The Book of Hibernation

Everyone talked about it from noon to dark.Aldin arranged the dinner in a calm manner. Everyone chatted and ate, and finally left before midnight.

Both Aldin and Kanai went to see off the guests.Winter Thistle has been sitting there silently.

Servants came in to clear the table, clear the floor, and take half the candlesticks.They were nimble, and it didn't take long to clean everything up, and the banquet hall became quiet and empty again.

After a while, Aldin came back.Sending guests out is a time-consuming affair, taking longer than a servant cleaning a banquet hall.

He guessed that Winter Thistle was still sitting in the banquet hall, so he went back the same way.

Winter Thistle looked up at Aldin.Kanai was not with him.

"Is Lord Kanai alright?" Winter Thistle asked.

"He went back to rest," Aldean said.

Winter Thistle said: "Master Kanai should be in bed for a long time. He shouldn't go out, and he can't entertain guests for such a long time like you. He is using magic to fix the wound, so he can walk by himself temporarily, but it will be no good if this continues." , he doesn't rest well, his bones don't grow well, and even if his leg doesn't hurt in the future, he may be limping forever."

Aldin silently listened to Winter Thistle, then walked to him and sat down.

Thistle stared apprehensively at the table in front of her, not at Aldine.Aldin held his hand first, and seeing that he didn't respond, he stretched out his hand to gently support his chin, making him turn his head.

"What do you want to say?" Arden asked softly.

Winter Thistle frowned slightly: "That's all I want to say. Do you think I mean something else? Is Kanai's health not important to you?"

"The matter of Kanai seems simple, but it is actually very complicated," Aldin sighed. "If you want to hear it in the future, I can tell you about our childhood, and you will understand why he is like this. But now I I guess you're not in the mood to listen to this."

As he spoke, he held Winter Thistle's hand again.With that posture of gently protecting some kind of treasure, she held Winter Thistle's hand between her own hands.

"You must think that I don't care about you at all," Aldin said with a wry smile, "I seem to only care about Harbor City, not Kanai's injury, or what you've been through... because I didn't ask you, or even See for yourself how hurt you are."

"I didn't think so," said Winter Thistle.

Aldin held up Winter Thistle's hands, leaned over slightly, and gently kissed the protruding bone on the back of his hand.

When he raised his head, he looked into Winter Thistle's eyes: "Actually, when I was underground in the city hall, I saw your injury and gave you medicine, so I don't want to talk about it...so I have to talk to you about business. .I know you're going to resent me, I just don't want to hear it from you."

He spoke like this, which made Dongji not only a little moved, but at the same time a little more uncomfortable.This taste is so peculiar that Winter Thistle doesn't know how to express it.

"It's not serious, it's already healed," Winter Ji wanted to withdraw her hand, but Aldin held on tightly, so Winter Ji had no choice but to give up, "I just... I think I may have chosen the wrong path. Harbor City is not suitable for me, this The local life is not suitable for me. Lord Aldin, I cannot adapt..."

Aldin looked at him and said: "You have expressed more than once that you want to live a life that is stable, simple, and does not need to worry about making a living, but only needs to be immersed in research. If this is what you want, then I I can give it to you, I can always give it to you. The premise is that you have to trust me. Just like I don’t know magic, you don’t understand the things I have to deal with, right? You don’t need to adapt to anything, you don’t need to learn, Those things are supposed to be done by me. You just stay in the lab."

In fact, Winter Thistle could not find anything to refute.

No, it can't even be called a "rebuttal", he suddenly found that he didn't raise any contradictory opinions from the beginning to the end...he was just complaining in bits and pieces.

This much annoyed him.

At the end of the day, countless questions were intertwined in his mind, and now he couldn't extract any of them.

He suddenly remembered that kind of sweet dessert—golden on the surface, inlaid with black sugar pickled fruit in the middle, exuding a tempting aroma.There are not only expensive sugar and oil on the dim sum, but also delicate craftsmanship.The workshop directly supplies this kind of cakes to the palace, and does not operate outside. Thanks to the workshop belonging to the Chamber of Commerce, Winter Thistle has the opportunity to taste this novelty and sweetness.

As soon as I recalled the brown sugar snack, the sweetness in my memory immediately hovered on the tip of my tongue, as if I was holding the fresh fruit wrapped in syrup...Suddenly, Winter Thistle understood.

