Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 233 Can’t You Sleep Too?
As the night deepened, the sound of rain in my ears became fainter without me noticing. The loud downpour turned into a drizzle. The raindrops hit the branches and leaves above my head, sending out a clear and empty echo, as if it was actually the humming of an entire forest rather than the sound of a single leaf.

The fire was still burning, but it was very weak, only able to transmit limited light, even far less than the flickering candlelight in the black lantern. A figure quietly climbed up from the sleeping companions, grabbed the lantern, looked back, and found that no one was disturbed. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed out of this simple temporary camp and came to an old and tall tree.

The thick and twisted aerial roots protruded several centimeters above the ground, and underneath was a thick layer of fallen leaves, all wet from the rain. The girl didn't mind the cold, she reached out and wiped the roots, wiped off the dirt, then turned around and sat down gently. Although she was prepared, the chill that came through her skirt at that moment still made her shiver.

The coldest experience in the world is not being drenched without any shelter in a storm, nor being naked in the snow and ice, but hiding in the warmest place and wrapping yourself tightly with clothes, thinking that you will not be afraid of the cold. Suddenly, a force breaks through all your defenses and penetrates your neck, back and thighs. The chill at that moment is enough to make you understand what it means to be frozen to the bone.

It took her many years to gradually become familiar with this feeling, but she was only familiar with it and not used to it.

Put the lantern aside, let it burn quietly, then look up. The terrain here is higher, so through the sparse rain curtain, you can see the slightly white horizon in the sky, which is shining with cold light of azure and gray-black, conveying the signal that the dawn is approaching.

Although she didn't know when it would come, it would eventually come, and by then, all the things that she hated and feared would also retreat until the next dark night. She had been repeating this confrontation between black and white, light and darkness for 16 years in her life a long time ago. At that time, she felt very painful and irritated, but later she realized that it was actually the most precious thing in the world.

Everyone in the world is engaged in a similar struggle. If you are one of the "mortals", then you are one of the "mortals". And if one day you fall into the eternal black or the monotonous white, you will realize that you have long lost the qualifications to be a mortal.

She had lost it once before, and now she has finally found it again.

The air was fresh after a heavy rain, and even the soil was sticky with moisture. The weeds in the cracks of the rocks were covered with crystal water droplets. The leaves that were moistened by the rain and looked lush and green were swaying in the slightly cold wind. Some places that were originally lifeless had already sprouted tender new buds... The big world surrounded the small figure, and she was in it, looking at it all, feeling novel and precious. Even the shadows in the corners of the cracks were not so scary.

"..."

"This... is there any difference?" Olvera said that she didn't understand such complicated hints. At the same time, her eyes dodged more obviously. She didn't dare to look at Lingge no matter what. Instead, she kept poking at the lantern next to her, as if this lantern actually had some magical power, and if she rubbed it, a flaming elf would fly out and teach her how to deal with the current situation.

Every night since she was born, and every night for a year, ten years, a hundred years..., when others curled up in warm beds and wandered in wonderful dreams, only the princess faced the cold and empty night alone. She never knew what it felt like to sleep, nor did she know what it felt like to dream. Every time she heard others complain about their sleep quality or nightmares, she would be envious. Because it didn't matter if she didn't sleep well, it didn't matter if she had nightmares... She also wanted to close her eyes and have a good sleep.

Just as she was quietly regaining her sense of living in this world, someone's footsteps suddenly came from behind her. Although they were light, they were not concealed. Olivia subconsciously opened her eyes wide, looked back, and met a pair of calm and silent eyes.

"In other words, you can't sleep at all, because as long as you close your eyes, you will be threatened by the curse. When you were the princess of Beman in the past, and in the hundreds of years you were sealed in the castle... you never slept. That's why you acted so sleepy and slow when you saw us - if it's because of your personality, you are not like this in the game world."

He pointed to his eyes: "When you close your eyes."

If Alice saw me like this, she would accuse me of bullying.

"I, um, I can't sleep..." Ovella replied hesitantly, shrinking her neck and evasive eyes, looking as guilty as if she had done something wrong and was caught by adults.

