After the short frolic, the group continued chatting on the side of the road, waiting for the car. Not long after, a power car drove over from the traffic and slowly stopped by the side of the road.
"Finally here..." Perlis subconsciously wanted to go forward and open the car door, but before her hand touched the car door, the window slowly rolled down -
"Hi~"
Pearlis's hand froze in the air. She saw an extremely familiar, stupid face, and that face was smiling at her.
Her chestnut hair was slightly curly, and there was a little spark in her brown pupils, but at this moment, she exuded an inexplicable sense of affinity.
"sunflower...?"
"Why is it taking so long?" Carly looked at Aoi with a complaining look on her face, "...I really hate places with a lot of people."
"Hahaha, sorry, there's a traffic jam?" Aoi smiled at Carly, then looked at Perlis, "Long time no see, Chunbai. Strictly speaking, it's you who hasn't seen me for a long time, right?"
"Hmph." Perlis turned her head slightly and snorted with disdain.
"Huh!? How could this happen..." Seeing that Perlis despised her so much, Aoi felt a little aggrieved, "I was the one who carried you back from Wanren Mountain! It was so tiring!"
"Who asked you to carry me..." Perlis was still acting awkward.
"I want her to carry me!" Carly patted Perlis' back gently and smiled at Aoi. "Okay, Aoi, don't bother with the kid. I'm almost starving. Let's go?"
"Hahaha, alright! Let's go!"
Aoi unlocked the car door and as if she remembered something, she stuck her head out of the window and greeted Pace:
"Yo~ Thebite~"
"...Uh...Hello?" Pace responded somewhat awkwardly, "Ms. Aoi, I heard it's you..."
"Let's not talk about that and just enjoy the civilized world~" Aoi retracted her head again, as if she just wanted to say hello.
So, the group got into Aoi's car and drove towards the city of Wilkin.
......
1) Bad idea (Part 5)
Apart from the fact that Perlis had been acting strangely towards Aoi, the dinner was generally quite pleasant. The only minor incident was that Aoi and Pesce inexplicably started to compete in drinking capacity at the table. After Aoi made the invitation, Pesce, who was born in the Thebite Winery, naturally entered the room with a disdainful look. Before he lost consciousness, Aoi still had a ruddy face and swallowed a large glass of freshly prepared orange wine.
"Are all people from the Federation able to drink so much?"
After staggering and emphasizing his "last words", Pes fell headfirst onto the table and began to snore. Aoi still had an indescribable smile on her face. She gently supported her slightly red cheek with one hand and looked at Pes who was lying on the table with her brown eyes.
"I'm not a federal." Aoi said softly, taking off her coat and covering Pace with it.
"Aoi," Carly suddenly spoke from the other side of the table, "We are leaving by the Star Track Line in three days. Do you want to come with us?"
"Me? I can't go for now..." Aoi's cheeks were slightly flushed with drunkenness, and her slender fingers slowly picked up the goblet and shook it slowly, "The [Competition] is about to begin. Except for Wilkin who lives a wealthy life, people from all over the world are running to Academi. It's really crowded..."
"Oh...I see..." Carly said thoughtfully, "I thought you would miss Lian..."
"That girl, she refused to come to Wilkin with me for vacation. She regretted it so much during the video call yesterday, saying that there are more and more people on the street now, and she blamed me for not forcibly dragging her out of her bedroom." When mentioning her sister, Aoi smiled dotingly and gently sipped the wine on her fingertips. "But Junbai, I thought you also hate crowded places. Do you have to duel with Ivar there?"
"Hmm..." said Perlis. She had been looking thoughtful ever since she left the Temple of Embers. She was the only one on the scene who hadn't touched the alcohol.
Aoi looked at Perlis's appearance for a while, then spoke softly:
"It is said that this [Competition] is very chaotic, especially after Charon's rebellion. Many people will come for the seat of [Blade of Babel]. You are more or less aware of this, right? Don't get yourself involved again, okay?"
"..what do you care..." Perlis turned her head away slightly, looking unappreciative, but after a while, she slowly spoke again, "Thank you..."
"Pfft... No wonder Carly likes you so much, you're so stupid yet cute..." Aoi laughed softly, and then extended the wine glass to Perlis, "Come on, have a drink with your sister?"
"Hey!! Stop messing around!" Carly blocked Aoi's hand with one hand and stared at her angrily, "She can't drink it!!"
"I know, hahahaha..."
The happy dinner ended quickly. After that, Aoi drove the group back to Perlis's home in the suburb of Wilkin. For some reason, even though she drank so much, she didn't look drunk at all. She drove so steadily that even Carly was amazed.
Perlis carried the drunken Pace into the house with great disdain, threw him casually on the sofa in the living room, and went straight into her room. Carly did not disturb her. She knew that Perlis was probably a little emotional and needed to be alone for a while. It was meaningless to show her so-called "care" at this time.
