Angel on earth

"Aaron, you're in bed again, aren't you? Patricia went to call you, isn't it embarrassing?"

Lily is six years old this year, but she is already a little witch.She is full of curiosity about everything and has a strong inquisitive spirit, while Aaron was only born more than a year earlier than her, and has not studied seriously, so she is always speechless by her questions and prevents her from going Difficult for Harry.

Aaron glanced at his mother, raised his eyebrows, and said slowly, "Oh. At least I can dress myself when I'm five, Lily."

Lily said: "Girls' clothes are more complicated."

"Stop lying, Lily." Aaron said mercilessly, "This is the Emerald City. Besides, even Harry wore skirts when he was five!"

The brother on the side had to come out to mediate: "Aaron, you can't talk to the lady like that!"

Aaron closed his mouth, and he bent down to look at his sister again: "Lily, what about you?"

The brown-haired and green-eyed girl puffed up her mouth and got angry for a while, then reluctantly took out a small box from under the cloak, turned it over and handed it to Aaron:

"Happy birthday, my brother."

"……thanks."

Aaron reluctantly accepted the birthday present, but was slapped on the head by Catherine: "Aaron, be polite!"

"I'm sorry, mother."

"Don't tell me."

"...I'm sorry, Lily."

Aaron bit his lip and muttered that he was going to drop off the presents in the bedroom, came down quickly, and ran away without listening to his mother, and grabbed a piece of bread from the tray Patricia was carrying.

He hates Christmas.

John called him downstairs, they were leaving for church.The Emerald City has chapels and priests like other lords' castles, but it is more formal to go to the cathedral on the territory when encountering festivals stipulated by the gods.Every year at this time, the Edwards family will get up early in the morning, take a carriage or ride a horse to the Church of the First Awakening.

He put Lily's presents in a drawer and knew that it was John's son Cedric when he heard the sound of boots on the woolen carpet far down the corridor.He opened the window and glanced at the gloomy and chaotic fine snow, rolled his eyes, grabbed the bow and arrow and the small bag, and nimbly crawled onto the snow in the garden before the knock on the door sounded.

The boy fastened his quiver, checked the bag again, looked left and right, and ran to where Patricia's family lived.Patricia was his cousin, three years younger than him.Edwards, the family of the Marquess, has not been passed down for too long, and it hasn't had time to unfold the bad stories of many brothers fighting against each other, not to mention that their own work requires the joint research of so many professionals.The three brothers Roberto Edwards have always had a good relationship, but the youngest brother Harry married a noble lady from the City of Oath a few years ago. Since then, he has settled in the royal capital and taught medicine at the University College; He named his eldest son.

Unlike Roberto, who is busy all day long, Patricia's father and Aaron's second uncle, Alfred, will take them out hunting from time to time.He has a large group of hounds, all of which are good breeds collected from all over the world by the friends of the church. At present, the most favored dog is a yellow, white and black dog with a pair of big and soft sensitive ears. It's called "Nana", but it's actually a male dog.

The winter in the Emerald City is very cold, and Alfred carefully designed a kennel for the dogs, with a stove burning all day long.Nana usually has the right to go into the house to rest, but on such a serious day when the whole family is dispatched, she will obediently stay in the kennel.

Aaron crawled into the kennel and hid beside Nana.In this way, even if the servants who are in a hurry lead their dogs to find him, it will be difficult to find him.Nana is very smart and will not betray him, other dogs dare not bark at Nana.

At any rate, it was time to leave for worship.Roberto couldn't take care of his second son anymore, so he reluctantly announced his departure, and the rest of the servants were given permission not to brave the snow and ice to continue looking for Master Aaron.

After the bus had left, Aaron touched Nana's ear and whispered:

"Nana, are they really gone?"

Nana turned her eyes, which were more white than other dogs, and looked at him with disdain.

Aaron was not angry, patted the back of his neck and said:

"Come on, let's go play in the forest!"

He turned his head to ignore him, and Aaron knew he should show some sincerity:

"There will be a big dinner tonight. I can go to the kitchen and steal a roast chicken for you. Stuffed with fruit and coated with honey, it's delicious. Please Nana, the snow is so heavy, I will get lost alone!"

Nana was unmoved, he sighed: "I want to go out and play. Today is my birthday, I really don't want to sit there and listen to the sermon all day. You like to eat rabbits, don't you? Today you called Prey, how about I clean it up for you? I know you don't like fur and internal organs."

The big dog blinked his eyes and thought, and flapped his flowery tail on the cushion.After a long time, he stood up and walked outside.

Aaron cheered, pulled up his hood, checked his equipment, and followed Nana to the Amethyst Forest in the opposite direction from his father.

In fact, as soon as he left the Emerald City, he was so cold that he regretted it a bit.But Nana kept running forward, and he didn't want to be looked down upon by a dog, so he tried his best to follow Nana, and he didn't feel cold while running.

