The pitch-black military boots stepped on the polished wooden floor, making loud footsteps, and the old man's steps in the hall were as calm and powerful as ever. His back was straight, like a green pine standing on a snow-capped mountain. His hair was very short, and although he was old, it was still very thick. It was an iron-like gray-black color, and the hair was very rigid, just like his sharp-edged and resolute face. There are short stubbles around his lips, which are also gray and black.
Although there were wrinkles on the old man's face, perhaps because his face was too rigid, the wrinkles were not deep, not only did not make the old man look a bit old, but it also brought out his serious demeanor. His eyes were bright and energetic, and there seemed to be tiny flames in the depths of his pupils.
He was wearing a pitch-black imperial military uniform, but the military uniform on his body was unique. The top was not the bright silver buttons like other military uniforms, but black and gold buttons that looked deeper. The navy blue cloak was draped behind him. Because it was very thick, it didn't flutter when he walked, but swayed slightly behind him with his steps.
When he came to a gate, the old attendant guarding the gate looked at him and bowed slightly to salute. The old marshal did not accept the other party's salute as a matter of course, but also bowed his head slightly to return the salute. After all, the two of them have known each other for a long time.
Looking at the other person's gray hair, he suddenly felt dazed. He remembered that when the two of them met for the first time, they were both young men full of vigor. His Majesty's Accompanying Reader. At that time, the other party was just an inconspicuous young attendant behind the late emperor. It was not until much later that he learned what status the surname of that humble attendant occupied in the royal family.
After that, the two of them stood beside His Majesty who was a child at that time, guarded him according to the order of the first emperor, watched him grow up, watched him become a better heir to the throne than anyone else, watched the young The prince shines brightly.
Later, the first emperor died, and the young crown prince succeeded to the throne. He watched the young His Majesty grow up slowly, and the infinite future seemed to be in front of him. They followed him and were about to embark on the journey of the endless starry sky.
Suddenly, a serious illness took away the emperor's health. He watched the once vigorous young majesty gradually become silent and gloomy, as if the serious illness took away not only health, but also the ambition of that majesty. The emperor who had made drastic reforms and suppressed the noble warlords seemed to have changed overnight. He lost all his brilliance, completely gave up on himself, and began to indulge in fun.
Afterwards, the princess was born, and he looked at His Majesty as if giving up everything, pushing the princess to the front, while he shrank into the shadows, making him almost invisible.
He just watched His Majesty's decadence and silence year after year. He desperately wanted to do something. He worked hard to win one war after another for His Majesty. A small second lieutenant took the position of marshal step by step, and everyone was admiring him, thinking that he should be satisfied with his achievements—no, he is not happy, he is not satisfied, if he can't complete his mission in front of the former emperor The oath to protect the majesty he is loyal to, and cheer up that majesty, what is the use of becoming the marshal of the empire
Over the years, he had sought out the old attendant countless times, and wanted to persuade His Majesty with him, but was rejected time and time again. In a fit of rage, he completely broke off friendship with the old attendant, but he was still powerless to deal with His Majesty's self-indulgence in fun. After so many years, he has grown old, and His Majesty is about to grow old, he thought, this matter might become a thorn in his heart forever.
Until that day—when he heard that His Majesty was going to hand over the control of Emperor Star to the black-haired general who had betrayed the royal family, he broke into His Majesty's bedroom regardless.
He admired that young man, and once thought that as long as the princess could marry this young general, the royal family would have an extra bargaining chip. Therefore, under the hint of the emperor, he has been taking care of this young man with all his heart.
However, how much he admired Troll before, how much he hated Troll after Troll turned around and bombed Emperor Star that time.
The so-called protection of the royal family from Ga is just a reason for the citizens. As the supreme commander of the Royal Fleet, he is very clear about the truth of the facts—thus, Troll is an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf in his eyes. A poisonous snake that bites its master back. Therefore, when he broke into His Majesty's bedroom, he had already made up his mind. Even if it was a deadly remonstrance, he would never let His Majesty be blinded, and hand over the Emperor Star and his own safety to that dangerous general.
