The Duke in the Spire of Thorns

A flash of light suddenly flashed in the dark sky, followed by thunder, and the dull rumbling sound awakened Celeste from his contemplation.

He stared at the thin sheet of letter paper on the table covered with cursive characters, his eyelids trembled again.

The dim candlelight dyed the desk yellow, and the smell of damp water vapor wafted into the air. Celeste held the armrest tightly, staring at the letter paper without blinking. The characters on the letter gradually became meaningless. They were no longer flowers, but clusters of thorns, withered and sharp, which made Celeste's hands bloody.

--what to do?What should he do?

Celeste's shoulders trembled, and he suddenly covered his eyes.Then he opened it again, a strong desire filled his throat, he greedily breathed in the air with a strong smell of water vapor, his lips parted slightly, his throat trembled slightly, his vocal cords vibrated, and a vague sound escaped.

too dry!Still too dry!He is dying of thirst!

Celeste picked up the silver jug ​​by the table and raised his head to drink water. The clear water flowed down the throat into his stomach. He drank the whole jug in one go, but the smell was unbearable. The hunger and thirst still tormented him.The jar was empty and he was still thirsty.

He let go of his hand, and the jug fell to the ground. Celeste took a few breaths of air heavily, and the unbearable desire in his heart controlled his hands. He pushed the wheelchair under him, and left the study eagerly, with a clear purpose Straight to the bathroom.

There is a huge sink in the bathroom, which is filled with water, and there are some fish swimming in the water.This was put in by the butler on purpose.Celeste locked the door and took off her clothes impatiently. The expensive cloth fell to the ground, revealing the body that it covered that did not belong to human beings.

A pale golden fish tail reflected the faint candlelight. The scales on the fish tail were fine and orderly, but it was somewhat dull due to the lack of water. Celeste leaned on the armrest of the wheelchair and lightly jumped into the water.

He let go of the ribbon that bound his hair, and ducked into the pool on his back.He closed his eyes comfortably and lay down quietly for a while.

The soft and cool water dispelled his anxiety. He opened his eyes and saw the fins on his arms floating in the water like water plants.And his fish tail, slender but not powerful.

Celeste turned over several times in the water, narrowed his eyes slightly and began to spit bubbles, a string of bubbles rose from the bottom of the pool, and finally burst into the air.He gradually calmed down, the water surrounded him and protected him.

A few fish swam over with their heads poking their heads, ignorantly swimming around in his fluttering long hair.

[Dear Your Excellency Bradley, we express our deepest condolences on the death of your father... Please come to Briarson to accept the succession ceremony, His Majesty the King will issue you a letter of inheritance and officially grant you Brad The identity of the Duke of Leigh... Our envoy is already on the way...]

In the castle where he lived since he was a child, he was still cautious, for fear of being discovered his secret.If he set foot on a strange land, the possibility of his identity being exposed would definitely increase greatly.What happens when a mermaid is discovered?He trembled without thinking.

He can also give up his identity as a human being and blend into the sea. Mermaids can live well in the sea.But that was another mermaid. Celeste was spoiled by his human father since he was a child. He has no sharp nails and teeth, no strong fish tail, and no outstanding physical strength.He calmly imagined what he might encounter after entering the sea. He might be eaten by sharks, or he might die of starvation because he couldn't catch food, and his chance of survival was slim.

He was in a dilemma.

What should he do?

After a brief indulgence, Celeste dried herself, put on her clothes again, tied her hair, and got into a wheelchair to leave the bathroom.

The interior of the castle is always dark, the narrow windows cannot penetrate the sunlight, and the darkness makes Celeste feel safe.He pushed the wheelchair, the servants all went to sleep, and the castle seemed extremely quiet.

Celeste pushed the wheelchair through the living room. On the way to the bedroom, he checked carefully whether the castle gate was locked inside.

The castle was locked tightly, and Celeste was relieved and ready to go back to the bedroom.

He turned to leave, but there was a quick knock on the door behind him.Celeste was startled, subconsciously held his breath, and stopped motionless.

"Stop knocking, he can't be in there."

A rough voice said: "This is the nobleman's castle. If he can't get in, we can't get in either. Don't waste your efforts, look around and don't let him get away."

There was another dispute outside the door, and finally the rough voice won the agreement, and the footsteps gradually faded away, and the voice became smaller and smaller.Celeste breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his bedroom indifferently.

