The Duke in the Spire of Thorns

Three days passed in a flash, and on a sunny morning, Celeste saw a completely new alchemist.

At this moment, he stood awkwardly in front of Celeste, his two bandaged hands kept twisting the folds of the robe.

Celeste sat across from him, looking at him intently.

Unlike the down-and-out nobleman he imagined, the alchemist in front of him looked no different from an out-and-out commoner. His skin was tanned dark yellow by the sun, his facial features were ordinary, and his eyes dodged, as if he was caught. The little mouse in broad daylight is anxious to suppress the idea of ​​fleeing back to the cave.

He stammered and introduced himself to Celeste. He said that his name was Marion, and he had lived in a nearby cave since he was a child, where he studied with his mentor.Since alchemy was expensive and he had no means of earning a living, he had to try his best to ensure alchemy research while he was still alive.

Celeste was not interested in these things, he folded his hands together, and said lightly: "I hope you can assure me that what you just said is honest."

Marion raised his right hand without hesitation, "I swear to God, I guarantee that what I say is true."

... Do alchemists also believe in God?

This thought only flashed in Celeste's mind, he didn't pay much attention to it, and continued: "Very well, I happen to be a little curious about alchemy, if your research interests me, I will A laboratory will be opened for you in the castle, and your research will be unconditionally supported."

Marion froze.

He stared blankly at the nobleman sitting across from him. His blond hair was like the bright sunshine of May, and his snow-white skin was like the snow of November. His appearance was exquisite and magnificent, and he was a figure that Marion had never come into contact with before. .

Celeste didn't wait for Marion's answer, and his patience was never enough in front of civilians.He knocked on the table: "What's your answer?"

"me……"

Marion finally came back to his senses, and he stammered, "Thanks... uh... thank you for your generosity... I, let me tell you about my research."

It is also a thank you, but this time the thank you is very mediocre, intermittent, with a strong accent unique to the Latius region, and there is even a small grammatical error.Celeste frowned. He recalled the elegant tone of the other party when they met for the first time, and suspected that there was a problem with his memory.

Anyway, Marion began to tell.Celeste withdrew his wandering thoughts and began to listen carefully.

"Uh...my research is related to life."

Marion looked a bit timid, he quickly looked around, and carefully looked at Celeste's face.

"Continue." Celeste said, "No matter what you say, I won't blame you."

After receiving Celeste's assurance, Marion took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to continue:

"My mentor is different from other alchemists. What he studies is not turning stones into gold. His subjects are more difficult..."

Marion began to hesitate again, and Celeste controlled himself with great self-control, and did not interrupt him roughly to ask him not to hide anymore, he listened patiently, while playing with a small A small silver necklace, with an absent-minded look.

"My mentor sometimes thinks, why don't horses and cows live as long as humans? If the distribution of lifespan is calculated by the amount of wisdom, then what about those trees that can live for hundreds of years at every turn?"

What he said was in the arms of Celeste. His Excellency the Duke's eyes were loose, but his ears were vigilant and refused to let go of a word.

"We have already figured out a little bit of research." Marion said: "The length of life of each creature is determined by the life force they carry. Those with plenty of life force will live a long and healthy life, while those lacking in life force will be weak and short-lived... ...the life force can be extracted, but we don't quite understand it yet..."

Hearing this, Celeste couldn't help jumping for joy when he thought of his deteriorating body.Maybe this is really a good way.

The joy in his heart did not show on his face, he looked at Marion calmly, and said in a slightly interested tone: "It's not too boring."

"Go to the butler, he will arrange it."

Celeste waved his hand and said without interest: "It was a pleasure talking to you, you can leave now."

Marion looked timid, but he showed no signs of timidity when applying for research fees from the butler. Celeste glanced at the list handed over by the butler, and said without blinking: "Give him .”

Although the cost was high, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of building the church. What's more, he knew that at least one-third of the cost he donated to build the church would fall into the pockets of the priests.

At least the money allocated to Marion will not be squandered.

As an ordinary person who has never been in the field of alchemy, the butler cannot purchase those strangely shaped instruments, so Celeste simply asked the butler to hand over the money to Marion himself.

