"Miss Carly?"
When Carly was in a daze, Pace waved his hand in front of her tentatively, causing her to glare in dissatisfaction:
"what..."
"Well... Aloi Aziz, since he just invited the little princess to meet him, why are you so opposed?"
"Hey...are you Thebites stupid..." Carly was a little speechless. "Put yourself in the situation. If the Iron Lord called a civilian from Loden to enter the Iron Fortress, what do you think the reason would be?"
"Uh... because..." Pace thought for a moment, "Because he is going to be made a lord? Or maybe he is invited to the dinner for some reason? Commoners who don't have a special status are generally not invited to the Iron Fortress. In this case..."
"Ah, that's enough, I shouldn't have explained it to you like this..." Carly waved her hand, a little annoyed. "It's like talking to a cow..."
"Ah? Am I telling the truth?" Pace was a little surprised.
"That's because I don't know the Thebits well enough..." Carly sighed, "Perhaps the straightforward Thebits are better at giving to their own kind, but the Wilkins are different."
"The Wilkins are better at taking."
Carly looked at Perlis who was preparing with worry and felt a little headache.
"If you ask me, this is a really bad idea."
"But I have to try."
Perlis turned around and looked at Carly with an extremely calm expression. She used her long sleeves to hide the bandage on her wrist, as if she had never been injured.
"Aloi's brother was killed by my father, but he has never asked me for the crime since I returned to Wilkin."
"The Wilkins only act according to their own interests. At that time, you were the Blade of Babel and were protected by the Federation, but it is different now."
Carly waved her hand gently, and a few blue lights flew out from her sleeves, forming a pattern in the air: it was a poisonous snake with its mouth wide open and bloody.
"The Federation is still in the aftermath of Charon's rebellion, and the public opinion environment on the continent is very passive. At this moment, no matter what the Welkin Throne does to you, you will have an absolute advantage in public opinion."
The ice-blue eyes flashed a ray of rationality for the first time in a long time. Carly waved her hand again, and the blue dots in the air dissipated. When they reassembled, they had turned into Aloi's face.
"Wilkin's guards have been monitoring you for half a month. You couldn't have failed to notice it. If you were controlled by the royal family, you wouldn't even be able to participate in the competition, let alone..."
Perlis stared at Carly in a daze, her heart constantly colliding, as if there were some emotions that could not be released.
After a while, the red eyes blinked again, and a layer of mist lingered on the surface of the glass, covering the highlights:
"You can stay. I won't force you."
After saying this softly, Perlis opened the door and walked out of the house without looking back.
"Hey! Wait a minute!"
Carly reached out and called out, but Perlis's footsteps had already faded away, and she had no intention of wasting even a second.
"Why has she suddenly become so reckless..." Pace slowly walked to Carly's side and also looked at the door, "Although she has always been decisive, but... I can't explain it, it's just that this is not like her?"
"..Thebite, what do you think of this matter?"
Carly looked at Pace, her icy blue eyes flashing with fatigue. Seeing that Carly actually asked about his thoughts, Pace was flattered for a moment:
"Wow!? Ms. Carly, you're actually asking me what I think? What a good start!"
"..Forget it, I shouldn't communicate with you..."
"Hey, hey, hey!! Come on, come on, it was just a joke."
Pace smiled and waved his hand, then returned to his serious expression. He looked towards the half-open door, and his tone became a little low.
For some reason, when Pace saw Aloi Aziz's face, he couldn't help but think of an acquaintance.
The one who duelled him on the top of the Wanren Mountain was the son of the Iron Lord.
"If you ask me, that's a bad idea."
Carly looked at Pace in surprise and turned her head.
"Huh? You actually figured it out?"
"Hurry up and follow her, Miss Carly," Pace said, shouldering his backpack and slowly walking towards the door. "Whatever made that guy so reckless, she needs us now."
......
"What did you say?!"
After hearing the conditions proposed by Aloi, Carly stood up angrily and slammed her hands on the table:
"what do you want!?"
"I want to offer a marriage proposal, yes," Aloi looked at the angry Carly with interest and showed an elegant smile, "I want to marry Miss Perlis, she will become a princess of the Wilkin royal family, Perlis Aziz..."
