The next day, the heavy rain finally stopped, and the sun shone on Simplain Village as usual. After the rain passed the sunny sky, there was even an incomparably beautiful seven-colored rainbow.

But the whole village was gloomy and deadly silent.

Carol, the innkeeper who had lost a loved one, and Funya had passed out crying.

The village chief Max had a gloomy face, he didn't understand why when his grandfather and father were the village chiefs, there was no murder of a dog in the village, and when it came to his own office, there were two murders in a row, and it involved the terrible coup d'état 19 years ago, and what was even more terrifying was that he actually knew that Aunt Carrie was actually the remnant of the Bant family who had participated in the assassination of the king - Mary Bant.

Why did the people of the Catasmo family not come to Simplain Village with the king's order to kill the remnants of the rebel party in an open manner, but instead resorted to such a disgraceful method as assassination?

Doubts flashed, and looking at Fenya, who had lost her mother, Max fell into deep thought.

It stands to reason that Fernia is Mary's daughter, and of course a member of the Bant family, and if the other two families, Catasmo or their own lords, the Younis family, find out afterwards that Simplain Village not only collected Mary, but also continues to protect her daughter, then the entire village will be implicated and fall into an unnecessary political vortex. However, if the other party has no news about this at all, and hastily hands over Funia, not only will the people in the village not agree, but they may also cause trouble.

Max shook his head, his limited mind no longer able to think about complex matters outside of the village.

Finally, he thought of an extremely democratic approach, which was also in keeping with the traditions of Simplain Village. It is better to wait for the funeral to be discussed by everyone, and jointly discuss the future of Funya.

After a simple funeral, there were two more black tombstones in the cemetery in Simplain Village, which, unlike most of the white tombstones in the cemetery, was black - that meant death.

It has been a long time since there has been a Pingba meeting, and the last time it was held was to discuss the increase in the price of pumpkins and honey in Simpland Village.

At this moment, the people in the village are gathered in the Pingba market, usually a little bit of stealing chickens and dogs, but also in the whole village for a short time, hype, most of the villagers are happy with this, this is just to add a little spice to the ordinary life, more worldly and simple fun. But now, something really happened in the village, and everyone was silent, just staring at the round platform in the center of the market.

On the round platform, the village chief Max stood in the middle with a solemn expression. Not far behind him, Funya stood silently, her hands folded in front of her chest, and everyone below couldn't make out the expression on her face for a moment.

Dara also stood beside Fernia, her eyes slowly swept over the villagers below, and whispered to Fernia, "Don't be afraid! After a pause, he said, "Big deal, let's go together." The latter sentence is not very confident. He looked unfreely into the stands.

His mother was leaning against his father, looking at him with a sad face. His father looked at him with a complicated expression on his face.

Funia, her head still bowed, silent. Since her mother's accident, Fenya has only learned her true identity, she never thought that she would be the only surviving blood of the ancient aristocratic family of Balter, let alone that the bloody incident many years ago outside the village of Simplain would be related to her mother. And now, she has a feeling of being dazed and helpless, not knowing what her future life will be.

The tragic death of her mother and the blood feud of the Banlt family are too heavy for this 16-year-old girl in the flower season. She grew up in a small mountain village with simple folk customs, and the duckling and rabbit that she usually raised died, and she was sad and weeping, and now she has suffered drastic changes one after another, and she is even more dazed and stupid, standing there woodenly, and her thin figure looks lonely under the gaze of the crowd.

Seeing Fernia like this, Dara felt a heartache. The girl he desperately wanted to protect was still hurt the most, but he was helpless, and could only watch her wait for the unpredictable fate in the future as if she was on trial.

The village chief asked everyone to discuss her whereabouts, and the result seemed to be self-evident. Because, even Darla's mother, Tatiana, persuaded herself that "this is not the only rose in the world!" and asked him to give up Funya. But how could he abandon Fenya at such a moment? He was no other man!

But Dara is only a 17-year-old boy from a mountain village, and he can't beat the village chief, his family, or all the villagers.

The people around him are usually so kind and united, but once they learn about Funia's background, they face great pressure and risks, and everyone completely changes.

Some of the villagers were his close elders, who had been able to risk their lives to find him in the Mosquito Forest two years earlier, and some of them were his childhood friends, many of whom had fallen in love with Finya, and seemed envious and jealous that Dara had won Finya's heart.

But at this moment, they all stared at Funia in silence, as if she were a great plague originator.

How can he protect the girl he loves?

For the first time, Dara felt that the individual seemed so small and insignificant in the face of the power of the multitude.

