Snow Burial: Secret Love Poems from Winter

With Star's accidental death, the war between Baiwan Territory and its neighbors came to an end, and all the fighting on the western border ceased within a week, leaving only a large piece of lifeless land that had been scorched by the flames of war.

Norlins was writing a letter to Karlan when he received the express from Baiwanling.He originally planned to let the courier bring a bottle of fruit wine from Julu Town by the way, but he was told that he was invited to Baiwan Territory to participate in the public ceremony where the empire officially authorized the new lord of Baiwan Territory.

For Karlan, this ceremony was almost a desolate demonstration and allegiance: Years of rebellion and internal strife had weakened the authority of the empire to the extreme, and the magnificent palace and central council surrounded by tall walls and moats were useless.Except for Baiwan, who engraved "Allegiance to the Empire" into his bloodline, no other new lord specially invited imperial envoys, even if it was just to show a little formal respect for imperial power.Just like when Norlins succeeded the lord, he was only sent to the Juhu Territory via the empire after the ceremony, and as a feudal lord, he submitted a report document to the nominal suzerain country.

This may be the busiest time in recent years at various checkpoints in Baiwan.Even the forces that had previously fought against the White Bay collar received an invitation letter from Karlan. The carriages decorated in different styles passed through the plain avenue covered in the first snow in the Northland, like stepping on a soft white blanket.Norlins sat in the carriage and lifted a corner of the door curtain with his saber, and the cold air belonging to the extreme north poured in, and some hot emotions that were stirring in his mind immediately calmed down.

Knowlins asked himself three questions: what Karlan had done; what he was expecting; and where their relationship was headed.He planned to ask Karlan the first question directly; as for the answers to the last two, Norlins had to find out by himself.

This may be the most winter-like moment in Neverwinter: ice is still hanging on the thick stone wall, but colorful flags of the territories are lined up under the wall, and the red carpet is spread along the main road towards the castle, symbolizing the old days of the empire. The glorious golden iris banner hangs high on the top of the tower.What startled the mules and horses in the freight station was no longer the low-pitched horn, but the brisk tunes of the lute and tambourine—not only the nobles, caravans, and even some small businessmen did not miss this opportunity. The lingua franca is intertwined like silk threads, bringing rare noise and prosperity to Baiwanling.

The auditorium in Snow Lion Castle is another solemn scene.

The dome of the auditorium hangs high, and the gods' eyebrows are lowered on the old giant murals. It is impossible to tell whether it is compassion or indifference.The black used to pay homage to Star, the blood red used in Baiwan celebrations, and the golden used to symbolize the empire intertwine. The occasional serious or perfunctory conversations of distinguished guests came to an abrupt end with the sound of ceremony and music.

Like the other invited lords, Norlins sat in the audience seat, and the hot wind from the brazier brought the scent of perfume from the female guests.He observed the expressions of the people around him—either devoutly focused, or absent-minded, and Norlins thought it would be easy to judge whether there was loyalty or conspiracy buried deep under similar expressions—he was good at it.

The well-dressed imperial envoy stood in front of the baptismal stand, behind him was the statue of God Isola, his wings spread out like a barrier; in front of him was the red carpet extending towards the entrance of the auditorium, and the soldiers of the White Bay Lord's personal guard were fully armed and stood on both sides, Heavy armor and ceremonial swords are as silent as tombstones.

Karlan walked in slowly.The Baiwan soldiers saluted him with swords in unison, and the metal made a sudden sound, which shocked all the guests present.

He was wearing a simple but exquisite Baiwan dress, and his steps were calm and capable like a soldier.The deep gaze that looked straight ahead without moving aside, the iron sword at the waist that Starr had held for several years, and the dangling snow lion family crest on his chest, these points basically constituted the entire impression of the new lord on outsiders.Despite the blue eye sockets from fatigue and the unhealthy pallor of the skin, in the eyes of the "unique taste" Norlins, Karlan at this moment almost embodies an unreasonable beauty.

After finally taking his eyes off Karlan, Norlins realized that behind the protagonist of the ceremony was a boy from Baiwan who also had short light blond hair and was wearing a formal suit.The child's facial features were also somewhat similar to Karlan's, and could almost be regarded as the "young version" of the latter. Perhaps the most obvious difference was the boy's bewildered expression.