At that time, he knelt in front of His Majesty and refused to get up. His Majesty looked at him for a long time, and when his knees were aching, he heard His Majesty sigh softly, causing everyone around him to back down. Leave the old squire.
He heard His Majesty say something.
It was that sentence that instantly made his mind go blank. His memory seemed to be broken after that sentence. He almost didn't remember what His Majesty said after that, and how the old attendant sent him out of the gate.
At that time, he returned to the Marshal's mansion as if he lost his soul, and couldn't fall asleep for several nights.
... ... ...
Half a month later, he appeared in the palace again. What he came to was a tall tower next to the side of the palace, and he walked up to the top of the tower along the revolving stairs, and the old gray-haired attendant welcomed him into His Majesty's room.
He walked in the door, it was daytime, the huge French windows in the room were open, the dark curtains were tied up, the sunlight flooded the room brightly, and his majesty was standing in front of the French windows. The top of the tower is the highest place in the palace and the capital. The emperor, who is no longer young, stands at the spacious and huge floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting the bright sunlight, looking down at the endless land beneath his feet.
The huge and prosperous capital, the rolling houses, and the black flag that symbolizes the empire flutters high in the distance. It is flying in the wind, and it has never fallen from the sky no matter it is thousands or tens of thousands of years.
It is the belief of the empire and the glory of the royal family.
He didn't know whether what His Majesty was looking at was the endless land, the dark flag in the sky, or those things he couldn't see. But at this moment, he saw the figure of his majesty standing upright like he hadn't seen in a long time, just like the majesty who was the crown prince standing on the podium of the ship a long, long time ago. At that time, he was standing on one side as he is now, watching the tall and straight back of the monarch he is loyal to.
Time flies, many years later, he is still the same as many years ago, standing here, watching the figure of his monarch.
Some things don't change no matter how long time passes.
The emperor, who was looking at the ground, did not move, his back was still turned to him, but he heard the voice of his majesty from the front.
"Yujia... Long time no see."
It was slightly hoarse, and although it was very light, it gave an inexplicably oppressive sound. He bent over and knelt on the ground with one hand on his chest.
He knelt on the ground and bowed his head deeply to his Majesty.
The phrase "I haven't seen you for a long time" actually made him, an old man who survived countless bloody wars, choke his throat for a moment. He knew how heavy these four words were at this moment.
Too long, too long.
The emperor in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows turned around, and the sunlight fell on the emperor's body, making his skin look sickly pale. However, even though there was not much blood on the skin, the emperor's face was calm like it hadn't been in a long time.
His indifferent eyes fell on the shoulders of the old man kneeling in front of him. Black and red velvet brocade was sewn on the shoulders of the dark military uniform. The pure gold badge was a symbol of the old man's status and merit. Tassels intertwined with crimson hung from the golden badge and fell on the chest of the jet-black military uniform.
"Sixty-two years." The emperor stretched out his hand. The skin on his fingers was also very white and thin, as if the phalanges were wrapped in skin, but it could be vaguely seen that the shape of these hands used to be beautiful.
He pointed to the unique pure gold badge on the shoulder of Marshal Yujia, which symbolized the marshal's honor, and said, "You have been the Marshal of the Empire for sixty-two years and thirty-two days."
"Yes."
The old marshal replied, still kneeling on one knee, he felt as if his chest was being pressed by something heavy, and that indescribable feeling penetrated little by little.
He had been angry with him, he had suffered from the decadence and self-exile of his king, but his king had been watching him. The tenacious and powerful crown prince has always been there and never left.
"Sixty-two years, not too short."
The emperor turned sideways and looked out of the French windows again.
He said, "Yujia, give up your seat."
He said it lightly, just such a simple sentence, easily deprived the glory of the old marshal who had been born and died for him in the war for many years.
The old marshal looked up, he looked at his king's side face, he followed his king's gaze, and what he saw was the tall banner in the distance.
Under the bright sunlight, the pitch-black flag was bathed in brilliance, and it fluttered endlessly, like a cluster of pitch-black flames burning in the sun, burning out the final magnificence.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Looking at the black flag fluttering in the wind, the old marshal replied, his voice was calmer than anything else.
