When Caterina said this, her eyes trembled nervously and she waited with bated breath.

Sven slowly stood up, his left leg still unable to struggle, and he could only stand up with a few cases beside him.

"Thanksgiving. Swain whispered a thank-you, though it was more like a sharp blade into Caterina's heart.

"So, is that the end of it?" Caterina sat down on the couch, looking extremely tired, "What will happen next, will there be a light in the sky, and then the world will change?"

"No, it's not the world that's changing. Swain raised his hand and looked at his palm, "It's just us who have changed." ”

Caterina looked up tiredly, and then a skeleton ghost reflected in those eyes.

The skeleton she had seen wrapped around Swain's shoulder appeared in front of Caterina's eyes again.

"That's ......" Horror began to eat away at Caterina's mind, and she subconsciously wanted to retreat, her back tightly pressed against the couch.

"The goddess who watches over this world in the middle of the night, and the secrets of the world are nowhere to be hidden in his eyes. Sven's eyes were deep, and something black flowed out of his pupils, gradually staining the whites of his eyes.

Those completely dark eyes, staring at Katarina, seemed to be staring at the world mercilessly.

"He will erase the existence of human consciousness and replace all the pests that threaten society with false memories. Perhaps such a replacement will pay some price, some good memories will have to be erased together with pests, but this is necessary, for the safety of this society, we must inevitably abandon some individuality, people, can not just become the person they want to be, after all, we should be for the common nature of all, to become the person this society needs us to become. ”

"So...... You have chosen to betray your original intentions, to abandon the self you are trying so hard to defend and be at the mercy of Atropos?"

"Nope. Swain shook his head, "I'm just...... Choose to be neutral. ”

"You ......" Caterina tried to continue, but the memory in her mind began to change slowly.

"The chaos I unleashed will be cleared by Atropos. Swain looked at Caterina with a blank face, and that was probably the last time he would hide his heart from Princess Celestia, "and what I have been doing all along, will disappear from the records of history." Yes, Atropos treated me like a child, and in His eyes my rebellion was nothing more than a pediatric fight, and in the end, it was up to Him to anticipate me. ”

"And yet......" Sven turned his back to Caterina and walked towards the door, turning his back to the glazed Caterina, "I am indeed a child, and I am too immature in front of Atropos. Maybe it's because I'm immature, so I don't understand the rules of this society that I can't resist, or maybe it's because I'm immature, so I'm bound to suffer the consequences. ”

"But......" a line of tears welled up in the corners of Katerina's eyes, "the resistance will not stop." ”

"Yes, children rebel when they are not sensible, but when they understand the rules of this society, they realize how naïve and ridiculous what they have done. ”

"No......" Tears dripped down to the teacups on several cases, leaving a little trace, "You said something against your will!"

Sven's footsteps stopped.

But this is the truth after all. Swain didn't look back, and Caterina couldn't see his expression, "Because, the truth...... It's all against the will. ”

He walked out of the room and didn't look back at Caterina at the end.

Instead, the skeletal ghost on his shoulder turned his face and looked at Caterina with a smile.

Tears poured down irrepressibly, not because of people, but because of faith. Caterina was still reluctant to deny her beliefs like Swain did, but that might not have helped, Swain had given up, what could she do but shed tears?

"You're crying......" Charlotte walked from the corner of the room, she had been there all along, and although magic had hidden her figure, it could not hide her feelings.

"No ......" Caterina wiped her tears and tried her best to restrain her crying.

"It's Swain's tears...... It's just coming out of my eyes. ”

She turned and looked out the window.

The summer sun is shining on Deweide, and it seems that inadvertently, this sunlight has become warmer and softer. Although the imperial capital was still so dilapidated, Catalina felt that the city suddenly had a lot more vitality.

"Do you feel it?" she asked Charlotte suddenly.

"What?"

"No......" Caterina shook her head, a smile suddenly appearing on her lips, "nothing. ”

Charlotte looked at Caterina suspiciously, unable to understand the meaningless smile for a long time. She turned her head to look at the doorway, as if trying to look through the wall to see Swain disappearing into the hallway.

