第02章 夜與自動手記人偶

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Everything went around.

一切在循環往復。

From past to present and from present to future. The dead bodies that decayed within the soil would dissolve into the earth, and from the earth, too, would new living creatures be born. Within a few hours’ time, curtains made of stars and nightly shades would be covered over by curtains in the colors of dawn.

從過去到現在，從現在到未來。在土壤中腐爛的屍體會溶解在地球上，新的生物也會從地球上誕生。幾個小時後，由星星和黑夜製成的窗簾就會被黎明顏色的窗簾覆蓋住。

People went around as well.

人們仍然匆匆而行

Children would be born, muster out their voices, start walking and, once they became aware of their own selves, their stories would begin. A cycle of discovering passion, coming to know love, stopping to be children and, upon sympathizing with other families, birthing offspring just as their parents had done. A cycle of learning about the world, spreading information, teaching their knowledge to younglings without sparing any of it away and generating more such younglings. A cycle in which someone’s story was someone else’s encouragement, and those who were encouraged would conceive stories of their own.

孩子們會出生，大聲發出聲音，開始走路，一旦他們意識到自己，他們的故事就會開始。一個發現激情，瞭解愛，停下來做孩子，在同情其他家庭後，像父母一樣生後代的循環。一個學習世界的循環，傳播信息，向年輕人傳授他們的知識，併產生更多這樣的年輕人。在一個循環中，別人的故事是別人的鼓勵，那些被鼓勵的人會構思自己的故事。

Everything went around.

一切仍在循環往復。

There was one cycle here. It was the story of a meager cycle that likely could happen anywhere in the world.

這是一個週期。這是一個在世界上任何地方都可能發生的微薄循環的故事。

A man picked up a wild beast from a small island to which he had drifted. It was a beautiful beast, but it had been stocked with skills long before coming to his hands. Skills for slaughtering people with ease and seeking submission.

一個人從他漂到的一個小島上撿起了一隻野獸。這是一頭美麗的野獸，但早在他來到他手中之前，它就已經充滿了技能。輕鬆屠殺人和尋求服從的技能。

Their first meeting was terrible. His underling had attempted to lay his hands on the beast’s beauty. As if it were a given, the beast had killed his many subordinates, leaving only one person. That was him. Granting him both disaster and salvation at the same time, the beast had sought subservience in regards to the man.

他們的第一次見面都很糟糕。他的下屬曾試圖把手放在野獸的美貌上。好像是給予，野獸殺死了他的許多下屬，只留下一個人。那就是他。野獸同時給予他災難和救恩，並尋求對這個人的屈從。

The man fled around the island where all but himself had been murdered, but gave in and accepted the beast. The beast was useful, but also an existence that he could not handle. Be it morning, noon or night, his head was troubled with the beast, his heart unable to calm down.

那人逃到了除了他自己被殺以外的所有人都被謀殺的島上，但他屈服了，接受了這隻野獸。這隻野獸很有用，但他無法應付。無論是早晨、中午還是晚上，他的頭都被野獸所困擾，他的心無法平靜下來。

Essentially, he was a man who did not want to be shackled by anything. After all, he had a past of being forced into submission by his household and parents. He had escaped from his responsibilities and his home, jumping off into the sea. The man, who had been born in a family that bore the name of a flower, had run away and gained freedom.

“If I may offer my opinion, firstly, I could act as a decoy—”

迪特福利特·布幹維利亞，萊登的海軍大佐，布幹維利亞的長子——愛國的民族英雄，曾撿起薇爾莉特·伊芙加登並把她帶到這個國家——正用手遮住他的眼睛，由於有太多在他的盤子裏。一點點的沉默和黑暗使他鬆了一口氣，但有人的哭泣，一個男人責備它的聲音，以及一個人被殘忍地踢和滾下來的聲音，把他拖回到了現實中。

一切在循環往復。

在一個他們不應該在的地方，這兩個不應該在一起的人跪在地上。

——We can leave that for later; gotta overthrow this situation first.

“What would you like to do?”

“平民們正陷入困境。”

從鑲嵌着彩色玻璃的窗戶上閃爍着一盞橙色的光。隨着日落反映在精心設計的室內裝飾上，這個地方本身看起來就像一件藝術品。

An orange light shone from the window inlaid with stained glass. With the sunset reflected on the elaborately designed interior decoration, the place itself looked like a single work of art.

And then, she finally let out a breath. Dietfried hated himself for being remotely relieved that she had safely started breathing again, was what he thought.

迪特福利特凝視地望着他以前的僕人。這個女人和他們第一次見面時相比，她的外表改變了許多，那是一種耀眼的冷靜，在這樣緊張的情況下顯得更加明顯。迪特福利特想，她幾乎就像一個冰雕。

He yearned for it – for a freedom that no one could steal from him – more than anything. Even if he had to cast away his little brother for it. Therefore, the man had done the same in the beast’s case. The one who mattered most to him was himself. He wanted to break free from that horror. Most likely, he had cut off from himself a child in need of salvation.

“What would you like to do?”

Many problems. Even though she had not wished for it, she had been born this way. Under a star that attracted disasters.

It was evening. A time when people were returning to their homes.

薇爾莉特的藍眼睛眨了眨。

似乎有鐘聲迴響

Everything went around.

Unexpected situations – situations in which they could not make a false move even if they were on their own, let alone in the presence of so many civilians – were responsible for this. On top of it, Dietfried was also saddled with someone that he had to protect despite not wanting to. Of course he would feel like clicking his tongue at it.

——Even though you used to stink like a wild beast…

He ran and ran from her, yet they would end up meeting, thus Dietfried had started to think that it might be some sort of divine revelation at this point. Telling him to face the girl that he had thrown away.

“………………………..”

Determined to fight this reality, Dietfried then turned his gaze towards the sight that spread out before his eyes. Women, men, elderly people – everyone was crouching on the floor with guns pointed at them regardless of anything. Obviously, the same applied to Dietfried and Violet.

剛纔一直堅持和他說話的女人現在已經安靜下來，像他告訴她的那樣一點也不呼吸。薇爾莉特·伊芙加登

Dietfried had once told his brother that the beast could become a siren. He had meant to say so including all sorts of matters. This young woman named Violet was a creature that God had created by mistake and had not been born under a good star. When one was by her side, there were many of them.

“Captain,” it whispered, as if to tickle the man’s ears. “Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

“Yes.”

Silence.

Violet was still, hand on her brooch. He someway guessed that it was given to her by his younger brother. He felt like clicking his tongue. This girl might become the worst-ever wife whose hand his most beloved little brother was going to take.

Dietfried looked fixatedly at his former servant. The woman, whose appearance had transfigured considerably in comparison to when they had first met, bore a radiantly shining cold beauty, which was even more conspicuous under such tense circumstances. She was almost like an ice sculpture, Dietfried thought.

迪特福利特決心與這一現實作鬥爭，然後他把目光轉向了眼前蔓延的景象。女人、男人、老人——每個人都蹲在地板上，用槍指着他們。顯然，這一點也適用於迪特福利特和薇爾莉特。

也許他們被認爲是戀人，因爲即使在他們彼此親近時，也沒人說什麼。

“You’re a siren.”

Dietfried Bougainvillea, a naval captain of Leidenschaftlich, eldest son of the Bougainvillea – a household of patriotic national heroes – and the man who had picked up Violet Evergarden in the past and brought her to this country, was covering his eyes with his hands due to having too much on his plate. The little bit of silence and darkness had brought him relief, but someone’s sobbing, the voice of a man reproaching it and the sound of a person being brutally kicked and tumbling down dragged him back to reality.

一切……

A voice that sounded like bells echoed.

——啊，神啊，我想

“你想做什麼？”

——It goes round. All of it.

——即使你曾經像野獸…

“……………………”

In a place they were not supposed to be at, the two who were not supposed to be together were kneeling on the floor in resignation.

薇爾莉特仍將手放在胸針上。他有點猜到這是他弟弟給她的。他的舌尖發麻。這個女孩可能會成爲最壞的妻子，牽着他最心愛的弟弟的手。

“………………”

——O God, I want to

爲了把這種可怕的心情吐出來，他深吸了一口氣。他覺得自己已經好轉了一點，但當他睜開眼睛望着旁邊的女人時，這種不愉快的感覺又回來了。一勺不適、拒絕和恐懼都被扔進了迪特福利特的情緒的鍋中，煮沸了。然而，最突出的感覺是別的東西。

“是的。”（好想笑得一說）

“你想做什麼？”

那天是晚上。當人們回家的時候。

沉默。

“…………”

他從她身邊跑來跑去，但他們最終會相遇，因此迪特福利特開始認爲在這一點上這可能是某種神聖的啓示。告訴他面對那個他扔掉了的女孩。

Perhaps they were thought to be lovers, as no one said anything even while they stayed close to each other.

It was supposed to be. The place where the person who called out so insistently and the person who intentionally ignored her were in was an art gallery that just recently had its interior and exterior finished.

“是不是是這樣，因爲之前的影響，你的聽力已經……”

“Be quiet, monster. Don’t keep repeating the same thing over and over. Don’t breathe either. I’m thinking right now.”

“我是在開玩笑，好好呼吸吧。”

她現在聞起來卻像花。

The woman who had been talking to him so insistently until a moment ago was now quiet just and not letting out a single breath as he had told her. Violet Evergarden.

Violet’s blue eyes blinked with a snap.

Everything.

它本來應該是這樣的。如此堅持呼喚的人和故意無視她的人所在的地方是一個藝術畫廊，最近剛剛完成裝修。

“嘿，你真的停止呼吸了嗎？”

“Captain.”

He had a severe headache. Whether it was caused by his anxiety or his injury, he had no idea. He put a hand on the back of his head and examined it, but only a bit of blood had come out.

“大佐。”

“…………………………..”

“大佐，”它低聲說，好像是在撓那人的耳朵。“迪特福利特·布幹維利亞大佐。”

“我想問你是否有計劃。”

“安靜點，怪物。不要一遍又一遍地重複同樣的事情。也不要呼吸。我現在就在想。”

“我的小弟弟毀了一個火車站，只是爲了讓你還活着；你是一個徹頭徹尾的災星。我不喜歡你，但我的精神穩定現在被破壞了，我感覺到你的存在所帶來的危害和影響。在破壞事物和造成問題方面，你是無與倫比的。”

“迪特福利特·布幹維利亞大佐。。”

——我們可以留給以後；必須先推翻這種局面。

“好像是。”

“I was joking; breathe.”

“As if.”

“I would like to ask if you have a plan, by any chance.”

“你是個災星。”

“我鬆了一口氣。那麼，我想問一下你是否有一個計劃。”

——…you turned out just as I’d imagined.

意想不到的情況——即使他們自己也不能採取錯誤的行動，更不用說在這麼多平民面前的情況下了。最重要的是，迪特福利特還揹着一個他必須保護儘管他不想保護的人。他的舌尖當然會發麻。

“Could it be that, because of the impact earlier, your hearing has…”

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“如果我能提出我的意見，首先，我可以充當一個誘餌--”

She now smelled of nothing but flowers.

She did not seem to be in agony, but her figure as she diligently obeyed made Dietfried feel uneasy.

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“…………………”

——它運行。所有這些都。

In order to somehow spit such awful mood out of his body, he took deep breaths. He felt that he had become a little better, but the unpleasant sensation returned once he opened his eyes and cast his gaze at the woman next to him. A spoon of discomfort, rejection and fear each was thrown into Dietfried’s emotional vessels, set on fire and boiled up. However, the most prominent feeling was something else.

迪特福利特曾經告訴他的弟弟，這頭野獸可能會變成災星。他本來是想這麼說的，包括各種各樣的事情。這個名叫薇爾莉特的年輕女人是上帝錯誤創造的生物，在厄運籠罩中誕生。當一個人站在她身邊時，他們有很多人。

“My little brother destroyed a train station just to keep you alive; you’re a siren through and through. I’m not into you, but my mental stability is wrecked right now, and I’m sensing the harmfulness and influence that your existence brings about in that. You’re unmatched when it comes to breaking things and causing problems.”

“Damn troublemaker.”

“Hey, did you really stop breathing?”

正文開始

從本質上，他是一個不想被任何東西束縛的人。畢竟，他有一段被家人和父母強迫屈服的過去。他逃離了自己的職責和家，跳進了海里。這個人出生在一個以花命名的家族裏，他逃跑了，獲得了自由。

他很頭痛。但不知道是由於他的焦慮還是受傷造成的。他用一隻手放在後腦勺上，檢查了一下，但只流出了一點血。

“I am relieved. Then, I would like to ask if you have a plan.”

“該死的麻煩精。”

他最渴望一種沒有人能從他身上偷來的自由。即使他不得不爲此拋棄了他的小弟弟。因此，這個人在野獸的情況中也做了同樣的事情。對他來說，最重要的是他自己。他想擺脫那種恐怖。最有可能的是，他已經切斷了一個需要救贖的孩子。

“平民們正陷入困境。”

她似乎並不痛苦，但她努力服從的身材使迪特福利特感到不安。

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

——…正如我想象的那樣。

有許多問題。雖然她不希望這樣做，但她是這樣出生的。在災星下。

然後，她吸了一口氣。迪特弗裏德憎恨自己，因爲她又安全地開始呼吸而稍稍鬆了一口氣。（看不懂qwq）

“Hey, you.”

“喂，你。”

“Yes.”

“是的。”

“From now on, follow my orders. Don’t act on your own accord.”

“從現在開始，就聽從我的命令吧。不要自己行事。”

“All right.”

“是。”

“I’m gonna save the civilians. It’s my duty. There’s no helping it, so I’m counting you in that math too… No idea what my little brother would do if he found out I’d let you die. Even if it weren’t on purpose, if anything that could kill you happened under these circumstances, I really have no way of knowing what he’d do. He’d probably hate me.”

