Team villains except me

The autumn nights in Lanier are unusually cold.

The coldness would penetrate directly into the blood through thick clothes, then slowly freeze it, making people lose the ability to think.

Altair kept rubbing his hands.

The beef hotpot for dinner did make him feel warm, but that was two hours ago.

He was now very familiar with the manor and the adults who would enter the manor. He remembered that there were many parents in Yalinxiu, and with Loretta's parents, the number of people in the manor was obviously wrong.

Altair walked towards Arinhu.

Yalinxiu was talking to Loretta, and Altair didn't want to interrupt them. He was a little afraid of Loretta, but it wasn't that he was afraid. He felt that Loretta would not be as tolerant of him as Yalinxiu and Femeiou.

In fact, it was. During the two days of getting along, he deeply realized that Loretta always said what she had in mind, without hiding, pretending, or using euphemisms.

Loretta was like an eagle. More so than he was.

But that would bring a lot of pain. The bullying he felt would be much worse at Loretta's hands, and he was glad countless times that he was not a female eagle.

But he knew Loretta wouldn't think so.

Loretta was like a flying iron. He was like cotton that fell to the ground. He felt that Loretta was very powerful, so he was subconsciously afraid of Loretta.

He took a deep breath and called Yalinxiu softly.

"Yalinxiu... Um, I'm sorry, Loretta. I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation. I wanted to ask, Yalinxiu, are all your parents here? When can we go back?"

Loretta stopped talking. She glanced at Altaïr and said nothing. She hated parting, and she wasn't sure if Felicio and Altaïr would come next week. Without saying goodbye, she turned and went upstairs to find the already drunk Valerie.

Yalinxiu was already used to Loretta's behavior. She turned her head and counted who was still missing.

Irene was there the whole time, Hugh and Fianna came back just in time for dinner, and Spider and Appleroot came back after dinner at Trentsiden...

"Altaïr, we may have to wait a while. My three parents are still in France. They should be on their way."

Yalinxiu wondered what might have happened in France that had tripped up Ellit and the others, and she looked at the moon and let out a breath.

"The weather is getting cold."

Altair nodded.

"Indeed. But it rarely snows in Lanier. When I lived here... one year it snowed heavily. My mom was making a snowman for me, and she was wearing a skirt from here. We were having a snowball fight, and she tripped over the skirt that got in the way.

Dad and I attacked Mom with snowballs. She laughed at first, saying, "Come on, it's not fair to hit her when she's falling." Then she covered her eyes, and the snow on both sides of her face froze with tears.

I didn't understand why. Dad threw the snowball on the ground and said Mom was ruining the fun, and they started arguing. I held the snowball until it melted. At that time, I also blamed Mom for ruining everything on such rare and interesting days.

Altair put his frozen hands in his coat pockets.

"I don't like snow. I dislike it even more...Rainier. Yalinxiu, I don't know how to say it. I'm not great, I don't have that much courage, I really, really hate it here. I feel like I'm always guilty here. I know Loretta is suffering, much more than me. It's not me who made her suffer so much, but I feel guilty.

I probably won’t be back next week.”

Altair lowered his head.

Yalinxiu's voice remained unchanged, still brisk and calm.

"Okay. Altaïr, this is just what I wanted to do, right?"

Altair did not raise his head until Femei woke up from his sleep, rubbed his eyes sleepily and approached him. Altair still had his head down.

Femeiou patted him, his voice a little hoarse.

"What are you standing there for? Yalinxiu's mom and dad are back, and we haven't said goodbye to Loretta yet..."

Femeiou received no response.

She forcefully lifted Altair's head and saw his red nose and eyes.

Femei was stunned, she was a little confused.

"Are you allergic? To spicy food? Or are you cold?"

Altair sniffed and shouted in a muffled voice.

"I'm repenting!"

"Confess what?"

"I am a cowardly, despicable, hateful person... Eagle, Eagle."

"Oh."

Femeiou yawned.

"I see. Hey, Loretta, I was just about to look for you, but it turns out you were with Yalinxiu."

