Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 178 Will the stars in the night sky see the love in the world?

Olvera didn't actually have many memories about her mother. The only thing she remembered was that big, dark, cold house.

When she was very young, she longed for the warm embrace of her parents like other children of the same age, but her father was always busy with various government affairs and could hardly spare time to accompany her; and her mother always stayed in her room alone and never went out. Whenever Olvera clamored to see her mother, the maids and guards in the palace would persuade her: the queen was seriously ill and needed to rest quietly; the princess was a good child and should not disturb her mother's rest.

Olvera asked them what kind of disease was so hateful that it hurt her mother? But the maid and the guard kept silent at this time, just looking at the little girl with a hint of pity and sympathy in their eyes. Their tacit and consistent actions seemed to have been discussed privately, giving people a feeling of depression and uneasiness.

At that time, Olivia had not yet realized that the lonely fate brought to her by the curse was waiting for her in the future, but she had vaguely sensed some clues from the attitudes of others towards her.

She doesn't like being treated differently and hopes that everyone can be close to her and be her friend. So she tries very hard to do something, such as studying hard to get praise from teachers, smiling hard and treating everyone gently. Then, she should also try to be a good child and not cause trouble to people around her.

So from that day on, she never said similar words again, nor did she cry or make a noise again. Instead, she studied hard, smiled hard, got along well with everyone, and strived to be a good, well-behaved and sensible child.

If I am a good child, then when my father is not busy, or when my mother recovers from her illness, they will have time to accompany me, right?
Little Ovilla was looking forward to it so naively, but she could never wait for that time, as if her father's government affairs would never be completed, or her mother's illness would never recover.

The girl felt very wronged. She had tried hard enough to be a good child, but why couldn't she be loved by everyone? Even if no one loved her, wouldn't the two people who brought her into this world and shared the same blood with her also love her?

She went to the teacher to ask for the answer, but the teacher just stroked her head and told her a truth in a very gentle tone: "There are many things in this world that cannot be changed from the beginning, Princess."

At this time, Ovilla would reach out her hands, hug her mother tightly, greedily sniff the warm breath emanating from her body, and be intoxicated from the bottom of her heart. At this time, she felt that she was the happiest person in the world.

"Mom," the girl said coquettishly, blinking her bright eyes as she lay in her mother's arms, "Will you always stay with me?"

Therefore, she could not choose whether she should be born, although it might have been a mistake; she could not try to make everyone like her, although it was not based on differences in identity or status; she could not make her father and mother take time to accompany her, because they had more important things to do.

Once people experience happiness, they begin to crave it.

But when she woke up from the cold coma that day and saw her father's anxious expression and her mother's worried face, she suddenly realized that this world had a special place for her again.

She began to feel loved again.

During the 16 years when the little girl grew into a beautiful young lady, nothing was special. Was it something to marvel at that the sun shone through the windowsill every day? Was it normal that the violets in the garden never withered all year round? Were those obscure and difficult stories in the books interesting? They were nothing more than ordinary things that happened on this land, and the girl grew up day by day in these ordinary daily lives, and never felt that she was special.

After this incident, no matter how busy his father was, he would take some time out every day to accompany him, check his homework, or tell him some funny things that happened in the court to make his child laugh. And his mother was finally willing to come out of her room and look at her only child left in the world with loving and gentle eyes.

She was as weak as a snowflake that withered prematurely in winter, and as frail as a yellow leaf that drifted helplessly in late autumn. When Olvera was in bed recuperating, she came to visit her every day, supported by two maids. She sat by the bed, gently hugged the girl's head, and murmured in a voice that sounded like a dream: "I'm sorry, Olvera... my child, I left you lonely for so long..."

The girl, who could not change and could only accept it, became more and more depressed day by day. Finally, that incident happened, which was also an incident that changed her life and was even worse than the curse she was born with.

She thought the answer was yes, because she could feel her love and indulgence for her. However, the woman in front of her, who still maintained an elegant demeanor despite her weakness, only thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "This is impossible, Avra."

The girl suddenly became anxious, as if the happiness within her reach was slipping away from her fingers: "Why!? Do you still want to go back to that dark and cold big room? But I don't want you to go back..."

Because of the curse, the girl, who had an instinctive fear of darkness, had a look of panic and fear in her eyes: "It's dark, cold, and gloomy there. There are no candles or lights, and you can't see the sun or the moon... It must be very hard, mother? If you want to recuperate, can you stay with me? There is a lot of sunshine here every morning! Moreover, you can smell the fragrance of the garden, which is as good as the fragrance of mother..." She looked at her mother eagerly, and the latter seemed to laugh, then gently pinched her cheek: "Who told you that my room is dark and cold, and you can't see anything?"

"That's how it is." Olvera muttered. In her limited memory, if someone had to be imprisoned in a closed space and couldn't take a single step out for a day, ten days, or even a month, then that space must be narrow, dark, and cold, making people feel creepy just thinking about it.

She didn't want her mother to live in a place like that.

but.

"It's not like that." Her mother told her gently, "Where I live is not like that. Just as my father loves you and prepared a big bed and a whole garden for you, he also loves me very much, so he left the most beautiful scenery in this country to me. Olvera, do you want to... see it with your own eyes?"

The girl nodded in confusion.

So, at night, the mother held little Olvera's hand with her pale but warm hand, walked through a long corridor lit only by a few candles, and came to her room. As soon as she pushed open the door, she was hit by the suffocating darkness. There was only a candle lit in the corner, but the flame was too weak, like a fishing boat fire in the dark ocean, swaying and uncertain, and could be swallowed by the waves at any time.

"Sure enough." The girl whispered, "It's so dark and cold."

But my mother said: "No matter how dark the place is, there will always be light. Sometimes it comes from the bottom of our hearts, and sometimes it comes from..."

She let go of Avella’s palm, walked to the French window on the balcony, and gently opened the curtains: “In the sky.”

The little girl suddenly opened her eyes wide and saw the most dreamy and magnificent scene she had ever seen in her life.

Star.

One after another, twinkling stars hang high in the deep night sky. Their light gathers together to form a swaying ocean. When those lights flicker, it seems that you can still hear the sound of the surging tide. At this time, vision and hearing are wonderfully integrated together, impacting people's hearts.

The stars are individual but not lonely. Each star will find its own companions and form various patterns with them. Some look like white grass after frost falls, and some look like leaping Pegasus... The most miraculous illusion since the birth of life is constructed between the constellations of different patterns.

Olvera looked at the starry sky above her head and was stunned for a moment. Her heart was repeatedly filled with surprise and shock, and she couldn't utter a word.

"The stars in the night sky are the greatest blessing that the gods have bestowed upon mortals. They are also the most beautiful gift your father has given me. On the day he proposed to me, he said that he would never let me feel sad, and this starry sky is proof of that. And he has always used practical actions to verify his promise since then, tolerating, loving, and caring for me, and giving birth to you."

She pulled the little girl into her arms, and the two of them stood on the balcony, looking up at the starry sky together, and said softly: "You are the fruit of our lives, and the most important treasure in my life, Olivia. Believe this, and also believe that our love for you is like these stars, which started a long time ago, before life was born in this world."

"Olvera, my child, when people live in this world, they always have to bear some painful responsibilities, some of which come from the expectations of others, and some of which come from their own awareness. The former is like your father, and the latter is like me. Since you were born, I have never regretted a moment. On the contrary, every minute and every second of every day watching you thrive is extremely happy. Your life is brighter than the stars, lighting up the night sky of your father and me."

"Even if one day your father and I are gone, you must remember this sentence, remember——"

"We will always love you deeply."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)