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In the following days, Dolores really took time out to practice guitar with Peter every day.

The migratory birds and the hydra are incredibly calm.

The festive atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger.

Christmas is coming.

She realized this again because Ruby called to greet her.

"rupee!"

The voice of the old butler she was familiar with came from the phone.

"Long time no see, Dolly, how are you doing?"

Ruby asked her with a smile. He watched her grow up, almost like her grandfather.When she was young, Ruby's hair and beard were still very dark, but as she grew up, his temples gradually grew thicker, and his lumbar spine also had some problems, which made his once straight back appear crooked. the arc.

"I'm fine, everything is fine."

Dolores said this, feeling a little guilty in her heart. Ruby really cared for her, but she couldn't tell him that she was doing some dangerous things now.

She sat cross-legged on the thick carpet of the fireplace, leaning back on Van Gogh who was in a deep sleep.

She racked her brains to think about the recent new things in school that were not involved and could not be said, and then told Ruby about them one by one.

Ruby learned about her life through these, and he listened to his heart's content.

"It sounds like you're having a great time, and I'm so glad, Dolly."

He spoke with relief in a gentle voice.

"Yes, Ruby, don't worry about me." Dolores giggled.

She fiddled with the guitar beside her with her hands, rubbing the strings with her fingertips: "We are going to have a holiday this week."

"Christmas is coming too."

Ruby said he paused: "I'm going back to England this year for the holidays, with my brothers and nephews."

Ruby's family is in London and they have a farm.

"Oh, really?" Dolores said, but then she remembered that he had been back to England last year.

Ruby sighed on the other end of the phone, and Dolores immediately had a bad feeling.

He considered his tone, and said helplessly and carefully: "I may retire this year, my dear."

She opened her mouth unexpectedly: "What?"

"I've worked in the Tolland family all my life, and I'm almost 70, Dolly."

As he spoke softly, Dolores silently grabbed the phone and was taken aback for a moment. That's right, Ruby had worked at Toland Manor even before she was born.

Her tone dropped obviously: "Oh, that's right."

"I'm already an old guy, although if I can, I would like to stay and watch you go to college or even get married and have children, but unfortunately, all this is due to my lumbar spine not being friends enough. It always has problems and messes with me. Trouble." Ruby said jokingly, and laughed cheerfully twice.

Dolores laughed and said, "Okay... How is your waist? Does it hurt?"

"On a rainy day, honestly a little bit at night."

He went on to say: "However, Dr. Hall said that there is no particularly serious problem. Old people are like machines. If they are overused, they will break down. It is inevitable."

"You are not old."

Dolores retorted harshly.

"Thank you, but I do need a good rest. Mr. Tolland was back for two days last month, he talked to me about it, and we both think it's time for me to retire."

"Uncle Myers? He came back last month?"

"Yes, although he also hoped that I could stay, but I think I should go back to the family, so he respected my idea, we re-hired a female housekeeper, she will take over my position, in After I leave, she will be the housekeeper of the manor."

"Oh...I think I'm going to be very uncomfortable."

Dolores said in frustration that she couldn't imagine what a Tolland Manor would be like without Ruby. Ruby was already a part of it, just like the houses and gardens in the manor.

Ruby reassured her, "You're going to like the new housekeeper, she's a very nice lady. Dolly, did it ever occur to you that you might not even be here very often, you see, you should be in New York by now Made a lot of friends, you still have college in the future, you will have a job after college...”

He sighed: "Oh, when you went to school in New York, I should have realized that you have grown up to go out and wander, just like a bird leaving the nest to find a new life of its own..."

Dolores blinked. She may not necessarily find a job like this to start a family in the future, but being a superhero obviously belongs to the category of lifelong career.

In this way, Tolland Manor may really become a part of her childhood memories.

Oh.....this feels surprisingly new.

"I'm not ready yet."

She said: "Are you really leaving? Are you coming back? Can I go to England to see you?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll see each other again, my dear boy, and of course you can come to see me in England."

Dolores sniffed sadly, and quickly asked him: "Will your back injury be treated well in England? Does it often rain in London? Will it affect your waist?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, Mr. Tolan bought me a house and paid a lot of medical expenses for me in advance. He also contacted a good doctor for me. I will fly back to the United States every year for regular check-ups. "

Ruby answered her questions tirelessly. Obviously, Uncle Mars had made sufficient preparations for the retirement of the old housekeeper who had worked hard for decades. generous bonuses.

