south of the empire
Although the coalition forces to suppress the rebellion have been launched, after defeating Bazel who led the 'Golden Mane Bear', the 'Fairy Wood' soldiers were obviously much more confident and no longer as fearful as they used to be.
They began to recruit more soldiers, and at the same time, the rear was inspired by the victory, saw hope, and worked overtime to build weapons, armor, materials, and everything for war.
In this gap of preparations, Roland Hill also got a rare moment of rest.
On this day, it was raining heavily, and it was very dark outside the window.
dong dong dong —
There was a slight but regular knock on the door.
"Please come in."
The wounded Xialan Luote sat on the bedside, wondering who came to visit him, but when he saw the figure coming in, he couldn't help but grow his mouth in surprise.
"Jia... Sister Messia."
The person who came was Roland Hill. She took the boiled medicinal soup, put it on the table, and sat beside Xia Lanluot's bed to check on her.
Putting down his arms, Roland Hill said, "It's almost ready, I can get out of bed in a few days."
"Well... Thank you Sister Messia for taking care of me." Charan Lotte lowered her head, feeling that she had caused a lot of trouble.
"Lottie has grown up very fast, and now she can lead the army by herself."
What Loren Hill was talking about was that some time ago, Charanlot led a unit to defend against the enemy's attack from the side and rear. Although Charanrot himself was injured in this battle, he also reduced his own casualties and finally won.
"I still feel that I am not calm enough." Charan Lotte shook her head gently, it seemed that she was still a little unconfident.
"It doesn't matter, I can grow up slowly in the end." In fact, compared to her peers, Xialan Lotte is already sitting very well, but she has a high starting point and sets herself a very high standard.
"At your age, I think about it, Jerain and Elon are still in school at Emenas, and they haven't made any achievements." Roland Hill remembered the other members of the Four Dukes' family. successor.
Although Charanlot didn't answer at this time, the anxiety in her heart really dissipated a little, and she raised her head with a reassuring smile.
"Sister Messia brought medicine for me to drink, please."
"It's alright, but this time you have to finish drinking it, don't spit it out secretly." Roland Hill blinked, she recently heard from Fenice that this Red Dragon Princess is very afraid of hardship, and is always inactive when drinking medicine.
"Ugh..." Knowing that she couldn't escape, Xia Lanrot had no choice but to nod, then pinched her nose and drank the medicinal soup in one gulp.
"Bitter o(╥﹏╥)o..." After putting down the bowl, the girl lay on the bedside and didn't want to speak.
Looking at her appearance, Roland Hill couldn't help but smile, and then touched her hair and back to comfort her a little.
After a while, Charanlot sat up a little, and then curiously asked Roland Hill all kinds of questions.
"Did Sister Messia go to school in Emenas, can you tell me what it's like there?"
Originally she was going there too, but unfortunately the fall of the Baska family made the Red Dragon Princess lose this opportunity.
"Emenas..." The girl touched her chin with her fingers and began to recall the distant faces.
…
…
Time passed slowly, the raindrops beat on the glass windows, the lampstand in the room exuded a hazy halo, Charan Lotte propped her head up, quietly listening to Lorraine Hill talking about those campus past events, her eyes filled with envy look.
"Is the Winter Festival Gala the biggest celebration of the year?" Charan Lotte asked curiously when she heard the girl talk about the year-end competition for the only crown.
"Yes, the champion of the Winter Festival Gala is generally regarded as the strongest this year in the academy." Roland Hill explained softly.
"Then Messiah, uh, did Sister Jialan get it? Sister Jialan is so powerful."
"I won one of the championships, and that was the year I graduated." Thinking back to the competition with Bumantha, Loren Hill stroked the hair on the side of his ear.
"It's amazing~" Charan Lotte gave a small applause, winning the championship in Emenas, where countless talents gathered, the strength she needed was simply beyond her imagination.
"Actually, it's just average. There are also powerful people who have won the championship for several consecutive years, and even defeated a group of seniors in the lower grades." The girl said modestly.
Aroused curiosity, Xialan Luote couldn't help but continue to ask: "How many did Sister Jialan meet when she was at school?"
"Many, some of which I have only heard of names, such as Elon Trey, who graduated not long before I entered school. He won two consecutive championships, and Weilin was only runner-up for two consecutive years."
