Caterina remembered what it was like to talk about freedom in the abandoned country farmhouse on the road from Porto León to Konue. At that time, Swain said that they had lost their freedom, and Caterina was deeply touched by the sadness and melancholy that Swain showed at that time, especially in the end, Swain's longing and fearful look, even though Caterina no longer had a good impression of him, but still remembered it.

"The so-called freedom is always limited, and there will be no absolute freedom. Absolute freedom leads to absolute chaos, you should know that, Swain, only order is eternal, and a society without order will only bring weakness and destruction. ”

Atropos's voice echoed through the library, and although its tone was gentle, like a mother's whisper, the thought of its ethereal nature made Caterina feel strangely strange.

Sven hung his head, black bangs obscuring his expression. Caterina could feel the repression on his body, coming to this library, especially after Atropos appeared, the aura on Swain's body was different from before, a faint melancholy and sadness had been haunting him, it seemed that here, what had been suppressed in his heart slowly flowed out.

But it is we who carry this heavy pedestal of order, and whether we are willing or not, we must be forced forward by this fate. ”

"This is the choice of your ancestors, and the first Earl Jericho wanted his people to bear this fate for generations, so now you are also wearing this shackle. If you are to blame, blame your father, who shirked the responsibility, or blame your ancestors, who took the responsibility. ”

Caterina felt a little strange in Atropos's tone, she had originally come here to learn the secrets of Fort Midnight and the Jericho family, but now, it seemed that Swain and Atropos had clashed on their own. Moreover, Atropos was clearly sealed here, trapped in the title of Earl of Midnight by the ancestors of Trajan's generation, but from its tone, Caterina did not sense that Atropos was dissatisfied with such captivity, and it seemed that even it regarded it as a great cause and persuaded Swain to take responsibility.

If it was sealed, it shouldn't have wanted to lift it, right? Why did it deny freedom and emphasize responsibility? Caterina frowned, she was now a little confused about Atropos' relationship with the Jericho family.

Swain let out a sigh of relief, and his eyelashes drooped. "Even if I wanted to abdicate this responsibility, I couldn't do it, could I? You can't be killed, as long as humans exist, you will exist. ”

He turned and looked at Katarina. "If there's anything you want to know, just ask, that's what I promised you. Whether it's me or Atropos, we must know it all tonight. ”

Caterina looked at the vault of the library, she didn't know what kind of relationship Atropos and Swain weed, whether Swain was an antagonist or an alliance. "Aren't you resentful?" she asked at the dome, "Aren't you tempted to go out even though you're sealed here?"

"I'm everywhere, but nowhere is I. You're still skewed about me, but I'm glad I can see that you're treating me like a human being. ”

Caterina couldn't help but pause at these words, perhaps because Atropos's tone was quite soft, she didn't subconsciously regard it as an evil thing, and even unconsciously applied her thinking about humans to Atropos. Since Atropos is a disembodied thing, it is true that it is the same everywhere, whether it is in the underground library or in the bustling city, no one can see it.

"So what is your relationship with the Jericho family, and what kind of agreement do you have with our Gion family, and why did my grandfather care so much about Midnight Castle, is it because of your existence?"

"Let me answer your questions one by one. A chair floated behind Caterina, and she sat down unconsciously, "First of all, the Jericho family is my jailer, they have guarded my seal for generations. But I don't mind that, even if it's sealed, I don't care. I can still see the whole picture of the world, as I said earlier, I am everywhere and everywhere, and the span of geography and the scalar of distance mean nothing to me. ”

"And what is the purpose of such a seal?" Caterina couldn't help but interject, in the stories she had heard, the only people who needed to be sealed were some monsters with huge bodies that could make waves and destroy everything, and she had never heard of an existence like Atropos, who didn't care whether they were sealed or not.

"To avoid my transmission to humans. ”

"What?"

"Since I was born, I have been guiding humanity to progress, but this behavior has been rejected by your ancestors. They see my guidance as a substitute for the human will, and even if I can help their society to develop rapidly, such a society is only created by my will, not theirs. That's why they sealed me in the middle of the night just to keep me from affecting humanity. ”

"But ......," Caterina still had a hard time understanding, and even if it was explained in magic, it still sounded grotesque, "how did they do it? You can still see the world, and you can know my name, so how are they going to cut you off from humans?"

