Back in the ballroom, Todd finds Tristan looking for himself.

Walking up and patting the other on the shoulder, Todd gave Tristan a forced smile.

"Where have you been?!" Tristan paused, frowned, and said, "Your face is so ugly. ”

Todd looked at the people in the hall as they were leaving, "The banquet is over, so when are we going back?"

"The carriage will arrive later, and we'll have to wait a little longer. ”

Hearing Tristan's words, Todd glanced at the hardly touched delicacies on the table, remembered that he hadn't eaten dinner yet, and sat down to himself.

Finding a clean fork and a knife to cut hard bread, Todd expertly cut off a slice of ham and put it in his mouth with a fork.

Tristan sat in front of Todd and exclaimed, "Your dining posture can be used as a textbook of aristocratic etiquette." ”

Todd smiled, and was about to find something to eat when he glanced up and caught a glimpse of a familiar woman.

Mary, dressed in full costume and charismatic, opened her mouth slightly and looked into Todd's eyes, as if she had discovered the most incredible thing in the world.

Todd looked at the knife and fork in his hand, and remembered Mary's "super memory" ability, and he couldn't help but have a headache.

A woman who can remember all the details must have seen the clues from her daily habits and postures.

But now is not a good time to recognize, Todd put his index finger to his lips and made a silent gesture.

Mary reacted quickly, quickly looked away, and pretended to talk to others, but the corner of her eye kept looking here.

Todd, who knew that he couldn't stay here anymore, hurriedly ate a few more bites of food, and hurriedly left the banquet hall with Tristan.

Sitting in the carriage and listening to the sound of the wheels turning, Todd looked at Tristan, who had been silent all the way, and asked, "Aren't you going to ask me where I went at night?"

"Rachel only asked me to assist you, not to spy on you. ”

Todd adjusted his sitting position, with a little inexplicable nervousness in his heart, and asked Tristan, "Honestly, I'm curious about what kind of relationship you have with Richel?"

Tristan gave him a look: "I have the same problem. ”

Todd leaned his head back and said in a low voice, "I use some of my authority to help her with some difficult matters, and vice versa, she does." ”

Tristan suddenly asked a question that caught Todd off guard: "Do you have special feelings for her?"

After a brief moment of shock, Todd nodded and admitted, "Yes, I admit that she is a special and irreplaceable presence to me. ”

Seemingly surprised by the other party's honesty, Tristan paused for a moment and asked, "So, does she have the same feelings for you?"

Todd hesitated for a long time, then finally shook his head and said, "I hope the answer is yes." But honestly, I don't know, she's too smart sometimes......"

Tristan closed his eyes and said softly, "yes, she's sometimes too smart, like a ray of light that you can never hold in your hand." ”

The two of them thought about their own thoughts, and after that they never spoke again, they made their way back to the church without saying a word.

Todd went back to his room, sat in the soul space for a while, and then came out to wash up, intending to go to bed early.

There was a knock on the door that made him sit up from his bed.

Leaning sideways to the door and placing the mutated right paw behind him, Todd asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

Tristan's voice came from outside the door: "If you haven't slept, come out and talk." ”

Todd opened the door and saw Tristan in his regular clothes, and what surprised him the most was that the other party was still carrying a small wooden barrel on his shoulder.

Todd stared at the barrel and asked, "...... in there?"

"Red wine. Tristan seemed to be saying something as simple as he was saying, "The wine I made from the banquet." ”

Todd put on a coat and, without superfluous nonsense, spat out a single word: "Where to go?"

Tristan led the way, Todd followed, and the two walked out of the cathedral camp, skirting several streets and alleys, and finally reaching the bottom of the bell tower of the Holy Acropolis.

Glancing at the towering building, and then at Tristan, who was panting with a barrel, Todd reached out to him: "Let me come." ”

Tristan handed the barrel to Todd, let out a long breath, rubbed his aching shoulders, and stepped into the clock tower, following the spiraling staircase to the top of the clock tower.

The two of them walked up the stairs to the bell room on the top floor, where the howling night breeze greeted them, and Todd looked at the scenery in front of him in amazement.

Under the bright moon, the quiet and dark city fell asleep quietly, and only the sound of the wind sounding in my ears.

Tristan leaned against the wall, panting vigorously, and said intermittently: "Over the years, my body has really not been as good as before, and it was no problem to climb stairs of this height before......"

Todd placed the barrel full of red wine on the ground beside him, looking around for a container for the wine.

Tristan sat down on the floor, took two wooden cups from his arms, tossed one of them to Todd, and then opened the soft stopper of the barrel and poured himself a glass first.

Watching Tristan drink the wine from his glass, Todd shook his head helplessly and poured himself a glass.

