Alice in the Land of Steam

The story ended, and the screen began to play a list of production staff, accompanied by sad and soft music, as if invisibly praising the greatness and selflessness of love. However, the two people who were deeply shocked by the plot of the story remained in their seats without moving. Olvera was wiping her tears, moved by this difficult and ill-fated love story, and Ringer... uh, he reached out and took a golden candy from the snack bucket in Olvera's arms, put it in his mouth, and it made a crunching sound.

Well, it is indeed very crispy and sweet, but the taste is not like candy, but a bit like some fried snacks, doughnuts or bread crumbs. It is also sold in the Garden Market in Linville. You can buy a small bag for only two or three pennies. During the Sedin Mountain Carnival, the residents of this city like to eat snacks while enjoying circus performances and parades of fire-breathing clowns.

Combining oral entertainment with visual and auditory enjoyment seems to be an unchangeable rule for both aliens and mirror people. There are commonalities between civilizations, and the young man deeply realized this from the details - then he grabbed another handful of golden candies and ate them with a crunch.

It wasn't that he wanted to snatch snacks from Ovilla, but he was really hungry. After all, he had traveled around half of the city in search of these runaway girls, but he hadn't had a single drop of water to eat or drink yet.

The constant clicking sounds beside her made Avella a little upset, and her original feeling of being touched was gone. She wiped the last tear from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief, then turned her head and glared at Lingge fiercely, probably to express something like "How can you ruin the atmosphere in such a touching occasion?", but Lingge misunderstood her meaning - or maybe it was not a misunderstanding, he just wanted her to shut up - so he handed over the snacks in his hand and asked, "Do you want to eat?"

"Well!"

Ovilla choked and wanted to say something like "I won't eat charity", but her stomach started to growl. Princess Berman's cheeks immediately turned red like a drunk. After struggling for a while, she finally reached out and took the snacks from Lingge, saying in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ling Ge said, grabbing a handful of golden candies from the snack bucket in her arms, and said seriously: "If you want to eat, I have more here."

"Oh, thank you so much, Lingge...Huh?" Her Royal Highness the Princess tilted her head: Something seems to be wrong?

She was thinking as she ate. The crunching sound of her chewing snacks mixed with the soft music after the movie ended, which seemed a bit different. It was not until the snacks in the bucket were almost empty that Olvera realized with a shudder: "These were originally my snacks!"

You gave me my snacks and you want me to say thank you?

Her Royal Highness was ashamed and annoyed, like a little squirrel that was furious after discovering that the nuts stored in its nest had been emptied by despicable humans. She complained angrily: "Lingge, how could you tease me like this! It's so abominable! I will never forgive you!"

"Oh."

Ling Ge slowly finished the last bit of snacks in his hand, and then said calmly: "But you took this from the snack stand outside, right? Did you pay for it?"

"A-and no one is collecting money, how can I pay?"

"So, you can take the snack without paying, and so can I. But I gave it to you, isn't it worth a thank you?"

"Well, this, this, seems to make some sense... but it doesn't make sense!" Olvera suddenly realized: "I brought it here, Lingge, if you want to eat it, just go get it yourself! So it is Lingge who should say thank you to me!"

She actually reacted and thought I had fooled her. Sure enough, even the simplest squirrels have moments of inspiration.

Linger nodded obediently: "Thank you, then. Any other questions?"

"Ah... this... seems to be alright?"

Ovilla felt as if she had punched hard but hit cotton. Judging from the result, she should have won. Look, Lingge even thanked me honestly, but why did she still feel weird?

Her Royal Highness Princess Belmang couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Until the end song ended, the credits of the production team finished playing, and the theater fell into darkness, Olvera still hadn't figured out the problem. She reached into the snack bucket, but found nothing. The crunchy, sweet, and delicious snacks that tasted a bit like fried bread crumbs had been eaten by the two of them in turn. But for some reason, Olvera didn't feel satisfied at all. Instead, she began to feel empty. She began to miss the boss's cooking skills, the soft and fragrant white bread, the hot and comfortable oatmeal porridge, the sticky but fragrant mashed potatoes, and the various steaks, vegetable soups and desserts... Her stomach growled again.