“我要拯救這些平民。這是我的職責。沒有什麼援助，所以我也在算你……不知道如果我的小弟弟發現我會讓你死，他會怎麼做。即使不是故意的，如果在這種情況下發生了什麼可以殺死你的事情，我真的不知道他會做什麼。他可能會討厭我的。”

“No, Captain, he—”

“不，大佐，他——”

“Have some self-awareness, Monster. My foolish younger brother blew up a train station to let you live. This fact did turn into a subject of teasing towards Gil for no matter how much time passes from now, but if you think about it on normal terms, it’s out of the ordinary. That’s the way you’ve changed him. Damn witch…”

“有一些自我意識，怪物。我愚蠢的弟弟炸燬了一個火車站讓你生活。這個事實確實變成了經過多少時間對吉爾伯特的嘲笑，但如果你從正常的角度來考慮，這是不尋常的。這就是你改變他的方式。該死的女巫……”

She was the tool that he had found and that used to exist for his sake. A woman who used to be a dog with no name. An orphan whom he had picked up from a solitary island, brought back with him, attempted to get the most out of yet was unable to, and then threw away.

她是他找到的工具，過去也是爲了他而存在的工具。一個曾經是一隻沒有名字的狗的女人。他從一個孤獨的島上收養的一個孤兒，被帶回來，試圖擺脫最大的努力，然後被扔掉了。

Asset.Girl soldier. Automatic assassination doll. Witch.

資產，少女兵，自動殺人人偶，女巫。（半神？）

——Even if I don’t want to, for now, I gotta protect this thing and take it home.

Before the emerald eyes that Dietfried possessed, of a hue different from his younger brother’s, there was a young female Auto-Memories Doll. The reason why he had not recognized her from the back was likely that her golden hair was slovenly loose.

“I shall guard you, no matter what happens,” Violet declared with resolution, like a knight. “I will obey your orders to the best of my abilities, but if I judge it to be dangerous, I shall take action with your safeguarding as the maximum priority.”

“我一定會保護你，把你安全地帶回少佐去。請不要離開我的身邊，大佐。”

命運過去了，增加了一次機會，作爲最後點睛的最佳調味品。畢竟，就在這一刻，薇爾莉特·伊芙加登和迪特福利特·布幹維利亞遭到了強盜和武器的襲擊。

那天早上的天氣充滿了陽光——初夏是萊登沙夫利奇的典型表現。早起的女士們在黎明時分開張的麪包店裏排起了長隊，小鳥們在商店周圍飛來飛去，喫麪包屑。有一家咖啡館，離一家很受歡迎的麪包店有三家商店，以提供花卉茶而聞名，它的招牌女孩準備開業。如果有人繼續往前走，就有一家銀行，在該銀行的周圍，有一條主要的街道，兩旁是大型商店。

“我是去拜訪上校的。”

“你在幹什麼，怪物？”

一個帶有機構徽章的蠟封密封的信封。顧客們一個接接地到達，從裏面收到邀請。對於一個受邀者數量有限的開幕前派對，有很多人。選出的艾西亞員工很少有一系列活動。

因爲她是個怪物。

⁂

Violet Evergarden.

Among the guests invited to Artemisia, a foreign body completely unrelated to this world was mixed in.

“I’ll save you, so you save me too, Witch.”

“喂！”

First, a scornful laugh, and then a head start with a verbal attack. She needed to put up a defense line. After all, this girl was formerly a weapon. An automatic assassination doll.

他還是個十幾歲的孩子，他的外表也可以被認爲是一個女孩。盯着他看了一會兒後，他應該得救的感覺會浮出水面。因爲男孩的面部表情看起來幾乎是在和觀衆進行眼神交流。但這並可能實現。他陷入了畫面之中。在這一邊，沒有人能做任何事。看完一眼就不知道該怎麼辦——那就是那種照片。

當然，艾西亞畫廊展示了其所有者的作品，但它也有來自萊登內外藝術家的作品。有一排排來自不知名的年輕藝術家的作品，他們對主人也很感興趣，儘管她也致力於培養新的人才。

“無論發生什麼事，我都要保護你，”薇爾莉特像個騎士一樣下定決心地說。“我會盡我的能力服從你的命令，但如果我認爲這是危險的，我將採取行動，優先保護你的安全。”（薇姐nb）

Fate went around, adding a chance meeting as the best seasoning for a finishing touch. After all, at this very moment, Violet Evergarden and Dietfried Bougainvillea were being attacked by robbers and had weapons thrust at them.

在被邀請到艾西亞的客人中，一個與這個世界完全無關的外國人混在一起。

薇爾莉特·伊芙加登

迪特福利特很害怕。這個女孩太可怕了。

“我上次給你惹來了麻煩。”

他知道她所做的事情。他知道她殺了誰。他還回憶起他過去是如何對待她的，並告訴自己這也沒關係。

“我在看那些畫，大佐。”

Suddenly, a voice called to the woman from behind. A rock thrown into the quiet atmosphere. A low tone that cut through the dimness of the room.

“What’re you doing, Monster?”

An envelope closed with a wax seal bearing the establishment’s crest. Customers arrived one after another with the invitation taken from inside of it at hand. For a pre-opening party with a limited number of invitees, there was a large amount of people. The elect few of Artemisia’s employees were in a flurry of activity.

薇爾莉特毫無表情。然而，只有她的手迅速尋找她的翡翠胸針，並撫摸了一下。

People were mostly heading towards the famous artists, so the woman had been all by herself on that spot until just now. The man who had showed up a bit late was coincidentally the creator of that fantastical painting, and found himself talking to the woman who had stopped in front of his art. That was an extremely natural encounter for a pair. If their positions, circumstances and everything else were different, something might have been born between them. It did not have to be romantic love, just something – something else that “the two of them originally had”.

薇爾莉特知道她一旦獲准呼吸就可以說話，於是她發表了自己的意見：“不。”她直接這樣做了，沒有任何約束。“不，那是我的工作，大佐。吉爾伯特上校愛你。”

——O God, I want to

However, Dietfried still had something that he wanted to say.

艾西亞畫廊將成爲萊登舍夫利奇新奇藝術形式誕生的地方，定於今天舉行一場開幕前派對，只有有關人士參加。畫廊的工作人員從早上開始就開始清理畫廊的內部和前面的人行道。

“You, paintings? Can you understand them?”

這些話在他的腦子裏徘徊着。這些話是他童年時向他在某個時刻遇到的人祈禱的——可能是在他臨終的時刻。現在回想起來，這是一個愚蠢、不成熟和無助的願望，但他當時對此是認真的。

迪特福利特眨了眨眼睛。從早些時候開始，那些綠色的寶石就一直盯着薇爾莉特，好像他們會把她吸進去。那是與他弟弟有不同的綠色寶石。那些被震驚包圍的綠色寶石，反映了薇爾莉特嚴肅的目光。

突然，一個聲音從後面呼喚着那個女人。一塊被扔進了寧靜的大氣中的岩石。一種穿透房間昏暗光線的低調。

“That’s my line,” Dietfried said while nonetheless wanting to kill Violet.

“這對我來說非常不愉快，但我會採取行動，保障你的生活是首要任務。不是爲了你，是爲了我的小弟弟。”（真·傲嬌）

中午時分，一名爲那天受僱的餐廳員工來拜訪他，帶來了葡萄酒、零食和餐桌。至於盤子，有兩種類型：已經準備好的，另一種是借主人住宅的廚房製作的。由於喫飯不是主要的重點，準備工作僅僅足以讓即將到來的客人不要感到餓。

He was still a teenager and his appearance could also be considered that of a girl. After staring at him for a while, the feeling that he was supposed to be saved would surface. Because the boy had a facial expression that almost looked like he was making eye contact with the viewer as he fell. But this could not come true. He was sinking in the picture. No one on this side could do anything. One would not know what to do with themselves after looking at it – it was that kind of picture.

她是迪特弗裏德唯一害怕的女人。如果他遇到了其他人，他的情緒就不會被如此混亂。

通常，他們的工作是平靜地推薦藝術物品。因此，他們一開始就無法掩飾自己對接待這麼多遊客的困惑。然而，如果人們看到客人們正在被招待着，他們會怎麼樣呢？欣賞這些藝術品，看起來好像玩得很開心。一看到這一點，員工們就能夠深入理解它了。那就是“什麼，所以事情和往常一樣”。當顧客完全熟悉畫廊內部時，員工們能夠輕鬆地露出微笑。

These words wandered about in his head. They were words that he had prayed in his childhood to the one that he would meet at some point – probably in his dying moments. Thinking back on it now, it had been a foolish, immature and helpless wish, but he was serious about it at the time.

“That’s awfully unpleasant for me, but I’ll take action by considering your life to be the top priority. Not for you. For my little brother.”

The moment the woman turned around, the space resounded with a loud squeak. It actually had not resounded, but at the very least, Dietfried heard the thump of his own heartbeat, which gave his whole body goosebumps. He was enveloped in a strange sensation, as if the blood inside him were flowing backwards. One of the things he had once evaded in his life was standing there.

“嘿，等着。”

“這是我的臺詞，”迪特福利特說，但他還是想殺死薇爾莉特。

“I will definitely protect you and bring you to Major safely. Please do not leave my side, Captain.”

“I shall see myself out. Captain, please take your time.”

Normally, their job was to calmly recommend artistic goods. Therefore, they were unable to hide their bewilderment at handling so many visitors at first. Nevertheless, if one looked at the guests being entertained, how were they? Appreciating the artworks, looking like they were having a blast. Upon seeing this, the employees were able to understand deep down. That “what, so things are the same as usual”. By the time that the customers were completely familiar with the gallery’s interior, the employees were able to show smiles with a little bit of ease.

He knew the things she had done. He knew whom she had killed. And he also recalled how he used to treat her, telling himself that it was all right.

那是一個女人。那是一個很漂亮的人。從欣賞的角度來看，如果她是這些藝術品之一，那就沒有什麼好抱怨的了。她穿着一件緞帶裙，雪白得像一朵夏日盛開的花。她那長而柔軟彎曲的金色頭髮一直延伸到腰間。也許她是剛下班來的，一隻手拿着一個很重的手推車袋。“啪嗒，啪嗒，”每次一步，她的可可棕色靴子都撞在大理石地板上。一貫的寫薇姐的美···

The morning weather was overflowing with sunlight on that day – typical of Leidenschaftlich in early summer. Early rising ladies formed queues in the bakeries that opened at dawn and little birds flew about the shops’ surroundings to receive breadcrumbs. There was a café three stores away from one of the popular bakeries, famous for serving floral teas, its signboard girl preparing to open it. If one went further ahead, there was a bank, and round said bank, there was a main street lined with large-scale shops.

爲了達到這個階段，當萊登迎來早晨時，事情就開始了。這可能會追溯得太早，無法澄清，但這一切確實是從黎明開始就開始了。

首先是輕蔑的笑聲，然後是口頭攻擊。她需要建立一條防線。畢竟，這個女孩以前是一件武器。一個自動殺人人偶。

”喂。“

He had not had a chance to see her after she had become a grown-up ever since the incident during the Flying Letters. Only people who had great amount of interaction with each other would be able to tell such a thing just by looking at someone’s back.

女人一轉過身來，空間就發出了一聲響亮的吱吱聲。它實際上並沒有迴響，但至少，迪特弗裏德聽到了他自己心跳的砰砰聲，這使他的全身都起了雞皮疙瘩。他被一種奇怪的感覺包圍着，彷彿他裏面的血在向後流動。他一生中曾經逃避過的一件事就是站在那裏。

一幅異想天開的幻想的畫。這是一個冬天的大海嗎？它描繪了各種各樣的東西掉入黑暗和冰冷的水中。一張懷錶，一根羽毛，一張牀，一把刀，一朵白花和一把椅子。它們都磨損了，部件也損壞了。乍一看，人們就不知道它在表達什麼。只有在中間畫的男孩似乎穿透了觀衆。

Understanding that she had received permission to talk once she had received permission to breathe, Violet gave her own opinion, “No.” She did it directly, without any restraint. “No, that is my job, Captain. Major… Lord Gilbert loves you.”

——啊，上帝啊，我想

看着這個女孩讓他想起了自己令人尷尬的過去。

Around noon, a restaurant employee hired for the sake of that day had visited, bringing in wine, snacks and table sets. As for the dishes, there were two types: the ones that had already been prepared and the ones that would be made by borrowing the kitchen of the owner’s residence, which had been built on the gallery’s top floor. Since eating was not the main focus, the preparations were merely enough for the upcoming guests not to feel hungry.

“I was visiting Major.”

As evening came, the inside of Artemisia began to speed up with haste. If there were anyone in command of such a scenery, they would likely be asserting with a baton: “hurry”, “faster”, “elegantly”.

“Hey, wait.”

“Hey.”

She walked while observing every artwork one by one. Idyllic landscape paintings, abstract paintings that looked like silver ink spilled on pure-white paper, oil paintings in which the people seemed as if they would move at any moment. Glassworks and ceramics that one would be very afraid even to look at from nearby. At first, the exhibition was of works from artists renowned within the country, but the small hall of its latter half integrated displays from artists who were still nameless. The woman stopped in front of one such work.

“對不起；是我畫的。這畫有什麼問題嗎？”

薇爾莉特已經決定從這個地方離開，並將其付諸行動。她的結論是，這將是雙方的和平解決辦法，並將確保彼此的生存。

“給我一件外套”，“喝得不夠”，盤子在什麼地方壞了。“主人在哪裏？”，“被客人們抓住了”。“沒有人可以給我們一些指示”，“哦，好吧”——就像這樣，幕後的事情陷入了混亂。

Because she was a monster.

一個安排第二天開放的美術館已經在大街上建起來了。它的名字是艾西亞畫廊。它的主人是主人，他是一位藝術家。

“Hey.”

An art gallery arranged to open the next day had been erected on the main street. Its name was Artemisia. It bore the name of its owner, who was an artist.

