"Victor."

"I'm here."

"You first give this letter to Igor of St. Alexei. Then go to Melvin's house and ask them for a copy of Professor Wolf's details. ”

"Understood."

Standing behind Ivan Rindon, the gray-eyed middle-aged man nodded and took a thick letter from Grand Duke Ivan.

Without much hesitation, he did not bow and leave.

He left the Grand Duke's Mansion without looking back.

Faintly visible, he had a ring on his right thumb that exuded chill.

Ivan Rindon sighed, slowly stood up with the scepter in his hand, and walked to the window.

Looking at the back of Victor leaving, he asked softly, "Zoya, when Annan leaves...... What to bring? ”

"He brought some money."

An adult woman with long dark blue hair, her figure gradually emerging from Ivan's side.

On the ring finger of her left hand, there was a crystal ring that exuded cold air.

Zhuoya sighed helplessly: "He only took fifty pounds of paper money and a small bag of silver coins. As I can say, he didn't put the positioning ring on. ”

"That's how the child grows up."

Ivan said flatly.

Zhuoya raised her eyebrows: "You said this." In the past, His Highness Annan didn't look like a child. ”

"Because inside him is the soul of an adult. Don't treat him like a child, he must know these things. If he wants help, he'll be right back......"

Grand Duke Ivan took a deep breath and exhaled a mouthful of white frost with a chilling breath.

The glass in front of him instantly formed a thin layer of frost, and Ivan's face turned pale and he couldn't help but tremble.

Seeing this, Zhuo Ya immediately dodged over.

She held the Grand Duke with her right hand and pressed her left hand behind Grand Duke Ivan to give him relief. The crystal ring suddenly lit up, and the cold air was quickly drawn from Ivan's body.

But Ivan was still trembling violently.

He just frowned, didn't say a word, just gasped violently. The intense pain made his teeth clench, and the muscles in his cheeks bulged throughout.

The purple lines on the cheeks have become deeper and more pronounced.

After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, "I'm all right, Zhuoya." ”

"You're a ......"

Zoya grumbled, letting Grand Duke Ivan go.

Her right hand was a little red from the cold, and the ring on her left hand was shining brighter.

"In short, there is no need to be too harsh on Annan. He, unlike Dmitry, is not a child who wants to save face...... He knew how to run, but he was not afraid.

"This is a rare talent among those in high ranks."

Ivan said slowly: "I trust him, more than I trust Dmitry and Maria combined.

"Dmitry is a serious child, but he does not have a long-term vision, he has a gloomy personality, but he is prone to entrust his sincerity to others, and he is prone to prejudice against people and things. He can be a good minister, but not a grand duke.

"Maria, like her mother Anya, was a resolute and courageous girl. But she loves her relatives more than her relatives and friends, and she loves her relatives and friends more than her people...... She doesn't care at all about people she doesn't know, and she chooses to be close or distant because she likes or dislikes someone. If she succeeds to the throne, she will definitely become a faint king or a tyrant.

"If there is anyone who can become a better Grand Duke than me, it can only be Annan."

"Because His Highness Annan...... Thinking about the world? ”

Zoya guessed.

Ivan shook his head.

"Because he's a madman."

The Grand Duke replied: "Fearless madman. ”

He remembers...... When he told Annan about the secrets of this country and the world, how did Annan reply.

"—I don't care. I am what you call 'not this world,' as you call it. ”

Not long after receiving the name, the young Annan replied: "If you need it, let me be the Grand Duke." I can become a god, or I can become a saint. ”

"You have to think about it, Annan. In this world, exalted status is not glory and wealth, not power...... It's a furnace. ”

"So what?"

At that time, the immature Annan asked sharply: "There must be a paid king to spread the fire, father."

"If it can't be someone else, why can't it be me?

"If it can't be me...... Why can't you take away this fire? ”

…… Although I don't understand what the salary king is.

But Ivan vaguely understood Annan's parable.

It was then that Ivan recognized the essence of Annan.

- Able to sacrifice everything other than the goal without psychological pressure for the sake of the goal.

In other words, he is the one who can destroy the world in order to save it.

One does not move forward by the teachings of others, does not aspire to wealth and power, and does not believe in benevolence, righteousness and morality...... Rather, it is a person who simply derives pleasure from the act of "accomplishing the goal".

From then on, Ivan understood.

Annan walked on a dividing line between dusk and dawn.

- Then, instead of persecuting him with "fear", it is better to tempt him with "pleasure".

If Annan wanted to become a saint or a god, he would have to seal his fears. Not to make himself "not afraid", but to prevent this fear, to lead his path, his goal, in some other direction.

But the other way around.

"I also trust Annan immensely."

Ivan said slowly: "Only a madman would want to save this shattered world; Only a madman would save these sinful nations...... Only a madman would try to save a foolish and short-sighted mortal.

"Only a madman would try to cleanse the world of all nightmares; Only a madman would try to clear the gray fog; As long as the madman will easily kill the past 'self', just to rise higher.

"But it just so happens that Annan is such a madman.

"He has a strong desire to 'rise', he is a perfect transcendent, he has a strong desire to learn, he is a perfect ritualist, he has a strong desire to 'possess', he is a perfect degenerate.

"Anyone who can go to the top of any road...... He is not trying to change the world for the sake of justice, nor for mercy, but for his own pleasure. ”

His desires are all for internal sublimation, not for external mastery.

This may be the reason why he was chosen by the Book of Skychariots......

The crane is the car that rises.

If the Duchy of Winter needs a new king.

Then it can only be Annan.

The Duchy of Winter needs Annan to save, and Annan also needs responsibility to save.

- From the very beginning, it has been like this.

"Oh, yes...... Your Majesty. ”

As if thinking of something, Zoya asked Ivan, "Annan seems to have a Rasputin ring in his hand. ”

“…… What the? ”

Ivan froze for the first time.

He looked back puzzled: "How could he come into contact with the people of the Rasputin family?" ”

Zoya shrugged.

"I guess," she whispered, "I guess I got it at Geraint's house." ”

"Anya's sister ......"

Thinking of his dead second wife, the mother of Annan and Maria, Ivan frowned slightly.

He remembered that when Annan was in Noah's kingdom, he had used the identity of "Don Juan Geraine". And Don Juan's mother is a nobleman from the Duchy of Winter.

- According to Ivan's knowledge, Don Juan's mother should be from the Melvin family.

But now that I think back, Anya's sister suddenly disappeared...... It's almost the first two years of the three daughters of the Melvin family who married Noah, which can be regarded as a bit of a side.

“…… Check it out, Zoya. ”

Ivan's fingertips tapped the scepter.

He replied in a low voice, "Check it out, the third daughter of the Melvin family...... Euphemia Melvin. Could it be that he swapped identities with Lily Rasputin. Let's make sure it's the Rasputin's ring. If so, ask Rasputin's family for a copy of Lily Rasputin's password and give it to Annan.

Annan said he would be back next month. Do these things before that time. ”

"—Yes, Grand Duke."

The woman with long blue hair replied solemnly.

"And."

Ivan whispered.

"What?"

Zhuoya asked suspiciously, "What did you say?" ”

"When Annan comes back, you remember to secretly stuff him with more money. Fifty pounds...... I think he had eighty otherworldly followers. This money allows 80 people to take the subway, and after four or five trips, it is gone. ”

Ivan said with a straight face: "He may not be embarrassed, but he must not know the fees of the underground world. Bring him two hundred next time...... No, three hundred pound notes.

"Although the winter is poor, it is not so poor that it is necessary for the Grand Duke to be frugal. Remember, Zoya? ”

"Well, I remember."

Zhuo Ya replied with a light smile.