Beauty and the Python

44.

Count Cat feels that everything is moving in a new direction recently.

For example, the open skylight, bright sunshine, and clear air, such as the hot steak and onion soup that appeared on the table on time, or the sweet and refreshing fruit cake after the meal...

"Which aspect?" But when Elaine asked him this way, he just raised his face and smiled obsequiously, "It was after you came."

"In short, everything is thanks to Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Elaine laughed, "I think, you probably mean after the Black family came?"

Earl Cat blinked, "Your Highness really understands me."

The so-called Black family refers to the dwarves hired by the Duke from the city. They are three quick-witted dwarves. They cleaned up the room as soon as they arrived, making the entire castle look brand new, and the food they cooked was delicious. up.

Soon Elaine knew their names.

The dwarves have a clear division of labor. The husband Alger is responsible for rough work such as carrying water and chopping firewood, his wife Connie is responsible for cooking and laundry, and the youngest son Corian helps with chores.

In fact, there is only a cat, a snake and a human being in the castle, and these jobs are far from hard work for the industrious dwarves.

Only the antique clock - Miss Betsy is unhappy with the three 'newcomers', claiming they "don't know the rules".

"That little guy! I woke up and saw him leaning in front of me. That huge face scared me! He actually took an old rag and wiped it off me, the smell of mud It really makes people want to faint on the spot!" Bessie said as she fell down, pressing the spring behind her.

Count Cat stood under the antique clock, one second he was leisurely crossing his arms, and the next second he suddenly jumped up, but Bessie moved faster than him, and suddenly got into the shutter door, calling He caught a blank.

"Theodore, you bad cat!" came her muffled voice from inside.

"You are a bad bird." Earl Cat pouted, "You actually bully children."

"I didn't!" cried Bessie, and then trailed off again. "He fell himself."

At that time, Elaine was looking for food in the kitchen, and suddenly heard a loud bang from outside. When she walked out, she saw the dwarf fell to the ground and a high stool fell to the side.

He hurriedly stepped forward to help him, but Corian dodged left and right, muttering: "No, Your Highness, I don't need to trouble you..."

Elaine gently grasped his slender wrist, probably for the convenience of work, Corian rolled up his sleeves, Elaine looked down, and couldn't help but frowned, "The elbow is red." Probably where it happened arrive.

"It's okay." Corian was still struggling in his hands.

Elaine pulled him to the sofa and sat down, pressed the other person's shoulders, and emphasized his tone: "Korian, listen to me."

Corian shrank his shoulders, looked up at him, and then hurriedly looked away.

Elaine called Earl the Cat down and told him to guard Corinne so that he would not slip away.

And when he came back with the anti-inflammatory medicine, Earl Cat had already interrogated Bessie.

"I think she might want to come out to say hello to you." Elaine said while applying the ointment to Corian, "She likes new faces the most."

Corian nodded dubiously, and couldn't help but look towards the antique clock. He saw that the shutter door opened a small crack, revealing a pair of small black bean-like eyes. When he met his gaze, the door hurriedly closed again. up.

"There are many unreasonable beings in this castle, but none of them are bad people, so you don't have to be afraid of them."

Elaine thought for a while, and added: "Including the adult upstairs."

45.

Elaine felt that she should be happy.

The dishes and desserts made by Mrs. Connie are delicious, although they seem to be a little worse than Dylan's, but Elaine is already satisfied with it.

What's more, Mrs. Connie can also braid her hair. Every morning when he is dressed and washed, Mrs. Connie will wait for him in the living room with a comb—he didn't mention this matter, and it should be Dylan who told her.Although their tacit understanding seems to be worse than that of him and his sister, Elaine is also satisfied with this.

But he was always a little bit unhappy, a little bit, about the size of a small piece of chestnut on a Mont Blanc chestnut cake.

He scooped up the chestnuts and cream on the cake with a small silver spoon, licked his lips and put it into his mouth, feeling that the soft sadness gradually diffused like the sweet taste.

"Your Highness, is there something wrong?" Mrs. Connie asked carefully, paying attention to his expression.

Elaine came back to her senses, only to realize that she was biting the spoon in a gaffe and stared blankly.

He was only a little late in answering, and Mrs. Connie said again: "I can make a new copy for you at once."

Well, that's part of the worry too.

"No, there's no need." Elaine said, showing a smile, "It's very delicious, thank you."

Mrs. Connie lowered her head quickly.

——The attitude of the Black family is too sincere and frightened.

