At dusk, the city of Kalliu once again became calm and peaceful. It was completely silent. The dull air filled the city streets. The knights and soldiers of the church had already cleaned up the traces of the monsters. Under the peaceful dusk, everything seemed to be... It was like nothing had ever happened. Only the occasional sound of carriages, footsteps of pedestrians, faint music and voices quietly conveyed the deep sadness of this city.
As the sun sets, the warm afterglow shines on the College of San Carlo. The warm yellow light shines through the leaves outside the window and onto the walls of the student bedrooms, forming colorful patterns that fill the entire room with a dreamy atmosphere. . Since it was getting late, the corners of the room seemed a little dark. Only the soft light shining in seemed particularly warm and comfortable, as if this room was the whole world, and that light was so intoxicating and longing.
The light hit the table, and a strange-looking mechanical device was quietly placed on it. It was the mysterious mechanical heart. The girl raised her arm and used her slender fingers to slide across the cold iron sheet of the machine. Her movements were so slow, as if she was enjoying the wonderful touch from another weird world, but no matter how wonderful the thing was, it lost its own effect. , it was just a boring decoration, so the girl's hand fell gently, with a sense of loss in her reluctance.
The window was opened a crack, and the breeze blew in, blowing the girl's fiery red hair. Without the restraint of the ponytail, the beautiful hair naturally spread on the girl's shoulders. This is Anya's bedroom, and the girl who is usually crazy and behaves strangely is uncharacteristically quiet at this time. Anya sits silently at the table, leaning forward and lying on the table with her face resting on her forearm. His eyes were dull as he looked at the mechanical heart, as if he was thinking about something, or simply in a daze. She sat there helplessly, unable to feel the passion and motivation she once had, and just waited silently for the passage of time.
Not long after, Anya suddenly frowned slightly. Her hand pushed the mechanical heart hard, and the device rolled twice away from her, finally stopping at the edge of the table. Anya, on the other hand, completely buried her face into the table and put her hands on her head, as if she wanted to isolate herself from the world and stopped making any movements.
Until someone knocked on the door, a brief yet cautious knock sounded. "Anya? Are you in there?" The voice speaking outside the door was Mr. Laurian. After knocking on the door for a while, Laurian found that the door was ajar, and easily opened a gap by himself with a slight force, as if he was deliberately waiting for his arrival.
Lauryn carefully opened the door. The noble gentleman was dressed as always, and even looked more energetic than before. Expensive leather boots stepped on the floor, and at the first sight he saw his daughter lying weakly on the table. As Anya's father, he was not surprised, but he rubbed the tip of his nose unnaturally with his left hand, and he hesitated in his steps. It took a while before he walked into the middle of the room again.
"I was just worried that you weren't in the room." Lauryn smiled softly. "I talked with the principal about your marriage. The school also thinks it is not necessary to complete the course for this school year. You can leave school and go home now. As long as you pack your luggage, the two of us can leave before the sun sets. Karl Flow.”
"Are you leaving now?" Anya raised her upper body tiredly and sat up like an empty shell without a soul, looking straight ahead with a dull look.
"Of course, after all, there are still a lot of things to prepare before you marry into the Duke's family. Our family should seize the time to get together more. In fact, I have prepared a new fishing rod for this. Do you still remember that I took you with you when you were a child? That time when you went fishing at the lake and fell into the water? Haha..." Laurian smiled without confidence. Because his daughter just looked at him expressionlessly, the laughter slowly stopped. I just feel a little embarrassed. "Ahem...so, is there anything you want to take away?" I happen to be here to help you pack it up. "
Anya twisted her neck slightly and looked around her bedroom briefly. She first looked at the adventure information and maps she had recorded on the bookshelf, and then her eyes fell on the mechanical heart in front of her. She seemed to be thinking about something. But in the end, he lowered his eyelids in disappointment and shook his head slightly. "No need...I don't think anything here is important anymore."
"How is that possible?" Lauryn walked to her daughter's bed in disbelief and picked up a rather distinctive-looking rag doll from beside the pillow. It was about the size of a pillow and was made of thin strips of cloth. The hair has become black, the eyes made of shells are obviously asymmetrical, the wooden nose is crooked, the arms are long and short, and the legs are of different thicknesses. These unique features make this rag doll look not only funny but even funny. It makes people feel pitiful and reveals some unique aesthetics everywhere. "You forgot Mr. Charlie!" Lauryn's face was full of puzzled shock. "This was your favorite doll when you were little. You wouldn't be able to sleep without it!"