He understood what was stuck in his throat, making him unable to ask what he wanted to ask.

Aldin helped Winter Thistle to stand up, put an extra coat on him, and led him out of the banquet hall.

In the courtyard, when he was under the shade of a tree, Aldin suddenly kissed him.Winter Thistle was not surprised, even he had expected the intimacy tonight.

A slightly weird thought came to his mind: If I feel repelled, it means I still can't accept this.If I don't feel conflicted, then... I really have nothing to complain about.

He still thought about the above criteria when kissing, and when he opened his eyes again, he temporarily forgot about them.

His body was weak, and he could only rest his head on Aldin.His cheek was against the python's head, with a thin linen shirt between them.

A boa constrictor should be something cold and gloomy, not such a warm embrace.

When he recovered, he was already standing in Aldin's room.Aldin closed the door, wrapped him in his arms and kissed the top of his head, then walked away temporarily.

Winter Ji wanted to find something to say, but couldn't find a suitable sentence for a long time.

Warm colors lit up in the depths of the dark room, and it was Aldin who went to light the candlestick.

He returned to Winter Thistle and said, "I have an idea. I want to give you some presents recently. Is there anything you want?"

Winter Thistle asked, "Why did you give me a gift?"

"There are all kinds of reasons. For example, to celebrate you coming back to me, or to make up for the hardships you have suffered these days. Of course, it is too frivolous to say 'compensation', and the feelings cannot be eliminated by compensation. But I still want to Try to compensate you as much as possible, whether you want it or not is one thing, but whether I will do it or not is another matter."

Winter Thistle thought for a while, and said, "If I really want to say it, I need the Violet Ocean Stone and the Metamorphic Chalcedony. I need it urgently."

"Is it a decoration? Or a rough stone?"

"No, it needs to be powdered. The kind of fine powder that can pass through the wire mesh."

Aldin looked at the half-elf in his arms, thought for a moment, and finally laughed out loud: "Are you talking about spell-casting materials?"

"Of course. Today we talked about arcane defense. I have already thought of several plans, and one of them can be used. Generally, refiners will not use this plan, because the two kinds of things needed are very expensive, and the required quantity is not enough. big..."

"That's not what I'm asking." Aldin rubbed Winter Thistle's hair, "I'm asking if you have anything you want. Of course there are spell-casting materials, and what you want will definitely be provided to you. Could it be a gift?"

Dong Ji lowered her head and thought about it, then whispered, "If you really want to talk about presents...don't laugh at me, I still want that kind of brown sugar snack."

Aldin kissed him on the cheek: "Of course. Why are you laughing at you? I also like food very much. Tell me one more."

"I think..." Dong Ji had already spoken the beginning, but suddenly stopped talking.What he almost said was: I want to know how those mercenaries are doing now, have they left Harbor City safely, and have they been held accountable by the city hall.

But he swallowed the words back.He decided not to ask these questions.

He still wanted to know, but he wasn't going to let Aldine tell him himself.

So he changed the sentence: "I want a new set of element refiner, the one that can store methods. There is one in Kanai's laboratory, but it is too old."

Aldin sighed heavily on purpose: "Yes, definitely. But winter thistle, I don't know what it is at all. It's a magic tool, right?"

Winter Thistle nodded.

"You can talk to Kanai about this kind of thing, or you can buy it yourself. It's not a gift."

Aldin put his arms around Winter Thistle's shoulders, and led him into the depths of the room behind the hollowed-out interior wall.

"Think about it a few more times until I say it's okay." Aldin walked behind Winter Thistle and wrapped his whole body around his chest.

Winter Ji muttered: "I can't think of it... how many do you want me to say? There must be a number."

Aldin lowered his head, facing the pointed ears of the half-elf, and lowered his voice slightly: "Then it's up to me to decide. As soon as I think of it, I will give you a gift until we both feel bored."

It would be a little itchy to be spoken in the ear, Dong Ji subconsciously wanted to hide, but it happened to reveal the neck under the wide collar.

Aldin kissed his neck and said: "Tomorrow I will contact the workshop and ask them to send that kind of brown sugar pastry. This is the second gift."

Although Winter Thistle didn't take the initiative to ask for any gifts, but Aldin said that the brown sugar pastry was the second item, so of course he would be curious about the first item.

