duke and writer

The snow that day was not that big, it just covered the ends of my hair, and was carried away by the wind before it melted.

An Mixiu thought that he must be crazy, otherwise why would he break out of the window and sneak out of the school with this guy.

The opera performance that day was said to be extremely successful. From the script to the actors, everything was perfect and impeccable, but it was a pity that he lost his mind.

When the beautiful heroine sang the last words with her lover in her arms, the lights on the stage were concentrated and dimmed, and the heavy velvet curtains were slowly closed. The audience stood up one after another, and the theater burst into applause.

"I hope you like this gift in return, my friend." A young and magnetic voice sounded in my ears, the tone was not solemn but not contemptuous, with the unique cadence of the aristocratic class.

The breath blowing on the pinna's ears drew back the boy's attention, and he calmly opened the distance between the two, "When did I become friends with you?" He squinted his eyes and asked.

"...Of course it was the moment when our souls merged." The young man in the box walked towards the coat rack and smiled back.

"..." The young writer couldn't hear clearly, "What did you say?"

"Don't keep chattering like a little girl." Raising his hand, he threw the other party's windbreaker on the sofa. Lei Shi folded his arms and raised his eyebrows. "Do you still want to go back to school, top student?"

Although he didn't understand why this strange knight insisted on treating the ceremony as a humiliation, the misunderstanding obviously couldn't be solved in a short time, so he didn't bother to waste any more words, and he changed the topic forcefully.

They boarded the carriage and returned to school. The warm sheepskin gloves were firmly put on a pair of hands that were reddened by the cold wind, but they were pushed back even more forcefully.

The finger of the glove that was randomly stuffed back into Lei Shi's pocket was raised playfully, "I don't need it." The brown-haired boy coughed unnaturally, and after a long silence, he whispered again, "...Thank you."

—Maybe this guy is not as hopeless as he thinks.

Once this kind of thought sprouts, it will start to grow without limit like a vine, and it won't take long to climb and coil the whole heart.

When the stalemate between the two was broken, when the young writer was finally willing to let go of his defenses and try to accept, everything began to change...

And the longer he got along with him, the more he was attracted by a certain strange quality in that noble boy—what exactly was that, and why?

Maybe it's because the pair of proud purple eyes sparkle like every teenager who dreams of sailing when talking about sailing; Driving the dazzling ruler on the huge paper, draw a complicated and beautiful star map...

It's like suddenly asking a person to name his own soul. Countless thoughts can pop up in his mind in an instant, but every answer that is about to come out is so specious.

"Improve?" The young writer twitched his lips and looked at the guy standing in front of him, "Well, even if there is an improvement, I will not be your knight—in fact, this matter has nothing to do with you Nothing to do."

The light blue pupils are still clear, but the complex emotions in them are becoming more and more obscure, "Lei Shi, I will not be anyone's knight."

"Your Excellency, don't you think your prevarication is too ridiculous?" The purple eyes looking down were filled with cold anger.

"I didn't prevaricate you."

"No? What's the 'chivalry' you're talking about?"

"That is my ideal, and even if it is destined not to be realized, I am willing to practice those noble principles in my life."

"Why can't it be realized," the young Duke frowned, "as long as you..."

"No," An Mixiu interrupted, with unshakable firmness in his eyes, "Lei Shi, this is the only thing we have nothing to discuss."

"why?"

"Everybody has a secret that no one else can pry, sir."

"...I thought we were friends."

"Yes," the brown-haired boy stood up, his tone unprecedentedly decisive, "but if you continue to ask, we will not be."

After speaking, he walked around the other party and walked out of the room.

"..."

The library is still filled with the strange atmosphere of the combination of old paper and fresh ink.

"Hi, excuse me." A stack of documents was carefully placed on the table, An Mixiu showed a polite smile, "I'm here to register and return the books."

The administrator slightly adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, carefully checked the title and pages of the book, and registered slowly.

"Well... by the way, Mr. An Mixiu, I remember you have been looking for the last volume, right?"

"Yes, is that what you ask?"

"It's like this, as I told you before, that book was borrowed by a nearby seminary, and they just sent someone to return it today..."

"So I can finally borrow that book?" the teenage writer interrupted excitedly.

"—I'm afraid that's not possible, sir," a low laugh came from behind, and a white-haired young man stepped forward with a thin piece of paper between his fingertips, "I'm not just here to return the books on behalf of the academy. , the application for renewal in the name of an individual just happened to be approved by your school."

