It was already late at night when we left Lady Sabrina's mansion.
After walking out of the mansion, light golden morning glory lanterns were lit on both sides of the path leading to the gate from the courtyard, lighting up the road in the night.
"Thank you madam for your hospitality. It's getting late and I should go back."
After walking down the steps, Jielan turned around and gave a brief salute to the lady standing in front of the mansion, and then followed by several knights, walked into the flickering night.
Watching the son of a griffin slowly leave the courtyard, board the carriage, and then the wheels turn, leaving in the quiet night. After a long time, Sabrina turned around and returned to the house.
The hall was still brightly lit, with several maids standing guard in the corner.
After Sabrina returned to the hall, she sat on the sofa, crossed her legs and held the wine glass, slowly sipping it, her eyes fixed, thinking about the conversation she had just had with Jay Lann.
To be honest, as a member of the conservative party, she does not trust humans outside the forest, let alone the human aristocrats who are known for their treachery. But today's situation is not easy. According to the current intelligence, the open faction is in the five categories. He had already gained a vague advantage in the test. If he failed this time, he would have to give up all the right to speak in the forest from now on.
This is not just about the weakening of influence, but also involves many other things. The gilded Corolla she leads is famous in the empire for its luxury goods. If it becomes a marginal and neglected small faction in the future, then the number of people under its name will Luxury brands will also greatly lose their charm.
It is a very simple truth that people will not worship and admire things that are weak and failed. This also means that once a conservative fails, her faction and corolla will continue to weaken.
'Am I going to have to look at that guy's face and pray for mercy from now on?'
When she thought of Vistena, who was not dealing with her, Sabrina felt annoyed and irritated, and simply drank the red wine in her hand.
"Pack up your things and then close the door so that no one can come tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Several elven maids quietly and diligently tidied up the hall.
That's it for today. Sabrina rubbed her temples and felt that she had to visit some old friends tomorrow to discuss this matter.
Should we cooperate with the gryphon eldest son?
It's really troublesome.
When Jie Lanen returned to his residence, he took off his coat and was about to take a hot bath and relax when the sound of footsteps came from outside the corridor.
"I want to see Lord Jie Lann." The man in black robe said after being stopped by the two knights guarding the door.
Not long after, a slightly tired voice came from the room, "Forget it, let him come in."
"Yes, Your Highness." The two white lion knights holding halberds moved out of the way.
After walking into the room, Morag saw Jie Lann with his back to him. At this moment, he was leaning on the seat, looking at the night outside the window. The evening breeze blew slowly, lifting the curtains from time to time, and the orange candlelight illuminated the room. The objects on the table elongate their shadows.
"Your Highness, what was the result of today's discussion?" The man in black robe suppressed the eagerness in his heart and asked in a calm tone.
"Well, it's basically going well." Jie Lanen closed his eyes and leaned on the back of his chair, answering casually.
"Huh, that's good. Does that woman have any answer or promise?"
"Not yet. Conservatives are very wary of outside humans, but I can see that she is tempted. I think she will take the initiative to contact us in a few days."
"If you have nothing else to do, just step back."
"Yes, I'm sorry to disturb His Highness." After receiving a satisfactory answer, the man in black robe responded respectfully, and then slowly left the room.
"Is this guy really just an aide, huh..." After a long time after Morag left, Jeran slowly opened his eyes, looked at the courtyard in the night, and said casually.
'Forget it, I'll investigate him in detail later, I'm tired today.' Jie Lanen thought to himself, and then stood up.
"Is the hot water ready?"
"It's ready and can be used at any time." The knight next to the door bent and replied.
"good."
Although he comes from a noble family, Jielan is not the kind of person who is keen on socializing. For him, dealing with an old elf noble like Sabrina is really troublesome and he is not good at it. Today's negotiation can be described as
Make him physically and mentally exhausted.
At the same time, in another corner of the forest.
Blue calyx corolla, indigo dyed flower street.
