Lucieu, who had been far away from the village, didn't know what had happened since then, and perhaps she had occasionally heard about it from the Bard and others who passed by, but it wasn't surprising that a small village in this plane had toppled overnight and turned into a lifeless place of bones— Humans are so fragile that rioting herds can destroy them, as can the occasional monster, so can the undisciplined thieves, even a lord who has lost his mind and cannot control himself, or just one village can raid and take revenge on another.

In short, the changes that have taken place in the village are unknown to anyone for the time being, and in the subsequent journey, Lucieu has changed her old weariness and alienation, and intervened with Eloch in the human world—she seems to have suddenly opened her eyes—and the man she loves, the half-elf, although accepted by Greyridge and Kerryben, is clearly more human-oriented than elve-oriented in nature. She regretted that she was aware of this, and the more she had seen, heard, and touched, the more she realized how different humans were from elves— They have met couples who are united purely by interest and power, and have also met partners who have made promises to each other purely for the sake of love, but unlike Lucieux imagined, a cold, transactional marriage may give birth to soft tenderness and pure loyalty under the shackles of sturdiness, and out of love, when they have to run around for a mouthful of water and a mouthful of food, or because of the fresh color, or because of betrayal of their parents, When the remorse and worry that the clan and the family have nurtured toss and turn, it is not only the flower of love that withers overnight, but they even breed hatred for each other, or more accurately, more hatred than enemies.

The envy of Lucieu was the powerful Grand Duke and his wife - the Grand Duke was originally the fourth son of the former Grand Duke, with a difference of twenty years between the eldest son and the third son, he was almost like the son of the first three brothers rather than the younger brother, the position of the Grand Duke was out of reach for him from any point of view, and people were full of pity for him, although he could spend his life twenty years ago in the castle of the Grand Duke, but when he came of age, he would have to try to find his own way out— The Grand Duke did not care about his sons, and his mother was more interested in her three long-grown sons, and the best thing she did for him, and the last thing she did for him, was to find him a wife with a good dowry, so that he would be able to eat and drink without food and clothing even if he could not get a title or a title after his brother succeeded him.

But it was perhaps the most wrong decision she had ever made, for the girl's dowry at this time, at a time when there was no alliance or contract, could only mean one thing, and that was that her family doted on her—to the point of doing everything for her and her husband. They first plotted to turn the eldest and second sons against each other, and when the latter two were busy killing each other, they poisoned the feast set by the three sons, and the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke's wife, and his three older sons, as well as the children of the sons, were all spared. Of course, such a cruel and inhumane thing, Lucy did not know, she only knew that the Grand Duke cherished his wife very much, and cherished it so much that he rarely had no lover, and wherever he went, he would take her with him, and they already had five children, and the Grand Duchess's belly was still bulging— As they walked around the cities and villages, the people would raise their glasses to bless not only the Grand Duke, but also his wife, the Grand Duchess, and they agreed that without the help of the Grand Duchess, the young Grand Duke would not have been able to be his father's sole heir, and that the little principality had been governed so well and perfectly.

Lucieux had also seen the couple, and in appearance they were completely incompatible, the Grand Duke was young and handsome, while the Grand Duchess had already revealed signs of old age (though she was not very pretty), perhaps because she had given birth to too many children, and her waist was as thick as that of three Lucieu, but she stood in front of her husband, and did not show a trace of shame and anxiety, if not a trace of concealment. And when the Grand Duke looked at her, he was also so enthusiastic, his eyes were full of infatuation, as Aya's elf, Lucieu was extremely sensitive to emotions, she could see that there was indeed love between them, real love, they were like two vines, tightly entangled, one fell, and the other would collapse.

"It is often said that power is the poison of love, but in fact, at least not all of them, especially for human beings. To Lucieu's question, the Grand Duchess said bluntly: "My husband and I did not meet at all before our marriage, and at first he hated me, and I did not like him, like two flat and smooth stones, they put us together, but none of us wanted to be next to each other. It was external pressure that held us together, and all of my father's and brother's assets were iron juice seeping through the cracks, and without their support, my husband might not even have a place to be buried - for him, I was like the embodiment of Woking, and I was not at all surprised that he would fall in love with me, after all, not everyone could be favored by Woking. ”

"But it's not you who he loves. Lucieu couldn't help but shout.

"From this point of view," said the Grand Duchess, smiling tolerantly, "you know that you are still a child. She asked, "Do you have anyone you like?"

Lucie hesitated: "Yes......"

"But not the one next to you, is it?" said the Grand Duchess, "that's just one of your guardians, I mean, like a father or an uncle." Your lover is not by your side, or you can't keep him by your side, or you can't be by his side. ”

"He's busy. Lucieu whispered.

"It can be seen," said the Grand Duchess, "who can easily let go of a lovely child like you, unless it is something more seductive that attracts him...... A Pastor Flowe?"

"No," Lucieu immediately denied, but a familiar shadow had appeared in the sea of her memories, and she had seen Afra remove the disguise that had obscured her beauty and charm, and even if she was a woman, she couldn't help but be fascinated by it, but ...... She didn't want to admit it, wasn't Afra rejected by Cremar again and again?" It's official business, he's ...... A minister," her eyes were brighter than ever when she spoke of this man, and a small smile appeared uncontrollably on her lips: "He is now ...... A very great work is being done, and countless people have been saved by one of His commands—He has thwarted the plots of those who are vile, prevented wars, and eliminated pestilences...... He's done a lot of things, I don't know how to tell you, but he's really, very, very nice person......"

