Crown Prince's Wedding Banquet

"Xiao Qin..." It was his father calling him.

Zhou Qin opened his eyes.

He seems to have returned to the dream he had in the first military fortress... He stood above the Milky Way, overlooking the galaxy slowly rotating in the universe.

His father looked at him with a smile not far away.

Zhou Qin was silent for a while: "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Mother, she..."

Qin Ziheng smiled: "I see. It's not your fault... In fact, she was beaten on a crooked road. There is a high probability that she will not be able to complete the final stage of evolution, let alone reach the place where I am... She Can't go that far."

"Those things that are left in this universe, those substances that can change shapes at will." Qin Ziheng said, "What do you think they are? They are all left behind by intelligent bodies that have reached the highest level but failed to leave the main universe." Remains... For hundreds of millions of years, countless civilizations have fallen on the boundary of the universe. Their spiritual power, their obsession, finally turned into darkness."

"So mother...didn't leave?" Zhou Qin said, he opened his hand, and the gray powder left when the emperor turned into ashes was still in his palm.

"Yes." Qin Ziheng said, "I didn't see him."

Zhou Qin was quiet for a while.

He hated his mother, hated the emperor who let him walk into Yeshan.But when she died in such a hasty and insignificant manner, leaving only this handful of ashes in her hand... This ending is weakly not like the ending she won.

Finally, he really lost his parents.

"So... what about you, are you still alive?" He raised his eyes and asked.

Qin Ziheng laughed: "For the place where I am, time, space, and even whether I am alive... These concepts no longer exist. Everything I am in, you can't imagine standing here. Only When you step into that threshold in person, you will be able to truly feel what countless civilizations are striving for, how blessed is omniscience and omnipotence to see the universe from a bird's eye view, and how insignificant an individual life is when faced with these .”

"Xiao Qin, will you come with me?" the father said.

"Where to go?"

Father raised his head and looked towards the highest part of the dark sky, where a pair of big dark red eyes emerged, watching the entire universe.

"Go to another place," said the father, "to the place where our civilization is."

Zhou Qin looked at him as if he wanted to imprint his face into his mind.

"Do not."

He heard his own voice answer firmly, his eyes filled with countless tears.

"I'm sorry... Dad..." he said, "I can't leave. I still have people here."

Qin's father froze for a moment: "With my help, if you want to leave, it is very easy. This is the only chance... Even in the future, I will never appear again. Don't you regret it?"

"I don't regret it." Zhou Qin cried.

Qin Ziheng sighed, he floated gently to Zhou Qin's side, wiped away Zhou Qin's tears, stroked his hair, and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead just like when he was a child.

"Okay, if that's the case. Don't cry." Qin Ziheng said, "Even if we can't see each other in the future, but... Dad is the one who loves you the most in the world."

He paused: "Maybe he is one of the people who love you the most now?"

Zhou Qin laughed, tears rolled down his cheeks: "Yes, one of the people who love me the most."

Qin Ziheng slowly floated up, he looked at Zhou Qin, his eyes became rosy.

"So, goodbye, Xiao Qin?" Qin Ziheng said.

"Goodbye..." Zhou Qin whispered in his dream, "Father."

The only response to him was the sound of the Milky Way turning.

The moment he woke up, Zhou Qin was in a daze.

The arched floor-to-ceiling curtains on the third floor of the Crown Prince's Manor were half drawn, and the morning sun shone on the floor. Outside the window, there were two little birds combing each other's feathers.

They chirped twice, then flew away.

There was still a dent in Elise's pillow, but she was no longer in the bedroom.

"Chen..." Zhou Qin reflexively wanted Chen Cang to check the location of Yiles, but suddenly remembered that Chen Cang had already left, and it had been more than a week now.

The inner court of the imperial palace was blown into ruins by the first emperor.

St Edward's Cathedral is still being rebuilt.

Before the enthronement ceremony, they still temporarily lived in the Crown Prince's Manor—everything seemed to be the same, but the security was strengthened, and there were more ministers shuttling between the outer court and the Crown Prince's Manor.

"Your Majesty, you have been awake for five minutes. I have already alerted Butler Wu based on your physical symptoms. He is currently waiting outside the door." Plank Road responded.

"Let him in." Zhou Qin sat up slowly, "Where is Xia Lan?"

"Lan Xia was talking to Bai Rong downstairs." Plank Road said, "It's been a while."

Zhou Qin's uneasy heart gradually settled down.

When the time comes for him to fulfill the agreement with Elias, let him be free...

set him free?

Elias didn't mention this... But Zhou Qin always thought of what he said that day, the oath that Elias made to him in the mecha room that day.

The less Elis said, the more uncertain he became.

Zhou Qin pondered for a long time, until Butler Wu came in and disturbed his thoughts.

"Your Majesty." Butler Wu was as polite as ever, "My lord, come up and ask, where do you want to have breakfast?"

Zhou Qin asked Steward Wu: "Steward Wu, if you promise something to someone, and when you are able to complete it, the other party asks you to fulfill the promise. What will you do?"

