In order to welcome Princess Kadan's visit, Queen Abil will hold a banquet today, inviting all the ministers and noble children to attend.

Ye Miao, led by her entourage, walked to the vestibule of the palace, taking advantage of the opportunity to observe the environment she was in.

The golden sunlight penetrated the stained glass, and when it fell on the stone pillar, the light spot had been filtered into a cool tone. Sticky grease condenses in the oil lamp socket embedded on the stone wall, and the flaming light shines on oil paintings with dark tones and delicate textures.

The Yabil people seem to like to decorate with mirrors—this is the complete opposite of Kadan, where mirrors are considered to be an item of intoxication and evil, and they will be covered with light gauze when they are not in use. In this palace, mirrors can be seen everywhere, and even the corridors are decorated with various classical and gorgeous bronze mirrors, reflecting blurred figures. Although it makes up for the lack of natural light visually, it also renders an indescribable sense of coldness, as if a ghost face will suddenly emerge from it.

This royal palace will become a breeding ground for all kinds of horrible rumors, it is really not wronged at all - Ye Miao lowered her eyes and muttered.

Soon, she was brought to a brightly lit and beautiful hall in the vestibule. The entourage saluted and signaled Ye Miao to wait outside, before going in to inform the superior.

Blocked by the door, Ye Miao couldn't see the scene inside, only heard the noisy conversation, it was almost like being in a busy city.

Not long after, it must have been known that Kadan's princess was already outside the door, and the wanton talking in the hall suddenly stopped. Gradually, there was no sound in the huge venue, the air was slightly stagnant, and the tense atmosphere began to spread.

The attendant made a "please" gesture to Ye Miao, bowed and said, "Your Highness, please come in."

Ye Miao straightened her clothes and stepped in.

This hall is bright and tall, resplendent with gold and jade, and fragrant with incense.

Recently, the nobles of Abel used incense mixed with fruit honey, applied it on their skin and hair, and kept it for several days without washing. It is said that after blending with body odor, it will emit a very unique aroma.

When dressing up today, Shana also wanted to get her this set. Ye Miao really couldn't appreciate this weird trend, so she declined it with a wry smile—after applying these things and not taking a bath for a few days, the so-called "unique "Aroma", isn't it really a bad smell?

As soon as Ye Miaofu stepped in, countless gazes turned around, piercing her body like needles, including disdain and hostility, curiosity and surprise. Seeing Ye Miao's oriental face, some noble ladies slowed down the speed of shaking their fans, whispering to their female companions as if they had discovered a new world.

Ye Miao calmly walked to the steps in front of the throne and saluted the Queen. What she was doing was the normal etiquette of a nobleman when meeting someone nobler than herself. She was neither humble nor overbearing, and she also showed enough respect.

Her performance when meeting the Queen largely represented Cardan's attitude. So, even if you are in a weak position, you have to stand up and speak up. If she is servile and obsequious, she will not make her life as a hostage any better, it will only make her look down and make the other party despise her - Ye Miao still understands this truth.

Seeing that she did not kneel down like a commoner, there was a slight discussion around her.

The queen raised her hand and suppressed these voices, but her voice was unexpectedly gentle: "Are you Kadan's princess Ye Miao Ezeka? Don't be so restrained, just raise your head."

Ye Miao paused unexpectedly, and raised her chin according to her words.

The two countries have been at war for so long, and this is the first time she has seen the real person of the famous Queen Abel.

The queen has a typical western appearance, with deep and dignified features, and a pair of blue eyes reminds people of Ophiuchus under the sunlight. Her long burnt brown hair was tied into a bun, and the crown was inlaid with gems. She wore a dark blue tunic that outlined her plump figure, and the belt was covered with tassels, noble and elegant.

Counting the years, the Queen had just turned twenty-six when she took the throne. Now, fifteen years have passed, and she has not become tired and aging due to the passage of time, but exudes a kind of graceful and majestic charm, which is the temperament that only those who have been in high positions for a long time will cultivate.

The queen's eyes stopped on Ye Miao's appearance, and there seemed to be a fleeting look of strangeness on her face.

On the lower head of the throne, on the left and right sides sits a young man.