"It is impossible to completely cut off the channels through which Atropos disseminates his ideas to the outside world. "Atropos was born out of our consciousness, and our human society is the cradle that gave birth to it, in other words, it is the self-consciousness of society, the aggregate of our human thoughts." All of our individual consciousnesses came together and eventually formed it – Atropos. As long as we are in society, we are under its influence, and we cannot escape its open network at all times and anywhere. ”

Caterina was even more confused, and although Swain had fully revealed Atropos' true colors, she couldn't understand how such an existence could be severed from humans.

"The way the ancestors did this was to concentrate the thoughts of Atropos on one person," Swain tapped his temples, and the sadness in his eyes made Caterina feel distressed, "that is, I, our Jericho, have come to listen to Atropos' whispers for eternity in place of all humans." ”

Looking at Swain in surprise, Caterina now somewhat understood Swain's strange behavior all along. He always said that Jericho had been suffering for the whole world, and it turned out that Princess Celestia thought it was just Swain's exaggeration, but now it seems that he really carries everyone's burden on his shoulders.

"So...... Is that what your magic is all about?"

"Nope. Swain shook his head, "My magic has been inherited from the original Earl Jericho, but not every Midnight Earl inherits such magic. Magic requires qualifications, and my grandfather didn't have such qualifications, but I, with such adaptability, gained magic from ancient times. Charlotte also has such qualifications, which is actually rare, because people with magical abilities tend to only appear in the Demon Dao family, and it is very rare for people like her to have magical qualifications without magical bloodline. ”

Caterina was stunned for a moment, she remembered that Swain had said that she would teach Charlotte magic, but she still didn't understand why Swain did that to Charlotte. "Why on earth do you want Charlotte to hate you, does it have something to do with it?"

"I'm looking for an heir. Swain said with his back to the pool and staring into Katerina's eyes, "The Jericho family has a mission that makes it difficult for them to contact the outside world, and for more than a thousand years, we have stayed in Fort Midnight, and no matter how the outside world changes, we have not changed. There are no branches, and there are no marriages with other families, because the mission engraved in the blood is too heavy. And, because Atropos is sealed in the title of Earl of Midnight, not in our bloodline, we have one last chance to make amends, and once the Jericho family is gone, at least someone else can take over our burden. ”

Did he want Charlotte to inherit the title of Earl of Midnight?, Caterina thought it was very strange, she had a vague sense that Swain's real purpose was not this, but she didn't ask.

"As for our agreement with the Gion family," Swain didn't say much more on the subject, and quickly moved on to the next thing, "Actually, to be precise, we have an agreement with all the imperial families, in order to ensure the stability of the Midnight County and not to break this seal, so when the seal is completed, the sages have made an agreement with all the monarchs of the time that no country can disturb the Midnight Castle and not break this seal, and correspondingly, we will not oppose the rule of the monarchs from any position." Even though most of the original kings died out or declined, all the new nations and monarchs have since re-established their contracts with us, including you, Gion. It's just that you're strong enough to make our contracts with other monarchs useless. After the annexation of Midnight Castle to the Kingdom of Deherbas, there was no other country that could touch our land, and gradually, such an agreement only needs to be reached with you, the Gion, so now, only your royal family of Giong knows this secret, and the Knoyer family, the former famous family, has forgotten our existence. ”

"That's why Grandpa values you so much?" Caterina remembered what Swain had said when she first met Swain, "The Emperor probably sent you because he didn't want to see me", apparently Nicholas I knew the secret, and the reason why he didn't want to see Swain was probably because he was afraid of the heavy responsibilities behind the family, or even something like Atropos. Now that Caterina thinks about it carefully, she will feel creepy, Atropos's self-consciousness as a society can naturally easily change some things in human society, some things that people think are common sense, if it uses such an ability to subvert a country, then a vigorous revolution like more than a hundred years ago may break out at will.