Moreover, less than an hour later, the snow stopped.This is really unbelievable. You must know that in this area, it is either snowing or raining in winter. Even in summer, there will occasionally be fist-sized hailstones falling all night. The latter is called "Diana" by the Norren tears".

Aaron was in a better mood, drinking water while waiting for Nana to eat his prey.Nana was not afraid of the cold, but Uncle Alfred hadn't let him out to run around for a long time because of the bad weather.

There was a clattering sound not far away, and Aaron raised his head and saw the frozen crowns of beech and pitch pine trembling, and the snow fell rustlingly.

"Nana, did you see a red thing flying over?"

The big dog licked its paw and nodded solemnly. Aaron said:

"There are still birds in this season, and the colors are so bright, so rare. Nana, let's shoot it down! Lily is collecting feathers recently."

Nana let out a low cry. Aaron didn't know what that meant, but he pulled down his hood, took out his bow and arrow, and looked up with his eyes wide open.

That touch of red is still around.Aaron squinted his right eye to aim, blushed, pulled the bow with all his strength, and shot an arrow!

There was a sound of falling snow that was much more intense than before, and the arrow made a muffled sound as if it was sinking into the snow at the point of impact, and then the red color stopped.

It was not a bird, but a red-haired boy.

The other party was wearing a snow-white cloak, and the black priest's uniform underneath was hard to distinguish in the gloomy and silent forest.But the red hair was like blood and like fire, and it seemed to be burning under the overcast sky.

Holding the arrow in one hand, the boy raised his eyebrows.He was standing on a high branch, and Aaron couldn't see him very clearly, but he could still tell that he was a handsome, fair-skinned boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Yes...sorry!" After staying for a while, Aaron put down his bow and arrow, and shouted, "I didn't know there was anyone up there!"

The boy took a step forward, landed lightly on the ground, walked up to him, handed the arrow back to him, and smiled softly:

"It's all right. Boy, are you—are you from the Edwards family?"

The other party took a look at him and recognized him.

"Today is Christmas. What are you doing here if you don't go to church with Roberto? It's dangerous to be alone."

"I still have Nana." Aaron touched Nana's head, and Nana cried out proudly.

When the other party looked at him, he was also looking at the other party.After walking in, he found that there were still two heavy silver earrings hanging on the other party's ears, with a sun in the center and thirteen crossed swords hanging upside down below.They had made no sound as they wandered through the canopy, but now they tinkled with the man's lounging gait and standing posture.The young man has a pair of blue eyes that look like the sky and the ocean, and when he smiles, there is a kind of charm that has nothing to do with gender, which makes people feel flustered.

Aaron swallowed and said:

"You didn't run out alone."

"I'm here to find someone," said the other party.

Aaron snorted, took off his gloves and stretched out his hand: "Aaron Edwards, the second son of Roberto Edwards."

"Hey, you're Aaron?" The other party stretched out his hand halfway, thinking it was impolite, he hurriedly took off his gloves, and shook hands with him, "Micah."

"Micah, the Holy Sword of the Red Sea? You don't look much bigger than me." Aaron put on his gloves suspiciously, "Aren't all saints supposed to be tall? Not to mention Sihekiah, Maria is 1.8 meters tall. "

"She wears high heels!"

"Everyone wears them. Your shoes plus the pads are seven centimeters." Aaron knew by sight, kicking the heel of his right shoe on the stone, "Grandma Isabella is also taller than you a little."

There seemed to be blue veins popping out on Micah's white and smooth forehead, but he still smiled and said, "Why did you run into the forest? Did you quarrel with your mother?"

Aaron exploded all of a sudden, jumped up and said: "No! I just want to come out and play!"

"I know, today is your birthday." Micah groped in the cloak for a long time, scratching his head, "I'm sorry, the incident happened suddenly, and I didn't bring a gift. Your father is still in the Church of the First Awakening, right?"

Aaron nodded, suddenly had a bad premonition, took a step aside, and said, "Then...then you go over there to find him."

Micah picked him up, slapped his ass twice, and said with a bad smile: "Do I look so easy to fool? Don't be stupid, kid, come with me to see Roberto." !"

"Let go of me, shorty!"

Aaron struggled in vain: "Nana!"

The hound raised its eyelids and barked, as if mocking the little master's stupidity, picked up the half-eaten hare that hadn't been eaten on the ground, and ran towards the castle wagging its tail.

"Hey, you want to run away after being caught by this saint for skipping worship? Resign yourself to your fate, kid!"

Micah unloaded Aaron's bow and arrow with one hand, and held him under his armpit with the other. Amidst the little boy's screams, Micah jumped up, stepped on the snow and tree crowns, and jumped towards the cathedral in the distance. OK.Aaron hid under his cloak and clutched the fabric as the bitter wind blew against him, and heard his earrings jingle in horror, as if two armies were at war.

The two landed at the door of the church.Micah finally jumped up the clock tower from the nearby forest in one breath, and the trees were knocked down by him.Aaron let out a long scream in the air, and before he breathed a sigh of relief, Micah took another step forward, turned two somersaults beautifully, and stood still at the door of the church.