"Then there is a famous figure in the empire, Darcy, he is a few years older than me, and then it should be Bumantha."
"Who is Bumantha, I don't seem to have heard of it."
"She is a very gentle eldest sister next door. The bread and snacks she makes are delicious. I will take you to visit when I have a chance in the future."
"Fairy Wood"
"Okay... Then what else is going on at the Winter Festival?"
"There are also various performances, which are often prepared by the 'Crown of Melody' among the ten crowns. At that time, the academy would hang ornaments woven with frozen blue, which were very beautiful."
"Is it a frozen blue wreath? We will also dress it up this winter, but it is said to be a custom passed down from the East." Charan Lotte recalled the scene when Sister Yvetina told her stories on winter nights when she was a child.
At that time, it was also sitting by the warm fireplace, and the graceful and noble sister told her the legends of the past.
On the night of snow and fog, wearing a frozen blue wreath on her head, the legend of an immortal girl.
The story has to be told from a long, long time ago, at the beginning of the third era. After the chaotic disaster, many small countries were established on the earth, and such a thing happened in a certain small country.
Because of the rebellion in the country, the queen fled the capital with her children, but on that cold winter night, the carriage overturned in the pile of snow, and they had to get out of the car and walk.
The goose feather-like snow constantly flew across the gloomy sky, and the cold wind from the side of the ear cut through the cheek like a knife, making people feel pain.
The snow under his feet made a creaking sound after stepping in, and then solidified, and there was no other sound except the whistling of the wind and snow.
The team walked hard in the snow, advancing little by little, and the wind and snow slowly and mercilessly deprived them of their warmth.
Gradually
Some people start to fall behind, fall into the snow and never wake up again.
The helpless crowd can only move on.
Holding the still-grown child in her arms, the mother prayed silently, hoping to get through this disaster safely.
Must live, my child.
She is so silent
again and again
In this way, I don't know how long she has traveled, until she stepped on the air and fell into the snow.
At this time, the mother had no entourage by her side, and the wind and snow around her covered everything, and she could not see the way forward or coming.
everything becomes cold and silent
In her rigid thoughts, she barely opened her eyes and tried to stand up again, but her feet had long since lost consciousness.
Tears shed from mother who knew she couldn't get her baby out of the snow
Then he silently hugged the child in his arms.
pray over and over
Pray that this child will survive.
In the last trance, the mother seemed to hear something and raised her head slowly.
A girl in a white dress stood barefoot in the snow, wearing a garland of frozen blue on her head, looking at the mother who had reached the end of her life.
Please let this child live.
Exhausting the rest of her life, the mother's humble request, even if she exchanged her own life for it, please let this child live.
The girl looked at her and nodded silently, and then the mother showed a reassuring smile, and gradually closed her eyes, turning into an endless snowstorm in the mountains.
Even in the coldest winter with wind and snow, the frozen green branches and leaves are still as deep as ever, showing a tenacious life force, which makes the local people think.
In order to pray that their children can survive the difficult winter, they will also break off the frozen green branches and leaves, weave them into garlands, and hang them in front of the door to pray.
Although the story of the girl who answered her prayers in the snow has gradually become a distant and forgotten legend, the tradition of hanging frozen green branches and leaves in winter has always been handed down, and finally this has gradually become a famous custom on the mainland.
People will organize festivals in winter when everything withers and cannot go out to work, summarize this year and pray for the new year, and hanging frozen green branches and leaves has gradually become a necessary part of the festival.
Sitting beside the candle-lit bed, Loren Hill quietly listened to Charan Lotte telling the story she heard when she was a child.
"Then, are there any legends about that girl?"
"Later, there seemed to be very few. However, some people said that the girl with the frozen blue garland was actually the child in the arms of the mother in the story, and this was her own memory."
"However, some people refuted that in such a cold wind and snow, how could the child survive without encountering outsiders. So the mother did see a witch standing in the snow, under the guidance of the witch Now, the mother's prayers turned into special protection, so that the child would not be harmed by the harsh winter."
"This longing will turn into a curse of love and will always surround the child's side."
"It's a poignant and touching story."
The raindrops outside the window were still there, and the two people in the room whispered their admiration for the characters in the story under the orange candlelight.
