Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 935 Have you never felt happy playing wind flower ball?
Time passes quickly.

After the funeral, the Chardoli Manor returned to its former tranquility, while the distant Sumiya City once again set off a wave of wind flower balls. One after another fierce competition stirred the emotions of the audience, making them cheer and lament from time to time. As the competition progressed, the fate of the contestants gradually took different paths. Some left the field bleakly, while others made great progress. For the former, people had no lack of warmth; for the latter, they offered admiration and cheers, which reflected the charm of competitive events.

Shino kept her promise. Although she was busy with family affairs, she would go to watch any match of Leila and Gloria. However, at the funeral a week ago, the news that the Whitethorn Flower Family had welcomed a noble and beautiful new head of the family had spread throughout the Grindelwald Plains through word of mouth. Therefore, this time, she could not sit in the audience and watch the game quietly as before. Instead, she was invited by the organizer to the VIP box and sat with the mayor, the archbishop, the president of the Wind Flower Ball General Affairs Association and other celebrities and dignitaries.

The Gostave family, which had been silent for many years, had returned to the public's attention for such an absurd reason. Xino felt extremely helpless about this, and the social atmosphere in the VIP box made her feel very uncomfortable. These people only regarded the Wind Flower Ball as a topic of conversation. In fact, the topics they wanted to discuss were still various boring political games and interest exchanges. Some even wanted to use this opportunity to make friends with the new head of the Whitethorn Flower.

This scene was very similar to the funeral a week ago. They all mixed too much desire into something that should have been pure. Although these people would smile, nod, and applaud when the players on the field made some wonderful moves or scored a winning goal, Xino could not feel any sincerity from their applause, as if it was just a routine.

The girl didn't like this attitude. She would rather sit in the audience, stay with her friends, immerse herself in the thunderous applause, and express her emotions. However, her current status does not allow the girl to be willful. She is destined to leave her hometown, leave the Grindelwald Field, and go to a distant and unknown world to meet her own destiny. But leaving does not mean abandoning everything. The girl is still worried about the Gustaf family, the loyal knights, the aliens living in the Forest of Loser, and the residents of the town of Ragram...

She made friends with the upper class of Sumiya City, even donated part of her property, and reached a cooperative relationship with the city government and the church. This was a talisman she left for the people she was worried about. It could ensure that these people would not be harmed after she left, and the flag of the white thorn flower could still fly over the sky of the Shadoli Manor until the day she returned.

But will it really come back?

Inside the VIP box, the knight of the Godafu family felt something and looked up at the sky. Outside the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, the autumn sky was exceptionally clear and clean, and even the sunlight had a lazy atmosphere. However, she was stunned and said nothing, as if she could not foresee her own future.

At this moment, a thunderous cheer rang out, and the visible sound waves rushed to the sky, dispersing the tired white clouds and lazy sunlight. Then, the guests who were originally chatting in the box also began to applaud at the same time, encouraging the players on the field for their wonderful performance. Xinuo was half a beat late to react. Her eyes moved from the clear sky to the small court, and she saw the familiar figure standing on the sidelines, waving to the audience and accepting the cheers from all directions.

The VIP box was on the highest level of the stadium, but even from a long distance, Xino could still clearly see the glistening sweat on her forehead and the confident and happy smile on her face, and he couldn't help but feel happy for her.

“What a beautiful shot.”

Archbishop Pichel Cordelli, who was sitting next to him, smiled and praised, and then said, "Before, Phyllis kept telling me that her friend is a very talented person and asked me to recommend her to the president of the Golden Glory Club. But I think that after today, not only the people of Saint-Denis Province, but also the people of the entire Sigiriya continent will recognize Miss Leila's talent."

Because after hitting this winning goal, Leila once again defeated a strong professional player, took a step forward, and now has secured a spot in the top 16 - as an amateur player.

Those who qualified earlier than her were Caesar, Moon Goddess, Heavy Gunner and other well-known players.

The most dazzling star in the history of the Wind Flower Ball, the great Ms. Mistyan, will her miracle be repeated again? No one can be sure, but they are all looking forward to it.

