Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 886: Live just to meet expectations?
dong dong.

Xinuo knocked on the door gently. After a brief silence, a low voice came from the room: "Come in."

Xinuo pushed the door open and walked in, his eyes passing over those heavy shadows like tides, and fell directly on the old man. In the fireplace, a dim fire was flickering, reflecting every vicissitudes of life and every turbid shadow on his old face. The old man was leaning back in the recliner, his legs covered with a flannel blanket, and on the blanket was a thick book, but it was not opened. His eyes were fixed on the dark red book cover, and he seemed to be in a trance. This is what many elderly people are used to doing. Compared with wasting energy to read the clichéd stories in the book, they would rather recall their past years in a trance.

Even the strict, rigid, and ruthless grandfather in Xino's memory was no different from an ordinary old man at this time.

The girl walked to the fireplace, stopped just at the edge of the shadow cast by the fire, and called softly, "Grandfather, aren't you going to rest yet?"

The elderly Vandru Qin Gustaf finally came out of his spiritual world. He slowly raised his head, and his dark red eyes, which had long lost their brightness, reflected his granddaughter's concerned look. He shook his head and said, "I'm not sleepy yet. I always wanted to read something to amuse myself before going to bed. But I didn't expect that I really didn't have enough energy. I can't even finish my favorite book in the past."

Xinuo glanced at the book and saw the words "The Dialectical Relationship between Spirit and Will" printed on its cover. It looked like a book about philosophy. She couldn't help but find it funny and laughed out loud: "Grandfather, this seems to be the first time I've heard such...submission from you?"

In the past, the old man would never give in, because admitting his aging meant giving up, and he was a stubborn man. Xino still remembered that when he first taught her swordsmanship, he was obviously very old, but his back was straight, standing there like a mountain, and he knocked his granddaughter down countless times with just one hand, which made her feel frustrated and depressed for several weeks, and even doubted her talent. But later, the girl learned from the old housekeeper who let it slip that after the swordsmanship teaching, the old man sprained his waist and lay in bed for three days. No wonder she didn't see her grandfather at the dinner table during those three days.

Even in front of his relatives, he was unwilling to show any weakness.

The old man remained calm in the face of his granddaughter's teasing. He just said in a low voice, "All things will eventually die, just like flowers blooming in blood. I have a feeling that my time is running out, Xinuo, and admitting my own aging and weakness is only the first step towards death."

In the darkness, Xinuo's eyes looked particularly deep: "What preparations?"

"It's useless to run away." The old man shook his head slowly. "Protecting the people of Grangenia is the mission given to us by the glorious ancestors of the Gostave family. The aliens are protected by the oath, and the united church cannot be trusted. The only ones who can take on the heavy responsibility are the descendants of Whitethorn Flower. If the beast wakes up, we will have to pay all costs to reseal it, and with your power, it is even possible to completely destroy it and prevent it from troubling us from ever again."

The old man continued in a calm tone, "Recently, I have asked Weber to check many times. The beast's breath is stirring in the ruins of Trovenica. I'm afraid the day when it wakes up will not be too far away. You should be prepared, Xino."

Xinuo's face was expressionless, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much heavier: "So, what do you mean by all the costs? Does it include sacrifice?"

"I also find it incredible, but they are trustworthy." Xino paused and continued, "This is my feeling, Grandfather."

He looked at his granddaughter with his old and cloudy eyes and said in a low voice: "I don't want to describe this mission as an expectation, Xinuo. In fact, it is fate and it is inevitable."

He was silent for a while, then sighed and casually placed the potion on the tea table beside him. He looked at his granddaughter in the darkness as if he had no idea how important it was to him. "I am happy that you have this kind of heart, Xinuo. However, one cannot live in his own innocence all his life. There will always be a time to accept reality. Besides, you have the blood of the Gustaf family flowing in your veins."