Avella quickly hugged the snack bucket in her arms, trying to cover up the noise, but in the silent theater, the protest from her stomach was still so loud that it even spread throughout the empty darkness. Ling Ge must have heard it, and he would laugh at me, thinking that I was a greedy girl. Avella thought of this, feeling annoyed and ashamed. If the floor under her feet was not so hard, she would have dug a hole and crawled into it on the spot.

Lingge’s voice did come, although it was not the mockery that Avella imagined. He just asked calmly, “Are you feeling better?”

The princess looked up in surprise. Her misty golden eyes, like asteroids, seemed to sparkle in the darkness, reflecting the face that didn't care but made people feel reassured. "Eh?" She called out, blinking at the same time. "What do you mean?"

"Literally." Ling Ge said, "If you feel better, go back to Yunjingkong Island for dinner. The proprietress is very worried about you and has specially prepared a sumptuous dinner. I think you won't make her sad, right?"

Avella blinked again, and after a while she seemed to understand something, and her expression became strange: "So, you were just trying to make me happy, Lingge? Because you thought I was in a bad mood?"

The young man did not answer, but this attitude undoubtedly seemed to Her Royal Highness the Princess to be a sign of acquiescence.

So her mood improved again, and she muttered: "So that's how it is. I knew it, you are not the type of person who likes to joke around, how come you suddenly change your personality. But you are really something, if you care about me, just say it directly, why do you have to use such a roundabout way, isn't this what Alice often calls tsundere? Be more straightforward, Lingge, tsundere is not good..."

"But I think," Ling Ge suddenly said, interrupting the princess's endless chatter, "sometimes, you are more of a tsundere than I am."

"Gah!?"

Avella stopped abruptly and looked at the young man next to her in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that he could say such cold words. I am a tsundere? How could I be a tsundere! How could I have the characteristics of a tsundere? There is no such thing as saying one thing and thinking another, saying one thing and not being sincere, or saying one thing and not being consistent. Right?

Her Royal Highness the Princess didn't know what she remembered, but she suddenly became unconfident again.

Linger glanced at her and did not choose to pursue and break through her defenses. This was not a battle, so why bother to decide who was better? The young man just stood up and gently dusted off his pants. The screening room had not been visited for a long time, and the air was filled with turbid dust, making even breathing sticky. It was a pity that Avra ​​could stay here. But perhaps it was because she was fully immersed in the film that she inadvertently ignored the surrounding environment.

He said, "Don't be in a daze, go back and eat early, don't keep everyone waiting too long."

"Everyone?" Avella broke free from her anxious state of mind and keenly grasped this key word: "And everyone? Didn't you come to see me specifically? To be honest, Lingge, who else did you look for before me?"

Her tone suddenly became stern, with a kind of majesty and momentum of an interrogator, but Ling Ge didn't think he had done anything bad that needed to be interrogated, so he just casually replied: "Too many, I can't remember."

“Too much!?”

Olvera was struck by lightning.

It turns out that I am only a part of "everyone", and even a relatively backward part. Lingge may have first gone to find Sister Xiaoxia, Yieta, Xino, and even Leticia... and finally came to find me!

Why is this happening? I should be the leader, but why am I suddenly falling behind everyone else...

Olvera's distraught look was heartbreaking, but Lingge just felt strange. He asked, "Are you not leaving yet, Olvera? I won't stay here to watch the next show with you. And to be honest, your taste in choosing stories is really... unpredictable."

He pondered for a while before he could come up with a comment that was not so sharp and offensive. When Avella heard this, her body suddenly trembled, as if she had finally woken up from her sleep. Where Lingge couldn't see, her face showed an expression of sudden enlightenment: That's right, let's watch the show!
I've watched a play with Lingge before, isn't that my biggest advantage?! As expected, I still have the upper hand.

She perked up at once, and seeing that Lingge had left his seat and was walking out of the theater through the aisle, she quickly caught up with him, like a little duck that had just opened its eyes, following the young man step by step, and hinted at him indirectly: "By the way, Lingge, do you know that in human society, couples who like each other usually go on dates to enhance their feelings for each other. Reliable data show that couples who date frequently are ten percentage points more connected to each other than ordinary couples! Common forms of dating include outings, hunting, attending literary salons, visiting art exhibitions, etc., and of course -"

She finally showed her fangs: "Watching a play together is one of the options, right?"