He knew who would take over as Marshal after him.
One day, that young man with royal blood will be crowned emperor.
And that day was the moment when the black flag of the empire that had been flying for tens of thousands of years disappeared forever.
...
……………
The square light curtain glowed in the dimly lit room, and the blue light illuminated Admiral Troll's handsome face.
The fine hair tips were scattered on the snow-white forehead, and the admiral's eyes reflected the faint light of the light curtain, staring at the masked man in the light curtain.
"The first emperor..."
Admiral Troll repeated the information he had learned from his spy subordinates, his brows were slightly frowned, as if in deep thought.
"How should I put it, the origin of your genes is really big enough." The masked man said, "As for the emperor, the ability to reproduce in his genes seems to have been destroyed by a virus, which is hard to detect , it was accumulated from generation to generation... When his generation explodes, this emperor is quite unlucky."
Ignoring the subordinate who was talking to himself, Troll spoke.
"Send the message of the first emperor of the empire."
The man shakes his head.
"No."
"..."
"The strange thing is here. He is the ancestor of the royal family and the most famous first emperor, but no information about this first emperor can be found from any source, except that there is this one person who led mankind to create the era of the universe. Apart from the establishment of the cosmic empire, there is no way to find out what this person looks like, what his name is, which family he comes from, and other information, etc..”
"The information was blocked by the royal family?"
"No, as far as I can tell, all the information about the first emperor seems to have been artificially destroyed."
"..."
"That's why I said, this thing is quite strange. Seriously, there is no trace left, and it was deliberately destroyed. Did the first emperor really exist?"
"...you continue to check."
"understood."
The light curtain shook, turned into a stream of light and closed, and the admiral sat quietly on the chair. The chair has no legs and is suspended in the air. The silver-white armrests beside it are also suspended in the air. From time to time, streamers flow downward from the armrests.
The pitch-black hair fell down, and the admiral sat on the suspension chair and slowly closed his eyes.
He crossed his legs and clasped his hands in his lap. The room was very quiet, only the admiral's light and shallow breathing could be heard. He just closed his eyes and remained silent in the silent room. His expression was indifferent and he couldn't see any expression. No one knew what he was thinking.
[The genes of the first emperor of the empire.]
[An emperor who existed in the legend, but left no trace of existence.]
...
……………
After obtaining the information about the earth that those professors have researched for so many years, Mutt returned to Ishtar and stayed behind closed doors, spending every day in the virtual screening room to study those information, trying to find out from countless messages. Useful information for yourself.
After suffering like this for a few days, the dark circles under his eyes came out. Robin, who had been by his side, couldn't stand it any longer. He forcibly dragged him out of the large virtual screening room and threw him back to Ishtar. Rest in the room on the top floor.
Mute thought for a while, and felt that he was indeed a bit obsessed. It's better not to rush this kind of thing, it's better to take it slowly, so he obediently took a shower, climbed into bed and fell asleep soundly.
…
[Come.]
In the bright living room, there is a faint fragrance of daffodils, and sunlight coming in through the transparent glass skylight.
The snow-white piano is placed in a small garden. In the corner of the garden, a gurgling stream flows through the stage, and the snow-white daffodils are full of it.
[Mute, come here.]
Someone was sitting in front of the piano and calling his name, which made him walk forward involuntarily, to the side of the piano.
At that time, he was still very young, just a child, sitting on a high stool specially made for him, looking up at the gentle smiling face beside him.
His white and slender fingers, like works of art, jumped on the black and white keys like dancing, and he heard the wonderful music around his ears...
…
The sleeping teenager heard the familiar notes of the piano beating in the quiet room, just like the sound he heard when he was very young.
He opened his eyes and walked out the door.
The living room is bright, with soft light falling from the ceiling and walls in all directions, filling the room with light.
He leaned on the door with one hand, staring blankly ahead.
In the corner of the living room, where the piano is placed, there is someone sitting there, with a straight figure and a dark suit, which forms an unusually sharp contrast with the snow-white piano. For some reason, this extreme contrast gives people an indescribable feeling. beauty.
