But the Ladder Picker who had already advanced to the sixth rank merely stood there quietly.
Elarina overlooked the vast outer-ring complex of the Silver Ring, now blanketed in flickering neon.
From this angle,
she could see at most the boundless, boiling sea of light. Like raging tides, wave after wave, it completely illuminated the city's night sky:
"Rebirth after destruction?
Rhine,
if I weren't certain that Shelter No. 47 had also been saved because of you,
perhaps I would have no way of understanding what you ultimately wanted.
Then, could our path be wrong?"
But Su Wen had no way of knowing about these interludes.
As the two of them followed the streets, which were gradually growing noisier, toward tonight's destination,
perhaps because she had drunk a little too much,
Angelia, in Su Wen's arms, smiled foolishly at him for the first time. Her smile was innocent and pure, like the first ray of warm sunlight breaking through spring ice, dispelling the faint chill around them.
It was hard to imagine
that she was the same person as the Princess of the Northern Realm he knew.
Normally, she was decisive and ruthless, but at this moment, the slightly tipsy Angelia had flushed cheeks, her eyes carrying a trace of haziness and adorable foolishness.
But Su Wen could also tell that she truly was not as tense today. Instead, she had relaxed in a rare moment of ease.
Whether it was because she had found a way to save her mother, or because the Silver Ring's crisis had finally come to an end,
perhaps it was both.
Angelia was completely drunk today.
Her little face was slightly red as she shifted restlessly in Su Wen's arms.
The Duke Miss's smooth golden hair scattered with the movement, several strands mischievously winding