At this time, Dara seemed to be standing at the crossroads of life for the first time, but the people around him came and went, left, scattered, and disappeared, leaving him alone, facing the reckless jungle of life in front of him, not knowing where to go in the future.

This feeling of confusion and loneliness is disappointing.

The seventeen-year-old boy suddenly grew up in this short moment, and a sad expression flashed on his always bright face. He seems to have seen the cruel ending of the beautiful love he once longed for because of the revelation of Funia's background. That ending is something he won't accept no matter what.

In a trance, it seemed to be back to the rainy night, the only time he and Funia were alone in the cave rainy night, I still remember when I looked at the outside of the cave, the pouring rain, the reckless boundless forest, Funia's slight trilling voice seemed to still be in her ears: "Dara, I'm cold." ”

It's an unforgettable feeling!

How could he bear to let her face the damp forest of life alone, waiting for the dawn alone on a cold rainy night?

How could he forget the oath he had made that night: no matter what happened in the future, he would carefully protect this beautiful girl until she became his bride.

Thinking of this, Dara no longer hesitated, and he made a move that surprised him.

In front of everyone's eyes, he suddenly took Funia's hand and whispered in her ear, "You still have me." ”

In just four words, "you and me", Funia, who had been bowing her head and speechless, slowly raised her head, woke up from her great grief, and looked fixedly at Darla, her only reliance. Fenya didn't speak, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

The air suddenly fell silent, and the people in the audience, as if they felt something, looked at the lonely and helpless beautiful girl in front of them, and the determined and resolute boy beside her, and they were all ashamed for no reason, and they were a little unbearable.

Seeing this, the village chief Max cleared his throat and said, "Funia, if you stay in the village any longer, I'm afraid you will ......."

"I understand. Fernia said.

"I'll take her away!" said Darla suddenly and loudly.

Darla's mother, Tatiana, seemed to be fainting, as she had been since the odd illness two years ago. Andre on the side hurriedly reached out to hug his mother, and glared angrily at his younger brother who was bent on going his own way.

Fernia easily let Darra's hand go, but Dara pulled her up again, looking at her brother fearlessly, when his eyes touched his mother, a trace of guilt flashed in Darla's eyes, but he still held on to Fernia tightly, unwilling to let go. Mother and father and brother take care of him, but he is the only one in Funia.

Seeing this, the village chief Max waved his hand at them and said, "You have misunderstood. I mean, from now on Fenya will be my daughter, whoever asks, they have to say that. Then the village chief turned to the villagers in the audience and proclaimed, "Remember, Funya has always been my daughter, and her mother is my wife, Ellie. ”

The audience was silent.

After a few moments, someone shouted, "Yes!"

Soon, people were shouting, "yes, that's how it should be done." "What should it not be?" Funya was originally the daughter of the village chief. "Yes! All of this is an indisputable fact. ”“......”

Funya looked at Max with gratefulness, and then at the villagers under the platform, and was speechless with excitement for a moment.

Darla was also slightly apologetic, ashamed of the wild speculation she had started.

In the audience, only one person showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, looking at Max's smiling face, and his surprise gradually turned into resentment. It was Carol, the innkeeper who lost his only son due to Carrie's involvement.

After that, under the careful care of Max's family, coupled with Darla's tender comfort, Funia finally slowly passed the most painful stage, although her face still had a deep melancholy, but her complexion was obviously much better.

Carol, the boss who also lost his loved ones, is still in a helpless period. He was just an innkeeper and the murderer was a member of the Catasmo family. Revenge? Don't even think about it, you can only think that you are unlucky.

He didn't have a good impression of Funia. Her own son was more or less implicated because of their mother and daughter, and now she has become Max's "daughter", and it is as if she has nothing to do with herself if she avoids trouble.

Did you really avoid it?, Carol sneered.

Simplain has a lot of out-of-town guests lately, and Carroll's small inn was overcrowded for several days in a row, and even the stables where the horses were tethered were bunked, which was more lively than the market.

However, instead of going to the fair, these people brought portraits of their daughters or sisters and sent them to sign up for a beauty contest organized by the lord Duke Sara Younis.

It is said that the best beauties, regardless of their origins, are fortunate enough to be the wives of the owners of the castle.

"I heard that this duke is already marrying for the ninth time. ”

"Nine wives isn't enough?"

His former wives died shortly after marrying into the castle. ”

“......”

The news of several guests gossiping about it made the distracted boss Carol's eyes light up, and an excellent candidate popped up in his mind - Funia.

Now, the Younis family is the only one that can compete with the Catasmo family.

After the two families joined forces to exterminate the Banlt family, they lost their alliance and turned to secretly fight.

