ever after_第02章_夜与自动手记人偶_

第二章

夜与自动书记人偶

英文来源

翻译：Erwwyh，金山词霸

校对：Erwwyh

//标红位置译文存疑

//译者一个学生党，还是一只高二狗，还在一个全网络覆盖却不让带手机的寄宿学校上学，所以什么时候更完不一定，着急的自己动手吧qwq

//8.2：声明，这个是英文转译+机翻，真的是没人译还没有生肉资源才出此下策

//此次更新仅仅是重拍版+微修改

//这是译者的吐槽

⁂

Everything went around.

一切在循环往复。

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.

从过去到现在，从现在到未来。在土壤中腐烂的尸体会溶解在地球上，新的生物也会从地球上诞生。几个小时后，由星星和黑夜制成的窗帘就会被黎明颜色的窗帘覆盖住。

People went around as well.

人们仍然匆匆而行

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.

孩子们会出生，大声发出声音，开始走路，一旦他们意识到自己，他们的故事就会开始。一个发现激情，了解爱，停下来做孩子，在同情其他家庭后，像父母一样生后代的循环。一个学习世界的循环，传播信息，向年轻人传授他们的知识，并产生更多这样的年轻人。在一个循环中，别人的故事是别人的鼓励，那些被鼓励的人会构思自己的故事。

Everything went around.

一切仍在循环往复。

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

这是一个周期。这是一个在世界上任何地方都可能发生的微薄循环的故事。

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.

一个人从他漂到的一个小岛上捡起了一只野兽。这是一头美丽的野兽，但早在他来到他手中之前，它就已经充满了技能。轻松屠杀人和寻求服从的技能。

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.

他们的第一次见面都很糟糕。他的下属曾试图把手放在野兽的美貌上。好像是给予，野兽杀死了他的许多下属，只留下一个人。那就是他。野兽同时给予他灾难和救恩，并寻求对这个人的屈从。

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杀以外的所有人都被谋杀的岛上，但他屈服了，接受了这只野兽。这只野兽很有用，但他无法应付。无论是早晨、中午还是晚上，他的头都被野兽所困扰，他的心无法平静下来。

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.

从本质上，他是一个不想被任何东西束缚的人。毕竟，他有一段被家人和父母强迫屈服的过去。他逃离了自己的职责和家，跳进了海里。这个人出生在一个以花命名的家族里，他逃跑了，获得了自由。

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.

他最渴望一种没有人能从他身上偷来的自由。即使他不得不为此抛弃了他的小弟弟。因此，这个人在野兽的情况中也做了同样的事情。对他来说，最重要的是他自己。他想摆脱那种恐怖。最有可能的是，他已经切断了一个需要救赎的孩子。

Everything went around.

一切在循环往复。

——O God, I want to  

——啊，神啊，我想

Everything.

一切……

正文开始

A voice that sounded like bells echoed.

似乎有钟声回响

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

“大佐，”它低声说，好像是在挠那人的耳朵。“迪特福利特·布干维利亚大佐。”

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

那天是晚上。当人们回家的时候。

“What would you like to do?”

“你想做什么？”

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.

从镶嵌着彩色玻璃的窗户上闪烁着一盏橙色的光。随着日落反映在精心设计的室内装饰上，这个地方本身看起来就像一件艺术品。

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

“是不是是这样，因为之前的影响，你的听力已经……”

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.

它本来应该是这样的。如此坚持呼唤的人和故意无视她的人所在的地方是一个艺术画廊，最近刚刚完成装修。

“As if.”

“好像是。”

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

“我松了一口气。那么，我想问一下你是否有一个计划。”

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.

在一个他们不应该在的地方，这两个不应该在一起的人跪在地上。

“Captain.”

“大佐。”

“………………………..”

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“平民们正陷入困境。”

“…………………………..”

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

“迪特福利特·布干维利亚大佐。。”

“…………”

“What would you like to do?”

“你想做什么？”

“………………”

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

“我想问你是否有计划。”

“…………………”

“The civilians are in a predicament.”

“平民们正陷入困境。”

“……………………”

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

“如果我能提出我的意见，首先，我可以充当一个诱饵--”

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

“安静点，怪物。不要一遍又一遍地重复同样的事情。也不要呼吸。我现在就在想。”

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.

迪特福利特·布干维利亚，莱登的海军大佐，布干维利亚的长子——爱国的民族英雄，曾捡起薇尔莉特·伊芙加登并把她带到这个国家——正用手遮住他的眼睛，由于有太多在他的盘子里。一点点的沉默和黑暗使他松了一口气，但有人的哭泣，一个男人责备它的声音，以及一个人被残忍地踢和滚下来的声音，把他拖回到了现实中。

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.

他很头痛。但不知道是由于他的焦虑还是受伤造成的。他用一只手放在后脑勺上，检查了一下，但只流出了一点血。

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.

为了把这种可怕的心情吐出来，他深吸了一口气。他觉得自己已经好转了一点，但当他睁开眼睛望着旁边的女人时，这种不愉快的感觉又回来了。一勺不适、拒绝和恐惧都被扔进了迪特福利特的情绪的锅中，煮沸了。然而，最突出的感觉是别的东西。

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.

刚才一直坚持和他说话的女人现在已经安静下来，像他告诉她的那样一点也不呼吸。薇尔莉特·伊芙加登

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.

迪特福利特凝视地望着他以前的仆人。这个女人和他们第一次见面时相比，她的外表改变了许多，那是一种耀眼的冷静，在这样紧张的情况下显得更加明显。迪特福利特想，她几乎就像一个冰雕。

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

——即使你曾经像野兽…

She now smelled of nothing but flowers.

她现在闻起来却像花。

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

——…正如我想象的那样。

“You’re a siren.”

“你是个灾星。”

Silence.

沉默。

“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.”

“我的小弟弟毁了一个火车站，只是为了让你还活着；你是一个彻头彻尾的灾星。我不喜欢你，但我的精神稳定现在被破坏了，我感觉到你的存在所带来的危害和影响。在破坏事物和造成问题方面，你是无与伦比的。”

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.

迪特福利特曾经告诉他的弟弟，这头野兽可能会变成灾星。他本来是想这么说的，包括各种各样的事情。这个名叫薇尔莉特的年轻女人是上帝错误创造的生物，在厄运笼罩中诞生。当一个人站在她身边时，他们有很多人。

“Damn troublemaker.”

“该死的麻烦精。”

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

有许多问题。虽然她不希望这样做，但她是这样出生的。在灾星下。

——It goes round. All of it.

——它运行。所有这些都。

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.

他从她身边跑来跑去，但他们最终会相遇，因此迪特福利特开始认为在这一点上这可能是某种神圣的启示。告诉他面对那个他扔掉了的女孩。

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.

薇尔莉特仍将手放在胸针上。他有点猜到这是他弟弟给她的。他的舌尖发麻。这个女孩可能会成为最坏的妻子，牵着他最心爱的弟弟的手。

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

——我们可以留给以后；必须先推翻这种局面。

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.

迪特福利特决心与这一现实作斗争，然后他把目光转向了眼前蔓延的景象。女人、男人、老人——每个人都蹲在地板上，用枪指着他们。显然，这一点也适用于迪特福利特和薇尔莉特。

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.

意想不到的情况——即使他们自己也不能采取错误的行动，更不用说在这么多平民面前的情况下了。最重要的是，迪特福利特还背着一个他必须保护尽管他不想保护的人。他的舌尖当然会发麻。

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

也许他们被认为是恋人，因为即使在他们彼此亲近时，也没人说什么。

“Hey, did you really stop breathing?”

“嘿，你真的停止呼吸了吗？”

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

她似乎并不痛苦，但她努力服从的身材使迪特福利特感到不安。

“I was joking; breathe.”

“我是在开玩笑，好好呼吸吧。”

Violet’s blue eyes blinked with a snap.

