Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1134 Can it last forever?

Tonight's dinner table is... not very lively.

Dinner was as sumptuous as always: roast suckling pig, salted trout, smoked venison, Methosh-style lamb rolls and vegetable soup. Desserts included hazelnut cake and pine cone tart. If you don't like greasy food, the hostess also prepared toast and jam for you. In addition, there was juice squeezed from fresh raspberries picked in the morning. With the hard work of the hotel chef and a group of Mr. Rabbits, the table was filled to the brim. Even the dinner of the kingdom's nobles could not be more sumptuous.

However, the twelve chairs neatly arranged around the long table were deserted. Only a few people sat down, while the other chairs were still standing alone, as if they had not changed their positions for a long time. Linger took Gloria into the hotel and saw Countess Nevill at a glance. She was leaning back in a chair in a casual manner, with her hands clasped in front of her chest and her eyes closed. In front of her was a large plate of smoked venison. The golden fat was like honey, slowly sliding down from the crispy cut surface. When it came into contact with the silver plate below, it immediately made a sizzling sound like hot water falling on the snow.

Opposite the Countess was Rorona. Compared to her condition half a month ago, Princess Haixi's complexion had improved a lot. Her oval-like smooth face revealed a healthy ruddy color. It was probably because the disease that had been bothering her since she was a child had not recurred recently. She was originally staring at the plate in front of her boredly, tapping the edge with a silver spoon from time to time, making a crisp sound of tinkling. Because the proprietress was still busy in the kitchen, and Saint Xia Liya was nowhere to be seen, no one came to correct her table manners. After hearing the footsteps, she stopped what she was doing, then raised her head and showed a bright smile to Ling Ge and Gloria.

"Finally you're here." She waved and said hello: "If you hadn't come earlier, I would have thought you had all been eaten."

She paused for a moment, then smiled maliciously: "It was eaten by Bai Ye."

Then Gloria heard a disdainful snort in her mind.

Next to Rolena was Sister Livia, who looked calm. She sat in an elegant posture with her back straight. Even though she was no longer a saint of the True Spirit Sect, she still remembered the etiquette and manners that a devout believer should have, which formed a sharp contrast with the increasingly unbridled Princess Haiqi after leaving the royal court. She always ate alone in the Tianxin Church because she claimed that she would pray to the goddess for half an hour before eating every day, fearing that she would waste everyone's time and feel ashamed.

However, in the past half month, under Metien's repeated insistence, she gave up this habit. No one knew how the pink-haired girl convinced this devout nun, but it was probably related to her identity as a holy spirit.

Speaking of Metien——

Linger looked around the dining table. There were only these three people. As for the others, such as Metien or Saint Xia Liya, they were nowhere to be seen.

As if she had seen through the young man's thoughts, Sister Livia spoke in time and explained softly, "Metien, Leticia, and Shemi are still treating the wounded of the Ash Guerrillas. It will probably take some time for them to return. I should have helped them, but to my shame, I know nothing about medicine and I'm afraid I'll just be a hindrance. So she asked me to come back. By the way, I want to tell you that there's no need to worry too much. The members of the Ash Guerrillas are all very good people and there's no danger. Miss Iyetta doesn't seem to want to come to dinner, so Miss Shelia has gone to accompany her with food. Miss Olvera is still looking up information in the room. Miss Shino went out before dinner. She said she wanted to ask the leader of the Ash Guerrillas for advice on some things and might be back later. As for Miss Saint Charlia—"

At this point, Sister Livia hesitated for a moment before continuing, "She's still upstairs."

It was a very simple sentence, and it seemed that there was no clear explanation at all, but everyone understood it at once.

Linger opened his mouth and was about to say something when footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the stairs. Everyone turned their heads and saw Saint Shallia walking down the old wooden stairs step by step. The wooden planks creaked under her feet, disturbing the tranquility of the restaurant.

When Saint Xia Liya came downstairs, she found that everyone was looking at her. She was stunned for a moment, and finally her eyes fell on Ling Ge. The young man did not hesitate and asked directly: "Alice still refuses to come down?"

"kindness."

The shepherdess nodded slightly, with a hint of helplessness between her brows: "She said that what she is doing now is more important than eating. No matter what I say, she won't listen. I think I can only serve the food to her like before. She will eat when she is hungry."

Nevile couldn't help but shake her head when she heard that. "It sounds like we have an autistic patient. Why not starve her for a few meals? She will come down when she's hungry, just like a rabbit that has to find food on its own when it's hungry."

After that, she grabbed a rabbit that was walking by, and lifted it up by its ears. Seeing it baring its teeth and claws as if it was ready to fight her, she grinned and threw it gently towards the kitchen. After the rabbit landed lightly, it angrily shouted at the countess, and then walked away swaggeringly.

"Just like this." Nevile said succinctly.

Saint Xia Liya thought the Countess was joking, so she didn't take the suggestion seriously: "I don't think it's necessary to be so... tough. After all, Alice just went through that incident and she just hasn't gotten over it yet. Let's give her some more time, she'll figure it out soon."

"tough?"

Nevi sighed helplessly, "Xiao Xia, don't always treat Alice as a child, and she is indeed not a child. Is she the only one who has experienced that? Half a month has passed, and everyone knows that being sad about something that has passed will only make you more sad and make the deceased unable to rest in peace. Why is she the only one who can't figure it out? You said to give her some more time, but if half a month is not enough, give her another month, two months or even a year, can she figure it out? I think it's not that she can't get over it, but that she doesn't want to get over it. Even Leticia would not do such a thing a long time ago. Is she the only one in this world who can't grow up, and everyone else must be responsible for her childish temper?"