It was a woman. A beautiful one at that. From an appreciative viewpoint, there would be nothing to complain about if she were one of the artworks. She was clad in a ribbon-tie one-piece dress, snow-white as a flower in full bloom on a summer day. Her long, softly curved golden hair extended to her waist. Perhaps she had come straight from work, as she held a heavy-looking trolley bag on one hand. “Click, click,” knocked her cocoa-brown boots against the marble flooring each time she took a step.

Violet was expressionless. However, her hand alone promptly searched for her emerald brooch and squeezed it.

The Artemisia Gallery, which was to become a place where novel forms of Leidenschaftlich’s art would be born, was scheduled to hold a pre-opening party today, attended only by the people concerned. The gallery’s staff had started cleaning its interior and the sidewalk in front of it from morning.

自從飛行信事件發生後，她長大成人，他就沒有機會見到她。只有那些與彼此有大量互動的人才能通過看着別人的背來說出這樣的事情。

.

For the exchange between the two to reach this stage, things had first begun when morning visited Leidenschaftlich. This might be going back much too far in time for a clarification, but it all had indeed started since daybreak.

夜幕降臨，艾西亞的內部開始迅速加速。如果有人指揮這樣的風景，他們可能會用警棍宣稱：“快點”、“更快”、“優雅”。

“Excuse me; I was the one who painted this. Is there anything wrong with this painti…”

迪特福利特與他弟弟不同的翡翠眼睛前，有一個年輕的自動書記人偶。他沒有從後面認出她，原因可能是她的金色頭髮蓬鬆了。

人們大多在走向著名的藝術家，所以這個女人一直獨自一人。那個遲到稍晚的男人恰好是那幅奇幻畫的創作者，他發現自己在和那個在他的藝術前停下腳步的女人說話。這對一對情侶來說是一次非常自然的相遇。如果他們的處境、環境和其他一切都不同，他們之間可能會產生一些東西。它不一定是浪漫的愛情，而是“他們倆最初擁有的東西“。

Violet had decided to retreat from the place, putting it to action. She concluded that this would be a peaceful solution for both sides and that it would secure each other’s survival.

她走着走，一個接一個地觀察着每一件藝術品。田園詩般的風景畫，看起來像銀墨水的抽象畫灑在純白色的紙上，油畫中人們似乎隨時都要移動的。玻璃和陶瓷是人們非常害怕看的玻璃和陶瓷。起初，這次展覽展出了國內著名藝術家的作品，但後半部分的小大廳整合了那些仍然是無名的藝術家的展覽。那個女人在一件這樣的工作前停了下來。

“I caused you trouble last time.”

”迪特福利特·布幹維利亞大佐。“

“I cannot. It is just that… my eyes and legs stopped.”

“你呢，繪畫作品嗎？”你能理解它們嗎？”

“我不能。就只是······我的眼睛和腿都停住了。”

Looking at this girl made him remember his embarrassing past self.

Dietfried’s eyes blinked. Those green orbs were staring fixatedly at Violet since earlier, enough to seem like they would suck her in. They were green jewels in a different shade from his younger brother’s. Those green gems, enveloped in shock, reflected Violet’s serious gaze.

——即使我不想，現在我也得保護這東西把它帶回家。

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

The gallery Artemisia displayed the works of its proprietor, of course, but it also had works of artists from within and abroad Leidenschaftlich. There were rows of works from unknown young artists that the owner had taken interest in as well, devoted as she was to the cultivation of new talents.

She was the one and only woman that Dietfried feared. If he had run into anyone else, his emotions would not be so disrupted.

“我要救你，所以你也要救我，女巫。”

A painting of whimsical fantasy. Was it a winter sea? It depicted various things falling and sinking into dark and cold water. A pocket watch, a feather, a bed, a knife, a white flower and a chair. All were worn-out and had damaged parts. At first glance, one would not know what it was expressing. Only the boy painted in the center seemed to pierce through the viewer.

“我想要自己看看。大佐，請慢慢來。”

“Bring me a coat” here, “not enough drinks” there, a plate breaking somewhere. “Where’s the owner?”, “Got caught by the guests”. “There’s no one to give us instructions”, “Oh, well” – just like this, things descended into chaos behind the scenes.

“I was looking at the paintings, Captain.”

Dietfried was scared. This girl was terrifying.

然而，迪特福利特還有一些他想說的話。

At the call of restraint, Violet’s feet halted mid-step. She then gazed at Dietfried. “Why?” her eyes were asking.

聽到剋制的呼喚，薇爾莉特的腳中間停了下來。然後她盯着迪特福利特看。“爲什麼？她的眼睛在問道。

Choosing to leave must have been her own way of showing respect. Considering the current and the previous relationship between two of them, it was a sound judgement. Hence, she stared at him presumptuous and mutely.

選擇離開一定是她自己表示尊重的方式。考慮到他們兩者之間目前和以前的關係，這是一個合理的判斷。因此，她沉靜地盯着他看。

Even now, it pierced Dietfried. That quiet “why” perforated him.

即使是現在，它也刺穿了迪特福利特。那種安靜的“爲什麼”刺穿了他。

Despite being the one who had told her to wait, Dietfried lost sight of his next words. He had tons of complaints. Rather, complaints were the only thing that ever came out of his mouth. Most likely, he had never presented any warm words or attitude to her. No, he had at least patted her head when they parted. But what about it? That was all he had done. Which perhaps was the reason why.

儘管是迪特福利特叫她等待的人，但他還是忘記了自己的下一句話。他有很多抱怨。相反，抱怨是他嘴裏唯一說出來的東西。很有可能，他從來沒有對她說過任何熱情的話或態度。不，當他們分手時，他至少已經拍了拍她的頭。但那怎麼樣呢？這就是他所做的一切。這也許就是原因。

——What did you think of that painting?

——你覺得那幅畫怎麼樣？

Just a question like this was exceptionally challenging for him. If it were anyone else, he would surely be able to ask as easily as breathing. He could also boast that he was the one who had painted it. However, only with this woman was it so difficult.

就像這樣的問題對他來說是非常具有挑戰性的。如果是其他人，他肯定能像呼吸一樣容易地問這個問題。他還可以誇耀說，是他畫過它的人。然而，只有和這個女人在一起纔是如此的困難。

A long silence drifted between the two. A truly long, long silence.

兩人之間保持了很長時間的沉默。一個真正漫長而漫長的沉默。

The mood was almost like two beasts had come across each other in the wilderness and were estimating which would attack first. Both were underdeveloped and, not matching their insides, only their appearances were actually full-fledged. Seen from the sidelines, they were a beautiful adult man and woman looking at each other, but the air flowing between them was that of a battlefield.

情緒就像兩隻野獸在曠野中相遇，估計哪隻會先攻擊。兩者都不發育發達，與內部不匹配，只是它們的外表實際上是成熟的。從場邊看，他們是一個美麗的成年男人和女人互相看着，但在他們之間流動的空氣是一個戰場。

Dietfried was starting to sweat. As for Violet, even her breathing was becoming shallower.

迪特福利特開始出汗了。至於薇爾莉特，甚至她的呼吸也變淺了。

Violet seemed to be thinking about something. She opened and closed her mouth, repeating it several times. What should she do in that situation? What was best? She was probably unable to decide. This was something that not just Violet but also Dietfried was thinking about, yet the degree of seriousness in behavior was surprisingly higher on Violet’s side.

“…到死亡。”

Dietfried suddenly felt the heat that had gone up his head cooling down. Violet had taken a step back. That became the trigger for him to regain his composure. Because he was able to reconfirm that she was but a child in the end. This innocent aspect and action that were much like what a child would show to an adult exerted a great influence on the other party. Dietfried loathed that.

即便薇爾莉特伊芙加登寫了這麼多信，也不知道應如何對這個叫迪特福利特的人採取行動。

Those eyes.

他的呼吸會更容易嗎？

“Feel free to.”

不管是出於什麼原因，當那些眼睛問他“爲什麼”時……

“Do you not remember? I used to do this whenever I had to receive reprimand or punishment.”

“去做什麼，這就是我要問的……”迪特福利特的嘴感覺黏糊糊的，這讓他很難大聲說話。他的腦子裏主要忙於如何彌補他暴露在她面前的錯誤，所以他無法立即回應薇爾莉特的突然襲擊。

“They’ve got guns; what’re you gonna do if they hit someone else with a warning shot?! There’s the other artworks too… This ain’t a stage for a tactless bastard like you to brawl! Just stay put for now!”

He did not want to get involved with her. But he had a mountain of things to say. However, when it came to whether or not he could properly do it, even if he managed to squeeze them out, they would turn into nothing but abusive language.

She would normally not be like this.

“請隨意使用我的生命，”她似乎在說。她現在的自我與過去的野獸重疊了。

“你……我……”

“我仍然是這樣。請隨意。”

在人質中，還有一個小女孩被抱在別人的懷下，看起來好像不瞭解情況。

Without hesitation, almost as if she were a tool.

He was the person that even Violet Evergarden, who had written so many letters, was at loss as to how to act around. That was the man called Dietfried.

…an incident occurred.

他不想和她交流。但他有許多話要說。然而，當談到他是否能正確地做到這點時，即使他設法把它們擠出來，它們也只會變成辱罵性的語言。

“大佐····？”

“不管我說什麼，當然……我是沒有贖罪的。隨着時間的推移，我已經明白了我所做的事情。以及我讓你經歷了多麼大的恐懼。不過，我還是很感激你能把我置於吉爾伯特勳爵的手下。我想還你。如果你說沒有必要，至少你願意就怎麼做。”

就像迪特福利特即將做出一個痛苦的決定一樣……

——Disgusting. Stop. Die. Don’t look at me.

——吉爾伯特。

毫不猶豫，幾乎好像她是一個工具。

“I will save them as fast as possible and take control of the rest.”

如果有什麼可以改變的話，那就是那一刻。

——如果我能改變，爲了你…

——令人噁心。執行停止操作。死亡。不要看我一眼。

“GYAAAAAAAAAH—AAAAAAH—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

⁂

在和那個女孩呆在一起之後，人們就會明白，這對她來說是必要的。她一直都是這樣的，因爲島上只有他們兩個人知道。每當發生什麼事時，她都會優先考慮迪特福利特。畢竟，即使在他把她交給吉爾伯特時，她也沒有反抗。

“你是那個可以隨時掐死我生命的人，”他似乎在說。

起初，迪特福利特並不知道自己在做什麼。薇爾莉特看起來像是在提供她的身體。

“什麼？”

也許她的想法最終得出了結論，薇爾莉特把行李放在地板上，雙手放在背後。“隨便吧。”

“請隨意。”

——如果我能換成吉爾伯特的話……

There was a large lake between the two of them and all they could do was gaze at the opposite shore, unable to tell how deep it was. Their first meeting was to blame for that. It was the cause of everything.

“…to death.”

“那時我不知道該怎麼說話，所以爲了表明我無意攻擊你，大佐，我會這樣做的。”

Would it be easier for him to breathe?

If that place were not a quiet art gallery, Dietfried would have yelled furiously at her, without caring about shame or his reputation. He managed to ball his fists hard enough for it to hurt and swallow down his angry voice due to his high level of self-respect.

Perhaps her thinking had eventually arrived to a conclusion, Violet left her baggage on the floor and put her hands behind her back. “Feel free to.”

Those who were accustomed to oppression from others would very easily choose to hurt people. She was inwardly frightened of that tendency. Yet albeit frightened, she prioritized others over herself. That creature was like a mass of contradictions.

“我會盡快把它們救出來，並控制其餘的東西。”

“To do what, is what I’m asking…” Dietfried’s mouth felt sticky, giving him a hard time mustering words out. His head had been occupied mostly with how to mend the blunder that he had exposed to her, so he could not respond to Violet’s surprise attack immediately.

“Feel free to feast on my life,” she seemed to say. Her current self overlapped with the beast of the past.

The two who never mingled with each other met again countless times in a parallel line. On such occasions, they would become unable to make a move due to shouldering the truth of rejection and of the things they had done, thus running away.

他的胸部疼痛，好像被刺傷了。

——If I could change, right here and now, for your sake…

沒看懂的小夥伴不要急，這段是補敘

他不能做到。直到現在，迪特福利特腦子裏飄動着的所有信息都消失了。它就消失了

He could not. All of the information that had been fluttering about in Dietfried’s head until now disappeared. It vanished.

聽到迪特福利特顫抖的話，薇爾莉特向後退了一步。她奉獻自己的立場沒有改變，但她的本能一直保持警惕，想知道她是否不會被這個人殺死。看到這一點，迪特福利特嘲笑她的行動。

“你是個笨蛋嗎？！”這些並不是所有的成年人都能跑步…！”

His underlings had attacked her and she had killed all of them. She then chased and chased after him, making him into her master. Despite there being a hierarchy, Violet was the one who had a grip over his life.

那些習慣於別人壓迫的人很容易選擇傷害別人。她心裏就害怕這種傾向。然而，儘管害怕，她還是優先別人而不是自己。那個生物就像一大堆矛盾。

Among the hostages, there was also a little girl held under someone’s arms, looking like she did not understand the situation.

At first, Dietfried had no idea what she was doing. Violet looked like she was offering her body.

“You, what the…”

這顯然不是一種草率的罪行。主人艾西亞的尖叫也在迴響，當迪特福利特和薇爾莉特從只有兩人的安靜的大廳裏逃出來時，強盜們已經把武器主要指向脆弱的婦女和孩子，讓她們跪在地上。行動的過程是太快了。

那雙眼睛。

迪特福利特突然感到他頭上的熱量冷卻了。薇爾莉特已經向後退了一步。這成爲了他恢復鎮靜的誘因。因爲他能夠再次確認她最終只是個孩子。這種無辜的一面和行爲就像孩子對成年人的表現一樣，對另一方產生了很大的影響。迪特福利特討厭這個。

“No matter what I say, surely… there is no atonement for me. With time, I have come to understand the things I… did. And how much terror I made you go through. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the kindliness of placing me under Lord Gilbert. I wish to pay you back somehow. If you say that it is unnecessary, at the very least, do as you please.”