She frowned tightly.

"Charlotte. ”

Caterina's voice interrupted Charlotte's thoughts.

"Please try to be who you want to be. Caterina had a bright smile on her face, and for some reason, she suddenly looked like two people just now.

"Why......" Charlotte was in a trance for a moment, and a smile appeared on her face, "I see, Sister Katarina." ”

The sun shines again on the city and the people in the city who have lost their faith.

————————————————————

After half a year of turmoil, Dewei finally returned to calm.

In accordance with the Empire's Act of Succession, the younger prince Yolo was crowned the new emperor of the empire in the event of the death of other male members of the royal family. However, because the emperor was too young, the eldest princess Caterina served as the regent and dominated the political situation of the empire.

The eldest princess was forced to promote Swain to the title of Duke of Midnight, and at the same time rewarded his allegiance, he was relieved of the post of interim governor of Swain's 13th Division, and returned the power of the 13th Division to Artemis Diana No. Hecate, the last descendant of the Hecatet family, Artemis Diana No. Hecate.

Because of Marshal Rudolph's health problems, he did not accept the appointment of the eldest princess as prime minister, but chose to return to the manor in the countryside to retire. The post of Prime Minister was held by Wood Noe Phil, a former Justice of the Imperial Court, and Baron O'Brien, although he shelled Cape Cathedral, was exonerated and retained his post of Minister of War because he had given sufficient evidence that the bombardment was on the orders of Swain Noe Jericht.

There have been slight changes in the appointments and dismissals of Cabinet ministers, but the appointments made at the previous Cabinet meeting have generally been maintained. The Ministry of the Interior remained abolished, but under the orders of the eldest princess, the subordinate sections of the original Ministry of the Interior were re-established, and like the thirteenth section, they were directly responsible to Her Royal Highness the eldest princess. And according to rumors, it was the illegitimate son of Beria, the biological father of the new emperor, the notorious traitor and the last Minister of the Interior, who vigorously promoted this. He inherited the political legacy left behind by Swain's departure, gaining the power of the Imperial Intelligence Agency.

However, while Germany is gradually recovering and reviting, the economic situation in the south is still worrying. Historically excessive stock speculation, induced by the rebellion in the South, led to a sudden collapse of the stock market, leading to severe inflation. And the crisis is still spreading, not only the Cyrul Empire, but also other countries have been affected, and even the Mahdia Empire at war has stopped continuing its offensive due to serious economic problems.

The situation in the world remained unstable, but at least temporarily calmed down. Perhaps this crisis is a prelude to the next great war, or perhaps it is a precursor to peace, we do not yet know. ”

After writing the last line in her journal, Gladys pondered for a moment before taking out another journal.

Sophia gave up her studies at Astrad I College to return to Midnight Castle with her brother. Maybe we won't have more opportunities to see each other in the future, but the time we spent together with classmates will be a good memory, although it was not for a long time, but the appearance of their siblings broke the peace of my life and allowed me to see many things that I never even thought of. For them, I don't like them, and I don't say I dislike them, but this unquiet time is worth cherishing, after all, not everyone will meet someone who is as determined to pursue themselves as they are.

Many people will still choose to go with the flow.

I'll see them off. From summer to winter, trains from the imperial capital to the south are finally open, but the coming heavy snow is a cause for concern. ”

She looked up at the white scene outside the window, and sighed in the warm light into her palm.

"I hope they can be happy in the future. Because of Swain's loss of power, many of his enemies have come back to settle his old scores. The newspapers have been carrying out long reports on the Wallace Act, and it seems that the lawmakers are determined to reinstate it, and even the eldest princess can't stop them. The church was also reluctant to support the Jericho siblings, perhaps because of the incident of Cape Cathedral, and none of the priests were willing to bless them, so I was really worried about Sophia. ”

Gladys thought for a moment, jotted down a few more lines in his diary, then turned off the lights, got up and picked up his coat, and prepared to go out.

The Jericho's car was leaving tonight, and she had to hurry.

Outside, the cold wind mixed with snow drops, the cold seemed to remind the people of the imperial capital of the calamities that the city and the country had suffered.