After that, she gently took out a test tube containing light green liquid from her pocket, stepped forward, walked out of the shadow, and handed it to her grandfather. The old man took it and felt a breath of vitality through the transparent glass wall, which was in sharp contrast to his old and decrepit body. He thought: "Is this medicine, Xinuo?"

The old man on the recliner looked at her deeply and said, "Even Ms. Nightingale of the Herb Garden and Mother Teresa of the Knights Hospitaller were unable to cure this injury. How could it be cured by an alchemist of unknown origin?"

"Yes." The girl retreated back into the shadows and explained, "It was a gift given to me by the guests from the sky. Among them was the most outstanding alchemist. After learning about your condition, he specially made this potion. It can heal your old injuries. So I think it is far from the time to talk about death, Grandfather."

Hearing this, Xino pursed his lips slightly and said nothing, as if he didn't know how to answer.

Van Indreu stopped talking. Although it sounded unbelievable, he knew that his granddaughter had never made a mistake in this aspect of feeling. She could always accurately perceive other people's emotions and attitudes towards her, who was kind and sincere to her; who was insincere and had other intentions... In her heart, it was all clear. The old man had never seen anyone with a more insightful mind than this girl in his long life. Perhaps this was also a kind of talent.

His tone was very calm, and there was even a poetic and cruel romance in his words, as if he was not facing death, but something noble and great. However, these two words directly touched the inner demon that Xinuo was most unwilling to face. Her face changed slightly, but soon returned to normal, and she said in a calm tone: "You will not leave us so soon, Grandfather. The whitethorn flower blooms in midsummer and withers in late summer, as short as a season of life, but there is no shortage of ancient trees with a hundred rings in the Losser Mountains, and the same is true for you."

"You are a warrior. You should know that any battle is accompanied by sacrifice. The courage and determination to face sacrifice is also the will of a knight."

"Like my paranoid father?"

After the words fell, they both fell silent for a while, and regret flashed in their eyes. Xinuo regretted that he was too impulsive and would mention his father in front of his grandfather. This thoughtless hurt was too cruel for an old man in his twilight years. Van Indrew's regret seemed to come from some deeper emotion, more entangled than guilt, heavier than pain. His withered and thin hands clenched on the armrests of the recliner, and then slowly loosened them, retracting his gaze, no longer looking at his granddaughter, but at the dim fire in the fireplace: "Are you still blaming Leonard, Xinuo?" The girl was stunned for a moment, and after reacting, she lowered her eyelids and murmured in a low voice, as if answering her grandfather's question, but also as if she was just talking to herself: "I don't know."

I don’t know, there is such a complicated meaning hidden in these four words, but it did not surprise the old man, because his feelings towards his son were roughly the same.

He leaned against the recliner, with a dim fire burning beside him, and scenes of memories inexplicably emerged before his eyes: when Leonard was just born, he held the little baby in his arms and swore to let him grow up happily; in order to fight the beast, he chose to join the army for training but was accidentally injured. After being devastated, he had to go against his original intention and put his hopes on his young son. He was angry and disappointed when he found that Leonard did not inherit his talent and had no feelings for the family mission and blood honor; he fell in love with Mistyen and confessed to him that in order for his descendants to grow up happily, he would rather live as an ordinary person than inherit the name of Whitethorn Flower... Since that day, the father and son have been strangers and have never spoken to each other again.

In order to distract himself and relieve the pain in his heart, Vandru devoted himself to the family business. He was not obsessed with wealth, but wanted to buy back the Forest of Loser and fulfill the oath of his ancestors with the aliens. If he was destined to be unable to become a knight of the sealed beast, then at least he had to live up to the blood flowing in his body. At that time, he was so focused that when he came to his senses, he found that he already had a granddaughter. She had even learned to walk and appeared in every corner of the Shadoli Manor every day, leaving behind long-lost laughter.

The long-silent manor reawakens with the appearance of a little girl. He sees his carefree childhood in her, but hesitates and dares not approach her because the long-term alienation from his relatives has made him feel isolated from the world. At his age in good health, he has never paid attention to the lives of his relatives. He is not a qualified father, let alone a qualified grandfather. How can he be qualified to enjoy the family happiness in his old age?