"My retirement life can be very rich and colorful. I have already started to plan a trip every year. I will start from Europe next spring and enjoy myself to the fullest—younglady, what I can teach you is that you should study diligently and Work, the hard work when you are young is to spend money to travel around the world like me when you are old."

Dolores giggled immediately.

"Ok, I see."

The reluctant parting in her heart was immediately diluted a lot. Dolores nodded vigorously with a smile. Although she couldn't see it on the phone, she still replied in a serious tone: "I will definitely study and work hard. rupee."

"I believe my little Dolly will be brave enough and work hard enough." Ruby said to her tenderly, his tone immediately made the thoughts of Dolores who had just been suppressed rise up again, and even brought a trace of tears .

"I will miss you very much."

She held back her sobs.

Ruby was silent on the other end of the phone, and he asked unexpectedly: "Dolly, maybe you don't want to say it, but I want to ask you, the new girl in Avengers, Witch D, is that you? "

Dolores was immediately speechless in shock.

There was still a little water in her eyes, and she was stunned by Ruby's sudden question.

"What, what?"

Ruby knew her better than she imagined. Hearing the hasty pause in her words, the mystery that had been in his heart for a long time suddenly fell to the ground. After being confirmed, he sighed a long sigh.

"It seems that my guess is quite accurate..."

Dolores's heart was beating in a panic, and she felt a guilty conscience of being pierced: "I...I..."

She didn't know what to say for a moment.

Ruby suppressed the countless worries and shocks that followed the answer in his heart, and he calmed down faster than her.

"It's okay, I have no intention of accusing you."

His inclusive and gentle words calmed Dolores' entangled emotions at once.

She opened her mouth, but finally lowered her head and whispered, "I'm sorry."

What surprised her even more was Ruby: "You have nothing to be sorry about."

He said firmly: "This is the path of life you choose yourself. I can't stop you for any reason. This is the only way for people to grow up. You choose to take this responsibility. As your relatives, I worry about you. But I'd be just as proud of you."

Dolores' tears welled up again at once.

"You are...how did you guess it?" She asked mumblingly, raised her hand to wipe away the tears that were about to flow, and cleared her throat: "Even Ellie didn't guess it."

"I watched you grow up, little girl."

Ruby said softly.

"You're just wearing a tights and a mask, how could I not recognize you?"

"The other thing is, I have seen the same incredible thing. Although it has been too long, I still remember..."

Ruby's voice gradually lowered, and it sounded meaningful: "I didn't expect that I would be able to come into contact with these and those magics again. I'm not even sure if I was dreaming."

He gave Dolores another shock.

This time she was even more shocked than the last time. Holding the phone in her hand, the cover of the mysterious book flashed across her mind.

She never expected that Ruby would unravel a corner of these secrets for her so unexpectedly...

"I don't know what you're up against, Dolly, I can't imagine."

"The only thing I can tell you is about the "Grimm's Tale", it is not a story, it is true, although I can't prove it at all."

"The author of this book is also related to you by blood. She is your aunt and Marrs' wife, Samantha Green."

Samantha.

Dolores Samantha Green.

Dolores felt her heart beating like a drum.

"Your aunt's sister, your mother Fiona and your father Louis have passed away. This is also a mystery. So far, in the cemetery of the Toland family, there are actually no ashes under the tombstone of your parents. Knowing that they mysteriously disappeared long before they died."

All of a sudden, these secret past events, wrapped with clues related to the present, poured down from Ruby's words towards Dolores like raindrops.

Her whole body was stiff, and she sat on the carpet with a dry mouth and instinctively recorded every word he said with her brain, as if she wanted to keep every word of him in her heart.

"It was all so weird. Back then, I was just an outsider, but I was very close, close enough to notice that some things were abnormal, but I couldn't figure out what it all meant."

"Until now, year after year, I have spent a lot of energy trying to understand some things. I thought these were not important anymore. The things of those years have passed. When you grow up, you may not be able to understand them all your life." will not be affected by those."

"But I didn't expect that the miraculous things I saw would continue to you..."

Ruby's voice was low and hoarse, with the unique hoarseness and vicissitudes of the old man.

"Your mother and aunt, the Green sisters appeared suddenly. I remember that the two of them appeared in the back garden of Toland's house. They met Mars and his brother Louis at that time. Not long after that, the local area was quickly built. They built a beautiful manor, and the Green sisters became the social center of Boston at that time, as if from heaven.”

"Your mother quickly established a relationship with Louis, but Mars and your aunt don't know why, and have never been really together, even though everyone can see that they like each other."