Femmeo dragged Altair over and Altair struggled, but Femmeo was too fast.

Femei'o looked at Loretta and patted her shoulder.

"Take good care of yourself. I know you can do it. I'll come to play with you again next week. I'll bring my favorite toys and we can exchange them. Yalinxiu will come too..."

Altair tightened his grip on Femeiou's hand. Femeiou paused for a moment, then continued.

"Yalinxiu and I are here to play with you. Altair's family is very strict, so he won't be able to come next week, but he will write to you."

Loretta's gaze did not linger on Altair. She looked at Musa who was about to leave, her voice low.

"It's okay without the toys. We might have to do something more complicated next week... and I'm going to need you guys."

That last sentence required some effort. Loretta didn't dare look at Yalinxiu's face as she said it. She tilted her head and saw Norvia and her group, who had just returned from France. She naturally observed their expressions and found that they didn't look good.

She knew what that meant.

Loretta turned her head, her attitude suddenly changed, and her tone became cold and hard.

"Something's going to happen. I don't want you guys coming over next week."

"Then we should come."

Femeiou was not afraid of Loretta's cold face, and her attitude was very firm. She and Loretta were both very sharp in their words, and neither of them gave in.

Yalinxiu did not participate in this confrontation. It would definitely come to Lanier, which was known to Loretta and Femei'o, but it wanted to know what happened to Francie. It ran to Elliott and asked him why he came back so late.

Altaïr stood beside Femei'o, he was almost at his limit. Two different thoughts were tearing at him. He knew that he could not play any role here, but his presence and absence represented different things -

"Stop arguing! You've been arguing for so long and nothing has been achieved! If you're going to do something, do it thoroughly! Loretta, didn't you say you needed us? Fei Meiou, why are you still arguing with Loretta? Just come with Yalinxiu next week!"

Altair screamed hysterically.

"You're all just kids—just like me—why do you have to be so noble?! I'm under so much pressure!"

"What noble or not? Why did you suddenly shout so loudly, Altair? You scared me."

Femeiou covered her ears.

"I've already told you, if you don't want to come, then don't come. Yalinxiu and I won't blame you for this. We like different things and have different personalities, so it's normal to have different choices about something. Didn't we already make this clear before Lanier?"

Altair, we are friends, but that doesn't mean we have to do everything together."

"I object."

Loretta held her chin with her hands, her eyes serious.

On this point, Loretta and Altaïr reached a surprising agreement for the first time.

But this is an unresolved issue, so even when I finally left Lanier, the debate was still not over.

Inside the magic circle, Femeiou was somewhat annoyed and wanted to end this useless argument with her conclusion.

"...I don't want to talk to you anymore. Anyway, I'll come to Lanier next week."

"I'll come too!"

Altair spoke loudly. But the next moment, he fell silent. He regretted it, and everyone could see it.

Arlinxiu approached Altair.

"Altaïr, there's an event at school next week, right? We're a team, and we can't have no members absent. You can't go to Lanier; the schedule doesn't allow it."

Altair responded hesitantly.

"Yeah...right..."

Altair fell silent, and Femeiou also stopped talking.

……

Altaïr's father was still late.

Outside the Rose Mansion, Altair stared blankly at the fiery roses. He felt as if tiny thorns were piercing his heart through his body.

He was uncomfortable—he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He already had a legitimate reason not to go to Rainier. It wasn't that he was a wimp, it was that he had things to do. So why on earth was he still struggling to go to Rainier?

He pursed his lips and his face was pale.

Yalinxiu accompanied him. It looked at Altair's condition, thought for a moment, and asked him if he really liked playing princess games.

Altair nodded subconsciously.

"When did it start?"

"Uh... Yalinxiu, I don't remember. I just like it."

"You love playing princess games. You like to let Femeiou or me be the princess, and you play the knight protecting her. Altair, every game ends with the knight protecting the princess and escaping the kingdom that holds her captive. No matter if the princess escapes her marriage, is captured by a dragon, or is threatened by an enemy kingdom, the story always ends with the knight protecting the princess and escaping her kingdom.

