Eileenburg (2)
"The Long-lived Ones are right in front of me, and I don't recognize them?" Mi looked at Ailian and nodded slightly, unable to help but ask, "Are the Long-lived Ones no different from ordinary people?" Mi expanded her consciousness; Ailian before her was filled with green light. Her life force was very strong, and the entire Ailian Castle was filled with green light spots. This was a land brimming with life. Mi recalled everyone she had met when she entered the Flower Kingdom. She had been to the Adventurers' Guild several times. The two people Qiluda had taken her to see both looked hundreds of years old, especially the skull-headed one, who looked like an ancient relic who had lived for who knows how long. Qiluda had said that in the human world, even non-humans had to pretend to be human. So, were the Long-lived Ones also non-humans? Were they just pretending to be like humans? No, no, Mi shook her head. The Long-lived Ones were natives of the Flower Kingdom; they were beings even older than the Flower Kingdom itself.
“Since outsiders entered the Flower Kingdom, the Long-lived race has a history of intermarriage with outsiders. Now, people can no longer distinguish who is a purebred outsider. Most of them have both Long-lived race and outsider blood.” Ailian put down her cup. “The Long-lived race is just like you and me.”
"How could this be?" Along the way, besides the Sand People in the wasteland, Mi had seen many other races and skin colors. The Flower Kingdom was like a mini United Nations, with people of different races and skin colors living together. They didn't seem to consider themselves outsiders at all; on the contrary, those with special bloodlines and abilities were more respected, such as adventurers and Captain Liz. In the borderlands and the fortress, force determined everything. Being able to kill a Sand Person made one a hero; skin color and race meant nothing. Mi suddenly thought of a paradox: "But you said the long-lived race of Sun City is registered, so doesn't that mean everyone knows?"
“The long-lived species are registered, and this register is in the Adventurers’ Guild.” Ailian nodded and said, “These long-lived species are indeed known to many people, but their long-lived seeds need to be offered up when necessary. The person who needs to obtain the long-lived seed needs the consent of the royal family, the Adventurers’ Guild, and the long-lived species. This is both surveillance and protection. No one would be foolish enough to touch the long-lived species that are already registered.”
"How could a long-lived species agree to give up its own long-lived species?" Mi was a little confused. This was equivalent to exchanging one's own life for someone else's.
"The king and queen can obtain longevity seeds before the heir grows up. This is an agreement signed by Derek I with longevity seeds, and this agreement is also kept by the Adventurers' Guild."
"The Adventurers' Guild has so much power?" Mi now had a feeling that the Flower Kingdom had two governments: the Derek Palace, which was dominated by the royal family, and the Adventurers' Guild, which was composed of adventurers.
“The Adventurers’ Guild is more like a witness,” Ailian continued. “Besides the king and queen, there are also city lords who have made particularly great contributions. City lords on the border of the snowy region are often on the verge of life and death, and they sometimes obtain longevity seeds.”
"Who decides this?" Mi thought of Zara, so young, whose only daughter was not yet an adult.
“I don’t know about that,” Ailian shrugged. “It requires the Longevity Seeds to be forcibly contributed by the Longevity Seeds, which is obtained in exchange for the Longevity Seed title. It’s fair.”
Mi nodded, but was this really fair? Long-lived species were supposed to live carefree lives in this world: "You're saying there are still many unregistered long-lived species? Will these people never be known to ordinary people?"
Ailian shook her head: "There aren't many opportunities for longevity species to be forced to give up their longevity seeds. More often, longevity species will take out their longevity seeds voluntarily."
Why is that?
“There is a kind of person who is called the ‘destined person’ by the long-lived species. When the long-lived species meets the destined person, they will give the long-lived seed to the destined person when the destined person needs the long-lived seed.”
"A destined person, is there anything special about such a person?"
"Yes, long-lived people's hearts don't beat until they meet their destined one."
"Can someone live without a heartbeat?" Mi couldn't understand why a long-lived person couldn't be considered human, or rather, a person in a vegetative state. But do people in a vegetative state have a heartbeat?
"Long-lived species possess eternal life. They have no heartbeat and no emotions until they meet their destined one, at which point their life can truly begin."
Mi fell into deep thought. Emotionless, heartless, and resembling a human—wasn't that just like the gods in temples? No matter how Mi thought about it, the long-lived beings seemed like deities who, seeing the intricate activities of humanity, couldn't help but envy them and then gave up their long lives to become human. Were they like those fairies who descended to earth? Mi felt her thoughts were completely chaotic; she had entered a truly insane world. She said incredulously, "Such things can happen?"
Ailian's eyes lit up with a sudden idea. She said, "If you can help me win the next Flower Nightingale title, I can introduce you to a real longevity seed so you can see what a longevity seed is like."
"And what is the Flower Nightingale?" After talking with Ailian for so long, Mi had a feeling that she had never understood the Flower Kingdom, much less the Sun City. Everything she had seen was just the tip of the iceberg floating on the sea, with much larger and more powerful icebergs hidden deep beneath the surface.
“Well, it’s a competition held once every five years in Sun City.” Ailian hesitated a bit, but she still tried her best to explain: “Next year is the year of the Flower Queen competition. I have already won the Dahlia Flower Crown, and my next goal is naturally the Flower Queen crown.”