The one on the left is about twenty years old, with a waist-protecting jade belt wrapped around his waistcoat, and short boots inlaid with gold leaf. He is dressed in golden light and sits arrogantly with his legs spread apart. His appearance is six to seven points similar to the Queen's, and it is reasonable to say that he is also a rare handsome man, but the blue stubble on his face has not been shaved at all, there is a cloud of decadence between his brows, and his crooked half body and The wide spread legs honestly revealed the impatience rushing in his body. This bad look made people wonder if he was woken up from a hangover and had to attend this banquet that he was not interested in at all.

This one must be the eldest prince of Abil.

The second prince on the right is one or two years younger, with a pair of gold-rimmed eyes on the bridge of his nose, he is thin and elegant, and he is dressed in noble and decent clothes. But the appearance is much more mediocre, similar to the queen only with eyes.

Ye Miao knew that Queen Yabil had two husbands before succeeding to the throne. The first husband was relatively mysterious, an aristocrat of unrecorded origin. Later she remarried to a general with a prominent family background. She had a son from each of these marriages. She never married until her second husband unfortunately died in the same battle as the first king.

The fathers of these two princes are not the same person, no wonder they don't look alike.

The queen didn't make things difficult for Ye Miao, just like an ordinary elder, she asked her some simple things kindly and peacefully. Before Ye Miao answered a sentence, she carefully went through it in her mind, for fear that if she accidentally said the wrong thing, it would cause Kadan trouble.

After a while of "cross-examination", the Queen smiled and waved her to take her seat.

The attendants who had already been waiting outside brought out the fruits, wine, bacon and other food for the banquet. The aristocrats and ministers, who had an empty stomach all morning and had seen enough dramas, could finally have their meals.

During the dinner, Ye Miao pretended not to notice those gazes sweeping over intentionally or unintentionally, and concentrated on eating. From time to time, she found, the Queen would talk to her two sons who were in close proximity. Because she was sitting closer to them, Ye Miao vaguely heard a few words. It turned out that the queen was discussing his marriage arrangements with the eldest prince.

The eldest prince obviously didn't care about his life's major events, he listened perfunctorily all the way, and turned the silver knife absently all the way, with a very contemptuous attitude. The Queen frowned, stared at him for a while, resisted not scolding him on this occasion, and turned to talk to her youngest son.

Compared with his elder brother, the second prince is obviously much more well-behaved, not only answering every question, but also looking seriously at the Queen's face when speaking. He made some wedding proposals, the queen praised him, and the second prince smiled shyly. The eldest prince snorted coldly, and suddenly threw the fork back onto the dinner plate with a "ding", choking his younger brother unceremoniously. The second prince's expression changed and he lowered his head.

The surrounding area was very noisy, and soon, the voices of the mother and child were drowned out. It's fine to overhear this kind of thing accidentally. If you eavesdrop on purpose, it's unnecessary. Ye Miao just sighed in her heart—these two brothers have really different attitudes when facing the queen, and the eldest prince doesn't seem to like his younger brother very much. Then I stopped listening. After finally surviving the banquet, she slipped away.

Meeting the queen in front of the officials is actually equivalent to a "moving-in ceremony"-for example, if you want to live in someone else's house for a few years, you have to let the master take a look at it first.

Afterwards, Ye Miao learned that the residence where the queen and the two princes live is located in the southeast of the palace. And the place where she lives is the guest room in the atrium, which is far away from each other. That is to say, except for the queen summoning her alone, or attending some banquet in the palace, Ye Miao hardly needs to meet with them at ordinary times, and can freely arrange Your own time - relative freedom.

Because no matter where she went, Shanna would follow her every step of the way on the grounds that she was worried that she would get lost.

Since it's impossible to get rid of it, and she doesn't want to do something shameful, Ye Miao doesn't bother to care about it so much, Shanna just follow her if she loves it.

In less than two days, Ye Miao, who was walking in the courtyard, accidentally discovered a place where she could spend time——in the sky-reaching tower in the southwest of the palace, there was a magnificent library with books as vast as sand. Even the tens of meters high walls are densely packed with various books, ancient scrolls, and sheepskin books. The content covers a wide range of topics, including history, humanities, geography, astronomy, plants... miscellaneous books can be found here.

——Of course, what foreigners can get access to is just some ordinary collections. The books on magic and forbidden techniques left over from the age of elves are all treasures handed down from generation to generation, and they will definitely not be placed on ordinary bookshelves.

