Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 213 Should I believe her?
"Do you really want to get out of here, Olvera?"

The black-haired girl standing on the silver crescent moon stared at the princess on the ground with empty eyes. Her temperament was elegant and refined, floating like a solitary star in the universe. Her eyes were so deep, like the reflection of an ancient clear pool in the deep forest. Her voice was clear and cold, which reminded people of a spring at night, flowing between the rocks, and water droplets seeping in the moonlight, slowly dripping on the hollow lake, creating circle after circle of ripples... It was that feeling, strange, empty, and immersive.

The cold wind born from the moonlight blew across the thousands of hanging pictures in the endless night. Each picture reflected the same crescent moon and similar figures, some pierced by swords, some burned by fire... Their light would refract each other, just like mirrors reflecting each other. But even if it was a moon formed by thousands of mirrors, it was not as beautiful and peaceful as the moon in front of us, and the girl on the moon naturally lost her lonely and cold demeanor.

They are all fakes and pale in comparison to the real moonlight.

The slightly fluttering skirt is like a dark flower blooming in the wind, and the pale ankles under the skirt are like the most exquisite handicrafts, stepping on the complex moonlight. Only the slightly cold air soaked in the night can touch that illusory corner, from which you can see how vast the world she stands in is.

Olvera stood there in a daze, without moving, looking as if she was stunned by the other person's appearance.

Not only her, but also her companions who saw this scene through her eyes in their minds could not help but feel amazed, and for a moment they could not find any words to describe their current feelings.

Only Alice, a talented player who had read countless paper characters, was not confused by this ruler whose style of painting was obviously a wash-out for the real-life version. She was surprised for a moment before she reacted and urged, "Don't look at Olvera, hurry up and catch up! I'm much prettier than her. If you really want to see more, I'll let you see enough after we leave the castle, okay?"

Olvera did not listen to her, she was still speechless, her eyes gradually showing memories and confusion. She was not bewitched by the other person's beauty as Alice thought, but because... she seemed to have heard the other person's voice somewhere before.

She tried hard to recall, tracing back to the depths of her memory until she came across the past that she did not want to mention easily. Finally, she saw her traces in the vague pain. The princess subconsciously opened her lips and murmured, "Is it... you?"

It seems that this question is of great significance to her.

She silently clenched her palms, squeezing the golden chain very tightly, and it hurt her delicate palms. "Isn't this a matter of course?"

Why did you save me then, but now you are standing in my way?

"Why, it's you?" The princess's eyes became extremely complicated. She couldn't imagine that the person who comforted her in the most painful time was actually the curse she hated the most. It was both a gentle call and the source of disaster. Such a contradiction made the person caught in the middle hesitate and confused.

I still remember that a long time ago, Olvera, who was deeply troubled by the curse and could not make any friends, mistakenly believed that she was not loved by her parents and relatives and was alone in this world, so she had the idea of ​​self-destruction. She took the initiative to exile herself into the darkness, endured the invasion of the endless silence, and her consciousness gradually sank, lost in fear and pain. When she thought her life was about to end, suddenly a gentle voice said to her -

The black-haired girl on the silver crescent moon seemed not to have heard her question. She repeated the previous question in a calm and cold tone: "Do you really want to leave here, Ovella?"

If you die here, it will make those who love you deeply sad.

……

Olvera was also confused. Who was it that woke her up at that time? Was it her mother who she saw when she opened her eyes, or her teacher who had not come to Bemang at that time? Or was it not someone else, but her own subconscious mind that reminded her? She never got a clear answer and gradually forgot about it.

Could it be that the person who cursed me really had no intention of harming me? Yet, I was trapped in such pain for so long...

It was these words that saved the princess' life and made her realize after she woke up that she was actually deeply loved by many people. So from then on, no matter how lonely the night was, even if she was sealed in the castle for a long time without anyone to accompany her, she never had the idea of ​​giving up in despair, because she did not want to make those who loved her deeply sad.

Until now, I finally found that person.

I just didn't expect that we would meet in such a dramatic way.

The princess shook her head slowly: "I haven't seen her, but I have heard her voice."

Do you want them to be sad, Olvera?

The companions in her mind were even more surprised when they heard this. Alice asked hurriedly, "Do you know her, Olvera? Oh, I mean, have you met her?"