“[Rain Barrier]!”
Before Aloi could finish, Carly waved her hand, and her cuffs were immediately filled with blue light, ready to go -
"Carly, calm down."
Before Carly could release the drone cluster attack, a small hand grabbed her arm. She turned her head sharply and met those blood-red eyes.
"Sit down first..."
"Didn't you hear what he said?" Carly said anxiously, "Do you want to become a plaything for this kind of man? Is it worth it? Little White Flower, you..."
"Sit down first!" Perlis said firmly, glancing towards the shadowy corner of the hall, "You, step back too."
Carly forced herself to calm down, and then she remembered that there were countless golden guns pointing at them in the shadow of the hall. She was so angry that she almost forgot where she was.
More than a dozen guards in golden armor slowly walked out of the shadows, their golden spears pointed at the group without exception, shining golden light in the dark hall. They kept approaching the group, looking ferocious.
"It's not good, little princess." Pace looked around vigilantly, his hand already reaching for the axe handle at his waist, "Look now..."
"I've already told you..." Perlis slowly stood up, her voice gradually becoming chilling. She stared at the guards, her blood-red eyes flashing with ferocity, "Back off!"
Instantly, the pressure that belonged to the Pure White Flame burst out, and Wilkin's guards stopped immediately, with the tip of the golden spear still pointing at the group. In this ancient hall, Perlis confronted the guards. She stretched out one hand to protect Carly behind her, and the other hand had already touched the butterfly knife in her sleeve, and the familiar cold touch spread across her fingertips.
Just when the atmosphere of the battle was about to break out, a brisk voice smoothed things over:
"Hahaha, that's enough, step back."
Aloi smiled and snapped his fingers, signaling the guards to retreat. The moment they received Aloi's order, the guards retreated back into the shadows in an extremely orderly manner like robots.
"You are indeed as strong as the rumors say, Miss Perlis."
"I reject your offer, Prince Aloi."
Perlis stared at Aloi's face calmly, as if she didn't want to waste even one more second on him.
Hearing this, the smile on Aloi's face froze.
"Ah... Are you dumping me just like that? For no reason at all..."
"Thank you for your hospitality, [Golden Sand Snake]," Perlis said calmly, motioning for Pace to stand up. "Since this is a pure exchange of interests, I cannot accept your conditions, so there is no need to continue the conversation."
The smile on Aloi's face slowly disappeared, and he lowered his head slightly, sinking his sharp face into the shadow of the hall. Seeing this, Perlis was extremely alert to Aloi, ready to deal with Aloi flipping the table at any time.
Carly and Pes were also very nervously preparing, fearing that the guards in the shadows would suddenly attack them. You know, under the current circumstances, they might not be able to fight this large group of guards head-on. Regardless of the exact number of guards, just from the injury of Perlis, if they fought like this, they might not be able to leave the Embers Palace in the end.
Facing Perlis's vigilant gaze, Aloi sighed with some regret:
"Really? That's a pity."
[Golden Sand Snake] had no intention of breaking off relations. He slowly raised his head from the shadows and showed his newly-put on fake smile in front of Perlis.
"Well, I wish you a pleasant journey to the Federation, [Pure White Fireworks]."
As the sun moved, the light projected from the temple hit Aloi's head, but it still couldn't cover the shadow in the corner of his eye.
......
1) Bad idea (Part 4)
Until the door of the Embers Hall closed behind her, Perlis couldn't believe that Aloi actually let her go like that. When the sunshine of downtown Wilkin shone on her head again, she found it a little unbelievable.
"Ah! He actually escaped! I thought we were going to fight!" Pace breathed a sigh of relief and said in a tone of extreme fear, "I thought you were going to agree to the prince's request. After all, you wanted to go to the Federation so much."
"How is it possible..." Perlis muttered, "...horrible man..."
"That guy... is so hateful..." Carly clenched her fists, as if she was still angry. "If he dares to say that again, I promise..."
"Okay~ Carly~" This time it was Perlis' turn to pat Carly's back soothingly, "I won't be fooled by a bad man..."
