“Once you can fly, you can explore this world with your own thoughts.”
“Even if I give you advice, you will just be a puppet who is being controlled by someone else.”
“At that time, you will not feel happy, you will not feel free; you will only feel that your life is like a giant cage.”
Listening to Lathel’s words, Claire seemed to have realised something, her eyes, looking at him, were no longer filled with confusion. Now there was a bit of surprise, enlightenment, and admiration, as if she were looking at a sage.
“You… you’re right.” Claire smiled, but her smile carried a bit of pain: “Since childhood, I have been Malina’s servant. After that, my thoughts were all about serving and obeying her orders.”
“There was a time when I thought about wanting to find out my own origins and who my father and mother were.”
“But… it was just a passing thought, like a gust of wind.”
“It left me with a lot of nostalgia, but it was not enough to help me break the cage you just talked about.”
Hearing that, Lathel smiled: “Don’t worry, now that the cage door is open, the only thing left is to fly outside.”
“Claire, there will probably be many dangers and difficulties outside, and you might even die.”
“But if you have no freedom and cannot explore this world, then life does not have much meaning.”
Claire looked at Lathel, her eyes becoming dreamy as if she were enlightened.
“Good! You should also decide quickly. I heard that after the third round, the high-ranking nobles will start choosing the geniuses they want to cultivate.”
Claire nodded: “Uhm! I already know, however, I want to think more carefully.”
“Lathel, if I choose the church, then I have to leave Karol, then… will you miss me?”
Lathel laughed loudly: “Hahahaha… Of course, after all, we have some very unforgettable memories, right?”
“That’s right. I also hope that we can have many memories like that.”
Claire smiled and said as she reminisced about the time they were camping and eating together. She also thought about the time they spent in the Yordle clan’s territory.
She felt that those days were some of the happiest days of her life.
Lathel: “…”
‘Oy! You want me to almost die again?!’
‘I don’t want to face a monster like the Fire Drake again, please!!!’
Each person had their own thoughts, and no one knew what the other person was thinking. However, the atmosphere in the carriage became a bit strange.
As soon as the carriage entered Ryne’s castle, countless loud explosions rang out, startling Lathel.
“What’s going on?” He asked quickly.
“Young master, everyone is welcoming you with fireworks.” The maid driving the carriage spoke up.
Lathel opened the car window and saw the sky covered with flowers of extremely dazzling but also very beautiful light.
He suddenly remembered the ‘countdown’ nights, while waiting for the new year. When the clock reaches 0, the sky is also covered with many fireworks like this.
Lathel opened the car door, slowly went down, stood in the garden, and watched the fireworks in the sky.
The only difference is… these fireworks were not to welcome the new year; instead, they were dedicated to him.
“Lathel…”
He heard a voice ringing out among the fireworks and looked forward.
Ryne stood there, her body was so fat that it seemed like the dress she was wearing was torn by chunks of fatty flesh.
She held a bouquet of flowers in her hands and slowly walked towards him: “Welcome back, congratulations on passing the second round.”
Lathel saw the bouquet of flowers that Ryne gave him and felt extremely warm in her heart.
He had heard a saying before, which was ‘Men only receive flowers on the day they die’.
But right now, he was still alive. He nodded, smiled happily, and said: “Thank you, Ryne.”
When Ryne saw Lathel’s smile, she was unable to control herself and immediately hugged him.
“Um… um…” Lathel was crushed by the fatty meat, making it impossible for him to breathe.
“Lathel… next time… don’t do such stupid things again.”
Hearing Ryne speak, Lathel was startled, he knew what she was talking about. That’s right, she was talking about him facing off against Fire Drake.
Lathel nodded slightly: “Uhm! I know, I will be more careful.”
Ryne hugged him tighter, as if he would disappear. Lathel also felt a little wetness on his shoulder, due to the fact that Ryne was crying.
He was startled; he did not think that she would cry. Anyway, the number of times he and Ryne met was not too many, and he could count the meetings on his fingers.
But… Lathel didn’t understand why he felt a very familiar feeling, as if he had been expecting this feeling for a long time.
‘Lathel…’
“Heh?!” Suddenly, Lathel seemed to hear a voice coming from his memories. However, that memory was extremely vague, as if covered by a layer of fog, making it impossible for him to see anything.
