RoleplayNovel Chapter 33 A Night Talk with the Queen
Chapter 33 A Night Talk with the Queen
"The advisor has a deep understanding of history," Elisif's voice was softer than before, as if he were carefully choosing each word. "This is not something that ordinary people can know."
Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.
He suddenly realized a problem.
The Battle of Redhill is the history of Morrowind, the history of Dunmoor and the dwarves, and the history of the Nords' failed expedition.
For the Nords of Skyrim, it was a distant, vague past that had little to do with them.
The distance between Skyrim and Morningwind is vast, and the racial divide between the Nords and the Elves is severe.
The average Skyrim resident's understanding of that history is probably limited to "We Nords fought a battle in Redhill and lost."
The details he revealed—Dumark's personal relationship with the Deep Elf leader, the chief engineer's deception, and the racial forces that swept up the later stages of the god-making project—were not stories passed down orally among the Nords. These were details that only scholars would know, buried deep in history, requiring extensive reading of dwarven documents and Dunmer manuscripts to piece together.
He scratched his head. "I just do some research in my spare time."
Elisifer did not speak.
She looked at him, her gaze lingering on his face for a long time.
She had noticed it long ago—when this young man looked at her, he didn't show the same awe that a commoner has for royalty.
That awe was all too familiar to her; it was an uncomfortable mix of fear and appeasement.
He also did not harbor the doubts of those with wavering stances regarding the position of the Supreme Queen—a kind of doubt she was more familiar with, a kind of needle-point probing hidden behind politeness.
When he looked at her, his gaze was flat.
And it's not just about looking at her.
She had seen him talk to Benjamin, and she had seen him enchanting swords in the workshop.
He had a certain way of dealing with everyone—she thought for a long time before finding a barely accurate word.
—A sense of alienation from scrutiny.
It's like a person standing on a riverbank, watching the water flow past them.
He knew where the river came from, where it was going, where it would bend, and when it would overflow.
He was watching a destined river flow forward.
This feeling intrigued Elisifer.
She had intended to just sit for a while and then leave.
The documents in the Blue Palace were piled up like a small mountain, and Fok was still waiting for her signature. There was also a noble meeting to be held tomorrow, and Ulfric's Stormcloak had recently caused trouble in the East.
These things weighed on her shoulders, making it sometimes feel like even breathing was difficult.
But now, sitting in this simple studio, sipping sweet honey fruit wine, her shoulders seemed to feel lighter.
"Do you believe in fate?" she suddenly asked.
Chen Mo glanced at her. "Fate?"
"I mean—" she paused, as if searching for the right words, "Don't you feel that some things are destined? No matter how hard you try, you can't change them?"
Chen Mo remained silent for a while.
He remembered the star, Bodema's dream, and the red line on the back of his hand.
He thought of Elisif in the game—the woman who sat on the throne of the High Queen in the default storyline, protected by Folke, used by Tullius, and treated as a banner by everyone, but no one ever treated her as a person.
He didn't know if the Alisher of this world would follow the same path.
But he knew that his very presence here was a change in itself.
Perhaps nothing major can be changed, perhaps the river of fate cannot be altered.
But at least, for now, he's sitting here.
"I don't believe it," he said.
Alicia looked at him. He looked at her too.
The sun sank a little deeper, and the light changed from orange-red to rose-colored, casting shadows in the studio that almost reached the walls.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because if fate were predetermined," Chen Mo said, "then I wouldn't be sitting here now, drinking fruit wine with Her Majesty the Queen."
Elisifer paused for a moment.
Then she laughed.
It wasn't the kind of trained, standard smile, nor the kind of polite, perfect smile displayed to nobles in the Blue Palace—it was a genuine smile, welling up from the heart, with a touch of girlishness.
Her eyes curved into crescent shapes, the corners of her mouth turned up in a wider arc than ever before, and a faint blush even rose on her cheeks.
—Perhaps it's the effect of the fruit wine.
"You're right," she said, her voice a little lighter than before. "If fate is predetermined, then I should still be in the Blue House looking at documents."
"That's the norm of fate," Chen Mo said. "Taking a break now and then is a form of resistance against fate."
Elisifer laughed out loud.
It's very light and very short.
They continued talking.
From the Battle of Red Mountain to the disappearance of the dwarves, from the disappearance of the dwarves to the ruins of Dwarf, and from the ruins of Dwarf to the ancient Nord tombs throughout Skyrim.
Elisif recounted how, when she was a child, she once secretly ran into an ancient tomb near Solitude, only to be discovered by Fok, who grabbed her by the back of her collar, dragged her out, and berated her for a full hour.
When she spoke of this, her tone was filled with a nostalgic, warm tenderness.
At that time, she was not yet the Supreme Queen, but merely Toig's fiancée, a young girl full of curiosity about everything.
At that time, Buddha was not yet the chief steward of the Blue Palace, but merely the captain of Toig's guard, a young man with a bad temper and harsh words, but who would be the first to rush in to find her when she ran into the ancient tomb.
Chen Mo listened to her talk, occasionally interjecting a word or two.
He noticed that her expressions were much more lively when she spoke than when she sat behind the long table in the Blue Palace.
She would frown, pout, gesture with her hands, and laugh first when something funny was mentioned.
She is like a flower slowly blooming in the sunset.
It's not the kind of flower that's displayed in palaces for people to admire; it's the kind of flower that grows in the wild, blown by the wind, drenched by the rain, yet still blooms unexpectedly at some unforeseen moment.
Night fell slowly.
The sky outside the window changed from rose color to deep purple, and then from deep purple to deep blue.
The first star appeared in the sky. Alisher put down his cup, glanced out the window, and then looked at Chen Mo.
There was a hint of reluctance in her expression.
"I'll head back now, Mr. Chen Mo." She stood up and pushed the chair back into its place.
Chen Mo also stood up. "Yes, Your Majesty, please take care."
Alisifer walked to the door, then suddenly stopped and turned around.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling on her face and turning her golden hair silvery-white.
She looked at Chen Mo, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just smiled.
"I'm very happy today," she said.
The sound was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Thank you."
Then she pushed the door open and went out.
The moonlight fell on her light gray dress, outlining her silhouette as a slender, silvery-white line.
Her footsteps faded into the distance on the stone path, eventually disappearing into the night of Dugu City.
Chen Mo stood at the door, staring in that direction, and remained there for a moment.
He looked down at the half-finished glass of honey fruit wine in his hand, then at the empty glass on the table—a faint, pale red lip print remained on the rim.
Then he wiped his forehead.
There was a thin layer of cold sweat.
"What's this woman doing here?" he muttered to himself, his tone carrying a genuine, utter bewilderment. "Just here to chat?"
He glanced out the window.
The city of Dugu was quiet and gentle under the moonlight, and the spires of the Blue Palace gleamed with a silvery-white light in the night.
He remembered the softness in her voice when she said, "I'm very happy today."
Like someone who has been holding their breath in deep water for a long time, finally surfacing and taking a breath.
He shook his head and sat back down at the enchanting table.
Pick up a new Soulstone, place it on the table, and cover it with your left hand.
The patterns lit up in the darkness.