"...Just give it to me." Tasia replied.
"So kind?" Philip looked at himself in the mirror again, "She doesn't seem like such a person..."
"Are you familiar with her?" Tasia looked at Philip, "I only know that she used to be Mr. Roboglier's guard. What kind of person is she?"
"She's quite powerful. I heard that when she was young, she manipulated several of Mr. Roboglier's garrison commanders--"
Tasia was startled: "Are you talking about Helen?"
"Yes, although she has a vicious temper, she seems to have been a gorgeous beauty when she was young. Many men fall for this." Philip interrupted Tasia, "I can understand it. She can be among men. Most of the women who get out of here have some tricks up their sleeves."
Tasia frowned and thought for a while: "But I don't feel like she is like that-"
"You can't apply your experience to her," Philip returned to Tasia. "You and she are two different people."
"I know she and I are two different people, but -"
"Have I offended you, Tasia?"
"What..." Tasia was a little surprised, "Why do you say that?"
"Because you seem to always want to speak for Helen, and I don't quite understand... Is she your friend now?"
Tasia denied it flatly: "How is that possible!"
Philip smiled gently, sighed and put the brooch in his hand, and handed it to Tasia.
"Give it back to you...thank you."
Tasia raised her head: "Why do you want to thank me?"
Phillip's voice lowered: "Although everyone told me not to go to the dinner party with you, it is very dangerous...
"But you know, Tasia, I'm so happy that you think of me at a time like this... Thank you for trusting me."
Philip took Tasia's hand and handed the scepter brooch back to her.
For a while, neither of them spoke. When Philip reluctantly looked away from the brooch, he discovered that Tasia's eyes were already moist.
Phillip's breathing also became stagnant at this moment. Faced with the overly frank emotions of the person in front of him, he also felt an indescribable emotion rising from the bottom of his heart. At every moment like this, he would once again confirm that Tasia was the person he wanted to spend his life with. She seemed to have a kind of magic power, always easily awakening a noble emotion in people's hearts... This feeling was intoxicating. .
"What's the matter, Tasia?" Philip asked softly.
Tasia shook her head, "I should thank you for being willing to take risks with me..."
Philip raised his hands to hold Tasia's face, like a gentleman. He gently wiped the corner of her eyes with his thumb, wiping away the tears that had just emerged - but what happened was beyond his expectation, the place where his thumb wiped was smudged with a light brown color... It seemed that It's eyeshadow mixed together.
Phillip looked away awkwardly.
Tasia was not aware of this yet, but the display of emotion in front of another person made her feel a little shy. So she turned around and dealt with her emotions alone for a while. After a moment of silence, she suddenly turned back, as if she had made some determination.
"That brooch... Philip, it's up to you to wear it tonight."
…
The night was particularly long for Tasia.
Perhaps because everything that had happened before was too thrilling, she was extremely wary of the so-called night banquets - those dangerous passengers who were rumored to stab men in the lower abdomen, unreasonable strange crew members and strange confined spaces...
However, except that this place was exactly the same as the six decks below, nothing else caused Tasia's discomfort. She began to realize that what Gustav said might be true... As for why Si Lei and Rico's experience will be so special, perhaps, it is related to the identity of the guardian.
At least to her, everyone here seemed kind and polite.
Philip stayed with her for the first hour, but then he met several young people with whom he was very agreeable. They were similar in age and were discussing Roboglier's great initiative. Several of them shared their experiences in the process of practicing justice and equal rights while holding wine glasses. Tasia could not get in the conversation and soon became sleepy.
When she opened her eyes again, the party was even more lively, the music was cheerful and fast, but Philip was nowhere to be found.
This made Tasia's confusion quickly turn into fear. She anxiously stopped the bartender in front of the bar and asked where the guests who had been sitting with her were.
The bartender pointed to the dance floor not far away - Philip was dancing there with wild and enthusiastic movements.
Tasia breathed a sigh of relief, and her lower limbs felt weak.
"What's wrong with you?" the bartender wiped a uniquely shaped wine glass. "Are you scared by something?"
"...It's okay," Tasia whispered, "I'm just...worried about something happening to my friend."
"You don't have to worry about him, he is safe." A voice came from the side. Tasia turned her head and saw several well-dressed women sitting not far from her.
As soon as she saw them, Tasia's anxiety disappeared in half, perhaps because their dress and behavior felt familiar to Tasia, and nothing could bring a greater sense of security than this.
The women seemed older than me, but everyone seemed friendly. They took their own wine glasses, stood up and sat next to Tasia, and said with a smile: "You two are guests from the fifth deck, right?"
"Yes," Tasia nodded, "Are you...?"
"We also live on the fifth deck, isn't it amazing?" a woman said.
Another woman also approached, "But we have never met! What is your name?"
Tasia smiled and looked at the person who first spoke to her, "Why did you say he was safe just now?"
The woman opened a half-fold folding fan, "Because he is wearing a brooch, it means that he is a guest personally invited by Mr. Robbeglier... No one will embarrass an honored guest."
"The guests wearing brooches in the past two days were all ladies," another woman continued, "It's really surprising."
"Were you personally invited by Mr. Robbeglier?" Tasia was even more surprised, "But the invitation letter I received was signed by -"
"Are you able to move around freely?"
"...Freedom to move around," Tasia tried to understand the question, "Of course you can, can't you move around freely?"
"Can we go to the second and fourth decks too!"
"You can go to the second floor. I went there in the afternoon," Tasia tried to recall. She vaguely remembered that there was some mention of the fourth deck in the "Details". "As for the fourth floor, I haven't been there...but I should be able to go, what’s wrong?”
(End of chapter)