"As you can see," the administrator shrugged helplessly, "Mr. Palos' application for renewal is indeed too long. If you are in a hurry, the two of you can discuss it in private."

Everything is really not going well, An Mixiu let out a long sigh.

After struggling for a while, he still ran after the man's back.

"Mr Palos, I know it's impolite to make such a request, but..."

"OK."

"...Huh?" The young writer was taken aback when he heard the words, apparently he did not expect the other party to agree so simply, "You mean..."

"That book can be lent to you first, it's not a big deal," the young man smiled, the cross hanging on his chest glowed softly on the dark uniform, "Study sooner or later in the It's not a big problem for me, but you seem to be much more anxious than me." He said with a sneer.

"Thank you!"

"Student is too polite—you are so obsessed with that book, are you also interested in the Fifth Sacred Expedition?"

"...That's right."

"That's really great. It seems that we will have a lot of topics to talk about."

So after that, An Mixiu finally made the first "friend" besides Lei Shi when he was a teenager.

"Don't get too close with that guy," the young Duke stared at someone's back in displeasure, then turned his head to look at An Mixiu, "He doesn't look like a good guy, does he? "

"It's a sign of lack of cultivation to talk about others behind their backs, Lei Shi."

"Tsk!"

It has been a while since they reconciled, but the words and deeds of this idiot in front of him always stimulate Lei Shi to quarrel with each other again.

—Forget it, it’s self-inflicted.

Afternoon study.

"You're having a good time," Lei Shi folded his arms and walked towards Palos with a blank expression. "The time limit is almost up. If you can't find anything, you don't have to appear in front of me again."

"Of course I've already found out something, Master Leishi," the young man narrowed his orange pupils and smiled like a sly fox, "It's just that you may find it hard to believe information that lacks evidence, so..."

"Say something."

"...he may be a descendant of Ellis."

"Ellis?" There was a complex look in the purple eyes, "You mean—"

"That's right, during that expedition, the head of the Knights Templar who blatantly rebelled against the will of the gods—it seems that being sentenced to excommunication and dying in depression is not the whole of his ending."

"That's why he said he can't be a knight?" Lei Shi frowned with a serious look on his face.

"No, no, he even borrowed the books in the seminary from you. Could it be that he wanted to..."

"He said he just wanted to know the truth, but we all know, my lord, what he wants is far from that." Palos put away his smile and said seriously, "Intent to touch the reverse scale of the Holy See, he is a real He is a dangerous person—with all due respect, Lord Leishi, neither you nor your family would want to have anything to do with him."

"...Then," he clenched his fists slowly, looking into those orange eyes, "what was the truth back then?"

"You're really joking. That's a secret that the church has covered up for nearly a hundred years. How would I know?"

"Can't you check?"

"...you'll burn yourself out like this, my lord."

"You're right, Palos, you really can't win people's trust if you don't have any basis." He raised his arm and made a gesture of seeing off the guests. "The next thing, you know what to do."

A few days later, Lei Shi began to receive some letters with unknown signatures one after another, many of which contained some old papers.

The identity of his knight friend was finally confirmed—it was almost the same as what Palos had guessed before.

He pulled out the letter paper as usual, but the middle page, which was obviously much smaller, almost fell down. He raised his hand to catch it, and the young Duke raised his eyebrows with interest, and unfolded it on the table.

But what appeared in front of my eyes was the shockingly familiar handwriting——

Ellis, when the blackbird calls in the dark wood,

That's your doom.

You step lightly into the night,

Among the thorn bushes are your eyes like the moon.

Oh, Ellis, how long have you been dead?

Our silence is a black cave,

Sometimes tame beasts emerge from it.

Slowly you lowered your heavy eyelids,

The black dew that drips on the temples,

It is the last golden color of meteorites.

nice one

A world falling apart.

——The rigid handwriting that was often ridiculed at that time was presented in front of him in this form at this moment.

The young man's slightly curled fingers rested on the edge of the paper, and he was speechless for a long time.

This is the first time Leishi has seen this poem.

When I saw it for the second time, it was a certain day several years later.

It is carefully printed on the title page of a certain book.

To be honest, it was indeed a remarkable book, which caused a great shock in the society when it was first published. The shocking content in the rumors and the strict ban by the Holy See made it hard to find on the black market.

And until ten years later, the Inquisition is still tracking down the true identity of the person who wrote it.

"plague"

— That's the name of the book.