They hardly spoke superfluous words, and never looked up at the people and non-humans in the castle. The family's meals, conversations, and interactions were all firmly locked in the deepest room on the first floor. It seems to have become a hard-working but silent and rigorous wooden man.

Especially when Dylan came downstairs, they didn't even dare to breathe.

But except for Elaine, no one seemed to notice or care about their attitude.

It turns out that dwarves are more afraid of magic than humans like him.Elaine thought.

46.

What Elaine doesn't know is that it is precisely because he knows what kind of people are in this castle.

That's why the attitude of the dwarves' family was filled with fear and sincerity.

But that too long history was always as vague as a layer of glass to the young Corian, and that fear could always be easily replaced by his own personal experience.

For example, the cute and clever bird hidden in the antique clock.

He soon became friends with Bessie.

Another example is the beautiful and gentle Princess Her Royal Highness.

At first he liked to look at him secretly, but Elaine would often spot him for some reason. Elaine waved at him from a distance, but he turned around and ran away.

Later, this happened a second time. Corinne realized his faux pas last time, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk over. The princess reached out to him, gave him a piece of chocolate, and talked to him with a smile.His tone of voice and expression are so pretty...Korean realized what he was thinking, and his face suddenly flushed red.

After several times like this, Corian can also eat the princess's candies and chocolates and chat with each other.

And Elaine handed over the first...kid who is the closest to a human being after coming to the castle.

If a child wants to be friends with him, the first thing is to hook him up.

With a straight face, Corian lowered his voice and said, "Your Highness, please forgive my offense."

"This matter must never be known by my parents."

Elaine nodded solemnly and stretched out her little finger.

The two hooked their pinkies and pressed their thumbs, and the oath took effect.Elaine then asked, "Why?"

Corian looked around and moved closer, "They said..."

He lowered his voice extremely low: "That lord is not a snake, but a demon."

47.

Every place has some inherent and ancient things, these things themselves are invisible, such as what we call rules, order, habits... and so on, but with the carrier and behavior that carry them, these things become Tangible, inertial, even unbreakable.

And in this old castle, no matter whether it is tangible or intangible, this kind of existence seems to be condensed in the Duke alone.

He's still the same, he's still the same.

He locked himself in his room every day, sometimes went downstairs to eat, and most of the time he didn't come down all day.

Elaine originally thought that after the last time... the relationship between him and the Duke would be at least a little closer, but in fact everything seemed to be back to the beginning, or even worse.The Duke's attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away can be clearly felt through a door. He raised his hand outside the door several times, but finally failed to knock.

The others saw it and invited Elaine to secretly hold a symposium.

Earl Cat expressed helplessness towards the Duke's attitude. He shrugged, "He agreed to Mrs. Hannah's words. I thought he would also be willing to make changes in due course, but I didn't expect it to be the same..."

Mrs. Hannah sighed: "He is willing to let the castle change, but he is not willing to let himself change. Even the changed castle is something he rejects."

"So he shuts himself in the house longer," echoed Mr. Scott. "He used to like to sit in front of me and read a book in the evening."

Earl Cat snorted: "He won't let me into his study now!"

Elaine felt uneasy. Was it just the opposite for the Duke that his arrival had made everything worse?

Mrs. Hannah seemed to guess his thoughts from his expression, and comforted: "Your Highness, you don't have to blame yourself."

Earl Cat pouted: "Your Highness, you have to think from your own standpoint!"

"You were snatched by him!"

Elaine: "It doesn't seem so rough."

"He locked you up in this damn place."

Elaine: "Actually, I think it's not bad here..."

"You didn't ask him to do anything for you!"

Earl Cat said coldly: "He is domineering!"

Bessie also jumped out of the clock. "He's tyrannical!"

"He is indifferent!"

"He's proud!"

Elaine: "Well...but he's good-looking."

Count Cat: "He's a snake now."

Elaine thought for a while, and got goosebumps in her physiological reaction, but she still said, "Actually...it's pretty cute."

Earl Cat turned pale with shock, "Princess, you have changed!"

……

So this symposium turned into Dylan's crusade meeting in an instant.

"You mustn't fall in love with him!" At last Bessie opened her mouth wide and sang an opera she heard from somewhere with a high voice.

But Earl Cat woke up suddenly after these words. He jumped up and slapped Bessie back hard, then turned his face and smiled embarrassingly: "Just kidding, we are all joking."

"Your Highness, you must fall in love with him."

Elaine: ...