He turned his head to ask, and just about to speak out, the question was swallowed up in a slow and dense kiss.

Kissing dazzles, and dazzles lead to falls.

Winter thistles poured over the soft plush blanket.Aldin turned his back to the candlelight and closed the curtain with his backhand.

=========================

After the last turmoil, both "Belos" and Winter Thistle were identified as criminals, one was the main culprit and the biggest conspirator, and the other was a refiner colluding with the Necromancer.

According to the official documents, Winter Thistle is still under the supervision of the Arcane Federation, and is held in the confinement room of Hilda Academy, under the supervision of experienced mages.

Due to emotion and reason, he cannot appear in the city at will.

If he was seen running around, the capital would be worried, and the contracted mages of the Arcane Federation would not be happy, and other firms doing business in Harbor City would also raise doubts.

However, it is said that Winter Thistle needs to go out.He has to cooperate with the temple, and also participate in the update project of enchanted weapons in Harbor City. These tasks are very complicated and cannot be done in the laboratory by himself. He must cooperate with the workshop outside.Winter Thistle cannot leave Aldin's mansion, even if he is secretly sent out in a closed carriage. His current treatment is the bottom line negotiated by all parties.

So the chamber of commerce and the city hall came up with a solution.They recruit mages from several workshops and make them visit Winter Thistle's laboratory regularly.

They have to receive the base potion, be responsible for purchasing the materials needed by Winter Thistle, and also follow Winter Thistle's guidance to complete the details that their respective workshops are responsible for.For the workshops participating in the cooperation, this is really inconvenient, but there is no better way.

One day, Winter Thistle just finished receiving mages from other workshops, and followed them out of the laboratory.

As the mages set off, Winter Thistle strolled around the courtyard for a while.

It is mid-autumn now, and it gets dark much earlier.Before dinner time, the dusk was already fading.

The winter thistle passed through the somewhat dim vine trellis, and gradually approached the small meeting room, where Ardine or Kanet often met guests.

Winter Thistle had nothing to look for Aldin, but walked past without knowing it.

Near the corridor in front of the door, Winter Thistle vaguely heard someone talking inside.One was Kanai, and the other had a relatively unfamiliar voice, which he had no impression of.

He didn't want to eavesdrop.Just as he was about to pass by, he heard that strange voice raised his voice: "You refuse to introduce me, is it because he hates people like me, or because you are worried... Are you worried that he will actually appreciate me?"

Winter Thistle was startled.In his impression, if Kanai was talking to someone other than Aldin, then the content of the conversation should either be about spells, or Kanai was unilaterally scolding others.What he heard was clearly neither.

Who is talking to Kanai like this?Still chatting with Kanai about such a rare content?

Then he heard Kanai's voice: "Simon, you are too self-righteous. If it weren't for your decent family, you would probably have lost the ability to speak now, let alone talk about appreciation or dislike."

In the meeting room, Kanai sat on the side of the long table, and Simon sat at the end of the table opposite him.

Kanai didn't want to see Simon in his room, so he struggled and dragged his injured leg to the chamber.

Simon originally planned to sit next to him as before, but Kanai stared at Simon, staring at Simon flustered for a while, so he sat a little further away knowingly.

After listening to Kanai's words, Simon argued: "I understand what you mean. Because my parents were born as court servants, although they are not big figures, they have some connections with the royal family and courtiers, so the Chamber of Commerce spared my life You don't need to remind me, I know it well. After Wu Yun was arrested, Director Maida has been trying to kill me secretly. It was another director and Director Aldin who spoke for me and let me survive. This I remember the kindness in my heart, so I want to serve you."

One of Kanai's elbows was resting on the table, and his hand was resting on his forehead. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: It's incredible that Wu Yun would reuse this person... Maybe Wu Yun also took a fancy to his family and had some relationship with the nobles.Wu Yun was active as Bellos Jr., and he was not very stable at all. He must have wanted to gather more allies.

From this point, it can be seen that Wu Yun is indeed not one of Bellos and his son.His thinking is too simple and direct, which is not what the head of the chamber of commerce should have.

Kanai remembered what the teacher said: Knowledge does not equal wisdom.This is a common problem among us spellcasters.

Kanai squinted at Simon, shaking his head slowly.

