Murphy smiled. "If a person cannot believe in himself, how can he make others believe in him?"
Having said that, he looked at the Empress. "Come to think of it, is this the 'condition' you had in mind? Just taking a walk here with you?"
"Actually, I would rather visit Britain. I have never been there. Since birth, I have never left Soviet soil, and most of my time has been spent in Arkaim. You said before that the scenery there was beautiful. I really want to see it, but... unfortunately, neither you nor I seem likely to have such leisure."
Sophia looked somewhat melancholy.
She had grown a little since Murphy first met her. Some of the childishness had faded from her features, replaced by a greater softness that made her even more beautiful.
Yet along with that trace of immaturity, some of a young girl's lightness and vitality had also departed. Sophia seemed to carry many heavy burdens on her shoulders, and even her smile looked somewhat weary.
Perhaps that was the price of growing up.
After thinking for a moment, Murphy took a black feather from behind his back and handed it to the Empress. "Come to think of it, I have never given you a gift. Please accept this feather."
The Empress gave him a surprised look. "What a feather-light gift. When you proposed before, you at least gave me a piece of gold that you claimed had an extraordinary origin. Are you so reluctant to part with even a piece of gold now?"
Murphy was slightly embarrassed.
That supposedly "extraordinary origin" had been something he made up on the spot. He had not expected her to remember it, and she even seemed to still hold a grudge over it.
"Ahem, this is no ordinary feather.