Yes, he has a low status and has no hope of revenge, but if someone can take advantage of this opportunity to get close to Duke Younis and further disturb the relationship between the two families, then sooner or later there will be a bloody battle between them that is no less than 19 years ago.

When the time comes, Boss Carol laughs miserably, isn't it expected to be avenged for killing his son?

After avoiding Darla and the others, Boss Carol finds Fernia and begins to tell him about his "great plan for revenge".

Like most beauty schemes, it is to ask the beauty to first penetrate into the enemy, go deep behind the enemy, and then take advantage of the situation to sow discord from it, so that the enemy will mess up, suspect each other, kill each other, and kill two birds with one stone.

What tricks can a country innkeeper come up with?

However, Carol also understands that although it is a trick that has been used badly, as long as the beauty who implements the beauty plan is capable enough, this trick is really more effective than any other trick, and it can kill people invisibly.

"So, the key is you. ”

Funya hesitated for a moment, when she saw her mother's headless body and learned her true background, she had not thought about the word "revenge", if someone told her such a revenge plan at that time, even if the plan was rough and imperfect, she would definitely not hesitate to accept it all.

But now, she was in a very different state of mind than she was then, and now she wanted to take revenge, not only to sacrifice herself, but also to be more likely to cause trouble to the Max family because of the revelation of the plan, wouldn't it be in vain for the village chief to take in her at that time? What's more, in this way, it was bound to sacrifice the relationship between her and Darra.

Thinking of Dharra, Funya frowned slightly, that girl's heart, struggling, shattering, dripping blood.

After all, she is only a seventeen-year-old girl, and even if she is burdened with a sea of blood and hatred, she still has the right to look forward to love and the future.

Seeing Funia's hesitation, Boss Carol deliberately said: "Actually, this plan may not be successful, maybe your mother's wish is precisely to hope that you will die safely, so she has been hiding the truth from you." After a pause, he said, "It's a pity that if you stay here, it will only affect others." ”

Fenia shuddered.

Carol was right, everything her mother did was for herself, but what did she do for her mother? How could she be so selfish and only care about her own love? Besides, is a person like her still entitled to love? She is by Darla's side, it will only affect him, and it is impossible for them to live a peaceful and happy life together as they hoped before. And, instead of living in fear like her mother all day long, and in the end she can't escape the persecution of the enemy, it is better to give it a go, as Carol said.

Funia is not an assertive and knowledgeable girl, and her will is easily swayed. Especially when others say she is weak. Thinking that staying here would indeed only become a burden for everyone, she gradually felt that only by doing what Carol said could she win dignity and meaning for her life.

"There's only three days until the end of registration, and you only have three days to think about it. Carol said coldly, "Think more about your dead mother." ”

Three days later.

The carriage that came to greet Funya was too luxurious and dazzling. The two knights who accompanied her, both first-class knights of the Younis family, were responsible for escorting her all the way to the duke's private castle, the castle of Sarah, to participate in the beauty pageant.

Not only the village chief Max, but all the people couldn't believe it, they went to great lengths to hide their identity for her, originally hoping not to be discovered by the lord or Catasmo's people, but now she was automatically sent to the door, if the duke found out her true identity, not only would it be difficult to protect herself, but also the entire village might be implicated.

And before, Fernia didn't show her mouth at all, and it wasn't until the duke's carriage came to the village, before Max's house, that everyone understood that Fenya had signed up for the beauty contest privately, and now she had successfully passed the preliminary round and was about to leave for Fort Sarah.

People vaguely guessed the real reason for Funia's move, but they had no chance to persuade them.

The knight of Duke Eunice's family, who had been waiting by the carriage, asked Fenya to board the carriage as soon as possible and arrive at the castle as soon as possible.

Like a bolt from the blue, Darla, who learned the news, said that he didn't want to believe anything.

Everyone else knew he would react like this, shook their heads, sighed and walked away.

Pulled by her brother Puno, Dara finally came to the carriage that greeted Fenya.

By this time, one of Funya's right feet had stepped into the carriage.

"Fernia!"

The familiar voice made Funya's body shake slightly, and she didn't look back, knowing who it was. Although she had thought about it, she had thought about giving up, she had thought about sacrificing, and she had thought about parting, why, when this moment really came, she still felt that everything was as unreal as a dream, a long, sad dream...... If you wake up tomorrow, you will find that none of this has happened.

Mother was still in the mill, lazily waiting for the people who came to do business.

I was still under the willow tree by the river, quietly waiting for the familiar figure, they walked together, talking sweet words, looking forward to a wonderful future, as if this life would be spent like this.