Ye Miao estimates that at the speed at which she reads, it will take at least ten years to read all the books. She likes reading books by herself, and she won't feel bored holding a book alone for an afternoon, so it's perfect to relieve boredom here.

However, this library also has a fly in the ointment - due to a long time, the giant chandelier with a diameter of six or seven meters hanging from the dome, filled with gold and spar, has long been out of use, and it is just a ostentatious hanging ornament . What really play a lighting role are the meter-by-meter oil lamps on the wall and the light coming in from the windows during the day.

When the sun sets, without sunlight, the bookshelves will become very dark, and you need to hold an oil lamp to read the letters on the spine. Therefore, Ye Miao stayed here until the evening at most every day before leaving.

In a blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

The sky is uncommonly cloudy today. As the evening approached, the round sunset sank inch by inch behind the dark silhouette of the palace. Rolling cumulonimbus clouds condensed into a thick mass in the humid wind, completely devouring the orange-red sunset light in the sky. The wind and cloud surged, and the sky and the earth changed color. Thunder roared from the sky, and a rare torrential rain fell from the sky. Bean-sized raindrops hit the window edge with crackling, and there were water marks with marl on the outside of the glass.

At that time, Ye Miao, who was about to go back to her room, was unfortunately caught in the heavy rain.

The tower where the library is located has many doors and many covered bridges, but it is quite a distance from the atrium. On the way back to the room, there is almost no shelter at all.

When reading a book just now, Ye Miao sneezed twice. Worrying about her catching a cold, Mag went back to her room to fetch her clothes before the rain started, and now only Shanna was left by her side.

The two waited for quite a while, but the sky was getting darker and darker, and the rain was increasing instead of decreasing.

Shana suggested cleverly: "Your Highness, I just remembered that there is a storage room on the upper floor of this tower, and there must be rain gear in it. Why don't you read a book here for a while, and I'll go get the umbrella. Margot may be here When it rained on the way, I had to go back to my room to get an umbrella, so I’m definitely not as fast as I am.”

Ye Miao warmed her hands with black tea, smiled and said, "Okay, you can go."

Shana got the order and left quickly, and closed the door intimately to prevent anyone from disturbing Ye Miao.

The air was quiet. There was only the sound of thunder and rain in my ears.

Ye Miao was at a long table by the window. One side is a wall and three sides are bookshelves. Despite the wind and rain outside, the oil lamps dotted on the wall also give this space a warm yellow light, which makes people feel safe.

Ye Miao was holding a teacup, leaning on the edge of the table, facing the direction of the window, her eyes were meticulously depicting the portraits of angels on the stained glass, and she was gradually fascinated.

A cluster of silver-white lightning lashed the ground fiercely, and thunder rumbled. In the flickering white light, a shaking black shadow was suddenly projected on the glass window in front of Ye Miao's eyes.

Ye Miao was startled, turned around and looked up, and was surprised to find that the heavy chandelier was shaking quite a bit, making a slight "squeak".

There is no wind in the room, and the doors and windows are closed. How could it, which has always been static, vibrate for no reason? It's almost as if... something was hanging upside down on it just now, and kicked it when it jumped off the ground.

Ye Miao frowned, and for no reason, a trembling uneasiness crawled through her heart.

In fact, recently, she has had this strange feeling more than once. Sometimes when she was sleeping at night, she would feel that there was something hiding in the dark, spying on her maliciously. Consciousness has been lingering at the shallow level, constantly having some horrible and illogical dreams—not intimate and ambiguous dreams, but real nightmares.

Ye Miao was also a little troubled by her own paranoia.

In the age of elves, light magic is the nemesis of monsters. Once struck, they burn to ashes in that glorious radiance. It's just a pity that humans cannot inherit magic. However, humans have also discovered the weakness of these demons and monsters-they are deeply afraid of fire and light. These two can't kill them, but they can make them stay away and dare not attack.

As long as you bathe in the light of the fire, you have a talisman. Fran Eaton, the "city where the eternal sun never sets" with plenty of light, is the place most feared by these things. The guards of the palace are so strict that not even a fly can fly in, let alone a monster sneak in by surprise and even spy on her.

After half a month of calm days, even Margo, who believed in the legend of "Abil's man-eating monster" at first, gradually relaxed her vigilance and agreed with the little Highness's opinion—it was just a nonsense It's just talk. Ye Miao is the only one who feels uneasy and weird.

