Embers of Embers

Chapter 413 The Living Dead
"Ivar Lodbrok..."
In the room, Haybold whispered this familiar name. He raised his head and looked at the dim ceiling without knowing what he was thinking.
Lorenzo guessed that Haybold was in his room reading a novel, but he was only half right.
The desk lamp emits a warm light, making the whole room warm, but this light cannot dispel the haze in Hebold's heart. It is like a flickering candle, as if it will be completely swallowed by the darkness in the room in the next second.
Haybold leaned on the head of the bed, with the "Victoria's Secret" between his knees. He read a few pages and tried to put away those messy thoughts, but he couldn't. His mind was completely occupied by the task. , one expected picture flashed before his eyes one after another.
He did not tell Lorenzo that in fact Hebold was one of the only friends Ivar had... It was somewhat inaccurate to say that. To be more specific, Hebold was one of the only friends Ivar had, except for Ivar's brothers. , people who are willing to get close to him.
Closing your eyes, the image of that guy echoed in your mind.
In the Viking countries that advocated force, every Viking was so powerful under the sculpture of the cold wind, but Ivar was different. He was a thin guy, and he did not look ferocious, but rather feminine. , and the worst part is that he is still disabled and unable to stand.
Compared with his heroic brothers, Ivar is so special. Some people say that he is the illegitimate son of the King of Ice and Sea. Some people say that he is the son of an unknown person. His feet were devoured by the devil before he was born. Some people say that he is the illegitimate son of the King of Ice and Sea. He was the most beloved child of the King of Ice and Sea. According to Viking tradition, a born deformity like Ivar would have been strangled to death in his infancy, but he survived.
In short, since his birth, he has been shrouded in various discourses.
Before meeting Ivar for the first time, Hebold knew about Ivar through these rumors. He was mentally prepared to meet this mysterious guy, but the result surprised him.
Hebold still remembers the first time he met Ivar, in an empty square, the icy cold wind was raging, and pedestrians were unwilling to stop here. Only that guy was sitting in a wheelchair like a different kind. Go up, stretch out your hand and fiddle with the sea of ​​flowers.
That is Ivar's favorite flower, a flower called ice heather. The flower looks very ordinary and looks like an ordinary white wild flower.
It is very common in the Viking kingdoms. In that freezing ghost place, only this kind of flower can survive and bloom miraculously. It smells very cool, like a cold wind blowing on your face. When you are in When among the flowers of ice heather, people can't even tell whether it is the fragrance of flowers or the real surging cold wind.
Yes, it was that time.
"Hybold Achilar, from today on I am your new guard."
Haybold remembers saying this.
Ivar didn't respond, and it took him a long time to move the wheelchair and turn his head around.
As those rumors said, he was a thin guy, his muscles had shrunk due to long-term paralysis, his complexion was sickly pale, and his face was emaciated, as if he had been chopped off by a knife.
At that moment, Heybold thought a lot. He felt that Ivar's life was a kind of sadness, and his existence was a disgrace to the King of the Ice Sea. The rest of the banquet.
But then Hebold saw Ivar's deep eyes.
To this day, he still can't find the right words to describe the feeling at that time... Based on the feeling alone, Hebold only felt that he was cut at that time.
He was cut by something unknown hidden deep in his eyes.
……
"He is a very strange guy. He likes flowers and plants. He looks soft, but his eyes are extremely ferocious... just like a grumpy puppy. He knows he can't hurt others, but he still likes to howl at others."
Erin slowly told about Ivar.
In her mouth, the eccentric and violent Ivar has just turned into a harmless puppy. Lorenzo is very clear that this is an adjective commonly used by Irene, as if she describes every man like this , one puppy after another with different personalities, but Lorenzo still felt strange.
"Isn't he alert? A strange woman suddenly approached him." Lorenzo asked, "According to you, Ivar is an extremely lonely and weird guy, but one day a woman came to him... I think He’s not that stupid, is he?”
Erin's free talk stopped.
She has always looked calm, and coupled with her own weird disguise, if she didn't always remind herself that the woman in front of her was an enemy, many people would be easily deceived by her.
"Why are you so vigilant? Mr. Holmes."
Erin smiled at him and asked.
“Do you know about supply and demand?”
"Yes, but it has nothing to do with what we are talking about," Lorenzo said.