“Be it with fists or with reproach, as much as you want.”

“I am still. Feel free to.”

“I hate that about you…”

“You’re the one who could choke the life out of me anytime,” he seemed to say.

——Gilbert.

…his chest ached as if it had been stabbed.

Just as Dietfried was about to make a bitter decision…

The owner of the blue eyes that stared at Dietfried as if to shoot through him always did unexpected things, tossing him about.

“Are you stupid?! Those aren’t all adults that can run…!”

“你，什麼？”

如果那個地方不是一個安靜的美術館，迪特福利特就會憤怒地對她大喊大叫，而不在乎羞恥或他的名聲。由於他高度的自尊，他設法用拳頭受傷，吞下他憤怒的聲音。

If anything could be changed, that was the moment.

“I did not know how to speak back then, so in order to show that I had no intention to attack you, Captain, I would do this.”

他的下屬攻擊了她，她把他們都殺死了。然後她追又追他，讓他變成了她的主人。儘管有一個等級制度，薇爾莉特還是控制住了他的生活。

……事件發生了。

“你不記得了嗎？我過去常常在每當我必須受到譴責或懲罰時都會這樣做。”

For whatever reason, when those eyes asked him “why”…

At the words spoken by Dietfried’s quivering tone, Violet took a step back. Her stance of offering herself did not change, but her instincts were on-guard, wondering if she was not going to be killed by this man. Seeing that, Dietfried sneered at her figure.

他們倆之間有一個大湖，他們所能做的就是凝視着對岸，卻不知道對岸有多深。他們的第一次會面是要爲此負責的。這是造成一切事情的原因。

Wide-eyed, Violet swung back her trolley bag and was about to throw it at them, yet Dietfried stopped her.

This girl always made him aware that she would never act as he expected.

“我討厭你……”

“Captain…?”

因爲他鄙視任何人的干預，卻非常厭惡這些干預，這使他想嘔吐。

What did the person who brought the two together, whom they loved most, thought of that?

這兩個從來沒有混在一起的人又一次平行地相遇了無數次。在這種情況下，他們會因爲承擔了被拒絕的真相和他們所做的事情而無法採取行動，因此就逃跑了。

那個把最愛的人聚集在一起的人是怎麼想的？

It was clearly not a hasty crime. The scream of Artemisia, the owner, echoed, and by the time that Dietfried and Violet had bolted from the quiet hall where there was just the two of them, robbers were already thrusting their weapons mostly at vulnerable women and children, having them on their knees. The course of action was far too swift.

“Ha…?”

薇爾莉特似乎在想些什麼。她張開又閉上嘴，重複了幾次。在那種情況下，她該怎麼辦？什麼是最好的？她可能無法做出決定。這不僅是薇爾莉特，迪特福利特也在考慮的事情，但薇爾莉特的行爲的嚴肅程度卻高得驚人。

For he, who despised interventions from anyone, had so much aversion to it that it make him want to vomit.

藍眼睛的主人盯着迪特福利特，彷彿要開槍穿過他，他總是做一些意想不到的事情，把他扔來扔去。

“You… I…”

她通常不會是這樣的。

這個女孩總是讓他知道，她永遠不會像他所期望的那樣行事。

薇爾莉特睜大眼睛，拉回她的旅行包，正要扔向他們，但迪特福利特攔住了她。

“不管是用拳頭還是責備什麼，你想用多少。”

One would understand, after spending time with the girl, that this was a necessity for her. She was always like that, ever since the island only the two of them knew. Whenever anything happened, she would prioritize Dietfried. After all, even as he handed her over to Gilbert, she had not resisted.

——If I could change for Gilbert…

“他們有槍；如果他們用警告槍擊中別人，你會怎麼怎麼辦？！還有其他的藝術品……這不是一個像你這樣沒有說話的混蛋打架的舞臺！現在就呆吧！”

“But, Captain—”

“但是，大佐，”

“Stay put!”

“請放心吧！”

While the two were trying to push past each other, the robbers took notice of them.

當兩人試圖互相推搡時，強盜注意到了他們。

In the main hall, perhaps in order to bind people up through fear, the men were being beaten without exception, being put on their knees over the floor. Seeing that, the women naturally sat down, trembling, and began to cry.

在大廳裏，也許是爲了通過恐嚇把人們綁起來，這些男人毫無例外地被毆打，跪倒在地板上。看到這一點，婦女們自然地坐了下來，顫抖着，開始哭了起來。

While screams were resounding like music, one of the robbers headed towards the duo. “So there were still weeds growing here?” was the look in his eyes as he swung his firearm emotionlessly.

當尖叫聲像音樂一樣響亮時，其中一名劫匪朝兩人走去。“所以這裏還長着雜草？”他毫無表情地揮着槍。

Dietfried would have managed to avoid it. He had done it several times until now. He could do it as easily as floating on water. If he could catch the man’s gun with one hand and pulled it just like that, he was able to picture the opponent falling over as a reaction. Once he stole the gun, he could shoot each member of the robber gang one by one in the head. And then, there would be a gunfight. He would have done that if he were alone. Yes, if he were alone.

迪特福利特會設法避免它的。到現在爲止，他已經這樣做了好幾次了。他可以像浮在水上一樣容易地做到。如果他能用一隻手抓住他的槍，然後像那樣拔出槍，他就能想象對手摔倒的反應。一旦他偷了槍，他就可以一個接一個地向搶劫犯團伙的每個成員的頭部開槍。然後，就會有一場槍戰。如果他一個人，他會那樣做的。是的，如果他一個人。

——Why now of all times?

——，爲什麼現在總是這樣呢？

There was nothing more humiliating than a punch that one had to resign oneself into receiving. But he had things he had to protect above his own dignity. Thus, he accepted the attack without dodging. If he were to start a scuffle amidst the current situation, he did not think that all of the people who had become hostages would remain unharmed. He would aim for a chance. That was what he should do. He made such decision not only for his own welfare but also for that of other people.

沒有什麼比人們不得不屈服於接受的一拳更令人羞辱的了。但他有一些必須保護的尊嚴。因此，他沒有躲躲閃閃地接受了襲擊。如果他要在目前的情況下開始扭打，他認爲所有已經成爲人質的人都不會安然無恙。他的目標是找一個機會。這就是他應該做的事。他做出這樣的決定不僅是爲了他自己的福利，也是爲了別人的福利。

However, the automatic assassination doll made a completely different one. When her eyes glinted like that, she quite literally moved on automatic. She came forward to take his place. In that instant, the face of Dietfried’s younger brother was the only thing crossing his mind.

然而，自動殺人人偶做了一個完全不同的人偶。當她的眼睛像那樣閃閃發光時，她真的是自動移動了。她走上前來代替他位置。就在那一刻，迪特福利特的弟弟只想到了他的臉。

——Gil.

“Understood.”

當她在他手中時，這個美麗的自動書記人偶是一隻不會說話的“野獸”，同時也是一種工具。首先，這是一隻無法控制的野獸。

他們就是這樣到達現在的。

“好像有個白癡可以，”迪特弗裏德哼了一聲說，但另一個是一個撲克臉的自動書記人偶。不管他傷害了她，都沒有效果。迪特福利特就是這麼想的。

如果他有什麼可以爲她做的話，至少要把棺材裏裝滿花，留給她。他並不打算發生任何事，但他可能會做那麼多。畢竟，如果薇爾莉特留在迪特福利特·布幹維利亞旁邊，她肯定會爲了他而在他面前死去。

“當然，人類的生命是首要任務。但我們不會進行一場愚蠢的戰鬥。”

Dietfried said with a somewhat softer voice, “Good that you get it. I’m indebted to the owner of this gallery. I’m gonna choose the best I can for her sake too.”

因爲她說了最明顯的話，迪特福利特抓住了胸針所在的衣領，毫不思索地拿着胸針。繫着領帶禮服紐扣的線發出一聲尖叫。這不是紳士會對女士做的那種事。但是迪特福利特並沒有放鬆他所掌握的力量。

Because she was saying the most obvious thing with the most serious face, Dietfried grabbed the collar where her brooch resided, taking the brooch along, without thinking. The thread that fastened the ribbon-tie dress’s button let out a screech. It was not the kind of deed that a gentleman would do to a lady. But Dietfried did not loosen the strength that he put into his grip.

“首先，太晚了，但是你和我一起鬥爭有什麼問題嗎？”

…in that place…

It was almost as if he had readied himself to do it. That was how quickly his arm reached out. He forcefully embraced Violet and turned his back towards the robber. A violent hit struck him from head to back. He could hear Violet’s breath quietly catching while holding her in his arms.

——Whose fault do you think it is that I got hit on the back of my head?

然而，當他談到他是否會給這個女孩一種可能會以極大的熱情包裹在她手裏的東西時……

“I understand that I should refrain from the use of force in an art gallery. But should we not place human lives above the artworks?”

——You were able to change her like this.

至於瘋狗自己，自從迪特福利特被擊中以來，她就一直安靜起來，好像她的功能消失了。迪特福利特推開了那些試圖給他急救的手。任何錯誤的舉動，強盜們都可能會再次毆打他。

And such was how they had arrived to the present.

——啊啊，吉爾伯特。

...在那個地方...

不可否認，他不會。

Dietfried stared at Violet from the corners of his eyes. The brooch was indeed important to her. She was holding it down with both hands. She did not want anyone to touch it – that was what she was indicating. The two of them were speaking in an awfully low tone, but her timbre just now was as thin as the cry of a mosquito.

“我們要採取行動。”

“This is also linked to protecting Lord Gilbert.”

他甚至從來沒有想過它。

She, who always took upon herself to protect, wound up being protected. On top of that, she had let the other be injured. This must have caused her to fall into despondency, enough to result in service outage. However, with time, she had rebooted and was rousing herself up once more to get through this situation.

——你可以像這樣改變她。

她會那樣想嗎？

——想想，她總是從後面跟着我，因爲她討厭一個人。

“這也與保護吉爾伯特上校有關。”

——Aah, Gilbert.

——I’m always late to realize how great you are.

“閉嘴。”

When she was in his hands, this beautiful Auto-Memories Doll was a “wild beast” that did not know how to speak, as well as a tool. An incontrollable beast, to boot.

Right now, he felt like a pet owner containing the rampage of his mad dog.

As for the mad dog herself, she had grown quiet ever since Dietfried had been hit, as if her functions were gone. Dietfried had pushed away the hands that had attempted to give him first aid. Any false moves and the robbers might beat him again.

Dietfried did not think that his decision to suppress Violet was a mistake. He was aware that she was the woman who had fought by herself against terrorists inside an exploding train, but it would be a problem if she did something of the sort in the Artemisia Gallery.

Like a child, Violet nodded repeatedly.

——我看到；所以它和吉爾伯特的眼睛一樣。那個胸針。

“Bye, Monster. This guy’s your next master.”

“如果你不能在海上踩剎車，敵人就會登陸。萊登沙夫特利奇被稱爲軍事國家的原因不僅僅是軍隊的成就。我從來沒有教過你如何在海上戰鬥，因爲現在，忘記摧毀和控制一切的方法吧。從我的方式中學習。”

“As if an idiot could,” Dietfried said with a snort, yet the other was a poker-faced Auto-Memories Doll. No matter how much he hurt her, it would have no effect. That was what Dietfried had thought.

If there was anything he could have done for her, it was to at least fill up a coffin with flowers and leave it available for her. He did not intend for anything to happen, but he might have done that much. After all, if Violet had stayed beside Dietfried Bougainvillea, she would have surely died before him, for his sake.

像個孩子一樣，薇爾莉特反覆地點了點頭。

⁂

If, at that time…

“First, take this… It’s late for that, but… you got any questions about a joint struggle with me?”

——你認爲我的後腦勺擊中是誰的錯？

“我知道我應該避免在藝術畫廊裏使用武力。但我們不應該把人類的生活置於藝術品之上嗎？”

“Shut up, Monster.”

“Human lives are the priority, of course. But we’re not gonna fight in a stupid way.”

——Come to think of it, she was always following me around from behind ‘cause she hated being alone.

“一種行爲嗎？”

After blinking with a snap, she opened her mouth once, then closed it.

“你……你還需要對我進行管教嗎？”他說，聲音充滿了憤怒，他們的臉幾乎碰到一起。“你把這個地方是一個很難與其他地方相比的地方……這對你來說很重要，不是嗎？”

Dietfried was inwardly surprised at the obedient reply. Rather, even more than this, he was surprised that he and the “beast” were able to have mutual comprehension.

“Understood.”

…he had educated and guided her instead of letting her go, would she have grown up the same way?

如果，在當時...

“瞭解。”

迪特福利特並不認爲他鎮壓薇爾莉特的決定是一個錯誤。他知道她是那個曾在爆炸的火車裏獨自與恐怖分子作戰的女人，但如果她在艾西亞畫廊做這樣的事情，那將是一個問題。

她眨了眨眼睛，張開了一次嘴，然後閉上了嘴。

“That’s right. You’re the one who suggested it, so I’m gonna make you into a decoy.”

“I understood completely. I will avoid combat here as much as possible.” Alas, her voice sounded a little faint.

“Still, if that is how it is, please do not forget that your wellbeing is my top priority all the more. I shall fight to protect you, Captain. Please do not think of protecting me for Lord Gilbert’s sake. If necessity arises, I will not might if you use me as a shield. I can be replaced, but there is no substitute for you.”