A carriage was moving forward on the night streets, and the sound of the wheels turning and grinding on the stone slabs was particularly clear, and you could even hear the sound of small stones flying and rubbing together.
Soon after, the carriage stopped in front of an apricot-yellow house.
The car door opened, and a man wearing a dark dress and a wide purple velvet hat got out of the car. There were a few tied irises on the hat, which was a bit elegant. It was the current popular dress in the forest.
style.
"This is it."
He took out a silver coin from his arms, handed it to the coachman, slowly climbed up the steps, and then knocked on the door. Soon someone opened the door and welcomed him in.
"You came back so late, where have you been?"
In the room, his wife with long light golden braids helped him take off his coat, and then asked with a slight complaint.
"I had some drinks with my friends to celebrate." The man explained casually, and then sat on a chair, looking like he was still a little drunk.
"Huh, let's not talk about it anymore. Next week is the festival, and you will be on stage as the ceremony officer. You'd better prepare in advance." His wife brought hot water, wiped his face briefly, and then went back.
Go to sleep.
Anyway, after he sobers up for a while, he will go back to sleep on his own, and he has become accustomed to it over the years.
Just like that, the man leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes and took a nap, snoring slightly, until after a long time, the cool breeze of the night woke him up.
Opening my eyes, I saw an empty wilderness in front of me. The chirping of insects came from my feet. The stars in the sky were exceptionally bright, and there was a hint of chill in the evening wind.
"Where is this!?"
He shouted and prepared to stand up, but then he realized that he was tied up.
The thick rope tightened as he struggled. Not only did it not loosen, it became even tighter.
‘Who dares to kidnap me? Don’t you know who I am?’ He felt angry in his heart and prepared to use the extraordinary core in his body to break free from the shackles of this thick rope using special means.
But it's a pity that the strong core in the past is now dead. Not only can't you feel the slightest magic, you can't even feel the weak mana in the atmosphere.
Is this? His heart slowly sank.
What can cause this situation is that he has only heard in the past that there are some special potions that can make extraordinary people lose their perception and control of magic.
However, this kind of potion is expensive, and the lowest level is gold grade. No ordinary thief or thief would use this kind of thing, and he is not a big shot.
"Who is it, come out!" He roared angrily, but there was no response.
"Damn it, what a treacherous guy? Do you know who I am? If I am absent from next week's festival, the entire Emerald Forest will be alarmed, and you will not be able to bear the consequences!"
There was silence all around. Under his scream, the insect chirping at night became smaller. It seemed that he was frightened for a while, but he recovered immediately.
"Come out, you dare to tie me up, but you didn't say anything, right?"
Then there was another spell of cursing and struggling, but still no response.
"Disgusting, vile, bedbug, wild dog, vile thing!"
He searched for curse words in his memory. Unfortunately, there were very few such words in the Elvish language, and most of them were passed down from humans.
Finally, after struggling hard, the chair finally overturned, and he rolled sideways into the grass, his face pressed between the soil and grass roots, and a smell of earth came from between his teeth.
"Damn... Bah!"
There was another burst of yelling and cursing, but now the sound gradually became quieter. He was already tired.
Originally, he thought someone was trying to torture him and get something out of him. After all, as the ceremonial officer who presided over the five tests and was a member of the Open Sect, he knew a lot of things.
But after several hours of this, there was still no response. Slowly, his patience began to run out, and a silent fear slowly emerged in his heart.
As a person in a key position and an important member of the faction, he knows a lot of secrets, and now he has indeed made some ulterior deals.
However, he does these things very secretly. The cautiousness he has developed over the years allows him to only choose to trade with people he is familiar with and trustworthy, and he will finish the transaction cleanly every time without leaving any traces. Even if someone wants to check, there will be no traces.
Can't find any flaws.
Who is it? Is someone doubting me? Haha, they just kidnapped me. It seems that the other party has no actual evidence, otherwise they would have threatened me long ago.
