Chapter 233 The fear of being chased by nightmares
...Annan·Lingdong?
Hearing this familiar name, Selicia's light blue pupils shrank slightly.
——Of course she recognizes the name.
But that was a long time ago...
At that time, Selicia was still a young boy named "Solonik" who followed her teacher "Vladimir" in the Hand of Winter. As a reserve member of the Hand of Winter, she had of course come into contact with the Grand Duke.
the son of.
Of course... given her status at that time, even if she had contact with Annan, it would never be that close.
But even so, she was able to appreciate the soul-stirring [magic nature] of "Annan".
Annan had a nickname at the time, called "The Silent One" and "The Monster that Leaves No Traces."
He was not called the Silent One because of the love he received from Lady Silence - it was the opposite.
Solonik once handed the young "Annan" evidence about the rebellion of a certain earl late at night.
Yes... it was not given to Grand Duke Ivan, but to Annan. This evidence was compiled by Vladimir himself and handed directly to Solonik, asking him by name to give it to His Highness Annan.
Even Solonik himself had not read the contents.
After Annan received the investigation report, he just sat silently in the study and wrote something seriously on the paper. At that time, Annan was sitting on the chair in the study of the Grand Duke's Palace, and his feet could not even reach the ground.
He is so immature.
Even Solonik, who has an almost fanatical "faith" in Vladimir, can't help but complain:
——Can such a young child recognize all the words on this letter?
"'Can such a young child recognize all the words on this letter?'... That's what you're thinking, right?"
At that time, young Annan suddenly raised his head and looked at Solonik with his tired, calm, almost demonic eyes.
It was an emotionless look, like a gaze from above.
"...I see, you are such a person."
After looking at himself for a while, the black-haired child showed an unsmiling, cold smile: "Because your worthless life was recognized by him, you decided to dedicate it to Vladimir."
The future life, and all loyalty...right."
When these words fell, they were like thunder.
The "Hand of Winter" is a tool that must be absolutely loyal to the cold winter. It should be like protecting the heart with both hands - it would rather be to hold the blade directly with the hand and lock the incoming dagger with the back of the hand than to allow it to pierce the heart.
At that time, Solonik was overwhelmed with fear.
And the childish whispering like a devil did not stop:
"Serve Vladimir... instead of Winter? How interesting. You must have murderous intentions towards me at this moment. If my guess is correct, your strength should have far surpassed the Hand of Winter at the same time...
...Is it because you can't pass the wolf kiss ceremony? That's okay, so that you won't get into trouble because you know too many secrets when you betray me in the future."
"Wait, wait a minute!"
The first half frightened him so much that he felt chills in his heart, while the second half even made Solonik himself unable to help but defend himself: "I swear I will never betray you——"
"you will."
With a more certain attitude than Solonik, Annan said calmly: "Because Vladimir will eventually betray me."
"……Varied--?!"
"I know him better than you. I know you better than you. Naturally, I also know you better than him. It's so easy to understand... I can even see your end at a glance. Because I am in another dimension. We have seen stories similar to this in our history.”
The young Annan said this incomprehensible words, and then threw the reply letter in his hand into the hands of Solonik, who had a confused mind.
"Quite the Riddler, isn't it? But you'll figure it out sooner or later."
Annan said this.
After that, Annan returned to silence again, turning the pages of the book without saying a word.
But at this time, Solonik didn't dare to listen to another word from him - instead, he fled from the study room with embarrassing movements that were almost like rolling and crawling.
That is not the human world.
Rather, it is an abyss inhabited by monsters——
After he handed Annan's reply to Vladimir with slightly trembling hands, Solonik couldn't help but ask:
"Teacher...will you betray the Grand Duke?"
He regretted it the moment he asked this question.
But Vladimir just glanced at him and replied coolly: "Don't tell others what you heard from His Highness Annan."
"Then you mean..."
"——Of course I will."
Vladimir calmly said something completely beyond Solonik's understanding: "Because betrayal sometimes has its meaning."
"The...meaning of betrayal?"
"You are not the Grand Duke, so you cannot understand."
"Then you..."
"If the Grand Duke needs it, I can also be the Grand Duke."
They are also treasonous and unethical words.
Vladimir ended the conversation forcefully that day and disappeared for two days.
Selicia still doesn’t fully understand what Vladimir said at that time.
But she still remembers...
Since that day, another week has passed.
The Earl who tried to rebel seemed to have not appeared for a long time. When people noticed it, they found that everyone in the Earl's Mansion had committed suicide in the Earl's Mansion.
Everyone left a suicide note. There was no trace of anyone entering or leaving the Earl's Mansion, and there was no trace of a fight. Even with the prophet's spell, no trace of spell casting could be detected, so it could only be judged as suicide.
The Earl's relatives also happened to be seriously ill, bankrupt, or imprisoned for crimes.
The last person to inherit the position of earl was a young man from the Hand of Winter. He was Solonik's senior brother... and he also belonged to Vladimir's faction.
Later, when the Icebreaker Army was formed, the other party was also a noble who provided them with support. Naturally, they were also liquidated in the future, and the whole family was thrown into the Frost Beast Army.
——To this day, Cecilia still doesn’t understand what happened that day.
But she only knew that this must be related to Annan's instructions and the teacher's actions.
Therefore, after the teacher's true betrayal, the first thing she could do... was to escape from Frost Whisper Province far away, to a place where Annan could not see her.
Even to this day, she occasionally wakes up because of dreams about Annan's gaze.
She is not worried about being caught, nor is she worried about being imprisoned. Whether she is imprisoned or executed, there is nothing to be afraid of - she has already done it as a teenager. Prepare to die for your teacher.
But if Annan was in front of her, keeping silent and watching her... it would make her tremble with fear.
And now...
After "Ai Lei" finished talking to Longjing Tea, she turned her head.
"Ai Lei" clasped her hands together and smiled at herself with a strange yet familiar smile.