“我完全理解了。我會盡量避免戰鬥。唉，她的聲音聽起來有點微弱。

迪特福利特用一種更柔和的聲音說：“幸好你明白了。我感謝這家畫廊的主人。爲了她，我也會選擇最好的選擇。

她總是主動保護自己，但最終受到了保護。最重要的是，她還讓另一個人受傷了。這一定導致她陷入沮喪，足以導致服務中斷。然而，隨着時間的推移，她重新啓動，重新站起來克服這種情況。

“你只做過保鏢、謀殺和軍事行動，這就是爲什麼你不明白。在海上……在艦隊的戰鬥中，我們會爲保護我們而戰。我們的思維方式不同於那些爲征服而戰的人。”

迪特福利特心裏對這個順從的回答感到驚訝。更重要的是，他驚訝他和“野獸”能夠相互理解。

He had never even thought about it.

“好吧。”

“We’re gonna do an act.”

迪特福利特的手鬆開後，她就抓住了胸針，好像是爲了保護它。她更關心胸針，而不是裙子上皺巴巴的半胸像。她一遍又一遍地撫摸着它，以確保它沒有被損壞。

——，你已經把那隻骯髒的野獸變成了這個了。

Once Dietfried’s hand let go of her, she grasped the brooch as if to protect it. She was more concerned about the brooch than the crumpled bust of her dress. She stroked it over and over, making sure that it had not been damaged.

“You’ve only ever been doing body guarding, murders and military action, and that’s why you don’t understand. In the sea… In fleet battles, we fight to protect. Our way of thinking is different from those who fight to conquer.”

Would she have thought like that?

最後，她茫然地低聲說：“我明白了。”

...他教育和引導她而不是拋棄她，她會以同樣的方式長大嗎？

“An act?”

“You… Do you still need disciplining from me?” he said, voice filled with rage, close enough for their faces to touch. “Think of this as a place that can hardly compare to any other… This thing’s pretty important for you, isn’t it?”

迪特福利特從眼角盯着薇爾莉特。胸針對她來說確實很重要。她用雙手把它按了下來。她不想讓任何人觸摸它，這就是她的意思。他們倆說話的聲音非常低，但她剛纔的音色就像蚊子的叫聲一樣薄。

“瞭解。”

“再見了，怪物。這傢伙是你的下一個主人。”

“沒錯。是你建議的，所以我要讓你變成一個誘餌。”

“爲了保護……”

“To protect…”

…he would undeniably have not.

薇姐真的沒有意識到對於少佐來說，她比大佐更重要麼???

Another side of him immediately answered “no” to the self-questioning. Surely, a Violet Evergarden raised by Dietfried Bougainvillea would not have turned out like this. He might have at least taught her how to talk. They would have trouble communicating otherwise. He would have probably given her clothes and personal belongings for daily life. Bringing her along when walking around would look bad for him.

“閉嘴，怪物。”

他的另一邊立即回答“不”。當然，由迪特福利特·布幹維利亞養育的薇爾莉特·伊芙加登不會是這樣的。他可能會教過她如何說話。否則，他們就會遇到溝通方面的困難。他可能會給她的衣服和個人物品作爲日常生活。把她帶過來對他不好。

——我總是很才意識到你有多好。

現在，他覺得自己就像個寵物主人，控制着他的瘋狗的暴行。

——基爾（少佐的小名）

“不過，如果是這樣的話，請不要忘記，你的幸福更是我的首要任務。我要爲保護你而戰，大佐。請不要考慮爲了吉爾伯特上校的緣故而保護我。如果有必要，你可以用我當作盾牌。我可以被取代，但你無法代替。”

Finally, she whispered in a dazed state, “I understand.”

However, when it came to whether or not he would have bestowed this girl with something that would be enveloped in her hands with utmost zeal…

他好像已經準備好這樣做了。這就是他伸出手臂的速度。他抱住了薇爾莉特，然後背對着強盜。他頭後捱了一槍。當她被抱在懷裏時，他能聽到薇爾莉特悄悄地呼吸。

“If you can’t put brakes on them at sea, the enemies go to land. The reason why Leidenschaftlich is called a military nation ain’t just the army’s achievement. I’ve… never taught you how to fight at sea, huh… For now, forget the method of destroying and taking control of everything. Learn from my ways.”

——You’ve made that filthy beast into this.

“All right.”

“Shut up.”

——I see; so it’s the same color as Gilbert’s eyes. That brooch.

As Dietfried asked, Violet responded with her neck tilted, “Why…? I do not.”

正如迪特福利特問的那樣，薇爾莉特斜着脖子回答說：“爲什麼……？”我沒有。”

For whatever reason, his former weapon would show scraps of emotion only at times like these. Just innocently, unaware that it was merciless of her.

不管出於什麼原因，他以前的武器只會在這樣的時候表現出情感的碎片。只是天真地，不知道這對她很無情。

“Please use me correctly, Captain.” She smiled.

“請正確使用我，大佐。”她笑了。

⁂

Why had robbers attacked the Artemisia Gallery?

爲什麼強盜襲擊了艾西亞畫廊？

There was a certain amount of history that led to such violence unfolding amidst everyday life. Firstly, it would be preferable to start with the time when a turning point happened in the life of the robbery’s main offender, but that would be rewinding too far. On to a brief explanation.

有一定程度的歷史導致了這種暴力在日常生活中展開。首先，最好從搶劫犯生命中發生的轉折點開始，但這樣會太過頭了。繼續做一個簡短的解釋。

This case was a crime committed by a habitual criminal.

這個案子是一個慣犯的罪行。

There were various reasons for people to rob, yet the advantage was but one. Earning compensation within a short period. Good citizens would be paid for their work, but thieves did not share this mentality. People received rewards through serving others. In order to gather a large sum, a long time and effort were necessary. Thieves abdicated from this. To achieve success, no matter in what land, a person had to be equipped with skills as a rule of thumb.

人們搶劫的原因有各種各樣的，但其優勢只是一個。在短期內獲得補償。好公民的工作會得到報酬，但小偷並不同意這種心態。人們通過服務於他人而獲得獎勵。爲了收集一大筆錢，需要花費很長的時間和精力。小偷們就此退位了。要取得成功，無論在哪片土地上，一個人都必須掌握經驗。

If one could stop after doing it once, why did they do it countless times? There were people here and there who thought this about criminals. It was because, if they had succeeded once, they could do it again. They were instantly able to attain things that they would have to spend a long time out of their lives to earn. This was the arrival of an opportunity to do that.

如果一個人能停止做一次，他們爲什麼要做無數次呢？到處都有一些人在想罪犯。這是因爲，如果他們成功了一次，他們就可以再成功一次。他們立刻就獲得了他們必須在生命中花很長時間才能掙到的東西。這是一個可以這樣做的機會的到來。

Once one got used to it, identifying opportunities was surprisingly easy.

一旦人們習慣了它，發現機會就會出奇的容易。

Supposing that there was someone who excelled at predicting people’s thoughts. The other person’s personality would be determined by the movements of their eyes, the way they breathed, their voice tone, the relationships of power in their background, their social position and other such things, so one would be able to deduce what kind of conduct should be taken in order to derive the “correct answer”. It seemed like magic at first glance, but it was no more than the result of someone continuously keeping watch on another person for many years.

Their first meeting had started at a certain recreational facility, when she peeked from behind while he was painting a landscape. She did not know his occupation, but they kept in touch and she had him show her his art. It seemed he had always been drawing as a hobby. He told her that even most of the people who were close to him did not know he painted, and that he had truly only been doing it for himself.

Not that many people paid any mind to weeds when walking. That was all. Except, this time, the Artemisia Gallery had been lucky about just one thing.

一個熱愛藝術的海軍船長…

無論建立在什麼機構裏，完美地處理一家新店的開業典禮都是很困難的。即使裏面有一些人已經有過在畫廊工作的經驗，但使用他們控制這種情況並順利進行的能力也是不同的。員工們當天會非常恐慌。如果這是一個只有會員參加的慶祝日，毫無疑問，應該保護畫廊的原始安全狀態將是不夠的。

“究竟是什麼事呢？”

“我們帶一個人，直到我們離開港口。可以是一個女人或一個孩子。我們會選擇哪一種呢？”

“對不起，我只是想借給她一塊手帕。僅此而已。她的衣服的袖子上已經浸透了淚水。你能不能只允許你做這麼多嗎？”

強盜們有一個選擇。你可以選擇要麼默默地讓她遭受痛苦，要麼好心地帶她去洗手間。只打敗這些人很可能是他們的政策之一。他們在需要時毫不猶豫地利用暴力，但如果暴力不需要，最好儘可能減少敵意，以便不顯眼地、迅速地拿走寶藏。這看起來很有紳士風度，但卻是一種自以爲是的想法。

“是個女人。”

而那個曾經被稱爲萊登沙夫特利奇的戰爭少女的女人就是人質之一。

Hearing a voice from the back, Artemisia turned around. It came from one of the artists that she had invited over for today, whom she had known for quite some time. She was shaken by a sense of guilt that she had done something terrible to him as well.

“Head” probably referred to the member worthy of being their chief.

Since this was a strategy against individual matches, the robbers needed a slightly better ability to grasp the environment. As they were walking around the city, they incidentally found out that a new gallery was going to open. The opening date was also announced. It appeared that there would be an event only for those concerned on the day before.

“不好，對不起！”她突然突然來了……！”

He had lent a handkerchief to Artemisia through one of the robbers. Artemisia wiped her tears and managed to lock eyes with him somehow. She then mouthed a “thank you” to him without letting out her voice.

她的眼睛被一個強盜的鎖着，好像在吸他。一個人不會明白，讓這個女人用溼眼睛抬頭看着她們的腳，除非她們自己看到了破壞力。

“她似乎胃疼。”

沒有多少人在走路時會在意雜草。僅此而已。除了，這次，艾西亞畫廊只有一件事就很幸運了。

No matter the establishment, dealing flawlessly with the inauguration of a new shop was difficult. Even if there were people in it who already had experience working in a gallery, but the use of their abilities to have control over such a situation and proceed with it smoothly was different. Employees would be in quite a panic on the day. If it was a members-only celebration day, there was no mistaking that the original state of the security that should be guarding the gallery would be insufficient.

“頭”可能指的是值得成爲他們的首領的成員。

聽到後面的一個聲音，艾西亞轉過身來。這來自她今天邀請的一位藝術家，她認識他很長一段時間了。她也對他做了一些可怕的事情，她感到震驚。

那個人對艾西亞說了些什麼。由於他只是動了動嘴脣，艾西亞不知道她是否能讀懂他試圖傳達的東西。她不能，但很有可能，他曾說過：

“它很快就會結束了。”

最終，強盜們終於開始營造一種疏散的氣氛。

——啊，是啊，上帝。請歸還。請把這個有趣的時間還給大家吧。

From the vulgar smile of the man who had said so, one could presume what his intentions were. As the woman was covering her mouth, the robber instructed her to stand up, pointing his gun at her, and then took her to the restroom.

“Excuse me; I just… want to lend her a handkerchief. That’s all. The sleeves of her clothes are already soaked with tears. Can’t you allow just this much?”

The robbers had a choice. The option to either silently let her suffer or kindly take her to the restroom. Beating only the men was likely one of their policies. They did not hesitate to make use of violence when needed, but when it was not, it was best to have as least animosity as possible in order to get through with things unobtrusively and quickly take the treasure. It seemed gentlemanly but was a self-righteous thinking.

艾西亞對藝術品被偷感到不安和煩惱，但最重要的是，對所有期待今天的人的遺憾都會敲擊她的心扉。

After that, the woman and the robber did not return for a while. Since there were no other people who mustered out the courage to say that they wanted to use the toilet, the period of their absence passed as if it were natural. In the meantime, the gallery’s exhibits were being carried one after another to cars with roof racks parked outside the establishment. The robbers were dressed as employees who worked with the transportation of goods, so even those walking down the street did not think there was anything strange about that work scene.

他們並沒有任何特別的怨恨。他們只是判斷他們可以做到，從而經歷了攻擊。事實僅僅是艾西亞畫廊很不幸。

“That guy was playing around with the woman we were planning to use for that, wasn’t he? What happened to him?”

在這個地方，沒有人知道他的社會地位。或者是他的歷史。

“只是個胃痛嗎？”別管它了。”

“Hey, he told you to use this.”

Amongst them, there was a man who merely observed the robbers’ movements in silence all the while. It was the man who had been caring for a woman that had a stomachache, looking worried. Once the woman had been taken to the restroom, he became expressionless, as if he had lost interest in everything. Occasionally, there were moments when he even yawned in secret, as if he had grown sleepy.

主人經歷了多少次困難，直到她能夠打開畫廊，她是否一直在向別人低下頭？有多少藝術家期待看到他們的作品在畫廊展出？這些人的感情有時會被悲慘地踐踏。

從說過的人粗俗的微笑中，人們可以推斷出他的意圖。當那個女人捂住嘴時，強盜指示她站起來，用槍指着她，然後把她帶到洗手間。

“Ugh…”

所以，強盜們想，“啊，如果你戳了這個地方，它肯定會崩潰的。”

“你告訴我們讓她上洗手間吧？”我們還得看這些人。此外，她還是個女人。如果有人帶她去上廁所……嗯，我們得到了多少東西？”

Her eyes locked with one of robber’s as though sucking him in. One would not understand the destructive power that having this woman look up at them from their feet with her eyes wet had, unless they witnessed it themselves.

.”

“頭先上了車。好像每次發生我們都能問他這樣的事情。”

假設他們最終會被釋放，人質們開始坐立不安。他們面臨着一場災難，他們畢生用來製作的藝術品也被盜了。這快樂的日子被重新描繪成絕望。但他們還活着。這是今天唯一光明的一面。除非他們無法維持理性，否則他們無法安慰自己。無論如何，他們都想快點，得到解放。

And so, the robbers had thought, “Aah, if you poke this place, it’ll surely crumble down.”