"Your grandfather, Nikolai, was here at one time, and asked similar questions to you. Atropos's voice startled Caterina as she spoke, "It was Winston who received him then, and he was as shocked by this fact as you are. However, he doesn't trust Winston more than you, and even tries to run away from it. Like the men who sealed me, he was reluctant to admit my existence, and after that once, he never came to Midnight Castle again, not even to set foot in the southern lands. ”

The reflection of the waves in the pool was reflected on Caterina's face, and her face was undisguised with surprise. Nicholas I never spoke to her about these things, and even when talking about the Jericho family at that dinner, Caterina could not sense from the Emperor's expression and words that he knew these things. She couldn't help but think of another sentence Swain said when she met Swain for the first time, "Although as Your Majesty, I don't care about a little person like me, but subconsciously, there will still be that kind of intuition." Swain used the word "subconsciously", apparently referring to the fact that Nicholas I did not fully know about these things, but Atropos said that the emperor had also entered the library, which seemed to be a paradox, and made her a little confused.

Still, she kept these questions in her heart. She didn't trust Atropos, although in Swan and his statement, Atropos didn't seem to be evil, but was selflessly paying for the progress of human society, and even being sealed without regrets, Caterina still didn't believe that Atropos would have nothing to ask for. Any intelligent being, even the self-consciousness of a society like Atropos, should have a purpose for its existence in this world, just like humans, because it is a collection of human consciousness. The purpose of human beings will be to survive or live a better life, no matter what kind of starting point, everyone must have a purpose to exist in this world, and Atropos should not be an exception. And, because it doesn't need to think about the purpose of survival, the purpose it hides is bound to be even more unimaginable.

"You said my grandfather was here before......" After a moment of silence, Caterina spoke slowly, "When did he come here?

"Yes, Nikolai came here a month after his accession, and according to the old convention, he came here to renew the Old Covenant with Winston, according to the old convention. When he came here, he was just like you, he had to figure it all out, but after he really knew the truth, he didn't want to accept it. ”

The blue glow of the library shone on Caterina's tightly pursed lips, turning her otherwise bright red lips into a voluptuous blue. She tried not to care about the doubts, so that the doubts in her heart would not be seen by Swin and Atropos. "So, in other words, Jia Ang, who came here, is the emperor, right?"

"It is not accurate to say that, before you, no member of the Gyan family was here before the succession, you are the first. Of course, it seems to me that you are indeed much more likely to succeed to the throne than your brothers. ”

"Then I'm relieved. Caterina pretended to laugh lightly, "You're a collection of human consciousness, aren't you?" ”

"But don't forget that nothing is predestined, and success is never just about luck, it also requires your own efforts. ”

Caterina glanced at Swain's face, remembering what Swain had said on the Vincent, "All I pray for is the end of this tragic fate," and she couldn't help but feel that Atropos's words were ironic.

"Of course I know that, and I believe so. Caterina said, her eyes fixed on Swain.

"Do you have any other questions?" Sven certainly noticed Caterina's gaze, and he asked politely as he looked at Princess Celestia.

"No, no, I know enough tonight to fill my head, and now I want to rest. ”

"Then please come with me. ”

Swain walked up to Princess Celestia and showed her the way. And as he stepped out of the stone door, Atropos' voice rang in his head: "You have broken the promise of time immemorial, my child. ”

With a slight snort, Sven did not reply to Atropos' warning. He picked up the lantern that was placed on the ground and walked up with Princess Celestia. They had barely walked up a few stairs when the stone door closed automatically behind them.

"You must be hiding something, right?" Princess Celestia deliberately walked very slowly, because she was going up, she could clearly see the light at the top of the stairs, so she didn't have the weird feeling she had when she came down.

"What do you mean?"

"I have no intention of interfering with you otherwise, and now I can understand you, although I still disagree with your actions on the Vincent, but there is no point in blaming you for this matter now. There is only one thing, I want you to tell me the truth. She paused and looked at Swain earnestly, "What exactly are you going to do about Charlotte?" I don't believe what you said about finding an heir, and if so, you wouldn't make her hate you like that. ”

"I said it," Swain paused before continuing upward, "for my end, for the end of this sad fate." ”

"So you and Atropos are at odds with each other, and you've been hiding it, the true plan of your heart. ”

"Who knows if it really can't see what I'm thinking. Swain gradually walked to the end of the stairs, and the light in the living room was already shining on him, "But I will not be bound until I die, this determination has long been irreversible, and if it fails, I will let Charlotte finish me." What's the use of making a determination but not doing anything?"