The admiral sat on a white round stool, his legs wrapped in black trousers stretched out, making him look more slender. The straight military jacket is tucked into the belt, which draws out the slender waist. His back was straight, and the dark vertical collar buckled his beautifully curved neck. The fine black hair was scattered on the back of his neck, and a few strands penetrated into the vertical collar, giving people a sense of ascetic temptation.
White fingers pressed on the black and white keys. Those hands were extremely beautiful, with well-defined joints and slender fingers. Under the soft light, the skin of the hands had a white porcelain-like luster, as if carved from white jade.
The man sat there, without needing any decorations, turning the place into a painting of exquisite beauty.
His every move, even the slight arc of the black hair on the back of his neck, gave people a pleasing aesthetic feeling.
Mute looked at the scene so beautiful that people couldn't help but hold their breath, and listening to the familiar music, the corners of his lips couldn't help but curl up.
He walked over to the admiral who was still playing the piano, and quietly listened to the music flowing from the admiral's fingertips. It was very familiar music, the piano piece he had taught Salome, and it was his favorite piece.
At the end of the song, those beautiful hands stopped jumping.
Mutt leaned over and tilted his head to look at the general sitting in front of the piano.
"It's really ugly," he said.
Admiral Troll said nothing.
He made a deal with Salome, agreeing to a condition of Salome, in exchange for the video that Salome recorded when Mutt taught her to play that piece. He didn't know how to play the piano, but he just memorized all of Mutter's movements with a strong memory, and then repeated his movements.
At the beginning, he said that the music played by Salome was ugly, but now Mutt said that he played ugly.
"That's not how the piano is played, Major General."
The young man who said he played badly smiled, stood behind him, leaned over, put his head sideways against his cheek, stretched his hands forward over his shoulders, and stretched forward along his arms .
"I teach you."
Mutter said he seemed to be trying to put his hand on the back of the admiral's.
However…
Mute: "..."
Admiral: "..."
The boy whose arms were not as slender as the admiral's stretched out his hand couldn't reach the back of the admiral's hand, and his fingertips could barely touch the admiral's wrist, let alone hold the other's fingers.
The boy who froze for a moment withdrew his hand and stood up straight again.
"Your arms are too long."
he said angrily.
Admiral Troll, who was still sitting, didn't speak, but just looked up at him.
The man's eyes were originally beautiful slender phoenix pupils, but at this moment he raised his eyes to look up, and the corners of his eyes slightly hooked up to give Mute a look.
The boy took a breath.
That look made his heart almost stop beating.
The admiral was still looking at him with those phoenix eyes that almost killed him.
"What... what's wrong?"
Seeing those eyes burning his cheeks, Mutt stuttered a little.
I don't know if it was his illusion, but he seemed to vaguely see a look of expectation from the admiral's eyes. Seeing that he didn't move, the admiral seemed a little unhappy.
"You touched her head last time."
The admiral who was obviously a little emotional said.
Mute: "..."
How long ago was this all, do you remember
The young man thought for a while, and looked at Admiral Troll, who lowered his head and pressed his thin lips tightly.
"You are different," he said. "Salome is my pupil, and I will encourage her."
He bent down again, tilted his head and kissed the admiral's cheek.
"You're different." He said, "You're my man, you'll lose my face if you play so badly."
Mute said so, and sat down next to Troll. He put his hands on the keys, and soon, his fingers jumped like elves on the black and white keys.
Wonderful music sounded in the living room, and the teenager was playing the piano while turning his head and smiling at the man beside him. What he played was a gentle piece, very slow, and the tune was very soft.
"Mom is a famous pianist." He said while playing, "I grew up with her piano sound. But when I was a child, I didn't learn piano from her, nor did she force me to learn. "
Both his father and mother loved him very much, pampered him, never forced him to do anything, and allowed him to have a very happy childhood.
"So, I didn't start learning the piano from my mother until I was nine years old."
He couldn't remember the reason why he suddenly wanted to learn piano at that time. Now he just remembers, in the small garden full of daffodils, the little him sat next to his mother happily watching the scene of her playing the piano.