Thinking of this, his originally uneasy heart slowly relaxed.
As one of the main ritual officials who presides over the festival, if he goes missing, it will cause quite a storm. Such an incident has not happened in the Emerald Forest for a long time.
Thinking about it this way, the other party probably didn't dare to do anything to me, so they had no choice but to intimidate and frighten me in this way, haha.
The more he thought about it, the clearer he became. The man slowly relaxed and stopped struggling. He let exhaustion overwhelm his consciousness and actually fell asleep on the ground like this.
But when he opened his eyes again, it was already dark. No, it wasn't dark, but he was blindfolded and everything was dark.
Here? He wanted to move, but this time he seemed to be tied up again, and tied to a cold stone pillar.
How did they do it without him noticing at all? The man felt uneasy again.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he roared and struggled, there was still no response. The other party seemed not to care and just wanted to torture him deliberately. But from the echoes around him, he roughly understood that he should be imprisoned in a basement or a small stone wall.
in the room.
Time passed slowly, and the weak water slowly gathered, and then dripped on the man's forehead, causing him to wake up from his drowsiness. Unfortunately, the surrounding area was still dead silent, and there was no response.
His vision was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. Only the water droplets on his head slowly gathered and dripped, making it difficult for him to fall asleep.
As each minute passed slowly in the darkness, he gradually felt that his body was getting more and more tired. The sleepiness brought severe drowsiness, blurred consciousness, and physical weakness.
However, he still couldn't sleep. The upright binding and the dripping water were like demons, constantly keeping him awake, and the darkness around him that would never receive a response slowly made him uneasy, irritable, panicked, and even...
Starting to feel a little desperate.
Hi everyone, can you give me a response?
Originally, he wanted to speak but found that his throat was so hoarse that it was difficult to even spell out the words. Hunger and thirst made him feel constant pain in his stomach, and his limbs began to feel numb and weak.
But a day passed and there was still no response.
In this way, another day passed, and this man had already fallen into a state where the oil lamp was exhausted. He struggled to open his eyes, just to make sure that he was blind. He could not see anything, except for the sound of water drops dripping in his ears.
There was still no sound, everything was so quiet that it was easy to photograph.
Boredom, restlessness, fear, despair, and endless weakness overwhelmed him like a mountain. Even if a three-year-old child came at this time, he could easily kneel down and worship him. He just asked the other party to let him go, even if he died.
The torture of being extremely tired but unable to sleep has swallowed up the last bit of his will, and he no longer has any resistance at all.
However, still no one responded to him.
On the third day, the man was as motionless as a corpse and seemed to have lost any ability to think.
However, today finally there were other sounds in the room.
Someone untied him from the stone pillar and dragged him out. He walked a long way and seemed to have climbed the stairs.
He was thrown to the ground like mud, his head was pulled up, and cold ice cubes were stuffed directly into his mouth. The violent stimulation made him tremble, and then the black cloth in front of his eyes was torn away, and the glare made him unable to open his eyes. It took him a long time to look.
A vague figure appeared in front of me.
This seemed to be the rooftop of a certain roof. The sunlight was slanting down from the top of the umbrella that protected him from the rain, making his weak body feel the slightest warmth, and he finally regained some strength to speak.
Unfortunately, he was still weak and weak. He could not even maintain his body support and fell to the side. Fortunately, someone supported him at the critical moment, although he was fixed to the ground by a clamp.
"Are you awake? Priestess of Rosace." A soft voice came from the front, and his words were as rhythmic as a poet's song.
"Who are you?"
Rosace tried to open his eyes wide, trying to distinguish this blurry figure. His eyes could not see clearly due to lack.
The blond short hair, the white loose robe, and the shining red earrings under the side hair, these vague images came together, and an important name emerged in Rosett's heart, and then there was another wave of fear.
"Lord Eperion..." The voice was bitter and desperate.
"Ah, I didn't expect you to recognize me, Mr. Rosett."