Avella opened her mouth when she heard this, as if she wanted to say something, but was stopped by Lingge in a calm tone: "Don't try to explain anything, this is not difficult to understand. You said before that your curse has not been completely eliminated, so when you see darkness and shadows, you still feel scared and terrified, and in serious cases, your life may be in danger. Later, I thought about it, when is it easiest for people to see darkness? The answer is-"

After all the analysis, Avella was speechless. She opened and closed her mouth several times, but finally gave up quibbling and turned her head to the side silently. After a while, her depressed voice came: "It's such a sad thing, why can you say it so easily? And, it's clear that you just know it in your heart, why do you still say it out loud?"

Ling Ge didn't know why he thought so, but he quickly put this ridiculous idea behind him and asked her, "Can't sleep? I think I can't sleep, right?"

"What are you doing here?"

Lingge ignored her little action and said in a normal tone: "There is a big difference. One is a subjective reason. You have insomnia, so you can't sleep. The other is an objective reason. You can't sleep, so you can't sleep?"

Such a humble and insignificant dream, if spoken out, would inevitably make people laugh, and would also make those who care about her worry. In the past, Olvera did not want her parents and teachers to worry about her; now, she did not want Alice and others to worry about her. Therefore, she kept it in her heart, and did not speak out about the other torture of the curse on herself, but just endured it silently.

Who would have known that today, the first night since leaving the castle, the first night of my new life and the first night to be happy, would be ruthlessly exposed.

Hasn't he ever considered his own feelings?
The princess became angrier and angrier. She simply hugged her legs and put her head on them without looking back at Lingge. At this moment, his calm voice came from behind her: "It doesn't matter."

"I know why you want to hide this, but it doesn't matter." He said, "Because I am different from Metien and the others. I won't worry about you."

"..."

With her back to Lingge, Avella's eyes widened instantly. The starlight in her eyes swam back and forth due to excessive shock, appearing like a scattered and disordered vortex of star streams: Does this guy know how excessive his words were just now! ?

I'm talking to girls though!

She was so shocked that she forgot about sleeping. The sleepy look between her eyebrows disappeared, and she became much more energetic - to be more precise, a lot angrier.

Ling knew what she was thinking, but he didn't care because he had his own reasons.

"Since you have decided to be strong, why should I worry about you?" The young man reached out his hand and touched the leaf closest to his head, gently stroking the traces of rain flowing between the bifurcated veins of the leaf, and said calmly: "The most vulnerable people can't even be strong, and they will cry to their friends and relatives when they get a little hurt; the fact that you still have the idea of ​​being strong shows that you are still strong, and no one needs to worry about such people."

"But," Olvera couldn't help but refute him, "If you are really strong, it wouldn't be called being brave, right?"

"Yes, that's why." Linger gently pulled the leaf off the branch. The force of the rebound made the branch sway back and forth, and the wet leaves on the branch shook off the remaining rain stains, as if another drizzle was falling on the young man. However, he didn't care about the chill on his face and neck, and whispered, "You'd better become strong enough before they find out. In this way, if you are exposed one day, you can explain to them: This is a habit, I forgot it."

"..." Avella asked sullenly, "Is this also what you feel?"

"maybe."

What does maybe mean?
What an ambiguous answer, exactly like this guy's personality.

Although Avella could understand what he said, she still felt angry and muttered quietly: "The favorability with my companion Lingge has dropped significantly."

"What?" Lingge didn't hear clearly.

"No, it's nothing!"

It was obvious that she was saying bad things about him, but Lingge didn't care, because this sneaky bad words were not even as bad as Alice's - the golden-haired maid said bad things about Lingge to his face, and she never changed after repeated admonitions. It was mainly because of her bad memory. She admitted her mistake verbally this time, and she would try again next time.

The topic of "sleeping" and "showing off" seemed to have ended here, and there was nothing else to say. Lingge let go of the leaf without saying a word, intending to let the leaf fall to the ground. At this time, a cold wind blew from somewhere, carrying the leaf away lightly, dancing in the drizzling rain like a graceful butterfly.

Where will it drift to?
Lingge stared at the swirling leaves, lost in thought. Suddenly, a bean-sized raindrop fell, hitting the leaf with a crackling sound, knocking the fragile leaf out of the air and slowly falling to the ground.

Then, more and bigger raindrops fell one after another, covering the hazy night in less than a blink of an eye.

The rain became heavier.

A sudden rain came, and the raindrops were like waterfalls, beginning to wash the mountains and forests at night.

The sound of the waves is like the echo of the tide.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)