Quietly watching Mutt playing the piano and listening to Mutt speak, Troll did not open his mouth to break the atmosphere.
He just looked sideways at the young man beside him, his dark blue eyes looked at Mute, and reflected on Mute's side cheek. His eyes fell on the young man's constantly opening and closing lips, which were light pink in color. He knew how soft it was, and he still remembered the touch when the pale pink lips fell on his cheek not long ago.
What Mutter said, he didn't hear very clearly, the slightly parted lips, the exposed white tip of the teeth, and the occasionally pink tip of the tongue that could be seen from the gap between the lips attracted all his attention force.
"Come on, I'll teach you."
Mute said so, got up, and got into Troll's arms at once.
He nestled in Troll's arms, sat between Troll's legs, stretched out his hand, and put his fingers on the back of Troll's hand.
He watched his fingers successfully cover the admiral's fingers, showing a satisfied expression. Then he turned around and looked at the general with a smile.
Teenagers underestimated their own influence over men.
The next second, before he could turn his head back, the admiral's hand that was originally covered by his hand suddenly retracted, and his hand landed on the keys, making a slight sound.
Before Mute could react, a pair of arms had already hugged his body tightly, and the right hand moved up the next moment, holding his cheek, and forcibly kept his head turned backwards.
Then, cool lips blocked his mouth.
The flexible tip of the tongue almost couldn't wait to get into his lips the moment the lips touched, passed over the tips of his teeth, and wreaked havoc in his mouth. The moment the tip of the tongue licked heavily over the mucous membrane of his palate, the tingling sensation made his neck go limp.
Mutt's mind was a little muddy, but he also felt an indescribably comfortable feeling. The feeling like an electric shock when his lips and tongue intertwined made the back of his neck tingly numb.
Involuntarily, the boy let out a soft hum with the tip of his nose, and that very soft sound was the most ferocious stimulant in someone's ears.
Mute, who was a little confused by the kiss, was suddenly turned around. Before he could react, his body was pressed heavily on the piano. His back pressed several piano keys, and the sound suddenly rang in his ears, which startled him and woke him up in an instant.
Only then did he realize that at some point, he was turned over by the admiral and pressed on the piano.
He looked up, and saw the handsome face of the admiral, looking down at him with narrowed phoenix eyes, there was a frightening gleam in his eyes.
[You have the genes of the first emperor.]
[There is no information left, does that emperor really exist?]
Troll didn't know what he was, and he didn't know where he came from. He only knew that the warm and soft body of the boy in his arms was the only reality he could feel.
He stared at the person below him, with a slightly childish face, black eyes as clear as spring water reflecting his face, pale pink lips, slender body...all of these made him so infatuated.
When he looked at the person in his arms, he could feel his body aching. From the deepest part of his bone marrow, the dull pain was like drugs eroding his body and even his soul.
It doesn't matter who he is, whose blood runs through him.
As long as the child is in his arms, he has everything.
The pressed keys are still making a long sound, surrounding the living room. Because the sound was too loud, Mute, who was pressed on the keys, stretched out his hand and pushed Troll's shoulder, trying to stand up. But instead of pushing away the opponent, his hand was held instead, his fingers crossed, and he pressed against the keys on the other side.
Another long beep sounded, mixed with the original long beeping sound, and it began to become chaotic.
Mute, who couldn't stand the noise from the noise, struggled a bit, but was immediately gagged again.
With that force, his body, which had just lifted up a little bit, pressed back heavily on the keys again, and there was another series of chaotic long beeps.
Dazed by the chaotic voice, Mutt tried hard to stand up, but as soon as he lifted his body, Troll subconsciously reached out and wanted to push him down again.
He was wearing loose clothes when he just got up from the bed. During the chaos just now, his top was lifted a little bit, exposing his waist.
The admiral reached out and pressed his fingertips on the tender skin exposed to the air. Almost reflexively, the admiral's fingers clasped tightly around the boy's waist, the fingers sank deeply into the skin, and the warm skin felt his hand full.