What you see with your eyes open and what you feel with your eyes closed, reason and intuition, all point to two separate directions. For those who have not been personally threatened by strange things, they tend not to trust their misty intuitions, and it is easier to attribute the cause to illusions.

Ye Miao's long eyelashes drooped slightly, and she tightened her five fingers holding the porcelain cup.

Could it be that she really thought too much?

"Boom—crash!"

A series of earth-shattering thunders exploded on the sky-covering water curtain, and the dust on the fragile pages trembled up and down. Behind Ye Miao, the lock of a window came loose untimely, the whole window was blown open by the wind, and slammed into the wall.

The falling raindrops, wrapped in the mist in the wind, poured in with an unstoppable force, extinguishing the flames of a row of more than a dozen oil lamps without lampshades on the wall, and white smoke rose into the sky. The corridor next to the wall was suddenly plunged into darkness.

The light suddenly disappeared, as if a dangerous fuse had been ignited.

Suddenly, a creepy feeling penetrated into Ye Miao's nerve endings, crawled inch by inch along the bone marrow, and penetrated into the lungs, causing small goose bumps on the skin.

It was a cold intuition that had no basis but was exceptionally clear—she was not the only one in this library.

Something... was watching her.

The chaotic heartbeat was like the beating of drums out of rhythm, and Ye Miao looked forward tremblingly.

In order to prevent fire, it is impossible to install fixed oil lamp sockets between the wooden bookshelves. At this moment, due to the extinguishment of the wall lamp, the rows of horizontal wooden bookshelves taller than a person are shrouded in a disturbing gloom.

Just now, the feeling of being spied on that made her hair stand on end came from that darkness.

To be more precise, it came from behind the bookshelf that was only six or seven meters away from her.

Until now, this feeling has not disappeared.

Is it Margo? Shanna? or someone else?

Different people went through Ye Miao's mind several times, she managed to calm down, swallowed softly, and asked, "Who's there?"

No one answered her.

Ye Miao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly threw the teacup in her hand towards the bookshelf!

There were only a few light-weight parchment scrolls sparsely placed on the bookshelf. When they were hit by the porcelain cup, the volumes lost their balance one after another, and rolled to the ground with crackling noises, exposing a line of space on the shelf.

nobody?

Ye Miao gasped slightly, just as she let go of her suspended heart, she unexpectedly met a pair of venomous eyes.

At that moment, Ye Miao's pupils shrank violently, and her scalp exploded into a turbulent numbness.

It was a pale head hanging upside down from the bookshelf, grabbing the bookshelf soundlessly. I don't know how long it's been lying down. A pair of cloudy and scarlet eyes stared at her firmly, and slowly, the mouthparts of the half-severed face grinned in a strange and ferocious arc, and smiled at her.

Human beings always laugh at those cowards who are too scared to run when they see danger. In fact, when falling into extreme fear and panic, thoughts will freeze, hot blood will freeze, fear is like a sharp ice pick, piercing the lung lobes, crushing the scream in the throat middle.

Ye Miao's face was pale, and her palms were almost soaked in cold sweat. She took half a step back and bumped into the table.

What it is? ! Is it a monster?

No, no, she has read many books about monsters, but she has never seen such a disgusting monster...

That thing has been peeping for a long time, and it has long been dissatisfied with this. I saw the bookshelf swaying, and it climbed up to the top floor with a "hoo hoo", its hind legs were slightly arched, but it stopped halfway, staring at the unextinguished oil lamp, as if it wanted to rush over, and it was a bit awkward. Be afraid of that fire.

Dazed, Ye Miao suddenly realized something, as if she was about to fall into the abyss of despair, she grabbed the only life-saving cable - although she didn't know what it was, it was obviously different from ordinary monsters. The same fear of fire. This is also the reason why it had been hiding behind the bookshelf just now, and did not dare to fully reveal its real body until the wall lamp in the corridor was extinguished.

As long as there is light, it can't pounce on it unscrupulously!

But how long can this little oil lamp last? When it also goes out, this library is a closed beast cage. If she didn't escape to a place with people before then, her fate would definitely be dire.

Ye Miao held the small oil lamp, took a deep breath, leaned on the table as if facing an enemy, and backed away slowly. Under the gaze of that thing, he turned around unexpectedly and ran desperately along the direction where the oil lamp was not extinguished.