"I just kept it because I have the habit of sleeping with a pillow, and I always forgot to get a second pillow." Anya tilted her head and looked at "Charlie" and then at her father. "I have said that I don't like this doll ever since I learned the alphabet. Even if it appears here, it was secretly sent here by Dad when I entered school."
"Is that so? I thought you liked it very much." Lauryn smacked her lips and gently put the Charlie doll back on the bed. "What a pity. It took me more than half a month to sew this with my own hands. I thought only my baby girl could understand its beauty."
"If compared with dad's works of the same period, it is indeed the most outstanding one."
Laurian looked at his daughter in distress for a moment. Seeing each other's indifferent expression, the corners of their mouths could not help but rise. Finally, they laughed heartily at the same time, and the awkward atmosphere was relieved at this moment. many.
Seeing that his daughter finally had a smile, Laurian continued to walk to her side. He stretched out his hand to caress her daughter's hair, but he hesitated to withdraw his arm just before touching it, and chose to put his palm on it. He put his hand on his daughter's shoulder, silently as if he was comforting a friend he had known for a long time.
"Oh, I almost didn't notice this little thing." Laurian caught a glimpse of the mechanical heart on the table. He leaned down and looked around at the mechanical part, and then held it in his hands. Get up and feel the weight of the machine. "Have you revealed the secret of it? Although I can see that you are a bit new and dislike the old, but you liked this little guy so much at the auction last week, why don't you take it away with you, my dear? Even if it can't be repaired Yes, it’s also a good choice just as a decoration. What do you think about tying a bow on it?”
"Not very good..." Talking about this mechanical heart, Anya's mood obviously dropped again, and the light in her eyes seemed a little scattered in the light of the sunset. "That is not the meaning of its existence. It must have a more important meaning...rather than becoming a decoration on the fireplace of a high-ranking noble, allowing strangers to touch and evaluate at will..."
Anya's words touched a certain heartstring in Laurian. Laurian raised his eyebrows, sighed, and put the machine back into place.
"The meaning of nothing is constant. Each of us has to play a different role at different stages. It's time for you to grow up, Anya. Although this is cruel to you... But people can't always do what they did when they were children. Meng, marrying the Duke’s eldest son, where will this go?”
"But I haven't even met that man. I heard that he is almost forty, and his previous wife had just died of syphilis on the morning he decided to marry me. While others were carrying his wife's body, the so-called The Duke's eldest son is busy hunting rabbits. I'm not good at pleasing others, and I don't know how to serve an old man. If I marry him, I'll probably end up with the same fate, or even worse." Anya held her face with one hand and looked out the window at dusk. scene.
Laurian was silent for a while, and he put his hands behind his back. There were some words that he really didn't want to say to his daughter too directly, but these were also his responsibilities as a father, and sometimes he had no choice.
"The matter of family marriage is not something that your mother and I can decide... The marriage contract was personally drawn up by Duke Ossinil for his eldest son, and we currently have no right to refuse. Your mother... sometimes it's hard to hear what she says. Some, but she is more concerned about the interests of the entire family, so don’t blame her." Laurian said, feeling a little speechless, and wanted to express some of the benefits of marrying into the Duke's family, but with her Conscience, how much do these benefits have to do with my daughter? It is more about mutual benefit between families... I feel even more reluctant to lose my daughter.
It was getting late, and the sun's rays gradually disappeared to the end of the town. Seeing that night was about to fall, Anya closed her eyes and kept thinking about something in her mind. When she opened her eyes again, the girl's eyes were still so lost. Godless. Anya first glanced at the machinery on the table, then faced her father and forced herself to smile. "Don't worry, I will marry that person...but...can I stay here for a few more days, a week...or a few days?"
"Aren't you going to leave with me today?" Laurian touched the beard on his face and thought for a while. "Okay, I may have planned too hastily. You must have your own friends here. You should say goodbye before leaving. If this is the case, don't rush home by yourself. There is no such thing in the country now. Taiping, it’s too dangerous for a girl to walk a long way by herself. I will come back to pick you up after a while, is that okay, my dear?”
"Really?" Anya didn't seem to expect that her father would agree so readily. She tilted her head and blinked, then showed a truly sincere smile. After standing up, she almost jumped towards her father. In front of her, she stood on tiptoes and quickly kissed the side of Laurian's face. The man's beard was a little prickly, but Anya didn't care about it at all and hugged Laurian's waist.
"Thank you dad."
Looking at her daughter who had changed so much before and after, Laurian was still a little confused, but then she smiled bitterly and didn't think too much. Who made her daughter different? This time Laurian finally put her hand on Above Anya's head, the afterglow shone on Anya, as if her daughter was the only light in his heart.
