The Past II

Elinor blinked gently. Her thick, curled eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyelids, adding a touch of forlornness to her expression, as if she bore the weight of the world's unpredictable changes.

Lilith watched her with a hint of melancholy.

Elinor had set aside the chess piece, reaching for the slender wooden box on the table and opening it. Inside lay the King's Cane, and a letter that she had written and also stamped with the seal of the ring.

The letter expressed her deep love for Arthur and her willingness to join him in death, pleading with Archbishop John Blackwood to assist in governance and select a worthy successor.

Suddenly, Elinor looked out the window, the overnight snow had ceased.

Bright sunlight pierced through the gloomy clouds, casting a beam of light into the dreary palace chamber.

She murmured, "Had I known this would be the end, why did I bother to work so hard? Better to have traveled far and wide, to gaze upon vast landscapes like a free bird. In this life, I was wrong about all the things…”

Lilith remained silent.

Elinor then asked, "Lilith, if you had the choice, would you still come here?"

Lilith sighed deeply, offering a bitter smile, " It's a fucked-up world. I wish I would never come."

It had been a long time since Elinor had heard such coarse language. Startled, she remembered the time, and suddenly called out, "Archbishop!"

The golden palace walls were covered in pure white snow.

A crowd gathered outside the palace gate.

William stood by with his hand on his sword.

The leader of the group stood tall but did not respond upon hearing her.

Elinor knew he could hear her.

This man was the most cunning in all of Avalon Kingdom.

A saint in appearance, a devil at heart.

As the Archbishop, many respected, and admired him, but they didn’t know beneath his saintly appearance lay a heart brimming with malice. A sword blessed by God and stained with the blood of royalty. With those same hands he turned the pages of the Bible, and with those same hands he wiped out the lives of the entire Elton family, with the bodies of those implicated stacked on top of each other.

He was the one person she couldn't please, no matter how hard she tried.

"You've killed royals, holding power and my life in your hands. I'm not able to bargain with you," Elinor's tear suddenly fell, branding the back of her hand., "In my life, I've used many, but in return, I've been betrayed and schemed against. I owe them nothing…"

She picked up the wine glass on the table slowly, the clear glass reflects the red liquid inside like the devil's seductive kiss.

Her body trembled, her voice quivered, tears welled up in her eyes, but she wasn't in a position to cry, so she just said, word for word, sobbing like blood, "But my sister, she only wanted to save my life. She's a good girl. I beg you, Archbishop, reminding the kindness I showed you when you on the way to the capital, take my life for hers, let her live…"

Who would have thought the seemingly heartless, cold-blooded queen would one day offer her life for her half-sister?

Was it her heartlessness, or had others failed to warm her heart?

The man outside the palace gate stood for a long time.

Finally, a calm word was heard, "Agree."

Such a pleasant voice. Just like a long time ago.

Elinor smiled in relief and decisively drank the wine.

Blood trickled down her lips over her smooth skin, her body no longer able to support itself. Her crown fell to the marble floor with a clear clang, there seems also to be a clanging sound of someone's sword falling to the ground outside the palace gates.

The deep red gem on the crown shattered and scattered. Warm blood down the steps on the cold ground, slowly spreading, reminiscent of the shallow creek she used to play in barefoot as a child.

This golden hall of Avalon became her grave, swallowing her bones, burying her life.

Outside, the sun shone on the snow, melting it bit by bit…