Catherine felt a dream, a very short, short dream. In the dream, she lay on the green lawn, and all she could smell was the delicate fragrance of deer tail flowers, and the cool night breeze washed away her exhaustion and pain. In the dream, my once strong self seemed to be full of unspeakable grievances and unwillingness, weakly leaning on a man's arms and crying, allowing the man to coax him to sleep. In the haze, the man seemed to be whispering something special in his ear, strange, what was it? It seemed to be the experience of many ancestors when they advanced.

"Who is this man? Is this the time to say this, such a situation?" Catherine complained in the center of her dream: "Anyway, I am also a woman, and at this time, shouldn't I say some romantic words to comfort me?

"These, it's very important, each of which is a valuable experience that most people will not pass on at will in their lives, if it is their own sober time, they should listen attentively. Catherine thought to herself, "But I'm asleep, it's just a dream." This kind of life is too tiring, my shoulders are so heavy, I really want to put down everything and rest, but I can't, only standing straight every moment can give them this spiritual harbor, if I can't keep up, Lina, Vivian, Pennis, I'm afraid their road to salvation will be more difficult, I don't have a chance to rest. ”

"It's ...... Whose eyes are so familiar. Catherine in her dream, there seemed to be a pair of eyes in the night sky in front of her, and the eyes were very familiar, as if they could be seen every day. The gaze in her eyes is very gentle, like a breeze on a summer night, with the power to calm people's hearts, making her heart feel peaceful.

"Sleep, sleep. Catherine heard a faint voice echoing in her ears, the voice was warm, soft, familiar and kind: "Put down all the burdens on your shoulders, rest well, after rest, when you wake up, you are still the knight who carries the fate of your friend on your back, you are still the same Catherine." ”

"I don't have a chance to rest. Catherine replied silently in her heart: "However, this is in a dream, it doesn't matter if you secretly rest for a while in your dream, it should be ...... Yes...... Only...... For a while. ”

So, Catherine, who was at ease, slept more deeply, so deep that in her dream, she felt that she had another dream. In the dream, she seemed to return to her childhood, wielding a wooden sword in her hand, being held in her mother's arms, walking in the courtyard. The young father was by his mother's side, and the smile on his face was full of happiness and satisfaction.

"Ahh Catherine, who had just been able to speak, happily waved the wooden sword in her hand, pointed to the three oak trees in the courtyard, two tall and one short, and said in a childish voice: "Dad, Mommy, I, haha, ah." ”

"Baby is so smart. The mother smiled brightly and kissed her forehead: "That is the oak tree that represents us, and we will always be together like them." ”

The strong father gently hugged the mother and daughter together, and the three of them looked up at the lush canopy of oak trees.

The dream within the dream continued, and Catherine returned to that summer night after the rain, a night that she would never forget for the rest of her life. Young Catherine was tired after the hard work of the day, but she still had to sit in a chair in an elegant position in the evening with a thick book on her head, and listen carefully to the lessons of the evening tutor. The class continued until a quick knock on the door brought bad news to the parents. Catherine remembered that she did not cry at that time, and listened to the rest of the lesson in the most aristocratic manner, and politely sent off the governess with a complicated expression, and as for what happened after that, she could not remember it in any way, and even in her dreams, it was a desperate darkness.

In a dream within a dream, the young Catherine finally joined a makeshift adventure party, and her first mission was to clean up the low-level demonic beasts around the nearby village and recover the lost goods of the traders. The expedition of eight well-connected boys and girls successfully completed the mission and retrieved all the goods on the list, but some people were moved by a ring in the lost goods. It is not uncommon for the goods on the list to be slightly damaged, within the acceptable range of the client, but Catherine resolutely put a stop to this behavior. The disgusted and disgusted eyes of her teammates made her feel a deep sting in her heart when she was young, but even if these friends never had contact with her again, even if she lost more friends and partners because of this insistence, she refused to bow her head and refuse to let go of her persistence and belief.

In the dream, young Catherine saw the emaciated body again, with a withered hand clutching a staff, staggering down the road, falling again and again. In a trance, Catherine heard the low and strange words again, like a syllable spit out: "Go away, I don't need to be helped, I am a genius, this little thing can be done by one person." ”

"I won't help you, but I'll be by your side, and I'll pull you up when you fall. ”

In the dream, Catherine saw the silver-haired girl again, and the gaze that shot out of the darkness, and the gaze contained endless doubt and horror, horror at the strange and the light.