Aaron gritted his teeth, his cheeks were flushed due to poor breathing, his legs were so weak that he couldn't stand up when he was put down, and he looked up at Micah with hatred.Micah dragged him in, glanced at the door, patted his face, and shook the bow and arrow in his hand:

"Just kidding. I won't go in. Go find Roberto yourself and make an excuse to think about it. Well, I'll take it back for you."

"...what are you doing at my house?" Aaron asked muttering.

"After driving for two days, I'm starving to death. I went to your house to find something to eat." Micah turned around as he spoke, and waved his hands back, "Goodbye, Aaron!"

Aaron made a face at him, watching him disappear suddenly, patted his clothes, looked left and right, and walked inside.

Old Father Coke was chanting in his majestic voice tremulously:

"If a man cleanses himself from what is ignoble, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful for the master, prepared for every good work.

"Flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.

"...

"Admonish those who resist with gentleness, or God the Father will give them a heart of repentance, so that they can understand the truth, so that they, who have been captive by the devil at will, can wake up and escape from his snare." [9]

Someone in the front row noticed him, turned to look at him, heaved a sigh of relief, and nodded to him.It's Harry.Aaron knew that Harry would find a chance to tell his parents after a while, so he hurriedly found a place to sit in the back row.

The stove in the church was burning so loudly that nearly the whole territory had come to keep warm.The warmer it is in the middle and the front, everyone is united and tacitly squeezed tightly, so there are two empty rows in the back.Aaron walked over and realized that there was a person lying on the bench in the penultimate row, occupying a large area.He didn't know him, but he still sat down on the side.Anyway, it's nice to be warmer.

Aaron didn't listen to what Father Kirk said. He kept his head in his thoughts, turning his head to look at the man next to him from time to time.

The man was tall and thin as a stick, curled up in a dirty cloak and sleeping in a chair, exuding a rotting death air peculiar to old people.The cloak hid his face, revealing only a few locks of short curly tan hair mixed with gray and white.If it weren't for the occasional shiver from the cold, Aaron would have thought the man was dead.

Suddenly, the boy froze.

Above the pulpit, on a curved platform inlaid with pipe organs and keyboards, stood a young musician he had never seen before.The opponent was about two meters tall, and when standing behind the fence, Aaron could still see his upper body and head.

No one played while Father Coke was preaching, and the tall man just stood there with his eyes downcast and motionless.He was dressed in priestly black, with a sun cross on his chest.The golden color of his eyelashes and hair is like the glory when the kingdom of heaven comes in the sermon, and he smiles peacefully, beautifully and standardly like a statue.

Aaron reached out and pushed the shoulder of the person in the front row, and asked in a low voice:

"Who is that?"

"What - Master Aaron?!"

The man was a little impatient at first, and when he saw clearly that it was the young master of the lord's family, he was immediately flattered:

"Who do you mean? Well, I think it's Mikhail?"

Aaron made a "shh" gesture to signal him to keep his voice down, pointed him to the strange pastor, and introduced him to him happily.

That was Mikhail Kupala, the Emerald City's new trainee priest.But for some reason, he will become a regular next year. In short, he is here for promotion.Because he is a member of the Federation, according to the customs there, adults will respectfully call him Mikhail Ivanovich, children call him Pastor Mikhail, and few people mention the surname Kupala.Father Cork of the Emerald City is getting old, and next year Father Tom of the Cathedral of Awakening will assist him, and by the way, he will familiarize himself with the environment and prepare to take over; Mikhail is here to take Father Tom's class.However, he is very nice. Although he looks young, he has a solid theological foundation and everyone likes him.

At the end of the service, when receiving communion as usual, Alfred waved to Aaron.He is an elder, but he doesn't have the burden of Marquis Edwards, so it's nothing to be rude.Aaron took one last look at the man on the bench, thinking of speaking to his father later, he stood up and squeezed between Harry and Lily unhappy.

It seemed that Mikhail was only in charge of the performance before the service, and now he was walking down the stairs.When it was Aaron's turn, it was also his turn to distribute the bread and wine.

Aaron clasped his hands together, closed his eyes and prayed after the other party, and took the unleavened bread and wine glass.

The young priest bent down and rubbed his head.

"Happy birthday, Aaron."

Aaron was about to drink his most hated wine, and his eyes widened when he heard this.He found that what he received was not wine, but a glass of fresh and sweet grape juice.

He looked up and said, "Thank you!"

Mikhail was looking at him seriously.The boy's voice was clear and cheerful, but soft enough to almost blend with the voice of the church.Looking closer, Aaron realized that he was much purer and more beautiful than before, especially those eyes, which almost made him feel awed.

They really don't look like human eyes.There is no reflection there, but a little bit of starlight shines in a light, morning mist-like intertwined blue and purple, and small silver-white lightning flashes from time to time in the whites of the eyes like autumn frost.

He has no pupils and is blind.

The author says:

[9] 2 Timothy 21:26~[-]

Nana's breed is King Beagle (