"Another singing competition?" Mi shook her head. "I don't know much about music." To be honest, Mi didn't appreciate most of the music in Sun City. The gorgeous high notes and melodious coloratura often made Mi's head buzz. She preferred to go to the Snow Theater to watch performances, or to Fool's Square to watch dancing.
“You know what good music is.” Ailian blinked her round eyes, filled with a mysterious trust in Mi: “You don’t need to do anything, just listen to me sing.”
It has to be said that this is a huge temptation. Mi is incredibly curious about the long-lived species. If she could see them, perhaps she could learn about the origin of the world, perhaps she could find the person who conducted the experiments, perhaps the long-lived species really are the eyes they put in. Or perhaps this is another world, a peaceful world that originally possessed life, and those observers and those who conducted the experiments discovered such a paradise, and couldn't resist letting in some completely different people, disrupting the original balance, and then establishing a new order.
Mi couldn't help but wonder who would initiate such an experiment? Did they consider themselves gods? Or did they want to rule all the worlds, but without actually participating? What kind of world did they want? An animal-like world of eating and sleeping clearly wouldn't satisfy them. They were tyrannical and bloodthirsty, yet they wanted to establish a stable order. Mi thought, they were a bunch of lunatics.
Mi looked at the noblewoman before her. Everything she said should be known to all the nobles of Sun City, but without this connection, she would never have known this information. This Miss Ailian must possess some special abilities. Mi looked at Miss Ailian's confident expression; she hadn't lied. There were long-lived species living in Sun City, more than twenty of them. What was Miss Ailian's role among them? How could she have connections with the long-lived species? Mi remembered that she said she was over thirty years old, and this castle was also called Ailian Castle. Apart from the servants, there were no male masters in the castle. Mi tried hard to recall how many nobles in Sun City were women. She thought of Fried again. Fried was an omniscient person. She had relied on Fried too much, and after all this time, she still didn't know much about Sun City.
Eileen had a good voice, and there was the temptation of seeing the long-lived species. She also had the ability to contend with Mrs. Aldrich. After thinking for a moment, Mi reached out and agreed to Eileen's suggestion. Eileen reached out and grasped Mi's hands: "You definitely won't be disappointed."
“Then let’s talk about salary,” Mi said with a smile.
"You wait." Ailian lifted her skirt and ran out. From afar, her shouts could be heard: "Xiaowei, Xiaowei, I want my salary, my salary."
Mimo paused for a moment. This noblewoman did indeed have some mental issues, but she quickly recovered. She had essentially secured a new job from the noblewoman, Eleanor. She didn't need the money now, but Anna's salary couldn't be delayed any longer. As for Sheila, Mimo thought she'd leave the marigold coin to her. Sheila was a very good owner; she never discriminated against the girls who came to her shop. She would boil a full pot of water for them on cold nights; she would offer them a pot of hot tea when they returned drunk; and she would recommend jobs in the West Side to girls who didn't want to go to Pink Street. If Anne knew Sheila, she would definitely agree with her.
During the days Mi stayed at the Flower Fate Inn, Fried always came to freeload breakfast and dinner, and Sheila never refused him, leading Mi to believe for a time that Fried was a relative. Mi remembered asking Sheila about it, and Sheila told her with a smile, "That rascal Fried, once he fainted from hunger at my shop's doorstep, I gave him some food, and afterwards he brought his clients to my inn." Mi had always thought she had taken a liking to the Flower Fate Inn at first sight, but later she realized that Fried had indeed brought her there directly, and of course, she was very satisfied with the Flower Fate Inn.
Mi looked up and surveyed her surroundings. The environment of Eileen Castle was truly wonderful. Under the night sky, the glossy green leaves of Eileen Castle were illuminated by the blue moon, emitting a deep and mysterious purplish-black halo, like a magical world from a fairy tale. Mi walked to the doorway, where in the middle of the courtyard stood a huge mimosa tree, adorned with numerous golden blossoms, which shimmered even more brilliantly under the blue moonlight.
Ailian ran in again, carrying a handful of gindrines. She placed all the gindrines into Mi's palm. Too many gindrines fell to the ground, making a crisp sound as they spun around. Ailian squatted down and picked up the gindrines. Looking at Mi's smaller hands, she held up seven or eight gindrines she had picked up from the ground and said to Mi, "Here, these are all for you."
Mi put the gindries back on the table and counted out ten: "Miss Ellen, don't you have any elders at home?" Ellen had at least twenty or thirty gindries in her hand, and she ran over to get them with such a boisterous gesture. It was only then that Mi realized the difference between nobles and ordinary people. While the commoner Fried was scheming and maneuvering for a few copper coins, this noble lady casually offered up a handful of gindries.
Ailian fiddled with the table with Jindeli while glancing at Mi: "I'm the only one in Ailian Castle. Xiaowei is the nanny who grew up with me, and the housekeeper was left by my father. They are all very good and have watched me grow up."
"Where did the others go? I mean your parents, elders, and relatives."
“They’re all gone.” Ailian’s eyes suddenly reddened, but she quickly rallied: “Now I have you.” This noble lady was an orphan, and Mi suddenly felt a pang of regret. No wonder she was so naive.
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