When he put the rose in her hand, Dalton remembered what the adjutant said.
...You should say something nice to His Majesty, if you can't, just memorize the poetry collection, if you can't think of it, can't you recite it? ... I said, Boss, chasing your sweetheart is not about saving face, and those aristocratic little boys can't do everything when they want to please their lover.
Should he memorize a line or two of poems, like those pompous noble children, expressing affectionately the love of "willing to die for it"
Said to have been in your grave, chaotic and intoxicated fire, tense and greedy in the chest? [1]
Cut open the chest and ribs, and turn the heart into a burning fruit, which you can drive the birds to peck at? [2]
Conquer the battlefield for you, and also write love letters for you, until you will never forget it in life and death.
Dalton heard the low drumbeat in his chest, and vaguely understood why so many poets like to compare love to war. This is indeed a war, and he throws away his helmet and armor on the battlefield, he is not even as good as a three-year-old child, and he can barely maintain that little pitiful face.
Those words are ready to come out behind the clenched teeth, as long as... as long as she nods her head—no, she doesn't even need to nod her head.
All she needs to do is smile.
There was no nod or smile, and no emotion could be seen on the queen's face.
The queen turned the golden rose over, seeming to have forgotten that there were still people waiting for her answer, and focused on the medal that returned to her after a short time. She was calm and indifferent, turning a deaf ear to all the complicated love hidden in her paper-thin voice.
The young black-haired officer stood silently, the line of his lips drawn straight.
He is tall and thin, and when he is not speaking, he has the unique temperament of a soldier, as if he is not here to meet someone he likes, but calmly waiting for the trial.
Dalton waited for a while, but got no answer.
He didn't ask any more questions, just saluted and turned to leave.
Turning his back, Dalton pursed his lips, and raised his hand expressionlessly to straighten his cuffs and collar, smoothing out the folds that didn't exist.
"Dalton," said the Queen at last, "please come here."
The fingers with calluses suddenly stopped, and then subconsciously flexed their fingers, the phalanges turned white due to excessive force. Dalton stood stiffly in place for a while, he could hardly tell what he was thinking and what mood he was in at that moment.
"You shouldn't tease a poor wretch like that," he asked lowly. "Does it please you to see him helpless, at your mercy?"
"What if you say 'yes'? Will the flying insect break free?"
Dalton turned around and looked at the queen for a while.
The flame of the candle flickered, and her eyes could not see clearly in the light.
For a moment, the image of the first meeting overlapped with this moment. On the night of the mutiny, they met for the first time. He walked through the blood and corpses and walked in the gloomy palace. Guess what kind of queen he would meet, timid, angry, or helpless
Pushing open the door, he saw the lonely queen.
She sits on the throne amidst betrayal and trickery, calmly and soberly alone.
"That's it."
Dalton suddenly became irritable, and his fingers on the neckline were too hard, and the neat collar became a little messy. He knelt on one knee on the cushions in front of the Queen's Chair.
"What now?"
Dalton suddenly understood why he was so hesitant about the little matter of the golden rose, why he had to catch up eagerly and put the golden rose back in her hands. He was actually telling her that what he said were all angry words, and that tearing off the golden rose was just a momentary impulse.
He will not turn his back on her.
But these words can't be said, everyone knows that he is an ambitious jackal, a vicious dog that may devour his master at any time. For someone like him to say loyalty and never betray, it sounds like a complete joke, and she doesn't necessarily need it.
He just felt a little sad.
What was the mood of the queen who sat in the palace that night, waiting for the arrival of the rebels? Even the teacher who had been with her for many years abandoned her, and she was suddenly left alone on a road.
"Now what are you going to do with that poor creature?"
Dalton asked resignedly, he couldn't express those delicate and complicated emotions, so he could only put the rose in her hand as a hidden oath.
It doesn't matter if she knows it or not.
"I don't have the habit of singing praises for the dead. I don't have an irreplaceable general here."
The queen's long and thick eyelashes drooped, and her voice and content were extremely ruthless. She pinned the golden rose on Dalton's shoulder again.
"Go and fight for me, be forgotten or triumph."
… … … … … … …
The Yage defenders far away on Senglei Island did not know that a golden rose fell on the shoulders of a military genius like the sun, igniting his unprecedented desire for victory.
At this moment, they are under the scorching sun, struggling to prepare for military fortifications.
"Hurry up! Hurry up! Hang up that lazy guy over there!"
Andrea, the commander of Sengle Island, stood on the city wall, directing the civilians of Sengle Island to remove the supplies on the transport ship and send them to the cold cellar in the castle for storage, while commanding the knights to The laborers in the area hurriedly built the flank forts, also known as the "Triangle Fort".