The intermittent and long flames, one every two meters, are connected to form a long life-saving road.

She never knew that she could run so fast, she fluttered and rolled, and even lost one of her shoes. The rapid and heavy breath burned the chest cavity, and the convulsed trachea twisted painfully. She has no time to identify where she is going, only knows to run after the light inside the building.

It was just after dusk, but there was no living person around, as if she and that thing were isolated in a different space. The oil lamp in her arms was about to go out, and when Ye Miao almost collapsed in despair, she suddenly saw a gorgeous palace crawling in the shadows ahead.

Ye Miao ignited a glimmer of hope and rushed through the rain curtain quickly. When I got closer, I found that there were chains entangled outside the door, which seemed to be a forbidden place that was not allowed to open. But the thing was already chasing behind her, and there was no time for hesitation. Ye Miao relied on her intuition and her petite body to sneak in through the crack!

The thing that was chasing after it screamed, wandered unwillingly to the left and back outside the hall, and stopped in its tracks uncharacteristically. He didn't dare to go forward, as if he was afraid of some kind of terrifying aura, he could only watch helplessly as Ye Miao got into it.

Ye Miao was already exhausted, with the last bit of rationality, she tried her best to push the door, slid on the ground, coughed violently for a while, almost coughed up her stomach, and slowly returned to her body after being frightened out of her body.

She finally realized that she had broken into a strange hall. The hall was extremely dark, and the unextinguishable lamp in her arms was the only source of light.

It seems that no one has lived here for a long time. The furniture was covered with red silk cloth, and the gilt doorknobs, the floor tiles, and the handrails of the stairs were all covered with thick dust. On the wall in the distance, hung a huge oil painting. Behind the heavy snow-white spider webs was a portrait of a handsome and majestic man with blond hair and blue eyes.

Ye Miao recognized it for a while in a daze, then thought of the chains outside the door, and finally realized belatedly that this place seemed to be the one in the palace that no one was allowed to enter or leave—the palace of the former king.

Just now... that monster chased outside the door and stopped. There is nothing special about this palace door, but it seems that it dare not step in at all. why is that? Is she safe already?

No, that thing, after chasing her for so long, is probably still ambushing somewhere at this moment. If you think you have escaped a catastrophe, just go out like this, and be stopped by it halfway in an empty building...

Ye Miao shivered, curled up helplessly, and buried her head in her knees. This is a posture that people ask for a sense of security from themselves.

Give her a hundred guts, she doesn't have the courage to leave here now. It may not be the best way to hide here for one night and wait until dawn, but it is safer than going back.

In fact, even if she didn't know the reason, Ye Miao subconsciously believed that it was the hall that stopped the thing and saved her life. In her helplessness, she had already regarded it as a place where she could shelter herself, creating a hidden sense of dependence.

When her legs regained some strength, Ye Miao knew that she could not waste any more time, so she encouraged herself, then reached out and lifted the oil lamp, hesitated for a while, then turned around to confirm that there was no sound outside the closed palace door, and then lifted the lamp. Walk into the hall with your feet.

She didn't dare to sleep tonight, she just wanted to go in and find out if there was any candlestick that could still be used. Before the oil lamp in her hand was completely extinguished, she switched the flame to it, so that if there was any accident, there would be no accident The power of resistance.

It's a pity that after searching around in the dusty cabinet, the wicks of the candles I could find were all damp. Fortunately, there seemed to be a few oil lamp stands embedded on the wall deep in the palace, maybe they were still usable.

Ye Miao pursed her lips, probed one by one, stood on tiptoe, and touched its lamp holder.

When she didn't know how many times she touched, she suddenly felt that something was wrong - the stone that was supposed to be motionless could actually be pushed! Not intending to cause trouble, Ye Miao immediately withdrew her hand, but its rotation did not stop.

It was too late and then soon, with the sound of a string of chains twisting, the floor tiles below her were split in two without any warning. Ye Miao was caught off guard and fell, her shoulder blades hit the stone wall heavily, and a trace of pain appeared in her throat. The smell of blood. The tide of darkness overturned, swept everything, and drowned her sanity.

The author has something to say: (The man who has been living in the legend since the beginning of the article) will come out in the next chapter! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

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