Simon lowered his head, his eyes were a little red: "Kanai, just speak up if you have something to say, why do you have to keep laughing at me and humiliating me... I didn't follow that monster voluntarily, I was also blinded by him .Since we are all from Hilda Academy, can you really think about it for me?"

Kanai sneered and said, "I don't plan to pursue the matter of the killer anymore, isn't that enough for your sake?"

"That was arranged by Wu Yun and his other subordinates! I didn't..."

"Okay." Kanai held up a hand to stop him from continuing, "I said if I don't pursue it, I won't pursue it, and you don't need to argue about it. Let's talk about it now. If you just want to find someone to rely on, Why don't you go to Yuli to take charge? When Maida wanted to kill you, she also spoke for you."

Simon said: "I've also considered it, but You Li probably doesn't need me to be in charge, and her sphere of influence is in the southwest, and the areas she mainly involves in are relatively unfamiliar to me..."

Kanai put it bluntly for him: "She is unlikely to be the next chief. And you hope to follow a more promising master."

Simon didn't deny it.He said: "More importantly, I really admire you and Aldin in charge."

Kanai said: "But the problem is that it's not that I want to reject you, but that it is impossible for Aldin to accept you. If I introduce you to him, even if he is not angry, he will at least politely and firmly ask you to come back." Home."

Simon hesitated for a while, then tentatively said: "How will you know if you don't try... And I don't want to seek so much power. I can be an assistant in personal affairs, just like before. I've heard it before, Aldin is in charge of him...in fact, he would like someone like me..."

Kanai burst out laughing, laughing so hard that Simon didn't dare to speak anymore.

Kanai smiled and looked at Simon, sighed and shook his head: "I understand what you mean. Many people have heard that Aldin has always liked gentle blonde beauties. My God, is this rumor spread so widely? Not only Harbor City , do people in the capital also know? How many people in the chamber of commerce know?"

"Kanai, that's not what I mean," Simon said. "I want to serve you two, and it's best to stay by your side. I want to take care of you. But it must be approved by your brother, isn't it?" ?”

Of course Kanai didn't believe it.He took a closer look at Simon's attire today: a plain and elegant long gown and a heavy satin coat. The blond hair was not tied up and was draped obliquely on one shoulder. It seemed that some fragrance was used.

It wasn't like this before when he went to the academy to run errands. He obviously dressed up specially.

"It's getting late, you'd better go," Kanai ordered to evict the guest, "Aldin is coming back soon. If you bump into him without warning, he will only hate you more, and you will have no chance at all."

Simon wanted to continue to say something.He pondered for a while, and felt that although Kanai rejected him, he seemed to have left some room... He decided to follow Kanai's suggestion, and the future will last forever.

Before leaving, he told Kanai a bunch of words to pay attention to his body, and repeatedly mentioned that he must try the ointment and bath salts he sent, which are good for bone injuries in one way or another.

Kanai responded with a few words casually, and Simon saw that it was almost done, and finally left the meeting room.

Simon was afraid that he would really run into Aldin, that would really be counterproductive and annoying.So instead of going through the main entrance, he took a longer detour to the carriage and cargo gate.When he came, he came in the same way, with a servant to guide him and watch him so that he would not wander around.

When he was about to leave, the servant disappeared.Simon strolled into the courtyard, thinking about whether to go back and ask Kanai, what if he really lost his way, and Kanai blamed him for walking randomly...

Walking between the two camphor trees, Simon suddenly felt something was wrong with the atmosphere.The rustling of leaves disappeared, and the surroundings became extremely quiet in an instant.

Although Simon did not complete his studies in the academy, he had learned some knowledge about arcane arts. He realized that he had entered the operating range of the silent spell rune.

Before he could panic, Winter Thistle came out from the shadow of the camphor tree.

Simon was taken aback.Of course he knew Winter Ji, but in his imagination, Dong Ji didn't know him very well.After all, he has never been to the trial court, and Dongji has never been to the court of judgement. In fact, the two of them have never met formally.

Winter Thistle clasped her hands in her sleeves and bowed slightly to him politely. Seeing this, Simon also bowed back like a mage.

"I told the servant to rest," Winter Thistle said. "Are you going to the side door? I can take you there."

Simon immediately realized that the refiner might have something to say to him.