After hearing Cattleya's words, the "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette looked at her silently for a few seconds before saying:

"This is your choice and your freedom."

Cattleya stared at the queen in front of her without giving in. After a while, she pursed her lips and said:

"I know you must have destroyed all the clues, leaving me no chance to track you down...

"For you, this is the end of all the past, whether it returns or not."

Bernadette, with her long chestnut hair casually draped, did not speak and remained silent, as if she was confirming the guess of the "Admiral of the Stars" in this way.

Seeing this, Cattleya smiled bitterly and said:

"I no longer say that if you don't return in half a year or a year, I will try every possible means to find you. I just want you to remember to recite Mr. Fool's honorable name when you are in the most dangerous situation."

She said the title frankly.

"Mysterious Queen" Bernadette nodded slowly and said:

"I'll keep that in mind."

Cattleya immediately smiled and said with misty eyes:

"What items and things do you want to give me?"

Bernadette flipped her hand and took out an item from somewhere.

The object was golden in color, and looked like a miniature kettle. Its surface was covered with mysterious and complex symbols, and there was a piece of wick sticking out of the mouth of the kettle.

"It's called the Wishing Lamp, numbered 0-05. It may have come from the First Age, and even the true gods can't break it. Normally, it won't do any harm, and it won't play any role, but it will constantly induce you to rub the surface through dreams and hallucinations to summon the genie." "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette briefly introduced the origin and function of the item in her hand. "The genie claims to be eternal and can fulfill any ten of your wishes, but this is often done in an extremely twisted way, or with extremely terrible consequences. My father said that the holder can use language and preparation to avoid the harm caused by the first two wishes, but must never make a third wish."

At this point, Bernadette emphasized:

"Absolutely not!"

"It sounds easy to circumvent..." Cattleya said as she turned her thoughts. "You make two wishes and give them to me. I will make two more wishes, and then give them to Frank, Heath and others in turn. This can accomplish a lot."

She was just using Frank as an example and had no intention of exposing that guy to anything so dangerous.

Bernadette held up the "Wishing Magic Lamp" and shook her head slightly.

"The holder and the owner are different. Before I die, even if you get the 'Wishing Magic Lamp', you are only the owner. The first wish you make will be recorded as my third wish and your first wish at the same time.

"Also, although we can use language and preparation to avoid the harm that comes with making a wish, this does not mean that the djinn is unintelligent. On the contrary, he is very smart, very cunning, and has a strong sense of autonomy."

Cattleya said "hmm":

"Does He have any wishes that cannot be fulfilled?"

"At the moment, not really. But if it involves the level of a true God, the degree of distortion of the wish will be beyond your imagination. Simply put, if you wish to become a true God of Sequence 0, then your body and soul will merge with the evil god of unknown origin. Remember, the genie requires that the wish must be brief, otherwise He will reject it and regard it as if you have made a wish." "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette explained.

After saying that, she ordered the invisible servant to take the terrible seal "0-05" and fly towards "Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya.

After Cattleya reached out to catch the "Wishing Magic Lamp", Bernadette continued:

"If you dreamed of the genie and were bewitched by him to make a wish, it means that I can no longer return. Next, you will be its owner. I hope your first wish is to take back all the items that Bernadette Gustave brought with her before she set sail, including her own extraordinary characteristics. Well, it is best to add a specific date when making a wish."

Cattleya looked down at the golden magic lamp and blurted out:

"Can I make a wish to bring you back to life?"

The "Mysterious Queen" Bernadette remained silent for a few seconds before saying:

“The resurrected me might just be a monster.

"If you really want to do this, you can ask Mr. Fool for his advice."

Cattleya nodded slightly:

"good."

"This is the item I gave you and what I wanted to tell you. I will leave everything else to the Dawn of Elements. They will have a new leader and will not fall apart because of the disappearance of one person." Bernadette said no more, saying that this was the main reason why she summoned Cattleya to the Emerald City.

——The status and level of that "Wishing Magic Lamp" are very high and cannot be delivered through messengers.

Without waiting for Cattleya to respond, the expression of the "mysterious queen" suddenly softened a little:

"Haven't you always wanted to share with me what you've experienced over the years?"

"Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya was stunned for a moment and nodded.

"right."

She immediately walked to the queen's side, pulled over a chair and sat down, facing the blue sea outside the emerald railing.

Bernadette sat next to her and listened to her talk about her experiences after leaving the "Dawn", just like before.

Cattleya had mentioned some of these things in her letters, but due to space constraints, she did not describe them in detail. Some of them were told to others for the first time.

At some point, Cattleya fell asleep and dreamed about many years ago.

At that time, she was just a young girl, and she got off the "Dawn" stubbornly and refused to look back.

Suddenly, she woke up with a start and found that there was no one around her. She discovered that it had become dark without her noticing, and even the morning glow had appeared.

Cattleya suddenly stretched out her hand and threw out an illusory ball of thread that was not real enough.