So, it was not until late at night that she opened Pearl's door as usual, holding a cup of hot cocoa.
Sure enough, Pearlis did not sleep. As usual, she sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the darkness outside the window.
"You're not asleep yet, little white flower," Carly handed the hot cocoa to Pearlis and slowly sat down beside the bed. "I told you not to stay up late. You can't be like a child and need me to supervise you every day to sleep well, right?"
Polys slowly took the hot cocoa from Carly's hand, but just lowered her head and stared at the steaming surface of the liquid. The waves of hot air made her vision a little blurry. She slowly raised her head and looked at Carly who was sitting next to her.
"Why do you call her Aoi?" Perlis tilted her head slightly, with a puzzled look in her red eyes. "She is the Blade of Babel, and I treat her so badly. She has no reason to help me..."
"It's not that we need her to help us win the competition, I know that," Carly said as she took a sip of coffee and pursed her lips, "but... I always feel that things are not that simple. The Wilkin royal family will not let us go so easily. It won't be a bad thing to have more people accompany us on the road."
"Don't I have me? How could Wilkin's guards..."
"Your injury hasn't healed yet. You might get hurt again if we fight!" Carly glanced at Perlis' bandaged wrist worriedly. "I don't want you to get hurt."
The two were silent for a while. Pearlis gently raised the cup and took a sip of hot cocoa. As usual, Carly didn't add any sugar according to her taste, which made her feel a little warm.
"Little White Flower, can you tell me why you are so obsessed with competing with Ivar in the competition?"
Perlis raised her head slightly, and her eyes met Carly's ice-blue eyes: Carly's face looked a little cautious, as if she was afraid of triggering Perlis's little emotions, which made her feel extremely relieved but also a little guilty.
Carly cared about her very much and wanted to share her burden, but even so, there were some things she had to bear alone.
Under such gaze, Perlis lowered her head slightly and smiled softly:
“It’s a very willful idea…”
Perlis shook her head and looked up at Carly again.
"You're going to call me stupid again."
"I don't mind listening to the little thoughts of an idiot," Carly reached out and gently stroked the ends of Perlis' hair that hung down from her cheek, "Tell me, little white flower."
"Let's talk about it later." Perlis stubbornly refused Carly, picked up the hot cocoa and took another sip.
The two fell into silence again. As usual, Carly just gently stroked the ends of Pearlis's pure white hair, feeling the incomparably smooth and soft texture, her ice-blue eyes full of emotion.
"You've changed, Little White Flower," Carly said softly, letting the watery hair slide from her fingertips. "When I was in school, Little White Flower would throw herself into my arms and act like a spoiled child when her classmates secretly talked about her behind her back."
Carly raised her head, looked at the indifferent Pearlis, and smiled weakly.
"Now you have learned to keep your own little secrets, so you don't tell me."
"I can't be so childish all the time... I can't always rely on you."
Pearlis took another sip of hot cocoa, and gradually she felt her head becoming a little dizzy from the heat.
"Will you...will you hate me? Carly..."
"Hmm?" Carly tilted her head slightly, "No way."
"I'm always like this...you must be very tired..." Perlis felt her vision a little blurry.
"No, don't worry," Carly slowly stroked the back of Perlis's head with her hand, "I will always support you. If you must go to the Federation, I will go with you. If you are injured and can't beat Ivar, I will help you defeat him!"
Seeing Perlis's sleepy look, Carly gave a gentle smile.
"Don't forget, Carly Fellowes is the super bad [Eye of the Federation]... I'm just pretending not to be powerful, but I can actually help you."
"Well... Carly... Carly is the best..." Perlis swayed her body drowsily, her eyes slightly narrowed, "...I'm so sleepy."
"If you're sleepy, go to sleep. Don't stay up late." Carly took the cup of hot cocoa from Perlis's hand. Her free hand was still stroking the back of Perlis's head, as if to comfort her. "You can't recover properly if you stay up late."
However, Perlis could no longer speak. Her red pupils narrowed smaller and smaller, and finally closed her eyes. Her body slowly softened like a puppet with its strings cut, and was gently held up by Carly.
"Alas, you pretend to be calm and noble during the day, and then become emotional at night. This will harm your health."
Carly slowly lifted the back of Perlis's head and placed her on the bed. After covering her body with the quilt, she stood up from the bed and looked at Perlis's sleeping face.
She added half a sleeping tablet to the hot cocoa. Even though it didn't have a very strong effect, it was enough to make the exhausted Perlis fall asleep.
"Have a good sleep. You won't be able to get a good night's sleep for many years."