“Lathel!”
“Hmm?!” Lathel was once again startled by Ryne’s voice: “Ah! I…”
“Don’t worry, I will protect you.” Ryne suddenly said, while trembling.
“No, I… I can protect myself. Sorry, Ryne, I caused you a lot of trouble, right?”
“No! No! No! You didn’t cause any trouble at all, I just felt a little embarrassed because I couldn’t protect you.”
Lathel shook his head and said: “Don’t say that, I’m very stupid, so sometimes I will act like an idiot. But… I don’t regret what I did.”
Hearing that, Ryne slowly let go of him and stared into his eyes.
Lathel also looked into Ryne’s eyes. Suddenly, he realised that Ryne’s eyes were a bit similar to his own.
No, his eyes were red like blood, while Ryne’s eyes… they were fiery red, a red filled with the will to fight and never die.
It was very scary, and Lathel also felt the terrible destruction coming from inside those eyes.
“Lathel… You are very important to me, I… I don’t want you to disappear.” Ryne spoke softly.
Lathel felt an inexplicably familiar feeling, when she said this, it was as if he had felt this feeling a long time ago.
But… he reassured himself that he was thinking too much.
In his previous life on Earth, he was an orphan, he didn’t even know who his father and mother were.
Therefore, Lathel thought that the strange feelings that had just appeared were just his imagination.
However, that feeling was so real that it made him think that he once had a mother.
Lathel shook his head, tried to calm down, and said: “I will never disappear, I am also a coward, I am very afraid of death.”
“Uhm…” Ryne nodded as she looked at Lathel and reminisced.
She placed her hand on Lathel’s head, patted his head, and said: “Have you grown this high?”
“Hm?! What do you mean?” Lathel asked confusedly.
“Ah! No, what I mean is… I didn’t think you were this tall, hahaha…”
Lathel tilted his head to look at Ryne, her words made it seem as if she had seen him when he was a child. .𝘤𝘰
Looking at Lathel with suspicion, Ryne quickly said: “Lathel, do you know what this bouquet of flowers means?”
He bowed his head and looked at the bouquet of flowers in his hand. It was a group of flowers that he had never seen before, and he did not know their names; however, they were extremely beautiful and even emitted a bit of a gentle aura. .
“It is a special type of flower that only grows on mountain tops, surrounded by snow.”
Ryne explained.
“There is a flower there that only blooms once every 5 years, and of course, it is also an extremely rare medicinal herb.”
Lathel brought the bouquet of flowers up to smell it and immediately smelled an extremely pleasant fragrance, like a sedative that calmed him down.
Clap!
After Ryne’s applause, all the maids in the castle gathered in the garden, bowed their heads, and shouted.
“Congratulations on your return, young master!”
BAM!
BAM!
The greeting was accompanied by two fireworks explosions that created two extremely majestic and colourful flowers in the sky.
Lathel also smiled, bowed his head, and said: “Thank you, everyone.”
“Hahaha… don’t be polite…” Suddenly, Lilith appeared next to him and patted his shoulder: “You made me feel extremely proud.”
“Hm?! Lilith, why are you here?” Lathel asked in confusion. He thought that when he returned home, he wouldn’t have to see her anymore.
“Don’t you want to see me?” Lilith pouted, her expression a bit uncomfortable.
“Ack! No, I really want to meet you, hahaha…” Lathel forced a smile, his face lacking any happy emotions.
“AAA!!! You’re lying to me, you don’t want to see me, right?”
“Ah! Do you also realise I’m lying?” Lathel pretended to be surprised: “Teacher Lilith, since the second round, I haven’t seen Alec, you should pay attention to him a little, right?”
“Alec?! He has someone else to care about, I don’t need to care about him.”
“Heh?! You are his teacher, is it okay to say that?”
“I am his teacher, not his mother.” Lilith said uncomfortably: “After all, he is already an adult, there is no need for me to care too much.”
“I’m also an adult, why do you care about me so much?”
“Because I like you.”
Lathel: “…”
“Hehehe… of course, I also have a gift for you.” After Lilith finished speaking, she took out a red stone that looked like an iron ball heated to a high temperature and a magic staff.
Lathel recognised the red stone as the Fire Drake’s energy crystal. After Lilith killed that monster, she took its energy crystal.
And that magic stick…
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