薇尔莉特的蓝眼睛眨了眨。

“Yes.”

“是的。”（好想笑得一说）

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.

然后，她吸了一口气。迪特弗里德憎恨自己，因为她又安全地开始呼吸而稍稍松了一口气。（看不懂qwq）

“Hey, you.”

“喂，你。”

“Yes.”

“是的。”

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

“从现在开始，就听从我的命令吧。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.”

“我要拯救这些平民。这是我的职责。没有什么援助，所以我也在算你……不知道如果我的小弟弟发现我会让你死，他会怎么做。即使不是故意的，如果在这种情况下发生了什么可以杀死你的事情，我真的不知道他会做什么。他可能会讨厌我的。”

“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…”

“有一些自我意识，怪物。我愚蠢的弟弟炸毁了一个火车站让你生活。这个事实确实变成了经过多少时间对吉尔伯特的嘲笑，但如果你从正常的角度来考虑，这是不寻常的。这就是你改变他的方式。该死的女巫……”

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，过去也是为了他而存在的工具。一个曾经是一只没有名字的狗的女人。他从一个孤独的岛上收养的一个孤儿，被带回来，试图摆脱最大的努力，然后被扔掉了。

 Asset.Girl soldier. Automatic assassination doll. Witch.

资产，少女兵，自动杀人人偶，女巫。（半神？）

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

——即使我不想，现在我也得保护这东西把它带回家。

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

“我要救你，所以你也要救我，女巫。”

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.

命运过去了，增加了一次机会，作为最后点睛的最佳调味品。毕竟，就在这一刻，薇尔莉特·伊芙加登和迪特福利特·布干维利亚遭到了强盗和武器的袭击。

“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.”

“这对我来说非常不愉快，但我会采取行动，保障你的生活是首要任务。不是为了你，是为了我的小弟弟。”（真·傲娇）

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.”

薇尔莉特知道她一旦获准呼吸就可以说话，于是她发表了自己的意见：“不。”她直接这样做了，没有任何约束。“不，那是我的工作，大佐。吉尔伯特上校爱你。”

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.

迪特福利特眨了眨眼睛。从早些时候开始，那些绿色的宝石就一直盯着薇尔莉特，好像他们会把她吸进去。那是与他弟弟有不同的绿色宝石。那些被震惊包围的绿色宝石，反映了薇尔莉特严肃的目光。

“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.”

“无论发生什么事，我都要保护你，”薇尔莉特像个骑士一样下定决心地说。“我会尽我的能力服从你的命令，但如果我认为这是危险的，我将采取行动，优先保护你的安全。”（薇姐nb）

“Hey.”

“喂！”

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

“我一定会保护你，把你安全地带回少佐去。请不要离开我的身边，大佐。”

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

“这是我的台词，”迪特福利特说，但他还是想杀死薇尔莉特。

⁂

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.

为了达到这个阶段，当莱登迎来早晨时，事情就开始了。这可能会追溯得太早，无法澄清，但这一切确实是从黎明开始就开始了。

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.

那天早上的天气充满了阳光——初夏是莱登沙夫利奇的典型表现。早起的女士们在黎明时分开张的面包店里排起了长队，小鸟们在商店周围飞来飞去，吃面包屑。有一家咖啡馆，离一家很受欢迎的面包店有三家商店，以提供花卉茶而闻名，它的招牌女孩准备开业。如果有人继续往前走，就有一家银行，在该银行的周围，有一条主要的街道，两旁是大型商店。

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.

一个安排第二天开放的美术馆已经在大街上建起来了。它的名字是艾西亚画廊。它的主人是主人，他是一位艺术家。

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.

当然，艾西亚画廊展示了其所有者的作品，但它也有来自莱登内外艺术家的作品。有一排排来自不知名的年轻艺术家的作品，他们对主人也很感兴趣，尽管她也致力于培养新的人才。

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.

艾西亚画廊将成为莱登舍夫利奇新奇艺术形式诞生的地方，定于今天举行一场开幕前派对，只有有关人士参加。画廊的工作人员从早上开始就开始清理画廊的内部和前面的人行道。

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.

中午时分，一名为那天受雇的餐厅员工来拜访他，带来了葡萄酒、零食和餐桌。至于盘子，有两种类型：已经准备好的，另一种是借主人住宅的厨房制作的。由于吃饭不是主要的重点，准备工作仅仅足以让即将到来的客人不要感到饿。

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”.

夜幕降临，艾西亚的内部开始迅速加速。如果有人指挥这样的风景，他们可能会用警棍宣称：“快点”、“更快”、“优雅”。

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.

一个带有机构徽章的蜡封密封的信封。顾客们一个接接地到达，从里面收到邀请。对于一个受邀者数量有限的开幕前派对，有很多人。选出的艾西亚员工很少有一系列活动。

“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.

“给我一件外套”，“喝得不够”，盘子在什么地方坏了。“主人在哪里？”，“被客人们抓住了”。“没有人可以给我们一些指示”，“哦，好吧”——就像这样，幕后的事情陷入了混乱。

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.

通常，他们的工作是平静地推荐艺术物品。因此，他们一开始就无法掩饰自己对接待这么多游客的困惑。然而，如果人们看到客人们正在被招待着，他们会怎么样呢？欣赏这些艺术品，看起来好像玩得很开心。一看到这一点，员工们就能够深入理解它了。那就是“什么，所以事情和往常一样”。当顾客完全熟悉画廊内部时，员工们能够轻松地露出微笑。

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

在被邀请到艾西亚的客人中，一个与这个世界完全无关的外国人混在一起。

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.

那是一个女人。那是一个很漂亮的人。从欣赏的角度来看，如果她是这些艺术品之一，那就没有什么好抱怨的了。她穿着一件缎带裙，雪白得像一朵夏日盛开的花。她那长而柔软弯曲的金色头发一直延伸到腰间。也许她是刚下班来的，一只手拿着一个很重的手推车袋。“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。一贯的写薇姐的美···

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.

她走着走，一个接一个地观察着每一件艺术品。田园诗般的风景画，看起来像银墨水的抽象画洒在纯白色的纸上，油画中人们似乎随时都要移动的。玻璃和陶瓷是人们非常害怕看的玻璃和陶瓷。起初，这次展览展出了国内著名艺术家的作品，但后半部分的小大厅整合了那些仍然是无名的艺术家的展览。那个女人在一件这样的工作前停了下来。

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.

一幅异想天开的幻想的画。这是一个冬天的大海吗？它描绘了各种各样的东西掉入黑暗和冰冷的水中。一张怀表，一根羽毛，一张床，一把刀，一朵白花和一把椅子。它们都磨损了，部件也损坏了。乍一看，人们就不知道它在表达什么。只有在中间画的男孩似乎穿透了观众。

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.

他还是个十几岁的孩子，他的外表也可以被认为是一个女孩。盯着他看了一会儿后，他应该得救的感觉会浮出水面。因为男孩的面部表情看起来几乎是在和观众进行眼神交流。但这并可能实现。他陷入了画面之中。在这一边，没有人能做任何事。看完一眼就不知道该怎么办——那就是那种照片。

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

“对不起；是我画的。这画有什么问题吗？”

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.

突然，一个声音从后面呼唤着那个女人。一块被扔进了宁静的大气中的岩石。一种穿透房间昏暗光线的低调。

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”.

人们大多在走向著名的艺术家，所以这个女人一直独自一人。那个迟到稍晚的男人恰好是那幅奇幻画的创作者，他发现自己在和那个在他的艺术前停下脚步的女人说话。这对一对情侣来说是一次非常自然的相遇。如果他们的处境、环境和其他一切都不同，他们之间可能会产生一些东西。它不一定是浪漫的爱情，而是“他们俩最初拥有的东西“。

“Captain Dietfried Bougainvillea.”

”迪特福利特·布干维利亚大佐。“

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.

