Pastor's Tantra

Yunus opened the bottle for Aiwass himself.

As he poured the wine into the crystal cup, the fragrant and sweet smell filled the small bedroom.

The sunlight at noon shines into the crystal red wine from the side, casting a colorful spectrum of blood on the table.

Aiwass sat opposite him, resting his chin on his left hand. The fingers of his right hand gently made famous circles and touched the cold wall of the cup.

A slight chill penetrated the fingertips through the crystal - this was obviously a bottle of wine that had just been taken out of storage.

"Mr. Yunus, is this the wine you brought?"

Aiwass asked.

Yunus smiled cheerfully: "Of course not...how could it be. This is Mr. Maxim's wine collection - of course, it is not theft, it is with his permission.

"I said I would use it to entertain you, and he readily agreed. It's such an honor... to drink such good elf wine through your help."

"I remember that one of the reasons why the 'Holy Tree' series of wines are so delicious is because these grapevines are also connected to the Holy Tree itself. In a sense, this can also be regarded as being made from the fruit of the Holy Tree. of wine—and in another sense, the elves are but the children of the sacred tree.”

Aiwass said with a smile: "So what we drink can be regarded as the blood wine of the elves."

"...Oh, you..."

"——Then, cheers."

Awas interrupted Yunus.

He raised his wine glass and said with slightly narrowed eyes, "Your Highness."

Yunus softened his smile slightly, picked up the wine glass and touched it lightly with Aiwass, making a crisp sound.

He raised his head and took a sip of wine.

And when he put down the wine glass again, his messy, dull golden hair naturally fell down from his temples.

——The bald man who originally looked funny, clumsy and kind, now turned into a completely different person.

He is at least half a head taller than Yunus and has a stronger physique. His face, with deep features and a somewhat decadent face, should have looked quite handsome. You can vaguely see traces of Isabel's appearance.

But his hair was not only dry and lackluster, it even had some white and light blonde mottled colors... It looked like a long-haired stray dog ​​that hadn't had its hair groomed for a long time.

His beard is ugly, but it is not a beard, but just a circle around his mouth. Needless to say, the skin was rough, far inferior to Yunus's fair and soft baby-like skin, and the pores were so enlarged that he looked like an alcoholic. Even the cheeks are slightly sunken, and obvious dark circles can be seen... There is even some redness under the eyes. That was not because of crying, but because of lack of sleep.

If his skin and hair hadn't been relatively clean, he might have been regarded as a homeless man on the roadside. But even so, his temperament would only make people think of him as a farmer or a hunter.

The only thing that could make people feel something was wrong was his still calm and deep oil-green eyes.

Those eyes are not cloudy, but look very young.

"That's right."

Aiwass was not surprised at all, and just raised his glass again: "This looks like a decadent poet who can play the piano and sing on the street. Or to put it another way - you look like you are going to be the Lich King. This makes me A little scared."

"...When did you find out?"

Yunus—or rather, Prince Albert was silent for a while and then asked.

His voice is deep, hoarse and magnetic, a rare subwoofer.

The rough texture tells you that he has been smoking for a long time.

Aiwass took out the necklace from his collar and said softly: "You look at it too many times. And your eyes are not hidden at all.

"A bard shouldn't know what this treasure looks like. He shouldn't have any memories with it."

"Is that the reason?"

Prince Albert pondered for a moment: "It seems that I am not mature enough..."

"--certainly."

Aiwass interrupted.

Seeing Prince Albert raise his head in surprise, Aiwass smiled like a fox: "This is a lie - an excuse specifically to fool you."

"...Where's the truth?"

"I knew from the beginning that Yunus was Prince Albert. I also knew that the real Yunus died while saving you.

"——From that day on, 'Albert du Lac' was dead."

Aiwass said meaningfully.

Not only the identity of "Albert du Lac" died that day, but also the lazy and rebellious young prince.

Because of his arrogance, he got into completely unnecessary trouble, and because of his carelessness, he lost his original chance of victory and ended up in jail.

With Prince Albert's character, even if he died due to his own negligence, at most he would just say "Today is my fault" with a stiff neck, and he would never admit that he was wrong even if he died.

But it was not him who paid the price in the end, but his most cherished friend. Yunus, the poor poet who is always happy and carefree, but always has some profound views on things.

At that moment, he knew what regret was.

Suddenly, Prince Albert laughed.

Because his teeth were a little yellow, his smile was not pretty, and he even looked as vulgar as a village woodcutter.

But he made a calm voice with a glass island accent:

"...Prophecy? It's really unreasonable."

"Almost. It can be considered a prophecy."

Aiwass nodded.

Prince Albert raised his head: "Is it the same as the magical things you... usually do? Because you saw the future, you planned to change it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Aren't you afraid that the future you have changed will become worse?"

Albert picked up the wine glass and asked: "Whether they are prophets or astrologers, although they can predict the future, they dare not change it."

"That's because the changed future is entangled with too many causes and effects, just like the same thing involves many strong people. The future that was originally clearly visible will become impossible to see clearly. And a person who is used to seeing the future, if If they suddenly lose this power, they will naturally become fearful."

Aiwass said in a clear and calm tone.

"...That's how you see it."

Prince Albert looked at Aiwass for a while, then gave a wry smile, leaned over and patted Aiwass on the shoulder: "You are better than me, boy."

"--certainly."

Aiwass did not accept the compliment, but replied without hesitation or hesitation: "Of course I am stronger than you.

"At least I will never miss my mother's funeral - if I can have that opportunity. I will never leave my daughter alone and go out to do justice alone.

"Even if I am eventually cursed and die, I will die in front of my daughter. Because even if my life is used to prevent her from being cursed once, it is still valuable."

He stared at Prince Albert and said word by word: "So, why did you run away?

"You should know Isabel's character. If she hadn't become stronger now, if I hadn't cleared away the enemies for her...if it hadn't been for Star Antimony to launch an attack at that time, giving us a chance to fight back. That's it. She rules the entire Avalon by herself. Have you ever thought about the pressure she will be under?

"You didn't strengthen her will when she was confused in childhood; you didn't accompany her to encourage her when she was afraid of the curse; you didn't teach her experience and skills after she embarked on the path to transcendence. The mother died and the country was left without a master, but you still didn't come back. You left Avalon in the hands of your introverted daughter who was only nineteen years old, together with those traitors and traitors who were eyeing her - even me.

"You just put down your own daughter and went to the Theocracy to care for other people's daughters. What, do you think this is justice?

"...Or do you think this is a kind of 'dedication'?"

Faced with Aiwas' questioning, Prince Albert remained silent.

He just lowered his head to pour himself a drink, and then poured some for Aiwass.

Looking down at his movements, Aiwass's tone softened slightly, but the content was sharper:

“Isabelle said she would be crowned on her birthday.

"——I don't need to tell you when her birthday is, right? If you don't come that day, you will never come back again."

At that moment, Aiwass saw Prince Albert's pupils finally trembling.