Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 917: Will human will change the choice?

"Perhaps I was moved by these words, or perhaps I was infected by her enthusiasm. I was just going through the motions, but I became serious without realizing it. I didn't want to see her lonely back when she took on the heavy responsibility alone, I didn't want to see her forced smile to comfort me when she was at a disadvantage in the competition, and I didn't want to see the flash of disappointment in her eyes when she occasionally talked about her dreams... It was these feelings that pushed me and made me gradually devote myself to the competition. When I came to my senses without realizing it, I found that I was standing on the podium with Claire, enjoying the cheers and applause from the audience."

"The feeling at that moment was the best I've ever felt. I looked at the happy smile on Claire's face and her eyes that were almost red and swollen from excitement. The joy of victory that was taken away by the cruel curse many years ago seemed to return to my body once again."

The girl gently clenched her fist and placed it in front of her chest. Through the beating of her heart in her chest, she seemed to still recall the scene at that time. In Fontainebleau, the capital of the White City Republic, under the attention of the crowd, the two girls stood on the podium, enjoying the thunderous applause from all directions. The surging waves once overturned the entire city. The celebratory fireworks were like salutes at a grand ceremony, constantly shooting from the ground to the sky, almost drowning the vast stars.

The world is so vast, but at that moment, they are the center of the world.

Ling'er felt heavy in his heart.

Because he was standing at a later point in time, he already knew the ending of the story.

"Destiny warned me, but I forgot it because of my momentary arrogance. In this case, it's no wonder it took something away from me." Xino's hand slowly loosened, and he said in a low voice: "Immersed in the joy of victory, I forgot the heavy price for a moment. It was not until I heard the news of Claire's illness that I realized how stupid I had done."

"I used the power of the Gustave family and tried every possible way to cure her illness, but the punishment that fate bestows on the world is not easily resolved. So in the end, it seems that I was unable to do anything except make myself feel more guilty."

Xino laughed at herself. Although she kept talking about fate, Lingge could feel that her hatred for herself was probably even greater than the so-called curse.

"Claire was a strong girl. Even in the face of such unfair treatment, she never showed any fragile emotions. On the contrary, she always comforted us friends and told us not to worry about her. In the last moments of her life, she seemed to have a premonition of her own death. She didn't want her weak appearance to become the last memory in everyone's mind, so she refused to meet anyone, but she only asked to meet me. I think maybe she had already noticed something at that time, because when I walked into the ward, the first sentence she said to me was-"

Xinuo turned his head and gave the young man a complicated smile: "I don't blame you."

Ling'er's heart suddenly trembled. It was hard to imagine what the girl felt when she said this; and did Xinuo, who was forgiven by her, feel a little redemption because of this sentence?

"In a person's lifetime, there is only one chance to pursue a dream. Losing a dream is like a bird with broken wings or a horse leaving the grassland. Perhaps one will spend his whole life in regret and remorse. Although sometimes, pursuing a dream requires a price, I would rather fall on this road of pursuit than live a life of mediocrity. Thank you, Xinuo, for letting me taste the sweet taste of a mature dream. Although it is fleeting, it is already a precious memory for me."

To this day, Xinuo can still recite Claire's words in full, because these words have appeared in her dreams more than once, sometimes making her toss and turn, and sometimes making her feel helpless and relieved.

Although Claire forgave her at the last moment of her life, Xino could not easily forgive herself. She realized that her desire for victory had not disappeared, but was only temporarily suppressed. If she continued to fail to recognize the reality, sooner or later she would hurt the people around her. At this time, she could no longer bear any sacrifice.

For this reason, she had to interrupt her studies. Amid the confusion of her classmates and the regret of her teachers, she left the university campus where she could have lived like an ordinary girl, returned to the Chardouri Manor, and dismissed all the servants and family knights. From then on, she, her grandfather, and the old butler Weber were the only three people living alone in the huge manor. Even the residents of the small town of Ragram had not seen the optimistic, cheerful and talented young lady in their memories for a long time.

The girl spent her most youthful years at the Chateau de Chardonnay, living a life that was extremely boring in the eyes of outsiders, but to her, it was the most precious wealth. People always have to sacrifice a lot before they understand that sometimes a peaceful and comfortable life is the most precious and unattainable thing in the world.

Unfortunately, even such a peaceful life could not last long. Three years had passed since the paranoid Reynard sealed the heavy beast in the Trovenica ruins, and the shadow in the darkness began to stir again.

The fate started by the Gustave family will also be ended by the descendants of the Gustave family. This is the law of the world. The old and frail old master is no longer able to bear this mission, so hope naturally falls on Xino. At that time, a mysterious premonition told the girl that if she persisted and still tried to defy the will of fate, then this time she would lose her only relative in this world.

Just such a simple sentence shattered all the girl's courage.

"Although my grandfather has told me many times that if I want to fulfill my mission, I must not be afraid of sacrifice, and this is also the honor of a knight, but I just can't accept this result no matter what." Xino laughed at himself: "The death of my father and mother has taken away half of my courage to live in this world, and my grandfather is the other half. If I have to sacrifice my grandfather's life for this mission, then I would rather not be a knight of the Gustaf family."

If you are not extremely discouraged, you would never say such discouraging words.

Lingge was silent, and finally understood why Xino was not so happy when he received the potion from Rorona, and why the elderly Vandru Jean Gustaf was determined to die. No matter how good the medicine in the world is, it cannot cure fate, let alone the determination of an old man to die calmly.