女人一转过身来，空间就发出了一声响亮的吱吱声。它实际上并没有回响，但至少，迪特弗里德听到了他自己心跳的砰砰声，这使他的全身都起了鸡皮疙瘩。他被一种奇怪的感觉包围着，仿佛他里面的血在向后流动。他一生中曾经逃避过的一件事就是站在那里。

“What’re you doing, Monster?”

“你在干什么，怪物？”

Violet Evergarden.

薇尔莉特·伊芙加登

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.

迪特福利特与他弟弟不同的翡翠眼睛前，有一个年轻的自动书记人偶。他没有从后面认出她，原因可能是她的金色头发蓬松了。

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.

自从飞行信事件发生后，她长大成人，他就没有机会见到她。只有那些与彼此有大量互动的人才能通过看着别人的背来说出这样的事情。

“I was looking at the paintings, Captain.”

“我在看那些画，大佐。”

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

薇尔莉特毫无表情。然而，只有她的手迅速寻找她的翡翠胸针，并抚摸了一下。

“You, paintings? Can you understand them?”

“你呢，绘画作品吗？”你能理解它们吗？”

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.

首先是轻蔑的笑声，然后是口头攻击。她需要建立一条防线。毕竟，这个女孩以前是一件武器。一个自动杀人人偶。

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

“我不能。就只是······我的眼睛和腿都停住了。”

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

她是迪特弗里德唯一害怕的女人。如果他遇到了其他人，他的情绪就不会被如此混乱。

Dietfried was scared. This girl was terrifying.

迪特福利特很害怕。这个女孩太可怕了。

“I caused you trouble last time.”

“我上次给你惹来了麻烦。”

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.

他知道她所做的事情。他知道她杀了谁。他还回忆起他过去是如何对待她的，并告诉自己这也没关系。

“I was visiting Major.”

“我是去拜访上校的。”

Because she was a monster.

因为她是个怪物。

——O God, I want to        

——啊，上帝啊，我想                       .

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.

这些话在他的脑子里徘徊着。这些话是他童年时向他在某个时刻遇到的人祈祷的——可能是在他临终的时刻。现在回想起来，这是一个愚蠢、不成熟和无助的愿望，但他当时对此是认真的。

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

看着这个女孩让他想起了自己令人尴尬的过去。

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

“我想要自己看看。大佐，请慢慢来。”

“Hey.”

”喂。“

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.

薇尔莉特已经决定从这个地方离开，并将其付诸行动。她的结论是，这将是双方的和平解决办法，并将确保彼此的生存。

“Hey, wait.”

“嘿，等着。”

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

然而，迪特福利特还有一些他想说的话。

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

听到克制的呼唤，薇尔莉特的脚中间停了下来。然后她盯着迪特福利特看。“为什么？她的眼睛在问道。

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.

选择离开一定是她自己表示尊重的方式。考虑到他们两者之间目前和以前的关系，这是一个合理的判断。因此，她沉静地盯着他看。

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

即使是现在，它也刺穿了迪特福利特。那种安静的“为什么”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.

尽管是迪特福利特叫她等待的人，但他还是忘记了自己的下一句话。他有很多抱怨。相反，抱怨是他嘴里唯一说出来的东西。很有可能，他从来没有对她说过任何热情的话或态度。不，当他们分手时，他至少已经拍了拍她的头。但那怎么样呢？这就是他所做的一切。这也许就是原因。

——What did you think of that painting?

——你觉得那幅画怎么样？

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.

就像这样的问题对他来说是非常具有挑战性的。如果是其他人，他肯定能像呼吸一样容易地问这个问题。他还可以夸耀说，是他画过它的人。然而，只有和这个女人在一起才是如此的困难。

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

两人之间保持了很长时间的沉默。一个真正漫长而漫长的沉默。

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.

情绪就像两只野兽在旷野中相遇，估计哪只会先攻击。两者都不发育发达，与内部不匹配，只是它们的外表实际上是成熟的。从场边看，他们是一个美丽的成年男人和女人互相看着，但在他们之间流动的空气是一个战场。

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

迪特福利特开始出汗了。至于薇尔莉特，甚至她的呼吸也变浅了。

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.

薇尔莉特似乎在想些什么。她张开又闭上嘴，重复了几次。在那种情况下，她该怎么办？什么是最好的？她可能无法做出决定。这不仅是薇尔莉特，迪特福利特也在考虑的事情，但薇尔莉特的行为的严肃程度却高得惊人。

She would normally not be like this.

她通常不会是这样的。

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.

即便薇尔莉特伊芙加登写了这么多信，也不知道应如何对这个叫迪特福利特的人采取行动。

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.”

也许她的想法最终得出了结论，薇尔莉特把行李放在地板上，双手放在背后。“随便吧。”

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

起初，迪特福利特并不知道自己在做什么。薇尔莉特看起来像是在提供她的身体。

“Ha…?”

“什么？”

Without hesitation, almost as if she were a tool.

毫不犹豫，几乎好像她是一个工具。

“I am still. Feel free to.”

“我仍然是这样。请随意。”

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

“请随意使用我的生命，”她似乎在说。她现在的自我与过去的野兽重叠了。

“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.

“去做什么，这就是我要问的……”迪特福利特的嘴感觉黏糊糊的，这让他很难大声说话。他的脑子里主要忙于如何弥补他暴露在她面前的错误，所以他无法立即回应薇尔莉特的突然袭击。

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

“你不记得了吗？我过去常常在每当我必须受到谴责或惩罚时都会这样做。”

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

他不能做到。直到现在，迪特福利特脑子里飘动着的所有信息都消失了。它就消失了

“You, what the…”

“你，什么？”

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

蓝眼睛的主人盯着迪特福利特，仿佛要开枪穿过他，他总是做一些意想不到的事情，把他扔来扔去。

“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.”

“那时我不知道该怎么说话，所以为了表明我无意攻击你，大佐，我会这样做的。”

Those eyes.

那双眼睛。

“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.”

“不管我说什么，当然……我是没有赎罪的。随着时间的推移，我已经明白了我所做的事情。以及我让你经历了多么大的恐惧。不过，我还是很感激你能把我置于吉尔伯特勋爵的手下。我想还你。如果你说没有必要，至少你愿意就怎么做。”

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

不管是出于什么原因，当那些眼睛问他“为什么”时……

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

“不管是用拳头还是责备什么，你想用多少。”

…his chest ached as if it had been stabbed.

他的胸部疼痛，好像被刺伤了。

“Feel free to.”

“请随意。”

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.

如果那个地方不是一个安静的美术馆，迪特福利特就会愤怒地对她大喊大叫，而不在乎羞耻或他的名声。由于他高度的自尊，他设法用拳头受伤，吞下他愤怒的声音。

“I hate that about you…”

“我讨厌你……”

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

这个女孩总是让他知道，她永远不会像他所期望的那样行事。

“…to death.”

“…到死亡。”

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.

听到迪特福利特颤抖的话，薇尔莉特向后退了一步。她奉献自己的立场没有改变，但她的本能一直保持警惕，想知道她是否不会被这个人杀死。看到这一点，迪特福利特嘲笑她的行动。

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

“你是那个可以随时掐死我生命的人，”他似乎在说。

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.

迪特福利特突然感到他头上的热量冷却了。薇尔莉特已经向后退了一步。这成为了他恢复镇静的诱因。因为他能够再次确认她最终只是个孩子。这种无辜的一面和行为就像孩子对成年人的表现一样，对另一方产生了很大的影响。迪特福利特讨厌这个。

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

因为他鄙视任何人的干预，却非常厌恶这些干预，这使他想呕吐。

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.

那些习惯于别人压迫的人很容易选择伤害别人。她心里就害怕这种倾向。然而，尽管害怕，她还是优先别人而不是自己。那个生物就像一大堆矛盾。

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

——令人恶心。执行停止操作。死亡。不要看我一眼。

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.

