"ah? "
Luo Ling was slightly stunned.
"But... I don't want to be completely disappointed." Lina suddenly smiled, with a hint of relief and tact in her smile, "So... at least I hope that I can be your knight.
"And you are the princess whom I have spent my whole life protecting."
She held Luo Ling's little hand, held the ritual dagger tightly, and said seriously,
"I, Lina Fiona Carteris, swear hereby that Miss Luo Ling will be someone I respect for the rest of my life. I will abide by this in my heart and never regret it."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Luo Ling with an expectant and cautious gaze and said,
"Are you willing to grant me such a status, Princess?"
In fact, this behavior was somewhat like forcing the emperor to abdicate, but Lina's sense of crisis told her that if she didn't take action or step back, she would really have no chance at all.
But Lina had no idea how Luo Ling would respond.
Luo Ling held the short sword, sighed softly, and said quietly,
"So you always have wild thoughts about Her Royal Highness the Princess from time to time?"
Luo Ling's answer was completely beyond Lina's expectations. Her expression was frozen at that moment. After a moment, she said in a guilty tone,
“Not always…”
"I'm not completely insensitive." Luo Ling said softly, "In fact, I can feel it more or less, but I always feel that there is still a long time in the future, and there are still many things to do right now. It seems that it is not the time to make a decision yet." She solemnly took the ceremonial dagger, patted Lina's shoulder three times, and looked directly into Lina's surprised eyes and said,
"But I have no objection to this, Lina, for you."
After finishing speaking, Luo Ling put away the ceremonial dagger. It was not because she missed the dagger at all, but because it was Lina's token. Holding the dagger meant that she accepted Lina's oath.
Then, before Lina could react, Luo Ling's figure instantly disappeared.
“No resistance…”
Lina stood up, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Is it that you don't resist becoming my princess, or that you don't resist the previous..."
When she thought of this, Lina's expression changed slightly and looked a little strange.
But in the end, she still let out a sigh of relief, looking much more relaxed.
"That's a good answer anyway."
Luo Ling pushed open the door of an old apartment, and the first thing that came into view was a clean and tidy living room. Some shadows of the past flashed in her eyes, and what remained in reality was only the empty house.
Compared to the old and dilapidated apartment in the urban-rural fringe where she grew up, Luo Ling did not live in this apartment for a long time, but it can be said to be an unforgettable time.
At the same time, it was also the longest period of time she spent with Elsa.
Luo Ling walked into the apartment and went to the kitchen with ease, where she saw a petite figure busying herself in front of the stove.
She dragged out a chair and sat next to the dining table. Soon, Elsa came over with a glass of milk and a plate of fried eggs and placed them in front of Luo Ling.
"Try it. I haven't cooked it in a while, so it's a little burnt." Elsa said as she sat opposite Luo Ling.
This was the exact same scene as in Luo Ling's memory. Even Elsa had transformed into the appearance of a young girl, though her eyes could no longer conceal the vicissitudes of life she had experienced.
Before, during the Victorian era, Elsa would make breakfast for the Twin Ponytails team. Even when Luo Ling was unable to go on missions with the team due to some reasons, Elsa would leave a portion for Luo Ling.
Luo Ling did not speak immediately. After she finished eating carefully, she said to Elsa seriously,
“It’s still as delicious as before.”
In response to Luo Ling's evaluation, Elsa just held her chin and looked at her straight.
After a long while, Elsa spoke softly, but it seemed like she was mumbling to herself,
"Ms. Luo Ling, when did I fall in love with you
"Whether it was when you rescued me from the scientists in Baiyan Village, or when we spent every day together in Victoria, or whether it was the only concern you had for me in the long years that followed...
"I think I can't remember clearly."
Elsa's expression was solemn and serious as she continued to speak word by word.
"But I can be sure that you are the most important person in my life, no doubt about it, Miss Luo Ling.
"What about you? Do you just treat me as a sister, a good friend, or... a follower who just follows you around?"
All of Elsa's anxieties and speculations have always come from this.