Butler Wu took off his glasses and stuffed them in his breast pocket. His eyes seemed to see through Zhou Qin.

"This question is not about what I want to do. It's about what you, Your Majesty, intend to do. Maybe you already have the answer."

Zhou Qin was a little speechless by his words.

"Then, if you still don't know the answer, Your Majesty, go downstairs and have breakfast... Your Majesty Lan is also downstairs."

Zhou Qin finished washing under the service of his attendants, put on his suit and hurried downstairs.He hadn't even entered the living room when he heard Elis' voice.

"Are you sure?" Elise said, "You really want to go?"

Hearing the word "go", Zhou Qin stopped as if nervous.

"Yes, Xia Lan." This was Bai Rong's voice, "His Royal Highness the Second Prince has set me free. From now on, I can go wherever I want..."

"Then where do you want to go?"

"I want to go back to C513 first, to find my mother and sister." Bai Rong said, "They are all Beta, maybe they are still alive. Then... go to the alliance."

"But, wouldn't it be good to be with us and stay in Emperor Star?" Elis asked him, "I can give you a vacation, and you will come back in the future."

"Very good, really very good. I am deeply grateful to Your Majesty for your respect for me, Your Majesty Lan, for your trust and protection for me for so long. The days in the Crown Prince's Manor are the most stable and comfortable life in my life. I don't need to pretend to be anyone, I'm just myself. And you... have given me endless encouragement and confidence. It turns out that Omega, it turns out that anyone can live like you." Bai Rong's voice was laughing, but He choked up again, "So you will understand me very well... For those of us, it is so fascinating to go to the Milky Way and live a completely different life from now."

Zhou Qin wanted to hear Elias' answer.

He wanted to hear Elise say that it wasn't like that, that it would be nice to be together.

He wanted to hear Elis say with his heart, because of love, I am willing to stay in Emperor Star.

...but he was disappointed.

Elise didn't even argue.

"That's right..." Elis replied softly, "Those are really good, I understand your desire. Then when will you leave?"

"In fact, Qiming is already waiting for me." Bai Rong said, "The pirates will take me to C513."

"Just today? Don't you wait for His Majesty's canonization ceremony to end?"

"Yes." Bai Rong replied.

Elise was silent for a while: "Will we see you again?"

"Yes, Xia Lan." Bai Rong said, "See you again."

"Then, I agree." Elise said, "Goodbye, Bairong."

Zhou Qin walked in.

Bai Rong was kneeling on one knee beside Elias, kissing his fingertips, and he stood up with tears streaming down his face.

"His Majesty."

"Bai Rong, I heard what you just said." Zhou Qin replied, "Safe journey."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty Lan, I will spend the rest of my life wishing you both a safe and happy life." Bai Rong said with a sob.

Bai Rong's luggage came to visit at the door, and he left directly by shuttle, heading towards a future full of joy.

This breakfast is a bit sad to eat.

Zhou Qin thought about Elise's answer just now, and couldn't taste it.

He put down the tableware and looked at Elis with a complicated expression: "Xia Lan, you..."

"Your Majesty." Elias was also speaking to him.

"what?"

"Accompany me to a place later, can you?" Elise asked him.

"Where to go?"

Elise smiled: "You will know when you arrive."

Dubin stayed in the Tapa galaxy and did not return, and Cecil became the captain of the bodyguard.After they entered the shuttle, Cecil drove the shuttle and asked, "Under Lan, how is Captain Dubin doing? Has he contacted you recently? When will he come back..."

"I just had a video call with him yesterday." Elise said, "He is going to marry Young Master Charin, and he is probably busy preparing for the wedding recently, so he will not return to Emperor Star for the time being. Oh...he also said that the emperor His Majesty officiated the wedding ceremony for him remotely."

The last sentence he said to Zhou Qin.

Zhou Qin was a little worried. Hearing this, he smiled absent-mindedly: "Yes. I can give him my blessing, but I have to wait until the wedding between me and Lan Xia is over. What do you think, Elise?"

Elise thought about it very seriously: "Probably the spark between the two of them when we were at X23. But as soon as I talked to him on the phone recently, he threw dog food crazily, and his happy expression made people feel embarrassed. You don't know, both Adams and General Yun have recently blocked his contact information. So I think His Majesty's proposal is very good, and I will tell him."

The shuttle stopped in front of the national cemetery.

They got off the shuttle and each received a bouquet of white chrysanthemums at the door.

Then slowly shuttled among the white tombstones.

Under each tombstone lies a hero who died for the country.

They have experienced countless gunpowder, war, and pain, and then their remains rest here.

The last two people stopped at a special double headstone.

Their cemeteries are closely connected, and their tombstones are also combined into one piece.

There is only one simple sentence on the tombstone——

"My friends, no condolences, we are not here."

"Xingwen, Xingyu." Elis said softly, "Your Majesty and I have come to see you."

Zhou Qin and Elias placed the white chrysanthemums in their hands on the stone slab in front of the tombstone.

The wind caresses gently.

Everything was quiet.

No one answered.

They were never here, they were long gone.