Helen burst into laughter, and Tasia limped away amid the laughter. When she pushed open the stairwell door and came to the deserted steps, she suddenly stopped, sat on the stairs, covered her face and cried.
In tears, Tasia suddenly resented everyone equally.
everyone. People present and absent, living and long gone, silent and talkative...
What would happen if the ship sank immediately? What would happen if everyone died together, everyone, no matter good or evil, domineering or weak, drowned together and fairly? Anyway, when that time comes, there won’t be so many difficult things to endure, so just go through them one by one!
As soon as this sharp thought crossed her mind, a rational alarm sounded in an instant: before the sporadic pleasure she had just aroused had taken shape, she had already frightened herself - what a vicious thought... It's unbelievable how I could have such an idea. Fear and disgust merged into a more complex pain.
Suddenly, Tasia felt something jump to her hand. Before she could see what it was, she heard a cat meow.
A big white cat jumped out of nowhere and was looking at her with its head tilted.
"Heh..." Tasia breathed a sigh of relief, "Little thing..."
The white cat meowed and naturally jumped onto her lap.
Tasia straightened up to give the white cat more room. She touched the cat's neck. There was no tether or collar there.
"...Whose family do you belong to?" Tasia asked choked with tears.
The cat didn't answer.
She kept talking to the kitten in her arms, and every two or three words, the white cat meowed. Of course cats don't understand what people are saying, Tasia thought, but it would be nice to have a kitten at this time.
After a quarter of an hour, Tasia's tears completely stopped. She took a deep breath and decided to go back with the cat. As soon as she got up, the cat broke free from her hand.
Tasia turned back: "...Where are you going?"
The white cat walked quietly to the edge of the stairwell and started to open the door. The door panel didn't move at all. The white cat turned around and barked twice at Tasia.
"Are you going to this deck?" Tasia was very surprised, "But it's very dangerous inside..."
The cat was unmoved and continued to meow at Tasia.
"No," Tasia stepped forward and picked up the white cat again, "This is not the place a kitten should go, you still-ah!"
The white cat's front paws scratched Tasia's shirt, and the cat fell back to the ground steadily. It ran forward two steps, and looked back at Tasia on the stairs leading to the first deck. One glance, and then quickly disappeared from her sight.
Tasia chased her to the first floor, but still couldn't find her anywhere. Until she walked towards the observation deck, she suddenly met Chiba coming towards her - she recognized the mercury needle in overalls at a glance. This person's position is obviously higher than Hesta and Rico...
Chiba held the cat's neck with one hand, like a bag of flour. She walked towards this direction with an expressionless face and passed by Tasia.
"That...ma'am!" Tasia turned around, her heart pounding.
Chiba stopped.
"Did you call me?"
"Yes, cats...adult cats can't be lifted like that," Tasia pointed to the white cat. "Adult cats are much heavier than kittens. Lifting them like this may strain the muscles near their necks, so..."
Chiba laughed. She dragged the cat's butt with one hand and held the cat's two front feet with the other hand, "Like this?"
"Yes..." Tasia took a deep breath, "I would like to ask, is this cat-"
Before she finished speaking, Qianye had already led the cat into the cabin entrance at the corner. Tasia hesitated for a while whether to chase after him. When she walked to the place where Qianye disappeared, there was no one there.
Looking at the empty inner hall, Tasia was in a trance—these mercury needles were each more mysterious than the last.
…
Near nine o'clock, Tasia changed into her dress and stood in front of the mirror.
Earlier, at Hesta's suggestion, she randomly grabbed a crew member and told him that she wanted to take the risky passengers to the dinner party. Sure enough, not long after that, another crew member came again. Another dress for Philip, although the size was slightly inappropriate, it was still wearable.
Tasia looked at herself in the mirror. Half of the redness and swelling on her face had disappeared. What was embarrassing was that clear finger marks were still left. In the afternoon, both Si Lei and Hesta asked her what was going on, but she remained silent. After a long time, I said I accidentally hit the wall. Li Ge was still staring at her face and asked seriously: Are you sure you hit the wall?
Tasia looked at the purple bruise on her forehead, pressed it gently, and felt a burst of tolerable pain.
"Tasia, are you ready?" Philip's voice came from outside the door.
"come in."
Phillip opened the door and found that the lights were not turned on in the room. A little bit of the sunset shone down, and the whole room was filled with dim dusk. Tasia stood in the shadow of the furniture, the entire outline of her front body immersed in darkness.
This scene made Phillip feel a little strange.
"Tasia..."
Tasia turned back, "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, but no one came to pick us up..."
"Is the elevator repaired?"
"Elevator?" Philip was stunned for a moment, "I didn't pay attention...Didn't Gustav and the others go to a new one last night-"
"Hesta said that if the elevator returns to normal before nine o'clock, then the dinner should be held at the same place tonight. If that is the case, there will be no need for the crew to come to pick us up."
"Is that so..." Phillip smiled and walked to Tasia, "How do you think she knows everything?"
"Because she is the judge." Tasia turned around and walked towards Philip. Philip's eyes were immediately attracted to the scepter brooch on her chest.
"This must be the brooch that Helen took from Si Lei before..."
Tasia looked down and said, "Yes."
"Such a big sapphire... is it real? If it is real, it must be worth a lot of money..." Philip murmured, "Can you show me this brooch?"
Tasia took off the brooch directly and handed it to Phillip.
Philip immediately turned on the lights in the room and put the brooch under the light source to take a closer look. "It's so beautiful... No wonder the person wearing it is safe."
"What?"
Philip also stood in front of the mirror. He held the brooch against his chest and looked around at the changing luster on the gems.
"Only those guests with distinguished status can wear this kind of accessories..." Philip turned around, "Didn't Helen say that she lost her brooch? Why did she give it to you again?"
