Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 234 Would you like to hold my hand?

The sudden heavy rain was unexpected. Linger stood at the edge of the shade, and the raindrops that continued to fall wet his neck and sleeves. He felt a chill spreading along the texture of his skin, so he wiped it off, then walked a few steps inside and came to the tree trunk to avoid the heavy rain that would not stop at any time.

Then he noticed that amid the sound of the pattering rain, Olvera, who was sitting on the tree roots, suddenly trembled, and then silently curled up her body, as if she wanted to shrink herself into the faint candlelight emitted by the lantern, hiding in a safe place, away from the things that scared her.

Lingge watched this scene quietly, and suddenly asked: "Are you afraid of rain?"

Aoweila was still a little slow to react, as if the cold brought by the rain had dulled her brain. Her eyes were blank, and she thought blankly for a while, then shook her head: "No."

"I hate rain."

Her voice was dull and a little sad: "Because the teacher said that rain is the season of parting."

No one likes to say goodbye, especially in such a wet, muddy, cold and gloomy rainy season.

Ling Ge nodded slightly: "If that's the case, I guess you won't like Lun Weiting either."

"where is that?"

He also said that he eventually learned to bring an umbrella with him when he went out to guard against the drizzle that could come at any time. This became almost the only habit he developed throughout his life in Lunwiting, and it lasted until a long time later.

"Then there are still many things you need to understand. I don't mean about the world, but about people."

Out of Ling'er's sight, Ovira curled her lips, thinking that he looked down on her. As intelligent beings, the light elves would definitely understand humans, as long as they were in contact for a long enough time... Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a little lost, but she couldn't tell what she was losing.

Later, in a gloomy rainy season, he held up the umbrella to shield the rain from the head of a homeless boy on the street. Seeing a look of loneliness, confusion and stubborn indifference in his eyes, he asked him if he wanted to leave with him.

"You don't understand?"

"Because it's a city that's used to rain."

Later, he and his two adopted children had a new home in a strange city.

Lunwitting is always shrouded in gloomy fog. It rains for most of the year, a kind of drizzling and lifeless drizzle. The rain wets the streets and trees. The locals of Lunwitting, who are used to this kind of weather, always open their umbrellas at the right time and walk in the misty gray until their shadows are swallowed by the fog. The unprepared outsiders can only hide under the big trees on the street, wrapping themselves tightly in their clothes and shivering in the bone-chilling cold.

Later, she learned about her life experience and asked Mr. Yang Ke about Lunweiting. Lingge was reading a book nearby and heard his adoptive father say the above words. He used a very simple image to summarize the thousand-year-old capital, as if the solemn, simple, gorgeous, elegant, profound... Lunweiting, the capital of the ancient kingdom, which seemed to be praised with any positive words, only left him with a little impression of rain.

The candlelight in the lantern flickered through the transparent glass cover, the branches above were swaying in the night wind, and the leaves rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound that was surprisingly consistent with the sound of raindrops hitting the ground. The temperature dropped sharply, and the cold air brought by the rain penetrated the clothes and irritated the delicate skin, making people feel the coldness and humidity of the rainy season most deeply.

Olvera felt a little regretful. Why did she come here to kill time? It would be so nice to be back with her companions. Even if she couldn't sleep, at least she could keep warm with their body temperature, and then snuggle up to the lantern fire and read two books in the Library of Truth. It didn't matter what book she read, as long as it was readable, because she had spent time like this in the castle in the past, instead of sitting here listening to the sound of the rain hitting the leaves, letting the biting cold soak through her body, and finally facing Lingge's cold face.

“The capital of the country.”

"I don't understand."

“Can this become the capital?”

Later, the rain in my memory turned into snow.

"The people of Lunweiting are really pitiful." Aoweila suddenly whispered, disturbing Lingge's thoughts: "We always have to face separation."

“Is it always raining?”

“It’s always raining.”

"You are right," Lingge replied, "It is a city with nothing but farewell."

“I haven’t been there, why wouldn’t I like it?”

This was not Lingge's own experience, but what he heard from his adoptive father, Mr. Yang Ke. Before coming to Linweil ​​City, he lived in Lunweiting and adopted Metien from an orphanage there. However, the girl was still young at the time and had no impression of the city where she was born. It was probably difficult for her to have a sense of belonging called "hometown".

I feel so tired.

She said sullenly, "Lingge, it's so late, why don't you go back to bed?"

Lingge replied calmly: "I can't sleep."

Isn't this my reason?

Avra thought Lingge was just trying to fool her and was a little dissatisfied. She looked up, but found that the young man's expression was still calm, and there was no trace of sleepiness or fatigue between his brows as he stared at the dark rain curtain. Only then did she believe his explanation.

In other words, one of them couldn't sleep, and the other couldn't sleep, so they were together in the middle of the night, staring at the heavy rain in silence.

What a coincidence.

However, my inability to sleep was an objective reason, while Lingge's inability to sleep was only a subjective reason.

"Are you worried about something?" Olvera blinked her eyes, not feeling sleepy at all. "Is it because of what Alice and the others said?"

"I guess so." "Why?"

"what why?"

"Why are you so reluctant to travel? I think it should be fun and enjoyable, right?"