他不想和她交流。但他有许多话要说。然而，当谈到他是否能正确地做到这点时，即使他设法把它们挤出来，它们也只会变成辱骂性的语言。

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.

他们俩之间有一个大湖，他们所能做的就是凝视着对岸，却不知道对岸有多深。他们的第一次会面是要为此负责的。这是造成一切事情的原因。

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.

他的下属攻击了她，她把他们都杀死了。然后她追又追他，让他变成了她的主人。尽管有一个等级制度，薇尔莉特还是控制住了他的生活。

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.

在和那个女孩呆在一起之后，人们就会明白，这对她来说是必要的。她一直都是这样的，因为岛上只有他们两个人知道。每当发生什么事时，她都会优先考虑迪特福利特。毕竟，即使在他把她交给吉尔伯特时，她也没有反抗。

If anything could be changed, that was the moment.

如果有什么可以改变的话，那就是那一刻。

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.

这两个从来没有混在一起的人又一次平行地相遇了无数次。在这种情况下，他们会因为承担了被拒绝的真相和他们所做的事情而无法采取行动，因此就逃跑了。

——Gilbert.

——吉尔伯特。

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

那个把最爱的人聚集在一起的人是怎么想的？

“You… I…”

“你……我……”

——If I could change for Gilbert…

——如果我能换成吉尔伯特的话……

“Captain…?”

“大佐····？”

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

——如果我能改变，为了你…

Would it be easier for him to breathe?

他的呼吸会更容易吗？

Just as Dietfried was about to make a bitter decision…

就像迪特福利特即将做出一个痛苦的决定一样……

“GYAAAAAAAAAH—AAAAAAH—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

…an incident occurred.

……事件发生了。

没看懂的小伙伴不要急，这段是补叙

⁂

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.

这显然不是一种草率的罪行。主人艾西亚的尖叫也在回响，当迪特福利特和薇尔莉特从只有两人的安静的大厅里逃出来时，强盗们已经把武器主要指向脆弱的妇女和孩子，让她们跪在地上。行动的过程是太快了。

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

薇尔莉特睁大眼睛，拉回她的旅行包，正要扔向他们，但迪特福利特拦住了她。

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

“你是个笨蛋吗？！”这些并不是所有的成年人都能跑步…！”

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

在人质中，还有一个小女孩被抱在别人的怀下，看起来好像不了解情况。

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

“我会尽快把它们救出来，并控制其余的东西。”

“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!”

“他们有枪；如果他们用警告枪击中别人，你会怎么怎么办？！还有其他的艺术品……这不是一个像你这样没有说话的混蛋打架的舞台！现在就呆吧！”

“But, Captain—”

“但是，大佐，”

“Stay put!”

“请放心吧！”

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

当两人试图互相推搡时，强盗注意到了他们。

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.

在大厅里，也许是为了通过恐吓把人们绑起来，这些男人毫无例外地被殴打，跪倒在地板上。看到这一点，妇女们自然地坐了下来，颤抖着，开始哭了起来。

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.

当尖叫声像音乐一样响亮时，其中一名劫匪朝两人走去。“所以这里还长着杂草？”他毫无表情地挥着枪。

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.

迪特福利特会设法避免它的。到现在为止，他已经这样做了好几次了。他可以像浮在水上一样容易地做到。如果他能用一只手抓住他的枪，然后像那样拔出枪，他就能想象对手摔倒的反应。一旦他偷了枪，他就可以一个接一个地向抢劫犯团伙的每个成员的头部开枪。然后，就会有一场枪战。如果他一个人，他会那样做的。是的，如果他一个人。

——Why now of all times?

——，为什么现在总是这样呢？

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.

没有什么比人们不得不屈服于接受的一拳更令人羞辱的了。但他有一些必须保护的尊严。因此，他没有躲躲闪闪地接受了袭击。如果他要在目前的情况下开始扭打，他认为所有已经成为人质的人都不会安然无恙。他的目标是找一个机会。这就是他应该做的事。他做出这样的决定不仅是为了他自己的福利，也是为了别人的福利。

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，自动杀人人偶做了一个完全不同的人偶。当她的眼睛像那样闪闪发光时，她真的是自动移动了。她走上前来代替他位置。就在那一刻，迪特福利特的弟弟只想到了他的脸。

——Gil.

——基尔（少佐的小名）

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.

他好像已经准备好这样做了。这就是他伸出手臂的速度。他抱住了薇尔莉特，然后背对着强盗。他头后挨了一枪。当她被抱在怀里时，他能听到薇尔莉特悄悄地呼吸。

And such was how they had arrived to the present.

他们就是这样到达现在的。

⁂

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.

迪特福利特并不认为他镇压薇尔莉特的决定是一个错误。他知道她是那个曾在爆炸的火车里独自与恐怖分子作战的女人，但如果她在艾西亚画廊做这样的事情，那将是一个问题。

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

现在，他觉得自己就像个宠物主人，控制着他的疯狗的暴行。

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.

至于疯狗自己，自从迪特福利特被击中以来，她就一直安静起来，好像她的功能消失了。迪特福利特推开了那些试图给他急救的手。任何错误的举动，强盗们都可能会再次殴打他。

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.

她总是主动保护自己，但最终受到了保护。最重要的是，她还让另一个人受伤了。这一定导致她陷入沮丧，足以导致服务中断。然而，随着时间的推移，她重新启动，重新站起来克服这种情况。

“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?”

“我知道我应该避免在艺术画廊里使用武力。但我们不应该把人类的生活置于艺术品之上吗？”

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

——你认为我的后脑勺击中是谁的错？

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.

因为她说了最明显的话，迪特福利特抓住了胸针所在的衣领，毫不思索地拿着胸针。系着领带礼服纽扣的线发出一声尖叫。这不是绅士会对女士做的那种事。但是迪特福利特并没有放松他所掌握的力量。

“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?”

“你……你还需要对我进行管教吗？”他说，声音充满了愤怒，他们的脸几乎碰到一起。“你把这个地方是一个很难与其他地方相比的地方……这对你来说很重要，不是吗？”

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

她眨了眨眼睛，张开了一次嘴，然后闭上了嘴。

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.

迪特福利特的手松开后，她就抓住了胸针，好像是为了保护它。她更关心胸针，而不是裙子上皱巴巴的半胸像。她一遍又一遍地抚摸着它，以确保它没有被损坏。

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

最后，她茫然地低声说：“我明白了。”

“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.

“好像有个白痴可以，”迪特弗里德哼了一声说，但另一个是一个扑克脸的自动书记人偶。不管他伤害了她，都没有效果。迪特福利特就是这么想的。

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

“我完全理解了。我会尽量避免战斗。唉，她的声音听起来有点微弱。

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.

迪特福利特从眼角盯着薇尔莉特。胸针对她来说确实很重要。她用双手把它按了下来。她不想让任何人触摸它，这就是她的意思。他们俩说话的声音非常低，但她刚才的音色就像蚊子的叫声一样薄。

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.”

迪特福利特用一种更柔和的声音说：“幸好你明白了。我感谢这家画廊的主人。为了她，我也会选择最好的选择。

“All right.”

“好吧。”

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

“当然，人类的生命是首要任务。但我们不会进行一场愚蠢的战斗。”

Like a child, Violet nodded repeatedly.

像个孩子一样，薇尔莉特反复地点了点头。

“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.”

“你只做过保镖、谋杀和军事行动，这就是为什么你不明白。在海上……在舰队的战斗中，我们会为保护我们而战。我们的思维方式不同于那些为征服而战的人。”

“To protect…”

“为了保护……”

“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.”

“如果你不能在海上踩刹车，敌人就会登陆。莱登沙夫特利奇被称为军事国家的原因不仅仅是军队的成就。我从来没有教过你如何在海上战斗，因为现在，忘记摧毁和控制一切的方法吧。从我的方式中学习。”

“Understood.”