"Fernia!"

Fenia gritted her teeth, and without pausing for the moment, she slipped into the carriage.

For a time, the noise and noise of the crowd were hidden outside the carriage. However, one voice shouted again in disbelief, "Funia?"

After Darra's shout, the scene suddenly fell silent, and the air froze in an instant.

Silence.

Huge silence.

The silence was suffocatingly long.

After a while, in the carriage, there was a faint voice from Fenya: "You go." ”

"What? What do you say? Why?"

Didn't wait for the longing answer.

The carriage began to move slowly.

Dara rushed forward, but before he could get close, two sword winds struck like lightning, one left and one right, and they coordinated seamlessly. Those were the two knights of the Eunice family's bodyguard.

And how could Darra, a country boy who couldn't even beat a second-rate samurai, dodge these murderous two swords? What's more, all his thoughts at this moment were on the man in the carriage who drove him crazy.

It was to see that Dara was about to be torn apart under these two swords.

"Stop!" a scream rang out from inside the carriage, "or I'll kill myself!"

The two swords stopped on the placket of Darla's clothes, but the strong sword wind still pierced Darla's clothes, revealing two faint blood marks on his skin.

The two knights withdrew their swords, and before reaching the castle, they did not dare to let the girl in the car suffer any damage.

Darla stared at the carriage in a daze, not noticing that death had just passed him. Since she could trade her life for his, why did she choose to leave him in such a way?

The crowd of people who had surrounded the carriage slowly retreated, leaving a large area, leaving only a carriage, two knights, and a young man full of grief and indignation, quietly confronting each other.

Perhaps sensing the murderous atmosphere outside, Funya finally stepped out of the carriage, and she saw a familiar face full of madness, mad anger, mad sorrow, and mad love. All of this was intertwined with that familiar face, making his face look so distorted and strange at this moment.

"Dara!" Funya suddenly became angry, "Do you know what you're doing?" Her anger was so sudden, so great, that it startled herself. Dara was shocked, came to his senses, and looked at Funia, who was so angry when he saw the always gentle Funia.

The two knights looked back indifferently and looked at the angry girl, as if they were used to such things, and as if they didn't care about such things at all.

Funia's nameless anger instantly vanished in Darla's stunned expression. Forgive me, Darrah. Funya said secretly in her heart. She felt like she was almost collapsing to the ground, and suddenly, she really wanted to give up those ridiculous plans for revenge, she just wanted to be with Darla, those sweet pasts......

Looking at Dara, Funya's eyes began to drift and float.

After a while, Dara in front of him gradually faded away, and his mother's face began to appear, as well as the imaginary enemy faces that he had not seen.

What was she doing? Now, she had no other way to go. Judging from the fact that the two knights were killers when they attacked Dara who hindered them just now, even if she repented now, she had no way to resist. What's more, she didn't regret it at all. She is not in a position to repent!

Funia's expression grew cold, and finally froze.

She understood that what she was going to say next was like a double-edged sword, which would not only stab the other party, but also herself.

"Darla," Funya finally spoke, slowly, "This beauty pageant is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, you...... You guys...... Fulfill me. ”

There was no expression on her face, but her eyes looked at Dara with a pleading, anxious, sad and complicated look.

All the villagers understood what Fernia meant, except for Darla.

"You're lying!" Darrah roared.

Yes, I'm lying, and everything I say now, I'm lying to you. Fenya's heart groaned, but in an instant, her mother's headless corpse reappeared in front of her eyes. She couldn't relent, she had no choice.

With a sneer, he pretended to be disdainful and looked at him, the only one who cared about himself and himself, and continued to tell the lie mercilessly that even he felt was excessive: "You can't even beat a second-rate samurai, what can you do for me, and what have you let me get? You know what? The Duke's castle has everything I want, and none of this can you give me." Sober up and don't pay for your stupidity!"

She's lying!!

Knowing that she was lying, knowing that she was saying that, she was just trying to fulfill her and give her a chance to take revenge, knowing that those vicious words were all lies. But why are those words coming out of the mouth of your favorite still so sad, angry, and irrational?

"You're lying!" Dara roared, like a wounded beast.

"There's no need!" Fenya said coldly, sneering disdainfully again, "What do you have to deceive?" Looking at Darla's hurt expression, Fenya's heart kept sinking, as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.

It turns out that it is so easy to destroy love, you just need to open your eyes and say the exact opposite of what the other person thinks in their hearts.

