The Emperor’s Angel of Death

It is said that Gurb only snows once every ten years, and he also loves snow very much. Snow scenes have always been the main material of his paintings.

They fall from the sky, as if they were whirling catkins, but the ending is never up to them.

Whenever it snows at night, he stays up all night, because the sound of snow falling on the roof is so soft that it is almost inaudible. Quietly listening to the sound of snow falling in the deep night is a pleasure in itself.

Li, dressed in simple clothes, thoroughly enjoys painting alone in the only well-preserved pavilion in the ruins of this ancient city, with a simple candlestick next to him, with several candles about to burn to the end.

The surrounding residents have already fallen asleep, and the servants serving their mother have also fallen silent. Of course, his mother must also be talking all night with her reunited son. This primarch named Xerxes, although his father gave him the number 11, Li knew that he was the eldest son of the primarch, or that he was his father's real son, born naturally by his mother, not a product of genetic engineering like him.

This was the first time he had seen his mother so happy. That heartfelt joyful smile and tears made him particularly yearning and envious. After returning to his hometown, Xerxes came to see his reclusive mother as soon as possible, without directly choosing to go to the palace to meet his father. The primarchs didn't even know they had such a mother.

I think, his father will also be very happy. He can see that his brother has an extraordinary bearing and strength.

Brother.

He only dared to think about it in his heart, but never dared to call any primarch brother. In fact, when he first saw Xerxes, he even felt a little guilty. He didn't expect that his actions would lead to such serious consequences. When he learned that his mother was going to hide Xerxes in another distant world, he was also stunned, and immediately realized that he had done something very serious, but he had to admit that there seemed to be a trace in his heart at that time.

Lucky?

After weighing the paintbrush in his hand, he outlined a beautiful stroke.

Heh.

The corners of Li's mouth curved unconsciously, and he reached out and placed the teapot on the side on the smoldering stove. Such a life is naturally boring and lonely compared to the glorious expedition and killing, but for him, it can be regarded as contentment.

At this time, his mood is like this ancient city that has fallen for thousands of years, so calm and unwavering.

And this first snow in ten years came several months earlier than expected, vigorously and profusely, dyeing the ancient city into a cold white.

People often say that it doesn't rain on Terra, but it snows, which is really strange.

When the temperature of the tea was just right, his eyes fell on the empty cup in front of him.

But soon a voice disturbed him.

"Brother, painting on a snowy night is so elegant."

In the hearty laughter, a giant wearing a gorgeous black dress with short hair tied behind his head walked into the pavilion step by step through the snow.

"I smelled the fragrance of tea hundreds of meters away."

Li smiled slightly, looked at his handsome brother, and stretched out his hand.

"Lord Xerxes, would you like to have a cup together?"

"Ha, of course."

Xerxes sat down generously. Li filled two teacups. The suitable cup in his hand was a bit small in the other's hand, but it seemed very suitable as a teacup.

"I planted it myself."

Xerxes took a sip of the teacup, nodded, and then drank it all in one gulp. After that, he turned his head and was silent for a moment, as if he was savoring the aftertaste, but then he smiled with relief:

"If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely complain. This is almost the bitterest thing I have ever drunk, but it has a different taste. What is it called?"

"I call it Orphan."

"Orphan, Orphan, a very meaningful name."

Xerxes put away his smile, lowered his head and looked at the empty cup, as if he was recalling the taste of the tea touching his tongue, and then said in a low voice:

"Among so many brothers, perhaps only you have the opportunity to grow tea for yourself and taste tea for yourself. I envy you, Li."

Then, this primarch looked out of the pavilion. At this time, the snow was falling heavily. Naturally, what he saw when he looked up was a hazy scene.

Li put down the pen in his hand and also took a sip of the teacup.

"Lord Xerxes, you are the first and only primarch to call me brother, which makes me feel very uneasy."

"Mother told me some things about you."

Li's face changed slightly but soon returned to normal.

"Is that so... There's nothing to talk about. I can't do anything, and I can't help my father's great cause."

Xerxes smiled.

"You underestimate yourself, brother."

Then he looked at the painting. In the picture, a lonely figure in a gray robe stood with his back to the people outside the flowers on a collapsed ancient idol. There was almost no color in the surrounding scene, only faint gray and light white. The scenery only included two dead trees in the near distance and vaguely undulating mountains in the distance, as well as a very simple pagoda. There was a string of small footprints on the snow, extending from the position of the person in the painting to the pagoda in the distance.

The whole picture has an unspeakable sense of emptiness and loneliness. That kind of loneliness is a cold-eyed examination of the absurdity of the world, which can make people walk into the painting, walk through the desert of the soul, and dance wildly alone.

Xerxes nodded and praised:

"Good painting, good painting. The world is full of decadence now, and few people can appreciate this kind of simplicity and tranquility."

Li shook his head with a wry smile and filled Xerxes' teacup.

"What's the use? What father needs are warriors who can fight for him. Let's not talk about these things. Are you going to the palace tomorrow?"

"I'm leaving soon. I'm here to say goodbye to you."

At this time, Li also heard the roar of the aircraft, so he said in surprise:

"So urgent? You've only been here for two days."

"Father urgently summoned me to enter the palace immediately."

Then, Xerxes stood up, pointed to the teapot and smiled:

"Li, thank you for being with mother during this time. Let's drink a pot of Orphan another day, after father's affairs are over."

Xerxes' smile was so kind and warm that almost his face appeared with divine light, making Li feel ashamed. He knew that this was his father's real son, the prince who inherited his father's great power and personality charm.

And he...

Just a dim star near the sun.

As the roar of the aircraft engine gradually dissipated, everything that disturbed the snowy night was integrated into this deep night.

The snow was still falling, covering all the footprints. Li put away his painting tools, opened his umbrella and prepared to return to his room.

When he walked out of the pavilion, the wind and snow had stopped. He raised his head, and what he saw was still a gray scene.

When Li raised his head and saw a bright star hanging in the sky through the sky full of wind and snow, it was like that person, even under the siege of shade, still exuding dazzling light, shining, shining, even making people feel extremely dazzling.

Too dazzling.

Li exhaled a white mist and stretched out his hand to let the snow fall into his open palm, but it did not have time to show its beautiful shape and melted in an instant. It seems that for things that are accustomed to coldness, even the slightest warmth is painful—

"Humph!"

He threw the mirror away, the man gasped violently, like a trapped beast in the dim room, surrounded by various uniquely shaped incense burners, emitting a faint blue smoke, and several uniquely shaped hourglasses, all painted black, engraved with strange alien runes of emerald green, the fine sand inside had flowed into the lower half.

Suddenly, a ray of light appeared in the room, and then quickly disappeared. Then a simple woman in a white robe walked in holding a tray. It was Dalia.

She knelt on the ground, placed the tray next to Li's carpet where he was sitting cross-legged, glanced at him with a cold gaze, and said softly:

"You dreamed of that time again."

"Yeah."

Li just replied faintly, and then opened his arms. Dalia picked up those pale yellow bandages full of runes from the tray and began to wrap them around Li's rapidly drying skin on his arms.