"How can it be irrelevant?"
Irene stood up and approached Lorenzo. Although her body was bandaged and the wound had not healed, it could not restrict her movement.
"It's like giving food to a hungry person, giving wealth to a greedy person, giving care to a poor, lonely guy who was born with a disability... and even love."
For a moment Lorenzo thought of Seleucid, who had used what Irene called the "relationship of supply and demand" to please Mrs. Van Roode.
"Perhaps...perhaps Ivar himself knows that this is a lie, and that I am approaching him with purpose.
But how can this be done?
His life has been so miserable, the more glorious the ice king's glory, the more magnificent his brothers' achievements, the more he will feel ashamed and stressed, and when the love he expected comes, it's like falling into a swamp Even if you stretch out a thorn to him, he will grab it firmly, even if he knows it is poison, he will swallow it without hesitation, right? "
Erin said lightly.
"Just like faith, people always need something to deceive themselves."
Lorenzo smelled the familiar fragrance of flowers, which was cold, like the cold wind blowing on his cheeks. Only then did he realize that Irene was very close to her, and her eyes were almost touching.
"However, you are very similar to him... No, all of you are very similar to Ivar."
Irene stretched out her hand and gently strangled Lorenzo's neck. She didn't have much strength, but she still turned Lorenzo's head little by little, making him have to look at Irene.
Lorenzo could hear Irene's breathing, and her chest rising and falling slightly with her heartbeat. The shadows and glimmers of light created a delicate face, and the pupils reflected Lorenzo himself like a mirror. ,
"Mr. Moon, Lorenzo Holmes, and Ivar, sometimes I think you are very similar, and you seem to have something in common...Let me think about it."
Erin thought, her voice filled with joy and teasing.
"Twisted, you are all twisted humans."
She licked her lips and put her hands around Lorenzo's face.
"Did you ever have a family?"
"Have you ever had a close friend?"
"Is there anyone you can't forget?"
She continued to ask.
"Have you ever had... love?"
There was no answer, just silence.
"Yes, you are all such people, you have no place to go, you can only wander in this gray world blankly... I think if you have the chance, you also long for the poison of happiness, right? Hall Mr. Moss."
Lorenzo pushed Irene away, his face expressionless.
The two stared at each other from a distance. Lorenzo could see Irene's appearance, but Irene couldn't see Lorenzo's face clearly. His back was to the light, and a darkness that could not be dispelled clung to his face for a short time. After silence, Erin laughed even louder.
"Yes, you are all such people,"
She said, and then the laughter stopped again, and the voice seemed a little sad.
"That's what we all are...the living dead."
She did not explain the meaning of "living dead", and her mood changed rapidly, making it impossible for anyone to guess what she was thinking.
Irene lowered her head, like a child being trained, completely different from the strong one just now.
After an unknown amount of time, she seemed to have recovered from her sense of loss, regained her energy, and looked at Lorenzo with interest, as if she had found a new toy.
"Mr. Holmes, you know, Ivar and the Moon, they all had the same expression on me, like a stray puppy that suddenly saw someone opening its arms to them."
"I assume you are like this too?"
Erin said and opened her hands, as if she wanted to hug Lorenzo.
"Want to come?"
Lorenzo didn't respond, he took a deep breath.
Lorenzo hadn't felt like this for a long time, and Lorenzo felt a slight fear, not the fear of life and death, but someone peeking into a corner of his heart.
But Lorenzo also peeked into Irene's heart. Although this damn woman talked a lot, these were all disguises. She was throwing out smoke bombs one after another, trying to cover up the most real thing. of her.
Lorenzo saw it vaguely.
"To you, everyone is a toy, a puppy, a tool used to achieve a purpose."
Lorenzo said disdainfully.
"Yeah, Erin, you're just as twisted as we are, and you're even more pathetic than us."
He also opened his hand and responded to her with the words Eileen said.
"Want a hug? Puppy?"
Lorenzo is good at making disgusting people. He is extremely artificial and full of provocation.
Both of them are extremely cunning villains, and they just had a brief fight. There were no swords, guns, sticks, and no blood, just nonsense and nonsense, trying to bring out the truest form of each other.
Erin's expression became lonely, as if her disguise had been torn off.
"We all wear masks, Mr. Holmes, and we are well aware of the lies in life, and we force ourselves to believe them."