"Not only talent, but also strength." Xino said, his tone serious, as if to emphasize something: "This tournament is just the starting point. Leila's future is still promising."

Because she is both hope and dream.

"hehe."

Pichel chuckled twice and did not continue to delve into the topic. Instead, he waited until the cheers of the audience gradually died down and the distinguished guests in the box resumed the previous topic before he spoke: "The same goes for you, Miss Shino. You have a bright future too - as long as you find the right path."

He was hinting at something. Hearing this, Xinuo pursed his lips slightly. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "Thank you very much for your appreciation of me. It is my honor."

When Pichel heard that she was thanking him, not the United Church, he knew the answer to the question. He was not angry, nor even surprised, but just a little regretful: "Although I knew you were unlikely to agree, I still want to say that not being able to successfully invite you to join the United Church should be the biggest regret in my life."

"You are too kind." Xinuo said, "There are many outstanding talents in the church alliance, and I am sure they will not be short of one."

"But someone as outstanding as you is rare in the world. The last time I saw you was in Linville..." Pichel paused for a moment, then cleverly avoided the name that should have come up in the topic: "The Church Union has a special way of judging, or positioning, every talent it likes. In our positioning, you are someone who can rival Joan of Arc. Do you want to be someone like Joan of Arc, Miss Heno? We may be able to help you. Of course, it depends mainly on your own willingness."

This sentence even vaguely revealed information about the Witch Society, but Shino, who already knew it, remained unmoved. He still shook his head and repeated the previous sentence: "Thank you very much for your kindness, Mr. Pichel. It's my honor."

"Why? I remember you admired Joan of Arc, Miss Heno?"

"Yes, I admire the Saint Lady very much, but——"

Shino said word by word: "I will not be her."

There is only one Joan of Arc in this world, and similarly, there is only one Cino.

Pichel understood what she meant, but just smiled and said nothing more. He looked back at the court, where the next player was entering the court and was immediately greeted with even more enthusiastic cheers than the previous match. It was obvious that he was a very popular player.

"Ms. Gloria is a world-famous talented player." Pichel said, "I know she is also your friend, Ms. Xinuo. I have seen her training on the golf course of the Chardouri Manor. That is also the golf course used by Ms. Mistyan. It can be said to be a kind of inheritance. But I remember that her performance in this championship was not very stable. What do you expect the result of this game?"

Xinuo said "Uh". She couldn't tell him that the Gloria you see now is not the same person as the talented contestant Gloria, right? That's not right either, because they are actually the same person. She laughed awkwardly and avoided the topic: "Until the moment the referee blows the whistle, the result of the game is uncertain. It depends on the individual strength of the contestants and perhaps a little bit of luck. So, although Gloria is my friend, I can't give you a definite answer. I can only wish her good luck."

Pichel nodded in agreement: "Indeed, let us wait and see."

……

An hour later, the game ended.

It is hard to believe that Gloria, the player we had high hopes for, was defeated by a little-known player and failed to reach the top 16 - this is actually not quite accurate, because although the professional player who played against her was not very famous, his ranking on the WT list was several places higher than Gloria. In addition, Gloria's performance in this tournament was not satisfactory, so her defeat was a matter of course.

But this "taken for granted" is an objective description, but it is not the case subjectively. In particular, Gloria and Leila are both hailed as the most anticipated new stars in this tournament. The latter has only risen from the qualifying stage, while Gloria has been famous for a long time and has fans all over the world. She even made bold statements before the game. Everyone thinks that she will definitely break her personal record. Even if she can't win the championship, it should be easy for her to reach the semi-finals, right?

This is bad luck.

Of course Gloria had her reasons, like she had never touched the Wind Flower Ball before, she had awareness but no skills, and she was already gifted enough to make it to the top 32 after only one month of training; or, she said, I didn't want to participate in this competition in the first place, and it was the curse that forced me to stand on the field, and I felt wronged too... and so on.

But can these reasons be told to those fanatical fans?
They all spent real money to support their favorite contestants, and cheered for the girl when she was full of energy and vigor. Since Gloria enjoyed the support, she must bear the corresponding responsibilities. You can't enjoy the support of fans and then say after failure, "I didn't let anyone down, right?"