She knew that Luo Ling was very good to her and must have poured some affection into her, and Elsa had never doubted this.
However, Elsa is not sure whether these emotions are friendship, family love, or what she most hopes for...
The slow-witted Miss Luo Ling always had a lot of things to do and was always busy, so Elsa could never find a chance to confess her feelings to her completely.
She waited and waited, until she parted with Luo Ling, and then waited until she reunited with Luo Ling, but she still couldn't say it.
Until this moment, with the appearance of Akane, Elsa could already feel a very strong sense of crisis, so she finally took this step.
She had already determined her own feelings, and she also wanted to determine what her dearest Miss Luo Ling was thinking...
Even if she can only get a cruel answer in the end, she is willing to face it.
Being stared at by Elsa's sincere and passionate eyes, Luo Ling fell into deep thought for a moment, then said,
"My feelings towards you are not just that of a sister or a good friend, and it is definitely not possible that I am just a follower."
Luo Ling paused, picked up the hot milk at hand, and continued,
"Just like you would heat up milk and fry eggs every morning in the past, I was also used to touching the quilt next to me after getting up, wondering if there was a soft, small girl next to me.
"Yes, that's right. It's a habit. I'm used to your existence, used to you being by my side, and I have no intention of changing this habit."
"The milk tastes good, and you are cute, little Elsa."
Luo Ling chuckled and reached out to pinch Elsa's soft cheek. Even though the years had passed and countless of her time had been wasted in the Nibelungen disaster, no matter how she looked, even though she had grown up.
In Luo Ling's eyes, Elsa will always be the little cutie who inexplicably grew up in her bed.
"So... please guide me for the rest of my life."
After Luo Ling finished speaking, Elsa's expression relaxed from the long delay, and she smiled like a flower, but with some hot tears in her eyes.
"I didn't expect Miss Luo Ling to be able to say such a thing.
Luo Ling just stood there with her chin propped up, smiling sweetly.
After a moment, Elsa calmed down.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he crossed his arms, turned his face slightly away, and said,
"Go quickly, Akane is still waiting for you."
"It seems that you have indeed discussed it all." Luo Ling said.
"Who makes someone always so slow?"
Although she said this, Elsa, whose mind was already made up, no longer looked as conflicted as before.
Luo Ling shook his head, but in the next moment, the surrounding scenery was distorted in an instant.
The view of the apartment disappeared in an instant, just a blink of an eye, and the gurgling water came to my ears. Looking up, I saw green tiles and stone walls.
Chi Nu impatiently brought Luo Ling to the boundary that belonged to her. This was the Chaoge Dead City that Chi Nu remembered most vividly - except that there was no horror of corpses everywhere in the past, only a small town as gentle as the south of the Yangtze River.
Even the stream outside the city wall, which should have been almost dried up, had clear springs flowing in it, and several beautiful goldfish were playing in the water.
Luo Ling stood up and heard a faintly excited and slightly uneasy voice calling from behind.
"Luo Ling..."
Luo Ling turned around and looked. Even now, when she saw the naked girl at this moment, she could not hide the pounding in her heart.
She was standing at the end of the bluestone path in a bright red phoenix coronet and bridal robe. Her face, which was already extremely beautiful without any makeup, had a slightly uneasy look on it, which made her look even more delicate and charming. When she looked at Luo Ling, there was an even more alluring look in her eyes.
"I... have been waiting for you, even in my dreams." Chi Nu looked at Luo Ling with burning yet sad eyes, and she said softly, "I have longed for such a scene countless times in my dreams... but none of them has ever come true.
"Luo Ling, can you please promise me once, even if it's just for a brief moment, even if it's just a false lie."
Luo Ling stood there, listened attentively, and then walked forward.
The further she took, the more uneasy Chi Nu felt.
Until Luo Ling stood in front of her, Chi Nu's delicate body was trembling slightly.
It was only after she had waited for countless years that she learned about the existence of Lina, Elsa and others.