"Oh." Linger nodded: "Interesting statistics."

And some very bored researchers, so bored that they actually studied human love.

The young man thought, not realizing what Ovella meant by that. He just thought that the princess who loved reading books probably read some random little knowledge in some book, so she shared it with him. Similar things happened frequently before, so it was nothing surprising.

It was actually blocked.

Aoweila narrowed her eyes, thinking that this guy was indeed very difficult to deal with. But it doesn't matter, I still have a trump card, Lingge, you can take advantage of this moment to be proud, and step into the trap I carefully set!

She pretended to ask casually: "Then Lingge, have you ever watched a play with other girls before - I mean other girls besides Metien?"

How is that possible! Her Royal Highness almost laughed out loud, but luckily she held it back. With Lingge's cold and expressionless personality and his monotonous lifestyle, it would be better to expect him to suddenly say that he is actually a girl one day than to expect him to go to a play with a girl.

The young man nodded: "Yes."

"Eh?"

Did I hear wrongly? Lingge just said that he was actually a girl?

"When I was in Rustin City," Linger recalled a story from when he had just started his journey, and it felt like yesterday: "I watched the classic play "March Diary" written by Sir Roman in the Central Theater on Square Street with Saint Charlene. Both the character creation and the core of the plot were really shocking."

"..."

"By the way, the reason why we watched that performance was to find clues about the next young queen."

As for which young lady is the queen... there is no need to say more, some people will be broken.

"You really have a affinity with drama, Ovella. Have you ever considered adapting the novel you're writing into a screenplay?"

"..."

"Why are you silent, Olvera?"

"Wow, wow, shut up!!!"

……

When they came outside, it was already late. The few stars that were sparsely dotted in the sky had hidden their light at some point. Linger would not be naive enough to think that the fleet of the Witch Society had retreated. Most likely, they were hiding under the canopy of the universe, brewing the most violent offensive. Do the travelers have the courage to step out of the sanctuary and embrace the future? Tiantis could not predict their thoughts, but no matter what, she would make the most thorough preparations. This was the character of a realistic witch.

"Is it okay for you to go back alone, Olvera?"

Linger asked.

The princess looked at the dark street and understood what the young man meant. If possible, she would say she was scared, and then she could ask Lingge to go back with her. But after thinking about it, she shook her head and said, "Although it's dark, I don't know why, I'm not scared at all. Maybe it's because..."

Because this is the sanctuary of the goddess. In her arms, even the darkness is peaceful and quiet, giving people a sense of security.

"That's good." Ling Ge nodded and said, "In that case, tell me where the next person is?"

This matter-of-fact tone made Aoweila look at him with a strange look: How could Lingge be sure that he knew where the next person was? What if he didn't know?

But she still answered honestly: "I seemed to see Metien going... in that direction just now."

Following the direction of her finger, there was also a dark street, which was the opposite of the road back to Yunjingkong Island. The darkness there was as deep as a tide, surging and swallowing up all vision, making it difficult to peek into what was behind it.

But, Metien...

The young man's eyes became as dark as the darkness. Olvera asked anxiously, "Lingge, are you okay? And, Metien...should be okay too, right?"

Although judging from her behavior at the time, it was hard to say that she was fine.

Aoweila was a little annoyed for a moment: "I should have chased after him if I had known earlier."

"It's okay." Ling Ge said without turning his head: "Don't worry, I will bring her back."

After that, he took a step forward without hesitation and walked towards the depths of darkness, leaving only a determined back view of the girl. The latter stood there and watched for a long time, and suddenly shouted loudly: "Lingge, I will wait for you to come back before eating, so--"

Before she could finish, Lingge had disappeared at the end of the street, as if he didn't hear her.

The princess was stunned, and the surging emotions in her chest slowly cooled down. After a while, she sighed quietly, and the sigh echoed in the quiet night and spread far away: "After all, he left."

"You could have gone slower."

"If you're too anxious, you'll miss out on a lot of good things, right?"

I don’t know if I was speaking to myself or to that person. (End of this chapter)