Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 875: Is this the late night special service at the Fairy Sleep Hotel?

At ten o'clock in the evening, when all the good kids have fallen asleep quietly, some people's nightlife has just begun.

The lobby on the first floor of the hotel was shrouded in a dim and comfortable light. The potted orchestra in the corner set up violins and pianos and began to play Maestro Schubert's "Midnight Lullaby". Amid the melodious music, the moonlight outside the window quietly flowed in, covering the bar with a layer of light frost.

The bartender in black and white uniform stood upright behind the bar, shaking the wine utensils in her hands up and down. The movements were crisp and rhythmic, just like a skilled volleyball player stirring the enthusiasm of the audience on the field. The liquids soaked in charming blue and deep purple merged, grew, collided, and made a surging sound in her hands, and finally drew an elegant arc and flowed into the transparent high-heeled glass, gently swaying with an intoxicating luster under the light.

"You look a little upset today." The bartender gently pushed the glass in front of the only customer at the bar and asked considerately, "Would you like a drink to calm your mood? I made this one-of-a-kind drink especially for you—"

She leaned over, put one hand gently on the back of the girl's hand, took the opportunity to pinch it, and gently lifted the bangs covering her left eye with the other hand. Her handsome appearance and affectionate gaze were enough to make any adolescent girl scream: "The essence of love~"

"Uh……"

Olvera's mouth twitched with difficulty, as if she wanted to laugh, but she couldn't laugh in the end. She pulled her hand back calmly, and then said dryly: "Thank you for your kindness, Shelia, but your naming taste needs to be improved... and I suggest you don't believe Alice's nonsense, this style will not be liked by girls."

"Really?" Xie Liya took back her hand and put down her bangs, pretending that she didn't hear what Avella said about her naming taste, and said nonchalantly: "Actually, I think so, but Alice assured me that this is the most suitable style for a bartender, and she also suggested that I call myself the Little Prince of Nightclubs in the future... like this."

"What a vulgar fellow." Olvera couldn't help but complain: "You should have known that she has never had any taste, so there is no need to take such words to heart."

The princess whined and lowered her head, feeling too embarrassed to face anyone.

But then again——

Then she turned around and went upstairs with an air of victory, leaving Cielia alone behind the bar, feeling sad and lamenting the fickleness of fate, which made her lose her closest comrade and suffer the most shameful betrayal on the same day... The potted orchestra in the corner also changed the repertoire appropriately and began to play the scene in Shakespeare's classic work "Hamlet" where the prince is betrayed by his uncle and the queen mother, to set off Cielia's mood.

Avella suddenly stood up, grabbed the wine glass on the bar, tilted her head back and drank the wine... uh, water... uh, the essence of love... in a gulp. Her movements were very heroic, and then she wiped her mouth and said seriously, "I'm going to bed!"

"In fact, it can be said to be extremely obvious. I think everyone should have noticed it." The bartender smiled and said, "After all, you are not the kind of person who would pick up the wrong dish when eating or bump your head when walking."

Since I met the princess, I have never seen her go to bed so early.

and so--

Prince Hamlet thought: She just went upstairs to sleep, why did she act so decisively?

Xie Liya slowly stopped wiping the wine utensils. She turned back and looked at Avella: "Are you sure?"

"I think so." Shelia shrugged casually, indicating that she didn't care, and then said, "But what I said just now was not to cater to Alice's style. You are indeed a little uneasy today. What happened, Olivia?"

"Woo!"

"Never!"

Avella raised her head and looked at the bartender behind the bar angrily, with an expression that said, "How can you be kidding me?" "This is my own business, I can handle it myself!"

"So what happened?" Shelia asked in a teasing tone while wiping the wine utensils and preparing for the next cocktail. "Is it an emotional problem? Do you want to confide in me, the little prince of the nightclub? I understand girls' feelings better than some stinky men, dear Miss Olvera."

Olvera choked up for a moment, because she knew it was the truth and it was hard to refute.

We clearly agreed to stay up all night together, but you have changed, Olivia...Xelia suddenly felt betrayed.

"Of course!"

"Oh, really?" Shelia was a little skeptical: "You don't usually look like a very active person, Ovella."

"Hmm." The princess held the wine glass, her expression looking conflicted: "Is it that obvious?"

But how do you know that I am the same person tonight as I was before?
Once people make up their minds, they will change.

Ovella achieved the effect she wanted, and raised her little chin proudly, as if showing off silently: I have changed a long time ago, and the one who has been immersed in the past and cannot turn back is you, Shelia!

It's like making some great sacrifice.

Could it be that she didn't really want to sleep, but was just mad at me?

Oh, now it's really my fault. It's my handsomeness and passion that annoyed this lovely little nightingale, causing her to fly away from this happy place early. People like me who have both good looks and inner qualities, are both cold and enthusiastic, and desire both contact and distance, are born to be candles in the social arena, and will always attract countless moths to fly into the flame. What a sin!
Perhaps, this is the fate that the little prince of nightclubs must bear.

Bah, bah, bah, what little prince of nightclubs? Alice’s taste is really vulgar.

and so.

It's all Alice's fault!

……

"A-choo!" Alice, who was practicing her championship celebration on the court, suddenly sneezed in the Chardouri Manor. The noise was so loud that a large group of night crows flew out of the cypress forest and fled. "Do you have a cold, Alice?" Xino asked with concern. "Why don't you go back and rest? It's late now. In the summer in the mountains, although it's warm during the day, it's very cold at night, right?"

"It's okay, I'm not afraid of the cold, and the sneezing is not because of a cold. I'm afraid someone is thinking about me, hehehe."