“了解。”

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.

迪特福利特心里对这个顺从的回答感到惊讶。更重要的是，他惊讶他和“野兽”能够相互理解。

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.

当她在他手中时，这个美丽的自动书记人偶是一只不会说话的“野兽”，同时也是一种工具。首先，这是一只无法控制的野兽。

“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.”

“不过，如果是这样的话，请不要忘记，你的幸福更是我的首要任务。我要为保护你而战，大佐。请不要考虑为了吉尔伯特上校的缘故而保护我。如果有必要，你可以用我当作盾牌。我可以被取代，但你无法代替。”

薇姐真的没有意识到对于少佐来说，她比大佐更重要么???

If, at that time…

如果，在当时...

“This is also linked to protecting Lord Gilbert.”

“这也与保护吉尔伯特上校有关。”

…in that place…

...在那个地方...

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

“再见了，怪物。这家伙是你的下一个主人。”

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

...他教育和引导她而不是抛弃她，她会以同样的方式长大吗？

“Shut up.”

“闭嘴。”

Would she have thought like that?

她会那样想吗？

“Shut up, Monster.”

“闭嘴，怪物。”

He had never even thought about it.

他甚至从来没有想过它。

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.

他的另一边立即回答“不”。当然，由迪特福利特·布干维利亚养育的薇尔莉特·伊芙加登不会是这样的。他可能会教过她如何说话。否则，他们就会遇到沟通方面的困难。他可能会给她的衣服和个人物品作为日常生活。把她带过来对他不好。

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…

然而，当他谈到他是否会给这个女孩一种可能会以极大的热情包裹在她手里的东西时……

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

——我看到；所以它和吉尔伯特的眼睛一样。那个胸针。

…he would undeniably have not.

不可否认，他不会。

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

——想想，她总是从后面跟着我，因为她讨厌一个人。

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.

如果他有什么可以为她做的话，至少要把棺材里装满花，留给她。他并不打算发生任何事，但他可能会做那么多。毕竟，如果薇尔莉特留在迪特福利特·布干维利亚旁边，她肯定会为了他而在他面前死去。

“We’re gonna do an act.”

“我们要采取行动。”

——Aah, Gilbert.

——啊啊，吉尔伯特。

“An act?”

“一种行为吗？”

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

——我总是很才意识到你有多好。

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

“没错。是你建议的，所以我要让你变成一个诱饵。”

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

——，你已经把那只肮脏的野兽变成了这个了。

“Understood.”

“了解。”

——You were able to change her like this.

——你可以像这样改变她。

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

“首先，太晚了，但是你和我一起斗争有什么问题吗？”

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

正如迪特福利特问的那样，薇尔莉特斜着脖子回答说：“为什么……？”我没有。”

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.

不管出于什么原因，他以前的武器只会在这样的时候表现出情感的碎片。只是天真地，不知道这对她很无情。

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

“请正确使用我，大佐。”她笑了。

⁂

Why had robbers attacked the Artemisia Gallery?

为什么强盗袭击了艾西亚画廊？

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.

有一定程度的历史导致了这种暴力在日常生活中展开。首先，最好从抢劫犯生命中发生的转折点开始，但这样会太过头了。继续做一个简短的解释。

This case was a crime committed by a habitual criminal.

这个案子是一个惯犯的罪行。

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.

人们抢劫的原因有各种各样的，但其优势只是一个。在短期内获得补偿。好公民的工作会得到报酬，但小偷并不同意这种心态。人们通过服务于他人而获得奖励。为了收集一大笔钱，需要花费很长的时间和精力。小偷们就此退位了。要取得成功，无论在哪片土地上，一个人都必须掌握经验。

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.

如果一个人能停止做一次，他们为什么要做无数次呢？到处都有一些人在想罪犯。这是因为，如果他们成功了一次，他们就可以再成功一次。他们立刻就获得了他们必须在生命中花很长时间才能挣到的东西。这是一个可以这样做的机会的到来。

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

一旦人们习惯了它，发现机会就会出奇的容易。

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.

假设有人擅长预测人们的想法。另一个人的个性将由他们的眼睛的运动、他们呼吸的方式、他们的声音基调、他们的背景中的权力关系、他们的社会地位和其他类似的事情来决定，所以人们将能够推断出应该采取什么样的行为来得出“正确的答案”。乍一看，这似乎是一种魔法，但这不过是一个人多年来一直在监视着另一个人的结果。

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.

由于这是一种对抗个人比赛的策略，强盗们需要一种稍微更好的能力来把握环境。当他们在城市里四处走动时，他们偶然发现一个新的画廊要开了。开幕日期也被宣布了。看来只有在前一天对有关的人才会有一个活动。

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.

无论建立在什么机构里，完美地处理一家新店的开业典礼都是很困难的。即使里面有一些人已经有过在画廊工作的经验，但使用他们控制这种情况并顺利进行的能力也是不同的。员工们当天会非常恐慌。如果这是一个只有会员参加的庆祝日，毫无疑问，应该保护画廊的原始安全状态将是不够的。

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

所以，强盗们想，“啊，如果你戳了这个地方，它肯定会崩溃的。”

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.

他们并没有任何特别的怨恨。他们只是判断他们可以做到，从而经历了攻击。事实仅仅是艾西亚画廊很不幸。

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.

主人经历了多少次困难，直到她能够打开画廊，她是否一直在向别人低下头？有多少艺术家期待看到他们的作品在画廊展出？这些人的感情有时会被悲惨地践踏。

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.

没有多少人在走路时会在意杂草。仅此而已。除了，这次，艾西亚画廊只有一件事就很幸运了。

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

“不好，对不起！”她突然突然来了……！”

A naval captain who loved art…

一个热爱艺术的海军船长…

“Ugh…”

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

而那个曾经被称为莱登沙夫特利奇的战争少女的女人就是人质之一。

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.

那个引起了骚动并惊恐地向其中一个强盗恳求的人举起双手，表示没有抵抗。他是个留着长发的男人。他那微微弯曲的黑头发掠过他的肩膀。就在他旁边的是一个抱着肚子颤抖着的女人。

“What?”

“究竟是什么事呢？”

A few armed men gathered around them.

几个武装人员聚集在他们周围。

“It seems her stomach hurts.”

“她似乎胃疼。”

“Just a stomach ache? Leave it alone.”

“只是个胃痛吗？”别管它了。”

“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?”

“你告诉我们让她上洗手间吧？”我们还得看这些人。此外，她还是个女人。如果有人带她去上厕所……嗯，我们得到了多少东西？”

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

“我们已经把大部分画都堆在了载体里，但仍然有装饰品。这还需要一段时间。”

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.

强盗们有一个选择。你可以选择要么默默地让她遭受痛苦，要么好心地带她去洗手间。只打败这些人很可能是他们的政策之一。他们在需要时毫不犹豫地利用暴力，但如果暴力不需要，最好尽可能减少敌意，以便不显眼地、迅速地拿走宝藏。这看起来很有绅士风度，但却是一种自以为是的想法。

“What do we do? The Head is…”

“我们该怎么办？”头……”

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

“头先上了车。好像每次发生我们都能问他这样的事情。”

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

“头”可能指的是值得成为他们的首领的成员。

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”.

在痛苦的女人面前，安静的交流还在继续，她终于躺在地板上，仍然抱着肚子躺在地上。那个对她病情不佳提出上诉的男人摇了摇肩膀，告诉她“坚持下去”。

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.

那女人好像接到了一个信号似的，就慢慢地抬起脸来。透过她那凌乱的金色头发之间的缝隙，可以看到她那宝石般的蓝眼睛。她捂着嘴，也许尽量不呕吐。即便如此，我们也很容易看出，这个女人的外表非常好。

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

“这需要一段时间，嗯。此外，我们以后还会需要这些女人的。”

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.