The vampire countess, who was experienced and had a deep understanding of the world, advised in the tone of a person who had experienced it: "If you think this is too harsh, why not let her ask it herself. Is Ieta sad who has locked herself in the windmill tower room? Is Xino sad who has not spoken to her since that incident? And the person who should be the saddest...Metien, is she sad? But despite being sad, they didn't shut themselves off and were unwilling to even communicate, right?"

On the contrary, everyone was very motivated to do something. When encountering an interstellar storm, Yieta desperately controlled the Cloud Whale Sky Island and tried to protect everyone to reach a safe area; after realizing that the group might have come to the distant East Continent, Olvera searched and sorted out relevant information in her large library day and night, just to be useful one day, and was even so tired that the dark circles under her eyes, which had faded, reappeared; Xino felt guilty for being bound by the agreement at that time and not having time to save Themis in the celestial world. Every day, he was either training or on the way to training, waiting for the day when he would encounter the Witch Society again and be able to resolutely swing the sharp blade that he had sharpened for a long time in his heart against them; Metien did not show the timidity and fear that a little girl of this age should have when she first came to a strange land, but took the initiative to put into practice what she had learned, healed the members of the Ash Guerrillas, and won their favor... It is understandable to be sad, but it is most important to understand what you should do and how to do it after being sad.

Unfortunately, Alice seems to have forgotten many important things, including her fearless style, her optimistic and cheerful personality, and her ability to quickly cheer up no matter what setbacks she encounters.

Nevile felt that if she didn't use some strong measures to help her wake up, just going over to her every day and saying a few meaningless words of comfort like Saint Xia Liya or Olvera would not have any effect.

If Xiao Xia hadn't been trying to dissuade her, she would have done so long ago.

Saint Shallia understands Nevile's thoughts, but she also understands Alice's feelings, and knows that Celestial Themis means more to her than just a "friend" to others. She may even be Alice's spiritual pillar - since she called herself a genius player and regarded the world as a game, the only thing that resonated with her was the seemingly indifferent narration. Only she would tell Alice, "This is a game, and you are the best genius player," when everyone else emphasized to Alice, "This is reality."

So she firmly believed that she could defeat all powerful enemies, that she would definitely win the final victory, and that she would definitely make everyone happy in the happy ending. Nevile believed that Alice's optimistic, cheerful, tenacious and even congenitally eccentric personality were actually all derived from these ideas. In essence, the genius player may be the most vulnerable person. If she loses the shell of the game, she is weaker than a chick that has just left the nest.

And that shell was shattered forever with the departure of Themis from the heavens and the words she said before she disappeared.

As the eldest sister of the Young Girl King, Saint Shallia's unique tenderness and delicacy allow her to understand both Nevile and Alice. However, she lacks the ability to make a decision in her understanding, so she is caught between the two and suffers. In this situation, the only person she can imagine who can help her make a decision is——

"I," Linger opened his mouth in response to Saint Shallia's gaze across the restaurant. His tone seemed calm to others, as if it had the power to make people believe it. But in fact, he felt that he was not so determined in his heart: "After dinner, I will go talk to Alice."

Nevile finally opened her eyes, yawned casually, and said lazily, "We should have done this a long time ago."

Saint Shallia's eyes also brightened, conveying two emotions of gratitude and guilt to the young man. The gratitude was self-evident, and the guilt was because she felt that she was too weak and always needed Ling Ge to bear such a heavy responsibility for her. If one day, Ling Ge was no longer by her side, what would she do?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but be startled by herself, but then she quickly put her mind at ease, thinking, how could it be possible, how could Lingge not be by my side? He has always been there, from the beginning of this journey, and I'm afraid he will be there until the end of the journey, so there is no need for her to make assumptions about something that is impossible.

But she did feel that she shouldn't just leave the matter to Lingge and ignore it, so she quickly said, "I'll go with you, Lingge."

"kindness."

Lingge nodded calmly, trying not to reveal any flaws in front of everyone. Only Gloria, who was closest to him, looked at him thoughtfully.

"Let's eat first." Lingge said.

So the dinner started. Recently, the group rarely had dinner together, either because one person was busy or it was inconvenient for that person, so the lively dining table scene in my memory, although only half a month had passed, gave me a feeling of being in a different world. Fortunately, it was not like that today. There were indeed few people at the beginning, but it gradually became lively.

First, Olvera finally yawned and walked downstairs. She told Lingge that the information about the Ansus region and the Kingdom of Noah had been sorted out and that he could go to her room to get it at any time. Then she casually pulled a table and sat down in a daze, as if she was too tired to even eat. It was only when Rorona, who was sitting on the other side, fed her a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes with a spoon with a smile that she mechanically opened and closed her mouth and started to eat; then the proprietress finally finished the last dish, and while serving the dish, she also returned to her seat and forced everyone to raise their raspberry juice and toast with her, which finally made the atmosphere a little more lively; finally, Shino, who had no idea what she had talked about with Carson Borg, came back exhausted, followed by the most noisy trio on Yunjing Sky Island - Metien, Shemi and Leticia.

Of course, there are also lambs who are let loose by their owners and are willing to serve as mounts for Xiemi and act in a bully-like manner everywhere.

At this point, except for Alice who was still hiding in her room, Yieta who was willing to stay in the windmill tower room no matter what, and Shelia who went to have dinner with Yieta, everyone on the Cloud Whale Sky Island finally gathered together.

It was clearly the same scene as before, wasn't it? No one was missing, and no one was added.

But when Lingge looked at this scene, for some reason, a thought suddenly emerged in his mind: It's really not easy.

And, that's great.

It would be even better if it could continue.

Give me some meow