This famous painter and sage was sitting under a large white umbrella at the moment, facing the pure white canvas, painting slowly, and occasionally talking to the extremely weak priest beside him.
sentence.
"Actually, we have met a long time ago. I think it was at a party thirty-three years ago. At that time, I painted a portrait of Miss Elencissa. It was a celebration of her coming of age. I invited a blue calyx flower crown.
There are quite a few guests inside.”
"I was sitting next to the piano, wearing a gray shirt. In order to earn a gold coin, I had to draw a portrait of the eldest lady on the spot before the banquet ended. Many guests talked with interest on the dance floor and wanted to see me.
How to complete this task."
"Mr. Rossaiz had just graduated from the Emerald Cage at that time and came to congratulate him with his elders. Because he was not familiar with the banquet environment, he quickly went to chat with friends." Although it was a small incident many years ago,
But this sage seemed to remember it very clearly, even though he was a very inconspicuous person in the meeting.
"Is this...is there still this thing?" Rosace had no memory of that time, and it was because of Eperion's words that she recalled certain vague fragments.
"Yes, maybe it's because my memory is a little better. Many things cannot be forgotten after many years." The painter said as if sighing, which made people feel a touch of sadness.
"Are you thirsty, Mr. Rosett? Do you want to drink some water first?" The painter put down his brush temporarily and turned to look at the man being carried.
"Need, need."
When I think of water, the feeling that was originally numb and forgotten immediately comes to mind, and Rosace's words are full of eagerness and desire.
"Huh, don't worry, Mr. Rosace, the water will be given to you. As a price, I just want to ask you a few simple things."
Eperion leaned on the white woven wooden chair and looked towards the courtyard not far away. There were many children playing among the green grass, and occasionally there was laughter.
"Yes, yes...you ask, I, I will tell you anything." At this time, Rosace had no intention of resisting and just wanted to fill his extremely thirsty throat.
A masked elf guard brought a glass of water, and the person restraining Rosett behind him also lifted his head, and then the water was poured into his throat under the sun, and an unprecedented sweetness and satisfaction filled his tongue.
and throat, that feeling of happiness almost made Rosett shed tears.
Finally, I finally got some water.
"Ahem..." After pouring the water, the guard took the cup and walked away, while Rosett coughed and shook off the water stains on his face.
"Are you feeling better, Mr. Rosett?" Eperion's voice was still so gentle, as if he was talking to an old friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
"Ahem, I'm better, sir." Rossaiz replied weakly, but he had recovered a little at this time, and even the scenery in front of him became much clearer.
The blue sky, the light golden short hair, the slender fingers holding the paintbrush, and the almost iconic ruby earrings.
Eperion, a new sage of the elven clan, a famous painter and artist, and the man that many elven girls dream of.
It is not an exaggeration to add these titles to this man. In the eyes of many people, he is a painter with a melancholy atmosphere, which makes people pity him.
But she didn't expect it to be him sitting in front of her now.
As Rosézi thought about it, a chill arose in her heart.
"First of all, how much information did you reveal to the conservative side?" the painter asked lightly while smearing paint on the canvas.
"I, I didn't..." Rosace was about to deny it, but quickly fell silent.
It's already this time, do you still hope that you can hide it? A bitter taste lingers on the tip of your tongue.
Seeing him pause, Eperion did not rush him and continued to slowly smear the canvas. The wind blew slowly, rolling up the loose robe from time to time.
"I want to know if you can save my life if I tell you." Rosace asked with the last chance.
"No, Mr. Roses." Eperion had no intention of deceiving this man and spoke his mind directly.
"This..." Rosace's heart sank rapidly again, and she no longer had the thought of speaking.
The rooftop fell into silence again, but the painter was still concentrating on painting the canvas in front of him, mixing the paint from time to time and applying it evenly one by one.
After a long period of silence, Rosace regained some strength and then slowly raised his head and looked at the man in front of him and the canvas in front of him again.