她的眼睛被一个强盗的锁着，好像在吸他。一个人不会明白，让这个女人用湿眼睛抬头看着她们的脚，除非她们自己看到了破坏力。

“Then, I guess it’s okay.”

“那么，我想这一切也没关系。”

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.

从说过的人粗俗的微笑中，人们可以推断出他的意图。当那个女人捂住嘴时，强盗指示她站起来，用枪指着她，然后把她带到洗手间。

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.

在那之后，那个女人和强盗有一段时间没有回来。由于没有其他人鼓起勇气说他们想上厕所，他们缺席的时间就像自然地过去了。与此同时，画廊的展品被一个接一个地带到停在大楼外的车顶架的汽车上。劫匪装扮成负责运输货物的员工，所以即使是那些走在街上的人也不认为那个工作现场有什么奇怪的地方。

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.

一旦他们完成了大部分商品的搬迁，其中一辆车就离开了画廊。另一个停在那里的是为了那些看守的人逃跑的。为了今天而收集的艺术品被抢到最后一件，画廊是光秃秃的。主人，艾西亚，一直在抑制她的哭泣和流泪。

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.

显然，那些小偷都是惯犯。他们在进入基地时用武装力量威胁所有人，抢劫人们的任何抵抗，但在那之后，只要每个人都安静下来，他们就什么也不做，只是冷冷地控制人质，甚至不提高声音。如果人们这样做，他们就不会失去生命。这个希望使人质们顺从了。尽管他们是强盗，但这种与人打交道的无缝方式就像工匠一样。他们并不认为人类是人类。

“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?”

“对不起，我只是想借给她一块手帕。仅此而已。她的衣服的袖子上已经浸透了泪水。你能不能只允许你做这么多吗？”

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.

听到后面的一个声音，艾西亚转过身来。这来自她今天邀请的一位艺术家，她认识他很长一段时间了。她也对他做了一些可怕的事情，她感到震惊。

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.

他们的第一次见面是在某个娱乐设施开始的，当他在画风景时，她从后面窥视着。她不知道他的职业，但他们一直保持联系，她让他向她展示他的艺术。他似乎一直在把绘画作为一种业余爱好。他告诉她，即使是大多数和他亲近的人也不知道他画的，他真的只是为自己做的。

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.

这个忙碌的人在业余时间里来回穿梭，他带来的工作动摇了艾西亚的感官。起初，应她的要求，他犹豫了一下，但后来他又像个男孩一样微笑着，欣然表示同意了，看上去很高兴。

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

——啊，是啊，上帝。请归还。请把这个有趣的时间还给大家吧。

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.

艾西亚对艺术品被偷感到不安和烦恼，但最重要的是，对所有期待今天的人的遗憾都会敲击她的心扉。

“Hey, he told you to use this.”

“嘿，他告诉你用这个。”

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.

他通过其中一个强盗把一块手帕借给了艾西亚。艾西亚擦了擦眼泪，不知怎么设法和他闭上了眼睛。然后她对他说了声“谢谢”，却没有说话。

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.

那人笑了。但艾西亚知道的不是微笑。当他在谈到艺术时，他就不同了。她想不就就发抖。他的眼睛里没有微笑。

“                              .”

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:

那个人对艾西亚说了些什么。由于他只是动了动嘴唇，艾西亚不知道她是否能读懂他试图传达的东西。她不能，但很有可能，他曾说过：

“It’ll be over soon.”

“它很快就会结束了。”

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

最终，强盗们终于开始营造一种疏散的气氛。

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

“我们带一个人，直到我们离开港口。可以是一个女人或一个孩子。我们会选择哪一种呢？”

“Woman it is.”

“是个女人。”

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

“那个家伙在和我们打算用的那个女人一起玩，不是吗？”他怎么了？”

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.

假设他们最终会被释放，人质们开始坐立不安。他们面临着一场灾难，他们毕生用来制作的艺术品也被盗了。这快乐的日子被重新描绘成绝望。但他们还活着。这是今天唯一光明的一面。除非他们无法维持理性，否则他们无法安慰自己。无论如何，他们都想快点，得到解放。

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.

在他们中间，有一个人只是一直默默地观察着强盗们的行动。是那个一直在照顾一个胃痛的女人的男人，看起来很担心。女人被带到洗手间，他就变得没有表情，好像对一切都失去了兴趣。偶尔，他甚至会偷偷地打呵欠，好像昏昏欲睡似的。

“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.”

“去叫他吧。我们可以用那个女人作为人质。她很年轻，所以如果我们把她扔在街上，她就可以回来散步。”

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.”

听到这些话，那人发出了声音，笑了起来。看看来，他并不想笑，而是笑了。他把手放在嘴边，然后耸了耸肩，让强盗们看到了它。“对不起，我不是想取笑你的。但是试图强奸那个东西，对吧？不管你有多少条生命，这都是不够的。”

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

“嘿，你怎么了……？”有投诉什么的吗？”

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.”

那人一直笑，好像在说强盗的威胁人物更滑稽。主人艾西亚用眼睛请求激怒强盗的人克制自己，因为她不仅不能失去她收藏的艺术品，也不能失去她邀请的客人，但那男人闭上一只眼睛回答说：“艾西亚，没关系。”

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

在这个地方，没有人知道他的社会地位。或者是他的历史。

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.

在过去，迪特福利特曾经使用一种可以成为世界上最好的武器。现在它已经离开了他的控制，但他们和主仆的关系并没有完全切断。这头野兽有高度的忠诚，所以虽然他们偶然相遇了很长一段时间，但她的心意识到了这一点。他就是她过去一直追随的那个人——一个值得她服务的人。因此，野兽会使他筋疲力尽。

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

只有有限数量的人能对付这头野兽。她现在又回到他手里的感觉有些奇怪。

“She runs quick.”

“她跑得很快。”

“Ha?”

“哈？”

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

“这就是为什么你们的一切都结束了。我的坏蛋们。”

“Hey, shut this dude up.”

“嘿，把这家伙闭嘴吧。”

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

迪特福利特突然开始说话，强盗们自然产生了怀疑的反应。

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

“她速度和一只鹿一样快。这是这个城市的主要街道，所以附近也有酒店。”

“So, what’re you saying?”

“那么，你是在说什么呢？”

“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这里来了。他们可能是在他们房间的酒吧喝酒。他们中也有一些男人从她还在我身边的时候就知道这件事。我把头发系给她，所以她应该能说服他们。我可以预测你会把你偷来的东西带到港口。当你在这个城市的中心弄得一团糟时，很难离开陆地上的追捕者。使用海上路线比陆地路线更难以追踪，对吧？但海路并不对我不利。看起来像不久前离开的一辆车，但在他们到达港口的时候已经结束了。你现在可能会出去，但如果你想带某人作为人质，你最好放下它。我的许多下属都是热血沸腾的人。如果你这样唤醒他们，他们可能会太兴奋了。如果发生这种情况，你就会得到困境。无论有多少具尸体倒下，我们都可以在事后处理我们想要的一切。我们需要讲清楚，但今天的人质肯定会选择和我合作。让人们践踏你拼命生活的证据，对任何人来说都是痛苦的。”大佐霸气

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.

即使在雄辩的情况下，说话的人也不会喘不过气接下气。然而，他的这种威严的面貌在别人的眼中却显得很可怕，也类似于疯狂。

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.

强盗突然意识到所有的人质都在他们身后。他们觉得他们身后有什么东西。它就像一个幽灵，甚至隐藏了生命的火焰，只是等待主的命令。

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.