The Grand Duchess did not rush her, she looked at Lucieu with a gentle expression and a little pity: "It seems that I was wrong...... It's not a Pastor Flo who stands between you, Pastor Flo is just a small problem, and your problem is much bigger than I thought. ”

Lucieu looked up, and although she had not known the Grand Duchess for a short time, the human woman had almost conquered her, and she looked at her expectantly and bewildered, until the Grand Duchess leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Power, your obstacle is power. ”

Lucieu was startled, "But," she stammered, "he doesn't love power." ”

"It's not a question of whether he loves it or not," said the Grand Duchess, returning to her place, and shook the fan slowly, though it was cold now, but a lady like her, even when it was necessary to light the hearth day and night, and spread a thick corduroy on the ground, and the bed was covered with fur, the fan would not leave her hand, "but whether he needed it, I think, he must have surrounded him with many beautiful girls by now— Other ministers, lords, knights, wealthy merchants, from which he could choose a wife, and many lovers. ”

"He won't. Lucieux said in a faint voice.

"Yes. The Grand Duchess said firmly, "He would have done it, if it had not been out of his own heart—I mean, out of his morals and duty." ”

"I don't understand ......"

"I am the daughter of a merchant," said the Grand Duchess, "of course, my status cannot be compared with that of the daughter of a minister and a lord, but it is precisely because of this that I know marriage and love much more deeply than you, and many girls, and they can be said to be a transaction, my dear - do not be in a hurry to deny it, a transaction is not a bad thing, it allows both parties to estimate each other's value more clearly, and does not lose their sharp minds and sharp eyes for the so-called love at first sight that is quick and quick," She folded the fan and placed it on her lap, pondering the words: "Just as if you see two pieces of jewelry in a box, one that you love and the other that you are not so interested in, when you pick up the one you like, you will not hesitate to pay a high price, but you will most likely choose to ignore some of its problems, and the other, because the price is reasonable and necessary, you will buy it, but you will definitely look very closely at it and look for every flaw in it." But when you calm down and look at them again, you will find all the faults in the things you like, and regret the high price, but the other, because of its reasonable price, the necessary uses, and the shortcomings that you have sought and accepted, will calm your mind, and when you get used to them, you will find that the latter will replace the former as one of your favorite things. She raised an eyebrow at Lucie.

"But...... He's not an expensive thing, he may have flaws, like ...... Well, I mean, he's very stubborn, but I love that too. The young Eya elf retorted in a low voice.

"No, no, no," the Grand Duchess opened her fan, "my lovely little guest, I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about you." She sighed and said, "Don't you understand? If you can only give him love, then you are only a seemingly precious but useless ornament, but if you can give love, and something other than love, if you can give him support, if you can give him power, yes, he does not like power, but what power is, is necessary for him to do the great work you say, dear, if you are only a commoner, all you can do is make him a bowl of soup, but if you are a thief, you may be able to threaten and destroy his enemies, but if you are a rich heiress, or have knights and soldiers, then you can conquer a city or a kingdom for him, even if you are just a favored and favored priest, you can help him on behalf of the temple and the sanctuary— Like the women who surround him, they can give him love, just like you, but there is more they can give than love, if you don't believe it, go and see, when a girl wants to approach him, she must carry the tokens or letters of her father and brother, or the generosity and protection of the court and the territory, whether overt or implicit. ”

"Simple love has always had an extremely short lifespan, and children, only power and power are eternal. ”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"So," said Eloch, "you'd better go back to Emerald Grove and find an elf." He said solemnly: "I don't think your feelings for Cremar are love, I think you should misunderstand gratitude and love - you are like a little monkey, after escaping, you only know how to hold on to the first person you see, and you can't stop shaking." ”

"I'm an adult," Lucieu said calmly, "I know what I'm doing." ”

"So what are you going to do?"

Lucieu looked at her guardian and smiled slightly, "I'm going back to Emerald Forest Island." ”

Although Lucieu decided to return to the Emerald Forest Island, she still completed the work delivered by Cremar, at this time, even the peak of the arrow was already covered with snow, the snow in the south was light, fluttering, soft, as soon as it fell on the warm body immediately turned into crystal droplets, Lucieu walked into Cremar's room with a small bead of water, shiny beads dotted on her black hair, eyebrows and fluff on her cheeks, making her look like a lovely fruit, still with a youthful aura, but already showing a ripe precursor。

The souls of the other world put down the letters, and the attack of the orcs was stopped by the plague, but the people of Thundercastle also suffered a huge blow, even if there were no less than a hundred priests of Ilmut and Kranvo rushing through the crowd, the black smoke from the burning of corpses never disappeared until the herbs that could kill the plague were found and concocted- The people of Thundercastle were not allowed to leave, and the caravans carrying food had to stop and return within fifty miles of the city, and they could not directly enter the other cities, and had to live in the wilderness of the outer city for more than thirty days before they could regain their freedom.

"I'll ......" Lucieu had mustered up her courage before, but as she stood in front of the black-haired Dragonborn, she couldn't help but look at the richly decorated zenith, "I'll come," she didn't look at Cremar, but she knew he must be patiently waiting for her to finish, he had always been such a gentle man: "I'll come," she repeated, "I want to ask you...... You, I mean, have you ever thought about it? What kind of ...... will you have? How...... A wife?"

That's it...... The soul of the other world thought in anguish...... I still don't know if I should have a wife or a husband.