On the warm water surface, thick water vapor floats, rises slowly, dances on the dome decorated with porcelain mosaics, condenses into water droplets, and finally falls into the pool.
Tick tock.
The voice is soft.
Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes and raised his hands to rub his face.
In the warm bath, the stiff body was warmed by the sea breeze, and drowsiness emerged, with a strong sense of sleepiness emerging.
He pushed himself up, stepped out of the bath, took off the towel and dried himself.
Outside the door, the servant's voice sounded.
"Master, dinner is ready."
"I see."
Ye Qingxuan changed his clothes and pushed out the door.
The servant at the door lowered his head respectfully: "The master is waiting for you in the restaurant."
"kindness."
Ye Qingxuan smelled the incense lingering in the air and felt his nose was a little itchy.
As the founding fathers of the country, the Lancelot family has many properties in Avalon. Even in the once most prosperous Midtown area, there is a large house in a prime location, as well as a wide courtyard and garden, which isolates the noise and bustle. Get stillness. Better than Laura's remote haunted house.
In the past, when the previous head of the family, Ye Qingxuan's grandfather, was still alive, Ye Qingxuan often came here and still remembered many of the decorations and furnishings here. My grandfather was planning to transfer this place into his name on his birthday, but unfortunately, what happened next always caught people off guard...
It’s been more than ten years since I came back here again.
Everything has changed.
While things were different and people were different, he still couldn't help but feel the rejection in his heart.
Without letting the servant lead him, he walked through the corridor and stairs and walked to the dining room.
Due to the convenient transportation, Banquets of the Lancelot family are often held here. During hundreds of years of repairs and continuous additions, every corner of the place has been made perfect with great effort.
There are many precious collections, and even a seemingly inconspicuous tapestry on the wall was a gift from a certain Duke, or a rarity that once sold for a sky-high price at auction.
"Sure enough, the family is big and the business is big."
He glanced at the huge oil painting hanging on the wall of the restaurant and couldn't help but sigh softly.
To his surprise, Lancelot was the only one in the restaurant, and his daughter Christine did not come back.
Compared with other nobles who often have dozens of biological sons and daughters, and countless illegitimate children, the lineage of the Lancelot family, which inherits two round table armors at the same time, is very thin.
It can be said that there have been single transmissions in the past dynasties, and on several occasions they were even almost extinct.
Because of this, he values his bloodline so much that even if he is an illegitimate child, he will never leave it alone.
The wife of the family head of the previous generation actually gave birth to a son and a daughter, which was already an unexpected surprise. In this generation, Lancelot only had one daughter, and his wife died young and suffered from old illnesses.
If Ye Qingxuan is not counted, the Lancelot family probably only has two people, father and daughter.
Purely in terms of inheritance, it has reached the most dangerous edge.
After Ye Qingxuan took his seat, the servant served dinner. It was simple in style and not large in quantity, but delicate enough to satisfy the appetite.
Lancelot didn't speak, and Ye Qingxuan didn't take the initiative to speak either.
The silent dinner was soon over.
The servant removed the dinner plate and served black tea.
In the slightly dim soft light, Lancelot drank another cup of hot water and took a few pills, and his face looked much better.
Through the steam rising from the tea cup, Lancelot pondered for a moment and made a sound.
"I know you are wondering what has happened these days, and why Avalon, which has been preparing for this war for hundreds of years, has fallen to this point... I have no intention of hiding this from you. After all, you are trying to save this country. Now that I’m back here, I should know all this.”
He stared at Ye Qingxuan, looking at his eyes, his expression became bitter and complicated: "The time starts from half a month ago, from the night when Leviathan was about to enter the recovery stage..."
…
…
Half a month ago.
On the dark sky, heavy rain poured down.
The cold rain fell endlessly from the sky, covering the lonely city on the sea, weighing down the weak lights in the city.
On the top floor of Avalon, the palace faced the lifeless ocean in the distance.
At the highest point of the throne room, on the heavy throne, through the open door and the heavy rain, the sight can pass across the wide square and the long distance, and fall straight on the sea.
"It's raining."
The sleepy emperor on the throne woke up from his long sleep. He raised his eyes and saw the black clouds and thunder and lightning on the sea. Then, a trace of relief appeared in his green eyes.
"Finally, is it here?"
"Exactly."
Under the throne, Lancelot nodded, holding on to his crutch with an expressionless face. Amidst the heavy sound of rain outside the door, I just stared at the round platform placed in the center of the hall.
On top of the round platform is a square prism, like a work of art created by the best glass craftsmen. The core, which is comparable to steel, looks clear and transparent. Through it, you can see the raindrops shattering on the square.
But just above the transparent prism, it is now covered with strands of blood vessels.
It was as if it came alive, the blood vessels were pulsating, like a living creature breathing.
The slender blood vessels branching off from several main branches are waving in the air, like the roots of trees, waving in the light singing.
"The king and his accomplices kidnapped the queen and imprisoned her in a dream... Now that we have power, where should we wander? Hoo, thousands of hands, hoist the sail high! Pull, thieves and beggars, we will gain eternal life …”
Singing came from within the prism.