Chi Nu wasn't sure whether her brief time together could be compared to the life and death they had shared before, and she was even less sure how much of what Luo Ling had said before was true.
But she still longed for this moment to come, which was the reality she had never gotten even when she dreamed of it.
Just when Chi Nu was still feeling uneasy, Luo Ling took her hand and ran out of the city.
Although Chi Nu was stunned, she felt a little sweet in her heart, especially when she looked at Luo Ling's back.
They went outside the city together and climbed up to the observation tower at the top of the city wall.
This is the highest place in the entire Chaoge City. Looking back, you can overlook this remote and lonely little city, and looking forward, you can see the scenery at the edge of the skyline.
"Chi Nu, I once said," Luo Ling looked into the distance and said, "I will watch the sunrise with you for the rest of my life."
She turned her head and looked at Akane with a serious expression, "But what's more important than seeing the scenery is the people who see it with you.
"I will not let you down, nor do I want to let you down. And... it's not just because of your waiting, this is the longest companionship between us."
On the skyline, a new sun rises slowly, and the sunlight shines through the mist onto the observation deck, also freezing the beautiful picture at this moment.
Chi Nu slowly lowered her eyes, as if she was sobbing, but the next moment she threw herself directly towards Luo Ling and snuggled in his arms, just like their past.
When the sun rose completely, the surrounding scenery was also slowly fading away. It was Chi Nu who took the initiative to see Luo Ling off. She also made an agreement with others.
Luo Ling was still sitting on the ground, but there was a figure that she was most familiar with next to her.
Su Wan, her sister, appears in disguise.
The sun was setting slowly on the distant skyline.
Su Wan sat next to Luo Ling, holding her hand, almost exactly the same as that evening.
That was the moment when Su Wan's dream was shattered, and she realized for the first time in a long time the sad fact that she was a puppet.
"Xiao Ling." Su Wan turned her head to look at Luo Ling, but her fingertips were pressed against her lips, and she said softly, "Shh, don't say anything, just listen to your sister."
Luo Ling nodded in understanding, and Su Wan raised the corners of her mouth again. The doting look in her eyes was exactly the same as before, but now Luo Ling could see something different in it.
Some emotions that were beyond her past understanding, but can now be realized by her.
"It seems that from the very beginning, our 'family love' was not very pure." Su Wan hugged her knees, but her eyes became vague, always looking at the setting sun in the distance, "Ah, as a sister, this situation really shouldn't happen, but I still... can't help it.
"I'm not sure if Xiao Ling will find such a sister strange, so I've been hesitant. I'm always worried that if I say it directly, our relationship... may change. I can't bear to break up the sisterhood we've maintained for so long, and I can't help but worry about what the consequences will be if I take a step forward. It would be too sad if I accidentally get disappointed.
"But now that Xiao Ling has grown up and can figure it all out, I've finally taken this step."
Su Wan leaned her head on her knees, looked at Luo Ling from the side, and continued, "As for this step of yours, Xiao Ling, no matter when, even if you can never take it...it doesn't matter.
"As long as you want, I will always be your sister - or more than just a sister."
Luo Ling opened her mouth slightly and was about to answer something, but Su Wan raised her hand and gently touched Luo Ling's lips, saying angrily,
"I told you not to talk, Xiao Ling."
She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "The answer I want is for my sister to tell me through her actions after the dust settles.
"You have to leave a regret in your heart, otherwise, you won't be able to get over it easily. It's easy for you, but let me...what should we do?"
Luo Ling looked at her sister, but in the end she didn't answer. She could only turn away and said in a muffled voice,
"Sister is so mean."
Only when facing her sister Su Wan, Luo Ling is always the one being controlled.
Su Wan didn't say anything, but her smile deepened.
The sisters snuggled up to each other until the setting sun on the horizon completely set, until the starry night fell, and until the dawn began.
Su Wan slowly opened her eyes, dew dripping from the ends of her hair.
She turned her head and looked beside her, but her sister was no longer there.
Su Wan knew that Xiao Ling’s final journey had already begun.
And this time, there will be no chance to look back.