Linger thought so, but he was not sure whether Gloria would think so. He thought that with the girl's psychological endurance, she might sneak away to avoid facing the fans' doubts. But what surprised the young man was that after the game, Gloria took the initiative to accept an interview with the media. In the interview, she said that she was not able to achieve good results in this championship. It was her own fault. She was really embarrassed to disappoint the people who had always supported her enthusiastically.

Looking at the sincerity and apology on the girl’s face, even the most disappointed fan couldn’t say that this was acting.

On the way back, because Gloria said she wanted to be alone, everyone else squeezed into another carriage. Only Lingge insisted on sitting in the same carriage with Gloria and forced himself to ignore the piercing gaze of a certain girl behind him. In the carriage, he asked Gloria a question face to face: "Did Bai Ye ask you to accept the interview?"

Gloria's defeat disappointed her supporters, and some people might even publish some offensive and derogatory remarks about her in the newspapers and media. Therefore, issuing an apology in public at this time would undoubtedly effectively dispel their anger and restore some of her reputation. However, Ling Ge thought that Gloria could not come up with such a solution, and it must be Bai Ye's idea.

Gloria lowered her head and said nothing, but after a while, when she raised her head, her temperament had completely changed. Her originally gentle face had a cold temperament, and her eyebrows and eyes also exuded an alienated aura that kept people away from her. So Ling Ge knew that this was her inner personality coming online.

“Oh!” Bai Ye sneered as he appeared, his tone was sharp: “Don’t think of me as too mean, and don’t think of Gloria as too stupid. No one instigated her to do this. This was her own idea. In fact, I once tried to stop her because she didn’t need to apologize for a group of strangers, but she didn’t listen to me.”

Linger frowned immediately: "Is this Gloria's own idea? Could it be that the apologies she made during the interview with the reporter were all sincere?"

"Of course." Bai Ye looked at him with contempt. "I know what you are thinking, but I have to say that your understanding of Gloria is too superficial. What kind of status is she in now? A talented athlete who became famous at a young age. She is not lacking in talent or strength. But what is more important? It is the sense of honor, mission and responsibility that she should have as an athlete. These are not false. In this case, feeling ashamed of losing the game, could it be an excuse she came up with to evade responsibility? I want to tell you, it is not the case."

"You are not the person who knows Gloria best in the world." Bai Ye looked at him deeply, his eyes dim and unclear: "Of course, neither am I. So, we'd better all respect this guy. If there is something she must do, I will persuade her and stop her, but I will not force her. Do you understand, dear Mr. Ling?"

The young man nodded slightly: "I understand, Miss Bai Ye. And thank you for telling me this truth. It has given me a deeper understanding of the relationship between you and Miss Gloria."

"I have no special relationship with that little fool, it's just a simple dual personality."

Bai Ye said this expressionlessly, and then disappeared. Gloria looked confused, as if she had just woken up from a dream. "Ah, Ling Ge, could it be that Bai Ye appeared just now and said something to you?"

Linger asked back: "Don't you know?"

"Yeah." Gloria scratched her cheek, a little embarrassed: "Although our bodies are the same, Bai Ye sometimes doesn't want me to see what she is doing, so she makes me fall asleep. But this situation is rare. I remember the last time was... was..."

It seemed to be so rare that Gloria couldn't remember it after trying for a long time.

However, we can also hear from her words that the relationship between this inner and outer personality is indeed very interesting.

Linger took a deep look at the gray-haired girl in front of him and suddenly asked, "Are you happy with the game, Gloria?"

"Ah?" Gloria was a little slow to react, then she smiled brightly and nodded heavily: "Yeah! Although the feeling of failure is very uncomfortable, and I feel a little embarrassed for disappointing everyone's expectations, but... playing wind flower ball is really fun!"

Linger withdrew his gaze and looked out the window. The rural scenery of Grindelwald was slowly receding with the horses' hooves. Two children were playing with simple rackets in the open field. Seeing this scene, the young man's lips opened and closed, as if he was saying something. Gloria quickly turned her ear and listened carefully, and then she could hear clearly what the sentence meant -

"That's good."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)