Apparently, those thieves were quite the habitual criminals. They had threatened everyone with armed force upon entering the establishment, robbing people of any resistance, but after that, as long as everyone stayed still, they would do nothing but coldly keep control of the hostages, not even raising their voices. If people did as told, they would not lose their lives. That hope made the hostages obedient. Even though they were robbers, this seamless way of dealing with people was like that of artisans. They did not think of humans as humans.

No one in this place knew his social status. Or his history.

…and the woman who used to be called Leidenschaftlich’s War Maiden were amongst the hostages.

A naval captain who loved art…

“去叫他吧。我們可以用那個女人作爲人質。她很年輕，所以如果我們把她扔在街上，她就可以回來散步。”

“The Head got in the car first. As if we can ask him stuff like this every single time it happens.”

Eventually, the robbers started to create an atmosphere of evacuation at last.

在痛苦的女人面前，安靜的交流還在繼續，她終於躺在地板上，仍然抱着肚子躺在地上。那個對她病情不佳提出上訴的男人搖了搖肩膀，告訴她“堅持下去”。

“What?”

那個引起了騷動並驚恐地向其中一個強盜懇求的人舉起雙手，表示沒有抵抗。他是個留着長髮的男人。他那微微彎曲的黑頭髮掠過他的肩膀。就在他旁邊的是一個抱着肚子顫抖着的女人。

他通過其中一個強盜把一塊手帕借給了艾西亞。艾西亞擦了擦眼淚，不知怎麼設法和他閉上了眼睛。然後她對他說了聲“謝謝”，卻沒有說話。

“Hey, what’s with you…? Got a complaint or something…?”

The busy man had weaved his way through spare time and the work he brought had swayed Artemisia’s senses. At first, he had hesitated at her request to put it on display, but then smiled like a boy and gave her his ready consent, looking happy.

顯然，那些小偷都是慣犯。他們在進入基地時用武裝力量威脅所有人，搶劫人們的任何抵抗，但在那之後，只要每個人都安靜下來，他們就什麼也不做，只是冷冷地控制人質，甚至不提高聲音。如果人們這樣做，他們就不會失去生命。這個希望使人質們順從了。儘管他們是強盜，但這種與人打交道的無縫方式就像工匠一樣。他們並不認爲人類是人類。

“這需要一段時間，嗯。此外，我們以後還會需要這些女人的。”

They did not have any grudges in particular. They had simply judged that they could do it, thus undergoing the assault. The truth was merely that the Artemisia Gallery had been unlucky.

“那個傢伙在和我們打算用的那個女人一起玩，不是嗎？”他怎麼了？”

“Go call him. We could use that woman as hostage. She’s young, so she can come back walking if we throw her away on the street.”

“You’re telling us to let her go to the bathroom? We still gotta watch these people. Besides, she’s a woman. If someone takes her to the toilet… Well, how much stuff did we get?”

“Let’s take one person with us until we leave the harbor. Can be a woman or kid. Which do we choose?”

“We’ve piled most of the paintings in the carrier, but there’s still the ornaments. It’s still gonna take a while.”

那人一直笑，好像在說強盜的威脅人物更滑稽。主人艾西亞用眼睛請求激怒強盜的人剋制自己，因爲她不僅不能失去她收藏的藝術品，也不能失去她邀請的客人，但那男人閉上一隻眼睛回答說：“艾西亞，沒關係。”

“No good… Hum, excuse me…! She suddenly…!”

As if she had received a signal, the woman raised her face slowly. Her gemstone-like blue eyes were visible through the gaps between her disheveled golden hair. She was covering her mouth, perhaps trying not to vomit. Even so, it was easy to tell that the woman’s looks were remarkably good.

“那麼，我想這一切也沒關係。”

The man kept laughing, as though to say that the robbers’ threatening figures were even more comical. With her eyes, the owner, Artemisia, begged the man provoking the robbers to restrain himself, for she could not afford to lose not only the artworks that she had collected but also a guest that she had invited, yet the man closed one eye at that and replied, “Artemisia, it’s okay.”

“我們該怎麼辦？”頭……”

“Woman it is.”

幾個武裝人員聚集在他們周圍。

聽到這些話，那人發出了聲音，笑了起來。看看來，他並不想笑，而是笑了。他把手放在嘴邊，然後聳了聳肩，讓強盜們看到了它。“對不起，我不是想取笑你的。但是試圖強姦那個東西，對吧？不管你有多少條生命，這都是不夠的。”

A few armed men gathered around them.

As the quiet exchanges continued in front of the agonizing woman, she finally lay down on the floor while still holding onto her stomach. The man who had appealed about her bad condition shook her shoulders, telling her to “hang in there”.

Artemisia was upset and vexed at the fact that the artworks were being stolen, but more than anything, it felt like the regret towards everyone who had been looking forward to this day would split her chest open.

“Just a stomach ache? Leave it alone.”

這個忙碌的人在業餘時間裏來回穿梭，他帶來的工作動搖了艾西亞的感官。起初，應她的要求，他猶豫了一下，但後來他又像個男孩一樣微笑着，欣然表示同意了，看上去很高興。

Assuming that they would finally be freed, the hostages started fidgeting. They had faced a disaster and the artworks that they had dedicated their lives to making had been stolen. This joyful day had been repainted into despair. But they were alive. That was the one and only bright side of today. They would not be able to maintain their rationality unless they comforted themselves with that. At any rate, they wanted to hurry and be liberated.

The man who had caused a commotion and pleaded to one of the robbers in a panic raised both of his hands as a display of no resistance. He was a long-haired a man. His slightly curvy dark hair went past his shoulders. Right next to him was a woman holding her stomach and trembling.

“我們已經把大部分畫都堆在了載體裏，但仍然有裝飾品。這還需要一段時間。”

“Then, I guess it’s okay.”

他們的第一次見面是在某個娛樂設施開始的，當他在畫風景時，她從後面窺視着。她不知道他的職業，但他們一直保持聯繫，她讓他向她展示他的藝術。他似乎一直在把繪畫作爲一種業餘愛好。他告訴她，即使是大多數和他親近的人也不知道他畫的，他真的只是爲自己做的。

在那之後，那個女人和強盜有一段時間沒有回來。由於沒有其他人鼓起勇氣說他們想上廁所，他們缺席的時間就像自然地過去了。與此同時，畫廊的展品被一個接一個地帶到停在大樓外的車頂架的汽車上。劫匪裝扮成負責運輸貨物的員工，所以即使是那些走在街上的人也不認爲那個工作現場有什麼奇怪的地方。

“嘿，你怎麼了……？”有投訴什麼的嗎？”

那女人好像接到了一個信號似的，就慢慢地抬起臉來。透過她那凌亂的金色頭髮之間的縫隙，可以看到她那寶石般的藍眼睛。她捂着嘴，也許儘量不嘔吐。即便如此，我們也很容易看出，這個女人的外表非常好。

“It’ll be over soon.”

一旦他們完成了大部分商品的搬遷，其中一輛車就離開了畫廊。另一個停在那裏的是爲了那些看守的人逃跑的。爲了今天而收集的藝術品被搶到最後一件，畫廊是光禿禿的。主人，艾西亞，一直在抑制她的哭泣和流淚。

The man smiled. But it was not the smile that Artemisia knew. He was different when he talked about art. She had shivers before she could think. His eyes were not smiling.

“嘿，他告訴你用這個。”

那人笑了。但艾西亞知道的不是微笑。當他在談到藝術時，他就不同了。她想不就就發抖。他的眼睛裏沒有微笑。

在他們中間，有一個人只是一直默默地觀察着強盜們的行動。是那個一直在照顧一個胃痛的女人的男人，看起來很擔心。女人被帶到洗手間，他就變得沒有表情，好像對一切都失去了興趣。偶爾，他甚至會偷偷地打呵欠，好像昏昏欲睡似的。

How many hardships the owner had gone through until she was able to open the gallery, had she lived her life bowing her head to other people? How many artists were looking forward to seeing their work exhibited in the gallery? The feelings of such people could be trampled miserably at times.

假設有人擅長預測人們的想法。另一個人的個性將由他們的眼睛的運動、他們呼吸的方式、他們的聲音基調、他們的背景中的權力關係、他們的社會地位和其他類似的事情來決定，所以人們將能夠推斷出應該採取什麼樣的行爲來得出“正確的答案”。乍一看，這似乎是一種魔法，但這不過是一個人多年來一直在監視着另一個人的結果。

Once they had finished relocating most of the merchandises, one of the cars left the gallery. The other one that remained parked was meant for the getaway of those who were keeping watch. With the artworks that had been collected for the sake of this day snatched away down to the last one, the gallery was bare. The owner, Artemisia, had all the while been suppressing her cries and shedding tears.

“It seems her stomach hurts.”

“

由於這是一種對抗個人比賽的策略，強盜們需要一種稍微更好的能力來把握環境。當他們在城市裏四處走動時，他們偶然發現一個新的畫廊要開了。開幕日期也被宣佈了。看來只有在前一天對有關的人才會有一個活動。

“It’s gonna take a while, huh. Besides, we’re gonna need the women later.”

Hearing these words, the man let out his voice and laughed. By the looks of it, he had not intended to laugh, but wound up doing so. He put a hand to his mouth, but then shrugged and let the robbers see it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of you. But trying to rape that thing, huh? No matter how many lives you have, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“What do we do? The Head is…”

——Aah, God. Please give it back. Please give that fun time back to everyone.

The man said something to Artemisia. As he had only moved his lips, Artemisia could not tell whether she had been able to read what he tried to convey. She could not, but most likely, he had said:

In the past, Dietfried Bougainvillea used to wield a weapon that could become the world’s best. It was now away from his grasp, but it was not as if their master-servant connection had been completely severed. The beast had a high level of loyalty, so although they had met by chance after a long time, her heart recognized it. That he was the one she had been following in the past – someone worth being served by her. Therefore, the beast would attend him to exhaustion.

在過去，迪特福利特曾經使用一種可以成爲世界上最好的武器。現在它已經離開了他的控制，但他們和主僕的關係並沒有完全切斷。這頭野獸有高度的忠誠，所以雖然他們偶然相遇了很長一段時間，但她的心意識到了這一點。他就是她過去一直追隨的那個人——一個值得她服務的人。因此，野獸會使他筋疲力盡。

Only a limited number of people could handle the beast. The feeling that she had returned to his hands for now was somewhat strange.

只有有限數量的人能對付這頭野獸。她現在又回到他手裏的感覺有些奇怪。

“She runs quick.”

“她跑得很快。”

“Ha?”

“哈？”

“That’s why it’s the end for you guys. My bad.”

“這就是爲什麼你們的一切都結束了。我的壞蛋們。”

“Hey, shut this dude up.”

“嘿，把這傢伙閉嘴吧。”

As Dietfried had suddenly started talking, the robbers naturally had a doubtful reaction.

迪特福利特突然開始說話，強盜們自然產生了懷疑的反應。

“She’s as fast as a deer. And this is the city’s main street, so there are hotels nearby.”

“她速度和一隻鹿一樣快。這是這個城市的主要街道，所以附近也有酒店。”

“So, what’re you saying?”

“那麼，你是在說什麼呢？”

“I left my bodyguards behind to come here today. They’re probably drinking at their room’s bar. There’re also guys among them who know that thing from the time when she was still by my side. I left my hair tie with her, so she should be able to convince them with that. I could predict that you’d take the things you stole to the port. It’s pretty difficult to get away from pursuers on land when you make such a mess in the center of this city. It’s harder to be tracked using the sea route than the land route, right? But the sea route doesn’t work against me. It looks like one vehicle left a while ago, but it’s over by the point they reach the port. You’ll probably go outside now, but if you’re thinking about taking someone along as a hostage, you’d better drop it. Many of my subordinates are hot-blooded. If you rouse them up like that, they’ll probably get too excited. If that happens, you’re the ones who’ll be getting the short end of the stick. No matter how many dead bodies fall down, we can deal with it all we want in the aftermath. We’ll need to get the stories straight, but today’s hostages will surely choose to cooperate with me. Having people trample on the proof of a life that you’ve lived with all your might is painful for anyone.”

“我今天把我的手下留到這裏來了。他們可能是在他們房間的酒吧喝酒。他們中也有一些男人從她還在我身邊的時候就知道這件事。我把頭髮系給她，所以她應該能說服他們。我可以預測你會把你偷來的東西帶到港口。當你在這個城市的中心弄得一團糟時，很難離開陸地上的追捕者。使用海上路線比陸地路線更難以追蹤，對吧？但海路並不對我不利。看起來像不久前離開的一輛車，但在他們到達港口的時候已經結束了。你現在可能會出去，但如果你想帶某人作爲人質，你最好放下它。我的許多下屬都是熱血沸騰的人。如果你這樣喚醒他們，他們可能會太興奮了。如果發生這種情況，你就會得到困境。無論有多少具屍體倒下，我們都可以在事後處理我們想要的一切。我們需要講清楚，但今天的人質肯定會選擇和我合作。讓人們踐踏你拼命生活的證據，對任何人來說都是痛苦的。”

在他的腦海裏，言語被構思出來，然後就消失了。就像萊登謝夫特利奇周圍睡覺的孩子們現在肯定看到的夢一樣。他們出生後就消失了。

And ended up talking to her like a man who was unused to inviting women out.

Outside the windows of the gallery, they could hear the sounds of someone fighting from around the area where the car was parked. Simultaneously, they could hear a faint breathing just behind them.

如果他叫她，這個自動書記人偶很可能會去世界末日去拯救他。這就是她的天性。

“那就沒有必要了。”

After a little while passed, Leidenschaftlich was embraced by the gentleness of the night.

“Yeah.”

現在已經沒有控制繩了。他走路時也沒有必要拉她的手。他們之間什麼也沒有。

There were no reins anymore now. No need for him to pull her by the hand when walking, either. There was nothing between them.

