"Puff, puff..."
Richard stepped on the increasingly thick snow and arrived in front of the second white house, pushing the door open with a "squeak" sound.
As the door opened, a burst of turbulent and hot air blew out, hitting him, and then spread to the surrounding snow. The temperature of this air was so high that the snow in the snow immediately began to melt.
Richard paid no attention and looked at the door.
Inside the door, the scene was similar to the one seen in the first house. It was still a square, and it was still the palace where he lived at the end of the square. The only difference is that the palace is burning at this time, and many people in the palace and on the square are being chased by soldiers.
Among them was a girl with very bright eyes, who was carefully hiding behind the fountain in the square. She was neither pretty nor ugly, and she was a very attractive type. She looked around sharply, hiding her figure carefully to make sure that no one noticed her in the chaotic scene. She got up and crouched and ran to the side quickly, preparing to escape.
The girl ran faster and faster, farther and farther, with a horse's tail beating and beating behind her head. At this moment, there was a "whoosh" and a crossbow arrow flew towards her.
"puff!"
The crossbow arrow hit the girl's back, and the arrowhead emerged from her chest.
The girl didn't feel any pain or injury for a moment. Under the influence of inertia, she ran a few more steps before her legs weakened and she fell to the ground with a "thud".
In the distance, a black-armored soldier silently put away the crossbow in his hand. After confirming that the girl had no chance of survival, he stopped paying attention. Indifferent drew out his sword, turned around and walked towards a young and frightened boy more than ten meters away - he was the king's bodyguard. The order he received today was to eliminate everyone in the palace when the second prince was out, regardless of whether they resisted or not. Never let it go. As for the second prince himself, others will naturally handle it, and he will not be involved.
The black-armored soldier carried out the task without any flexibility, while the girl who was pierced by the crossbow tried hard to sit up from the ground.
She knew she had almost no chance of survival, but she still tried to hold on for a little longer.
She pressed the wound with her hands to control the speed of blood flowing out of her body, and did not pull out the arrow rashly. Someone had taught her that the human body is a complex structure. After being hit by a bow and arrow, she should not move the arrow unless she was absolutely sure. Because the arrow shot into the body, while causing injury, it also sealed the wound to a certain extent and slowed down the flow of blood. Once the arrow is pulled out, without corresponding measures, the wound may be fully opened, causing a person to lose a lot of blood and die in a very short period of time.
The person who originally taught her just said it casually, but she was so smart that she memorized it. Now she is trying to stay awake and try to survive, hoping that this massacre will turn around.
But things didn't turn around for her.
More and more soldiers appeared, and more and more people were killed. Rivers of blood flowed in the palace and squares, and dead bodies were everywhere.
After a few minutes, the girl couldn't hold on anymore. The blood flowing out had soaked her clothes. She leaned against a sculpture with her body crooked. Looking around blankly, he suddenly saw a door opening in mid-air and saw Richard at the door.
The girl's eyes lit up, but soon darkened again. She showed a bitter smile and said weakly: "Your Highness, you are back, you are finally... back. But, you came back too late, everyone died, I … He’s going to die too. Ahem!”
After coughing twice and taking a look at the blood that was still flowing out of her chest, the girl used her last strength to press the wound. She looked up at Richard and asked with sadness, anger and confusion: "Your Highness, why... why do they want to kill us?"
Richard at the door looked at the girl and was silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed softly and said, "This is the price, Keiko."
The girl's name is Huizi, which was given to her by him. In ancient Chinese characters, "Hui" is the same as "Hui", and "Hui" means "wisdom". As her name suggests, the girl is indeed the smartest person he has ever seen, but she only lived a short time and had no chance to show her intelligence.
After hearing what he said, Keiko didn't quite understand and asked: "Your Highness, what is the price?"
"It's the price of developing beyond the times. Doing so is destined to be counterattacked by the inherent conservative forces of society." Richard said, "This is where I was careless and I made a mistake."
"Is it our mistake?" Keiko frowned, "But we didn't kill anyone. They were the ones who killed, right? They should be the ones at fault?" Keiko looked at the soldiers waving swords in the square.
"You can think so, but the world is too practical. Sometimes theoretical right and wrong are not right and wrong. Victory is the real right, and failure is the real wrong... If you die, it will be an eternal mistake."
Keiko blinked, thought for a few seconds, looked at Richard and laughed out loud: "Your Highness... his words are always so profound. Some of them I can understand, and some of them take me several days to figure out. I think , I am so stupid, I will never... be able to meet His Highness's requirements for me."
"No, you've done very well. Really, you've done very well."
"Really?" Keiko was a little surprised, and then her eyes became darker and darker, "Okay, thank you Your Highness. It's just... I'm afraid I won't be able to study with Your Highness anymore in the future, because I'm going to die."
"I'm going to die." Keiko's voice weakened, and finally she stared blankly at Richard. She didn't move for a long time, and said in an undetectable voice, "Your Highness, Sayang Nara..."
"…Sayannara, Keiko."
Keiko heard it.
Keiko smiled.
Keiko's body slowly fell to the ground, and her blood stopped flowing.
Richard watched quietly, watching this scene for a long, long time.
Finally, he exited without saying anything and closed the door.
"boom!"
…
On the snowfield.
Richard stood outside the door for a while, then turned to look to the side, and saw the black tower getting closer, and the third white house appearing a few hundred meters away.
"Puff, puff..."
He stepped closer, walked to the door, hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand, and opened the door with a "squeak".
This time, inside the door, there was no longer a square or a palace, but a small room. He was familiar with the room and every furnishing because it was the bedroom he had lived in for many years.
There were many candles burning in the bedroom, which was extremely bright. A child-like figure was sitting on the bed with a blanket on his back, reading a thick book.
"Wow, wow..."
Looking like a child, he kept flipping through it, and finally finished reading it, closing the book with a bang and putting it aside.
He raised his head and noticed his real existence. He blinked his eyes as a child, smiled and said, "To be honest, I can see myself from the future here. I think I should be surprised, but I'm not. It's actually very strange." Calm. Kind of weird."
ps: Sayang Nala, Japanese - さようなら, Chinese meaning - Goodbye.