Invade the white dove

"Ulis, what are you doing? Come down quickly."

A familiar and stern voice sounded from behind, accompanied by a rush of footsteps, Julis felt his armpits being picked up by a pair of strong hands, and his feet flew into the air, leaving the door supported by the fork. Windows with tiny slits.

"Such a dangerous thing, you can't do it again, you know?"

King Fino carefully carried Julis off the shaky wooden table and put him on the plush stool, straightened his loose pajamas, and scratched his bare left foot a few times with his fingers:

"I didn't even put on my clothes, and I lost my socks. Why are you in such a panic?"

Julius rubbed his eyes, his head was stiffened by the cold wind from the window, he seemed to have just woken up from a dream, or he seemed to be dreaming.

"Father……"

Julius was pressed on the chair by the old king, and the thick fur cloak wrapped tightly around his trembling body.

After being embraced again by warmth, he finally remembered what he was doing just now.

With some regret, he glanced at the wooden table that took a lot of effort to move, caught the socks that King Fino handed over, and put them on his frozen feet:

"I heard the sound of click, click, like what my husband once described, the sound of melting ice and snow, and the sound of everything growing. Father, I am already six years old. You said that when I can see the beautiful scenery outside the window, you allow me Go outside the tower and have a look."

Yulis rubbed his stiff fingers, held the rough face of the old king, and he raised a big smile, as sweet as he practiced in front of the mirror every day:

"I know you want to protect me. I can cut my hair short, put a hat on, cover my nose and mouth, and sneak out the back door without anyone seeing me. I just want to...be touched before spring comes. Touch that thing called snow!"

Julius first grabbed his shoulder-grown red hair, combed it to the top of his head, and put it on his head like a ponytail, then shook his feet hanging in the air, trying hard to show the beauty of his thighs. muscle.

But the old king just pinched his chubby legs a few times, and he immediately felt so painful that even his eye sockets were wet.

"There are man-eating beasts outside the tower. When they see you, they will strike harder than me."

King Fino wiped his tears with his thumb, and coaxed him in the tone that Julius most often heard, "In a few years, when you grow to be as tall as me, you can easily draw bows and arrows, break Iron Sword, I will definitely keep my promise."

"Oh..." Julius lowered his head and responded muffledly, but he quickly raised his head again and hugged King Fino's thick waist.

Although the king's golden belt studded with pearls hurt him a little.

"Father, I have a new friend!"

He quickly returned to his cheerful tone.

Odong Kingdom's government affairs are heavy, and he doesn't want his father to worry about his own affairs anymore.

His teacher of languages ​​and literature had said that the old king only walked a little lighter every day when he went to this tower.

At that time, Julius decided to only tell his father what he was happiest about.

Sure enough, King Fino also laughed when he heard his words: "Oh? Is this the Fairy Godmother or the Dream Fairy?"

Fairy Godmother is a folk tale told to Julis by his teacher when his teeth changed for the first time; Dream Fairy is an imaginary friend made up by Ulis himself when he heard that his father had a headache and insomnia.

As soon as Julius heard King Fino's tone, he knew that his father thought he was going to tell a story again, but this time he puffed up his chest and raised his face very proudly:

"He's a real friend! He's a gentleman brother. He's more handsome than the beauty in the portrait. His eyes... are as gentle as the sea I imagined!"

"Then how did you know this gentleman?"

King Fino held Julius in his arms, stroking his soft and smooth red hair.

Julius felt a warm kiss on his forehead, and he was tickled by his father's bushy beard. He laughed, put his lips on the old king's face, and kissed him loudly on the cheek:

"When I was exploring in the tower, I found Mr. Gentleman resting in the basement."

"The basement?" King Fino repeated in a low voice.

Julis noticed that the smile on his father's face was a little stiff, and his voice immediately became quieter: "I thought that as long as I didn't leave the tower, I could play here as much as I wanted. Father, did I do something wrong?"

"No, my Julius."

The old king shook his head, "You found a place that even I don't know, why don't you take me to see your friend?"

Julius jumped to the ground, kicked on his boots hastily, grabbed the king's hand and rushed out of the house.

There are six floors in this tower. His bedroom is on the fifth floor. The upper floor is an attic for storing sundries. Going downstairs along the steps is the library, dining room, meeting room, and the living room on the first floor.

Although I don't know what the outside of the tower looks like, Julis has been living in this tall tower since he can run and jump as long as he can remember, and he has visited almost every inch of space in the tower.