在画廊的窗外，他们可以听到汽车停放地周围有人打架的声音。与此同时，他们可以听到他们身后就有一阵微弱的呼吸声。

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

一个女人喘不过气来的呼吸突然出现在她们的耳朵上。

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

“做吧，薇尔莉特。迪特弗里德举起拇指，迅速地做了一个割断喉咙的手势。

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

迪特弗里德看着他的人偶让强盗们失去了知觉，拥有像一个吃人的怪物一样压倒性的力量，他回忆起了过去。

——Everything goes around.

——一切都进展顺利。

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

他回忆起他们俩被困在那个孤立岛的时间。

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.

当救援舰队到达时，野兽被吓坏了。迪特弗里德也是如此。如果他有更多的同志被谋杀，他就无法忍受了。因此，他抓住了野兽的手，把她带到了外面的世界。在他看来，这和控制绳子是一样的。

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

现在已经没有控制绳了。他走路时也没有必要拉她的手。他们之间什么也没有。

Not love, passion, attachment, desire, anything.

不是爱，激情，依恋，欲望，任何东西。

“Captain.”

"大佐。"

There was nothing, but one thing was for certain.

什么也没有，但只有一件事是肯定的。

“Captain Bougainvillea.”

”迪特福利特大佐。“

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.

如果他叫她，这个自动书记人偶很可能会去世界末日去拯救他。这就是她的天性。

“I have just returned. Are you unharmed?”

“我刚回来。你没有受伤吗？”

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

这时，野兽很清楚他第一次叫她的名字。她的眼睛眨了眼睛。

“Yeah.”

“是的。”

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

只要这么多的补偿就足以让野兽微笑了。

⁂

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

过了一会儿，莱登沙夫利奇被夜晚温柔的气氛所拥抱。

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.

夏天的星座装饰着漆黑的天空。和白天一样晴朗，今晚的夜空如此明亮，可以被称为星空宴会。这一天即将在莱登沙法夫特利奇结束。今天从从早上起就充满了混乱。

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.

在聚集在一起的旁观者的观察下，在艾西亚画廊前展开的逮捕事件已经结束了，它的许多程序和处理程序都移交给了宪兵。看到偷来的艺术品被安全地重新送到艾西亚那里，迪特弗里德休息了口气。然后，他的目光飞快地移到了一边。一个肮脏的人偶正站在那里。一个漂亮的女人站在那里。他不得不对她说些什么。正如人们所料，他至少现在应该这样做。但他什么也想不出了。

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

——“你做得很好。”“这还不算太糟”。“好工作”。“我推荐你”，是哪一个？

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.

在他的脑海里，言语被构思出来，然后就消失了。就像莱登谢夫特利奇周围睡觉的孩子们现在肯定看到的梦一样。他们出生后就消失了。

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

最后，他想张开嘴说：“你不冷吗？”

“It is summer, after all.”

“毕竟，现在是夏天了。”

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

最后她和她说话，就像一个不习惯邀请女人出去的男人。

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.

薇尔莉特伊芙加登一直在为保护而战斗，仍然站在迪特福利特身边。说她是今天最值得称赞的人是恰当的。想出这次逮捕行动的想法的人是迪特福利特，但为之做了所有工作的人是薇尔莉特。

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.

首先，她扮演了那个胃痛的女人，和其中一个强盗一起去了洗手间。然后，她悄悄地用机械假肢勒住了那个伸手到她肩膀上的男人的脖子，使他昏倒了。

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.

她挣脱了出来，从卫生间的窗户逃了出来。她没有去找宪兵，而是去了迪特福利特指示她的酒店，并把情况通知了在顶层房间里抽烟喝酒的海军士兵们。其中一名碰巧认识她的士兵一开始吓得害怕，但当看到迪特福利特戴的缎带被托付给她·后，他的面部表情改变了，他联系了宪兵，然后通知港口的安全加强他们的检查。

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.

她没有等他们准备好，就立即跑回艾蒿画廊，通过同样的一条路渗透到那里。几个强盗发现了她，一脚就倒在地上，所以她终于回来了。薇尔莉特站在剩下的强盗身后喘着口气，人质们盯着她，好像她是他们的安全，但迪特弗里德看着她一边讥笑。

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

按照命令，她救了迪特福利特，却没有损坏一件艺术品。

“About what happened…”

“关于发生了什么事……”

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

“最好不要告诉吉尔伯特上校。他会担心的。”

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.

看到最后一件艺术品被拿进来，薇尔莉特就拿起了她脚边的行李箱。她可能打算独自回家。

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.

在让她做了这么多之后，迪特福利特身上出现了类似罪恶感的东西。他最终承认，她对某人也很重要。这就是他在战斗结束后的想法，当他看到薇尔莉特抚摸着她的翡翠胸针，好像要确认它就在那里。

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

尽管她曾经是一头野兽，如果她死了，谁也不会哀悼。

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

——啊，这是个借口。这不过是一个借口。如果是这样，那我就不想这么说了。

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.

那时，当她站在迪特福利特身边时，据说她每天都充满了疯狂。他们过去常常在战场上游荡，从黎明到黄昏进行战斗，越来越习惯了暴力。战争结束了，和平恢复了，他意识到一个他甚至可以创造艺术的时代即将到来。那些时候是不正常的，他现在的感觉是默认的。

“I’ll take you home.”

“我要带你回家。”

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

“没有必要的。你的保镖一定在等着，所以请随时告别，大佐。”

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

“没关系；就在这一次。我会带你回家的。”

“No need.”

“那就没有必要了。”

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

“我带你去吧。听着，这是一个命令。”

“I cannot accept your command.”

“我不能接受你的命令。”

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

“你个小子……你采取的行动就像我刚才告诉你的那样。”

“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.”

“因为那是一种紧急状态……而且，迪特福利特大佐，如果我带你回家是合理的，但相反的情况是不合逻辑的。”

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

“你在说什么？”你是个女人，不是吗？”

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

“一个女人”。迪特福利特发现自己用嘴说了这一点，于是更后悔了。

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.

薇尔莉特的嘴唇上有一道伤口，血正在流出。她的领带裙连汗都湿透了。即使是那些不怎么出汗的人，在夏天发生了这么大的混战之后，也会是这样。

“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.”

“我在叫马车。没关系的，就等吧。我会离开你，直到你进入伊芙加登的房子。然后是永别了。我们再也不会见面了。不管你和吉尔怎么样，我们都再也不会见面了。”

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.

他今天对这个完全能够接受别人的爱的女人所做的事情，并不是一个布干维利亚的儿子应该对一个女人做的事情。

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

他们跳上马车后，又沉默了一会儿。

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

——即使这两人是夫妻，她也可以保守这样一个公开的秘密吗？

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.

迪特福利特发现自己意外地担心了他弟弟的爱情生活。毕竟，这种情况可能是对他最亲爱的兄弟的背叛。吉尔伯特已经完全原谅了迪特福利特。因为他向他推去了继承权。因为他们没有考虑到他们的家庭。因为它把一只难以形容的野兽逼向他去。他已经原谅了一切。

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.

回想起来，他唯一一次试图赶走迪特福利特，说他不会原谅他，是迪特福利特把薇尔莉特递给他。他曾称之为“人口贩卖”。告诉迪特福利特不要对孩子施暴力。

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，这两个人从一开始就是对方唯一的例外。迪特福利特今天对薇尔莉特所做的一切，可能都没有得到宽恕。吉尔伯特会原谅大多数事情的。除了与唯一对他最重要的事情有关的事情之外。被爱人所憎恨。这可能会给任何人的心蒙上阴影，不管他们的年纪多大了。

“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.”

“没关系。那穿过寂静的声音传向他，好像是在安慰他。这些话听起来好像她已经意识到了迪特福利特的不安。“如果有什么机会……最终通过别人告诉他这个案子，我一定会为你洗白的，迪特福利特大佐。”

“‘Defend’, you say?”

“你说，洗白吗？”

“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.”

“说实话，我经常在少佐不知情的情况下卷入大规模事件。但我还是没有成功地回来了。回到莱顿沙夫特利奇。我今天也会回来的。因此，我们都没事了。”

“What do you do out there?”