———
On the other side, the imperial capital Titania.
In the wind and rain, the fast-running legionnaires broke through the obstacles in the road and approached the palace regardless of casualties. The sound of fierce battles was everywhere, and the shouts of shooting and fighting made the city under the rainstorm noisy and chaotic.
"Rush over and kill these traitors!"
The officers who led the team stepped on the wooden box, pierced the crossbowmen and wizards sniping on the roof, chopped them down, and then shouted to the soldiers behind them, crossed the road checkpoints full of corpses and wrecks, and moved forward.
It is only a few hundred meters away from the gate of the palace.
Although the equipment and individual strength of the private army in the city are slightly better, these legionnaires who rushed into the city obviously know better tactical cooperation, and their discipline and will are better than those of the noble private soldiers and rebels. Under the onslaught, the defensive fronts were broken open one by one, and the destination was in sight.
Rows of soldiers in black robes were already standing in front of the palace. They held shields and formed a solid wall. Black spears and fire guns were aimed at the periphery, densely packed, like hedgehogs.
Looking at the coat of arms of these soldiers, the leading officer immediately recognized their origin.
"The 'Silent Guard' of the Kawaia family."
The Kahuaia family is a famous royalist in the upper echelons of the empire. It has been trusted by the royal family for generations. The motto of its family is 'silence to live'.
"Fire!"
At this time, the officers ordered to fire, and in the rain, short muskets began to fire.
In the rain curtain, the erected shield was splashed with splashes of water, but it was still not broken, and then the gunshots of the counterattack sounded.
Flashes of fire flickered from the dark muzzles, before knocking the pounding Legionnaires into the rain.
In the face of these 'Sound Guards' who had prepared fortified shields and fortifications, the Dongying Corps who broke through into the city obviously lacked firepower.
After the blow, the team's momentum was instantly suppressed, and they had to shrink behind the building side of the intersection to avoid the constant shooting on the opposite side.
"Damn." His eyes swept around, and the officers who entered the city quickly discovered the disadvantage of this position.
In front of the palace was an empty square. If they rushed forward, they would have to withstand the fierce and intersecting firepower of the other party. If they hid here and counterattacked, they would not be able to delay the time. Moreover, because of the narrow intersection, they were completely unable to expand the team, so they couldn't. Take advantage of numbers.
When the officers on the front line were caught in a dilemma, there was a rush of hooves from the street behind them.
A soldier in the middle of the road urgently gave way to the middle road to let the cavalry that arrived.
"Lord Severy is here!" An ecstatic voice resounded among the soldiers, making the commander feel relieved for the time being.
"Charge with me."
His eyes swept across, and after a quick observation of the situation, Severy did not stop, and directly led people forward.
Horses' hooves stepped down heavily in the rain, splashing a large amount of water, and the cavalry team lined up with triangular arrows rushed out of the intersection at a shocking speed and moved forward at high speed in the rain.
Continuous gunshots sounded in the square, and then an elite cavalryman was knocked down from the horse, and the warhorse slid on the rainy ground, rushing to the array of densely packed spear points.
"Come on!"
With the heroic cover of the cavalry, the soldiers at the intersection also rushed out and began to shoot and approach continuously. Countless water splashes and blood instantly splashed on the square, and the battle entered the most anxious state at the beginning.
After sacrificing dozens of cavalry, the charging team finally approached the densely arranged black array.
Severy took the lead, smashing through the thick formation like a cannonball, and under the sweeping spears, the soldiers were lifted into the air, and then fell to the ground, roaring with shattered bones and screams of pain.
The general in anger, disregarding his usual wisdom and elegance, like a god of death, he rampaged through the array, disrupting the musketeers one by one.
After breaking the array, the cavalry that followed swung their sabres in the torrential rain, killing the soldiers in black uniforms at high speed, opening up a road full of blood and corpses.
"Enter the palace!"
With a loud bang, the closed palace gate was pierced by a fiery and bright red spear tip, and then the ferocious gap was torn open, and then soldiers filed in to fight with the private soldiers of the nobles who stayed behind.
In the torrential rain, thick smoke and firelight floated in the imperial capital, and the entire city began to fall into chaos and disorder.
Chapter 220 Eternal Frozen Green in the Snow and Mist