On the canvas are three children happily running and chasing each other in the grass. One of the girls is holding a rotating windmill, and her white skirt is floating among the grass blades. In front of her is a mother, with her arms outstretched, as if
She was afraid that the girl would fall. In the corner of the painting, another woman covered her mouth and smiled, looking at the three innocent children playing in the painting.
Is this the painting of the people on the grass below?
Rossaiz listened to the laughter and laughter not far away, turned his eyes, and soon saw the figures playing.
Here, this should be the clover garden within the blue calyx corolla. Some kindergartens allow parents to bring their children to gather and play here every weekend.
He quickly remembered some of the little things his wife told him on weekdays, and his eyes quickly turned, finally finding a familiar figure among the group of people.
Katisha, my baby, Silela, my love... He murmured the familiar name in his mouth, and then struggled with his knees on the ground, trying to move closer and see clearly the figure playing in the grass.
Yes, it's them, they're there.
Grasping the railing beside the rooftop, Rosace wanted to shout loudly, but could not make any sound. Only then did he realize that the rooftop had long been set up with a silent barrier. Only a small area under the umbrella could speak, and there was no sound.
It cannot be transmitted outside.
Slowly, he seemed to understand something and wanted to crawl back to pray to the sage. However, at this time, the figure behind him had already pinned him to the ground, making him unable to get closer to the painter.
The light green grass blades and pure white skirts, the red windmill and the kind mother, the bright colors seem to freeze the time at this moment, and the bright sunshine adds a sense of midsummer to the characters on the canvas.
Unique remoteness and nostalgia.
"Actually, I envy Mr. Rossez for having a happy family, but I have lost these a long time ago. I can only recall and commemorate them through painting." Eperion turned the tip of his pen in the painting tray to mix the final colors.
.
"The happiness of possession is like transparent glass, which is always difficult to detect, but if you turn it a little, it will emit colorful colors in the sun."
He picked up the pen and began to paint the delicate and moving eyes of the children.
The colors are so vivid, like colorful and dreamy bubbles in the sun, arousing people's reverie and nostalgia.
Looking at the eyes that were finally clicked, the figure in the canvas that was exactly the same as his daughter's, the man's eyes slowly shed tears, and his voice became even louder.
"I'm sorry, Katisha, ugh..."
"I am willing, I am willing to tell you about the mistakes I have made, the shameful betrayal... I just hope that the wise man will not hold my family and my children accountable... wuwu." The tears are extremely warm, but also so salty.
, so bitter.
"I will. I promise to take care of your family. Mr. Rossets, maybe you have forgotten that at the banquet that day, when you were chatting with your friends, you said that the painter's paintings are really good. If I have a daughter in the future,
Ask him to draw one too."
"Although Mr. Rosett just said it casually at the time, I always wrote it down. I'm sorry that I only came to complete it today." Eperion put down the brush, turned to Rosett, and said slowly
past.
"I..." Rosace was speechless at this time.
After that, the man slowly explained how he was approached by an acquaintance, and then after some bargaining, he accepted the benefits, and then sold the confidential information within the Open Sect to others. Who were the other parties and what did they use in daily life?
He explained everything in detail about how to communicate or convey information.
By the time I finished speaking, it was already approaching noon.
"I think that's enough for today." Eperion slowly stood up.
"You guys will take down this painting, put it up and give it to Rosett's wife, Lady Silera."
"It's time to end the garden tour now."
"Yes, sir." The two attendants took down the painting, rolled it up carefully, and then walked down the stairs.
Rossaiz was on the rooftop, staring blankly at the grass in the distance. The mother accepted the scroll with a smile. The children next to her were jumping happily and circling around their mother.
Slowly, until the people in this courtyard slowly dispersed and left, it became clean again.
Eperion walked past Rosett and patted him on the shoulder.
"Good night, Mr. Rosett, I wish you a sweet dream."
Then footsteps slowly descended the steps and entered the unseen darkness.