"But then things started to get weird, I can't really describe it. A few years later, you were born, and your mother and Louis suddenly disappeared, and then your aunt died, and Mars was suddenly alone, and then you grew up. gone."

"I also figured it out later. The appearance of the Green sisters is too strange. They seem to have a kind of magical power..."

Dolores swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, her teeth trembling slightly due to some strange emotion.

"They are... who are they? You mean, they might be from... the Haganah?"

She said the word, and Ruby fell silent.

"I don't know, but Samantha is the author of this book, and some of the details she described in it will overlap with what I have seen. Every time I read that book, more will come to my mind. Clues, and every time I confirm them, I can feel the truth approaching me."

Dolores felt as if a huge stone fell from her throat to her stomach.

"They are from Nahagana..."

"The Hagana.... I don't even know if this place really exists, but the doubts surrounding it in my heart have followed me for most of my life."

Ruby seemed to be sighing: "I didn't expect that after so many years, I could see something astonishingly similar to the original. Those people wearing robes and fighting you, did they use magic?"

Dolores replied in a low voice: "Yes, they should also be from the Hagana."

"Oh, I see."

Ruby let out a long sigh.

The miraculous sights and things he saw back then were indeed real.

"Ruby, do you think I should ask Uncle Mars?"

"I don't know, Dolly, I don't know. Mars has become a completely different person since your parents and Samantha left that year."

Ruby was silent for a long time, and after a while, he sighed again: "He has become too powerful, Samantha took his heart away. I know he has ignored you so much all these years, with his indifference Hurt you, but I still remember that he was not like this before."

This time it was Dolores who was silent.

"If you want to ask, ask him."

Ruby said.

------------

Peter thinks it might snow today.

He looked at the dark sky outside the window, the howling cold wind ruthlessly hit his balcony window, and the terrible howling wind raged outside.

He couldn't lift a single finger with his tiredness now.

Peter threw himself onto the big bed and took out his cell phone. It was a text message from Aunt May asking him how he was doing.

He stayed in the laboratory all day today, from seven in the morning to ten in the evening.

They had a big breakthrough tonight, Loki used spells to maintain the power of Elson's silver staff, keeping it alive, although he was reluctant, he still gave a hint.

There are still remnants of the magic power in the staff. Magic and other energies, such as electricity, are also similar. It needs to be activated through a certain way, and those who master the law can use this way to exert this mysterious power.

It's a pity that only Loki has mastered this power. Maybe Thor is also talented, but it's a pity that he is more of a fighter than a mage.

Unsurprisingly, Tony used his genius mind. Like writing a program, he carefully decomposed the remaining magic power in the staff, and supplied the staff with other energy to maintain its activity.

Loki seemed to have been severely shocked by modern technology, and he couldn't hide his surprise in time, his face was full of shock.

Peter's brain was extremely active today, he was so excited that he almost passed out, and he followed Peter and Banner to work in the laboratory for a day, although what he can handle now is only some trivial but a lot of calculations, but he still has a high degree of Concentrate on working.

They drank coffee all day long and seldom ate anything until they left the laboratory. They went to the restaurant for supper exhausted and then went back to their room to rest.

Peter still washed and changed his clothes. Perhaps Tony and Banner had already collapsed on the bed.

Although in Peter's opinion, he had an extremely wonderful day today, the only thing he could tell Aunt May was "I followed Mr. Stark to study in the laboratory today."

After sending the message, he lay on the bed for a long time, with his eyes open but he didn't rest honestly.

Peter turned over and looked at the top of the bed curtain, his fingers flicked a few times subconsciously as he thought.

What did Dolores do today?

All the spare time in his exhausted mind was spent thinking about it, and then he realized that he hadn't seen her for more than a dozen hours except when he woke up in the morning.

Peter immediately sat up in bed.

He walked to the balcony, opened the door, and the bitter cold wind immediately blew away the temperature he had just brought out from the warm room.

Peter, who was wearing short-sleeved pajamas, immediately shivered.

"Oh... so cold." He muttered under his breath.

As soon as he stepped onto the balcony, he immediately caught the figure on the balcony next door out of the corner of his eye.

Dolores was standing on the other side of the balcony, a few meters away from him, wearing thin knitted home clothes, and seemed to have been standing by the fence for a long time.

"Why are you here?"

Peter's eyes widened in surprise.

He wanted to see if the light was still on in her room, to make sure she was in bed.

But she was still awake.