Large baskets of soil were hoisted up by pulleys, and the sound of picking picks hitting stones jingled non-stop.
"General."
A knight in steel armor led several soldiers back from outside the city. He climbed the city wall and found Andrea.
"The ropes of the wells in the countryside have been broken, and the springs near the coastline have been poisoned. A plea for help has also been sent... But do we really need to be so nervous?"
As the knight spoke, he looked at the construction site, which seemed particularly hurried under the supervision of Andréte himself.
"According to the secret agent's news, the main force attacking Senglai Island is not Root, but Roland." The knight said, "An army commanded by an overly young commoner boy, and even a fleet that can barely be assembled with pirate ships, We asked the king for aid before we started the war... I'm afraid he won't be happy?"
Hearing the knight's words, Andret's brows immediately frowned.
Andréte is tall and has deep wrinkles between his brows. Because he has been stationed on Senglai Island all year round and has been exposed to the scorching sun and sea wind, his face is rough and his hair is gray. But he has a great reputation on the island.
As soon as he frowned, the knight immediately shut up and dared not speak.
The appointment of Andréte as governor of Senglei Island is definitely the most brilliant and outstanding decision ever made by King John VI of Jager.
This experienced commander was about the same age as the Guardian Sword of the Roland Empire and Earl Boli of Rose Strait. He was engaged in pirate activities when he was young, and later joined the royal army, with a tough and even ruthless personality. Without the commander Andréte, it would be difficult for the Yager Kingdom to occupy Senglei Island for so long.
——especially when the Lute Empire is also eyeing the heart of this heavenly sea.
"It was the navy, not the army, that hurt Roland more than ten years ago," Andret said in a deep voice, "That old guy Boli is not dead yet, even if Roland is rotten to the bone, the Rose Strait fleet can still be preserved. I don't know who they will send to Roland, the two army commanders, but neither Heinrich nor Dalton are easy to deal with."
"Forget about Dalton, at least he still has some military achievements, but I haven't heard of Heinrich's military achievements."
"If you think that Heinrich is just a politician and the head of the poison family, you are very wrong." Andrett said coldly.
"But," the knight muttered in disbelief, "what do you mean by that sentence? 'If you offend a Heinrich, be prepared to be poisoned', but this is war, and his poison always Can't get over the siege and thrown into our cups, can it? A brat, a politician with poison, a woman from a pirate ship..."
The knight shrugged easily, with a little disdain.
"Roland can't even come up with a decent candidate, but you look like an enemy. Our soldiers tend to feel insulted."
"I hope these are really just insults." Andrete glanced over several knights, "Has all the spring water been poisoned? Make sure not a single leak has been leaked."
He became strict, and the knight didn't dare to complain any more, and restrained himself a little.
"It's all released."
"Call up all the militiamen on the island, and then open the armory and distribute the firearms. Tell them to fire at least three shots, and there will be a reward for killing the enemy."
Andre nodded, and then walked down the wall with a few knights.
Returning to the conference room, on the way, I passed a group of slaves being led towards the fortress.
Andrete paused to examine their clothes thoughtfully for a moment.
For a moment, he whispered some instructions to the knights.
The most important castle on Senglai Island is located on the west coast of the island. From the map, it looks like the skeleton left by some kind of magical creature after death. A small spine-shaped peninsula extends out, and the two sides are opposite rib-like bays. Fort Saint-Cil was built on the most prominent sharp corner of the bay, guarding the entrance of the bay.
On the right side of Fort Saint-Cil, on the protruding rib promontory across the narrow bay, there are two new fortresses built in the distance.
Andrei mobilized adult men from all over the island to join in the construction of the fort.
The composition of the residents on Senglei Island is very complex. This island located in the center of the Sea of Heaven is a melting pot of many nationalities and beliefs, among which there are many believers of the New God Sect and some Rolands.
bang-bang-bang-
A group of slaves were neatly stacking sheepskin bags filled with earth to form a parapet, and several of them were coughing from the dust they raised.
Just as they were covering their mouths and noses and continuing to work, a group of soldiers came over.
The soldiers dragged away the slaves from the Roland Empire and the New Gods on the wall and locked them in the dungeons inside the castle.
The other slaves and civilians who were working numbly took a look, lowered their heads and continued to move the soil.
The urgent battle preparation work has not been fully completed, and the flames on the beacon tower will rise up. Immediately afterwards, the cannons of the fortress issued three deafening warnings in succession. The supervising soldiers found that their whips suddenly became ineffective, and the slaves left their work and flocked into the city.
A forest-like fleet appeared on the vast sea.
The Rolands are here.
The author has something to say: [1][2] Adapted from Pablo Neruda's "Song of Despair"