Listening to the conversation of the group of people just now, they are chasing a person, maybe a thief, maybe a criminal, in short, it has nothing to do with him.

Celeste turned the doorknob, then frowned sharply and stepped back eagerly.His keen sense of smell made him smell the faint smell of blood in the air, and he wanted to find the butler in a panic.

There is something in his bedroom, it is very likely that it is the person that the group of people chased just now!

"I'm a little hungry."

He calmed down and said to himself: "I'm going to find old George and ask him to prepare a meal for me."

Celeste's back was tense, his fingertips were trembling, and he turned around smoothly, intending to leave.

Suddenly, his wheelchair was pulled back violently, and the bedroom door was pulled shut by a pale hand.The man was wearing a black robe, with a strong smell of blood all over his body. He stood upright, and in front of Celeste, he slowly locked the door, threw the key on the table, and then turned to look directly at him. Celeste, he put his hands on the armrests of Celeste's wheelchair, condescendingly looked down at this incompetent nobleman, and smiled slightly.

"Hello, Your Excellency." His bright red lips curled into a perfunctory arc: "I took the liberty to visit, and I am sorry for causing trouble to you."

Celeste didn't say a word, he stared at the man in front of him, his sky blue eyes flashed with uneasiness.

"My name is Escrit. I'm a little person you don't need to remember. I only have one request. Please let me stay in your castle to recuperate. I will leave when I recover. I won't bring you any trouble."

The man used honorifics, and seemed to be asking for Celeste's consent in a soft voice, but the casual expression on his face made Celeste understand that he had no right to refuse.

This person could break into his bedroom silently, and if he angered him because of his refusal, he might be in great danger.

Celeste looked at him, lips pursed into a straight line.

He didn't respond, and Escrit didn't urge him. He smiled and looked into Celeste's eyes patiently. There was no wave in the emerald green eyes.

After a while, Celeste compromised: "Okay, you can find a guest room to settle in. I will tell the housekeeper tomorrow and let him prepare meals for you."

"Thank you for your kindness." Escrit said, "but please don't reveal my existence to anyone, will you?"

This man may be a fugitive, a wounded fugitive.

Celeste hesitated for a while, then nodded slowly.

Escrit smiled and said, "Thank you very much, I will repay you."

He went to the table to pick up the key, opened the bedroom door and put the key back into Celeste's hand, stood at the bedroom door and saluted him, then turned and left quietly.

Celeste quickly closed the bedroom door, locked the door firmly, turned the doorknob repeatedly, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it could not be opened.

The bedroom smelled of blood, and although it was very subtle, Celeste couldn't stand it.He lit the incense, white smoke rose, and the scent of spices from the East covered the smell of blood.

He calmed down in the bedroom for a while, and finally decided to send some medicine and food to Escrit.The faster he gets better, the sooner he will leave.Celeste is already in a state of desperation, and he really can't afford another trouble. The sooner Escrit leaves, the better.

Thinking so, Celeste went to the kitchen to get bread, clean white cloth and medicine.Although he didn't know which room Escrit had chosen, he followed the direction of the bloody smell and found that room.

The room Escrit chose was on the first floor, which happened to be convenient for Celeste.He put the things in his hands on the ground at the door, knocked lightly on the door three times, and left without saying a word.

It took a while for Escrito to open the door. The door was empty, but there were some food and medicines.He didn't pick it up immediately, but turned his head to look at the other end of the corridor, where Celeste's back gradually disappeared into the darkness.Escrito was taken aback for a moment, he smiled, bent down to pick up the items on the ground, and closed the door.

This room was very simple, but Escrit didn't care, he moved his fingertips on the candle casually, the flame appeared out of thin air, and the candle light illuminated the table.

Escrit put the things on the table one by one, carefully checked the side, and only after confirming that the food and medicine were not poisonous, he began to eat.

He adjusted the medicines on the table according to the condition of his wound, then took off his black robe and underwear, revealing his bare upper body, his abdomen and back were covered with scars, his flesh was rolled up, and he looked extremely hideous.

Escrit calmly picked up the medicine prepared on the table to treat his wound, and sprinkled the irritating powder directly on the wound, the skin and flesh around the wound twitched slightly, but he didn't say a word, as if he couldn't feel it. Painful.

After treating the wound on his body, he let out a breath slowly, walked to the door and drew a defensive alchemy formation, then lowered his eyes tiredly, blew out the candle, and went to bed.