"Little White Flower, you are such a jerk!" Carly looked at Perlis angrily, her eyes full of resentment, "You acted so determined! I was so scared that I thought you were going to sell yourself out!"
"...Hehe...I have to let you follow me."
The group walked under the bright sunshine of Wilkin, playing and joking, and the gate of the Embers Palace gradually disappeared behind them. The farther they were from this ancient palace, the stronger the atmosphere of the civilized world became. The hustle and bustle of the city began to surround them, and the extremely complex hustle and bustle made Perlis feel at ease at this time.
After a brief discussion, the group decided to go to the city to have a meal before returning to the suburbs to discuss the next strategy.
Soon, the three of them stood on the side of the road waiting for the car. Looking at the heavy traffic in front of them, Perlis's vision gradually became blurred.
Aloy... that guy is obviously very smart, why would he use a simple marriage contract as a condition for providing the Star Track ticket? You know, even if Perlis agreed to the marriage contract, she could just take the train and never come back, never to fulfill this marriage contract that is almost equivalent to a blank check.
Could it be that...he never thought that Pearls would agree...?
Just as Perlis was thinking about it, Pace suddenly exclaimed:
"That was a close call. The little princess almost became a real little princess! Wilkin's little princess? It sounds very impressive!"
"Hey! Why are you talking so much now?" Carly glanced at Pace. "You were quite quiet just now. Apart from drinking, couldn't you say a few words...?"
"What can I say... I have no say at all..." Pace waved his hands helplessly, "I am a barbaric Thebite. I have no civilization or intelligence. How can I have any say in the game between you humans?"
"...Okay, you accept this setting." Carly was speechless when she saw Pace was playing badly.
"Thank you for your advice, Miss Carly." Pace saluted solemnly.
"Pfft..." Perlis couldn't help laughing, "...Hey, okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
Perlis suddenly walked slowly to Carly's side and tilted her head slightly:
"Carly, did you get the ticket?"
"I got it," Carly waved her hand casually, and dots of blue light flew out from her sleeves, flashing as if showing off, "Little Brids are very reliable."
"Okay," Perlis nodded, "When is the next bus?"
"Three days later, there's still time to prepare."
Pace stared blankly at the conversation between Perlis and Carly. It seemed like a long time had passed before he realized what was going on.
"Hey!? Have you got the Star Track ticket yet?"
"Yeah." Perlis nodded to Pace, then turned to Carly, "Will we be discovered?"
"No, Wilkin's track uses an iris recognition system. As long as the information is in the database, it will be fine. Just be careful to avoid manual inspection when the time comes."
"Hey! Wait a minute," Pace seemed a little out of tune, "When did you get it?"
"Just now." said Perlis.
"Just now? But didn't the little princess just reject the marriage proposal of that Shar-Skin Snake?"
"Yeah, yeah, so what?" Carly waved her hand impatiently. "That stupid prince actually brought the terminal with him. He hacked into it and imported some information. Rain Barrier can do it in just a few seconds."
Carly said as she gently turned the ring on her middle finger, the blue light flickering slightly.
"Do you really think I would lose my mind for no reason in a situation like that? That was just a cover."
"Carly's [Five Rings] are very reliable," Perlis silently continued Carly's words, "You can trust her."
"But..." Pace was still confused, "When did you..."
"We have this tacit understanding, so why do we need to discuss it in advance..."
"But to be honest, I was really scared by you... I thought you were going to act recklessly again!" Carly said in a reproachful tone, gently scratching Perlis's face, "Don't do this next time, okay?"
"Hehe...I don't believe you."
"Just tell me directly if you trust me!"
"Just to test our tacit understanding..."
"No more testing next time!"
"Ouch! Something unexpected happened! Stop pulling my ears!!"
Watching the two girls playing and fighting, for a moment, Pace felt that he was deeply isolated...
For some reason, Pace used to hate the Thebites' straightforwardness, and he even thought that he was not quite a Thebite. However, when he came to the country outside the Wanren Mountain, he found that he seemed to be quite a traditional "Thebite"...