“你在外面干什么？”

“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.”

“我们被分开得太久了。因此，我们有很多对方首先就不知道的时刻。也许即使是现在，情况也是如此。我有工作要做，他也有。我们见面的时间有限。然而，我一定会永远回到少校。他也知道这一点。即使我们分开了，那个人也是唯一占据我思想的人。我不确定我是否能正确地传达给他，但事实就是这样。”

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

她的话通常会让他突然大笑起来，但迪特福利特却做不到。

——When did you become like that?

——你是什么时候变成这样的呢？

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

迪特福利特讨厌薇尔莉特。有几个因素引起了他的情绪。

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

——现在你可以对应于某人的爱了。

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.

他看到自己和她重叠了。她对成年人的顺从和她自己想要的方式让他感到厌恶。他鄙视那些不渴望自由的野兽。沮丧她被别人训练成这样的事实。淡化了一切。首先，迪特弗里德没有多少他喜欢的东西。

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

即使是能成为善良的人也有有限的。

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.

事实是，即使他想变得善良，这也再也不可能了。他过去曾无数次为此向上帝祈祷。然而，由于无法实现这一点，一个名叫迪特福利特·布干维利亚的人存在。

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

——啊，神啊，我想，他很长一段时间以来第一次在心里乞求一个人。也许是从他的童年开始就这样做的。

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.

不过，这种人并没有回复任何电话。即使是现在，他也不知道他的请求是否已经得到了满足。这当然是不可能的。他和薇尔莉特的星星处于一个不会发生根本改变的位置。

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

然而，出于某种原因，他今天强烈请求别人原谅。

——I wanna go back.

——我想回去。

Not even he knew where to.

甚至他都不知道该去哪里。

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

——快点结束，今天，今天，我和她在一起的时间。

He was not annoyed.

他并不生气。

——O God, I want to…

——啊，神啊，我想……

But painfully miserable.

但却非常痛苦。

“Captain.”

“大佐。”

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

马车在夜里染成染的树林中奔跑。一个凉爽的声音在他们中间回响。

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

薇尔莉特看着外面的风景。她在观察月亮，月亮追着它们，不管它们离他们有多远。

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.

月亮是一种将永远存在的东西。不像故事。不管迪特福利特是否关心这件事，他的一切都会有一天结束。死亡甚至会到达那些他不希望结束的事情。甚至他现在的感情也会结束。

“How was I today?”

“我今天过得怎么样？”

“What?”

“究竟是什么事呢？”

“Did my work earn your satisfaction today?”

“我今天的工作让你满意了吗？”

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.

迪特福利特根本无法理解薇尔莉特的问题背后的意图。她的感情一开始就读不到，但她更难理解这句话的意思。

“What do you want to say?”

“你想说些什么呢？”

Silence.

沉默。

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

“嘿，直说吧。别对我很狡猾。”

“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.

“好吧，”那冷静的声音又一次进入了他的耳朵里。这样的寒冷像夜晚，但从来没有离开他的耳朵，很容易抓住。

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

薇尔莉特转过脖子，用目光望着他。慢慢地，蓝色和绿色的眼睛相互混合在一起。

“I…”

“我...”

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

沐浴在月光下，她是简单的，纯粹的美丽，足以带走迪特福利特的呼吸。

“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?”

“迪特福利特大佐，当我和你在一起的时候，我的工作从来没有令人满意过。现在我已经成年了，我终于能够用工作偿还债务了吗？”

“What d’you mean by ‘debt’?”

“你说的‘债务是什么意思？”

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.

他的声音嘶哑了。他突然觉得这个冷冰冰的女人好像抢走了他全身的热量。他的嘴里非常干。

“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.”

“我指的是一切。这一切都始于你从那个岛上带来的我。我现在就是这样，因为你把我托付给了妈妈……还有吉尔伯特上校。”

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

“如果你和我呆在一起，可能就不会发生什么好事了。”

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

“如果我继续为你服务，我该怎么样呢？”【大概这样子？？？（弥天大雾）】

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.

这些话变成了一颗子弹，刺穿了迪特福利特的心。他觉得他的呼吸似乎会在这个意想不到的问题上停止来。从遥远的过去就就是这样了。迪特福利特会一次又一次地再次确认，她是一个可能成为他的致命武器的女人。

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

“所以你也可以想象一个假设……‘如果怎么办’，”她那精致冰冷的声音在黑暗中响起。有人问他：“你也吗？”薇尔莉特点了点头。

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.

迪特福利特想，这是他的台词，但薇尔莉特把宝石眼睛变成了梦般的目光。他的存在对她来说可能缺乏现实主义。

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.

薇尔莉特开始低语起来。要是她当时不服从那个命令就好了。要是那时她冲向他快一步就好了。

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

“回到那时，如果”。“回到那时，如果”。“回到那时，如果”。

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.

她不能让自己不想到，如果她多走这一步，他就不会失去那只翡翠色的眼睛了。

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

“再说，我还想知道，那时我是否设法保护了他……”

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.

她不得不松开她最心爱的主人的手，被托付给别人，就好像她被扔掉了一样。

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

“我不会花那段时间离开少校的。”

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.

现在回想起来，她总是被别人抛弃，然后被别人接走。她应该习惯的。她出生在那个明星之下。

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.

她最初是这个世界的一个外国人，应该被淘汰。她的命运也是这样流出来的。薇尔莉特虽然温顺，但却反抗她的分段道路，是因为另一条是特别的。

——I also threw her away.

——我也把她扔掉了。

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

他已经把家扔掉了。他的弟弟，弟弟哭了起来抗议。然后把这只野兽扔掉了。

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

“我也想知道，如果你不把我留给少校，会怎么样。”

This woman.

这个女人。

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

“但所有这些都就像梦，穿过我的脑海，消失了。在经过了无数的“如果是”之后，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.

他把这个女人推到他弟弟身上，然后抛弃了她。看着她，使他生病了。他也很害怕她。最重要的是，他就会不再做他自己了。这吓到他了。

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

“现在，我已经变成了一个自动书记人偶，正在和你共度一夜。”

This woman possessed an element that transmuted people.

这个女人有一种改变人的因素。

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

“你知道，有一天你会孤单的。你是那个寿命更长的人，不是吗？”

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

薇尔莉特对着这些话闭上了眼睛。如果她拍了很多“如果”，我显然也会想到这一点。

“I do not know.”

“我不知道。”

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

“如果发生这种事，你该怎么办？”

“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。但你和我不一样吗？你爱他，对吧？”

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

“我是最年长的那个人。我还会早点走的。”

“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.”

“没有人知道这个事。但是，如果有一天，我成为一人，如果我独自生活，我的命令仍然有效。我可能会活下去。”

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?

如果她最终独自生活，这种假设是对野兽最残酷的事情。他现在想让她说什么？

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…

他回想起来，自从他们第一次见面以来，他就不知道如何对付她。他应该保护她吗？杀了她吗？受保护的是吗？已死亡吗？或者，也可能是……

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

“这就是为什么我每天都写信的原因。即使他们联系不到他，我也每天都给少校写信。”

Silence.

沉默。

“Captain, what will you do?”

“大佐，你打算怎么办呢？”

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

“我的意思是，是吗？”我……让我们来看看。画吧，我想。”

“A painting or Major?”

“一幅画还是少佐？”（“少佐的一副画？”）

“That’s right.”

“是的。”

“May I go see it?”

“我可以去看看吗？”

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.

对迪特福利特·布干维利亚来说，这只野兽从一开始既是女人又是怪物。她现在就像一个梦一样遥远了。

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

“你是我中唯一一个知道我画画的亲戚。你想做就做。”

⁂

——O God, I want to be a good person.

——啊，上帝啊，我想成为一个好人。

//显然五一假期很闲。。。