The ball of yarn rolled into the void, leaving behind a brightly colored thread.

Following this thread, Cattleya strolled through the spirit world as if she had mastered "teleportation" and arrived at the outer layer of Lasha Island.

She stood on the edge of the cliff and cast her eyes into the distance. On the deep blue sea with a hint of black, she saw a gorgeous and huge sailboat, carrying the orange morning light, sailing towards the horizon.

Cattleya sat down slowly, leaning forward slightly, hugging her knees with both hands, and staring in that direction for a long time.

The sun gradually rose, casting some light on her.

…………

Backlund, a food distribution point.

Starling Summer, who was wearing a veil, no longer lowered her head as she had done in the previous few months, fearing that others would recognize her. She looked anxiously ahead, worried that the free food would be distributed before it was her turn.

Faintly, she seemed to hear the sound of gunfire in the distance, and she didn't know whether it came from the troops of Feysac, Intis, and Feynaporte who had broken through the defense line, or the police who were dealing with the people who stole the food.

Let it end... Let this war end soon... Starlin, who had already visited three relief points today, prayed silently.

At this moment, a staff member a few meters away raised his voice and said:

"The food here has been distributed!"

Starling's face suddenly turned pale. She looked up at the sky which had become somewhat dim, and dragged her feet in frustration and numbness as she returned to the house at No. 17 Minsk Street.

As soon as she opened the door, the two children in the family rushed over, raised their innocent faces and said:

"Mom, did you buy bread?"

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

They are twins, a boy and a girl, and they are both very cute.

Starlin's nose felt sore, and she forced a smile and said:

"have."

She then entered the house, took out the little bread from a hidden place, and divided it equally between the two children.

Watching the two children eating bread without any regard for etiquette, Starlin's expression kept changing, sometimes sad, sometimes painful.

Not long after, her husband Luke Summer returned home, but he also had no food.

Ever since Coim's company was taken over by the military due to wartime laws, the former manager has been unemployed and can only rely on past savings and government relief to support his family.

"I didn't get it..." Seeing his wife's hopeful eyes looking at him, the burly man with messy beard lowered his head in shame.

Starling, who was in her thirties and still had a pretty face, took a breath and said:

"Me too... I'll go out and line up again. There should be other places that will be handing out food!"

Without waiting for her husband's response, she rushed out the door.

Luke immediately turned around and said to her back:

"I'll go look for it again!"

Without stopping, Starling walked two streets and came to a house with a garden.

Not long after, she met the owner of the place, a wealthy man in his fifties.

"I think I want to buy some food." Starling took out a wad of crumpled bills.

The gray-haired old man smiled and said:

“Why should I sell it to you?

"I remember you rejected me last time."

Starling's face turned extremely pale. Without saying a word, she lowered her head and unbuckled the belt around her skirt with her other hand.

With a snap, the calfskin belt, which was originally very delicate but already had many stains, fell to the ground.

…………

Luke Summer wandered aimlessly in the streets, not knowing where to get food.

Looking at the few passers-by and the bags they were trying so hard to protect, the eyes of this knowledgeable gentleman who was fond of machinery gradually turned red.

He unknowingly followed a man and turned into a street with him.

Curfew would begin in less than an hour, and this was one of his few chances.

The man stopped outside a house and walked towards the door with unsteady steps.

At this moment, the man suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.

Luke subconsciously took a few steps back, then quickly moved closer and felt the pedestrian's breath.

His eyes unconsciously looked at the paper bag that the other person was holding tightly in his arms, and he smelled the aroma of toasted bread.

Luke swallowed and was about to reach for the bag.

As his hand moved, he looked back fearfully at the house that the passerby wanted to enter, and saw a child's doodle-like drawing on the oriel window.

Luke froze for several seconds, then he stood up, walked to the door of the house and rang the doorbell.

The housewife and children inside quickly opened the door and saw the weak father and the bag of bread.

Curfew soon arrived, and Luke returned to Minsk Street feeling depressed and inferior.

As soon as he opened the door of his room, he saw his wife smiling and saying to him:

“I got the food!”

That’s great... Luke breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Starlin tightly.

…………

Audrey walked through the streets and no one could see her.

She walked back to Queens without saying a word, back to the luxurious villa, and smelled the aroma of fried foie gras and other delicacies.

After staring silently for a while and watching the comings and goings of the servants and maids, Audrey went upstairs to her room.

In the middle of the night, she put on her cloak, entered her parents' bedroom, and came to their bed.

After looking deeply for a long time, Audrey knelt down on one knee and rested her forehead on her father's hand.

Drops of water slid down and soaked the carpet.

Then, the blond and blue-eyed noble girl slowly raised her head and said to her sleeping parents with sobs:

"Dad, Mom, thank you, thank you for teaching me what mercy, kindness, and virtue are."

As soon as she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, stood up abruptly, turned around and walked out the door, with no expression on her face.

PS: I wish you all a happy New Year’s Eve!