It was only at this moment that Irene became serious. She knew very well that her tricks could no longer tease Lorenzo, but would instead make herself look embarrassed.
"So I'm still very curious about Ivar's mood at that time. Even though he knew it was a scam, he still stepped in without hesitation... just for the love and poison you mentioned?"
Lorenzo said while observing Irene's expression.
"Do you think he will regret it? Or does he hate you?"
Irene didn't answer, she looked tired, she didn't maintain the previous disguise, she lay half down, she seemed to be hiding her emotions, but Lorenzo was still keenly aware of it.
"He trusted you so much, but you pushed him into the sea of ​​fire... How many people have you played with like this? Will you feel guilty after this? Or you have said it too many times and you have become accustomed to it."
Lorenzo continued.
From the moment Irene realized that Hebold was here, her mood was very wrong, and whenever she talked about Ivar, Irene looked very much like herself.
Yes, Lorenzo saw his own shadow in it. He remembered that one night, Seleu had asked him step by step, but the answer he gave was one bad word after another.
Say those bad words to relieve the pressure in your heart and avoid the problem that should have been faced long ago.
What are you hiding?Erin.
Are you really so romantic on the surface, or is there a side hidden beneath your skin that no one knows?
Erin responded with silence. She didn't want to talk about these things. If possible, she didn't even want to think about it, completely forgetting all this bad stuff.
"However, if you talk about deceiving yourself, there are actually some differences among us."
Seeing that Irene stopped talking, Lorenzo brought up the topic again.
"Like the moon."
When the kestrel was mentioned, Irene raised her head slightly. There was a rare curiosity in her expression. She didn't know what Lorenzo would say next.
"Only a smart guy will realize that these are lies, and only a smart guy will be willing to deceive himself... The moon is different."
Recalling the ridiculous behavior of the Kestrel, Lorenzo couldn't help laughing.
"He's so stupid, you know? He didn't realize it was a lie at first. He thought he had the best afternoon, and thought he had met a soulmate. He came back at night and asked you if you would like him. , although you may never meet again.
He held that stupid fish and squirmed for a long time... Not to mention, that fish tasted pretty good. "
Hearing this, Irene couldn't help it anymore and raised the corners of her mouth slightly.
"Sounds interesting, but judging from his current attitude, the moon doesn't like me very much."
"Of course. In his opinion, you have played with his innocent feelings. Although it is a bit disgusting to say so, that's pretty much it."
Lorenzo spoke slowly.
"Ah... innocence, emotion, destiny, these words really don't fit with us. It's like a violent story suddenly talks about love and hatred."
Erin's voice paused for a moment, and then she continued.
"I am familiar with everything in Maluri Port and the style of the Iron Law Bureau. I will play a big role. I will help you rescue Ivar. Correspondingly, Lorenzo, I need you to ensure that I can survive. Go down."
"I can't guarantee it. I don't even know if Ivar can be brought out alive."
Lorenzo thought about it, and decided to tell the story to see Irene's reaction.
"To be precise, Haybold is responsible for rescuing Ivar. I have other things to do during the official operation."
"Hybold?"
Erin became nervous again, and it all fell into Lorenzo's eyes.
"But we can make a deal, Erin."
Lorenzo said suddenly.
"I know you are still hiding secrets. You, Hebold and Ivar, what were you hiding before?"
The harsh tone gradually softened.
"Tell me, Erin, tell me, and I will keep you alive."
Erin was startled, then shook her head helplessly.
"Mr. Holmes, you look like a sinful villain."
"Thank you for the compliment, and what's your answer?"
Lorenzo was not ashamed but proud.
Erin thought about it again and shook her head again.
"This is a complicated secret," she said, showing that intoxicating smile again, "tortured? I might have done it all."
Lorenzo waved his hand, too lazy to continue paying attention to this woman with many faces.
"It's not necessary. You're not worthy of my 'scrupulousness'."
He said this, but for some reason, such a picture came to mind.
Irene walked down the sunny street, holding several happy puppies in her hand, thinking about it seriously, it felt quite interesting.
The night calmed down again, and faint snores came from the room next door. Kestrel lay on the bed with a big character, his expression alternated between laughing and crying, and he didn't know what weird dream he was having.
At the end of the sea level, the brightly lit city looms.
(End of this chapter)