他今天對這個完全能夠接受別人的愛的女人所做的事情，並不是一個布幹維利亞的兒子應該對一個女人做的事情。

Without waiting for them to get ready, she had immediately run back to the Artemisia Gallery and infiltrated it through the same route. A few of the robbers, who had the bad luck of spotting her, fell to the ground with one kick or punch to the abdomen, and so, she had finally returned. As Violet stood behind the remaining robbers while catching her breath, the hostages stared as if she were their safety, but Dietfried was sneering as he looked at her.

即使在雄辯的情況下，說話的人也不會喘不過氣接下氣。然而，他的這種威嚴的面貌在別人的眼中卻顯得很可怕，也類似於瘋狂。

The beast had been scared when the rescue fleet arrived. So had Dietfried. He would not be able to bear it if more of his comrades were murdered. Hence, he had taken the beast’s hand and guided her to the outside world. In his perception, it was the same as taking the reins.

那時，當她站在迪特福利特身邊時，據說她每天都充滿了瘋狂。他們過去常常在戰場上游蕩，從黎明到黃昏進行戰鬥，越來越習慣了暴力。戰爭結束了，和平恢復了，他意識到一個他甚至可以創造藝術的時代即將到來。那些時候是不正常的，他現在的感覺是默認的。

He recalled the time when the two of them were stuck in that isolated island.

“I’m calling a carriage. It’s all right; just wait right there. I’ll see you off until you get inside the Evergarden house. And then it’s goodbye. We’ll never see each other again. No matter what you and Gil become, we’ll never see each other again.”

迪特弗裏德看着他的人偶讓強盜們失去了知覺，擁有像一個喫人的怪物一樣壓倒性的力量，他回憶起了過去。

強盜突然意識到所有的人質都在他們身後。他們覺得他們身後有什麼東西。它就像一個幽靈，甚至隱藏了生命的火焰，只是等待主的命令。

“我不能接受你的命令。”

她沒有等他們準備好，就立即跑回艾蒿畫廊，通過同樣的一條路滲透到那裏。幾個強盜發現了她，一腳就倒在地上，所以她終於回來了。薇爾莉特站在剩下的強盜身後喘着口氣，人質們盯着她，好像她是他們的安全，但迪特弗裏德看着她一邊譏笑。

“沒有必要的。你的保鏢一定在等着，所以請隨時告別，大佐。”

At that moment, the beast was well aware that he had called her name for the very first time. Her eyes were crinkling.

“我帶你去吧。聽着，這是一個命令。”

She had broken out and escaped through the restroom’s window. Rather than going to the military police, she had gone to the hotel that Dietfried instructed her to and notified the naval soldiers, who were enjoying cigarettes and drinks in a room on the top floor, of the circumstances. One of the soldiers, who happened to know her, had been frightened at first, but upon seeing that she had been entrusted with Dietfried’s ribbon, his facial expression changed and he contacted the military police, then informed the port’s security to reinforce their inspections.

儘管她曾經是一頭野獸，如果她死了，誰也不會哀悼。

——Everything goes around.

“我在叫馬車。沒關係的，就等吧。我會離開你，直到你進入伊芙加登的房子。然後是永別了。我們再也不會見面了。不管你和吉爾怎麼樣，我們都再也不會見面了。”

看到最後一件藝術品被拿進來，薇爾莉特就拿起了她腳邊的行李箱。她可能打算獨自回家。

“沒關係；就在這一次。我會帶你回家的。”

她掙脫了出來，從衛生間的窗戶逃了出來。她沒有去找憲兵，而是去了迪特福利特指示她的酒店，並把情況通知了在頂層房間裏抽菸喝酒的海軍士兵們。其中一名碰巧認識她的士兵一開始嚇得害怕，但當看到迪特福利特戴的緞帶被託付給她·後，他的面部表情改變了，他聯繫了憲兵，然後通知港口的安全加強他們的檢查。

“I cannot accept your command.”

“Because it was a state of emergency… Besides, Captain Dietfried, it would be reasonable if I were to take you home, but the opposite is illogical.”

“最好不要告訴吉爾伯特上校。他會擔心的。”

“畢竟，現在是夏天了。”

“Do it, Violet.” Dietfried raised his thumb and made a swift throat-cutting gesture.

While watching his doll render the robbers unconscious with a strength as overwhelming as a monster eating people, Dietfried reminisced to the past.

The respiration of a woman who was out of breath from running loomed over their ears.

過了一會兒，萊登沙夫利奇被夜晚溫柔的氣氛所擁抱。

“我要帶你回家。”

Just as ordered, she had saved Dietfried without damaging a single artwork.

Inside his head, words were being conceived and then disappearing. Just like the dreams that the sleeping children all around Leidenschaftlich were surely seeing right now. They were born and then vanished.

If he called for her, this Auto-Memories Doll would most likely go to the ends of the world to save him. That was her nature.

“No need.”

Summer constellations were decorating the jet-black sky. Just as sunny as it was during daytime, the night sky was twinkling so brightly this evening that it could be called a banquet of stars. The day was about to end in Leidenschaftlich. Today was filled with chaos ever since morning.

在畫廊的窗外，他們可以聽到汽車停放地周圍有人打架的聲音。與此同時，他們可以聽到他們身後就有一陣微弱的呼吸聲。

First, she had put up the woman-with-a-stomachache act and gone with one of the robbers to the restroom. She had then quietly strangled the neck of the man who had reached a hand to her shoulder with her mechanical prosthetic arms, making him pass out.

What he had done today to this woman, who had become fully able to accept someone’s love, was not something that a son of the Bougainvillea should ever do to a lady.

當救援艦隊到達時，野獸被嚇壞了。迪特弗裏德也是如此。如果他有更多的同志被謀殺，他就無法忍受了。因此，他抓住了野獸的手，把她帶到了外面的世界。在他看來，這和控制繩子是一樣的。

他回憶起他們倆被困在那個孤立島的時間。

After making her do so much, something similar to guilt was now sprouting within Dietfried. He wound up acknowledging that she, too, was important to someone. That was what he thought after the battle, when he saw Violet stroking her emerald brooch as if to confirm that it was there.

⁂

“It’s fine; just this time. I’ll take you home.”

“你個小子……你採取的行動就像我剛纔告訴你的那樣。”

“Captain.”

不是愛，激情，依戀，慾望，任何東西。

最後，他想張開嘴說：“你不冷嗎？”

The corner of Violet’s lips had a cut and blood was coming out of it. Her ribbon-tie dress was drenched in sweat. Even those who did not sweat much would be like this after such a huge scuffle during summertime.

“About what happened…”

首先，她扮演了那個胃痛的女人，和其中一個強盜一起去了洗手間。然後，她悄悄地用機械假肢勒住了那個伸手到她肩膀上的男人的脖子，使他昏倒了。

薇爾莉特的嘴脣上有一道傷口，血正在流出。她的領帶裙連汗都溼透了。即使是那些不怎麼出汗的人，在夏天發生了這麼大的混戰之後，也會是這樣。

一個女人喘不過氣來的呼吸突然出現在她們的耳朵上。

"大佐。"

“What’re you talking about? You’re a woman, aren’t you?”

“I have just returned. Are you unharmed?”

最後她和她說話，就像一個不習慣邀請女人出去的男人。

“我剛回來。你沒有受傷嗎？”

“是的。”

——一切都進展順利。

While being observed by gathered-up onlookers, the arrest drama that had unfolded in front of the Artemisia Gallery was already coming to a conclusion, its many procedures and processing passed over to the military police. Seeing the stolen artworks safely re-delivered to Artemisia, Dietfried took a breather. His gaze then fleetingly drifted to the side. A dirtied ceramic doll was standing there. A woman beautiful enough to look like such, who shone amidst the night, was standing there. He had to say something to her. As one would expect, he should do that at least now. But he could not think of anything.

“It is summer, after all.”

Even though she used to be a wild beast whom no one would mourn if she died.

只要這麼多的補償就足以讓野獸微笑了。

“I’ll take you. Listen up, this is an order.”

什麼也沒有，但只有一件事是肯定的。

“一個女人”。迪特福利特發現自己用嘴說了這一點，於是更後悔了。

There was nothing, but one thing was for certain.

夏天的星座裝飾着漆黑的天空。和白天一樣晴朗，今晚的夜空如此明亮，可以被稱爲星空宴會。這一天即將在萊登沙法夫特利奇結束。今天從從早上起就充滿了混亂。

Upon seeing the last artwork be brought in, Violet took the trolley bag that lay by her feet. She likely intended to go home by herself.

”迪特福利特大佐。“

“關於發生了什麼事……”

“You little… You were taking action like I instructed you to just a while ago.”

Not love, passion, attachment, desire, anything.

這時，野獸很清楚他第一次叫她的名字。她的眼睛眨了眼睛。

At last, he attempted to open his mouth, “Aren’t you cold?”

按照命令，她救了迪特福利特，卻沒有損壞一件藝術品。

“你在說什麼？”你是個女人，不是嗎？”

——“You did well”. “That wasn’t too bad”. “Good work”. “I commend you”… Which one?

在聚集在一起的旁觀者的觀察下，在艾西亞畫廊前展開的逮捕事件已經結束了，它的許多程序和處理程序都移交給了憲兵。看到偷來的藝術品被安全地重新送到艾西亞那裏，迪特弗裏德休息了口氣。然後，他的目光飛快地移到了一邊。一個骯髒的人偶正站在那裏。一個漂亮的女人站在那裏。他不得不對她說些什麼。正如人們所料，他至少現在應該這樣做。但他什麼也想不出了。

“No need. Your escorts must be waiting, so please, feel free to take your leave, Captain.”

薇爾莉特伊芙加登一直在爲保護而戰鬥，仍然站在迪特福利特身邊。說她是今天最值得稱讚的人是恰當的。想出這次逮捕行動的想法的人是迪特福利特，但爲之做了所有工作的人是薇爾莉特。

——Aah, that’s an excuse. It’ll be nothing but an excuse. If so, then I don’t wanna say it.

在讓她做了這麼多之後，迪特福利特身上出現了類似罪惡感的東西。他最終承認，她對某人也很重要。這就是他在戰鬥結束後的想法，當他看到薇爾莉特撫摸着她的翡翠胸針，好像要確認它就在那裏。

——啊，這是個藉口。這不過是一個藉口。如果是這樣，那我就不想這麼說了。

“因爲那是一種緊急狀態……而且，迪特福利特大佐，如果我帶你回家是合理的，但相反的情況是不合邏輯的。”

“做吧，薇爾莉特。迪特弗裏德舉起拇指，迅速地做了一個割斷喉嚨的手勢。

The eloquent man did not run out of breath even when speaking nonstop in such a situation. However, this majestic aspect of him was reflected in others’ eyes as dreadful and similar to madness.

Violet Evergarden, who had been fighting reasonably and in order to protect, was still by Dietfried’s side. It was fitting to say that she had been today’s most meritorious person. The one who had come up with the idea of the arrest operation was Dietfried, but the one who had done all the work for it was Violet.

“Captain Bougainvillea.”

Back then, when she was by Dietfried’s side, every single day was filled with madness on all accounts. They used to roam around battlefields, fighting from dawn to dusk, growing too accustomed to violence. The war then ended, peace had returned, and he realized that an era in which he could even make art was arriving. That those times were abnormal and the way he felt now was the default.

The robbers abruptly realized that all the hostages were looking far behind them. They felt that there was something behind them. It was like a ghost, hiding even its flame of life, simply waiting for the orders of its lord.

——“你做得很好。”“這還不算太糟”。“好工作”。“我推薦你”，是哪一個？

“A woman”. Finding himself asserting this with his own mouth, Dietfried regretted it even more.

Just this much compensation was enough to make the beast smile.

“It will probably be best not to tell Lord Gilbert. He would worry.”

“I’ll take you home.”

After they had hopped into the carriage, a moment of silence went on for a while.

他們跳上馬車後，又沉默了一會兒。

——Is it okay for her to keep such an open secret even though those two are a couple?

——即使這兩人是夫妻，她也可以保守這樣一個公開的祕密嗎？

Dietfried found himself accidentally concerned about his younger brother’s love life. After all, this situation might be a betrayal to his dearest brother. Gilbert had completely forgiven Dietfried. For pushing the headship succession onto him. For not having any consideration for their family. For forcing an indescribable wild beast onto him. He had forgiven everything.

迪特福利特發現自己意外地擔心了他弟弟的愛情生活。畢竟，這種情況可能是對他最親愛的兄弟的背叛。吉爾伯特已經完全原諒了迪特福利特。因爲他向他推去了繼承權。因爲他們沒有考慮到他們的家庭。因爲它把一隻難以形容的野獸逼向他去。他已經原諒了一切。

Thinking back, the only time that he attempted to push Dietfried away, saying he would not forgive him, had been when Dietfried offered Violet to him. He had called it “human trafficking”. Told Dietfried not to be violent with a child.

回想起來，他唯一一次試圖趕走迪特福利特，說他不會原諒他，是迪特福利特把薇爾莉特遞給他。他曾稱之爲“人口販賣”。告訴迪特福利特不要對孩子施暴力。

Most likely, those two were each other’s only exception from the very beginning. There was probably no pardoning what Dietfried had done to Violet today. Gilbert would forgive most things. Save for matters related to the one and only thing that was most important to him. Being hated by a loved one. This could cast a shadow over anyone’s heart, regardless of how old they were.

最有可能的是，這兩個人從一開始就是對方唯一的例外。迪特福利特今天對薇爾莉特所做的一切，可能都沒有得到寬恕。吉爾伯特會原諒大多數事情的。除了與唯一對他最重要的事情有關的事情之外。被愛人所憎恨。這可能會給任何人的心蒙上陰影，不管他們的年紀多大了。

“It is all right.” The voice that cut through the silence was thrown at him as if to soothe him down. The words sounded almost as if she had perceived Dietfried’s uneasiness. “If, by any chance… word ends up reaching him through someone else about this case, I will definitely defend you, Captain Dietfried.”