Altaïr, have you had a good talk with your aunt about what happened?"

Altair was stunned.

It was a long time before he found his voice again.

"I did talk about it. I apologized to my mother, and she accepted it. I only now fully realize what I did. I regret it very much, I know... but the damage is already done."

Yalinxiu nodded. It then asked Altaïr.

"You know what my parents are doing? Or what Loretta is thinking about, what she needs us to do."

"I know. I understand. I'm afraid because I know. I'm afraid because I know exactly what the consequences will be if we do this."

"us".

Altair used that word.

Yalinxiu sighed softly.

"Altaïr, there's nothing we can do. Those are matters between adults, aren't they? Even if you go to Lanier, it won't change anything."

There was a long silence.

It lasted so long that Yalinxiu thought this was a sign that the topic was over.

“…What if?”

Altair raised his head, his eyes gradually lighting up.

"What if I can protect you? What if I can make a difference? What if I can see where the mistake is and correct it in time? What if I am the only one missing? What if I can protect the female eagle who is like a mother to me and make up for the damage? Then am I... am I also atonement?"

Yalinxiu was stunned. It didn't realize that Altair was struggling with these thoughts, and these thoughts were a bit too heavy for Yalinxiu.

This was too much for the Altaïr that Yalinxiu knew. He couldn't bear it.

Yalinxiu felt that Altair had been teetering on the brink of collapse for a long time. Now that she thought about it, there were many obvious symptoms.

Femeiou doesn't care about her parents because she was raised in a special way, her logic is self-consistent, and she has a sufficient sense of security. But Altair is different. He has no sense of security, so when his friends all choose to do the same thing, he is afraid of being left behind, afraid that he will be excluded if he doesn't participate.

Moreover, Altair has not seen his mother who works away from home for a long time. The tuition of Brown College is very expensive. Altair's father does not like this school. Even if he liked it before, he certainly doesn't like it now after being called by the class teacher several times.

Altair's tuition is paid by his mother, but Altair lives with his father on a daily basis. No matter how he resists, he will always subconsciously learn from his father.

Yalinxiu had also seen what Altair was like when he faced his father. At that time, Altair was more like... Lanier's eagle.

Altair felt guilty.

He unconsciously learned from his father, but he knew that was wrong, and he felt that it was a betrayal of his mother. But when he entered Rainier, he saw himself more clearly, the eagle of Rainier, and the female eagle oppressed by the eagle.

He felt guilty.

Although Yalinxiu understood what Altair was thinking, it didn't know what to say.

And it doesn't give you much time to think.

Altair's father arrives.

He was a handsome eagle, but his face was full of dejection, and it was obvious that he was not happy with his life.

"Altaïr, my good son, let's go home."

Normally, Altair would have kicked and punched his father in the face for being late. But now, he seemed hesitant. He had just spoken something, and those words became ropes that bound his ankles.

He didn't move. He looked at his father, his fists clenched tightly.

"…You're late. You're always like this. I don't like it, it's a bad habit."

His father was stunned for a moment, then frowned, his eyes filled with disgust.

"You're just like your mother. You make a scene over the smallest things."

"Isn't that good?"

"What? What did you say?"

"Like my mother, isn't that good?"

Altair walked towards his father and said goodbye to Arinth calmly.

"Yalinxiu, if I don't go to class on time tomorrow, please tell Teacher Mia."

"Or, Altair, you can stay at my house today."

Yalinxiu stared at Altair's father closely. She sensed his anger and was worried that Altair would be in danger when he returned home.

But Altair wasn't worried.

"Yalinxiu, I'm an eagle. I won't be in any danger, right, Dad? I'm just worried about being late. If I'm late again, Teacher Mia will come to visit again."

Altair was very much like Loretta at this moment.

Friends influence each other, and unconscious imitation is not limited to the family. Altaïr is imitating Loretta, the Loretta he thinks she is.

Strong, calm, and determined.

Altair looked at Yalinxiu and said his last words before leaving.

"Good night, Arlene. I'll be at Rainier next week, for sure."