The palace banquet at the Kremlin was held in the garden. The weather that day was exceptionally clear; the sky was azure as if washed by an angel's wings—a divine painting.]
[Wearing the same black priest's robe you had on when you first entered the palace, you arrived before the garden.]
[You could hear the clinking of glasses and the sounds of laughter and chatter coming from inside. You looked at Nicholas II and his wife standing at the garden entrance to welcome you. Today the Tsar wore a white formal suit even more elegant than his usual military uniform, with golden feathers on the shoulders. His beard was groomed impeccably. Upon seeing you he immediately knelt half-down in pious reverence for the sage.]
[Empress Alexandra's eyes also brightened when she saw you. She still wore an off-shoulder Victorian dress, and as she bowed the soft curves at her chest were faintly revealed. Silver-white hair was pinned up, exposing a fair neck. Elegance carried a subtle seductive charm that unconsciously drew one in. She praised you as a graceful sage and the most handsome youth.]
[You neither confirmed nor denied, simply replying: "You are both very beautiful as well, respected Emperor and dear Empress. May God bless you with eternal youth."]
[Oh, this damned translation tone,] you thought.
[Nicholas II led you into the garden. The aroma of food mixed with the fresh scent of flowers and plants assaulted the senses. Sunlight softly sprinkled like powder onto the beautifully arranged tables, chairs, and dishes. Amid gold- and silver-decorated ornaments, you saw graceful nobles one after another—you saw the highest nobles of this empire. They were princes, dukes, counts; at the lowest marquises. The lower ones clustered around the higher ones with extreme flattery; the higher ones clustered around those even higher, currying favor.]
[These were the people at the very top of the empire's towering building that was about to collapse.]
[You thought again.]
[They believed standing high meant they could rest easy, unaware that the building was already tottering.]
[Having wandered among the common people for many years, you recalled the widespread suffering of the people. That was what you believed.]
[But you never considered yourself a true sage; you were merely a fake wearing a sage's skin. You felt this imperial building would collapse sooner or later, so taking some items from it would not matter.]
[You did not approach the nobles, nor did you need to curry favor, because even the empire's greatest emperor and empress had to cluster around you.]
[You only needed to "step" on the emperor and empress to display your existence.]
[Naturally countless people would rush forward to fawn over you.]
[Even if you wore a face that kept others at a thousand miles, it would only earn the evaluation "holy."]
[This was human nature.]
[You only needed to appear.]
[Your goal had already been achieved.]
…
"How boring." Lu Kang evaluated the banquet this way, swirling the goblet in his hand.
He stood outside the crowd of chatter and laughter, yet among the lush flowers and plants.
The youth in the black priest's robe watched the palace banquet from not far away.
The attendees bowed toward Lu Kang from afar to show respect. Without permission, naturally no one dared approach and disturb him.
At this moment Lu Kang truly felt bored—he thought it would be more real to play an intense game of flying chess with a few friends at home!
Fortunately, standing here he could still admire the graceful figures and faces of the noble ladies and young misses, so it was not completely uninteresting.
"Mm… so boring."
At that moment, a soft, familiar voice came, mixed with the rustling of leaves in the breeze.
Lu Kang tilted his head and looked to the side—in another corner of the open-air palace banquet venue covered by shadow, he saw a petite figure with swaying silver-white hair and could not help pausing.
Anastasia—
"You find it boring too?" Since both were bored, Lu Kang casually walked over.
"Very boring…" The petite figure with loose silver-white hair answered subconsciously with her back to Lu Kang. She did not turn around, simply raising her clean blue-green eyes to watch the crowd clinking glasses.
She muttered, "How can my sisters look forward to such a boring place? Father and Mother too—"
"My sisters must have lied to me, saying the banquet was so much fun. When I get back I must prank them properly… yes, that's what I'll do!"
"Mm… mm!?" The girl who thought she was talking to herself shook her head left and right, then suddenly froze. Her body trembled as if she had only just realized someone was speaking beside her—and the voice sounded very familiar.
So she turned her head.
And then she saw Lu Kang who had walked to her side.
"Lu… Lu Kang Excellency!?"
The girl was so startled she stepped back, tripped on a vine in the grass, and fell backward.
But after staggering two steps she steadied herself—she had been caught by Lu Kang!
"So excited to see me, Princess on our second meeting?" Lu Kang's face was full of smiles.
The startled Anastasia steadied her footing. Her chest rose and fell slightly; the dress she wore, even more gorgeous and beautiful than before, outlined her figure that trembled gently twice.
Then came the blush.
When she met Lu Kang's young, handsome face.
Just like the previous blush…
"N-no, I—"
Lu Kang felt this little princess was about to turn into a steam engine!
However.
Was Anastasia… this kind of personality?
This was a question he had had before. As a world-traveler he actually had some impression of this world's princess. In his impression Anastasia was cold on the outside yet warm inside, not easily trusting others, but once she trusted someone she would show no reservation.
But the princess in his impression was not a "living person."
She was a historical figure, information preserved in the world after death—materialized as a "Heroic Spirit" summoned from the "Throne of Heroes."
And now it was still 1912.
Anastasia was still alive and innocent and adorable.
Perhaps this was the personality of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl who had not yet encountered great upheaval and still looked forward to the world with purity?
"Excellency Lu Kang's hand…" the princess said softly.
Lu Kang felt the gentle, delicate sensation from his palm and calmly released the girl's wrist he had been holding. He said, "What? Still want to sprain your foot?"
"There's no cane for you here!"
"I don't want a cane!" Anastasia said shyly—not only embarrassed by her previous performance, but also by what she had just said.
Lost face again!
She thought.
"Don't want a cane, what do you want? A wheelchair?" Lu Kang deliberately pressed.
"I don't want anything!" Anastasia realized she had been teased again and puffed her cheeks. In a daze she seemed to forget that the youth before her was the "Excellency" she had always admired. The moment she remembered, the previous nervousness suddenly vanished.
"Feeling relaxed now?" Lu Kang said. "I'm not some man-eating monster; you don't need to be so tense!"
The princess gave a soft "mm," then answered quietly, "Excellency… is a bad person—"
"You didn't say that before," Lu Kang glanced sideways. "You even said I was someone with thirty-six pairs of wings… by the way, can that thing really be called a 'person'?"
Such irreverent words toward God would definitely draw reprimand from others, but coming from Lu Kang—recognized by the emperor and empress as a sage—they became the representative of wit and humor.
Thus Anastasia could not help laughing. The corners of her lips curved, her eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a rather beautiful smile.
Now.
She was completely no longer nervous.
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