The companions seemed to smell something different from the conversation between the two parties, and fell silent without interrupting. Seeing that she didn't answer the question, Avra ​​felt even more complicated, and for some reason, she was a little angry.

She unknowingly gave up her will to fight and asked in a sad and puzzled tone, "Who are you?"

She bit her lower lip, looked at the other person fearlessly, and said word by word: "I want to leave this castle. I have wanted to leave since the beginning when I came in, and I still want to leave now. Because I want to see my parents and teachers, and live a stable life with them; I want to stand in the warm sunshine and look up to see the blue sky, instead of only being warmed by the flames of candles and looking up at the cold and dark ceiling; I also want to make many friends, listen to the call from afar brought to me by the wind, taste food I have never seen before, travel to far away places, see the flowers bloom, wait for the swallows to return, enjoy the cool under the big trees, count the number of stars in the night sky, and experience more and more adventures with everyone... and these things, these things..."

She became more and more excited as she spoke, and her speech became faster and faster. In the end, she could no longer control her emotions and pointed to the night sky around her. The thousands of frozen crescent moons were like thousands of monotonous and empty mirrors, reflecting the same darkness. "Can all these things be done here?!"

The sharp questioning seemed to pierce the other party's emotions, causing the girl on the moon to fall silent for a moment, speechless. Olvera raised her head, and her stubborn expression seemed to show that these words were from the heart, which was proof that she had not given up hope for a long time, and it was also the biggest motivation for her to stand here. Her breath was warm, her chest was heaving, and her fiery emotions and sincere desires turned into tangible power, freezing the flow of time, making the whole night silent, and even the sound of moonlight falling on the seabed and the dark tides surging became clearly audible.

After a long silence, the girl on the silver crescent moon suddenly sighed softly. Even her sigh was so elegant and dignified that she looked more like a royal than Ovilla: "How willful."

Criticism? Or accusation?
Either way, it doesn't make sense.

Avella bit her lower lip lightly, and felt the warmth between her white porcelain teeth: "I don't think such a request is willful."

On the contrary, it is natural. If a person is considered willful just because he wants to see the sun, the blue sky, travel to distant worlds, have many friends, etc., then there is probably no one in the world who is not willful.

"Sorry." The other party apologized to her in a calm tone and explained: "When I say willful, I'm not referring to you, but to myself."

"Eh?"

The princess, who was still angry just now, was stunned when she heard this and subconsciously asked, "Why?"

"Because I was originally created to seal your curse. It is my mission to bind you here and keep you from leaving. But now, I feel a little sympathetic towards you, and I even want to go against the Creator's orders to help you." Even so, there was no trace of willfulness in her voice. Instead, it sounded vague and empty, as distant and empty as moonlight: "As a creation, ignoring your mission and failing the Creator's expectations is indeed very willful."

"Ah, this..."

This was the first time the princess had encountered such a situation. The enemy she thought she would fight to the death actually expressed sympathy and thought her thoughts were willful. Was this sincere or a conspiracy? She was confused and didn't know how to answer. In the end, she stammered, "Thank you, thank you?"

A sigh came from my mind, but it was mixed with several voices, as if everyone sighed at the same time.

"You are welcome."

The Ruler said calmly: "I'll go ask for you."

"Q-what's the question?"

"Ask if I can let you leave this castle."

"So that's how it is... Eh, is that so? Who are you going to ask?"

"Of course it's my creator." The girl on the moon slowly closed her eyes: "Please wait a moment."

"Oh, good, good."

Olvera agreed in a daze.

"Hey!" Alice couldn't help it: "She is the embodiment of the curse! You actually believed her words, aren't you afraid it's a conspiracy? She's trying to buy time to read her ultimate move and then kill you instantly..."

"No!" Olvera retorted subconsciously. At the same time, the gentle voice that woke her up from the darkness emerged in her mind. Her eyes gradually became firm: "I believe she won't do that!"

"That's...ok."

Seeing that she was determined and didn't seem like she could be persuaded, Alice agreed reluctantly. The other companions had no objections and chose to respect Ovella's decision.

As a result, the battlefield, which had been very fierce just now, fell into silence for a while.

Everyone started waiting.

Waiting for a reply that might determine the outcome.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)