Linger looked down at her and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "If you were asked to go back to the past and choose again, would you choose to live a peaceful life as the princess of Bemang? Or would you choose to be cursed and imprisoned in the castle for hundreds of years without seeing the sun?"

Aoweila said without hesitation: "Of course I choose the first one."

After saying that, she looked at Lingge with strange eyes, wondering how there could be such a simple multiple-choice question in the world. No, it can’t be called a multiple-choice question. It should be called a judgment question, which is used to judge whether the thinking of the answerer is within the normal range.

Ling Ge said calmly: "So, I just made the same choice as you."

Aoweila was stunned for a moment, and it took her a while to realize that Lingge didn't really want to hear her answer, but was just using her experience as an example, so she stammered, "This, this is different..."

"What's the difference?"

"Well!"

She had nothing to say.

Lingge didn't expect her to make a decent rebuttal. He retracted his gaze, leaned against the rough and cold tree trunk, looked up at the branches and leaves that were stained with dull ink, and saw transparent raindrops gradually falling from the tips of the branches and leaves.

"It's just different..." Suddenly, a very soft voice came from the side. The tone was not so confident, but it still insisted on finishing: "I have no power and cannot resist the curse, so I have to face a sad ending; but Lingge, you are different. You have a magical power that can save others, just like rescuing me from the dark cage. If, if Saint Xia Liya did not lie to me, then there are many other young queens in the world. Will there be someone like me, trapped in a confused fate, helplessly waiting for someone to save themselves? I think that person should be you, Lingge, this is why the golden apple chose you. Don't think of this as a disaster that will cause trouble to yourself, but as a journey to save others. Wouldn't it be better to think in this way?"

The journey of saving others... Linger chewed on this sentence carefully, and after a while he shook his head and said, "You are wrong. The game console and the cartridge are Alice's things. I don't have any magical powers."

"I know, but I'm not referring to the game console and cartridges. I'm referring to a power that only you can possess."

"for example?"

"Destiny... fate?" Olvera carefully observed Ling's reaction. Seeing that he was not refuting but thinking, she continued: "Saint Xia Liya searched for a long time in the mortal world, but she couldn't even find a young girl king. And after you ate the golden apple, Ling'er, you found me right away. Isn't this a magical power? If there is no such power, even with the help of Saint Xia Liya, Alice, and many other people... we can't complete this journey smoothly, right? In other words, Ling'er, you are the indispensable person."

Lingge was silent for a moment. He wanted to say that no one in this world is indispensable, but looking at Avella's pure and innocent eyes, the words stopped in his throat and he couldn't say them. Finally, he neither answered nor refuted, but talked about another thing: "You seem to hope that I can embark on this journey?"

Avella was not slow this time and nodded gently: "Yes."

"Why?" This time it was Ling'er's turn to ask why. Why did Avra ​​want him to embark on the journey so much?

"Because, at the beginning, I was also hesitant between the suggestions of Shemi and Alice." Olvera said, picking up the lantern from the ground and holding it in front of her eyes. Looking at the dancing and branching sparks, it was as if she saw her own mood at that time: "Should I do as Shemi said, inherit the unfinished work of my teacher, stay in the Fairy Deep Sleep Inn to take care of the herb garden she left behind, and live a peaceful life from then on? Or should I do as Alice said, not be bound by the expectations of others, and bravely pursue what I yearn for? This hesitation ended until Saint Shalia said that."

"She said that we must gather the power of half, that is, at least seven maiden royal powers, to open the door to the Holy Temple of Heaven. At that time, I was thinking, how could there be such a coincidence that you came to me to find the answer, and the answer included me. Then I thought, if I just want to stay where I am and don't want to be one of the seven, then you must find more maiden royal powers and make greater efforts to reap the results; but how is this possible, because you have saved me and given me so much help, so I also want to do something to repay you. This choice was not made after careful consideration, but was decided the moment you entered the castle."

"The world is so wonderful. Everyone has his own destiny. It is not determined by others, but by oneself. This is true for me, Lingge, and for you too."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand to the young man. Her slender and delicate palm looked slightly pale in the candlelight. "So now, I want to ask you, are you willing to let me be one of the seventh parts of your destiny?"

The princess looked at Lingge quietly, her clear and flawless platinum eyes reflecting his stunned expression. Her outstretched hand never wavered, as if she had made the decision long ago, not on this rainy night.

After a while, the young man also reached out, silently grabbed her hand, and pulled her up from the tree roots. The touch from his palm was smooth and delicate, with a little warmth, but it separated in an instant.

The princess stood up from the tree roots, holding the lantern in one hand and raising the other hand to her eyes to look carefully, her eyes full of curiosity and exploration: Is this the feeling of having his hand held? It is different from the feeling of having her parents or teachers hold her hands. Suddenly, she felt a little strange.

Besides, did he agree? Did I convince him? Were they going to look for other young girls together?

Just as I was thinking this, I saw that the young man had put his hand down, turned around silently, and faced the heavy and lonely rain outside the shade of the tree.

"Hey, Lingge, where are you going?"

"Go back to sleep."

"Didn't you say you couldn't sleep?"

"Now I can sleep again."

"So what did you mean by holding my hand just now?"

"It's nothing. The ground is cold. You should get some rest early."

"No no no!"

The princess of Beman puffed up her cheeks and said angrily, "Lingge, you are such a liar!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)