After getting enough money, Marion fell into a state of excitement, and a blush appeared on his dark yellow cheeks.One letter after another was sent out by him, and carloads of instruments and materials were transported into Fort Ulysses.The laboratory allocated by Celeste to Marion was quickly filled with these instruments and bottles and jars. The originally empty room was now crowded, and one had to be careful even turning around.

Of course, Celeste was curious about this special transaction method. He asked Eswell to investigate. Marion was kind enough to repay Eswell, and he opened the door to Eswell, and he was unguarded in letters and addresses. Open to Eswell - of course, he knew that Eswell was ordered by Celeste, so he actually opened to Celeste.

All those letters were sent to Celeste's study. These letters made of parchment were covered with dark green "arguments". Marion also sent an explanation of the "argues" with the letter.

"'Green leaf' stands for 'toad's saliva', 'butterfly' is 'dried snakeskin'..."

Eswell recited in a flat tone, the candlelight was dim, and reading under such light would damage the eyes to a certain extent, so Eswell took the long parchment from Celeste's hand a little bit forcefully.

"Are your eyes special?"

Celeste leaned on the pillow with a little dissatisfaction, Eswell's face looked a little gloomy in the flickering dark yellow light, and his handsome features were shrouded in shadows.

His voice is magnetic and deep, even if the tone is flat, it still looks very pleasant.Celeste pulled up the quilt a little, "Come here."

Elsevier stopped reading and walked to the bedside, "Do you have any instructions?"

"Stop reading, it's annoying me." Celeste said, "I'm going to sleep, you sit here and look at me."

He pointed to the side of the bed with a playful tone: "Of course, if you want, you can lie down."

"Follow your orders."

Eswell took off his boots without hesitation, and lay down beside Celeste.He leaned sideways on the quilt, facing Celeste, quietly looking at Celeste with emerald green eyes.

Now it's Celeste's turn not knowing what to say.

"This... I'm just talking casually..."

His Excellency the Duke is rarely embarrassed, "Actually, you don't have to..."

"You don't want me to do that?"

Eswell asked softly, under the dim candlelight, his expression looked a little lonely.Before Celeste could answer, he sat up again, looking like he was going to get out of bed and stand aside.

"stop."

Celeste grabbed the cloth on his shoulders, "Lie back."

He cleared his throat and coughed twice, "I mean, you can come under the quilt."

"Thank you for your generosity."

Eswell smiled quietly, and carefully lifted the thick quilt without letting any wind blow in.

It wasn't warm under the quilt, and Eswell realized this without much effort, and he stretched out his hand to embrace Celeste without hesitation.His Excellency the Duke, who has half oriental blood, is not tall, and his body is extremely weak due to illness and weakness. Eswell can easily hold Celeste in his arms.

Celeste struggled a little at first, but not long after feeling the heat from Eswell, he immediately abandoned the so-called aristocratic reserve, and put his cold hands and feet on Eswell with peace of mind. body.

Eswell quietly felt Celeste's body temperature, and he stretched his hand behind his back calmly, and fiddled with it slightly.

"My back is still cold."

Celeste stayed comfortably in Eswell's arms, and instructed unceremoniously: "Eswell, do something, quickly."

Elsevier adjusted his posture so that his master could enjoy the warmth in a comfortable position.

Most of Celeste's body was covered by Eswell, and the Knight Commander's body was like a burning furnace, extremely warm.The quilt that Celeste usually takes half an hour to warm up becomes hot almost instantly.

Is this a healthy person?

Celeste thought, and put his cold hand on Elswell's neck with a little jealousy.

Eswell was extremely indulgent to Celeste's movements, and he tilted his head slightly, revealing more of his side neck.

"You are really a very qualified knight commander."

Celeste said that his tone was a bit subtle: "Solve all the troubles for the master, huh? You did a good job."

"As long as it is your order." Eswell replied: "No matter what the order is, even if it is an excessive order, as long as you ask, I will do my best."

"I want you to know one thing, I'm the best one."

Eswell said word by word: "My, master."