Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 931: Are your eyes looking weird?
This was the second time Lingge was asked to leave today. Although the tone was not very friendly, the young man was very good at respecting other people's opinions. So he left her windmill tower room without waiting for Yieta to ask for the second time, and at the same time closed the door considerately, blocking the girl's muttering complaints behind the door.

I hope I won't have to go through this for the third time with Lorena.

As Ling Ge rushed to the alchemy workshop in the forest, he thought to himself. He was not a fool. After experiencing the incidents of Olvera and Ieta, he naturally understood that there was a mastermind behind their abnormal behavior. If nothing unexpected happened, the mastermind should be his dearest sister, Metien.

As for what Metien said to the two men, the young man could roughly guess it and felt helpless about it.

In my sister's mind, am I such an unreliable person that I need her to worry about even my emotional problems?
And there's absolutely no point in worrying about this kind of thing.

He has more important things to do now, so where does he get the energy to think about emotional issues? Therefore, although he vaguely noticed that some girls on Yunjingkong Island had a vague feeling for him, he never took the initiative to make it clear, but deliberately kept the distance at the level of ordinary friends. There may be a sincere feeling of sharing hardships, a warm feeling of being together day and night, and a feeling of pity for their personal experiences... but it is not enough to rise to a higher level.

The two things that young people have been most worried about are the threat of the witch society and the feelings of the girls towards him. Most of these girls have not experienced the baptism of civilized society and are still ignorant of human affairs, so they are easily influenced by the outside world. If they are just a little dependent on Lingge, it would be fine. But what if they mistake this ignorant feeling for true love and even take the initiative to open up? Young people who are not interested in this will definitely refuse, but this may also cause some other problems, such as distracting everyone's attention and making it impossible to concentrate on dealing with real enemies...

Fortunately, also because of their inexperience, those girls who had developed ignorant feelings in their hearts did not seem to realize that they had such feelings, nor did they have the courage to face them, so Lingge did not need to face this embarrassing situation for the time being.

He thought that this situation would continue to be good. After all, the current situation did not allow him to be distracted by other things. Whether it was the threat of the Witch Society or the opening of the Holy Temple of Heaven, they were more important than personal emotional problems. Who would have thought that there were people on Yunjingkong Island who were not satisfied with the status quo and took practical action?

But that person was his sister, Metien, the person who knew Lingge best in the world.

If she was the one giving advice behind the scenes, those girls might really muster up the courage to do what they have never dared to do. Just like today, the always shy Olvera was able to confidently ask Lingge for payment, and the always peaceful Miss Angel would take the initiative to ask young people about their preferences. If he said that there was no Metien behind the scenes, he would never believe it.

My dear sister, what do you want to do?

I am busy changing the world, and you are busy changing me?

Ling Ge, who was worried, stood at the door of the alchemy workshop without realizing it. The September sun shone from the treetops and sprinkled on the open space in the forest, illuminating the dead branches and leaves on the ground, which seemed a bit bleak. Ling Ge looked down and saw a familiar set of footprints on the ground, and he couldn't help but be even more speechless. There were not only footprints of the coming, but also of the leaving. It seemed that Metien had dealt with Rolena and was looking for the next target.

But the question is, is Lorena that easy to deal with?

She and Bai Ye are probably the two most mysterious people on Yunjingkong Island. Bai Ye is purely based on distance. She is too cold and unwilling to contact others, so people know very little about her. However, Rolena is just the opposite. She integrates into Yunjingkong Island very quickly, and the small props she refines are also very popular. However, her personality is really unpredictable. She is a person who is good at mixing truth and jokes, so that no one can see through her heart.

If a person like this agreed to Metian's request, whether it was sincere or just to play a prank, it would be a terrible thing. At least, Lingge was a little unwilling to face it at the moment.

The good news is that Lingge can temporarily confirm that the sea princess has no other feelings towards him except friendship. This may be related to her growth experience: compared with other young royal girls who are not well-versed in the world, she has a complete childhood, with parents who love her, a sister who cares about her, and people who respect her; the years she lived in Lothdana made up for her lack of experience and made her have a clear insight into social rules and human emotions; more importantly, her curse is the purest physical damage, and has nothing to do with the soul, spirit, will, etc., so there is no flaw in her character.

So, when it comes to emotional matters, she might be a little more rational than her other sisters.

The only thing he had to worry about was that she would take this opportunity to play a prank on Lingge. But in this regard, the young man was still somewhat confident. He felt that as long as he was vigilant, he would not be easily fooled.

Uh, is that right?

He looked at the footprints on the ground, then at the motionless wooden door in front of him. For some reason, he sighed, and finally raised his hand resignedly and knocked on the door, making a crisp sound.

"Come in." The owner's response came quickly from the workshop, as if he had known someone was coming to visit, and maybe even knew who the visitor was.

In fact, this was exactly the case. When she saw Lingge walking into the workshop, there was no surprise on Rorona's face. Instead, she greeted him with a smile, then retracted her gaze and wiped the black-rimmed glasses in her hand - she changed the frames and looked more elegant and calm than before.

It was rare to see her not doing alchemy, Ling was a little surprised, and subconsciously glanced at the alchemical cauldron in the corner. The thick and heavy cauldron was standing there quietly. There was neither a blazing fire nor boiling or bubbling suspicious liquid. The silence made people suspect that Alice had changed her personality.

Rorona didn't look at him, but seemed to have guessed what the young man was thinking at the moment. She chuckled and said, "I'm not doing alchemy all the time. I need to take a break occasionally. Besides, the last test product of the magic pollution purification reagent just failed. No one has asked me for anything recently. I'll just take this as a vacation to relieve my work fatigue."