Carly gave a small kiss on the sleeping Perlis's head, then turned around and slowly walked out the door. When passing by the door, Carly turned her head to look at Perlis for the last time, smiled gently, turned off the light, and left the room.
"Clang-"
The sound of a door closing was heard, and the whole room fell into darkness. In the darkness, Perlis slowly opened her eyes again.
"Hmm...I won't be able to sleep well soon..."
Perlis slowly turned over in bed, looking out the window, looking at the stars of Wilkin. In the huge network of stars, she vaguely saw the star she had seen during the day.
It seemed to be called... Morning Star? Perlis couldn't remember clearly.
Stupid Carly...Does she really treat Pearlis as a child? This dose of sleeping pills is useless to her.
The stars seemed to be able to see Perlis's little thoughts and twinkled gently in the night sky, as if responding to her.
But, you really should get some sleep.
"Good night," Perlis murmured softly to the stars, "I'm going to sleep~"
In Wilkin's dark night, the blood-red eyes went out, but countless stars still shone in the sky, casting a layer of beautiful, faint starlight on this beautiful country where venom was brewing.
Who knew if this was a bad idea after all? Maybe she should just stay in Wilkin forever and enjoy every night under the stars.
...END...
2) Fangs of the SandSnake
[Star Track Line] is located on the edge of the Wilkin West Oasis, only about ten kilometers away from the Visa Desert outside Wilkin. The hot wind from the desert constantly blows on the edge of this oasis, adding a bit of impetuous atmosphere to this green and peaceful scene.
As the only high-factor energy inverted train in Wilkin that leads to the Akademi Federation, the Star Track Line is famous for its extremely high safety and comfort. If you don't take this line to go to the Federation, you can only travel through the Grau Yad Wasteland, which will easily be harassed by scavengers and mercenaries.
Since the ticket price was high, this track had become an exclusive route for the privileged class and the petty bourgeoisie since its establishment. However, as the country with the most wealthy people in the entire Ademir continent, there were many people in Wilkin who could afford a ticket for the Star Track, so this track was also the most popular among the many tracks in Wilkin.
Looking at the platform made up of two huge spheres in the distance, Perlis gently curled the ends of her hair on her cheeks. The scorching wind at the edge of the oasis gently lifted her pure white long hair, bringing a little heat, but making her heart become extremely calm.
Finally, we are finally setting off.
After being immersed in the pain of being unable to move for so long, Perlis finally felt that she had taken a substantial step towards the Federation, even though... she hadn't even gotten on the car yet.
"Hey.. I'm telling you.. there will be no problem if you follow the plan."
"I know, I didn't say there was a problem."
"Oh? What's that expression on your face..."
Perlis turned around slowly and saw Carly and Pesce coming over together, seemingly arguing again. Pesce's mouth was slightly pursed and his face was a little pale.
Is this Thebite actually nervous... How can he be so lame... Perlis stuck out her tongue lightly and turned her head away slightly.
"Hey! It's normal to be a little nervous after being shocked like that in the Hall of Embers!" Pace seemed to see through the disgust in Perlis's eyes and began to defend himself.
"I didn't say anything~" Perlis passed by.
"Ahhh... okay, okay, okay! I'm a coward! I'm scared, okay!"
Pace gave up on making excuses and turned to look at the tall platform of [Star Track] with an unsightly look on his face.
"But is it really okay? I feel like Prince Wilkin won't let us go so easily."
"Then your intuition is correct. Stay vigilant." Perlis nodded approvingly.
"What if something goes wrong?" Pesce was dejected, and seemed a little unwilling. "The little princess and Miss Carly can protect themselves, but I may not be able to defeat that guard."
"It's okay," Perlis walked up to Pace and punched his chest seriously, "Young master, you're good at running."
"...Little Princess, don't I have any dignity..."
"..Eh? Young Master, you still have some dignity...?"
"There must be some..." Pace was deeply shocked.
"Okay! Stop wasting time!"
Carly walked between Pearls and Pace very abruptly, separating them, as if she was not satisfied with Pearls and Pace having close contact.
"Did you forget that we still have to go through security in advance? You were just complaining about being discovered, and you're still messing around here!"
After saying that, Carly grabbed Perlis's hand and led her towards the platform quickly, ignoring Perlis's puzzled expression.
“Hey, hey, hey! Slow down, slow down…”
Watching Carly and Perlis moving away, Pace sighed helplessly. Was it because Carly was too possessive of Perlis, or was it because Carly hated Perlis too much?
"Ahem, all right, Pes Monarch is going to get serious!" Pes cheered up and cleared his throat solemnly, "Cross the ravines between the mountains (Thebite)~"
Pace walked towards the backs of Perlis and Carly while humming a tune from his hometown. A slightly hot wind blew over the path on the edge of the oasis, occasionally blowing up some drifting sand.
