"It's been four hours, have you done it yet?" Yekarena sat boredly on the high floor-to-ceiling window, humming a chilling ditty and looking at the dark cloud-covered sky.
Somehow, after the morning glow, the sun was obscured by dark clouds. The entire Deniabe was shrouded in gloom.
"Is it going to rain? Winter is coming, no wonder it's so cold." Yekarena shrank her hands, her exposed legs dangling on the eaves of the castle.
"It's interesting. The production of this thing is so interesting!" Joao licked his dry lips and swung the small mechanical box with ecstasy on his face.
"If you fiddle with the wrong part of the seventh axle, the hot steam inside will spurt out, which is equivalent to a small bomb." Joao smiled.
"Is it so scary? The excited expression on your face makes me feel like I have met Cynthia's Count Mulders."
Yekarena pursed her lips and turned to look at Joao, who was sometimes silent and sometimes crazy at the table.
"Who is that?"
"She's a famous dancer. I know you don't know her, but she's a pureblood from Punokai Castle. I heard she also has blood from the royal family of Frederick."
Yekarena tilted her head, tapped her chin, thought for a while and continued.
"It seems that it is ten gold longs to accompany the wine, and sixty gold longs can be taken to the bed..."
"It's really cheap." Joao didn't look up. He took out a small magnifying glass and put it on the mounting bracket, and then started to move it with a very small wire.
"Eh? Sixty gold coins, you actually said it's cheap? If you were in Mondiac, how many girls would be vying to accompany you, and you could have a tavern sign for just ten silver coins. In the south, where the Thorn Family is in charge, there is no such thing.
It’s developed here.”
Yekarina's eyes widened and her mouth opened exaggeratedly.
"Girls shouldn't go to that kind of place. At least they should respect themselves and love themselves. If you don't even cherish yourself, who else will really love you?"
"..." Yekarena took a deep look at Joao, who was immersed in machinery and steam, and suddenly laughed, "Joao, I didn't expect you to say such a thing."
"But many times, your own destiny is beyond your control."
"Is this the reason for being weak? Why do people who can't even control their own destiny still live?"
Joao raised his head, turned his stiff neck, and the mechanical box in his hand slowly opened, and the steam slowly flowed out.
"However, destiny is indeed difficult to control sometimes." João nodded with deep understanding.
Yekarina put down the knight's sword in her hand and smiled, like a blooming rose.
"But this is not a reason for us to give up." Finally, Joao touched his nose and added.
"So we have to grab fate by the throat, is this what it means?" A young and immature voice sounded, and both of them were startled.
"This sentence is very meaningful, so it should not have been said by His Highness himself." Joao raised his eyes, took a step back, walked out of the workbench, and made a grand courtly kneel to the young man on the bed.
"Joao, given our relationship, does this still need to be the case?"
On the bed, the weak young man smiled weakly and tried his best to support himself.
"The closeness of the relationship does not mean the loss of etiquette. I have told His Highness many times that if His Highness is surrounded by certain people, he will be laughed at."
Joao frowned and watched as Ekarina jumped to Xavier's bed in surprise, and then touched the boy's soft black hair.
"Although I am Lord Riche's knight, there is still no problem in greeting little Xiwei. Would you like to see little Xiwei?"
Yekarena pinched Xavier's face with a sweet smile. She watched seriously as Xavier's soft little face changed into different shapes in her hands.
"Sister Anael, no need." Xavier turned his head away, but after many attempts he could not escape Yekarena's clutches, so he could only give up silently.
"The servant brother who manages the stables suddenly became the younger brother of His Highness who is looked up to. Who has considered my feelings?" Yekarena puffed up her chest, just like when they first met.
It's just that now she no longer looks young, her body has grown, and the scent of a mature girl keeps reaching Xavier's nose.
"That's enough, Your Highness..."
With the emergence of complex mechanical sounds, like locks being opened one by one, the crisp sounds continued, and the entire glass mechanical box stretched out and filled the entire table.
João's voice suddenly stopped. He held his breath and looked at the contents of the box with a shocked face. His expression was very wonderful, full of surprise, and more of an unknown and mysterious ecstasy.
"What is it, Joao, are you out of breath?"
Yekarena puffed up her cheeks and moved closer to the secretary-general. The next moment, her expression froze.
"This is... eh! eh! eh! Isn't this Yu Chiling?"
"I think Winter Rose, who is the seventh knight, should know Yu Zhiling better than me." Joao swallowed and pushed up his glasses.
"Yu Chiling...why does he appear here? What does the Duke of Richey want to express?"
"No, not even the Duke has the ability to get Yu Chi Ling from the Sivlia Mechanism. It is a broken product, including only the arm part."
Yekarena picked up the mechanical body armor that was as light as silk and looked at it carefully.
"Liwei." The childish voice carried a calmness that did not belong to this age. Xavier stared at the gauze armor in the hands of the blonde girl.
"It seems that this is what it means. Instead of thinking about these things, it is better for us to wait for a while."
Joao and Xavier looked at each other, while Ekarina looked around for no apparent reason.
"Hey, hey, what riddles are you talking about? Can't you just say this kind of thing directly?" Yekarena hummed dissatisfied, she crossed her arms, and the bedroom became silent.
"Bang bang bang bang"
As if to verify their suspicions, there was a knock on the door, followed by the steady voice of a middle-aged and elderly man.
"Can I please come in, old slave? There is news from the Knights of Deniabe."
"Come in, Naples." Xavier said quietly. The sound of opening the door obviously paused, and then Naples' surprised face was revealed.
"Your Highness, are you awake? Your safety is my greatest reward." Naples glanced down.
Seeing the unconscious Leafa, he twitched the corners of his mouth and knew that it was Yekarena who did it without even thinking about it. This Lord Knight had knocked the little maid unconscious so many times!
"News from the Knights of Deniya. The trainee knight who hurt His Highness, Arthur Hutis, has been caught. His Highness can go to the Knights after he recovers."
"Do you want me to execute him?" Xavier asked.
"Everything is your decision, my lord."
Naples smiled, leaned down slightly, and bowed.
"Old slave Naples, I will follow His Highness to the death."
"Then take me there now." Xavier stood up. His white shirt highlighted his thin body, and his ice-blue eyes were so calm, as if he was going to meet someone who had nothing to do with him.