The green eyes watched her in silence. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info sank to a blackened green, like a bottomless deep pool in a dense forest, without a trace of temperature, without a ripple.

The warmth and brightness of that moment just now was just an illusion brought by the sun. And this bottomless coldness is the truth he has hidden for a long time.

Lydia looked up slightly, looking back at him without flinching, and did not hold back the smile between her eyebrows. She knew very well that the other party would probably be able to crush her easily...... But that was definitely not what he was doing for her.

“...... You took something that belonged to me. He said, completely ignoring the provocation hidden in her smile, and her naturally soft voice turned into an unsettling gloom and hollowness in the midst of indifference.

"It depends on how we define 'belonging'. "Lydia has a good time to figure out the long sleeves that are almost on the ground.

The other fell silent again, and the indifference in her expression made Lydia realize that he didn't bother to argue with her about this.

"Perhaps, you can also see this as some kind of compensation?" the mage shrugged, wisely in a different way, "After all, when your men planted all kinds of charges on my head, and I was chased by those paladins or saints and whatever...... I didn't say anything. ”

"That's none of my business. He indifferently denied it.

Lydia was slightly surprised by this answer. She narrowed her eyes and suddenly realized that this might not be a shirk of responsibility.

After being "used" again and again, consciously or unconsciously, for such a long time, it was certainly impossible for her to be ignorant of the shadows that were hiding behind Aaron Mancini and Agnes. And everything she learned told her that the "Venerable" who was powerful, suspicious, ambitious, and inevitably arrogant in her speculation...... It really doesn't look like a person in front of me.

She looked thoughtfully at Mansini, thinking back on his unexpected actions in the past half month. The notherally cunning Earl Ferdinand abandoned his prudence and became bold and strong, all his actions seemed completely reckless, leaving no way for himself...... As a pure egoist, what kind of goal would make him willing to make such a sacrifice?

She had thought that the final offensive had begun, but the development of events was rather ambiguous. The chaos that should have surged wave after wave, but it was also suppressed wave after wave, so weak and weak that even she, a bystander who planned to fish in troubled waters, was not interested.

But if ......

A smile welled up on her lips, and Lydia took a new interest in the expected meeting.

Agnes ...... Does she know?" she asked Mancini curiously, "knowing that you have followed another master?"

"She'll know when she needs to know. After a brief moment of silence, the debunked Mancini smiled and calmly replied, "She doesn't lose more, but she gains more...... Our dear Countess Maurice is a wise woman who always makes wise choices. ”

Lydia smiled and said nothing.

The wise choice - that's probably for her.

She had already made plans. She knew her chips well and what she could get in exchange...... But now, she's not so sure.

She couldn't see through the "Venerable" in front of her. He asks her for "what belongs to him" in his true face, but he doesn't seem to care that much. He was not in a hurry or angry, he did not care about her mockery and temptation, and he did not show the slightest displeasure when she deliberately avoided the topic to speak to Mansini, but looked at her with a heavy gaze...... There was no trace of her in his eyes.

“...... If you can tell me what exactly you want back, I'd give it back. She spoke slowly, "If there's anything you need me to do...... I'm happy to help. ”

"So, what do you want?"

In return? In return, it's a pretty straightforward guy anyway...... But until she's sure what she's going to get, Lydia isn't in a hurry to answer the question.

"Perhaps......" she smiled slightly, "can you tell me first, what should I call you?"

"You know my name. ”

"Yes...... And shall I call you that?" Lydia hesitated unconsciously, her voice trembling uncontrollably, and in excitement and trepidation, it was lowered almost like a humble and pious prayer:

"Ankeland ......"

Ed fell into a trance dream when he was about to wake up.

The picture is blurry and shaky, like a shadow cast on the water, and the wind shatters into countless ripples. The dark passage disappeared before him and reappeared, and it took him a moment to realize that it seemed to be an underground channel beneath the Dragon's Wings, and the slippery rocks shimmered with fine shimmers...... They found a helmet, a mess of footprints, and a faint drench of blood in the humid air. Tess's crisp voice was choppy, and he couldn't hear it clearly, and he slipped absentmindedly, and Naria grabbed him, her fingers cold and strong.

He looked up, and saw Is's mocking face, and he said something to him, but was torn to pieces by the howling north wind. Large snowflakes slapped against his face, and the snow under his feet reached his calves, and every step was extremely difficult. He buried his head forward, and the boundless snow was blinding white.

In the blink of an eye, the ice field of the Northland turned into the small jewelry store on the street of Stonebuch, he stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching Xiao Mo jump up the stairs, the dim light came through the upper floor, Tess seemed to complain about something behind him, he knew he should go up, but he couldn't move, just looked up blankly, waiting......

A faint uneasiness permeated my mind like a clammy mist. Ed was a little dazed, both in and out of his dreams...... He vaguely knew that this was just a dream, and what he dreamed of was just some specious fragments of memory, but there seemed to be something missing in this memory......

His heart pounded, and Ed woke up with a splitting headache.

Before he could fully wake up, he realized that he was not alone in the room.

There was a fishy sweet smell at the end of his nose, he couldn't tell if it was from a dream, he sneezed uncontrollably, and there was no way to continue pretending to be asleep, so he could only stretch out one hand to lazily rub his eyes, and the other hand quietly touched the short sword under the pillow, while trying to break free from the fog in his mind, wanting to prepare a spell......

A dark shadow flickered out of the corner of his eye, and the cold blade rested silently on his neck.

. (To be continued.) )