Chapter 31: First Encounter with Andrel
When Zero came to the Holy See of Light, he was greeted by the people of the Holy See of Light standing at the foot of the stairs, including Vangellis, Avalis, the priests, and the Holy Maiden Loviel, who smiled and waved to him when Loviel saw Zero approaching. Zero stepped forward and looked up to greet Vangellis.
"Hello, Mr. Vangellis. β
Vangelis looked at Zero's slightly pale expression and asked, "Have you not rested lately?"
"Oh...... Something annoying," Zero said disapprovingly, waving his hand, "but...... It's going to be over soon. β
"If it's because you're studying magic, you can do it as a hobby, and it's not impossible to study magic while you're practicing vindictiveness. I'm sure your family isn't that stubborn. Vangelis persuaded with kind words.
"I don't want to talk about that anymore, Mr. Vangellis...... I'm here today just to go into the library and read a book quietly for a while. Zero said, dodging Vangellis's words.
"Hmm, didn't you come to see Princess Isheli to do a magic awakening, she's your fiancΓ©e~" Lovielle quipped to Zero with a smile.
Zero frowned slightly and didn't speak, Avali patted Lovell's shoulder and motioned for her not to say more, Lovele puffed out her cheeks and said "oh" silently, very knowingly without saying anything more.
In the distance, the footsteps of the army rumbled, and the magnificent carriages carrying the royal family came in the direction of the Holy See. Zero glanced at the imperial royal guards who were coming towards him with great fanfare, raised his head and said to Vangellis: "I won't get involved, in case of rudeness, please don't tell the royal family that I'm here, I just want to read quietly for a while alone, and leave after reading." β
Zero waved his hand around the crowd and walked towards the bright church on the wide and neat gray-white staircase, Vangellis looked back slightly and watched Zero walking alone on the stairs to the heights, silent for a while, then turned his head and looked at the royal carriage parked in front of him with a smile.
In the Boss Library, Zero stood in front of the door and looked around, and after making sure that there was no one around, he carefully closed the door and walked to the central stone platform in the Boss Library.
Now that no one is bothering him in the library, almost all of them are busy greeting the royal family near the Liberation Hall, and no one will put their minds on the library. Zero moved a chair and placed it on the side of the tall stone platform, and standing on the chair was enough to reach the "Yaojing" sealed in the stone platform enchantment.
Zero came here today to test whether his homemade Enchantment Breaker could work properly, and it was about whether he could escape from this place. Gu Zero knew that the enchantment in the Holy See Library to seal the "Yao Jing" was set by the former Archbishop Sainz himself, and the enchantment was very defensive, and if someone forcibly broke the enchantment from the outside, it would trigger an alarm bell. The Zero Homemade Breaker uses a military-grade driver kernel, and the level of Revelation is very high, if you can easily open the sealed enchantment around the "Yaojing", then it shouldn't be a problem to open the security enchantment around the Cretan Mansion.
Zero took out the breaker from the storage ring, turned on the switch, and placed it on the barrier in front of him, and the breaker easily "pasted" to the barrier membrane. Zero was overjoyed, and then pressed another switch, only to see the breaker tremble slightly, and the magic elements visible to the naked eye were attracted by the energy ring in the center of the breaker, and the driving nucleus also lit up, and a slight "click" sounded, and the linear soft bodies on both sides of the breaker opened against the enchantment membrane, and the next moment, the translucent enchantment membrane opened a hole under the breaker. Zero's heart was in ecstasy, his heartbeat accelerated wildly, he held his breath and scanned the surroundings of the stacks, but he didn't hear the alarm bell, and a stone hanging in his heart fell.
Zero stroked his chest twice, and slowly put his hand into the hole made by the breaker with a smile on his face, his fingertips touched the surface of the metal "Yao Jing", feeling the cold touch from his fingertips, and the unevenness of the inscription on the surface of the scripture, he pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, his joy was beyond words.
At this moment, the door of the library was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and the light entered the library, and Zero was stunned in place.
Andrel looked at Zero standing in his chair with a puzzled expression, he took two steps forward and stopped to look at Zero who had been facing away from him.
Zero stood in his chair, his upper body motionless, but his hands untraceably tucked the breaker attached to the barrier into the storage ring. Feeling that the people behind him didn't notice his movements, Zero breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Andrel, who was standing not far away.
"May I ask who you are?" Andreil asked, looking at Zero as he jumped out of his chair.
"Just call me Jeno. Zero said as he reached out and patted the dust off the chair and moved it back into place.
"You're Jeno, the one who was engaged to Iseri, the son of the Juggernaut?" Andrel's tone was mixed with a hint of surprise.
Zero turned around to look at the boy who was several years older than him, nodded expressionlessly, "It's me, are you?"
"Andrel, there are faux pas, please forgive me. Andrel replied to Zero without humility or arrogance.
"Andrel, Andrel......" Zero felt the name familiar, but for a moment he couldn't remember where he had heard it.
