Petrus (11)
The Queen watched Derek leave the government office, then slumped into a chair, exhausted. Wen entered with a glass of cedar wine: "Your Majesty, His Majesty has returned to the Derek Gallery. He just ordered that Severus be summoned."
"Wen, go check the vacant rooms in the Twin Towers. A large number of protons will be arriving in Sun City."
"Yes." Wen stood to the side, then took out a stack of envelopes: "Is the dual-proton plan confirmed to be implemented?"
"Yes, the city lord cannot rule Lin City with his own hands." Queen Angelis raised her head, her previous fragile and pained expression gone. She said in a deep voice, "Have the captain of the Lin City defense team send the child over. Also, go to the Adventurers' Guild. The king wants the Citadel to send a hostage as well. This is very strange. Please have the Adventurers' Guild send someone to investigate who came up with this idea from His Majesty's side."
"Okay." Wen held out more than ten envelopes. "These letters will be sent out today?"
"Send it after the New Year holiday, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, to the Adventurers' Guild." The Queen stood up. "Go and ask the Adventurers' Guild what's going on with the Sea Kingdom. Their ships haven't come, and there have been any changes at the border. It would be best to send a small team there."
* * *
The New Year holiday is seven days long, and Shila, the owner of the Flower Fate Inn, stays at the inn all day. The men and women who didn't go home spend their days drinking and having fun, and when they come back, they're noisy and arguing. Shila has to make sure they don't cause trouble in the streets, and she also has to supervise the kitchen. The cooks have all gone home for the holiday, so Shila makes a stew every day to appease everyone.
When Mi returned to the Garden Inn, Sheila brought her a bowl of stew: "Try it, it's my mother's specialty."
Looking at the pot of mixed stew in the bowl, Mi suddenly had an idea: "Can I use your kitchen tomorrow?"
“Of course, please feel free to use it, sir.” Sheila watched as Mi sat down to eat dinner. “You can even cook, sir?”
"Yes, I'd like to make some food from my hometown too." Mi smiled as she thought of the New Year on Blue Star. Having been away from Blue Star for so long, she was also homesick.
On the seventh day of the New Year holiday, Mi got up very early. The drunk men and women in the inn were still asleep. Mi saw the owner setting up a big pot in the kitchen. She walked over and said, "Today I'll treat you to something special."
Sheila and Mi got along well. This noble adventurer was very approachable and didn't seem like the dangerous type of adventurer. Sheila was very pleased with her guest and brought out all the flour, meat, vegetables, and sauces from the kitchen for Mi to use.
Facing a pile of familiar ingredients, Mi thought of the food in Lincheng 17. Barbecue and wheat cakes were everywhere, but she couldn't make the desserts from the girls' school. In the end, Mi decided to make dumplings. She started kneading the dough, rolling out the wrappers, and preparing the filling, just like she did on Earth. When the plump white dumplings were lined up, Mi wanted to go back to Earth.
The dumplings tasted good, and Mi thought Petrus would like them. She packed a lunchbox full of dumplings and went back into Derek Palace. The seven-day New Year's holiday is the busiest seven days for the royal family, with the King and his family attending celebrations in different places and giving royal speeches. It was daytime now, so Mi didn't need to worry about running into any members of the royal family.
Mi returned to Derek's Palace, which was decorated with flowers and everyone was in high spirits. Mi couldn't find Beatrice; Lily was sitting alone in Beatrice's room packing her clothes. She took all of Beatrice's clothes out of the closet, packed them up, and set them aside—this was unusual.
The hostages from the neighboring city were either in their rooms or chatting with friends in the lobby on the first floor. Eli passed by Petrus's doorman again and again. She stopped and left, and after several times, she pushed open the door: "Lily, where is Petrus?"
“Miss Elizabeth, Petrus is unwell, and the medical officer has advised her to go out for treatment.” Lily stood up and bowed, answering in this way. Orange lights shimmered around Lily; she was lying. Mi immediately extended her consciousness, weaving a net through palaces and throughout the castle, finally finding Petrus in a secluded grove behind a spire.
As Beatrice ran, she looked back in terror. A man in a grey robe followed behind her. He held Beatrice's shawl in his hand, slowly pacing behind her, as if toying with her. Each time he caught up with her, he would take a trophy from her before letting her go. When Mi reached the grove, Beatrice was left only in her undergarments, trembling uncontrollably. She wandered aimlessly through the woods, her arms and back covered in scratches, and a large handprint on her face—the man's slap.
Mi trembled with rage. She could no longer restrain herself. She approached the man, pulled out a dagger, and was about to slash his neck. But this was Derek's Palace. A last shred of reason pulled Mi back. She stared at the man before her: a grey robe, a gaunt face, a sharp nose, and a brooding, violent gaze. He had reached his limit. She watched as he threw away all the clothes in his hands, his grip tightening. Mi turned away. Beth stopped running; she collapsed to the ground, her eyes red and swollen, tears blurring her vision. A grey figure approached her. Beth closed her eyes in despair, her mouth tightly shut, refusing to utter a single word of pleading.
The man squatted down in front of Bai Cuisi, grabbed her hair with one hand, lifted her head, and said viciously, "Run, run again, see where you can run to? Beg me, beg me to let you go, why won't you beg for mercy?"
