It's like letting go of something.
Thales looked at her doubtfully.
What on earth is this...
The next second, Selma's tone and rhythm returned to calmness.
"Um... the letter crow came to Qiyuan City," she tilted her head and said without seeming to care: "Ronnie and his allies, the three princes from the north, want to invite me, invite Longxiao City to fight against the king's decree.
Sign the declaration to support their protest."
"Oh, that's a good thing," Thales, who was full of doubts, thought of the major events in Exeter in the past few months. The new ennoblement decree implemented by King Charman in the Black Sand Territory was almost unanimously opposed and condemned by the whole country.
, I’m probably feeling very anxious and gloating about my misfortune right now:
"Give Rumba some color."
"Yeah," Thelma chuckled, but her tone was a little low: "It's a good thing."
Thales frowned and looked at the unhappy girl in front of him.
"Speaking of this, did you know that we will have a new teacher soon," the prince asked tentatively: "Putilai invited him from the Principality of Anrenzo. He said that he was a highly respected person...
"
But the next moment, Thelma stood up extremely abruptly.
"I'm full, you can continue." The Grand Duchess replied with a calm and calm expression.
Thales was shocked.
ah?
But she just...
"Tomorrow, old time, in the library," Thelma showed a pale smile: "A batch of new books have arrived. Don't forget, let's read them together."
Thales nodded subconsciously.
The girl raised her lips slightly at him, nodded vaguely, grabbed her fists, and walked out of the dining room quickly.
Thales was left alone, staring blankly at the table full of food.
she.
What's wrong?
The prince stared blankly at the girl's leaving figure.
There seemed to be a faint body fragrance left on her seat.
Thales suddenly realized: when Thelma left, she left the pair of black-rimmed glasses on the dining table and did not take them with her.
Blood Courtyard, that night.
"You really don't know?"
In the room, Putilai crossed his legs on the sofa, puffing on his pipe easily, and said to Thales, who had a serious face in front of him.
"Of course, a foreign prince is not allowed to sneak into the Hall of Heroes on the day of the hearing," Thales said anxiously: "What happened at the hearing in Longxiao City today? It was different from the Grand Duchess who usually hardly spoke.
What’s the relationship?”
Putilai clicked his tongue with a comfortable expression.
"Okay, even though I can't get in, I still have some channels after all..."
"Putilai, if you know something, please tell me quickly," Thales sighed and urged: "I'm really in a hurry."
Thales involuntarily reached out his hand and gently squeezed the old pair of glasses in his pocket.
My heart feels a little heavy.
Putilai nodded and snorted softly.
"Listen to me, Your Highness," the former deputy envoy said calmly: "Today, in the middle of the political hearing in Longxiao City, someone suddenly accused you."
Thales raised his eyebrows.
"Who to blame?"
The prince was a little surprised and pointed at himself: "Me?"
"Well," Putilai said slowly while observing Thales's reaction: "Some people say that the young prince of Xingchen forcibly occupied a civilian shop in the Spear District in order to play chess.
Once a month.”
"ah?"
Thales made an "O" shape of his mouth in surprise.
But when I went to the Spear District to play chess, including the chess and card room...
But Putilai continued slowly: "During this period, the prince also encouraged his lawless subordinates to hunt in the jungle on the outskirts of the city that only belonged to the lord... to hunt hares."
Thales was confused again.
When the hell did I let my men hunt hares...
Wait...this...
Thales thought of the figure under a certain cloak, and suddenly his chest felt tight, his vision went dark, and he felt like he almost spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Anyway, it caused an uproar." Putilai took a puff of cigarette and hummed twice with satisfaction before continuing: "The vassals at the political meeting heard that the enemy prince was arrogant in Longxiao City, which tolerated and treated him politely.
After their domineering behavior, they all angrily asked the Regent of Lisban..."
"Require corresponding punishment for your crime...such as more severe imprisonment in the dungeon," Putilai chuckled, "such as whipping unique to the North."
Thales opened his eyes in disbelief.
"Crime? Then," His Highness the Prince suddenly realized something. He cast a suspicious look at Putilai, who was smoking leisurely: "Wait a minute, your prince is about to be spanked, why are you still so calm?"
Putilai chuckled and shook his head in front of Thales, who was slightly dissatisfied.
"Don't worry, Your Highness."
"Your luck is as good as ever."
"An unexpected thing happened," Putilai said in a nostalgic tone: "The first time, the first time in six years."
"The fifteen-year-old Grand Duchess Walton, who has been taciturn in the past days of government..."
"I actually stood up from my seat with excitement."
Thales frowned.
she……
Stand up?
"Grand Duchess Walton shocked the four houses. She spoke loudly despite the fierce condemnation of almost all the vassals, saying that she was willing to use her reputation and authority to guarantee it," Putilai said very lightly, but it sounded so to Thales.
Thrilling:
"I guarantee that all your actions were approved by her: if you want to be held accountable, start with her."
Thales was stunned.
He stared into the void in ecstasy, and said unconsciously: "Then what?"
Putilai's face darkened.
He put down his crossed legs and sat upright.
"Then..."
"There is a blind viscount, the lady who accused you in public," Putilai sighed: "She is so protective of a hostage prince, is there something between the two..."
Thales listened blankly to Putilai's story, not noticing at all the special name His Lordship used to address the girl, intentionally or unintentionally.
"Of course, he was beaten black and blue by the angry Northland people on the spot and was driven out of the hall."
"What happened next was ugly. I heard that the Grand Duchess lost her temper and smashed a stone cup. Regent Lisban almost lost control of the situation."
"For an outsider... I think the vassals in Longxiao City probably have a worse impression of their female lord."
After Putilai said this, he gently exhaled and blew out a smoke ring.
turn out to be……
Thales unconsciously sat down on the bed with a shocked expression.
He touched his knees and remembered the girl's fierce kick.
She today...
He thought again of her abrupt words at the dinner table, her tone of voice that made her want to cry.
because I……
"But because of this matter, many vassals looked ugly. They all protested in unison: for the sake of the stability of Longxiao City's rule and the continuation of the Walton family's bloodline..."
Thales sat blankly, unaware that his breathing began to accelerate.
"The respected Grand Duchess should choose a husband from the local vassals this year, get married and have children," Putilai's words reached Thales's ears, and there was a sense of isolation, as if they were coming from another room.
Same as:
"The reason is so legitimate that even Lisban can't raise an objection."
"This is what happened at the hearing, I think, at least the part you want to know."
Thales clenched his fists unconsciously.
Putilai looked at the somewhat lost Thales thoughtfully, and sighed softly: "Your Highness, be prepared."
"Your friend."
"That poor little girl."
Thinking of the past years, the thin man clicked his tongue and shook his head:
"I'm getting married."
Putilai's voice was very low, as if he was afraid of waking someone who was sleeping.
On the other side, Thales, who had been silent for a long time, had even forgotten how to react.
Putilai silently blew out a perfect and beautiful smoke ring and quietly watched it float invisible in the air.
It's like it never existed.
Only the person who blew out the smoke ring can remember how perfect it was at that moment.
A few seconds later.
Prince Thales Brightstar turned his head subconsciously and looked out the window.
Little slippery head.
He called in his heart the name that had not been spoken for a long time but was as clear as before, and stared blankly in the direction of the Palace of Heroes.
I just feel that my hands and feet are cold, and I feel like I am lost.