It was broken flesh.
When the piece of broken flesh and blood was sealed, it was only as small as a little finger, but now, it has corroded the steel, grown and strengthened in the seal, and turned into a blurry face.
A few months ago, that face was just a blur of flesh and blood, vaguely resembling a woman.
But now, that face has grown up, with full features, eyes slightly closed, and the corners of the mouth raised, as if sleeping in a sweet dream.
When his lips opened and closed slightly, he sang a hallucinatory song.
The song is alive, like a soul, penetrating through the layers of walls and heavy rain, echoing between the sea and the sky, calling for the arrival of monsters from afar.
That face was so delicate, with a kind of neutral beauty between men and women, it seemed soft, it seemed strong, it seemed angry, it seemed it smiled.
Observed from every other angle, the results obtained are completely different.
The only thing that is the same is that it is full of inhuman demonic nature.
In the soft chanting, the Queen stood up from the throne, walked in, stared at the face in the crystal, and murmured softly for a long time: "You must be lonely after so many years, right? Prince Thames."
No one responded.
So, Elizabeth reached out and wanted to pick up the crystal prism.
"Your Majesty." Lancelot took a step forward, looked at her, and shook his head: "No."
Elizabeth smiled, and touched the prism with her palm, so gently, as if to caress the face.
Countless fluffy veins stretched out in an instant, like greedy tree roots, entangled in her hands, trying to take root and sprout. But the crimson dragon's power spurted out from the slender body. It was obviously the same power, but it was so violent that it seemed to destroy everything in the world.
Just staring at it makes me feel stinging.
Just touch and you will be destroyed.
The blood vessels evaporated, severed, and shrank back into the crystal in an instant. The face twitched and the eyelids trembled, as if he was about to wake up from a nightmare.
"I really envy you. After so many years, you haven't aged at all. You are as beautiful as ever."
Elizabeth held up the prism and looked at the face, her eyes becoming complicated and sad: "It must be very painful, right? You have suffered on our behalf. For so many years, you have been attached to the world, but you can't wish to die..."
Still no one responded.
Lancelot knelt down on one knee and begged again: "Your Majesty, Leviathan will awaken, and we don't have much time."
"Let me see him again."
Elizabeth held the prism in her arms and looked at the sleeping face: "This is my uncle, Lancelot.
This is the sacrifice made by the previous emperor, the sixteenth person sacrificed for this sinful blood... the unique Prince of Thames.
do you know? He is my father's youngest brother. When I was born, he was only three years older than me. He died when he was thirteen, but he spent the seven years before that with me.
I even remember the tone of his voice when he was alive, soft and soft, like a girl... He once hugged me and took care of me, like my brother.
His dragon blood was far superior to that of any other clan member, so he became a sacrifice and died in the hands of my father.
-Now that I am the emperor, it is my turn to be the one responsible for killing him. "
Lancelot was silent.
This is a royal shame and a secret that Angelou cannot allow others to know.
As early as decades ago, Leviathan should have awakened for the sixth time. It was the sacrifice of Prince Thames that postponed this day to today. The descendants of dragon blood were made into sacrifices and then cruelly burned into ashes...
Seal the remains that cannot be burned by the fire in iron, scatter the ashes into the flowing turbid water, and return them to the sea.
This is the only way to save this country, and it must be this way.
For a long time, Elizabeth closed her eyes.
In the silence, the Queen, who had been suffering from the curse for many years, seemed to suddenly regain her composure, which was the will forged by enduring the pain.
"Sometimes, I'm grateful for the monster's blood."
Elizabeth raised her eyes and stared at the heavy rain outside the throne room and the dark ocean: "After all, many people have died, but I am still alive, right?"
Lancelot was speechless.
"Don't worry, Lancelot, I'm not that fragile yet. At least, I am the emperor of this country. There have been too many sacrifices in this war that should not have started, and I will not tolerate me anymore." of people continue to die."
Elizabeth's eyes were lowered, no longer weak or emotional, as if they had turned into steel: "Now, how bad are things?"
"Everything is as expected, and the losses are within the acceptable range."
Lancelot reported back: "We have made contact with the provinces in the fog again. Most of the citizens have begun to take refuge immediately. Except for a few shelters that have been breached, the rest can continue to hold on. According to the plan, the Second Royal Fleet has set off. , go to various places for support. The Third Royal Fleet is guarding the inland sea and is ready at any time. The First Royal Fleet has been unsealed by Stein Zero Chamber and can be awakened at any time as long as you order it. It’s just that this time, Heihe is more dangerous than in previous years. Trouble, the total number currently brewing is about thirty, and reports from observers say that it is still increasing. The big demons living in various sea areas have also been awakened, and the evil children in the sea have begun to multiply again. According to the remains of His Excellency the Prince Growth rate, we speculate that probably tonight, the first seal will be torn apart, and Leviathan will use this as its core to enter the real recovery stage... "