There was a warm light shining from the room behind Dolores. With her back to the light, she stood by the fence and turned her head slightly to look at Peter. The front was shrouded in shadow.

She didn't answer him.

Peter didn't realize her strange silence. He glanced up and down at her. Standing in the cold wind, Dolores was alone. She didn't even wear shoes, her bare feet stepped on the cold ground, and her loose blond hair was loose. It fluttered in the wind messily, even covering her cheeks.

"You're going to catch a cold, Dolly, and go back to the house."

His voice was mixed with the night wind and was blown by the wind.

"I don't want to go back, I...I'm having a hard time right now."

If it wasn't for his superhuman keen hearing, he wouldn't even be able to hear what Dolores said.

But he could hear clearly, Dolores was uncharacteristically, and even her voice trembled slightly.

Her figure seemed to be extremely thin under the division of light and shadow. He couldn't even see her expression clearly, but he immediately noticed her strange emotion.

What's up with her?Peter was startled suddenly.

He had never seen her like this.

Peter took off his slippers without hesitation, then climbed onto the balcony fence, and climbed along the wall to her balcony with bare feet.

"you...."

Dolores bit her lip and watched him crawl over quickly.

"I want to make sure you're okay." Peter said worriedly, leaning on the fence and jumping in front of her.

His freshly washed hair hung down softly, with a slightly curly arc, blown wildly by the wind.

Dolores raised her head, feeling her throat was choked, and the moist eye sockets quickly gathered water vapor. She looked at his reddish nose and shrinking body from the wind, and her heart was churning for a long time, which made her unable to bear the emotion. At this moment, it slowly settled down.

Peter saw her tears trembling in the wind, and his heart tightened, but he didn't show any surprise. He asked in a normal tone, "Did you... have something happened?"

Why is she crying? !what happens! ?

Dolores lowered her eyes and said with a tense voice, "I made a call today and something happened."

She choked up for a moment, then slowed down and said calmly, "Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that I learned something, and the content was so shocking that I didn't know what to do."

"Oh...well..." Peter looked at her face nervously, he had never been so annoyed by his clumsy tongue, he didn't know what to say at this time.

Dolores was obviously greatly affected, but it was even more obvious that she was trying to calm her emotions and get rid of this influence. At this time, Peter instinctively felt that he should not deliberately comfort him, but he could not turn a blind eye to it .

Dolores calmed down a lot during his pause.

She really doesn't need reassurance.

She quickly and quietly blinked away the tears from her eyes.

"I don't know exactly what it is... But if you want to tell me at any time, I'm willing to listen to it anytime."

In the end, Peter could only lower his voice, expressing his attitude with equal calmness and gentleness.

But he didn't expect that at the next moment, Dolores suddenly stepped forward and hugged him with both hands.

There was a persistent blank in Peter's entire brain at this moment.

Until he felt that the other person's body temperature was transmitted to his own body through the thin clothing.

Then he had a conditioned reflex that he didn't expect, Peter's hands lifted up and embraced Dolores in his arms as if blessed by God.

Miraculously warm.

Peter felt her body hugging him so close, like two puzzle pieces coming together.

It was a serious hug, and one that definitely crossed the boundaries of being friends.

He heard her breath buried in his neck, and felt her very soft body, as well as the warmth and pleasant smell from her body.

At this moment, Peter even felt a sense of satisfaction that he should have hugged her like this.

If he still has a sliver of consciousness, he will be particularly concerned that his excessively fast and obvious heartbeat will be felt by her without any barriers.

But at this moment, Peter only felt that everything else in the world had disappeared, only her existence was real, warm and breathable.

"Thank you."

Peter heard her huddled in his arms, talking in a low voice, and the hot breath sprayed on his neck, and every inch of skin there was tense.

"I can't say yet because I haven't adjusted myself yet."

Dolores buzzed, "But I'll talk about it tomorrow because it's a very important thing."

"Okay...I'll listen."

The strength of Peter's embrace of her tightened unconsciously, and he could feel her velvety hair rubbing against him on his cheek.

He hugged her, lowered his head, and looked at his arms around her.

Peter's eyelashes fluttered mechanically.

A cool feeling fell on the back of his neck.

He raised his head slightly because of this.

Under the illumination of the lights, fine white snow flakes floated down lightly in the night wind.

It is snow.

The snowflakes gently fell on his cheeks, itching, and quickly melted into small drops of water by the temperature of his skin.

Peter murmured, "Dolly, it's snowing."

"It's the first snow this year."