Alice said proudly, "As a qualified volleyball player, you must practice diligently. How can you win the championship if you are so lazy and practice for three days and rest for two days?"

It is precisely because she has such firm beliefs and lofty goals that she would come to practice right after dinner, and even force Gloria to stay with her for the night, not even going back to the hotel. This was all for the purpose of devoting herself to training, and it was definitely not for fun, okay?
"Uh..." Xinuo was a little embarrassed. She couldn't agree with him, nor could she expose him. After all, she had never seen a volleyball player who could practice for two hours on the court, all practicing celebration moves. If she was lazy, most people couldn't stand two hours of continuous training, but if she was diligent, she always felt guilty, so she could only respond with an awkward but polite smile.

"But," Gloria tilted her head, "Isn't Alice not qualified to sign up for the trials? She's still a long way from winning the championship, right?"

She looks like a natural sporty beauty, but she can say such hurtful words when she opens her mouth. This is the girl’s current personality.

However, Alice has long been immune to this level of attack.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" She stretched out a finger and shook it, with a confident arc on her lips: "A mere trial competition can't faze me. I have already obtained the so-called registration qualification!"

"Have you got your amateur certificate, Alice?" Hearing this, Xino was a little surprised: "But haven't you been staying in Sky Island and the Manor these days? Didn't you go to Sumiya City to take the exam?"

“Hehe!” Alice smiled evilly: “I have some special channels, but don’t worry, I guarantee that the certificate must be genuine, and the reviewers of the organizing committee will never find any flaws!”

Shino & Gloria: "..."

Don't you think that what you said is contradictory? On the one hand, you say it is true, and on the other hand, you say there will be no flaws. Which one should I believe?
"I don't think this is good." Gloria said righteously, living up to her character: "Sports competition should be based on fairness and honesty, and should not take crooked paths. Alice, just stop it. It's not too late."

"Nonsense, I don't believe in that. What fairness, what honesty? In sports, the only thing that matters is strength!" Alice laughed strangely, "The strong should trample on the rules ruthlessly, and I, who can control the rules, am even stronger, invincible, and the strongest!"

"I won't let you succeed!" Faced with such an arrogant villain, Gloria, who upholds the spirit of sports, can no longer sit idly by. She raised the racket in her hand and bravely challenged the enemy: "Let's fight it out, Alice. If I win, you have to give up the trials!"

"How dare you challenge me, Alice? How interesting! Let me swing the whip of defeat on you and let you know that so-called fairness and honesty are meaningless!"

The atmosphere suddenly became heated.

In Gloria's mind, a disdainful snort came: "Two idiots!"

At the side of the court, Xino also pressed her forehead helplessly. Although she also felt that Alice's behavior was not good, she was not as opposed to it as Gloria, because with Alice's level, even if she successfully signed up for the trials, she would probably only be eliminated in the first round, which would have no impact on the results of the game. In this case, why not let her experience the atmosphere of the competition? It's not like there haven't been similar things before. For a place in the competition, there have even been scandals of corruption and bribery, but those who participated in the competition through crooked means eventually disappeared.

Alice said something whose stance was wrong but whose viewpoint was correct: in the final analysis, strength is what matters in the competition.

But at this moment, Xino, who had this idea, obviously had not yet realized the moral limits of a person named Alice.

……

On the other side, Olvera was pacing back and forth in the corridor, hesitating to move forward.

Although she thought she had prepared herself mentally, although she acted like no one else could do it better than her in front of Celia just now, and although her room was behind the door in front of her...but when the critical moment came, Princess Bemang failed as expected.

"Olvera, Olvera, what are you afraid of?" She encouraged herself in a low voice: "Didn't we live in the same room in Nimsher before? Why are you afraid now? That's right, there is nothing to be afraid of. All you have to do is be brave..."

Having said that, she also knew in her heart that the two could not be compared. As for why they could not be compared, in addition to the changes in time, place and plot, the characters' state of mind had also changed greatly. She was not sure if she could still face the current Ling Ge with the same mentality as she had back then.

So why did I agree to Lingge at that time? Alas, this puts me in a dilemma.

Princess Beman sighed, but did not dare to make too much noise. After all, Saint Xia Liya's room was also on this corridor. What if she woke her up?
or--

She suddenly had a brilliant idea: How about going to see Sister Xiaoxia tonight?
Since I feel safe when I stay with Ling Ge, it makes no sense that I can't stay with Xiao Xia. She is the caring elder sister of our girl Wang Quan. Ling Ge is nothing but a cold and serious man. He is not even a hair comparable to my gentle and considerate sister Xiao Xia...

"what are you doing?"

Just as Avella was mumbling bad things about someone in her heart, the door in front of her suddenly opened. The person the princess was mumbling about was standing behind the door, looking at her with a frown: "You have been standing outside the door for so long and you haven't come in yet. Do you have a hobby of punishing yourself by standing?"

“Ahhh!!?”

Olvera, who was totally unprepared, was frightened by the sudden appearance of the young man and almost screamed out loud. However, when the sound was still stuck in her throat, her sense of crisis came into play in time. She instinctively reached out to cover her mouth, trying her best to hold back the scream so as not to wake up others. However, she was so uncomfortable that her face turned red, and she struggled to squeeze out one or two muffled groans between her fingers, which looked quite funny.

Linger looked her up and down for a while with a strange look in his eyes. After a while, he suddenly said, "What is this? The late-night special service of the Fairy Sleep Hotel? The clowns from the circus took the initiative to perform at your door?"

"Linger you idiot!"

Aoweila couldn't hold it in any longer, and slapped the young man on the shoulder, angrily scolding: "Shut up!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)