However, on the night he returned to the Chateaurie Manor, Reynard carried little Xino into his study, and the snow and wind that had frozen the relationship between father and son for many years melted away magically. That night, Van Indrew and Reynard talked a lot. They talked about his lover. Van Indrew asked Reynard if he loved her, and the latter replied that he was not sure, but if she left him at this moment, he would be very uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that he could not breathe. They talked about the past years. He still remembered the scenes of his father teaching him swordsmanship and horse riding, and severely reprimanding him for his frivolity and misconduct. He admitted that he never liked those courses. And the most talked about was this child. Reynard boasted to him in a father's unique proud tone that little Xino was only three or four years old, but she had shown intelligence and agility far beyond her peers. She was very interested in swordsmanship, martial arts and horse riding. Perhaps she inherited the blood in your body that I did not inherit. Of course, she was more interested in ping-pong. She played with her mother every day with a racket. He often imagined that this child would become a great player like her mother one day...

However, all this is based on the premise that life remains peaceful and tranquil. Once the beast awakens, the entire Grindelwald Plain will no longer be peaceful as before. The only ones who can stop it are the descendants of Whitethorn.

Van Indrew looked at the enthusiastic Reynard and did not say these words out loud. He had already made a decision in his heart: even if it meant sacrificing his life, he would protect the distant happiness and dreams for his son and granddaughter. He thought back to the time when the whitethorn flowers took root and sprouted on this land, and suddenly realized that the knights protected not only the people behind them, but also the relatives around them.

"Father," at this time, Leonard's voice sounded softly in his ears. This child, who was as stubborn as he was when he was young, spoke his true words for the first time in his life: "I think I understand you a little bit...

The next day, Reynard asked him to go to the East Continent to participate in the war.

……

"The trade war between the Western Continent and the Eastern Continent was essentially a war of oppression and plunder. If ancestors Vince and Hiberton were alive, they would never approve of such behavior. But Leonard still participated in that war, and was willing to give up his honor as a descendant of the Whitethorn Flower and his dignity as a knight. Do you know why, Xino?" The old man broke free from his memories and calmly asked his granddaughter.

After thinking for a while, Xino replied, "Because to him, the oath between the Gustaf family and the aliens is very important and cannot be violated."

This is what she has always thought.

However, the old man shook his head: "No."

"Reynard never cared about those things, whether it was family honor, knight's dignity, or the so-called oath. From this point of view, he was a special case in the Gustave family. Before you were born, I often quarreled with him about this and even forced him to run away from home. He only returned to this manor after he decided to marry Mistyan."

These were things Xinuo didn't know. She slightly widened her eyes and found it unbelievable: "Then why did he..."

Why did he go to the East Continent to participate in the war? Why did he sacrifice himself to prolong the seal of the beast? He didn't even regret it even if he left the impression of being a "paranoid" on everyone. If he didn't do these things for the glory of the Gustave family and the dignity of being a knight, then why did he do these things?

"For you, Xinuo." The old man looked at her deeply. "He told me personally that he wanted to fulfill his responsibilities as a father and finish all the things he should do. Only in this way, you won't have to bear those heavy things when you grow up, and you can choose your own life and future like an ordinary girl."

"When Leonard was just born, I thought so, but I failed. When you were born, Leonard, who had never cared about these things, began to think about his responsibilities as a father and decided to fulfill them again, but he also failed. Perhaps because we are too weak, our lives always cycle on the road of failure, unlike ancestors Vince and Hibdon, who have firm wills and lofty beliefs."

"Now, this blood is flowing into your body, and this mission is also passed on to your shoulders. It is up to you to decide whether to put an end to it, Xino."

As if he had said too much at once, the old man looked a little tired. He closed his eyes and sank into the endless darkness. Only his murmurs echoed in the room: "No one can force you to make a choice, my child."

"It's just that sometimes we're wired to live in response to expectations."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)