“沒關係。那穿過寂靜的聲音傳向他，好像是在安慰他。這些話聽起來好像她已經意識到了迪特福利特的不安。“如果有什麼機會……最終通過別人告訴他這個案子，我一定會爲你洗白的，迪特福利特大佐。”

“‘Defend’, you say?”

“你說，洗白嗎？”

“To tell the truth, I often get involved in large-scale incidents without Major knowing. But I return without fail. To Leidenschaftlich. I will return today as well. Therefore, we are all right.”

“說實話，我經常在少佐不知情的情況下捲入大規模事件。但我還是沒有成功地回來了。回到萊頓沙夫特利奇。我今天也會回來的。因此，我們都沒事了。”

“What do you do out there?”

“你在外面幹什麼？”

“We were separated for much too long. Therefore, we have many moments that the other does not know about in the first place. Perhaps even now, too. I have work to do and so does he. We have limited time to see each other. However, I will definitely always return to Major. He knows this as well. Even when we are apart, that person is the only one who occupies my mind. I am not sure if I convey it to him properly, but that is how it is.”

“我們被分開得太久了。因此，我們有很多對方首先就不知道的時刻。也許即使是現在，情況也是如此。我有工作要做，他也有。我們見面的時間有限。然而，我一定會永遠回到少校。他也知道這一點。即使我們分開了，那個人也是唯一佔據我思想的人。我不確定我是否能正確地傳達給他，但事實就是這樣。”

“What do you want to say?”

“嘿，直說吧。別對我很狡猾。”

Dietfried hated Violet. Several factors had induced his emotions to it.

——啊，神啊，我想……

“Besides, I wonder… if I had managed to protect him back then…”

月亮是一種將永遠存在的東西。不像故事。不管迪特福利特是否關心這件事，他的一切都會有一天結束。死亡甚至會到達那些他不希望結束的事情。甚至他現在的感情也會結束。

The carriage ran amongst trees dyed in the darkness of the night. A cool voice echoed amidst them.

然而，出於某種原因，他今天強烈請求別人原諒。

Nevertheless, for some reason, he had the overwhelming desire to ask someone for forgiveness today.

“But all of these are akin to dreams, crossing my mind and fading away. After passing through countless ‘if’s, I…”

沐浴在月光下，她是簡單的，純粹的美麗，足以帶走迪特福利特的呼吸。

她的話通常會讓他突然大笑起來，但迪特福利特卻做不到。

Still, this sort of being did not give any reply to calls. Even now, he had no idea if his plea had reached Him. It was certainly impossible. His and Violet’s stars were in a position that would not radically change.

That was his line, Dietfried thought, but Violet then sent his gemstone eyes a dream-like gaze. His existence might be devoid of realism to her.

——O God, I want to, he begged a certain Someone in his mind for the first in a long time. Perhaps since his childhood.

“我也想知道，如果你不把我留給少校，會怎麼樣。”

即使是能成爲善良的人也有有限的。

——你是什麼時候變成這樣的呢？

“…I would not have had to spend that time away from Major.”

“When I was with you, Lord Dietfried, my work was never satisfactory. Now that I became an adult, have I finally been able to repay my debt… with my work?”

“Back then, if”. “Back then, if”. “Back then, if”.

“Captain.”

She had to let go of her most beloved lord’s hand and was entrusted to someone else as if she had been thrown away.

“我...”

These words became a bullet and pierced Dietfried’s heart. He felt as if his breathing would stop at the unexpected question. Things had been like that since the distant past. Dietfried would reconfirm time and time again that she was a woman who could have become a lethal weapon for him.

The truth was that, even if he wanted to be kind, it was no longer possible. He had prayed to God for it countless times in the past. However, unable to achieve this, a man named Dietfried Bougainvillea existed.

This woman.

“If you’d stayed with me, probably nothing good would’ve happened.”

She could not bring myself not to think that, if only she had had this extra step, he would not have lost that emerald eye.

Bathed in moonlight, she was simply, purely beautiful, enough to take Dietfried’s breath away.

她不得不鬆開她最心愛的主人的手，被託付給別人，就好像她被扔掉了一樣。

現在回想起來，她總是被別人拋棄，然後被別人接走。她應該習慣的。她出生在那個明星之下。

“I mean everything. It all started when you brought me from that island. I am the way I am now because you entrusted me to Ma… to Lord Gilbert.”

“Hey, just say it straight. Don’t be dodgy with me.”

He saw himself overlap with her. Her subservience to adults and the way that she herself wanted it disgusted him. He despised the wild beast that did not yearn for freedom. Despised the fact that she had been trained by someone to be this way. Despised everything. To begin with, Dietfried did not have many things that he liked.

Even the number of people who could become kind had a limit.

——Now you can correspond to someone’s love.

“How was I today?”

Violet began to whisper. If only she had disobeyed that order back then. If only she had rushed to him a step faster at that time.

“迪特福利特大佐，當我和你在一起的時候，我的工作從來沒有令人滿意過。現在我已經成年了，我終於能夠用工作償還債務了嗎？”

迪特福利特根本無法理解薇爾莉特的問題背後的意圖。她的感情一開始就讀不到，但她更難理解這句話的意思。

——O God, I want to…

她不能讓自己不想到，如果她多走這一步，他就不會失去那隻翡翠色的眼睛了。

“我今天過得怎麼樣？”

迪特福利特討厭薇爾莉特。有幾個因素引起了他的情緒。

薇爾莉特轉過脖子，用目光望着他。慢慢地，藍色和綠色的眼睛相互混合在一起。

這個女人。

不過，這種人並沒有回覆任何電話。即使是現在，他也不知道他的請求是否已經得到了滿足。這當然是不可能的。他和薇爾莉特的星星處於一個不會發生根本改變的位置。

——啊，神啊，我想，他很長一段時間以來第一次在心裏乞求一個人。也許是從他的童年開始就這樣做的。

“如果你和我呆在一起，可能就不會發生什麼好事了。”

The moon was something that would continue to exist forever. Unlike stories. Regardless of whether Dietfried concerned himself with it, everything about his story would come to a closing one day as well. Demise would arrive even to the things that he did not wish to ever be over. Even the feelings he had now would end.

“回到那時，如果”。“回到那時，如果”。“回到那時，如果”。

Thinking back, she had always been abandoned and then picked up by somebody. She should have been used to it. That was the star she had been born under.

Not even he knew where to.

——我想回去。

Silence.

他已經把家扔掉了。他的弟弟，弟弟哭了起來抗議。然後把這隻野獸扔掉了。

“你說的‘債務是什麼意思？”

“I…”

“I also wonder what would have happened if you had not left me with Major.”

——現在你可以對應於某人的愛了。

甚至他都不知道該去哪裏。

她最初是這個世界的一個外國人，應該被淘汰。她的命運也是這樣流出來的。薇爾莉特雖然溫順，但卻反抗她的分段道路，是因爲另一條是特別的。

But painfully miserable.

“All right,” the cool voice entered his ears once more. Such coldness resembled the night, but it never left his ears, easy as it was to catch.

但卻非常痛苦。

馬車在夜裏染成染的樹林中奔跑。一個涼爽的聲音在他們中間迴響。

事實是，即使他想變得善良，這也再也不可能了。他過去曾無數次爲此向上帝祈禱。然而，由於無法實現這一點，一個名叫迪特福利特·布幹維利亞的人存在。

“究竟是什麼事呢？”

沉默。

“如果我繼續爲你服務，我該怎麼樣呢？”【大概這樣子？？？（彌天大霧）】

薇爾莉特看着外面的風景。她在觀察月亮，月亮追着它們，不管它們離他們有多遠。

“再說，我還想知道，那時我是否設法保護了他……”

——快點結束，今天，今天，我和她在一起的時間。

He had thrown his home away. Thrown away his little brother, who cried in protest. And thrown away this beast.

——Hurry and be over, this day, today and the time I have to spend with her.

“What?”

“我指的是一切。這一切都始於你從那個島上帶來的我。我現在就是這樣，因爲你把我託付給了媽媽……還有吉爾伯特上校。”

他並不生氣。

His voice was hoarse. He suddenly felt as if this icy woman had robbed his entire body of its heat. The inside of his mouth was extremely dry.

“我不會花那段時間離開少校的。”

——I wanna go back.

“大佐。”

“你想說些什麼呢？”

“What d’you mean by ‘debt’?”

——I also threw her away.

“我今天的工作讓你滿意了嗎？”

“Did my work earn your satisfaction today?”

薇爾莉特開始低語起來。要是她當時不服從那個命令就好了。要是那時她衝向他快一步就好了。

Violet turned her neck and cast her gaze at him. Slowly, blue and green eyes blended with each other.

這些話變成了一顆子彈，刺穿了迪特福利特的心。他覺得他的呼吸似乎會在這個意想不到的問題上停止來。從遙遠的過去就就是這樣了。迪特福利特會一次又一次地再次確認，她是一個可能成爲他的致命武器的女人。

“How would I be if I had continued to serve you?”

“So you also imagine a hypothesis… of ‘what if’,” her exquisitely cold voice rang within the darkness. Upon being asked, “You too?”, Violet nodded.

She was originally a foreign body to this world and was supposed to have been eliminated. Her destiny had also flowed in this way. The reason why Violet had rebelled against her sectioned path, despite having been tamely submitting herself to it, was that the other was special.

他看到自己和她重疊了。她對成年人的順從和她自己想要的方式讓他感到厭惡。他鄙視那些不渴望自由的野獸。沮喪她被別人訓練成這樣的事實。淡化了一切。首先，迪特弗裏德沒有多少他喜歡的東西。

Her statements were something that would normally make him burst into laughter, but Dietfried was unable to do so.

“好吧，”那冷靜的聲音又一次進入了他的耳朵裏。這樣的寒冷像夜晚，但從來沒有離開他的耳朵，很容易抓住。

He was not annoyed.

“所以你也可以想象一個假設……‘如果怎麼辦’，”她那精緻冰冷的聲音在黑暗中響起。有人問他：“你也嗎？”薇爾莉特點了點頭。

——When did you become like that?

Dietfried could not read the intentions behind Violet’s question at all. She was someone whose emotions he could not read in the first place, but it was even harder to understand the meaning of that sentence.

——我也把她扔掉了。

Violet was looking at the scenery outside. She was observing the moon, which chased after them, no matter how far, far apart they were.

他的聲音嘶啞了。他突然覺得這個冷冰冰的女人好像搶走了他全身的熱量。他的嘴裏非常幹。

迪特福利特想，這是他的臺詞，但薇爾莉特把寶石眼睛變成了夢般的目光。他的存在對她來說可能缺乏現實主義。

“但所有這些都就像夢，穿過我的腦海，消失了。在經過了無數的“如果是”之後，我……”

He had pushed this woman onto his brother and forsaken her. Looking at her made him sick. He was also scared of her. Most importantly, he would have stopped being himself. This terrified him.

他把這個女人推到他弟弟身上，然後拋棄了她。看着她，使他生病了。他也很害怕她。最重要的是，他就會不再做他自己了。這嚇到他了。

“And now, I have become an Auto-Memories Doll and am spending a night with you.”

“現在，我已經變成了一個自動書記人偶，正在和你共度一夜。”

This woman possessed an element that transmuted people.

這個女人有一種改變人的因素。

“Y’know, you’ll be alone one day. You’re the one who’s got the longer lifespan, aren’t you?”

“你知道，有一天你會孤單的。你是那個壽命更長的人，不是嗎？”

Violet closed her eyes at those words. If she had pictured numerous “if”s, this would obviously come to mind as well.

薇爾莉特對着這些話閉上了眼睛。如果她拍了很多“如果”，我顯然也會想到這一點。

“I do not know.”

“我不知道。”

“If that happens, what’re you gonna do?”

“如果發生這種事，你該怎麼辦？”

“I do not know. But are you not the same as me when it comes to this? You love him, right?”

“我不知道。但你和我不一樣嗎？你愛他，對吧？”

“I’m… I’m the older one. I’ll be gone sooner.”

“我是最年長的那個人。我還會早點走的。”

“No one knows about that. But… if, one day… I do become alone… if I am left living by myself… my order will still be valid. I will probably live on.”

“我可以去看看嗎？”

Thinking back, ever since they had first met, he had not known how to deal with her. Should he have protected her? Killed her? Protected? Killed? Or perhaps…

——O God, I want to be a good person.

“一幅畫還是少佐？”（“少佐的一副畫？”）

如果她最終獨自生活，這種假設是對野獸最殘酷的事情。他現在想讓她說什麼？

“我的意思是，是嗎？”我……讓我們來看看。畫吧，我想。”

Silence.

⁂

他回想起來，自從他們第一次見面以來，他就不知道如何對付她。他應該保護她嗎？殺了她嗎？受保護的是嗎？已死亡嗎？或者，也可能是……

“A painting or Major?”

“這就是爲什麼我每天都寫信的原因。即使他們聯繫不到他，我也每天都給少校寫信。”

“Captain, what will you do?”

“May I go see it?”

“Me, huh? I… let’s see. Paint, I guess.”

——啊，上帝啊，我想成爲一個好人。

If she ended up living by herself, this supposition was the cruelest of things to the beast. Just what did he want to do by making her say this now?

對迪特福利特·布幹維利亞來說，這隻野獸從一開始既是女人又是怪物。她現在就像一個夢一樣遙遠了。

“你是我中唯一一個知道我畫畫的親戚。你想做就做。”

“That is why I write letters every day. Even if they do not reach him, I write letters to Major every single day.”

“That’s right.”

“沒有人知道這個事。但是，如果有一天，我成爲一人，如果我獨自生活，我的命令仍然有效。我可能會活下去。”

“大佐，你打算怎麼辦呢？”

“You’re the only one of my relatives who knows I paint. Do whatever you want.”

沉默。

“是的。”

To ,Dietfried Bougainvillea this wild beast was both a woman and a monster from the very beginning. She was now as far-off as a dream.