As usual in the ceremony, Karlan stood in front of the special envoy of the empire, knelt down on one knee, and waited for the special envoy to put on the lion-headed scepter given to him by the imperial envoy.When he felt the weight of the scepter through the leather glove with his open palm, Karlan suddenly felt his throat was filled with thorns, and the pungent tingling forced him to close his eyes.His father's cold body, his mother's desperate wailing, Starr's flesh and blood—those vague images, together with the pain and emptiness after revenge, hit Karlan's heart like a heavy hammer.

Karlan tried to calm his breathing, and clenched the heavy scepter in his hand.

So, when people were busy applauding hypocritically or sincerely, only Norlins saw a blur of tears flashing from the corner of Karlan's eyes.

As the guests left the auditorium one after another, Norlins walked very slowly.He saw Karlan standing outside the auditorium, talking with the two white bay collar ministers in Old Imperial Language.The boy who looked very similar to Karlan was standing aside, staring at the crystal clear ice hanging on the eaves above his head.Baiwan soldiers consciously formed a circle around the new lord and the others to separate those curious guests who wanted to get in touch with Karlan.

"Karlan." After the conversation was over and they were about to leave, Norlins called the Lord of Baiwan by the name through the crowd.He immediately got weird looks from the guards.

Karlan glanced at him, but did not deliberately avoid contact between the two.Instead, he gently pushed away the guards in front of him, and walked to a position less than half a step away from Norlins. "Do you also want to revise the peace treaty, or do you have any diplomatic proposals?"

Norlins spread his hands and answered frankly, "No."

"I'm going to be very busy today."

"I know."

Karlan stared into his eyes and was silent for a few seconds before whispering, "Meet me at the north gate of Neverwinter before sunrise tomorrow."

After all, he took the boy who had just changed his interest from the ice hanging to the soldier's helmet, and led his confidant ministers through the crowd, and walked to the carriage parked outside the auditorium without looking back.Norlins watched his back disappear behind the heavy door curtain of the carriage, and what he thought of was still the water in his eyes when the other party took the scepter just now.

The sunrise in Baiwan in winter is very late, and the residents here have changed their work and rest habits because of this.Seeing that the sky was turning pale, Norlins packed his bags and went out alone—Karlan made safety promises to the visiting leaders, and Norlins was no exception.On the empty streets, apart from the guards waiting everywhere, the merchants with stores just started to yawn and tidy up the counters, while the open-air vendors gathered their sleeves, held the hand stoves, pushed the small items to their proper positions, and exhaled. The white gas clouded their faces.

The high-end hotel where Norlins stayed is very close to the north gate.After a short walk, you can see the city wall and tower at the end of the road.The city gate has not been opened yet; there are more guards at the gate than before, some of them are carrying heavy swords, while those standing on the city wall are carrying longbows or guns.

Karlan and his personal guards stood by the city gate, and there were several well-dressed war horses beside the manger.Seeing that Norlins appeared on time, Karlan gestured to the guards.With the loud noise of the friction between the gears and the iron chains in the city wall, the heavy city gate rose little by little, and the north wind wrapped in snow particles poured in like a flood, making Norlins shudder and wrapped his animal skin tightly robe.

Karlan, who grew up here since he was a child, is obviously used to this severe cold weather.Norlins noticed that Karlan was wearing a hunting attire that was very similar to the hunting attire he wore when he entered the snowy forest of Juhu Ling, except for a simple and capable black cloak; The saber I saw was much lighter.Karlan gave some instructions to the accompanying guards, then walked towards the prepared war horses, and signaled Norlins to choose his temporary mount with his eyes.When the two jumped on their horses and were about to leave the city, the captain of the guard grabbed Karlan's reins in a very awkward way. Karlan whispered a few words, but the captain finally let go of his hand despite his reluctance.

After walking out of the city gate for about [-] meters, Norlins broke the silence.He looked at Karlan in front of him, and said jokingly, "Don't you think it's dangerous to leave us alone?"

Karlan didn't look back: "It's you who is unarmed now."

"I see that the captain of the guard just now was very worried about your safety."

"He has served the Snow Lion family for nearly 30 years, and this reaction is normal."

"So, is he loyal to Star, you, or the name and honor of this family?"

Karlan finally turned his head, his eyes were facing most of Norlins's face covered by the scarf and collar.

Norlings decided to change the subject to a less embarrassing subject.