He led King Fino into the storage room on the left hand side of the living room with ease, touched the northwest corner of the room, removed the porcelain vase full of scrolls standing there, opened the movable door panel on the floor, and got in first.

"Ulis!" King Fino shouted in panic.

"Father, the steps here are a little slippery. Slow down. I'll light the lamp first." Julius raised half of his head against the board.

Julius held up the candlestick and lit all the candles on the wall, and the deep corridor was finally filled with dim light.

The father and son walked among them, one behind the other, only the sound of footsteps echoing.

At the first fork, turn left.

At the second fork, turn right...

Julis silently recalled the path he took when he first met a gentleman friend. When he encountered the fifth fork, he firmly chose to go left.

However, at the end of the corridor, he saw only a wall made of stone bricks.

"Mr. Gentleman...where did you go?"

Yulis held the candlestick and muttered to himself in disbelief.

"Did you go the wrong way?" the old king asked, touching the top of his head.

Julis recalled the road just now in his heart, left, right, right, left, left, it was impossible to go wrong.

His memory was never wrong.

A kind of loss and fear of being abandoned by his friends suddenly invaded his chest.Julis felt his throat constricted, and even the left hand holding the candlestick began to feel weak.

His body seemed to have been repeatedly crushed by huge boulders, every inch of skin and every muscle was invaded by weakness and pain.

"Ulis, what's the matter?" the old king called him from behind, but his voice became softer and weaker.

Julis wanted to turn around and tell his father that he was not lying, that he had really seen that gentleman, but found that his body suddenly became stiff and he couldn't move.

"No, sir, I've seen him..."

Julius opened his eyes blurred by mist, and the flickering candles suddenly went out twice, and the dense darkness squeezed him, almost suffocating him.

He fumbled forward with his hands, trying in vain to grab something.

"Mr. Gentleman..."

He shouted stubbornly, trying to recall Mr. Gentleman's name.The familiar syllable is on the tip of the tongue, but it can't be called out.

Julius held his head vigorously, as if as long as he called out this name, that person would emerge from the darkness and through the thick wall.

"Ulis."

A gentle voice suddenly came to mind, and immediately after, Julis' raised hand was held by a piece of ice, "I am here, don't be afraid. My Julius, MimoLange."

For some reason, Julis could hear the deep affection in that deep voice, which made his soul tingle and tremble.

He felt that he was being embraced by a hug that was not soft but very firm, and he smelled a rusty smell that did not belong in the tower.

"Sotiria..." The stiff tongue popped out the name naturally.

But at the same time he called out the name of the contracted knight, Julis felt his field of vision rapidly increase, and his young hands and feet grew longer and wider, showing the lines of an adult.

And the face of the old king behind him also instantly disintegrated like smoke.

"No, don't move."

When Yulis realized that he was dreaming and subconsciously tried to wake up, Sotiria, who gently hugged him from behind in the dream, stopped him.

"Don't move. Your body is full of injuries, and moving around will aggravate the injuries."

The real touch and temperature came from behind, but it made Julius feel unspeakably dry in this cold night.

Perhaps, on the bed, Sotiria also held him in the same way.

he couldn't help thinking.

But Julis was immediately brought back to his senses by the faint smell of iron.

It was blood, he realized belatedly.

Why does Sotiria smell like blood?

"Sotiria, what are you doing? Wake me up, I've slept too long, I want to see the king..."

Feeling that his consciousness was getting out of control, Julis shouted.

"The king has brought you back to the palace, and your plan has succeeded. He also ordered his servants to tidy up a room for you and let you rest well, as a reward for you. So..."

Sotiria's voice was so gentle that it was almost coaxing, "This is a beautiful dream, shall we finish it together?"

dream...

Julis nodded as if bewitched, the darkness in front of his eyes receded immediately, and the huge and generous figure of King Fino shrouded him under the shadow again.

He became the six-year-old little prince again.

Little Julius held the candlestick, and the three candles were burning brightly, as if they had never been extinguished.

Seeing him in a daze, the old king rubbed his head again with his big warm hands:

"The adventure is over, my Julius, the servants have prepared dinner, how about filling your stomach before continuing to the next adventure?"

Yulis looked at the vertical and horizontal wrinkles on the old king's face, which were deeper than the cracked land depicted in the sheepskin scroll.

When the king bent down to pick him up, he stood on tiptoe and kissed the rough, bearded cheek.

"I love you, father."