first commandment

At the dinner table in the morning, everyone is doing their own thing in silence.

Jung crossed his legs and used the terminal to browse the news of the morning.

The maid at the side spread strawberry jam on the bread and handed it to him.Jung didn't even look at it, he lowered his head and took a bite.

The maid blushed.

"It's too sweet." He wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with his fingers, shook his head and commented, "Bread and butter go better together."

Slein, who was slowly stirring the black tea with a silver spoon, had been wandering since just now, but when he heard Jung's words, he suddenly came back to his senses.

"'You are the butter on my bread'?..." He said casually as if recalling something.

"The breath of life," the sharp-eared Jung immediately picked up after hearing it, "You know this sentence too."

Slein looked up at him puzzled.

"what?"

"The next line from the one you said, 'You are the butter on my bread, the breath of my life,'" Jung explained, "is a movie line I remember."

This line seemed to have touched Slein, and he quietly fell into his own thoughts.

Seeing his appearance, Jung was not interested in asking him where he heard this sentence.He didn't intend to be nosy, so he lowered his head and continued to browse the webpage just now.

The bold and large characters of the news headlines came into view:

【The First Princess of Weisser, Flora Weisser Cloris, returned to Mars this morning after her visit】

"There will be reports so soon."

Jung was talking to himself, wiping the sticky jam off his fingers with a napkin.Then he clicked on the news and took a quick look.Sure enough, it was all the polite words he hated the most.He nodded triumphantly at his foresight.

Flora had indeed boarded the spaceship back to Mars this morning, which was why he and Slein were the only ones left at the breakfast table.

"I always feel a little uneasy..."

Edellizzo was still murmuring uneasily as he said goodbye this morning.

Even that brazen old Freiburger wouldn't brazenly abduct someone at this moment when he couldn't protect himself.But just to be on the safe side, Jung silently strengthened the guards, and then watched Flora leave.

Jung was recalling the earlier scene when a soldier entered the restaurant and whispered the news in his ear.

"Okay, I see, let's go now."

The expression on his face became serious, and he put down the terminal in his hand.After saying hello to Slein, he quickly left without looking back.

It was not uncommon for Jung to leave suddenly.Slein didn't pay much attention to it, and was still trying to sort out the chaotic thoughts in his mind for the past few days.

Since the conversation in the armory that day, he and Flora hadn't talked much.She probably sensed his hesitation, so she didn't press every step of the way, but kept a distance from him in a timely manner with a rather patient attitude.

But this kind of her made him feel very uncomfortable.From the very beginning, she broke into his life with a very high-profile attitude like a storm, and the sudden sense of distance at this time made him feel a little strange.

Every time he thinks about the kiss that night, his thoughts will be short-circuited and froze due to the full of doubts.Things were probably as he had guessed, she had a fondness for him from nowhere, but as long as this idea appeared in his mind, he couldn't help laughing at himself.

But why do you think you are ridiculous?

The girl's bright smile appeared in front of his eyes, and he propped his forehead with his hands in annoyance, and sighed deeply.

"Hey……"

...Probably because of the uncontrollable restlessness in my heart.

Then he remembered the unpleasant conversation between the two when they were in the armory a few days ago.Idealism and realism coexist in her, just like light and shadow.The little girl sat on his lap, calmly telling everything in a completely different tone from usual, with an unquestionable meaning.Her words brought him no less surprise than when they first met.

[... I think this is wrong. 】

Slein now understands the deep meaning hidden in her words.

It was a seed, hidden in her young soul, watered by experience and cultivated by reality, and finally bloomed when she grew up.

And it was him who dropped this seed in her heart.

Unlike the wavering in the past, now she has made up her mind.

Firm determination is one of the essential qualities of a leader.They must be more convinced than anyone else that they are right, and all they can look at must be a clear direction.

He saw the faith in her eyes, but at the same time she also became a stranger, as if she had put on a cold mask without hesitation.The little girl who fell asleep under the tree that day didn't know where she went.He was not familiar with her before, so he managed to touch her a little bit, but now he is separated by a long distance.

Slaine was so distressed that he couldn't eat a single slice of bread—whether it was with strawberry jam or butter.The black tea in the cup was completely cold under his persistent stirring.