"My father was a carpenter. Tristan tilted his neck and drank down the second glass of red wine: "His skill is praised by all, and he can make birds with wings and flying or fish swimming in the water out of dead wood." ”

Todd took a sip of red wine and listened to his narration.

"Later, my father spent all his savings and sent me to the Royal Academy in the capital of Taylor, hoping that I would get ahead. Tristan looked at the Acropolis at night, and the memories came together in his eyes: "It was a time that I will never forget, I saw the power of knowledge and understood the meaning of truth. ”

Pointing to the big clock behind him, Tristan's face smiled for the first time: "At that time, what I wanted to do most was to be a great engineer." Use what you've learned, and with the help of craftsmen like my father, to create a miracle that the whole world will look up to!"

Todd asked, "Did you and Rachel meet at the Academy?"

Tristan's smile faded, he swallowed a sip of alcohol and said softly, "No...... It's a little more complicated than you think......"

"In my spare time from school, I usually go to work as my father's helper. When I was sixteen years old, I went to a noble manor to help repair the terrace. On the way to the lake to fetch water, I got lost and stumbled into the forest behind the manor. ”

"In the middle of the forest, there is a garden that has been tended to. In the middle of the garden sits a small stone building. The small building had no doors or windows, only a few ventilation openings sealed with iron fences. ”

When Todd heard this, he asked in surprise, "Could it be that there are ...... living in it?"

Instead of answering him, Tristan grabbed his throat with his hand and made an exaggerated expression: As I approached the building, a huge suction force sent me flying into the air and being dragged directly in front of the fence. ”

"I saw a beautiful girl who was not yet ten years old, blushing and yelling at me, 'Let me out, let me out.'" ”

Todd asked, "You let her out?"

"How is that possible?!" Tristan said, waving his hand, "I was so frightened that I ran away." ”

Todd laughed.

"A month later, I couldn't help but be curious, ran into the forest again, and found the little building. Tristan touched his chin and said, "But this time, I'll just wait and see." It wasn't until I saw the girl's face appear in the bars that I took out the sweet cake I had prepared and told her, 'I brought food.' ”

Todd's eyes widened.

Could it be that it was from that time that Richer developed a gluttonous problem?

"For a long time after that, most of the money I paid for my father's work, except for some of my daily expenses, was used to buy food and give it to the girl. I also learned the girl's origin from the servants of the noble family. ”

Todd helped Tristan fill his glass of wine and nodded for him to continue.

"When she was born, her mother died in childbirth. When she was a year old, her father married the daughter of a nobleman. After another two years, the girl began to show signs of supernatural powers—the ability to control objects around her at will. Her father and stepmother were greatly alarmed by her alien identity. ”

Tristan looked at the red wine shaking in his glass and continued: "The girl's stepmother proposed to hand her over to the Inquisition immediately, but her father could not bear to do so. The illustrious nobleman built a hidden building in the forest at the back of the manor, imprisoned his daughter inside, and lied to the public that she had fallen ill and died. ”

Todd sighed and asked, "You haven't told me yet, why did you join the church?"

A few more years later, Pope Alexander ascended the throne. His strict attitude toward xenomorphism and truth led to more frequent purging of heresy in the Church. One day, the dean of the Royal College came to me and recommended me to the then Archbishop of Arborough to serve as a deacon under his name. But the main task is to be responsible for the liaison between the people of Aarbort and the college, what I didn't expect is that this work will be more than ten years......"

Todd sighed for a while, then remembered what happened to Richel, and asked, "What happened to the girl?"

"On a stormy night, a small building in the forest was struck by lightning and caught fire, and when people went to check it the next day, they found that it had become a pile of ruins, but no body's body was found. Tristan took several sips of red wine in quick succession: "After that, a few years later, a woman named Rachel approached me and said she wanted to work with me. Although she changed her name, I recognized her identity at a glance, it was the missing girl. ”

After a moment of silence, Tristan smiled and shook his glass at Todd: "I don't think I need to go into detail about what happened after this. ”

Todd frowned and looked at the other party, "Okay, I have one last question, why are you telling me these things?"

There's a hint of drunkenness on Tristan's face, "You have the right to know all this, Felichild." ”

The accent in the other party's tone when the name was pronounced at the end gave Todd the illusion of being seen through.

Tristan staggered to his feet, shook the remaining barrel, threw away his glass, and patted Todd on the shoulder.

"Richer is a good woman, and she cherishes the happiness in front of her. ”

With that, Tristan turned around and walked down the stairs with a smile.

It's just that this laughter, to the ears of others, is a little bitter, a little regretful, and a little decisive.