Suddenly, he thought of the name that Iselly had mentioned to him before, and looked at the other party with some surprise and said, "You are Andrel's half-brother?"
I've heard Isley talk to him about the person in front of him before, and in her description, the other party is a very cold person, no friends, and very cold to relatives, but Iselly seems to care about him very much, and often talks about this person, so Zero has heard of his name.
But looking at the young man in front of him with long light brown hair and an elegant face, he never thought that he was the cold brother in Iseley's mouth.
"It's me. Andrel took a few steps forward and stood in front of the central stone platform.
Zero looked at this humble young man who was much taller than him, and felt a little embarrassed inexplicably, he was afraid that the other party would entangle what he was doing in front of the stone platform just now, so he opened his mouth and said to him: "I heard Iselly talk about you, and she seems to care about you very much. β
"Really?" said Andrelil, turning to look at Zero, "I've heard her talk about you a lot, and although I don't communicate much with her, I can tell from her words that she cares more about you." β
"Hah...... It seems that we all seem to have the same troubles......" Zero said with a wry smile.
A smile curled up at the corners of Andrel's mouth and asked, "Listen to you, you don't like Ysely?"
"It's not hateful, I'm just disgusted with the feeling of being assigned to a fate. Zero replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
Andrel looked at Zero seriously for a long time, said "Me too", and then continued to look up at the Yao Jing on the stone platform and asked Zero, "You just ......"
"Oh, as you can see, I leaned in and took a closer look at the Sutra. I used to come here a lot to read, and the people here attach great importance to the Sutra, so I didn't have a chance to get close to it, and there happened to be no one today, so I took the opportunity to go up and have a good look. Zero said to Andrel.
Andrel didn't seem to doubt Zero's explanation, and just said: "There should be an enchantment around the Yaojing Sutra, it is the holy book of the Holy See of Light, and if you touch it randomly, it will trigger the alarm bell." β
"Yes, I just stood up and looked at you and pushed the door in......" Zero hurriedly explained, and immediately changed the subject, "By the way, today is the day of Isery's magic awakening, why did you come here?"
Andrel glanced at Zero and said disapprovingly, "I'm not interested in what she's going to do." β
"You hate her?" Zero heard a hint of disgust in the other man's tone.
Andrel looked at Yaojing and was silent for a long time, and then said, "If your mother died because of another woman, would you still have a good impression of her child?"
Zero raised an eyebrow and didn't speak. Throughout the ages, the king is like a tiger, and there are many disasters in the palace, and it seems that His Royal Highness the prince in front of him has a grudge against Queen Diriya because of the death of his mother. It is said that before Diria, there was another person in the queen's position, and later because of the death of the former queen, Diria became the new queen, so it seems that the dead queen should be Andrel's biological mother, so it is understandable that he has a grudge against Diria and Isery.
Zero was not interested in other people's family affairs, and even more reluctant to expose other people's scars, so he bowed slightly to Andreel and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend." β
Andrel didn't look angry, just nodded. The two stood in silence for a long time, and suddenly Andrel said, "There's something I'm curious about......"
"What?" asked Zero.
"You are the son of the Sword Saint, and your family is a well-known Dou Qi family in the mainland, as long as you want, your family can completely train you to become a promising swordsman, but why are you so persistent in practicing magic?" Andrel asked Xiang Zero in a flat tone.
"How?" replied Zero, touching the back of his head, "It's like you like to eat sugar, but the people around you always take a piece of salt and tell you that this thing is about the same as sugar, and you can get pleasure from eating this, but do you think it can be the same for you? β
After hearing this, Andrel looked up at Yaojing without changing his face and said, "But strength is not the same as eating, it is something that can change people's fate. β
Andrel looked at Zero, and said with a firm face: "If I were you, I would definitely spare no effort to practice Douqi, and when I am strong enough, no matter what I want to do, no one else can stop me, you obviously have a great opportunity to change your fate, but you don't cherish it...... Do you know how many people want to practice with the Juggernaut?"
"That's right," Zero nodded noncommittally, "but in this way, let them succeed, you don't know how many people in the Cretan family are expecting me to bow their heads to them and practice fighting spirit honestly, so that their plan to cultivate a family spokesperson will succeed." I ask you, why should I leave my fate to someone else's disposal and grow up in someone else's plan? Do you think it's fair to me that even my marriage has to be arranged by someone else?"
Andrel listened to Zero's words, didn't speak, just kept looking at him with a flat face.
"I think it's naΓ―ve for anyone to never use their own standards to measure other people's values. β
Zero pursed his lips and looked out the door after saying this, and the two fell silent with each other again.
"In the face of fate, we are indeed too small......"
For a long time, Andrel said softly.
As the sun set, the clouds on the horizon swept up, the dim sunset shone into the door, and the shadows of the two teenagers in the library were stretched out very long in the sunset. Zero quietly looked at the sunset in the distance, feeling infinitely lonely.