In order to win, you must sacrifice - many people have said this, but they are often just talking about it, because they are not the ones who are sacrificed, so they are so righteous. If you really put yourself in the position of the sacrificer, how long can you maintain this attitude?
Only Vandrujen-Gostaf was a true knight, although he was very old.

"My grandfather wanted to use his own sacrifice to fulfill the seven hundred years of mission of the Gustave family, but I was always unwilling to compromise. My grandfather was very stubborn, and coincidentally, I was also stubborn. So, we were like playing against each other on a chessboard, each insisting on our own will, and this situation continued until you appeared."

When talking about these travelers who dropped from the sky, the corners of the girl's mouth drew a helpless smile, as if she had not thought at that time that these strange outsiders would become a turning point and make her completely change her mind: "If it weren't for you, I might not have come into contact with the Wind Flower Ball again for a long time, nor would I appear at the registration point for the selection competition, and I would not have met Leila and then seen with my own eyes how much effort she put into the road to her dream, like Claire in the past." "However, in this land, in this land of Grangenia named 'Hope' by our ancestor Baron Vince, is Claire the only person with a dream?"

The girl's wine-red eyes reflected the cold light of the night and the warm candlelight. The two colors mixed together, making it look more like a painting with beautiful colors and beautiful light and shadow, shining with a brilliance that is more dazzling than the stars in the sky: "I only pay attention to my relatives and cling to my own inner demons, but I forget that one of the ancestral precepts passed down by Vince's ancestors is to 'caring for the people'. If I am unwilling to take on the mission of destroying the beast and let it break the seal, then it will not only be Grandfather who will pay the sacrifice."

"Countless people with dreams will die because of this. Many of them, like Claire in the past and Leila now, always hold hope for the future and yearn for a better tomorrow. Protecting this hope is the mission of Whitethorn Flower. Although the Church Union will not sit idly by and watch the beast break the seal, they do have the ability to completely destroy the beast, but that is not without cost, right? Aren't those who sacrificed for this in the Church Union considered as the people of Grangenia and the objects that our Gustaf family should protect? I think that the Hiberton ancestor who fought side by side with the Saint in the past would definitely give a negative answer."

"As long as I sacrifice myself, I can protect the dreams of many people. Isn't that what a true knight should do?"

The girl placed her palm on her chest, feeling the calm beating of her heart, and whispered, "At that moment, I suddenly understood what Grandfather was thinking."

What she didn't say was that she also understood her father and mother's thoughts.

When can a person break away from childish fantasies and achieve true growth? At least Xinuo feels that his growth began when his mother died. In the meantime, he began to reflect after experiencing the deaths of his father, the old instructor, Claire, and others. It ended today with the departure of the last of his closest relatives.

From then on, the girl named Shino Jean Gustaf no longer had anyone to rely on in the world, but at the same time, she finally grew into a true knight.

Noble and loyal, resolute and sacrificial.

Every gray-white tombstone in this cemetery is a silent witness to the girl’s growth.

The bouquet of whitethorn flowers was still fluttering in front of the old man's grave. The sound of the swaying branches and leaves could be heard in the silent night, distant and ethereal, like the sound of the tide and waves. Xinuo said softly: "I tell you this not to prove how much effort and sacrifice I have put into this battle, but just to ask you one question - Mr. Lingge, if you still don't change your original intention and want to invite me to join your journey, are you ready for this?"

She stared into Ling'er's eyes and asked word by word: "The awareness of sacrifice."

Ling Ge was shocked when he heard this, but it was not because of Xinuo's question, but because of her decision: "Are you willing to leave with us?"

"Isn't this obvious?"

Xinuo's eyebrows curved, as if he was amused by Ling'er's reaction: "If I didn't want to, why would I ask you such a question? Now I'm waiting for your answer - or rather, your answer."

"Do not."

Ling Ge shook his head: I just... was a little surprised. If you leave with us, what will happen to the Gustave family? You are the only heir to the Whitethorn Flower, right? "

"What Whitethorn Flower should inherit is not these manors and lands, but the spirit of being a knight: defending justice and protecting the weak. That's why our ancestors, Hiberton, spent all their wealth and followed the Saint without hesitation, embarking on a journey that might not bring them back. As long as the reputation of Whitethorn Flower remains, no matter how much wealth we give away now, we will still be able to stand firm in the end and prove who is the oldest guardian of the land of Grangenia."

Xino's eyes were clear and his words came from the heart: "Now, I am just following the deeds of my ancestors Hibernton. Besides, the uprising war only endangers the peace of the people of White City, while the witch society and the cruel Eden plan you mentioned endanger the peace of the entire world. I don't want the war to start again, but if it is to defend justice and protect the weak, I should naturally have the courage to stand up."

Compared with world peace, the wealth of the Gustaf family is really nothing.

Lingge was silent for a while, still unable to give a clear answer, and just said: "I need to go back and discuss this matter with everyone before I can give you an answer."

"It's okay. I'm very patient. Besides, it will take some time to confess this to my family knights and arrange the fate of the family property. Before that, you have a long time to think about it. But to be honest, even if you are afraid of sacrifice and don't want to go with me, I will embark on the journey alone to fight against the so-called witch association. In this respect, we are still partners on the same path."

"No matter how cruel fate is, it will not change a person's choice."

The girl looked at the young man deeply and said meaningfully: "It is their own will that will do it."

(End of this chapter)