Entering the familiar yet unfamiliar Grand Duke's Mansion again, Selicia was in a trance for a moment.
Everything is exactly the same as before.
People were coming and going in this courtyard, and nobles, ministers, and local officials who came to report on their work came in and walked into the main building. They were a little curious about the beautiful Selicia, but they didn’t ask much... The cold winter air, there was
Help people stay calm.
Selicia, led by a Winter Hand, went to the narrow door on one side with Longjing Cha, who was wearing a heavy wizard robe.
This is a narrow corridor that can only allow two people to walk side by side. On both sides are metal reliefs depicting war scenes - this is a passage specially built to prevent emergencies and used to defend foreign enemies.
Selicia still remembers that the relief on this passage is a famous painting called "Fortified City". It shows the classic battle between dwarves and giant soldiers besieging the Watch Fortress... It was painted by Paper Princess and delivered to her personally that year.
here.
But the old grandmother did not accept the painting in person.
After Zhiji left, the old grandmother sent someone to make it into a metal relief. It can switch between two states through the mechanism in the Grand Duke's Mansion - to continuously reduce the physical strength of the enemy soldiers in the corridor, or to continuously heal our own troops in the corridor.
Soldier's wounds.
And it also has an early warning function.
It operates on a whitelist basis - unless a designated person enters, it will alert the police as soon as possible.
This is also the reason why only the two of them came here.
Selicia remembers all these clearly.
The teacher mentioned it to her back then...
If one day, an enemy attacks the Grand Duke's Mansion in Winter and tries to assassinate him.
At that time, the mission of the Hands of Winter is to block this alley with their lives in order to buy time.
...it's obvious that he can say such a thing.
But when the teacher defected, he was so resolute...
It is precisely because they are not sure what the teacher wants to do that Selicia is directly "captured" by the players in this way, which is almost free of charge.
She did have something she wanted to ask and something she wanted to say.
"This is the small garden."
Si Anke introduced her: "Your Majesty will exercise here every day."
"Ah...I remember."
Selicia replied subconsciously.
……you remember?
Si Anqi glanced at her in surprise, thoughtfully.
Speaking of which, Selicia seems to be from the Hand of Winter...
In the courtyard, which is not quite empty, there are tall trees with thick green leaves even in the cold winter. In the middle of the courtyard is a small fountain that is constantly gushing. According to the specifications of the Grand Duke's Palace, it can be said that it is too small.
But this is winter style.
Because of the existence of the "small boundary", the effective living and farming area has been greatly reduced. People in Winter have long been accustomed to a fairly intensive lifestyle, and Winter is poor all year round with scarce resources. Even the nobles, in terms of diet,
Their living standards are not even comparable to those of ordinary businessmen in other countries.
Resources are limited, land is limited, and population is limited.
Even the Duke of Winter cannot waste it.
The reason why the Grand Duke's Palace still looks like a street from the outside is because the Grand Duke's Palace itself also serves as a government office building - the Hands of Winter work in the Grand Duke's Palace.
The actual living area of Lundong's family is even smaller than that of Viscount Ostov on the top of the mountain.
The fountain extends a white trace to the east, west, north and south, dividing the ground into four rectangles.
In the past, Annan and Dmitry would practice frost swordsmanship in the northeast corner.
Selicia remembered it clearly.
Because this is the only position where one can clearly see directly from the room - Grand Duke Ivan is not in good health and cannot usually blow the wind.
He only taught Annan the frost swordsmanship once or twice, and each time he risked his life. On weekdays, he would watch Dmitri teach his younger brother swordsmanship through the window in the house... Sometimes,
Maria would also secretly peek at Annan from her room on the second floor.
She remembered it clearly.
——Because this is also her childhood.
She took a deep breath and walked into the room.
Longjing Cha followed her into the room - the Winter Hand who led them in immediately closed the door.
His authority is not enough to enter the house.
...just like Selicia back then.
"Long time no see...Celicia."
Annan sat on the sofa, holding a steaming cup of tea, looking at her with a smile, and nodded gently to the Longjing tea.
He is not like his father Ivan, who always wears a long cloak that he never changes for several years——
His dress is too... avant-garde?
Annan wore a slim-fitting sleeveless gray shirt underneath, which was no different from Grand Duke Ivan. But outside he did not wear a coat properly, but wore a pure white fur cape with fluff.
But in Selicia's view, the cloak seemed too slanted, perhaps because of the designer's special preference - not only did it have sleeves, but it only had sleeves on one side.
It was put on the head, and the down covered the right arm, neck and chest, but the entire left shoulder and left arm were exposed.
Annan's left arm is covered with a dark gray woolen sleeve, which goes down from the upper arm to cover half of the back of the hand. Only Annan's left shoulder is exposed...the dark gold one, which looks like two intertwined rings.
The runes are flickering and breathing.
Annan's silver-white hair was spread all the way down his back - the end seemed to have been cut off by a blade, which was extremely sharp. Combined with his strange and asymmetrical dress, His Majesty's young body was actually filled with a sense of excitement at the sight of him.
An unforgettable magical charm.
But Selicia didn't dare to look at it for too long.
Behind Annan, a gray-eyed beauty with long dark blue wavy hair and a gentle temperament smiled sweetly. She touched her hands lightly with ten fingers and placed them in front of her lower abdomen, quietly without saying a word.
Celicia could feel that she was not looking at herself.
But there was a faint sense of insight in the void - she had been completely locked into the perception of this "Ten Fingers".
"I haven't seen you for a few days, Annan... Your Majesty."
Selicia paused, then lowered her head and spoke softly.
"Sit down," Annan stretched out his left hand, waving his hand in front of him, gesturing to the sofa opposite him, "Sit here... Zhuo Ya made me some milk tea and some snacks. I didn't know you like to add
How much sugar is there? Just don’t ask her to add it to you... Sugar is here, honey is here.
"Isn't it cold for you guys who came here from outside? Longjing tea, you also sit down - it's not anything serious, let's talk while eating."
He smiled gently.
As he spoke, he placed his elbows on the armrests of the sofa, touched them lightly with his fingertips, and placed them on his chest.
The dark gray and pure white cuffs are intertwined at one point in front of Annan's body, forming a quite three-dimensional triangle.
"Celicia, you were also the Hand of Winter before. You also served me and Winter.
"I don't want to imprison you. The relationship between us should not have developed to this point. It is not decent for you and me, and it is not friendly to you who trusted me and came here... and it is not friendly to those who are waiting.
The outcome of this negotiation is a happy event for the nobles.
"I hope that we can solve this problem in this room. The best thing is that we can give the other party a satisfactory answer before the pot of tea is finished."
After Annan finished speaking, he stood up and personally poured a cup of hot milk tea for Selicia and Longjing Tea.
When he sat down again, he stretched out his right hand and grasped the three-color scepter standing next to the sofa.
His temperament suddenly changed.
Not even to the level of a monarch.
From that very attractive demonic quality... to becoming as majestic as a god.
"So, first question."
There was no waiting for Celicia to reply.
Annan asked directly.
He looked directly at Selicia seriously.
"——Are you loyal to the Grand Duke?"
At that moment, Selicia's pupils suddenly shrank!
In her eyes...
This moment.
——The image of Annan and that of Vladimir completely overlapped.