Are you tired?
Looking at the spirited Princess Haiqi, Lingge was speechless. "Don't look at me like that." Rolena turned her head and pulled her left eyelid towards him. It looked like she was making a face, but in fact, she was just showing off her dark circles. "See these dark circles? They are all caused by me staying up all night to do alchemy this month. My appearance has dropped by at least five percentage points. Alas, work is a woman's lifelong enemy. My sister is right."

What's with that number that's accurate to a percentage? Which sister is that? Saint Shalia would definitely not say such a thing, so it must be Her Highness Galene of Nereides. No wonder the queen is unwilling to hand over the family business to her. She's still a gatekeeper and she's thinking about slacking off. What will happen when she becomes the queen in the future?
Lingge had a blank expression and said nothing. He walked over and sat down opposite her. It happened that Rorona had already wiped the new glasses clean (although they were not dirty originally). She tried them on and found them to be quite suitable. So she nodded with satisfaction and asked the young man, "What do you think of this pair of glasses? I made them again after referring to Metien's opinion. She said that the original glasses represented a noble and elegant style, but there are already many such characters on Sky Island. Sister Xiaoxia and Miss Shesta are in front, and Count Nevi and Sister Livia are in the back. The competition is fierce, so she suggested that I take the route of a literary girl. Although there is also a competitor named Olvera on this road, she is also a bit tsundere, and I can use my intellect as an advantage and take a differentiated competitive route with her. I think it makes sense."

Lingge closed his eyes in pain before he could finish her long speech.

What personality, what tsundere, what differentiated competition, how could the innocent pink-haired little girl know about these messed up things, there must be someone secretly bewitching her.

Who led the well-behaved and sensible sister astray?
Alice, I want you to die!
"Oh, judging from your expression, you don't seem very satisfied, Lingge?" Rorona pushed the frame of her glasses, a meaningful light flashed in her eyes: "Or do you prefer the natural style of Yieta? But it is her natural innocence that makes it so natural. If others deliberately imitate her, I am afraid it will only backfire - so I may not be able to meet your expectations, sorry."

Ling Ge said numbly: "I don't have any expectations of you."

Although it was the truth, Princess Haiqi's mouth twitched slightly, and she said with a fake smile: "Then please leave my alchemy workshop?"

"what?"

Lingge is now particularly sensitive to the word "get out", as it seems to trigger some bad memories.

"just kidding."

Compared to Olvera and Ieta, Rolena controlled her emotions better. She smiled casually and brushed off the sincere words just now. Then she took off her glasses, put them aside, and muttered quietly: "I finally understand why Metien is so worried about you."

"What did you say?" Lingge seemed not to hear clearly.

"Nothing." Rorona blinked her eyes, which were as clear as the sea water. "Let's talk about business. Lingge, you came to me for my alchemy. Do you have any new needs?"

This made Lingge feel awkward. What do you mean I came to you for your alchemy? Can't I just come to chat with you based on friendship? But then he thought again, he didn't seem to have looked for Lorena for anything other than alchemy. Thinking about it again, he found that he really cared too little about this princess of the sea.

As for Olvera, he would take the initiative to care about her curse, help her keep the secret, and even go to her room at night to watch her fall asleep; as for Ieta, he was always worried about the bad habit of the girl staying in the windmill tower room and refusing to go out, and thought of various excuses to try to induce her to step into the outside world; as for Leticia, he would appear by her side on time every full moon curse, and pray for her reincarnation, so that the little bat’s attitude towards him was no longer so resistant...

The only thing he cared about was Lorena, and he never even asked about her curse. It was only when they talked face to face that he discovered something was wrong.

Perhaps it was because Princess Haiqi always acted strong. When other young queens succumbed to the curse, she was the only one who stubbornly looked for a way to lift it. Even though her failed alchemical products had filled up her cupboard, she did not change her original intention. Coupled with her usual joking personality, this behavior made Ling Ge subconsciously think that she did not need his concern.

But the young person overlooked one fact: no matter how strong she was, she was still just a girl, a girl who had left her familiar hometown and loved ones and embarked on an unknown journey. The anxieties and worries did exist, but she just didn't show them.

Thinking of this, Lingge couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. For young people, this was a very rare emotion, but at this moment he really felt that he seemed to have failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a friend. If Her Majesty the Queen Nereids and Her Highness Galene knew about their daughter's (sister's) current situation, they might regret entrusting Lorena to these people on the earth of unknown origin?
However, it is useless to say all this now. Mistakes cannot be eliminated, they can only be corrected.

The young man sighed quietly in his heart, not noticing that Lorena's eyes flashed with satisfaction as she stared at him, and the corners of her mouth also raised an intriguing arc. Of course, she was well versed in human nature - especially after a long period of observation and testing, she had already mastered Ling's character, so she did not pursue the victory, but decided to distract the young man with serious matters. Because she knew that this young man always thought more thoroughly when he was alone, but he also thought more and fell deeper, so these distracted attention would one day return to his heart a hundredfold and lay a foundation for her victory.

And if Lingge shows concern for me, contrary to his usual behavior, then perhaps it can arouse the competitive spirit of Sister Xiaoxia and Avra...Metien, I won’t disappoint you by doing this, right?
"Don't be in a daze, Lingge, this is not like your character." She said softly, "Aren't we going to talk about business? Let's get straight to the point, how about it?"

The young man came back to his senses and nodded subconsciously: "Yeah."

strangeness.

He couldn't help but think: Why does Rosa's eyes look weird?

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)