Mi discovered that the man held silken ropes binding Petrus, and more and more ropes were entangled around her. Mi looked around; this was the very edge of Derek's Palace, a corner forgotten amidst the New Year's decorations. Confirming no one would come, Mi activated her witch form, plunging the entire forest into darkness. She enveloped the forest, inch by inch, leaving no rope untouched. The sun was blocked out; Mi had isolated this small patch of forest, creating a vacuum. As the man's hand touched Petrus's face again, she drew her dagger and decapitated him.
A sharp whistling sound suddenly echoed from the woods, and Betty fainted. A cloud of mist swirled through the trees, the threads coalescing, and the man returned to human form. He stared at the dark woods and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you? Why did you ruin my plans?"
Mi endured the piercing screams in her mind, remaining silent. She sheathed her dagger, drew her sword, and stabbed the gray-robed man again and again. Holes appeared one after another in his robes. Finally, the man could no longer maintain his balance, and strands of silk began to escape. Mi's consciousness merged with these strands, and a tremendous panic enveloped her. At this moment, Mi felt the same way as the man; a powerful fear gripped her heart. "Run! Run!" "Who are you?" "Spare me! Please spare me!" Mi's ears were filled with the man's frantic voice.
Mi trembled with fear, more terrified than ever before; her life was slipping away. For the first time, Mi felt empathy; she realized what a witch was—a being like this. She felt the intense emotions of a man, emotions that nearly overwhelmed her. Mi stared at Beatrice; her face was the only thing that kept her calm.
Mi slowly shrank her witch form, her longsword replaced by a dagger. She repeatedly stabbed at the silk threads beneath her robe. The screams that had been echoing in her mind finally ceased, and the fear vanished without a trace, leaving only a blankness. She didn't know how much time had passed before Mi regained consciousness. The silk threads of her robe and the dirt had become a tangled mess. Mi didn't know what to do, so she gathered up the small clump of dirt and rags.
Bertram had woken up and was staring blankly at the empty space in front of her, wondering why the gray-robed man had suddenly disappeared. A lunchbox appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Mi said, "Can you eat what's inside? I need a box."
Bertram mechanically opened the lunchbox. The plump dumplings looked like little gold ingots, but unfortunately, the Flower Kingdom didn't have gold ingots; even Mi sighed. Bertram picked up the dumplings with her muddy and scarred hands, stuffing them into her mouth one by one. With her mouth full of dumplings, she mumbled, "Is it you? Did Mom send you?"
Mi didn't know what to say. Bai Cuisi's red eyes were staring into the air, as if she had lost her soul. Mi turned her eyes and said, "Yes, I am your mother's friend."
Patricia seemed not to hear Mi's words. She swallowed the dumplings one by one, placed the empty box on the ground, and stared at it without saying a word. Mi packed the gray rag and dirt into the lunchbox, and finally said, "I need to take something from you. Please don't be afraid."
Bertram stretched out her hands, and Mi tore off the threads binding her one by one. Bertram trembled slightly; the threads had already dug into her flesh. Finally, Mi could only take out a dagger and cut the threads bit by bit. As the last thread was peeled off Bertram's body, a sharp scream echoed in Mi's mind again. This time, it was Mi's turn to tremble as she cut all the threads one by one, a feeling of despair rising in her mind, "Die, die"—with each time she raised her arm to cut the threads, Mi felt she was killing herself.
Mi filled the gray soil into the lunchbox, sealed it completely with her consciousness, and then put the lid on. Mi surveyed the grove of trees, the shadow she cast above them. She slowly lowered her consciousness, finally covering the entire ground. The earth was quiet and still. Betty sat helplessly in the grove, her mind blank, her stomach churning with discomfort. Mi examined every crevice in the soil, then picked up Betty's clothes. She materialized into human form and used the clothes to wipe the soil off Betty's face. Betty was ice-cold; as Mi vigorously wiped her, her skin began to redden. Finally, Mi dressed Betty, straightened her hair, and then embraced her, gently stroking her back.
Petrus's body temperature began to return, and her consciousness gradually returned. Suddenly, she grabbed Mi's arm tightly and burst into tears. Petrus sobbed, her lips trembling as she couldn't utter a word. Mi hugged her, whispering in her ear again and again, "It's alright, Petrus, it's alright, Petrus, I'm here, Petrus. I'm Zara's friend. Zara entrusted you to me; you are my child."
The louder and louder Beatrice cried, she finally wailed, “My mother is gone, isn’t she? You all want to bully me, don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?” Beatrice cried until she was exhausted, and she sobbed in Mi’s arms. This ten-year-old girl should have been laughing in her mother’s arms, being watched and sung by her mother’s gentle gaze.
As Bai Cuisi drifted off to sleep, Mi pressed down on her shoulders, stared into her eyes, and asked, "Where do you want to go? I'll take you back to Lincheng 17?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Beatrice's eyes, but she quickly made her decision: "I want to go back."
“Okay, I’ll take you back.” Mi stood up. She decided to send Bai Cuisi back to Lincheng 17 as quickly as possible.
“No, I want to go back there.” Bertrand pointed to the Palace of Nys. “I want to conquer it, I want to become its master.”
"Are you sure?" Mi looked at Bai Cuisi, who was covered in injuries, her face smeared with dirt and tears that left deep lines on her face.
"I'm certain. I want to abolish the Twin Towers. Only by becoming the master of the Palace of Nyss can I abolish the Twin Towers!"
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