"Don't be afraid, I'm always here to watch over you, and you can hold my hand at any time if you want, forever. ”

In the dream, Catherine saw her past years, happy, sweet, warm, painful, no matter what it tasted like, it was beautiful and hard to forget, and she couldn't bear to lose.

"Sure enough, protecting this beauty is what I should do. Catherine in the dream smiled softly: "For the sake of this protection, I will always persevere, and I will never be afraid." ”

With a groan, Catherine awoke from her dream.

"Where am I?" Catherine opened her eyes in confusion and sobriety. The moment she opened her eyes and woke up, Catherine suddenly felt that the world was different. The dark sky was full of stars, but now it seemed to Catherine that every star was extraordinarily bright, as if a fog had been hidden in front of her eyes in the past, but now she woke up to the fog had lifted.

"Is it a delusion?" Catherine denied herself, as soon as she thought so, for she found that not only had the world in front of her changed, but everything in her perception had changed. The grass underneath her gently patted her body in the wind, and even through her clothes, she could keenly judge which grass touched her from which angle. The floral scent of the deertail flowers in the distance was still so elegant, but she could easily distinguish which ones were the scent of flowers and which were of grass. In her ears, the sounds of the world became richer, the sound of grass growing, the sound of falling leaves, the sound of insects crawling on the trees, each sound was so clear that she even wondered why she had never paid attention to it before.

There was something very soft under her head, which seemed familiar, what was this? Catherine turned her head strangely, and saw Lina's eyes with a reassuring smile.

"You're finally awake, my sister. Lina gently stroked Catherine's black hair and whispered, "You said that I could hold your hand at any time, but now it's too late to regret it." ”

"You can always hold it. Catherine took Lina's white hand with a heartfelt gentle smile on her face: "Don't worry, no matter what difficulties and setbacks I encounter, I won't be like this again." Forgive me for my selfishness, my impatience made me not even consider your feelings, sorry for worrying you. ”

"I'm okay, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out, eldest sister, this little temporary setback won't let you fall. Lina smiled and said, "However, there is a stupid person who is worried that he can't do it, and secretly cries several times." ”

"She's such a fool then. Catherine sat up, and saw the fool she had spoken of.

Previously, when Catherine slept, she had been pillowing on Lina's lap, just as Lina had always pillowed on her lap. And Vivien, at this time, was hugging Catherine's thighs tightly, sleeping next to Catherine, her paralyzed body made her not move after falling asleep, so Vivien kept this position, and saliva flowed onto Catherine's clothes.

"What about them?" Catherine asked, poking Vivien in the face and lowering her voice, "Are they in the house?"

"No, just now Pannis was barbecuing meat in the open air in the backyard with a group of small children. Lina, who was sitting on the oak tree, unceremoniously classified the maid sisters as children: "But now, I guess I'm being chased by Freya." By the way, enthusiasm and indulgence are also here, saying that they are here to thank you, hum, I don't think their purpose is so pure. Rachel and Nicole were here just now, but when they saw the scene in the backyard, they ran back to get the ingredients, and it looks like it's going to be very lively tonight, hehe. ”

"Well, it's a shame. Catherine blushed, covered her face with her hands and said, "Isn't everyone aware of my ugliness?"

"My dear sister, you have been sleeping for three days. Lina teased: "They didn't see anything before, only the four of us knew." All they see is that you sleep for three days because you're overworked, and that's the idea of Pannis. ”

"That's fine. Catherine was finally relieved: "Thank you so much to him." ”

"Thank you. Lina sighed and said in a low voice, "If he hadn't told us before, we wouldn't have known how serious the state was some time ago. You don't know it yourself, if you don't figure it out, I'm afraid you won't have the possibility of hitting the legend again in your life, and even because of depression in the second half of your life, your lifespan will be greatly shortened. ”

"It's so serious? I really don't know it. Catherine was stunned for a while, and then exhaled with some fear: "But forget about thanks, many things between us and him are no longer just thanks." ”

"Hey, the first batch of meat is roasted, let's come and eat it together. Yo, you're awake, and you've been in good spirits after three days of sleep. Pannis, who came around from the backyard, looked at Catherine, who had just woken up from her dream, her pupils shrank, and her expression slowly became strange: "How does it feel to see a new world in front of you, it's very novel." ”

"How do you know?" Catherine asked in surprise, "What's going on?"

"You don't know?" Pannis's smile became more and more strange, until even Lina on the side was a little flustered before grinning: "A lot of things are like this, the more desperately you try to catch it, the farther away it is from you, and when you let go of it and don't look for it, it will take the initiative to appear next to you, and you can't shake it off." Do you understand what I'm talking about?, the new legendary knight, my Valkyrie?" )