Pillar of Yita

Tang Xin still remembers that evening many, many years ago.

That day, the sunset poured in from the corridor like blood, and outside, there were sounds of children playing.

Meanwhile, she was curiously watching the little boy standing before her, who, holding his mother’s hand silently, only looked at her with dark eyes.

”Tangtang, from now on Little Hong will be your brother...”

”Uncle Fang and Aunt Fang met with an accident and went far away, unable to return...”

”Get along well, don’t bully Little Hong...”

...

Tang Xin recalled the scene at that time, unable to help but lightly curl her lips:

He was actually quite cute back then.

She sat upright at the desk, holding a feather pen—this outdated writing tool once made her quite unaccustomed, but after several months, she had finally become adept at writing like the locals. Only now, she had maintained this posture for quite a long time, merely staring dazedly at the few pages before her.

Ai Xiaoxiao looked at the scene with some curiosity and, at Miss Nightingale’s indication, waved her hand in front of her friend, lengthening her voice: ”Tangtang—”

Tang Xin was slightly startled, then unexpectedly looked towards the latter.

”You wrote your expense report wrong again yesterday,” Ai Xiaoxiao stood beside Elisa, who smiled and said: ”You added an extra digit here, but you didn’t notice.”

Tang Xin couldn’t help but blush a bit, looking over there, thinking perhaps these days she was too worried about her cousin’s affairs. Although sometimes she felt it would be nice if that pigeon disappeared—but this time he had been gone for quite a long time, where could he have gone? Though her cousin was somewhat unreliable, he wouldn’t silently disappear for a month.

Except for that one time when he secretly crossed over to this place. Recalling his reckless behavior then, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated, for such a big matter since childhood, it was the first time he hadn’t discussed it with her, making her teeth itch.

She was pondering, and her thoughts wandered again.

And at this moment, the ’door’ was slammed open.

Tianlan, panting, appeared there, looking at them, stammering:

”Ade... Brother Ade is back!”

Tang Xin stood up from her position at once.

Elisa also looked in that direction, asking: ”The Captain is back, where is he?”

”He’s... in the outside hall.”

Tang Xin couldn’t listen any longer, rushing out the door, but she felt a hand on her shoulder as soon as she exited.

Tang Xin was slightly startled, looking back, only to find Tianlan, Ai Xiaoxiao, and Elisa were nowhere to be seen, surrounded by utter darkness. The person with a hand on her shoulder was Fang Hong, but the latter’s face was covered in blood, with a dagger stuck in his chest. Blood gushing from his mouth and eyes, he opened and closed his mouth but couldn’t make a sound.

Tang Xin was shocked, suddenly opening her eyes.

...

It was a dream—

A cold hand was on her forehead, and she recognized the owner, the Lady Noble—while Hilveld looked down at her, his eyes as calm as the color of the shallow sea.

Tang Xin was slightly startled, only then realizing she was drenched in cold sweat, looking around somewhat confused, still in that familiar room. Wasn’t the desk just there, with the documents, ink pen, and feather pen untouched? She had been sitting there earlier... No, she shook her head lightly, only then feeling a sense of powerlessness rising in her heart.

It was a dream—

”Did you have a nightmare?”

Hilveld’s voice seemed to have a calming strength.

Tang Xin stared dazedly at the other, normally she would never let the other approach so closely. But now she lay motionless on the bed, with no strength in her body, only her heart pounding, as if still not recovered from the previous dream.

”You’re ill, why didn’t you tell others?” Hilveld quietly asked: ”Worried about Ade? Matters of recordkeeping can actually be entrusted to me and Tianlan.”

She paused, looking into Tang Xin’s eyes as if she could see through the other’s thoughts.

”It has nothing to do with you.”

Tang Xin said, her voice hoarse.

For some reason, just looking at this woman made her inexplicably angry.

Though the other was indeed excellent and a match for her cousin—or it might be better to say, she didn’t know what luck that pigeon had to get such a girlfriend. On Earth, such a thing would be impossible.

But thinking about this matter filled her heart with a complex feeling that was hard to express.

Both comforting and somewhat bitter—

But Hilveld only looked at her quietly, the edges of her eyes reflecting the quietly flowing afternoon sunlight. The noble girl seemed not to have heard those words, softly speaking: ”Ether illness, Gita also had it half a year ago, because you all aren’t accustomed to Ether... Most of you will experience it once or twice.”

”Really, you don’t need to worry too much. If the symptoms are mild, it’s just like a cold from your world, you’ll recover in a few days.”

”But if left alone, it can become serious too.”

Hilveld gently withdrew her hand.

Tang Xin remained silent for a while, the unease from the previous nightmare resurfacing, suddenly asking: ”Where’s my brother?”

”Ade had it too,” Hilveld softly smiled: ”When we traveled from Elpaxin to Fenris, he fell ill on the ship, much worse than you are now, thanks to Princess Briana’s black goat milk.”