However, at this time, he didn't realize that the various figures of Flora had already filled his mind.Her image is no longer just a thin image like when we first met more than ten years ago:

A mysterious little girl holding a forget-me-not embossed flower, with a face very similar to Atheram's when she was a child, and an overly mature demeanor.

The image of Flora in his heart has gradually become three-dimensional: from the rather strong at the beginning of the "Knight Invitation", to the calmness and alertness in the unexpected incidents at the start-up ceremony, the slight worry revealed during the heart-to-heart chat under the tree, and then To the wanton sparkle and laughter at the birthday ball and the fighting spirit that burned in the armory that day.

Each one is her.

But what makes him so worried and anxious... which one is it?

If no one came to convey the message that he should go to the audience room immediately, Slaine would probably sit in the dining room and just think about it all day.

On the way to the audience room, he finally regained his composure.And when he entered the audience room and found that the person who called him here to meet was actually an acquaintance, he finally completely ignored Flora's affairs.

Aldnoah's radiance dissipated, and a familiar sight appeared in front of him.

In the dimly lit reception room, outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was the blue planet, and slowly turned around to the woman sitting on the wheelchair with his back facing him.

"...His Royal Highness Remulina?"

To say "he couldn't believe his eyes at this moment" would be too clichéd.Since he was released from prison, Slein had expected such a day, but this scene reminded him of many painful memories. The memories of the war more than ten years ago are still vivid in his mind.But of the three people who appeared in the dream that day, now only Remulina is left.

It would be too pale to describe his mood at this time in words.Time has carved marks on the woman's face, and her eyes have the same exhaustion and shock as his.

The two looked at each other speechlessly.Their eyes flickered in the dim living room, like a lake in a silent night.

After a dead silence, Slein saluted Remulina solemnly.

"Your Highness Remulina, I..."

He half knelt on the ground, bowed his head.Too many words choked in his throat, but he didn't know where to start.The long-lost honorific title contained the bitterness and heaviness of self-blame, so why couldn't Remulina hear it.

"Don't mention the past, Slein. The long-lost reunion should be something to be happy about. Do you want to ruin it with a heavy apology?" Her voice didn't change much, as if it was flowing in the night It is as quiet and elegant as the cool stream in the lake.

Half kneeling in the shadows, he lowered his head and said nothing, like a solid statue.

Remulina's eyes dimmed for a moment.She withdrew her gaze from him and lowered her eyes slightly.

"Besides... I never blamed you, Slaine. Never."

she whispered.

The stalemate did not last long.After the suffocating depression passed, the two were finally able to chat peacefully.

"How is Flora?"

After sharing their shared memories and their respective experiences, Remulina suddenly asked.

Slein didn't expect her to ask this, and was stunned for a moment.But considering that Flora was her niece, he was not surprised.

"……I have no idea."

Remulina didn't expect to get such an answer, and asked in puzzlement:

"I don't know?...Why do you say that?"

"His Royal Highness, she...sometimes looks very happy." The image of the girl seemed to be right in front of his eyes, and he thought about it, "But I think it should be more troubles that cannot be shaken off than the short-term happiness. and sorrow."

Remulina lowered her head thoughtfully when she heard his hesitant answer.

"……yes."

Her response sounded like a sad sigh to Slein.

"So... are you getting along well with her?" Remulina noticed her gaffe, and quickly forced a smile to change the subject.

But the topic didn't improve the mood in the room the way she expected.Because for Slein at this time, this question is really too difficult to answer.

He laughed out of nowhere, mixed with bitterness and self-mockery, and said:

"...I don't know how to face her."

Remulina fell silent.

After a long time, she raised her hand and covered Slein's.His hand trembled, and the ring on his little finger flickered.

"Someone wants to know your heart, why don't you try to get her close to your heart?"

She raised her head, her eyes full of sincerity.

Slein looked at her, hesitant to speak.

"It's not that easy."He wants to say.

There is an unbridgeable gap between the two: whether it is their age, status or his past.Not to mention that he still couldn't judge what kind of feelings he had for Flora, she was just a girl who had just turned 17 years old.Can she be sure of her feelings?How long can my affection for him last?

He can't imagine what kind of ending he will face in the future if he takes another step forward and fills the relationship between the two with more possibilities?He doesn't care about himself, maybe she?What criticism and harm will you receive?