"Is it cold?" Sven took Sophia's hand and looked at her sister tenderly.

Sophia shook her head, hiding her head in her brother's chest with some shyness.

Ramrem, who was following them, coughed.

Sophia was so frightened that she quickly stood up.

Victoria looked at them and sighed silently.

There were very few people at the station, and few chose to take a train to the Empire's most unstable south at the moment. And Swain chose this bus for this reason - he didn't want to be disturbed too much by himself and his family.

Quietly glanced at Ramrem, who had an indifferent expression, and the other party's gaze immediately turned around, and Sophia quickly removed her eyes and looked away to cover up.

"Why haven't Ger, Gladys, and Elaine come yet? ”

"It's too cold. Sven said, and a white breath exhaled from his mouth, "They two girls, it's better not to come out on such a cold night." ”

"Yes, yes. Sophia lowered her head, hiding her blush.

Victoria scratched her hair and looked to the other side of the station.

"It seems that someone else has come to see us off. ”

Several people looked over there.

The man who came was Atmis.

Her expression was complicated, since Swain had been removed from her position as interim prefect of Section 13, she had barely met the other party - she didn't dare to meet Sven, and in her impression, it was her actions that betrayed the other party.

But now, Swain is about to leave, and she thinks that there will be no possibility of seeing each other again in the future, so after thinking about it, she still decides to meet Swain for the last time.

Seeing Atmis, Swain took the initiative to greet him.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Artemis bowed his head first.

"Good evening, Your Excellency. ”

Listening to the other party's name, Sven also lowered his eyes.

"Good evening, Your Excellency Baroness. ”

After saying hello, the two of them didn't have anything to say for a while.

Artemis found that he didn't have anything to say to Swain, and that he might really just meet Swain when he came here.

"Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess originally planned to come in person, but ......" Artmis, who had no topic, simply talked about other people's affairs, "You should be able to understand that she is very inconvenient now. ”

"I understand. Swain nodded, "Thirteen lessons went well, right?"

Artemis raised his eyes and glanced at Swain's expression.

"Cesarthso is very good and with his help, things are going well. ”

"Hmm......" Swain pondered for a moment as he thought of Thesthotherol Wuelling, "if you have the chance, please express my apologies to Earl Pete on my behalf." ”

"I will. Artemis nodded.

The train roared, and Swain's train arrived.

"It seems to be a little early. Sven took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, "After all, it's a line that has only opened recently, and the time error is a bit big." ”

Artemis looked at the dark train with a complicated expression.

"Then I'll take my leave, it's cold at the station, so you might be better off getting on the train first. ”

"Hmm. Sven nodded silently, "So...... Bye. ”

He turned and walked towards his family.

Sven could feel the look in Artmis' eyes behind him, and he knew that Artemis still had something to say, because she hadn't conveyed Young's words yet.

That person must have something to say to me. However, he would never tell me in person.

Thinking like this, the corners of Sven's mouth suddenly curled.

"Gladys, aren't they here yet?" asked Swain, walking over Sophia, to his sister.

"Not yet. Sophia shook her head.

"Then let's get on the train first, it's a little cold outside, and there is still some time before the train leaves, so there's no need to wait at the station." ”

"Yes, sir. Sophia nodded meekly, and then got on the train with her sister and Ramrem first.

Swain was the last to walk through the door, and before he got into the car, he looked back at Artmis, but there was no other person in sight.

Checking the tickets, Swain and his party found their seats.

Unexpectedly, Charlotte was already waiting in their seats.

She raised her eyes and glanced coldly at Sven.

"Don't forget our agreement. ”

In the puzzled eyes of the others, Sven smiled.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. ”

The sound of shouting "Sophia" came from the car window, and Sophia saw that it was Gladys and Elaine.

Finally, the farewell person also came.

Swain let out a long breath.

As Sophia got out of the car to say goodbye to Gladys, Sven took one last look at De Weide, who was covered in snow in the distance.

The corners of his eyes drooped, and the corners of his mouth were frozen by the cold wind, but at this moment they were melted by some unknown warmth.