Dara looked at Funya, at the girl she loved, at this moment she became so strange, looking at her eyes were so cold, the expression on her face was so cold, her words, her sneer, her disdain, like a sharp knife, cut a hole in her heart, was spurting buckets of blood, endlessly. The feeling of heartache, it turned out to be like this. Is it that the blood in my heart is dried up, and I will no longer be in such pain?

A hand climbed on Darla's shoulder, and Dara was shaken, and turned her head to see her mother's tearful face.

"Let her go. Mother pleaded softly.

"No!" Darla shook her head, gently pushing her mother's hand away, and walked towards the carriage. He's going to pull Funya back, he's going to tell her how naïve and ridiculous she was to do that. If she must take revenge, let herself go, even if it is to die for it, to stop her crazy thoughts. She didn't know what she was doing. She's crazy.

The two knights next to the carriage, coldly, raised their swords again.

Dara was out of sight, and even strode towards the sword.

There was a low cry of surprise.

Another big strong hand, reached out in time and grabbed Darla, it was his father Red.

Darla struggled, he just wanted to pull Fernia back.

Red's voice rang in Darra's ears: "Andre, come and help, hold your brother." ”

More and more hands reached out and grabbed Dara firmly, and Dara struggled even more fiercely, not looking at anyone, just glaring at Funia, the target he was trying to get close to with all his might now.

At this moment, it was Funya's turn to look at Dara with a hurt expression. He's crazy. He didn't know what he was doing. He's going to die.

Enough! Really enough, you have done so much for me, and I have to walk the road on my own. Do you understand? Being with you is the greatest happiness and joy of my life.

Funya's tears slowly slid down her face, and she spat out a word softly: "Get out!".

The word exploded like thunder, shattering everything Dara had, and he stood still, staring blankly at Fernia. He could face her cold face, face her mockery, but not her tears.

Her tears made him panic all the time. If she gives up, it is really what she wants, and it can really make her happier, why do you have to persevere?

He had to persevere, not only for himself, for the love between them, but also, for Funya. She's going to regret it, she's going to regret what she's done today. She didn't understand that everything she was doing now was meaningless.

Fenya slowly turned around and walked towards the carriage.

"Come back!" Darrah growled. In his mind, it seemed that there were only two last words left, and they were all these two words over and over again.

Frightened, she walked slowly but firmly into the carriage, lowered the curtain of the windows, and hid in the carriage again.

No one could see her anymore.

A voice came from inside the car: "Let's go! The Duke is waiting for me." ”

The carriage moved again.

The two knights stared coldly at Darla, and seeing that he had been firmly held by the people around them, they also flew on their horses and escorted the carriage away.

Darla looked at the departing carriage in distraction, and suddenly shouted, "Come back!" as if to pounce on it again.

Father Red raised his fist from behind him and slammed it the back of his head.

Darra's eyes went dark and she fainted.

Inside the carriage, Funia also went limp all of a sudden, and she no longer had the strength to act.

Darla finally shouted "Come back", and her heart finally fell to the bottom, slamming into the ground and splitting into pieces, each of which was mercilessly laughing at her and tormenting her.

Farewell, Simpland, farewell, Darla, Fernia's tears soaked the hem of her clothes again.

Outside the carriage, the two knights looked at each other silently, exchanging meaningful glances in their indifferent eyes, and then tacitly glanced at the curtain of the carriage, and the peerless beauty sitting inside, she didn't know what a huge price she would pay for her vanity.

Just thinking of their master, both knights shuddered, and suddenly felt that everything around them had darkened.

The sky was overcast for a moment, and the two knights looked up and found several thick dark clouds, which had drifted over at some point, covering their heads, and weighing down people's hearts.

It's going to rain heavily.

Simplain Village soon returned to its former tranquility, but there was a deep sense of depression in this tranquility, like the great sense of depression before the summer rainstorm.

This great sense of depression comes from the village's "young hero" Dara, who is now practicing his sword frantically every day, and he no longer does anything else except practice it. Dara was completely immersed in his own world, practicing swords in the morning and evening, from the time he opened his eyes until he had to close his eyes to rest, the only thing he did was to practice swords.

In the morning, before the whole village had woken up from the silence of the night, Dara had begun to dance his sword with the sound of the wind, and he would remain in such a state for the rest of the day until he was too tired to lie down. During this period, no matter who talked to him, he was like the wind in his ears, and he didn't even have the effort to look back and see who the person who spoke was.

Everyone knew the anguish in his heart and the huge blow he received, so when Dara was practicing the sword frantically, everyone stopped bothering him to do anything else, and the villagers thought that after Dara vented the fire in his heart through sword practice, he would gradually return to normal.

This went on for a whole week.

A week later, Dara disappeared from Simplain village with his sword.