As if seeing through his troubles, Remulina's next words hit the weakness in his heart:

"Her identity, her age, these are all excuses you use to convince yourself. In fact, you are just afraid..."

She paused for a moment and let go of his hand.

"...fear of losing again."

The conversation didn't last long.Remulina's words stirred up small waves in Slein's heart, and he felt that he was one step closer to the answer in his heart, but the fog full of unknowns still prevented him from making a decision:

Should I pretend to be ignorant and let the relationship between the two freeze?Or openly reveal the secret in his heart to her?

Anyway, after this conversation, he was finally able to get rid of his complicated thoughts and see clearly the only two options left.

With the last hesitation, he said goodbye to Remulina, and then with a flash of light, his figure disappeared into the dim reception room.

Remulina turned the wheelchair back to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the blue planet outside.

Her melancholy face was reflected on the window, and she raised her hand to cover half of her face reflected on the window.

Looking at her own shadow, she somehow remembered something, and burst into a bitter smile.

"You're still the same as before... Slein."

As she muttered to herself in a low voice, a dazzling light enveloped her figure.

……

When the darkness returned to the room, the woman who was sitting in the wheelchair stood up, but she was no longer the same person as before.

"Still...can't see through my disguise."

Atheram stood in front of the window, and said this with regret and sigh.

Slein was no longer what she remembered.Now he is worn out, suffering from pain and suffering, as if still unable to escape from the shadow of the past.

At that time, she hoped that he could be saved.With only such a simple wish in mind, she made a request to Kaizuka Inaho:

[Please rescue Slein Troyet from this unfortunate chain. 】

But today, she didn't dare to think about whether this request was right or wrong.

The only thing that was clear was that she wanted him to be redeemed, and still does to this day.It's just that she finally understood that the person who could save him couldn't be her.

...Because there are always some things that cannot be forced.

She recalled the black-haired boy who was far away on the earth a long time ago.More than ten years have passed, and now even if I recall all the past, my heart will no longer hurt.

Yes, it cannot be forced.Especially for a person like her, many times, there is no room for her to choose from the very beginning.

But once you get used to compromise... you lose your vitality and hope.Learn to anesthetize yourself, and the desire that almost tears your chest can also dry up.Up to now, she no longer has any unnecessary desires, and there is no trouble of getting what she wants.

Humans are amazingly adaptable.

The reflection in the window of Atheram smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Her Majesty the Queen."

Suddenly a voice stopped her, and she turned her head to see the young count standing in the shadows in the corner.

"Earl Jung."

She nodded slightly to him.

Jung didn't want to know why she wanted to see Slein, and he was not in the mood to be courteous to her, so he said straightforwardly:

"Let's continue the topic just now, Your Majesty. Now that you know that the attack on the embassy and the launch ceremony was not done by me, but by the Earl of Freiburg and the Earth's anti-Mars forces, what are you going to do next? Woolen cloth?"

Atheram also watched him grow up, understood his proud temperament, and also knew that he was very dissatisfied because of his defense.So she didn't care about his biased words.

But before she could speak, she was interrupted by the maid who hurriedly entered the room.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!...The spaceship Her Royal Highness Princess is riding on has been ambushed!"

……

What she brought was the news that the spaceship was blown up and Flora's whereabouts were unknown.

The author has something to say:

BGM of this chapter: A Drop in the Ocean--Ron Pope

The content summary comes from the lyrics, part of the lyrics:

It's just a drop in the ocean【That's like a drop in the ocean】

Achangeintheweather【Unpredictable like the weather】

Iwaspraying that you and me might end up together

It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert [like praying for rain in the desert]

Buti'mholdingyoucloserthanmost,【But I still hug you tightly】

'Causeyouaremyheaven.【Because you are my heaven】

This article will probably be finished before the Dragon Boat Festival.Ending HE, very orthodox HE.

After the ending, there will be a few episodes...the stories of TE and other world lines.

TE can choose not to watch... hmmm.

The other world line is a silly and sweet story of healing. Everyone has become ordinary people and can choose the happiness of ordinary people.Because when I was writing, I felt that many misfortunes were caused by the helplessness of the royal family status, so I wanted to write an ordinary world without so many helplessness.

By the way... I want a long review!Have you ever wow! 【roll

I haven't had a long review yet! QQ

And no one compliments the cover!Sadness.